>> Okay.
It's time.
Madam Clerk, roll call, please.
[Roll call]
>> Good morning, welcome to The Tuesday, August 25th,
2026 meeting of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.
We're going to begin today with an invocation and a flag salute.
The invocation will be led by district five.
After the invocation please remain
standing for the flag salute.
>> Thank you.
Here with us today is Pastor Gilbert Montelongo.
He's a seasoned faith leader and community builder
based in Sanger, California.
He serves as senior pastor of tabernacle of praise Christian
Center with over 30 years of pastoral experience, 27
as a lead Pastor.
Pastor Montelongo has been married to his wife Lydia
for 47 years, and they have three children.
All three children have full time jobs
and serve under their father's ministry
and advocate for the Central Valley.
Pastor Montelongo contributes to a community to community
initiatives through the Sanger Fresno Community Task Force
and participates in the Sanger Pastor's Fellowship Committee,
creating an opportunity for grassroots engagement
on local regional and national issues.
The floor is yours.
>> Thank you.
God bless each and every one of you.
Thank you for the invite.
It is an honor to pray this morning for you
and everyone that is present.
Let's pray.
Heavenly father we thank you this beautiful morning.
We thank you for this great county of Fresno
and the great supervisors at your place
and the seats of government the governance of this great county.
For their service their hard work and their efforts,
and their sacrifice and the welfare
and the care of the people of Fresno County.
We know the work is much.
The task is great.
We know that in your word, you said that much
is given much is required.
You've given them all that they need.
If their hearts and mind are open to your spirit,
then we believe that you provide wisdom divine
wisdom and intellect to govern according to your word.
We believe that you're with them at all times.
If they believe this and stand upon it.
To help guide them and direct them,
and trusting you that they can build a better Fresno County.
We believe this and we pray for those that are present here
today.
Those that have just come to be informed,
and those that are here to present their concerns.
We pray that everything could be addressed in reverence to you
and also respect to the Board of Supervisors.
We know that life is about agreeing and disagreeing,
but we know that we can agree and come to a common ground
that we want Fresno County to be better, to be stronger
and to be inviting and welcoming.
That others would want to come to this county, and be blessed.
Because the people that lead us, know your heart beat.
We pray for them, we pray for their families as well.
We pray for divine protection because we live in the world
today that is cynical and evil.
Lord God, And rebellious towards authority.
And so we as spiritual leaders and others
join together and pray for them as your word
says to pray for them and those in authority.
The work is great.
We are not in their shoes.
We know that even our personal responsibilities at work
and elsewhere and family are much.
We can imagine their duties and their responsibility.
Lord, we want to thank you this morning.
We pray for divine protection.
We pray for the children their grandchildren.
We pray that you would protect them.
That the angel of the Lord would encamp around them.
Lord Jesus, and we thank you this very moment
for this opportunity this beautiful morning.
And more importantly, your presence Lord Jesus,
and we pray this in the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Amen.
>> Please salute.
>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States
of America and to the Republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
>> God bless you.
>> Thank you very much for those wonderful words.
>> Mr Chairman, members of the board and members
of the audience, was originally published stating that Chavez
would be teleconferencing into the meeting from a location
in Whittier.
He was able to Percent in person today.
>> Agendas are on the back table for anyone wanting to follow.
Is there a motion and a second to approve the agenda?
All those in favor, say aye.
Passes unanimously.
>> We now move to item number two.
Approve consent agenda items number 23 to 44.
>> These matters are approved by a single vote.
Would any board members like an item removed
from consent for discussion?
Seeing none.
Would any members of the public like
An item removed from consent?
Is there a motion in a second to approve the rest of the consent?
All those in favor, say aye.
Approved >> Now move to item number three.
Presentation of retirement plan to Laura J Lambright,
Department of Behavioral Health, 17 years of service.
>> And Behavioral Health is here to present.
Come on up.
>> Good morning.
