[8:23] 603. We're going to bring this meeting
to order.
[8:28] Can I get everyone
to rise for the pledge of allegiance?
[8:35] I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[8:40] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[8:46] justice for all.
[8:53] » All right. Are there any changes to the
agenda?
[8:55] » Uh, just one. I handed the council a
copy of an amended contract that we have
[9:01] for it's item item number 5.5.
Um, according to the city attorney,
[9:08] there's no substantive changes to the
agreement. It was kind of redlined uh
[9:12] just with some acronym changes and
different language in the contract, but
[9:17] there's no actual substantive changes
that was even brought to you guys the
[9:21] last meeting that was um put on hold. So
the uh both parties have agreed to that
[9:26] contract. So we just want to make put
that on the record
[9:28] » and we'll make sure this the this one's
in the record. Correct.
[9:31] » Yes, that will be in the record and that
will be what's executed when uh we sign
[9:34] that contract next week.
>> All right. Any other changes?
[9:37] » No, mayor.
>> Any changes from council?
[9:42] » Seeing none, looking for the council's
approval for the agenda.
[9:47] » Can I get a motion?
>> I'll make a motion to approve the
[9:49] agenda.
>> It's been moved. I'll second.
[9:52] » It's been moved and seconded. All those
in favor?
[9:55] » I.
>> All those opposed.
[9:58] Agenda passes as written.
Going to move on to item number two,
[10:03] awards, presentations, appointments, and
proclamations. 2.1 is swearing in new
[10:09] councilman Abel Aoyo.
[10:39] I
>> do solemnly swear or affirm that I will
[10:43] support and defend the Constitution of
the United States and the Constitution
[10:47] of the State of California against all
enemies, foreign and domestic, that I
[10:52] will bear true faith and allegiance to
the Constitution of the United States
[10:57] and the Constitution of the State of
California, that I will take this
[11:01] obligation freely without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion, and
[11:06] that I will well and faithfully
discharge the duties upon which I'm
[11:11] about to enter.
[11:17] » [applause]
[11:22] » And we have the certificate right here.
>> Makes it all official.
[11:27] » There you go.
>> Anyone want to take a picture? Feel
[11:30] free.
[11:35] Appreciate
>> it. Thank you.
[11:51] » [snorts]
>> All right, we are going to move on to
[11:55] item number 2.2,
2025 firefighter of the year award.
[12:00] Chief
[12:06] staff and community, it is my great
pleasure to introduce you to your 2025
[12:12] Kolinga Fire Department and firefighter
of the year, firefighter Darren Burke.
[12:20] [applause]
[12:24] So, this award is truly a peer nominated
award. Uh, so I'm going to read a little
[12:29] something from his peers about why they
selected Darren. So, firefighter Burke
[12:33] has been a valued member of the
department since May of 2022. In a
[12:37] relatively short period of time, he has
consistently demonstrated the
[12:40] dedication, reliability, and
professionalism that represent the
[12:44] highest standards of the fire service
and your Kinga Fire Department. While
[12:48] employed full-time with the department,
firefighter Burke successfully completed
[12:51] a fire academy, an achievement that
required exceptional commitment and
[12:55] perseverance. He balanced the demands of
academy training while continuing to
[12:59] work and manage his family life. An
effort did that did not go unnoticed by
[13:03] those around him. One peer noted,
"Darren impressed me by going to the
[13:07] academy, working, and still managing a
family life." Firefighter Burke comes to
[13:12] work every shift, prepared to perform
his duties without complaint. His work
[13:16] ethic and consistency are frequently
highlighted by his peers. As one
[13:19] firefighter stated, "Darren is
hardworking and never really complains.
[13:23] He just does his job and does it really
well. Another one said, "Darren's the
[13:27] best. I can always count on him." In
addition to his strong work ethic,
[13:31] firefighter Burke has taken on an
informal leadership role within the
[13:34] department by welcoming new rookies and
taking them under his wing. He
[13:38] consistently helps train, guide, and
mentor newer firefighters, ensuring they
[13:42] feel supported and confident as they
begin their careers. His willingness to
[13:46] invest time and effort into others
demonstrates his commitment not only to
[13:49] his own success, but to the long-term
strength of the department as a whole.
[13:53] Firefighter Burke's potential has not
gone unnoticed. One pier summarized it
[13:57] best. He said, "You know what? Darren's
going to promote very rapidly in his
[14:01] department. He just has the it factor.
For his dedication, perseverance,
[14:06] professionalism, and respect he has
earned from his peers. Firefighter
[14:09] Darren Burke is truly deserving of the
2025 firefighter of the year award.
[14:15] » [applause]
[14:18] » So Darren, couple things for you here
from the city. 2025 firefighter of the
[14:25] year in recognition of your high
standards and continued excellence in
[14:28] fire protection and emergency medical
services and to the outstanding
[14:32] contributions you give every day to the
entire community. Awarded to firefighter
[14:36] Darren Burke from your city council.
[applause]
[14:44] And then from myself and the command
staff, we got you a little plaque. 2025
[14:49] firefighter of the year awarded to
Darren Burke in recognition of your
[14:52] outstanding dedication and exceptional
service to the Clinga Fire Department
[14:56] and the community you serve.
>> Thank you. [applause]
[15:02] » Would you like to say anything, sir?
>> [laughter]
[15:08] » Uh, thank you councel and thank you
chief. Appreciate it.
[15:12] » All right.
>> THANKS. [applause]
[15:20] » Thank you very much for your service.
Going to move on to item number 2.3,
[15:25] 2025 officer and dispatcher of the year.
Chief
[15:40] Good evening, mayor, um, council, and
staff and community. I'm honored here
[15:46] to, uh, introduce our officer and
dispatcher of the year. And so, I'm
[15:51] going to call up officer Serillo Cruz.
Please come up. [applause]
[16:01] And this was also uh the officer was
select also from his peers. So I'd like
[16:05] to read a little bio. [clears throat]
Officer Cruz started with the police
[16:10] department in August of 2024. Officer
Cruz has been described as having a
[16:15] positive attitude and a great work
ethic. He is always eager to learn, gets
[16:19] along well with his fellow officers and
the members of the community. and he is
[16:23] not afraid to put in the extra work
often required in this profession.
[16:28] Officer Cruz has only been with the
department for a little over a year. He
[16:32] has grown and proved making him a
valuable asset to the agency and to the
[16:37] community. He is always willing to take
uh the needed steps to solve his cases
[16:42] and when possible arrest those
responsible for the crime. Just want to
[16:46] give an example of a case that he did
last month on December 28th. Officer
[16:50] Cruz received information from Officer
Jose Vega, which is right there, uh,
[16:55] about where a wanted gang member by the
name of George Marquez might be spending
[17:00] his time at. The gang member Marquez had
a felony warrant for a shooting that
[17:04] occurred last summer near the Warren
Apartments. Officer Crew took it upon
[17:09] himself to conduct various patrol checks
in the area and eventually located
[17:13] suspect Marquez and placed him in
custody. This was great teamwork from
[17:17] the officers and we were able to take
this violent individual off the streets.
[17:21] So, thank you officer for officer of the
year.
[17:23] » Thank you, SIR. [applause]
[17:30] » I'm okay.
>> You're okay.
[17:38] Now, for dispatcher of the year,
Stacy Anderson, would you please come
[17:44] up? COUNCIL.
[applause]
[17:52] Each year the public safety
communication association hosts an
[17:55] annual banquet to recognize dispatcher
from each uh a dispatcher from each
[18:00] agency. This April 18th uh the city in
the city of Reley uh they will be
[18:06] honoring uh the selected dispatchers for
each of the agencies. This year, records
[18:10] clerk Stacy Anderson was selected as
dispatcher of the year for our
[18:14] department. Stacy has been with the
agency for almost 19 years. She was
[18:19] hired as a records clerk and had the
primary responsibility of entering
[18:23] incidents and criminal reports into the
various systems, sending criminal
[18:27] reports off for filing with the courts
and the district attorney's office. She
[18:31] also entered citation and sending those
to the appropriate court and sending and
[18:35] accepting reports from other agencies
and collecting fees from various
[18:40] services handled at the front counter of
the police department. Since being
[18:43] hired, Stacy has also taken on the
responsibility of covering shifts in the
[18:47] dispatch center to the point where she
has been sent to communication training
[18:51] officer school and can now train new
public safety officers. While not
[18:57] technically a public safety dispatcher,
Stacy has been chosen by her peers as
[19:02] the 2025 dispatcher of the year because
of all that she does, including covering
[19:07] dispatch shift. Stacy has been
instrumental in ensuring the police
[19:11] department did not need to contract with
the Fresno County Sheriff's Office for
[19:15] dispatch services due to the lack of
staffing. Stacy is more than a
[19:20] dependable employee and is always
willing to do the extra to ensure that
[19:25] whatever task that is given to her is
completed and completed accurately and
[19:30] in a professional manner. Thank you
Stacy [applause]
[19:36] and
for both of you.
[19:42] This is for officer Serilla Cruz. Uh
2025 police officer of the year in
[19:46] recognition of your high standards and
continued excellence in serving and
[19:51] protecting and to the outstanding
contribution you give every day to the
[19:55] entire community. Awarded to officers
Cruz
[20:00] and Stacy for 2025 dispatcher of the
year. In recognition for your
[20:06] excellence, professionalism, calm under
pressure, and unworthing dedication to
[20:10] the public safety, your skills,
precision, and commitment behind the
[20:15] scenes ensure the safety of officers and
the community you serve every day.
[20:20] Awarded to dispatcher
Stacy Anderson. I know she's ahead.
[20:26] [applause]
[20:31] [applause]
>> You guys want to take some pictures?
[20:33] » So, as um recognition is very important,
we're going to take about a fivem minute
[20:37] break. We're going to let um uh everyone
take pictures uh with their with their
[20:42] staff and uh we'll also uh take pictures
with Abel and um we'll meet back here in
[20:48] about five minutes. Appreciate it.
[24:45] All right, it's 6:19. We're going to
call this meeting back to order.
[24:49] Going to move on to item number 2.4,
2025, Kolinga Police Department annual
[24:55] report. Chief
[25:05] All right. Um, now we have a couple new
council members. So, also I'll be
[25:09] explaining a couple new charts in this
annual report. But this is just going to
[25:13] be a brief uh overview of the 2025
annual report.
[25:21] I just want to start by saying that um
when I first started in 2022, I
[25:26] implemented three goals uh for the
department to focus on each year. These
[25:31] goals also were lead and build
department number one reduce crime,
[25:36] number two and three building community
trusts and uh these goals
[25:42] uh provides a pride in each of the uh
annual report and every year to update
[25:48] you the council along with the community
on our efforts as to how we're reducing
[25:54] uh crime along with how we engage with
the community and um and much more
[26:00] within also the goals I I list the
challenges we had in 2025 the
[26:05] accomplishments we had in 2025 and then
the goals that that we strive to achieve
[26:10] in 2026 the following year so that's
what I'll be covering in this annual
[26:14] report
[26:20] and starting with goal number one lead
and build a department uh our budget
[26:24] here for 202526 police department's
annual budget funds 36 employees
[26:30] 24 sworn officers, one part-time paid
reserve officer, and 11 nonsworn
[26:35] civilians. And of the funding, two sworn
officer positions are paid by the
[26:40] organized retail theft grant that we
have. Uh, one position uh, sworn officer
[26:45] position paid by Kolinga College and
that's our campus officer.
[26:57] We did end 2025 with four officer
vacancies and uh one part-time
[27:02] dispatcher vacancies. So, some of the
challenges we had with the four officer
[27:06] vacancies and then you add on the maybe
one or two other officers uh out for
[27:12] medical or administrative leave. We had
to um uh reassign two our two detectives
[27:19] and our campus officers back to patrol
to handle calls for service. Uh they've
[27:23] since returned in fall of 2025. Uh but
uh not having them in those positions
[27:29] were um were hard. Uh these are great
officers and they were doing some great
[27:33] work in that position. Uh but anyways,
they're been reassigned. As to the
[27:38] dispatch challenges we had, we did have
dispatcher vacancies in the summer of uh
[27:43] 2025 to the point that we had to reach
out to the Fresno County Sheriff Office
[27:47] for their assistance on two occasions to
handle 911 emergency calls for service.
[27:53] Um the accomplishments on that, thanks
for the support of the city manager and
[27:57] council, we filled all the full-time uh
dispatch vacancies. So um so we
[28:03] definitely only have that part-time now.
