[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.

Special City Council Meeting - January 20th, 2026

Transcript