On behalf of director Holt, she's
unable to attend today my name is
Emma Rasmussen, deputy director for the Department of Behavioral
Health.
We are excited to be here to honor
a longtime employee of the department in the capacity
of a peer support.
Peer support does invaluable work for our community.
To tell you a little bit more about Laura
and the work that she's done these past many years,
I want to invite her last supervisor, Jessica Acosta,
to tell us a little bit more.
>> Thank you and good morning.
Laura worked for Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health
for over 17 years.
As a peer support specialist, peer support specialists
are integral members providing support
for those who continue to struggle
with their mental health.
They offer hope and assistance with goals
when many may not see this as a possibility.
A peer support specialist lived experience
for those we serve the perspective that
through empowerment, healing and self-advocacy are possible.
Lauren embodies all of that.
She enthusiastically participated
in required trainings, departmental or team activities,
and facilitated peer to peer groups offering support
to our person served.
Her peers and colleagues admire her diligence.
Self-advocacy.
Dependability, compassion courage, friendliness
and willingness to collaborate with others.
I was honored to have been Laura's supervisor
for the last one and a half years
with the Department of Behavioral Health.
During this time, she demonstrated a great work ethic
and was always willing to help out not only
her peers when asked to assist when
offering support to our person, but also without hesitation
offered to support her support to individuals struggling while
under conservatorship.
She facilitated two separate groups.
One of them on crestwood, the bridge program and others
at Valley Comfort, the community based board and care facility.
She assisted individuals in getting
acclimated to being on conservatorship
as well as offer them independent living and coping
skills with the goal of successfully being dismissed
from conservatorship.
Throughout her career and Fresno County,
Lauren exemplified what a caring and compassionate a person
can be while guiding our vulnerable individuals
in achieving mental health wellness.
It is my pleasure to introduce Laura Lambright.
>> I thank Fresno County for the opportunity gave me for the past
17 years as a peer support specialist.
It was fulfilling, enriching and it helped me grow.
Thank you.
>> That's all right.
Thank you very much.
Any comments from the board?
Any comments from the public?
[Applause] That's a good comment.
Why don't you come on up?
We'll have a picture with the board.
Thank you.
[Applause]
>> We now move to item number four.
Conduct first hearing on an Ordinance adding Chapter 10.33
to Title 10 of the Fresno Ordinance Code,
relating to Real Property Fraud Prevention Notices;
waive reading of Ordinance in its entirety;
and set the second hearing for September 8, 2026;
designate Counsel to prepare a fair and adequate summary
of the proposed Ordinance; and direct the of the Board to post
and publish the required summary in accordance with Government
section 25124(b)(1)
.
>> I will turn this over to Supervisor Mendez.
>> Good morning Mr. Chairman and board members.
It's a good day to be alive.
Mr. Chairman, I respectfully request your approval
of an ordinance that will give property
owners a new voluntary tool to help prevent a real estate
fraud.
The current property owners protection
that we're just Getting is a POPA.
An alert over 4500 people have already signed.
They gave us their email, anything
that happens on the property.
They get an automatic email.
The current Property owners -- it takes about $143,000 in legal
fees to undo one of those illegally placed mortgage
on your property.
If the mortgage sales in the secondary market, forget it.
So this ordinance that you're about to approve
takes the next step by creating a low cost prevention tool.
It puts on notice the title companies, escrow holders,
Lenders and other parties before fraud can take place.
It does not stop legitimate sales or loans.
It provides an added type of protection against fraud
and most importantly, it helps protect the property
rights of our residents.
For these reasons, I respectfully
ask that you approve this ordinance.
And I'm open for questions.
>> Thank you.
Supervisors?
>> This is like you have different services, LifeLock.
This is going beyond that and actually
have the county actually put something on your deed
where you can voluntarily take it off.
If you sell the property, then you sign it off.
You will know immediately if somebody
is trying to do something on your property.