And then we also had the opportunity to
[28:08] promote three officers to the rank of
corporal.
[28:13] Some of the sub uh sub goals uh that
we'd like to complete and and um and
[28:18] building department is we will continue
uh to to have our recruiting team reach
[28:23] out to the localmies. We also,
excuse me, we also want to um
[28:35] we also want to be able to reach out to
our community. uh we you know when we
[28:40] open the recruitment to the uh to the uh
community we were lucky to pick up
[28:45] officer Jose Vega and I really believe
there's probably one or two um
[28:50] individuals here in our community who
has a heart to become officers and want
[28:54] to give back to the community to help
raise them. So, um, council, I'll be
[28:58] coming back later to see if we can make
that happen. Uh, so we could fill these
[29:02] vacancies, these positions. And it's,
you know, since I've been here, we've
[29:07] always had vacancies. We've always ended
the year with three vacancies, but this
[29:10] year we ended with uh four.
In reducing crime, you know, I I just
[29:16] like to say that I'm very proud of the
officers, the men and women of the
[29:18] department that work hard each day uh to
improve the safety of our community. uh
[29:24] we did meet our goal for 2025 and having
less than 200 victims. Um in fact uh we
[29:30] had a 3% reduction of crime. We had 195
uh victims. Uh for the new council
[29:36] members, if you haven't seen this chart
before, uh this is a uniform crime
[29:40] report u data here. Uh this is a data
that's mandatory reporting every month
[29:46] to the department of justice and it goes
goes over these uh these seven part one
[29:51] crimes which are homicide, rape,
robbery, assaults, burglary, lararsenies
[29:56] and autotheft. And we report this every
month. But law enforcement also use
[30:00] these uh data to determine if we have
crime trends or where we need to direct
[30:06] our resources at. So, just to go over
the the year-to- date 2025 in the the
[30:12] column over to your right, uh we had no
homicides in 25, we had two rapes, we
[30:17] had three robberies, we had a 129
assaults, but of the 129 assaults, 47
[30:24] were domestic violence, and seven were
gang related. We had 14 burgies and 36
[30:31] larsenies and 11 autothefts in our city
in 2025 with a total of 195 victims.
[30:46] Some of our accomplishments we've for
the new members uh for the new council
[30:51] we had uh phases of one through six in
in our our technology of a community
[30:56] video policing pol uh uh policing
program. Uh we now today have 56
[31:02] surveillance cameras with 99 camera
views and 25 license plate captures. And
[31:09] our goals for 2026 is with grant funding
that we have is to purchase a mobile
[31:14] camera trailer with the license plate
capture. Uh we also want to uh reduce
[31:19] domestic violence by focusing on repeat
offenders, apprehending those suspects
[31:24] that are large, working with the
domestic violence advocates in providing
[31:28] assistance to the victim and working
close with the district attorney's
[31:31] office to ensure cases are prosecutable.
Another
[31:38] thing we added uh in reducing crime, we
also added in reducing traffic accidents
[31:43] this year for the first time because of
the amount of traffic accidents we had
[31:48] uh in 2025.
And it just shows you here in 2025 we
[31:52] had a total of 83 traffic accidents um
compared to the 49 that we had in 2024
[32:00] which is a 69.4%
increase.
[32:05] uh the injury accidents uh was a major
contributing factor to the increase
[32:10] which we had 19 uh injury accidents
compared to eight the year prior which
[32:16] is uh 38% increase. So a couple of
things that we're going to be focusing
[32:23] on and reducing that is that we're going
to have our officers train the radar
[32:27] equipment. We have to send them to
school. uh once they're trained then
[32:31] they'll be able to use radar equipment
in those areas where we have a high
[32:35] volume of accidents along will we re the
department's number one complaint that
[32:39] we receive is vehicle speeding. So,
we're going to be taking on those
[32:43] complaints of citizens on those uh areas
of neighborhoods or streets that are
[32:47] speeders and we'll be utilizing the
radar and we're going to be issuing a
[32:52] lot of citations to hopefully reduce the
speed and reduce the traffic accidents.
[32:56] So, next year we won't have that many
[33:04] in building community trust. uh just the
accomplishments. Uh we have our
[33:09] department fully engaged in building
that uh community police partnership. Uh
[33:14] we were involved in 25 community events.
Um we for the first time we hosted a
[33:20] citizen academy and I want to take an
opportunity to thank uh Commander Young
[33:24] who who took the lead in that academy
and and made it happen. We also had our
[33:29] quarterly meetings of the chief advisory
board which was very successful
[33:34] and our sergeants and officers contacted
a total,858
[33:39] residents of business owners. Uh it met
our goal last year of of tracking our
[33:45] positive contacts that the officers make
in the in in our communities. So they
[33:49] started tracking that and uh and I'm
very proud of our officers making all
[33:53] those contacts to the point where we
want to continue that uh continue
[33:59] tracking uh track officers positive self
initiated contacts with businesses and
[34:04] residents of Kinga. Uh we also want to
day pat uh have a starting a walking
[34:11] beat in the downtown area. So, our
dayshift patrol will be responsible for
[34:16] that and when calls are allowed
and we would like to implement the uh
[34:23] police explorer program hopefully as
soon as we meet with the the uh
[34:27] superintendent and be able to u get that
going. We have some volunteer officers
[34:32] who want to start the program, but we
need the partnership at the school
[34:42] council. Um, I just before I go to the
last chart, um, I want to say that next
[34:47] Wednesday, January 28th, I'll be four
years as your police chief. It's, um,
[34:52] and and it's been been an honor. But I
remember when I first started uh, in
[34:58] 2022, I came into uh, the charges of
officers staffing. A matter of fact,
[35:04] when we lost our canine officer, I was
number 12 officer in 22 at the
[35:09] beginning. And um and we were just in a
hiring mode after that. We picked up a
[35:13] lot of good officers through the
academy.
[35:15] But uh it it was some tough times. We
had such an increase of uh traffic uh of
[35:21] violence, of gang crimes, shootings. Uh
we didn't have a camera system that
[35:26] worked. Uh it that was solving helping
solve cases. So we just we end up
[35:33] you know developing strategies and and
and built strategies along with the
[35:38] officers getting experience to really
start impact slowly on fighting crime
[35:42] and reducing crime. and um and these
strategies and having experienced
[35:48] officers really started to show. Uh I
mean we ended 20 uh 2022 with 325
[35:56] victims compared today of 195
which is a 40% reduction that we've had.
[36:05] So you'll see the slowly in 2023 with
the 50 15% reduction with 276 victims
[36:12] and then we had unprecedented reduction
in 24 with 27% with 201 victims and then
[36:20] 3% reduction last year with 195. So, and
just by looking at the chart and the
[36:26] reduction, uh, Kolinga is is no doubt
one of the safest communities in North
[36:33] Central Valley. And, um, and I want to
thank, uh, the city manager, the mayor,
[36:39] and the council for your continued
support. Uh, it's been an honor serving
[36:43] the residents of, uh, Kolinka. Thank
you.
[36:47] » Thank you.
>> Any questions?
[36:48] » You're not leaving, are you? That's
usually
[36:53] » No.
[36:56] No, no, it's just an honor honor to be
here [laughter]
[36:59] and I live here too, you know, during my
work week. So,
[37:02] » thank you. Okay. And that has to do a
lot with even our retail when we go to
[37:06] our meetings um showing um numbers like
what you're giving us actually makes a
[37:11] big difference all this you know house
development retail anything to do for
[37:17] anybody coming going big. We really
express that we actually one of the
[37:22] communities that we could walk around in
our walking trails and be safe
[37:28] » and thank you
>> and we're going to make us more safe.
[37:30] » Thank you. Appreciate it.
>> So I got just a couple questions just
[37:34] um so in the calendar year
[clears throat]
[37:37] you know that you're seeing
well in the calendar year what like what
[37:45] time of the year are you seeing the most
crimes? Yeah, summer is is probably the
[37:49] the busiest calls for service. It'd be
the summer, the hot months, a lot of
[37:53] drinking, uh domestic violence have
increased then. U that's why it's
[37:58] important to get a handle and hopefully
we could make a dent on that because um
[38:02] we don't have a domestic violence
advocate over here. So, I'm going to
[38:05] reach out to Major Marie Mason Center
and see how we could get some uh that
[38:09] assistance over here. So, maybe that'll
help.
[38:11] » So, there's I'm sure during summertime
you have strategies, right? more crimes
[38:17] on the rise. So you're implementing more
involvement, more education, more
[38:22] officers. I mean, you hired 12 more
officers four years ago and you reduce
[38:28] what 50%. So every that's double the
staff and the reduction of 50% almost
[38:32] 50%,
>> right?
[38:34] » I could imagine what I could imagine
what would happen if I had 24 officers,
[38:38] you know, I mean, but we do
>> 24 sworn in officers.
[38:41] » Sworn officers, working officers,
healthy officers.
[38:46] Yeah. And this size of of of of the
city, we we're at one 24 officers, 1.7
[38:53] uh officers, and we should be uh close
to uh two officers per thousand. So, you
[38:58] know, we're under and being 1.7.
>> Yeah. 1.77. But yet, we've never had we
[39:05] have 20 officers, sworn officers
currently working, but we only have 17
[39:11] uh that are actually uh healthy.
So 18 17 to 18. Yeah.
[39:18] » And then on the accidents that you
>> on the accidents that you reported like
[39:23] is there any like correlation of where
these accidents are occurring like on
[39:27] these incidents?
>> Number one intersection is fifth and and
[39:32] forest. I think uh uh the last couple
years we've had 17 accidents there.
[39:39] » 17 accidents on Fifth and Forest.
>> Yes. We we never we need a light or a
[39:43] stop sign there. Yeah.
>> And the city manager is on it.
[39:48] » Yeah. We're I'm actually in active
communication with the director of
[39:52] district 6 working on some type of
solution, whether it be a temporary
[39:55] solution to see in terms of trying to
get something going there in terms of a
[40:00] stop sign. Um, but I'll have more of an
update once I kind of get some more uh
[40:05] once we engage a little bit more. We we
did send over all the accident data
[40:09] because I think they only had two
accidents since 2016. And um I know I've
[40:14] sent some over in the past because we've
had issues in the past and so we're
[40:17] continuing to push to try and get
something there if we can.
[40:20] » I'm sure. Roger, you hear all the
crashes.
[40:22] » Yeah, I got front. [laughter]
>> And that's that's Calrrons, right?
[40:27] » That's that's CalR. So kind of, you
know, we have to work with them and
[40:30] stuff like that. But also our video is
helping, right?
[40:32] » Yes. Our video.
>> Well, we we there's we don't capture
[40:35] that area. We don't have a camera there.
Wow.
[40:38] » So my my last question is like what's
the current involvement with the school
[40:42] because I remember growing up here. I
mean we had the police offic you know we
[40:46] do have a high volume of calls for
service especially at the junior high
[40:48] and high schools uh disturbances fights
a lot of unreported assaults that occur
[40:53] there and you're to answer your
questions we are in the process of
[40:57] meeting with this uh the superintendent
and a committee I believe that's going
[41:02] to be developed to do that.
>> Oh that's amazing. Good. Any other
[41:06] questions from council?
>> Yeah, I just want to say I'm glad to see
[41:09] the police explorer program coming back.
It's been a long time, huh?
[41:12] » Right.
>> Yeah. Good job, Chief. Looks good.
[41:18] » Any others?
Can I just ask that we uh make sure we
[41:22] promote this information out to the
public because I think it's important
[41:26] that people uh recognize the hard work
uh that the the forest has done and a
[41:30] lot of times we focus on negative
negativity and I think this is very
[41:35] positive information uh that the public
could grasp onto. Not only that, maybe
[41:39] it could u help in extra eyes and ears
uh trying to keep these numbers and even
[41:43] trying to lower them more.
>> Okay, we'll put a press release out.
[41:46] » Appreciate it.
>> Anybody else?
[41:50] Seeing none, thank you so much, Chief.
Appreciate it.
[41:52] » Keep doing the great job you do.
[applause]
[42:05] All right, we're going to move
[clears throat] on to citizens comments.
[42:09] This section of the agenda allows
members of the public to address the
[42:13] city council on any item within the
jurisdiction of the council. Members of
[42:18] the public when recognized by the mayor
should come forward to the lectern,
[42:22] identify themselves, and use the
microphone. Comments are normally
[42:25] limited to three minutes in accordance
with state open meeting laws. No action
[42:29] will be taken by the city council this
evening, and all items will be referred
[42:33] to staff for follow-up and a report.