>> This will be the first in the state of California.
I would like to turn this presentation over
to our consultant, David Fleck, Esquire of mannequin.
He helped us draft the proposed notice of restriction to prevent
fraud and identity theft.
Here he is.
Mr. Fleck. >> This guy can definitely explain it better.
>> Thank you, Mr. Diktose.
Thank you.
Good morning, chairman, supervisors.
Why me?
Why am I here?
I didn't go to law school to become an expert on deed fraud.
But as with everybody, your career
takes twists and turns you don't expect.
I remember the day I was handed my first deed fraud
case when I was a deputy district
attorney in L.A. County.
It was in 2003.
And by 2008, I was standing in front of the state Assembly
committee, moving forward some legislation
to help prevent fraud.
I have spent my career focused on this issue.
I probably have represented more victims of fraud
than any attorney in the country.
There's no way to verify that.
I pretty much know everybody involved.
I definitely have spent more years
thinking about this problem than anybody out there.
That's why I'm here today to talk.
Can we move to the next slide?
What is fraud?
Deed fraud is identity theft.
It's a certain kind of identity theft.
Identity theft is impersonating somebody else
to get something you're not entitled to.
And in this case, people are trying to steal money
using the real estate system.
Impersonate somebody else, homeowner, property owner.
They might impersonate a notary.
They get control of that property with a forged deed.
And with that they may take out a mortgage against the property.
Disappear into the wind.
They might sell the property to an unsuspecting third party.
Some of them will even put a tenant in
and collect the rent until somebody figures
out what's going on.
I know one character in the Antelope
Valley, who has been doing that for at least eight years.
Just collecting the rent on five properties
that were taken through fraud.
That's what Deed fraud is.
Next slide.
A typical victims are properties owners
of vacant properties, owners of second homes
where nobody's paying attention on a day to day,
nobody's watching the property on a regular basis.
And elderly folks.
Some elderly folks, not everybody, but life
gets a little bit hectic and hard for them to manage,
and so they're easy to take advantage in some cases.
The targets are properties that are easy to do this.
That's the key.
They want to focus on a property where they
can get in and get out quickly.
Typically there's a two week escrow.
Get in and get out, and move on.
That's the trick they're looking for.
This proposal, The real property fraud prevention notice.
It is a notice that a property owner can record.
It would be if they can pass it.
They record that request that certain things be done.
Before the property is sold, mortgaged
or otherwise encumbered, they are requesting
that certain things be done.
It's not an order.
It's not a mandate.
They're requesting that their identity be validated
and verified by a notary who has been vetted by a qualified title
company, and a qualified title company as defined
in the ordinance just as the title company that's
authorized to do business in California, basically.
And a thumbprint be taken in the Notary Journal.
The second thing that it requests
is that any proceeds that come out of a transaction,
whether it's a mortgage or a sale,
that it be disbursed only through an account
independently verified by that qualified title company.
That all the documents are handled by the qualified title
company.
And that once again, the second verification
is made before closing using the information that that person
or homeowner has provided previously to verify
they are who they are.
How does that work?
In practice, what they would do as a homeowner would say,
I'm worried about fraud.
They would select a title company or a lawyer
or some other trusted person to deposit their contact
information.
They would fill out this form and on it, they only
put under the name of the company or lawyer or person
or entity that's holding their contact information.
That's the contact information.
A separate part of anything that happens in the transaction.
Because of the transaction documents are fraudulent,
then the contact information is fraudulent.
This is putting their contact information
with a trusted third party that has to be verified
during the transaction.
So we call it a tripwire.
In this situation, what would happen
is before a fraudster could do-- recorded fraudulent deed,
the qualified title company would then
have to verify the identity.
Contact the true owner through that third person
to verify that this is something that they want to do.
Go ahead, next slide.
It says very specifically in the proposed ordinance
and in the notice itself, this is not
a lien, not an encumbrance.
Not any cloud entitled, it's not a restraint on alienation.
It is a request.
It's a request by the true owner to follow
these steps if something's going to happen
to the title of that house.
It doesn't add any new cost other
than the standard recording costs authorized by law.
Let me just say before I wrap up,
because I'm interested in deed fraud.
I've been living for over 20 years.
I pay attention to what's going on around the country.
What types of ordinances and laws
are being implemented in the country.
And most of them are window dressing.
Most of them are not that effective.
And when I first heard about this, I thought,
is this another one of those things
that's just window dressing?
But it is definitely not.
This adds another layer of protection,
because these fraudsters are looking for the easy job.
This adds a layer of protection that makes
it very difficult to overcome.
This will protect elderly homeowners from predators.
It will protect owners of vacant properties
from overseas fraudsters.
It will protect title insurance companies
from fraud based claims.
I think that this particular notice will
be adopted across the country.
It's powerful.
It's a way for homeowners and property owners
to inoculate themselves against deed fraud.
Thank >> Any comments or questions?
>> I think people need to realize that your property
and what's recorded is a public document.
Anybody can go to the recorder's office
and look it up and see exactly what the encumbrances are on it.
And like he's pointing out, this makes
it harder because when they do a preliminary title report,
it'll come up that this is on its.
So they know it's not going to be that easy to just start
filing frauds on papers to put a mortgage on it
or try to steal it.
>> Exactly.
>> It's pretty simple.
And I don't know why other counties haven't done this.
We talked about it, but I think everybody's waiting for somebody
to jump first.
And I think we need to do this.
I think there will be other counties
that once they see how we did it, will copy how we did it.
And like he's talking about, it's basically against people
that their mortgage is paid off, or they
have very little mortgage.
They have a second house.
Could be up at Shaver or Huntington.
And they'll do a title report, and find that there's
no encumbrance against it.
And if you don't have some kind of protection,
and they can go through the process of actually borrowing
money against it.
>> It's the easiest way for a fraudster to steal hundreds
of thousands of dollars.
>> And this is a volunteer program.
>> Voluntary.
>> Any questions?
Comments or questions from the public?
I appreciate you bringing this forward.
And I appreciate you being here today.
Is there a motion and a second?
All those in favor, say aye.
>> We now move to item number five.
Receive presentation from AP Triton regarding the findings
and recommendations of its Community Risk Assessment
and Standards of Cover Deployment
Analysis for the Fresno County Fire Protection District
.
>> Good morning.
I'll say a few introductory comments
before we begin this presentation.
I remember a number of years ago when I was still
fairly new in this role, that I had
a conversation with our Fresno County Fire Chief Dustin Hill
who is in the audience.
Who is also fairly new in his role.
And he asked me a question.
The question was, what level of fire protection
do we want to see in Fresno County?
And that is a question that every resident in our community
who is threatened by wildfire in any way
would have an easy answer to when we're
looking at our community and how fire protection works,
we realize we need to look at this question on a broader
scale.
It asks, is it positioned, not just now but into the future
to serve as?
And I think as you read this report,
you'll say the answer is both encouraging
with the partnerships, but there's also some challenges
and appreciate what has been put into this report.
Before we go forward, I will turn it over
to Amy Rice, who is the analyst in our office
who worked with a team on this project and go from there.
>> Thank you.
Chairman, board members, Amy rice
with the administrative office.
I am joined today by Mike Despain, CEO of AP Triton, who
conducted the standards of cover and community risk assessment
for the Fire Protection District.
I want to make a note that Kevin Taylor was the original project
manager who was supposed to be present today,
but due to some travel issues, he wasn't able to make it.
Mr. Despain mentioned that there are
a lot of details in that almost 300 page report that you have.
But Mr. Despain is just going to cover the findings
and recommendations today.
And following the presentation will
be available for any questions you may have.
>> Thank you for the opportunity to present today.
Kevin couldn't make it, you get me and I live down the street.