Citizen comments submitted in writing to
[42:38] the city clerk by 5:00 p.m. on the day
of the city council meeting shall be
[42:41] distributed to the city council and
included in the record. However, they
[42:45] will not be read. Do we have any
citizens comments? Yes, sir.
[42:51] [snorts]
[43:00] I'm Bill Lewis.
I want to inform you
[43:07] and the viewing audience to that the
Kinga Healthc Care District has kicked
[43:12] off their
uh spring 2026
[43:18] uh grant funding uh program
and we are actively looking for
[43:27] opportunities to assist in the wellness
of the community in various of different
[43:34] ways. What's [clears throat] happening
right now for instance that we did from
[43:38] uh last fall is we have granted funds to
pro to provide
[43:47] four CPR classes, training classes at no
cost to the attendees. So, we're funding
[43:54] the the fee for the uh instructor and
for the attendees. And I think the first
[44:01] one starts in March. Uh but don't don't
quote me on that. Anyway, so there's
[44:06] opportunities for uh we've done things
for the fire department, we've done
[44:11] things for girls softball, for Oilers,
swim team equipment, you name it. So, if
[44:20] you know of an of a opportunity that uh
a group uh would like to maybe buy some
[44:28] equipment or would like to sponsor some
some kind of an event, we did we helped
[44:33] sponsor the turkey trot for the Lions
Club. Any nonprofit organization or
[44:38] government organization that uh would
like to partake of that, we are eager to
[44:44] help.
[44:47] » Thank you so much. Okay.
[44:52] Anyone else for citizens comments?
>> Yes, sir.
[45:04] And please uh state your name for the
record.
[45:09] » Hi there, citizens of Kolinga. My name
is David Gutierrez. Um I'm 25 years old
[45:13] and um I really just wanted to come up
here to um kind of just I guess comment
[45:19] on like the things that I see kind of
that's going on with the city from my
[45:23] perspective and from I guess a lot of
younger people's perspective I guess you
[45:27] could say. Um
our city is so great. You know we have
[45:32] such a good little town. It's so nice to
be all together. Um, but our town's kind
[45:39] of I feel like and a lot of other people
feel like it's kind of like declining.
[45:44] People are kind of moving towards these
bigger towns like Hanford, Vicelia,
[45:47] Fresno. Other day I had to go to Vicelia
just to go shopping and buy this jacket.
[45:53] And um my real main concern for the city
is we don't have enough jobs as well as
[45:59] enough things for like younger people to
do. And I really feel like we should
[46:04] just try to build up the West Hills
Community College because that's one of
[46:08] our biggest assets as a city. Um I went
to West Hills straight out of Kolinga at
[46:13] the high school and stuff. Um
and going there there's a lot of
[46:18] diversity, a lot of people that come
from different states, Maryland and
[46:21] stuff, you know, if our Maryland is
that's we on the East Coast. We bring a
[46:25] different people to our our town, you
know. So, we got to try to like build
[46:29] that up, I feel like, because that gives
us eyes from the outside coming in and
[46:33] they could take their eyes be, oh, I
went to West Hills College King Kolinga
[46:37] and they're in a different town and they
could be like they could be putting it
[46:39] on networking. I just feel like we as a
town, we just got to kind of
[46:45] we could kind of build ourselves up a
little bit better. We just need some
[46:48] more jobs, too. You know, we got these
shopping centers that are a little
[46:52] deserted and stuff. You know, they could
use a little a little business, a little
[46:56] job, you know, cuz a lot of us young
people, it's really hard to find a job
[46:59] around here, you know, coming out of out
of high school. Like, be real with you,
[47:03] I didn't want to go to college. I don't
want to go to school. I don't want to
[47:05] keep on doing that. But I kind of was
forced to do that because there's not
[47:09] enough jobs around here. I had to go get
financial aid, you know, and get that
[47:12] each month. It's a It's hard, you know,
this town. I love it and all, you know,
[47:17] and that's why I wanted to come here
tonight and try to speak. I'm a little
[47:21] nervous cuz I haven't spoken in front of
a lot of people since I don't know when,
[47:25] honestly. But, um, yeah, I just feel
like there's a lot of growth. It'd be
[47:29] nice if we get like a little fishing
pond here. Just throw that out there,
[47:31] too. Um, cuz small towns, you know, we
need activities to do, you know, little
[47:36] things. And also, since I'm up here, I
also would like to say I don't think
[47:40] it's a really good idea that the um that
little um pond or the little um water
[47:46] park that they're trying to go downtown.
I don't really think that's necessarily
[47:50] a good idea. Like in that spot, it's a
beautiful idea to bring that here, but
[47:54] that location, I don't know if that's
really too good because that's really a
[47:57] a business downtown area with all
traffic and kids and stuff. I personally
[48:01] wouldn't feel like that's a really a
good spot. I used I do security and
[48:05] stuff. I work at Defcon before. I work
at Harris right now. And I just feel
[48:10] like there's a little bit more we could
do. But um I appreciate you guys. Sorry
[48:14] for taking up your time.
>> No, you're good.
[48:16] » Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Thank you for coming. [applause]
[48:27] » All right. Any other public comments?
Citizens comments. [clears throat]
[48:32] Okay. Seeing none, we will close the
citizens comments. And I just want to
[48:37] make people aware that we do have
comment cards over for the discussion
[48:41] items, which we do have uh it looks like
three of them tonight. So if you're
[48:45] interested in being involved in the
discussion, you can pick up a discussion
[48:48] card, fill out your name and what item
you want to talk on, and you can hand
[48:52] that to our uh city clerk.
[48:56] That being said, we're going to move on
to item number four, which is public
[49:00] hearings, which we have none.
[49:05] going to move on to the consent calendar
which is number five. It looks like we
[49:10] have eight items. Is there anything that
anyone would like to pull off uh for
[49:15] information?
>> I'd like to pull number two just for
[49:18] information, please.
>> Anybody else?
[49:24] » Okay, number two.
>> Okay,
[49:28] » thank you. I'll just provide a little
brief update. I think this kind of gets
[49:31] asked when we uh put this on the agenda.
So, I've got some I'll just kind of
[49:35] highlight some of the items from our our
list that the departments uh prepare
[49:39] regarding our strategic planning
projects. Um some highlights uh credit
[49:44] card payment processing uh that will be
uh accessible and we've been already
[49:49] starting to push out some information on
our social media about uh being
[49:53] available in February. So we'll be able
to take um a broader area of um credit
[49:58] card payments starting in February uh
once that gets fully integrated. So
[50:02] we're expecting that in early February.
Uh Derek Reservoir project uh nearly
[50:06] complete should be complete by the end
of the month. Uh we're just painting the
[50:11] tank and as we know the weather's been
kind of hasn't been really working with
[50:14] us. It's been very uh cold and foggy I
think for a month straight. So we really
[50:19] didn't get the opportunity to paint the
tank. So, um, now that we've got some
[50:23] sun, we're starting to see that, uh,
move progress again. Uh, Ramsey Park,
[50:28] the splash pad is on on schedule. Uh,
we're still looking at about a May May
[50:33] or so, uh, completion. And as we're kind
of mulling out and finalizing cost
[50:39] estimates as the design gets to 100%,
we're seeing that we're just about on
[50:42] budget right now. So, if anything
changes until we go out to bid and get
[50:46] the final bids, but so far we're looking
like we're still on budget based on um
[50:50] our current budget year. Um one update
um Councilman Ramirez probably hasn't se
[50:57] uh heard about, but we also we have been
exploring options on the veterans uh
[51:01] hall that you had brought up when we did
our strategic planning effort. So, we've
[51:05] been doing some research on how to plan
for one, how to get funding for it. I
[51:11] think uh we also think that there's also
an opportunity as a federal earmark. So
[51:15] when we start scheduling our trip to DC
to talk to our representatives outside
[51:19] of kind of the one voice trip because I
know that the city of Mantika and
[51:22] Watsonville both were awarded funds
through federal earmarks for Veterans
[51:27] Hall. So I think once we kind of have an
idea of potential funding opportunities,
[51:31] we can look at how do we, you know, man
it, who who manages it. And so we'll
[51:37] continue those conversations, but it is
still on our radar. We're still slowly
[51:40] doing some um research on that. Uh
Justennia is working on the website
[51:45] redesign. It's under uh underway and it
looks like she's going to have a
[51:49] presentation in February. We're going to
bring I'm going to bring her out on the
[51:52] February meeting, kind of give an
update, introduce herself once again and
[51:55] kind of give you guys an update on where
she's at with a lot of our programs, uh
[52:00] some of the the social media, I guess,
approaches that we're taking and what
[52:04] kind of information we're going to be
pushing out to the public this year.
[52:07] We've we've uh she's been scheduling
meetings with all the departments with
[52:10] their staff and just getting a lot of
information and feedback from them uh
[52:15] where they're going to start developing
content or developing and pushing
[52:17] information to her so she can develop
content to get that information out from
[52:21] what we're seeing that um residents are
looking for and what information um
[52:25] people are looking for. But she's going
to give us an update um at one of the
[52:28] meetings in February and kind of go over
all that with us. Uh the chatbot
[52:32] integration on the website it's
partially complete. the auto eye is
[52:36] complete which is basically the
accessibility component of the website
[52:39] and then we'll have also the chat
feature um virtual chat uh hopefully
[52:44] soon uh integrated into the website as
well that will probably come sooner with
[52:48] the integration of the website redesign
so it's consistent with the the new
[52:53] paging and all the content that we're
going to try and upgrade update on the
[52:57] website uh one meeting integration
that's the replacement of our our
[53:01] current agenda software novice agenda
one meeting purchase Novvice agenda
[53:06] about four or five years ago, if not
longer. They're no longer supporting
[53:09] Novvice as as you know. We're going
through the integration process. We just
[53:13] had a meeting today with uh with the
group at one meeting and we'll be
[53:17] looking at doing some training uh here
in the next probably month. And once
[53:21] because the system's pretty much built
once we get training, then we'll be
[53:24] looking at doing a full um go live on
transferring over to the new agenda
[53:29] software. So, you should get your reset
password uh when they uh get sent to
[53:33] you. Um commercial vehicle enforcement,
we're actively engaged and we're already
[53:38] seeing improvement. And so, I won't go
into too much detail, but we have been
[53:43] um from the discussions we had with with
the council and kind of our plan of
[53:47] attack from when Jesse presented uh a
few meetings ago, we have been seeing a
[53:52] big difference. They some of them it's
kind of a shuffle game. to move into
[53:56] different locations, but I think they're
in less intrusive uh areas that we've
[54:00] seen and uh and so we're but we're
continuing to maintain that and
[54:04] obviously this is one component of our
clean city initiative that uh Jesse's
[54:08] kind of heading up and we're already
starting to implement that as well. Um
[54:12] putting out information on social media
and updating our electronic sign as well
[54:16] to continue to push that out as well. So
we'll you'll start seeing a lot of
[54:20] content coming out soon. Just has been
working on quite a bit. uh the solar
[54:24] projects for the water and wastewater.
Um water is slowly underway. Wastewater
[54:29] will come soon after. We're looking to
have those those projects completed by
[54:32] April. Um the outdoor food court. Uh
we've uh we're working on securing a
[54:38] landscape architect. Jesse's been
actively engaged with Precision
[54:41] Engineering. Uh we're gonna we we have
kind of a general concept that Jesse's
[54:46] kind of mocked up and we're going to get
that looking a little prettier and then
[54:49] we'll bring that to the council to kind
of present a a preliminary concept that
[54:54] we can get your guys' feedback and
comments and then we can continue on
[54:58] with uh once we kind of get a nice
pretty concept design that we can show
[55:02] then we'll start getting into
preliminary design and getting full cost
[55:05] estimates so we can hopefully throw
together a budget for next fiscal year
[55:09] for construction [snorts]
[clears throat]
[55:11] fire department bathroom remodels
complete. Um and then with the uh
[55:16] approval hopefully of the consent
calendar tonight, the fire department
[55:19] generator will be approved with funding
to complete. Um in terms of a few other
[55:25] things, AI plan checks. Uh the building
department's been using uh the AI plan
[55:30] check software that we've we've
purchased and they say it does about 90%
[55:34] of the job. Uh not all of Robert's job,
but it does it does a good job of us
[55:40] being efficient. Uh we still do
cross-checking, but it it is pretty
[55:44] pretty good at what it does. Um but it
still does require a human to do the the
[55:48] the error checking and making sure it's
it's it's adequate, but it is making us
[55:53] more efficient and our turnaround time
on plan checks are are increasing
[55:56] significantly. And we don't necessarily
have to use contract services to do the
[56:00] plan checking. So, uh that's that'll
save the city a little money. So, we'll
[56:04] be able to recoup all the plan check
fees rather than having to share a
[56:07] percentage under contract with uh
outside plan check services. Uh fuel at
[56:12] the airport, we're hoping for the first
week of February. Um so, Robert's been
[56:17] going to be out there kind of working on
uh moving the trailer, getting it into
[56:20] position, and then doing the final
connections to get the point of service
[56:23] working, and then we'll be able to start
offering um on demand fuel at the
[56:28] airport. So, we'll we'll definitely make
an announcement on that when that comes.