It's a pretty easy travel.
My name is Mike Despain with AP Trident.
About 40 years in the fire service.
Fire Chief and Fire officer for many agencies in California,
Washington and Nebraska, but most notably
City of Fresno and City of Clovis.
This is my backyard.
I was watching this report throughout as it went through.
I'm pleased to be able to present this today.
I'm going to rush through it pretty quick,
but we can always stop with questions if we need.
I have to start off with a special thanks
to Amy Ryles, your principal administrative analyst
from the CEO's office.
Chief Dustin Hill and Deputy Fire Chief Ryan
Michaels for their efforts.
If we don't have good partnership,
it's hard to get good data and collection together
for this study.
We'll jump into it.
AP Triton was commissioned to conduct this community risk
assessment standard of cover and deployment analysis
for Fresno County Fire Protection District.
In addition to your normal CRA SoC that we would do,
they also asked for operational performance
and an independent look at the independent volunteer fire
system, county contracts and alternative fire service
delivery models.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate current system
performance, identify operational and organizational
challenges.
Assess community risk and provide
strategic recommendations for moving forward.
Fresno County is one of the more complex ,
operationally one of the more complex organizations
in California.
Is probably the second most complex I've seen in my years.
The county includes such diverse areas such as urban fringe
areas, rural agricultural communities, mountain
communities, remote region, limited infrastructure,
significant wildland and this is all stuff
that you know as supervisors.
That service is delivered through a complex set
of whereas most complex counties might
have a simplified system here.
You have this plethora of agencies including
the combination of Fresno County Fire Protection District
and volunteer fire departments and county contracts
and automatic aid systems pure regional and rural partnerships
in all of this together is how you formed the organization so
far.
So as we go into our recommendations
here, let me make sure got right one here.
As we look at the recommended response and standards,
this one has to do with just as Mr. Merlin had said,
everybody asks what level of service you want,
and we would say the fire service is like a menu.
It depends on what the community wants.
Some people want higher level service,
and everybody wants the highest level.
You have to pay for it.
The goal is to get the best service
possible for the community with the money that's available.
Part of that is to look at the community's desired
level of service.
And that's a policy decision here
even though we're going to cite some national standards,
it's a local decision on what that service level looks like.
And that has to do with local expectations, risk tolerance,
available financial resources and local community conditions.
Part of the process that we look at
is some national standards and recommendations to look at.
The requirement is not necessarily meet them.
Is to use them as the North Star, in the direction.
Performance goals, these are broken down into what we think
is initial and short term, mid term or longer term.
One of the first recommendations we have
is to establish some benchmark performance standards.
These are just examples of how we
would break that different elements of that,
because the reality is the only time that matters is you
notice an emergency, you dial number one,
and when somebody shows up to say, I'm here to help.
The community cares about that, we
have to break it up into smaller segments
to see where we can put efforts to make improvements.
These are just examples that we would look at.
And these are not necessarily benchmarks you
have to keep forever.
They might change over time.
A good example of a turnout time.
That has a lot to do with station design
and how it's configured.
How far away you are from the living quarters in the fire
apparatus.
New stations remodels can change that and improve that over time,
so those numbers can get improved over time.
But we have to have a baseline to start measuring.
Our recommended short term strategies.
There's a couple here.
One is including the fire chief and the county executive team,
Fresno County should consider establishing a county fire
emergency services chief's position
that reports to the County Administrator office.
This position would provide central executive oversight
for county wide fire protection emergency medical service
coordination, emergency management, disaster
preparedness, volunteer fire system support, interagency
coordination, this role would function as a senior level
advisor to the county leadership while improving alignment
between the emergency service operations, county priorities
and budget development, long term risk reduction strategies.
The position would not replace existing operational leadership
within Fresno County Fire Protection,
or independent agencies that would
serve as coordinator authority focus on county wide policy,
emergency management integration, and system
wide performance improvement.
Responsibilities could include oversight
of emergency preparedness initiatives,
coordinating with volunteers, special district fire agencies,
grant administration standards development,
and the list goes on.
The outcome of that would be improved coordination,
especially with your volunteer fire
departments, especially districts in your partner
agencies.
Enhanced oversight of emergency management,
disaster planning and -- improve the opportunity for economic
grants.
The cost of this is not.
The system is already in place.
It's more of a recommendation that
formalizes the position within your structure for reporting.
No cost for that one.
Number two is considered the development
of a consolidated fire emergency services agreement
under centralized executive leadership.
Right now you have multiple agreements.
Sometimes they can get a little bit in conflict
or there's some confusion.
They have different timing on when they expire
and when they need to be renegotiated.
And by having a centralized coordinated agreement,
then all of the items can be discussed at once in continuity
with the other agreements that may be in conflict.
And definitely would speed up things
in terms of time and limit some liability.
It would also improve things like community risk reduction,
allow for better prevention, public education requirements,
staffing expectations, data reporting, performance
measurement, capital planning such as apparatus and facility
maintenance.
The primary cost of this would just
be staff time associated with policy development
and stakeholder coordination, legal review and some training
implementation.
And three is developed countywide volunteer fire
service standards and performance guidelines.
So Fresno County in coordination with Fresno County Fire
Protection District and volunteer agency
should develop a standardized emergency
County wide operational guidelines, establishing
minimum expectations for training, incident command
documentation, apparatus readiness, reporting mutual aid
participation and firefighter safety practices
the standards should be scalable to the capabilities
while improving system wide consistency and operability.
This should establish a common operational expectation
that would improve coordination between all the agencies
enhanced firefighter safety, reduce variability and service
delivery, and strengthen accountability
across that volunteer system.
The primary cost of this would be staff time associated
with policy developments, stakeholder coordination,
legal review, training and implementation.
There may be minor ongoing costs depending on tracking and policy
updates.
We would say that if you look at instances of firefighter injury
and death, the vast majority of them
are within the volunteer community.
So we have a little bit of an obligation
to make sure that we're keeping an eye on that.
Next recommendation is expand volunteer recruitment
and retention programs.
There's a number of ways that that can be done.
There's a number of practices that the agency could look at.
So we are not recommending any particular one, but as
an example the program could evaluate incentives
such as stipends, training reimbursement, and resistance.
Assistance tax incentives.
Flexibility in the training delivery models
peer housing partnerships and expanding outreach campaigns.
And volunteers is a dying breed.
It's a little harder to recruit and retain.
Established next recommendation to establish
a regional Volunteers training and compliance program,
and that is where the Fresno County Fire Protection
District would establish a Central Regional training
and compliance support program for those volunteer agencies.
The program would include coordinated training, delivery
records, management assistance, annual compliance tracking,
respiratory protection support apparatus.
Testing and coordination and standardized documentation
practices aligned with Cal OSHA or with OSHA Cal, and National
Wildfire Coordination Group and National Fire Protection.
The cost is moderate.
The cost associated with training, coordinating software,
system instructors staffing and records management
and compliance, administration and grant funding.
By coordinating this, there is some grant funding
that may be able to offset some of these costs.
And then the recommendation is to adopt
applicable operational deployment standards
from NFPA 1750.
And that address is rural agencies and urban settings
also.
Our recommendations is that the agency used that as a benchmark,
but refined that actual performance to meet
the needs of the community.
Part of the reason why establishing those benchmarks
are important is because if I move into the community,
I may have a certain expectation that that service
level and that zone is not going to meet by having a documented,
then everybody knows what the rules are when
you move into the community.
Estimated cost to implement this moderate, ongoing costs
associated with policy development, training
operational, data collection, staffing evaluations and this
could be phased in.
This is not an overnight change.
Next one is minimum administrative and reporting
standards for volunteer agencies.