[56:31] And the last one is uh lighting at the
airport. We're we're in the process of
[56:34] getting that goes those lights ordered
and some of this has to do with the LED
[56:38] LED conversion and that is going to be
close to probably May of this year.
[56:42] We'll hopefully have that complete as
well. So, we'll continue to keep you
[56:45] updated on our monthly reports. I know
this one was probably quite long because
[56:48] it included November and December
because of the the crazy months we have.
[56:52] Um but we'll continue to provide you
updates monthly on those. But any other
[56:55] questions? I'll be more than happy to
answer any.
[56:57] » Any other questions from council?
[57:04] Yeah, the plan check. What do you mean
plan check? Like,
[57:08] » so building plan checks?
>> Building plan checks.
[57:10] » Yeah, so we can actually put it into an
AI software and it does a majority of
[57:14] the actual uh comments for us.
>> Gotcha. So this AI software is is it
[57:19] what does that include? Is that
>> I'm gonna let Jesse hammer that. It's
[57:22] kind of his little baby. It's a it's a
software called Ichi and it's uh
[57:28] designed by um by building engineers. So
what we do is I'm I'm a building plan
[57:34] checker by trade. So really what it's
helping me do is train Robert. Robert's
[57:37] a building inspector and you know the
next graduation from there is to be a
[57:41] plans examiner. So really it's given him
the confidence that um it's pointing
[57:46] things out to him and he can he can look
at things and and identify problems or
[57:50] not problems. and sometimes the software
is pointing things out that aren't
[57:53] actually code issues and he can verify
that. Go look at the code. It gives him
[57:57] code section. So, it's a really good
training tool more than anything. Um,
[58:01] and I'm also here to back him up and
give him the confidence that, you know,
[58:05] second pair of eyes. So, uh, it's doing
really well. We're we're really happy
[58:08] with it. So,
>> is this like an annual fee or
[58:10] subscription? What how does that go?
>> It's a $200 per user per month.
[58:14] » Oh, okay.
>> And it's it sounds steep until you start
[58:18] talking about how much uh third party
plant checks cost. Yeah. Yeah, that
[58:21] sounds pretty reasonable to me. 200
bucks per user add me. [laughter]
[58:29] » Any other questions?
>> Does the planning have anything um on
[58:34] retail? Anything? You guys have meetings
with them or anything like that?
[58:38] » Uh we don't have anything right now. Um
just prior projects. We did uh as the
[58:44] commission as the council knows,
planning commission met last week. We do
[58:47] have um there was an approval of a 17
unit subdivision over there on Cherry
[58:51] and Locust. So, we'll probably see some
house homes being built. I think they
[58:55] mentioned probably what they what did
they say? Did you have any update on
[58:59] that, Jesse?
>> I think they said a five to six month uh
[59:02] um dirt moving and plan review and then
they should be building uh with a 10 9
[59:08] to 10 month turnaround. So, they're
saying built out by 18 months from
[59:11] today.
>> Okay. Is is is that one with that
[59:15] program? Yeah, it's Oh, sorry.
>> It's with uh so a while ago the C we we
[59:21] the city donated that property, right,
to self-help enterprises and they're the
[59:24] ones undertaking the project. So, it's
actually a owner kind of build
[59:28] » like help build.
>> It's a self-help build. Yeah. So, they
[59:30] have I think they said they had to put
in 40 hours a month.
[59:33] » Yeah.
>> Into the into the build. So, they get
[59:35] pre-qualified. They have to go through
training and then there's a
[59:38] superintendent on site. Actually, he was
at the meeting um or he was the
[59:41] construction manager. And um so it's
yeah they kind of have skin in the game
[59:45] when it comes to uh building their home.
So and then it's just 80% of um adjusted
[59:51] median gross income.
>> Okay, that sounds good. Thanks.
[59:53] » Who qualifies?
>> That's starting. Good.
[59:55] » Yeah. And worth in phase three.
>> And then we also have more than phase
[59:58] three which is off of Merrced. Uh that
that next phase they're starting to move
[1:00:02] dirt. We're working with our planning
staff to get the final map brought back
[1:00:06] to council for final approval. But
they're doing a lot of like the
[1:00:09] preliminary grading work, underground
work as we get to the point where we can
[1:00:12] get the final map approved, which is a
consent item for both the commission and
[1:00:16] the council. However, we got to have
legal lots in order to, you know, sell
[1:00:19] them. So, we're making sure we go
through that process. But, as we always
[1:00:22] do, we try to, you know, allow as much
to move forward at risk as possible so
[1:00:27] we can keep things moving without
holding them up on things that we know
[1:00:31] are more trivial than, you know,
impactful. So, um, but we're moving on
[1:00:36] that. We've got a couple of our gas
stations that are in plan check right
[1:00:38] now. We don't I don't know if we have
any updated uh time frames on
[1:00:41] construction. Um sometimes they submit
plans, they hold on to and then all a
[1:00:45] sudden we hear that they're going to
they want to pull permits tomorrow and
[1:00:48] start construction. So um but nothing
new on that front. Uh I guess I could
[1:00:53] give you one update on just on a
project. I know there's probably been
[1:00:56] some you guys may have heard about it.
There's been some concerns about the
[1:00:59] Starbucks. You're staring at me like you
know exactly what I'm going to say. Um
[1:01:04] the entrance to Starbucks off of Elm
Avenue. It's a very narrow turn. I think
[1:01:07] you have to wait a cars literally have
to wait for each other to pass before
[1:01:10] you can go through. We were approached
by the developer because Starbucks had
[1:01:14] reached out to him and so they're going
to be making some modifications to that
[1:01:18] that driveway. Not the driveway, just
the curb the curbing as you get into the
[1:01:22] site. So it's going to be more gradual
directly into the drive into the
[1:01:26] drive-thru rather than having to kind of
secure go around and in. So, and I think
[1:01:30] they're going to pave a little bit more
of that island area, so there's more
[1:01:34] circulation um on site since it is a
phased project. Um I think we they've
[1:01:39] found that it's it makes more sense to
do a little bit more improvement. So,
[1:01:42] I'm not I'm not sure if we have a
timeline on it, but they were looking to
[1:01:44] come out there relatively quick. We've
already approved the the change and so
[1:01:48] they're going to be moving forward to
update that.
[1:01:51] » Sorry.
>> So, I have a question. So, yes, as
[1:01:54] you're leaving Starbucks, if you make a
left-hand turn, isn't that like a double
[1:01:57] lane?
Yes.
[1:02:00] So, you're
>> not supposed to make a left-hand turn
[1:02:02] in.
>> Okay. [laughter]
[1:02:04] » Well, I just see a lot of people turning
though. You know, I see that happen. I
[1:02:07] was running by their the other day and
someone just zip on made left. I was
[1:02:11] like,
>> that was the reason. Yeah. The the the
[1:02:14] CALR required the pork chop style uh we
call it a pork chop driveway due for
[1:02:19] that reason. Um, but there were never
there weren't any physical barriers,
[1:02:24] which admittedly the city didn't
necessarily want to include the physical
[1:02:28] barriers there. Um,
>> is there a sign?
[1:02:32] » Uh, I don't know if there is a sign.
>> Right turn only. I don't think there's
[1:02:35] so
>> Well, there is a right turn. Yeah, the
[1:02:37] right turn out for sure out of that.
That's why it's it angles. But coming
[1:02:40] in,
>> no left probably with big old
[1:02:43] » kind. The issue is though is that the
only way into there is by turning left
[1:02:47] and then doing a Uturn. So if you're
>> No, there's there's an entrance off of
[1:02:51] Cherry
>> off of Yeah, but there's no way to get
[1:02:54] into
>> the main though, you know, at the main
[1:02:56] turn and then you got to come back.
>> There's a there's an entrance right
[1:02:59] before the alley on Cherry that pulls
directly parallel to the drive-thru and
[1:03:03] then you just turn left and then pull
into the drivethru.
[1:03:05] » Is there like drive through?
>> Turn the if you turn the corner, there's
[1:03:08] a median between you and the turn, which
means you got to go down to Lincoln
[1:03:11] Street. You got to come back around and
get in that direction. There's no direct
[1:03:14] turning there. Like if you're coming
from the south, you're coming south from
[1:03:17] south to north and you turn in into a
Starbucks left into the first entrance,
[1:03:23] not waiting until you get to Cherry,
right?
[1:03:25] » Mhm.
>> You're basically crossing the double
[1:03:27] line.
>> Oh, yeah. No, you you are crossing
[1:03:29] there. But on Cherry, you can get in off
of Cherry, but for the drive-thru,
[1:03:33] right?
>> If you go up,
[1:03:35] » Yeah. I have great news. The road diet
fixes all of that. [laughter]
[1:03:39] » Yeah.
>> The road diet that everyone's going to
[1:03:42] be greatly happy with, right?
All right. So, I just have a couple more
[1:03:46] questions. So, website, [clears throat]
if we're going to do the the website, uh
[1:03:51] rehab, I'd like to make sure that we
have some things front and center. Uh
[1:03:56] there's a lot of people that come to our
website looking for services uh for
[1:03:59] things of low income, uh things of uh
nature for to get them a hold of their
[1:04:04] nonprofits, things of that. I want to
make sure that that's easy to get to
[1:04:07] because if we don't put it out in front,
then people are going to come asking.
[1:04:12] And these are questions that I feel a
lot of the time. Um, so on the website,
[1:04:15] I just like to make sure that um, and
there's a lot of information on the
[1:04:18] website that's old and stale
>> and that's part of that.
[1:04:21] » So removing some of this stuff. Um,
making sure the city directory is easily
[1:04:25] getable. Um, sometimes it's not so easy
to get to the city directory to because
[1:04:29] I know a lot of people want your number,
amazingly enough, Sean. [laughter]
[1:04:34] Um, so that and then um, Splashpad.
What's the the We're good still on time
[1:04:43] with the splash pad.
>> Yeah, we should. We're looking at so far
[1:04:46] uh May or so. Yeah.
>> Okay.
[1:04:48] » We'll keep you updated, but
>> And then did you uh did you get a
[1:04:52] response from the council people that
are going to be interested in going to
[1:04:55] the IC, which is where um which is where
we do uh some kind of lobbying for
[1:05:02] retail locations to come here.
>> Yes. So, I'm still working on getting
[1:05:06] confirmation from all of you. Um, but I
did talk to Abel and looks like he's
[1:05:10] gonna be going and Jeremy is going and
then it sounds like you two will be
[1:05:15] going to IC are you going to one voice?
>> Correct.
[1:05:19] » So then and Manny, are you going to ICS
too? Okay. So I think I need to confirm.
[1:05:22] I don't know if we have Manny on the
list. Do you know if we got his
[1:05:26] » or
>> IC?
[1:05:28] I don't know.
>> Okay. Well, we'll check.
[1:05:30] » Been a while,
>> but we'll put Manny.
[1:05:34] » Okay.
>> Yeah. And then I have the dates for um
[1:05:37] the uh the other trip which I can I can
do on my announcements or I can just
[1:05:41] make I'll just reach out to you guys too
individually on the other DC trip.
[1:05:44] » And then on that being said um when
would the next time that our retail
[1:05:48] people will be coming back to uh give us
an update.
[1:05:51] » That's a good question. I'll I'll reach
out to them and we'll make it soon.
[1:05:54] » Okay. I appreciate that. Any other
questions on the consent calendar on any
[1:05:59] of the items?
>> No, just the number four.
[1:06:03] » You want to pull number four?