Fresno County and Fresno County Fire Protection District
should establish minimum administrative reporting
requirements for volunteer agencies receiving
funding or operational support from the county.
And reporting standards should include
annual financial reporting training records, apparatus
maintenance documentation, incident reporting, compliance
and insurance verification.
The cost of this is low, moderate administrative costs
associated with the reporting system training oversight
and compliance and monitoring.
An ongoing, this is number eight.
Conduct a county wide risk management review
of volunteer fire departments insurance coverage
and liability.
Fresno County in coordination with County Council
and applicable fire service stakeholders
to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of insurance
coverage, liability protection and risk exposure associated
with volunteer fire departments, operating within
or supporting emergency response in Fresno County.
This is to ensure there's a bit of-- forgive
the term, the firewall between what we're allowing an agency
to do that may not be properly insured.
And if something goes wrong, that could come to the county.
This model should include but not
be limited to general liability coverage, workers compensation
or equivalent volunteer injury protections,
vehicle and apparatus insurance, property equipment,
coverage director, officers liability insurance
where applicable, accident and injury coverage for volunteer
personnel and coverage for training activities, emergency
response operations, mutual aid, automatic aid liability
implications and then coverage gaps
associated with the informal volunteer organizations.
Then we're going to strengthen the regional system
of coordination, interagency performance accountability.
So Fresno County protection district, Cal fire
and participating volunteer agencies
should formalize a county wide regional coordination framework
establishing consistent operational expectations,
performance measures, reporting standards, automatic aid
protocols and governance coordination processes.
The framework should include regular interagency review
meetings, system performance monitoring,
standardized reporting metrics and evaluation
of mutual aid and contract service agreements.
The outcome of this is a enhanced regional coordination
and accountability for the whole county,
and better efficiency, better safety.
On the data systems would also allow
you to understand better when changes are occurring out
in the deployment environment.
Recommendation number ten, the last one for this one
is transfer emergency management functions to the Fresno County
Fire Protection District.
Fresno County should evaluate transitioning
the county's emergency manager position and Primary Emergency
management coordination responsibilities from Public
Health Department to the Fresno County Fire Protection District.
The transition should include organizational alignment
of emergency preparedness response coordination,
the Emergency Operations Center, support disaster planning,
training and exercises and interagency coordination
function under the county's primary Emergency Response
Agency.
The transition plan should include
defined roles and responsibilities,
reporting and coordination expectations with public health
and other county departments to maintain continuity
of public health, emergency planning and disaster
coordination activities and by aligning
this management within Fresno County
could improve integration between emergency preparedness
and operational response functions,
strengthen incident management coordination
and enhance EOC activation capabilities
and improve continuity between day
to day emergency response operations and large scale
disaster management.
It would also help better align emergency management oversight
with counties primary fire rescue EMS hazardous materials,
improving operational coordination between emergencies
and disasters.
The cost of this administrative and organizational transition
will cost associated with personal reassignment policy
updates, budget transfers and technology integration.
>> Mike, I know our board has had an opportunity to read this
report in detail.
I know they may have some questions.
What I suggest is maybe at this point,
we allow some time for the board to ask
questions they've had the chance to review this in detail.
With that, we're gonna ask some questions.
>> Board?
>> Mr. Dispain, it's good to see you.
It's interesting because I think 26 years ago when
we were meeting together, we were looking
for response times of five minutes or less,
I want to say 90% of the time.
And staffing standards were different in a city
jurisdiction.
Some of the benefits of getting fire departments
to providing higher levels of service was lowering insurance.
So a question I have looking at some of these recommendations
that you have for us.
I know some of the short term recommendations of just getting
apparatus out to calls sooner.
By doing any of that, do you see opportunities for fire insurance
that people have in their homes being reduced a little bit?
And if there is, can you talk briefly about that?
>> That's a complex issue here I'll make it simple.
The answer is yes, it could.