>> Yes. Okay.
[1:06:04] » Which one's that one?
[1:06:08] » So, I'm kind of new to this, but so as
these consent items here, when we say
[1:06:14] pull them out, that means we're going to
table them and discuss them, right?
[1:06:17] » So,
>> and or or these we can pull them out and
[1:06:20] » elaborate
>> elaborate more.
[1:06:23] » Correct. So, technically, if we wanted
the, you know, legal way technically if
[1:06:27] we wanted to make significant changes,
we'd be moving them to a discussion
[1:06:31] item. So these um let me have the city
attorney give the legal version of the
[1:06:36] consent calendar and what we can do. The
>> consent calendar are just for routine
[1:06:41] items, minutes um
>> simple contracts. Um
[1:06:45] » if you pull an item that means you're
just pulling them for discussion or
[1:06:48] further clarification. Um and then once
the you know you have the clarification
[1:06:53] or your questions are answered then you
can move to approve it in one motion. Or
[1:06:58] if a an item wants to be pulled for a
separate vote, you can do that as well.
[1:07:03] » Okay. Well, I'll pull number five.
[1:07:08] » So, would you like to pull number five
for more information or do you want to
[1:07:10] pull it for a separate vote?
>> Oh, no. More information. Clarity.
[1:07:14] » Okay. So, let's go to item number four
and then we'll go to item number five
[1:07:17] after that.
[1:07:20] » Okay.
>> And what? Let's see. He said number four
[1:07:25] also. Did you have a question on that
one? Yeah, just the the whole clarity on
[1:07:29] um if it's the whole perimeter of
completion or we still have um any more.
[1:07:35] » Yeah, so this is this is for segments 3,
four, and nine. So three is the segment
[1:07:41] um behind like King Oil Tools basically
from Walnut down along the old railroad
[1:07:48] right away to First Street. So that
segment is complete. That's part of that
[1:07:53] segment, right?
>> Yes.
[1:07:54] » Yes. And then we've got the segment out
on um behind the Pacific Apartments.
[1:08:00] It's kind of the across from Elm along
the like future Lucille alignment and
[1:08:06] then it comes down the like an extension
of Forest. So it kind of goes in that
[1:08:09] kind of triang that kind of right angle
type uh and then there are some
[1:08:14] additional improvements that were done
along the frontage on Pacific Street.
[1:08:18] And then future phases which we have
funding for will initially connect are
[1:08:22] going to be connecting those phases. So,
the next phase we're working on right
[1:08:24] now is 10 through 12, which is along the
sports complex. I think we're in the
[1:08:30] rideway phase right now, um, along the
sports complex, basically from
[1:08:34] Cambridge, all along Cambridge pretty
much from Monterey all the way to Elm,
[1:08:40] and then it'll cross Elm, go along the
creek, uh, and tie into that walnut,
[1:08:45] that walnut component. Um, [snorts]
>> another qu another question. Um the one
[1:08:51] behind Kings O2 is that's number three,
right?
[1:08:53] » Yes,
>> that's number three. Is um I know I've
[1:08:55] asked is there plan for light lighting
or are we
[1:09:00] » Yes. So I think part of the lighting for
this segment is part of the uh that uh
[1:09:07] greenhouse gas reduction what uh grant
that we got to rehab the street light at
[1:09:13] Forest and Pulk [clears throat] because
it's the only street light the city
[1:09:15] owns. So, we're actually going to be
modernizing that street light to the LED
[1:09:19] lights, plus it's going to have like the
the talking crosswalks that tells you to
[1:09:24] walk.
>> Um, so it'll have the audio. Uh so it
[1:09:28] was going to be completely modernized to
current standards but we also because
[1:09:33] the grant had so much and there was
something that came up on the grant that
[1:09:35] I off the top of my head I cannot
remember what occurred but we we made a
[1:09:39] scope change in that grant and we
basically asked to include the LED solar
[1:09:44] lighting um for the segments that we
don't have lighting schedule because a
[1:09:48] lot of our new grant applications we've
been incorporating lighting but our but
[1:09:52] our early adopt our early approved
grants for trails didn't include
[1:09:57] lighting as a component. So, we've
included that in there as well because
[1:10:00] now we're finding we can ask for a
little bit more money and the lighting
[1:10:03] component actually is good. So, we're
the older segments which is 34.9, we
[1:10:08] should be be able to include lighting to
those two.
[1:10:10] » And for future uh do we still have that
plan of the the bridge?
[1:10:14] » Yes, that one's in the works right now.
So, we're in Do you have an update on
[1:10:17] that one?
>> We uh talked about an Arizona crossing
[1:10:20] instead of a bridge. So, an Arizona
crossing is a uh and we're still in the
[1:10:24] discussion in design phases, but instead
of the bridge, which would be an extreme
[1:10:27] cost, uh an Arizona crossing basically
crosses the creek
[1:10:33] in the creek
>> under the bridge.
[1:10:35] » Um, no, instead of a bridge, instead of
crossing, instead of using a bridge to
[1:10:39] go over the creek, we'll just go through
the creek.
[1:10:42] » So, it's it's I'm not guaranteeing we're
going to get it done. That's that's the
[1:10:46] that's the thought process because a
bridge is going to be almost
[1:10:48] prohibitively expensive. But we do want
to get across the br across the creek
[1:10:52] there at Lucille. We're talking about
the Lucille uh alignment, right?
[1:10:57] » This is going to be over off of Los
Gatos Creek.
[1:11:00] » This will be over Oh, yeah. This is the
Yeah. So, you're he's talking about the
[1:11:04] planning for the for a future phase
which is over Lucille, which is the
[1:11:08] Lucille alignment that goes over out
into
[1:11:10] » the area near uh Merrced and Lucille the
subdivision out there. This is um
[1:11:16] Manny's asking about the one that's over
there off of Phelps where it'll close
[1:11:21] close across Lil Scott Street because
you you surprised me on that too.
[1:11:25] » We have money for the bridge. So that
one's in that one's in um environmental
[1:11:28] right now.
>> Okay.
[1:11:29] » Yeah. So it's in the it's in the early
stages. These as we know these projects
[1:11:33] take a long time because
>> they're all fedally funded and you have
[1:11:36] to go through environmental then right
away then the design then construction.
[1:11:39] So we're a couple years probably out
before we can really hopefully get that
[1:11:42] built.
>> Okay. All right. That sounds good. Thank
[1:11:44] you. Thank you.
Any other questions on item number four?
[1:11:51] Seeing [clears throat] none, moving to
item number five.
[1:11:56] » Yes. So, just reading through this
contract here. This is an agreement
[1:12:00] through the months of January, February
to supply Gladstone with water. That's
[1:12:05] the sale of water from the city to
Gladstone LP. Right. So, we're not
[1:12:10] actually selling water. It's a transfer
agreement that's just allowing them to
[1:12:13] transfer water out of Westlands to
Gladstone. And then in turn, Gladstone
[1:12:19] is actually indemnifying the city to be
the require be the required party to
[1:12:24] resupply Westlands because Wesland's
always has to have a net of zero when
[1:12:28] when water goes out of the district.
>> Mhm.
[1:12:30] » So Gladstone has indignified the cities
from that responsibility and they will
[1:12:34] be the ones to ensure that water gets
brought back. But this is essentially um
[1:12:39] a transfer of water through our
conveyance agreement because we're the
[1:12:42] only ones that have a conveyance
agreement on the Klinga Canal. And so it
[1:12:45] allows water to convey through our
conveyance agreement to the farmers that
[1:12:48] are on the Klinga Canal.
>> And so it's just essentially a transfer.
[1:12:52] » So what's what's our gain for that?
>> $35,000.
[1:12:57] » How much water?
>> None.
[1:12:59] » No, no, just a transfer. Just to just to
transfer water.
[1:13:02] » Yes. We charge we charge a $50 per acref
foot fee to utilize our our transfer
[1:13:07] agreement.
>> And this is something we've done we this
[1:13:10] is we've done these before.
>> Um sometimes it include it it it uh
[1:13:15] entails water sales but this is strictly
just a basically a transfer agreement.
[1:13:20] » Got it. So there's Okay.
Well, that's all I had.
[1:13:24] » Okay. Thank
[1:13:30] » All right. And I guess I have a question
on item number eight then.
[1:13:34] » We might as well.
All right. So, the agreement with U
[1:13:39] PVGs,
does this allow them to actually pull
[1:13:43] water out of the well or are they just
um they're just using it to uh for their
[1:13:47] Sigma requirements of getting
information?
[1:13:50] » Yes. Yes. Just to moni just to monitor
the wells because it is a well in the
[1:13:52] city and we are in the uh in the uh
Pleasant Valley groundwater basin.
[1:13:58] » Okay. Perfect.
All right. Any other questions on the
[1:14:02] consent calendar? Seeing none, uh, could
I get a motion to approve the consent
[1:14:06] calendar?
>> I move to approve the consent calendar
[1:14:10] as is without change.
>> It's been moved.
[1:14:15] » Yes.
>> Someone want to second?
[1:14:17] » I'll second.
>> It's been moved and seconded. All those
[1:14:19] in favor?
>> I
[1:14:20] » I.
>> All those opposed?
[1:14:23] Consent calendar passes as read.
Going to move on to item number six,
[1:14:33] ordinance, presentation, discussion, and
potential action items. Consideration of
[1:14:38] establishing an ad hoc community
outreach committee. And uh before I um
[1:14:44] [clears throat] before I bring this up,
is there any uh discussion cards for any
[1:14:48] of these three items?
>> No.
[1:14:51] » No. Okay, perfect. Sean.
>> All right. Thank you, Mayor Council. Uh,
[1:14:55] as we discussed the last meeting, u
staff went ahead and prepared a um
[1:15:00] implementation policy. So, I've provided
uh a copy of that policy for the
[1:15:05] council's consideration tonight. Um, and
just I wanted to get some feedback from
[1:15:10] you guys if there's anything that you
guys want changed, if there's any
[1:15:14] concerns with the document. uh as
prepared. I can kind of go through it if
[1:15:19] you'd like or if you guys have reviewed
it and you guys concur with the uh the
[1:15:24] policy then uh we're just requesting uh
an approval of the policy and everything
[1:15:31] will kind of go into place from there.
>> Yeah, I'd like to you to go through it
[1:15:34] if you wouldn't mind.
>> Okay.
[1:15:40] Give me one sec. All right.
It's pretty short so I'll probably just
[1:15:45] kind of read through it. Um, so the
purpose of the ad hoc committee, the
[1:15:48] community outreach committee is to
support coordinated community outreach
[1:15:51] and facilitate communication with the
key public and private stakeholders in a
[1:15:55] manner consistent with the city council
policy direction and city manager's
[1:15:58] administrative authority. Um, the
committee serves as an advisory capacity
[1:16:02] only and does not exercise independent
decision-making authority. All
[1:16:05] recommendations or proposed actions
shall be brought back to full counsel
[1:16:08] for consideration and approval. Um, so
the committee uh shall consist of the
[1:16:13] mayor and the mayor prom. Um, one
additional council member shall be
[1:16:17] designated as an alternate who may
participate only if one of the two
[1:16:20] primary members is unavailable, ensuring
the committee remains a two-member ad
[1:16:24] hoc committee. The city manager can uh
shall participate in those committee
[1:16:28] meetings and may designate any necessary
staff members as appropriate depending
[1:16:31] on the subject matter. Um so initiation
of meetings uh I identified three uh by
[1:16:38] mutual agreement of either the mayor or
the mayor of prom to meet with a
[1:16:41] stakeholder within the scope of the
policy by direction of the council in
[1:16:45] open session authorizing the committee
to meet uh with a specific stakeholder
[1:16:48] regarding a specific topic um at the
request of a stakeholder to include the
[1:16:52] ad hoc committee members in a particular
meeting. Uh the committee shall not
[1:16:57] independently expand its scope beyond
matters initiated through those methods.
[1:17:02] Um so scope of engagement um it the
committee may engage in discussions and
[1:17:07] this is kind of where I tried to be
broad so this is you know let me know if
[1:17:10] there's any more details you want is
community outreach inter agency
[1:17:13] communication information gathering and
relationship building with partner
[1:17:17] organizations and then stakeholders may
include but not limited to the chamber
[1:17:22] school district uh parks and recreation
district college the hospital district
[1:17:27] and any local nonprofit organizations
uh so the committee shall not negotiate
[1:17:32] agreements, make commitments on behalf
of the city or provide direction to
[1:17:36] staff beyond existing council policy.
And then um relation to the city manager
[1:17:41] authority, this policy does not limit or
restrict the city manager's authority to
[1:17:45] meet independently with stakeholders or
direct staff to engage with stakeholders
[1:17:49] consistent with the adopted policy. And
so committee members may accompany the
[1:17:53] city manager or staff at such meetings
when appropriate, but staffled
[1:17:57] engagement may continue independently of
the committee as well. Um and then it
[1:18:01] talks about reporting to the city
council. So any significant information
[1:18:04] or recommendations or potential policy
considerations arising from that
[1:18:08] involvement shall be reported to the
city council um at a public meeting. Um
[1:18:14] obviously Brown Act compliance needs to
remain in effect and then the effective
[1:18:18] date would be when the council hopefully
tonight will when the council approves.
[1:18:22] But um with that if there's any changes
or recommendations let me know and I'll
[1:18:26] be more than happy to you guys can have
the conversation. So, I just wanted to
[1:18:29] point out that this in no way, shape or
form stops uh individual council members
[1:18:34] or a group of council members um less
than three uh you know to meet with
[1:18:41] individual agencies. Correct.
>> No.
[1:18:43] » Right. So this this is more of just a
formal uh presentation of being able to
[1:18:49] meet with other agencies formally and
not taking away anybody else is like if
[1:18:53] let's say two members wanted to meet
with the school district on an issue
[1:18:57] obviously that's everyone's right to do
this doesn't um hinder that. It just
[1:19:01] makes a formal process to where if we
want to reach out and we do have a
[1:19:05] couple items um that will probably be
coming back and forward and asking uh
[1:19:09] because there are some items that we do
need to reach out and and talk. But the
[1:19:14] reason uh that that I put this on the
agenda um originally was because I felt
[1:19:19] like that these should be formally
approved by council. that way that
[1:19:24] people uh that council members didn't
feel like that other council members
[1:19:28] were just trying to do something uh
without the the scope of the entire
[1:19:32] council. But since we have Brown Act
limitations, uh the way that we do it
[1:19:37] has to has to be uh very specific.
Correct.
[1:19:40] » Right. So the there's a difference
between a standing committee and an ad
[1:19:43] hoc committee. So the ad hoc committee
obviously you have to comply with the
[1:19:47] quorum requirements. You can't have a
quorum. Um and the ad hoc committee is
[1:19:52] usually more limited in scope than a
standing committee standing committee.
[1:19:56] Um so I mean here you have you know
specific list of things that the
[1:20:01] committee is able to do and it's not
giving them the scope to you know enter
[1:20:05] into contracts or enter into agreements
with any of these uh partnership
[1:20:10] agencies. So it's limited in scope and
would be compliant with the Brown Act.
[1:20:15] So, I guess looking at this, my only
recommendation on this is that we allow
[1:20:20] the the alternate to be um to could we I
don't think that we directly need to
[1:20:27] appoint an alternate. I think that we
could have any of the council members,
[1:20:32] especially um if somebody had an idea,
we want to leave the route the way open
[1:20:38] for that person to bring that idea
forward and be able to meet with one
[1:20:43] other person to move forward on that
idea. That way that for instance, you
[1:20:47] know, the the the the car people that
came in that we could have those formal
[1:20:51] conversations and it wouldn't just be uh
you know, myself and Mayor Pro Tim, we
[1:20:56] would have the that person would then be
the alternate and then one per one of
[1:21:00] us, one of the formal members would move
forward with it along with city staff
[1:21:04] because the goal is not to hinder the
goal is to bring in we just need some
[1:21:08] kind of formal process I think.
>> So, and then I'm going to open this up
[1:21:12] for discussion. So, uh, whatever, uh,
council, you know, thinks about this,
[1:21:17] bring whatever you want to bring
forward.
[1:21:21] [clears throat]
>> I I agree.
[1:21:23] » I agree with that addition or change.
Um, I'm just kind of I'm trying to
[1:21:28] figure out how do you initiate how going
out or coming in, how how would these
[1:21:35] meetings be initiated? would somebody
contact city manager or
[1:21:40] » so so basically two well a couple ways
um would [clears throat] be if like say
[1:21:48] you talked to you guys talked and said
hey let's let's schedule a meeting with
[1:21:52] so and so stakeholder you know that and
then you could reach out to me and say
[1:21:57] hey we need we want to try to schedule
coordinate a meeting with the school or
[1:22:01] with the college or whatever that would
be a way to initiate it by mutual
[1:22:04] agreement of the two of do. Um, also if
maybe say, you know, [clears throat]
[1:22:11] Councilman Aoyo says, "Hey, I'd like to,
you know, maybe have the ad hoc
[1:22:14] committee or maybe him included with one
of you two to schedule a meeting and
[1:22:19] meet with the parks district on
something." That could be a way to do
[1:22:22] it, whether it's in an open session and
the council agrees to, you know, engage
[1:22:25] in that conversation maybe on and then
identify the specific topic. Um, and
[1:22:30] then maybe if a stakeholder reaches out
even to me and says, "Hey, I wanted to
[1:22:34] reach out to you. Can you know can I
meet with the the mayor the mayor pro
[1:22:37] Tim or can we meet with your your
committee to talk about some topic we
[1:22:42] could do that.
>> So so it's you're the basic contact both
[1:22:47] ways.
>> Um no not necessarily. I think that you
[1:22:51] guys would come to me on most instances
unless someone specifically asks for
[1:22:55] like a meeting with the mayor and mayor
pro Tim or one of or an ad hoc committee
[1:23:00] that's when they would come to me. I
mean, if they want to schedule a meeting
[1:23:02] with me to talk about something, that's
just something I would do on normal
[1:23:05] day-to-day business.
>> Okay. Can we get ahead of this right now
[1:23:10] as far as the scheduling and set up a
quarterly, by annual, annual, monthly,
[1:23:16] whatever is comfortable with these
outlets.
[1:23:20] Give them a time and date. Let them know
so we can get get stuff rolling so it
[1:23:25] doesn't get lost or, you know, somebody
feels behind. Chamber of Commerce to
[1:23:30] school districts. Um
>> I think you fall more into a standing
[1:23:34] committee when you actually start
scheduling and setting schedules for the
[1:23:38] meetings. I think the ad hoc is kind of
the purpose is like as something comes
[1:23:42] up or you want to schedule something
>> more spontaneous.
[1:23:45] » Yeah. Okay.
>> Yeah.
[1:23:48] » So these
>> Okay.
[1:23:49] » These meetings would potentially lead to
an agenda item or something like that
[1:23:53] » potent potentially. Yeah. Not I wouldn't
say 100% of the time. I think there's
[1:23:56] some things that are administrative in
nature, but there's nothing wrong with a
[1:24:01] council member or two being involved in,
you know, a discussion if there's
[1:24:04] something that comes up, but it may not
always require council action for
[1:24:07] something like that to occur. Um, but
sometimes it's just a discussion and
[1:24:12] being involved in a discussion that may
be more administrative, but for the most
[1:24:16] part, yeah, I think you'll you'll
probably see items come back and I think
[1:24:19] it's probably appropriate to at least
report back on those discussions, too.
[1:24:24] So this gives us like an ability to be
more fluid, I guess, make decisions on
[1:24:27] the rapid urgency and just kind of get
to the meats and meat and potatoes of
[1:24:31] the whole.
>> Yeah, I say that any other my
[1:24:34] understanding would be is any of the
other three council members would reach
[1:24:37] out to the mayor or the mayor prom and
say hey you know I'd like to schedule a
[1:24:40] meeting with so- and so you guys agree
say that's a great idea let's do that
[1:24:43] and then you guys could reach out to me
to try and schedule something.
[1:24:45] » This is a way so we don't have any
roadblocks.
[1:24:48] » Yeah.
>> Right. So, we would still be coming back
[1:24:51] to council for um any kind of action.
So, we wouldn't make decisions um based
[1:24:56] on any So, basically, it would get the
ball rolling immediately, but as far as
[1:25:01] actions, we'd need to bring it back to
council to get approval.
[1:25:04] » Yeah. No, I I get it. This is strictly
just speed research on whatever the item
[1:25:09] is.
>> Yeah. There's an issue that that's
[1:25:11] arising. We want to kind of understand
it more from a different perspective or
[1:25:14] a different agency that
>> that's good for everybody. Yeah.
[1:25:17] » Yeah. Any
other discussion on this?
[1:25:22] » Um, well, just for clarification, I
guess, so if I if I wanted to say meet
[1:25:30] with whoever needs to be met with to
open the college pool for summer for the
[1:25:35] kids, would that would that be what this
>> it's for? It's really up to the council.
[1:25:41] I mean, if that's something the council
wants to engage, I can I mean, those are
[1:25:44] something I can go have a conversation
with, too. So if the council feels
[1:25:47] inclined to be involved or two of you
decide you want to be involved in that
[1:25:51] conversation,
>> that's definitely something you can you
[1:25:54] can engage in and we can engage in. Um
but it's also you know I take direction
[1:25:58] from the council. So if that's something
that's an interest of the council as a
[1:26:01] whole that's something that I can go and
have that conversation with. Um
[1:26:05] » so we don't need to
>> so it doesn't necessarily require this.
[1:26:07] It really depends on what level of
involvement. If it's a general concept
[1:26:11] of say, hey, you know, we want to learn
more about the safety concerns of the
[1:26:14] school, that may be something for the ad
hoc committee to understand and then you
[1:26:18] get the council could come back and say,
"Hey, you know what? I think there's
[1:26:20] some things that we can help out with
with some of the safety issues."
[1:26:24] » Okay.
>> Yes. So, anybody can bird dog this thing
[1:26:26] and bring it up to light, right?
>> Yeah.
[1:26:29] » I got it.
>> Yes. Yeah.
[1:26:30] » Okay. And I think the the main deal with
this is is that we do get a lot of
[1:26:34] requests like I have a current couple
requests right now that said I want to
[1:26:38] meet with staff and the the mayor. Well,
I don't feel comfortable with just me
[1:26:44] and staff when the other side that wants
to meet may have an entire team. So, we
[1:26:50] create a standard that we're taking a
team in at the same time. And so, I feel
[1:26:54] like that we want to make sure that we
set a standard and a tone for when we're
[1:26:58] moving forward on these things. And yes,
if if anyone has an an item that they
[1:27:03] want to move forward in on it, this is a
perfect way. And that's why I don't want
[1:27:06] to set an alternate, I want to let the
alternate be anybody. That way that if
[1:27:10] that that because I think that's really
important that way anybody who wants to
[1:27:14] come in and move in on something, you'll
have a formal way to to to do that.
[1:27:20] That makes sense.
>> Yeah.
[1:27:26] » Any further discussion on this?
>> No.
[1:27:29] Could we uh get a motion with the change
that we would not have uh and that the
[1:27:34] al how would we word that?
>> Do we have to I don't know if we have do
[1:27:37] we need to update it?
>> You would move to approve it with the
[1:27:41] change that you do not have a designated
alternate to the ad hoc committee.
[1:27:50] » So do you want a motion
>> please? So, I'll move to approve uh the
[1:27:54] ad hoc committee outreach programmed
um
[1:28:00] with with no designated alternate.
>> It's been moved.
[1:28:07] Is there a second?
>> I'll second.
[1:28:10] » It's been moved and seconded. All those
in favor?
[1:28:13] » I
>> motions pass. Okay.
[1:28:18] Appreciate that
consideration. We're going to move on to
[1:28:23] 6.2. Consideration of city council
appointments to fill two vacant seats.
[1:28:29] Uh Sanwaqin Valley Division um policy
committee positions with the League of
[1:28:35] California Cities and authorization
related to travel.
[1:28:39] So, can I speak on this for a second?
>> No. No. So, I brought this item forward
[1:28:43] because the League of California Cities,
which we're a member of, uh has
[1:28:47] committees and they would like for uh
individual cities to have um our council
[1:28:55] members um and I believe it is a
requirement for most of the committees
[1:28:58] that they be elected. And so throughout
the years, it's it's been kind of tough
[1:29:03] getting every city to send
representatives. Um, so this will be, I
[1:29:07] think, my fourth or fifth year being a
representative onto one of these. And
[1:29:11] noticing that Kolinga has usually had
one, they reached out, uh, when I mean
[1:29:16] they, the vice president, which is, uh,
the mayor of Lammore, uh, Patty reached
[1:29:21] out and asked if we would have, uh, two
members that would like to fill um,
[1:29:26] seats, one for transportation and one
for public safety. And I I um so I did
[1:29:34] get some interest in those and so I
expressed that there was interest and
[1:29:41] the league is working on trying to get
those uh those people interested into
[1:29:46] those seats and I have been in contact
as of like right now even trying to get
[1:29:53] this uh to get it squared away because
the meeting the first one does start on
[1:29:58] uh January
22nd. I believe it's just in a couple
[1:30:02] days. So, I apologize uh for those that
I've reached out to and I haven't been
[1:30:07] able to close the loop on that. Um a lot
of times when they reach out to
[1:30:11] everyone, they'll reach out to five or
six different cities and then people
[1:30:15] submit uh their folks and then they have
to now try and find places for the for
[1:30:19] the people and they do want to get
everyone that that applied verbally in
[1:30:25] involved in these positions. uh unfort
so I want to get this approved but I
[1:30:31] also want to say that I don't formally
have um I don't formally have uh
[1:30:38] recognition from the league that these
positions are in place. So I guess I'm
[1:30:43] looking at the city attorney wondering
how can we do that?
[1:30:47] » You can put forward two names to be
considered by the commission or the
[1:30:52] committee I guess. Um, and then it would
be obviously subject to their
[1:30:57] selection process.
>> So, I've put the two member uh I've put
[1:31:01] the two names up and I'm awaiting
response. And uh I might as well just
[1:31:05] read the message that I got out loud
because that's how we roll. Um they're
[1:31:10] trying to find a way to get everyone
that was recommended in a spot on both
[1:31:14] policy councils. Um I should know more
later. Um, I let them know that you guys
[1:31:19] that have the travel on the agenda and I
still haven't gotten an update past that
[1:31:24] and I know that they're just working to
try and get everyone on there because
[1:31:27] the more representation we have, I I
mean I I don't know that everyone knows
[1:31:31] about these uh committees. I don't want
to bore everybody, but these committees
[1:31:34] are where the we pay to be a member of
the California League of Cities. And
[1:31:39] there's a lot of differences opinions on
how this particular lobbying group
[1:31:43] works. Um, but the Bay Area cities and a
lot of the larger cities send a lot of
[1:31:48] people. And so when bills come from
Sacramento, then the league takes up a
[1:31:55] position on those bills. It's either
going to be to say yes, they support it,
[1:31:58] no, they don't support it, or they'll
they'll support it if they amend it. And
[1:32:02] so these are important because the
league has the ear of the
[1:32:06] representatives. In the past, we've been
able to lobby uh and advocate uh for
[1:32:12] changes on things that made a big
difference uh for local issues. These
[1:32:16] are statewide bills that will come back
and they will have real effect on local
[1:32:20] control. And the the number one job or
supposed job of the league is supposed
[1:32:26] to be uh local control. But a lot of the
times a lot of the larger cities want to
[1:32:32] give away their control, which is why
it's so important that a lot of us
[1:32:36] Central Valley cities who believe in
local control are in attendance because
[1:32:40] it absolutely comes down to a vote. And
so we've lost votes by two two votes
[1:32:45] before because we didn't have enough
people there. So that's why they're
[1:32:49] really really trying to put a push to
get people to be involved in these
[1:32:53] because what what would happen is is
that let's say that we want an amendment
[1:32:57] on something. Uh if we vote to send them
to get an amendment, they will go and
[1:33:01] they will talk to the people that
brought that bill up and they will say,
[1:33:05] "Hey, we will give you our blessing on
this bill if you will change it." Now
[1:33:09] doesn't work all the time, but sometimes
it does work. And so that's the
[1:33:13] importance of this. Uh and the League of
Cities does quite a bit on individual uh
[1:33:19] projects as well. So if we have some
information or we want information on a
[1:33:25] particular project, the league we can
reach out and they can actually contact
[1:33:29] and talk to uh some of the
representatives. They work well with
[1:33:32] Townsen as well, which are our
lobbyists. And so it's kind of a
[1:33:36] cohesive thing. Um, but that being said,
sorry for the long- winded, but I do
[1:33:42] feel everyone should realize kind of
what this group is. They are a lobbying
[1:33:45] advocacy group and we do pay uh to be
members and it I think twice a year they
[1:33:50] host uh events that the city does attend
and it's um a lot of advocating uh where
[1:33:57] you get to go and meet with other cities
and you get to go and meet with other um
[1:34:01] agencies like the state agencies and
they put on these different tracks and
[1:34:05] they usually either do it in Sacramento
or they do it in Long Beach and that's
[1:34:08] where we can really get out and talk to
other member agencies like ourselves and
[1:34:13] we can actually come up with some really
cool strategies and ideas to help each
[1:34:16] other.
>> So, that being said, uh do I need to
[1:34:19] express the who is the members?
>> Yes.
[1:34:23] » Yes. So, I have asked uh for uh Mr.
Lauder to be on public safety and I've
[1:34:30] asked for Mr. Ramirez to be on
transportation.
[1:34:35] And so, we do not have a guarantee back
from the league, but I would like to get
[1:34:39] approval if they do come back. Uh and
and that we could that'd be okay.
[1:34:45] » Yeah. And then you'd also authorize um
the travel reimbursements for those
[1:34:51] committee meetings,
>> right? because it it is quite a little
[1:34:54] bit of a distance and it does take your
day and so then the city would reimburse
[1:34:58] you for the travel and in some instances
uh there is a need for a hotel stay
[1:35:02] because of the time when it when this
when it when the event starts maybe
[1:35:06] early in the morning or it may be too
late and if it's in Long Beach you know
[1:35:11] trying to drive back on the in the
traffic can be quite the deal and if
[1:35:14] it's in Sacramento some trying sometimes
trying to get there is the ordeal so
[1:35:19] I've I've already kind of uh reached out
to the members and told them what those
[1:35:23] schedules are so they they know what
that what they are and I think um I
[1:35:27] guess I'd just reconfirm commitment uh
from the two members if they're okay
[1:35:31] with that. Yeah. So
that being said, I'll open it up for
[1:35:37] discussion.
[clears throat]
[1:35:43] » Any questions?
>> You say there was two meetings a year or
[1:35:46] » there's technically four. Two are
virtual and two are on site and the last
[1:35:50] one is usually the League of Cities uh
California League of Cities event.
[1:35:55] » Annual conference.
>> The annual conference. Correct. And
[1:35:58] every year they send out invites to
everyone on council and ask them uh to
[1:36:03] be put in. And so the reasoning for my
asking individual members uh was based
[1:36:09] literally on seniority of time uh for
being here. And so
[1:36:14] I just felt that was the only fair way
to do it. So,
[1:36:19] any further discussion? No.
>> All right.
[1:36:24] So, could I get a motion to approve item
number 6.2?
[1:36:30] [clears throat]
[1:36:37] Motion to approve consideration of city
council appointments to fill two vacancy
[1:36:41] Sam Valley division SSJVD
policy committee positions with the
[1:36:47] League of California Cities and
authoration authorization
[1:36:52] for related travel
>> and I'll second that.
[1:36:57] » It's been moved and seconded. All those
in favor?
[1:36:59] » I
>> I
[1:37:00] » Motion passes.
Moving on to item number three,
[1:37:05] consideration of commemorative banners
in recognition of the 250th anniversary
[1:37:10] of the United States. Future agenda
item, Mayor Pro Tim Schindler.
[1:37:15] So, this was requested by uh Mayor Pro
Tim Schindler just to provide and
[1:37:20] staff's just looking for direct
direction or uh concurrence. Uh uh Mayor
[1:37:26] Prom Schindler had basically requested
if we could as part of the um the
[1:37:31] budgeted process for our we were going
to put up banners and uh around town as
[1:37:35] part of our uh one-time projects that he
requested that we look at um
[1:37:41] basically designing and installing
banners in recognition of the 250th
[1:37:45] anniversary of the United States which I
guess is America 250. Um and so
[1:37:52] essentially we're just looking for
direction from the council if you're
[1:37:54] comfortable with that. That's kind of a
theme. Obviously um the b you know the
[1:37:59] banners we're looking at seasonal
banners but we really hadn't quite gone
[1:38:02] through that process yet. So we haven't
really undertaken any design effort yet.
[1:38:06] So this could be a perfect time for us
to start and utilize this as the first
[1:38:09] banner. So if the council's comfortable
with that, we'll just proceed forward
[1:38:12] with doing this as the first set of
banners that we'll order. Um, as we kind
[1:38:17] of get more amounts, we right now we
have $5,000 budgeted in the one-time
[1:38:22] projects for banners. And so we'll kind
of once we start getting the design and
[1:38:26] once we get some quotes on the actual
banner costs, then we'll we'll see based
[1:38:31] on future banners if we need additional
funding. But we should be able to start
[1:38:34] this with the $5,000.
[1:38:38] I was just originally asking for flags
up and down the street, but I noticed
[1:38:42] the Hornto derby signs have been up
there for a little while. So,
[1:38:46] » yeah,
>> this is an opportunity.
[1:38:49] » Yeah. And we're and that that was
something we're going to work with as we
[1:38:51] start implementing more banners
throughout town is, you know, being able
[1:38:56] to make sure we can get them up and down
and figure out what themes and when
[1:39:00] certain banners go up during certain
times of the year. So, um, but we can
[1:39:03] definitely, this will be a one year, one
and done kind of thing. So, we'll kind
[1:39:08] of we'll look at the cost and but
definitely we'll have flags up and we'll
[1:39:11] do some we'll do some there, too.
[1:39:16] » Any discussion from council?
Can I consider a motion for approval?
[1:39:23] I'll make a motion
on banners of recognition for our
[1:39:28] nation's 250th anniversary.
I'll second. It's been moved and
[1:39:34] seconded. All those in favor?
>> I I
[1:39:38] » Motion passes.
We're going to move on to item number
[1:39:42] seven, which is announcements. City
manager announcements. I just had one
[1:39:47] and uh I did have a conversation with uh
Spencer and Joseph with Townson public
[1:39:53] affairs our uh city lobbyists and they
have we've we've set dates or based on
[1:40:00] scheduling for the um DC trip for
the kind of general trip not the not
[1:40:08] tied to one voice with Fresno Council of
Governments and they are looking at
[1:40:13] dates of Ap March 3rd through the 6th
So 3rd and sixth would be travel dates
[1:40:19] and then we would be meeting with um our
electeds either the fourth or fifth and
[1:40:24] then also any um state departments that
we would be looking at based on some of
[1:40:29] our asks. So you know if we we have
certain asks for certain projects we
[1:40:34] would we'd be able to and they're going
to provide us some lists of different
[1:40:38] departments that we can try and reach
out to and talk to about specific
[1:40:41] projects beyond talking to directly with
our electeds as well. So that's kind of
[1:40:46] the plan. So I just encourage you to
reach out to me if you guys are
[1:40:49] interested in attending because I think
we're at the point where we can start
[1:40:51] scheduling travel. Um so Spencer and
Joseph are on it and ready to start
[1:40:56] they're going to probably in the next
couple weeks um first week of February
[1:41:00] start actually requesting schedules and
getting people getting electeds
[1:41:04] scheduled for um tours.
>> So question for the city attorney.
[1:41:10] » Yes.
Since this is an would be an advocacy
[1:41:14] trip, are we limited on the amount of
council members that we can send?
[1:41:19] » You're not limited on the number of
council members you can send, but if
[1:41:22] you're attending meetings with the
electeds and talking about city
[1:41:25] business, then you can only have two or
less council members. But if you could
[1:41:30] have more council members going, but you
can't have them in more than a quorum in
[1:41:35] meetings. So, if more than if more than
two signed up, then we'd have to rotate
[1:41:41] in and out of meetings.
>> Correct.
[1:41:42] » Okay. So, just so everybody knows that
um I personally believe we should open
[1:41:47] it up to council and if that's the case,
uh we can um if more than uh two sign
[1:41:52] up, then we could rotate in and out of
meetings if that's okay with everybody.
[1:41:56] But, uh this is um uh I guess um this is
only an announcement, so we can't even
[1:42:02] do anything on that. So,
>> we can bring it back at a future meeting
[1:42:06] if need
>> can we? Yeah. Could we please do that
[1:42:07] that we could formalize it? So, uh Sean,
you're going to reach out to the
[1:42:11] individual council.
>> Yeah. I I intended to send a message out
[1:42:14] today. Unfortunately, ran out of time,
but I'll get one out in the morning and
[1:42:18] and seek interest from the individual
council members.
[1:42:21] » Okay.
>> Yeah.
[1:42:22] » Anything else, Sean?
>> I do not.
[1:42:25] » All right. Council members announcements
and reports.
[1:42:34] No, no, no one. All right.
City treasurer uh is uh um not here
[1:42:42] tonight. So,
mayor's announcements um I have none.
[1:42:51] Uh future agenda items. This is a time
um for the new members that may not
[1:42:56] know, this is a time where if you have
an agenda item um one, you can choose to
[1:43:01] send that item in to the city at any
point in time uh via email. Um you can
[1:43:06] call Sean. Um
there are time limits on whether or not
[1:43:11] it'll get on the next meeting. Maybe you
could explain that.
[1:43:16] Yeah, typically depending on the item
and the the level of um you know whether
[1:43:21] it be research or whatever the sta that
staff needs to do if it's something
[1:43:24] that's going to require full action by
the council. Typically we can throw it
[1:43:27] on relatively quick. It just may not
have a tremendous amount of detail. Um
[1:43:31] so typically I'll look at you know the
item that's requested and we can bring
[1:43:35] it forward for more clarification if
it's kind of a general item. If it's
[1:43:39] something that's something that Mayor
Pro Tim Schindler had brought up,
[1:43:43] there's enough detail in the request, we
could throw that together relatively
[1:43:46] quick and put it on the agenda for
council to consider. Um, but if it's
[1:43:50] kind of a new item or if it's outside,
you know, of some of our our strategic
[1:43:54] planning efforts, then typically we just
bring it back as a general topic and
[1:43:58] then have the council discuss and then
provide me direction on how you guys
[1:44:01] would like to proceed.
>> Yeah. Can you email me that what you
[1:44:06] just said? should have recorded my I
should have recorded myself
[1:44:09] » on YouTube.
>> It's it's recorded you little
[1:44:13] » and uh just so everybody knows um we we
absolutely um can reach out to staff for
[1:44:18] clarifying questions. I suggest
everything via our code of conduct
[1:44:22] should go through our city manager, but
we can absolutely save a lot of time uh
[1:44:27] bringing things to staff and trying to
work with them first, especially if it's
[1:44:30] a future agenda item that we that may
take some some extra time if you the the
[1:44:35] more that you time that you work with
staff before you bring it, the quicker
[1:44:38] that it will get uh on the agenda and be
able to go. Correct.
[1:44:42] » Yeah. No, the reason for it is just that
there's you we want to make sure that
[1:44:47] collectively the council is making
decisions and providing uh staff and the
[1:44:51] city manager direction as as a
collective group. And so when there are
[1:44:55] certain larger policy decisions that
need to be made or or it's going to
[1:44:59] require extensive staff time or it
affects the budget, then we need to that
[1:45:03] that's something that the council as a
whole needs to provide direction on. So
[1:45:06] you would just send that to me and then
and I can provide feedback once you send
[1:45:10] the request in kind of how we'll how how
we can handle it.
[1:45:13] » But it can it it can um it can aid
things like for instance if you have a
[1:45:18] large request that may not understand
whether or not staff has capacity to do
[1:45:24] it. you know, uh, sometimes if we put
things on the agenda without
[1:45:28] understanding the capacity of staff,
then it can add into, especially if
[1:45:33] there's a lot of things, it can add to
staff thinking to themselves, oh, how
[1:45:37] are we going to get all this stuff done?
Whereas, if you kind of ask Sean ahead
[1:45:41] of time, he can give you kind of an idea
of, you know, is this something you want
[1:45:46] to bring forward now because of the
capacity and because of the budgets and
[1:45:49] stuff like that. And then obviously it
would come back for full council
[1:45:52] approval. But it's just kind of a way
you can kind of get some insight in
[1:45:56] detail. Uh and we try and also the other
thing is is that just going to put Sean
[1:46:01] out there. He's available uh to go over
these uh things uh and which we've been
[1:46:06] trying to do a lot more of uh before the
meeting if you want to meet with uh Sean
[1:46:10] if you have questions and stuff like
that uh you know and I think our our
[1:46:14] chiefs are available as well to answer
questions so that if we have questions
[1:46:17] um that can make the meetings go a
little bit quicker. And then sometimes
[1:46:21] we do re we do put those questions back
out because sometimes it's information
[1:46:26] that even though we already have the
answer, the public wants to know. So
[1:46:30] sometimes, you know, we do put that back
out there. Um [clears throat]
[1:46:34] that being said, any future agenda
items?
[1:46:37] » I think I have one. Um I kind of spoke
on a little bit earlier. I'd like you
[1:46:43] I'd like to look into uh I don't know
who it is or what it would take to um to
[1:46:49] open the pool for the summer
and coordinate that and possibly use the
[1:46:55] CRMC
funding for that. I just mentioned it.
[1:47:01] just thinking
[1:47:07] I know I tried this a couple of years
ago and it it it takes a while to get
[1:47:11] that coordinated. So,
>> anyone else future agenda items?
[1:47:17] » Would that fall into the program of that
health funding that that guy came in and
[1:47:21] met and said it?
>> I think that's what Yeah.
[1:47:25] » Oh, okay. That's the same connection
there. Okay. Gotcha. Cool. No, I think
[1:47:29] he was talking about splash pad.
>> What are you What are we talking about?
[1:47:34] » First gentlemen.
>> Bill, are you talking about the money
[1:47:36] for
>> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Bill. Okay. So, okay.
[1:47:39] Got it. Made the connection there. Okay.
Sweet.
[1:47:42] » Any other future agenda items?
>> No.
[1:47:46] » Right.
>> Sorry. Just not a future um the the our
[1:47:51] prompter or sign electric sign. Um I've
gone calls it a lot of the words are
[1:47:56] really small.
>> [laughter]
[1:47:59] » We're we're working on that.
>> Yeah, it's a it
[1:48:03] seen somebody just slowly go through the
through their just trying to read it.
[1:48:06] » Yeah, it's a work in progress. Just
learning the the use of the sign and uh
[1:48:11] we've had a we've I've talked to her
about, you know, taking a look at it and
[1:48:15] we'll so sometimes we'll run tests and
she'll go out there and actually go look
[1:48:18] physically look at it. Um but yeah,
we're starting to work on a lot of the
[1:48:22] new content, but yeah, that we we've
been getting some positive we've been
[1:48:26] getting some feedback about that.
The flag looks good.
[1:48:29] » What?
>> The flag looks good.
[1:48:30] » Yeah, it's animated, too.
>> Yeah.
[1:48:33] » And also, just uh for those that don't
know, this is also a time to where if
[1:48:36] you'd like staff to bring back
information uh for anformational, like
[1:48:41] you're curious about something, you can
put on as a future agenda item and then
[1:48:44] staff can work on that to bring back as
formal information.
[1:48:49] » Any other future agenda items?
Do we have any formal information about
[1:48:56] the rally cross at the airport?
>> No, but I did receive I received an
[1:49:00] email from them and I'll be following up
with them this week. So,
[1:49:05] » so you could ask for a future agenda
item to have that put on the next
[1:49:08] agenda. That's what I would do.
>> Load it up. you know, um I want to see
[1:49:13] if we could get with Freno County Public
Works and see if what's the route where
[1:49:18] they could take or they could get
something like a camera out on Phelps on
[1:49:22] that little curve. I've cleaned that
part and so has Freno County cleaned
[1:49:27] that part so many times and it's like
getting filled with refrigerators again,
[1:49:32] washers. cuz I just want to see if if
staff could get a hold of a public works
[1:49:37] and get something going. If maybe they
could put a camera on one of those post
[1:49:41] cuz seems that that little um right
passing passing the cemetery.
[1:49:46] » Oh,
>> that that little curve
[1:49:47] » people park right there. That's that
there's that kind of wooden fence or
[1:49:50] whatever right there.
>> Yes. Yes. I' I've clean
[1:49:52] » wilderness area.
>> I've cleaned it a couple of times. Freno
[1:49:56] County has cleaned it up as well, but it
seems that it looks really bad. Yeah,
[1:49:59] it's it's getting and I would like to
see if you know you know
[1:50:03] » with with just met with Fresno County
today, so we can probably just reach out
[1:50:07] to him and and give them an idea if
that's a hot [clears throat]
[1:50:10] » We'll uh we'll reach out.
>> Yeah. Okay, sounds good. Thank you.
[1:50:13] Thank you. Any other future agenda
items?
[1:50:17] And uh Councilman Lauder, did you want a
formal update on that at the next uh
[1:50:21] meeting?
>> Yes, please. I'd like a formal update on
[1:50:24] the rally cost event.
>> There you go. All right. And I have a
[1:50:29] couple.
One, I would like to
[1:50:34] have staff, actually probably the the
chief and his staff look into uh some
[1:50:39] kind of software that can report crime
to the public so the public can have an
[1:50:44] idea. Um long time ago, we used to have
some software that uh it would actually
[1:50:49] plot out on a map where the crime
occurred. So then people could it it was
[1:50:53] helpful for at the time when we were
doing neighborhood watch and things of
[1:50:56] that nature. So then we would know um
where where th those crimes are
[1:51:02] occurring and that kind of gave people
the idea of hey if crimes are occurring
[1:51:05] in this area let's keep our eyes open
into those areas. So that's um one and
[1:51:10] then secondly um and this is obviously a
larger project. So I just want to put
[1:51:17] the idea out there that along with the
um with the explore program that we
[1:51:22] think about u maybe um bringing back
some uh neighborhood watch uh awareness
[1:51:28] because I know we do have some
neighborhood watch that's already out
[1:51:30] there, but I'd like to continue that
awareness. Um, and like I said, I'm not
[1:51:34] expecting anything like ASAP because I
know you guys got a lot of things you're
[1:51:38] working on. Um, but that'd be something
I'd like to see in the future.
[1:51:42] And then, um, for the ad hoc committee,
we have the two items. The I'd like to
[1:51:51] schedule a meeting with the school
district uh, so that we can uh, open up
[1:51:57] conversations uh, and have the first
meeting uh, be kind of a meet and greet.
[1:52:01] Nothing too heavy, just a little bit of
information back and forth with the
[1:52:05] school district so that we could talk
about some things that uh affect the
[1:52:09] school and uh the city. And then the
second that that's already been
[1:52:14] requested um the school was requested
too, but this one is kind of a pressing
[1:52:19] uh thing is to schedule a meeting with
the her for the Hiron um ambulance
[1:52:23] situation
>> that's in process right now. So, if we
[1:52:25] could do both of those uh with the
formal with the formality of the ad hoc
[1:52:30] committee that we just created, that
would be perfect.
[1:52:35] To piggyback off that, um I'd like to
highlight um an opportunity to set up
[1:52:40] schedule a time for the three, I think,
important parts of scheduling events
[1:52:47] that go on in town. Chamber of Commerce,
the school, and parks and wreck. Um I
[1:52:52] think there's constant conflicts of
sports events, um city events and
[1:52:58] chamber of commerce events and it seems
to pull population to either side and we
[1:53:03] totally lose out on good times and
bringing everybody together. So I think
[1:53:08] having all three including the city sit
down um and create a calendar
[1:53:15] » um I think is something I'd like to
highlight.
[1:53:18] » That's fine. And we're and we're
actually exploring options right now.
[1:53:21] So,
>> so would you is that a future agenda
[1:53:23] item that you would like to be a part of
that uh process?
[1:53:25] » Yes. Yes, I I think that would be good.
>> Okay, perfect.
[1:53:31] Any other future agenda items?
All right, seeing none, we're going to
[1:53:38] move into close session where fun
begins.
[1:53:42] Let's see. It's 8:00. I think we can get
out of here.
[1:53:46] » Gosh,
we have two items. conference with labor
[1:53:49] negotiators are for both of them. One is
for the POA which is police officer
[1:53:54] association and the other is for general
employees. Do we look at reporting
[1:53:58] anything out?
>> No, mayor.
[1:53:59] » Nope. And so this portion of the meeting
is adjourned. I appreciate everyone
[1:54:03] coming. Thank you, Mr. Gutierz. And uh
thank you, Chuck, uh for spending the
[1:54:08] time. I know that this isn't uh what a
lot of people want to do with their
[1:54:11] night time, but we appreciate uh your
participation. Thank you so much, and we
[1:54:14] hope to see you again.