It depends.
There's a change in the industry,
and the industry is going away from a locked and loaded
readiness model to, what is your outcome?
How often did you stop a fire at Room of Origin?
What was the actual fire loss?
What are you doing in terms of prevention
to help prevent the fire?
So that there's not one to happen to begin with.
And every insurance policy has their own rules
and where their jurisdiction is, where their boundaries are.
Some of them match zip codes, some of them don't.
So number one is you have to shop around
to find out what the best option is for you.
In this case, absolutely many of the items
that are in here, including these last few where we talked
about community risk reduction, is
putting a little less emphasis on the operational response,
and a little bit more on the preventive fire or emergency
from happening to begin with.
That's the biggest way.
It's actually the cheapest way to provide
the service and the biggest move in insurance, because the fire
that you don't have, and you don't
have a claim, that helps you and your policy,
but it's also a regional one.
You can think my house is safe.
All the fires are in another area of jurisdiction.
You're still gonna pay that, depending
on where that geography counts you into that.
>> Basically reduce the risk.
>> Any other?
>> Thank you for the presentation.
Our CEO did read the presentation.
Appreciate the work that you and your partner did.
I think I met with supervisor a while back.
I also appreciated Chief Hale's crash course
on the complexities of fire protection.
We have such a big geographical area.
I've seen it myself in the mountains when there's people
that experience a medical emergency, or a broken foot,
or people that think they can get up to a pin cushion trail
very easily and find out that they can't.
I've seen our folks respond.
Thank you to the fire station 87, and the great work they do.
I just have a quick question for you, chief.
We've got a large presentation, a couple of low hanging fruits.
What would you like to see implemented long term
and short term?
>> Thank you.
I think the best method of working in the CEO's office
is looking through the report and recommendations.
We can do a tiered or phased in approach.
I think building the foundational piece
of the training components to compliance, insurance
regulations and making sure that we have the ability
to work within the budgets.
It's always an easy say we need more firefighters,
we need more fire engine.
But if we can build that in as a long term planning tool,
but I think the foundational piece,
we can work with the supervisors individually
and the CEO staff to come up with some key
takeaways from the recommendations,
but I think there's several opportunities that we have
to almost maintain what our current level of funding
is, just to reorganize it within the budget structure
to allow us to hire the bodies to maintain the training,
maintain the efficiencies.
There's lots of little things we can do,
working collectively between the district
Qom County, Cal Fire and our neighboring agencies
that will still be able to provide higher level of service.
More operational depth with putting safety and looking
at reducing the liability I think it's the first step.
>> Thank you.
I appreciate it.
The last thing I'll say is, a lot of people don't know this,
but when your phone falls, it sends a distress call.
You've had your folks respond.
If I ever need that, I'm gonna throw my phone
and hope you respond out there.
Thank you.
>> I've got another question for Dustin.
Sorry about that, thank you for the great job and great report.
I see this more of a-- there's so many facets of this.
But coordinating between all units,
meaning some of the volunteer units that are still out there,
and hopefully getting them to the point where
you can have them come to some of-- like the mutual aid
isn't just you going into their jurisdiction to find a fire.
Because I don't know if you have any
that can go into your jurisdiction and help you.
Are you following me?
>> There is some.
>> We don't have the advanced training.
>> So we can reach out and turn the table to where we can
provide the training given the benefits that they need to have
insurance to help minimize the impacts to be able to come
and support the system.
>> The further you get from the metropolitan area,
the more important that becomes.
and I've got Paul, to ask him a question.
Some of the deals, could we do an >> The answer is yes.
I want to thank Kevin Taylor and Mike for his presentation.
I could also say that these are things
that it confirms a lot of things that we have been talking
about for several years.
Now we see it in a document.
And as you've heard it said, if you have no clear goals,
you hit them every time.
This has some goals for us to move forward.
So the next step is coming back with an updated agreement
with the fire district.
There was some board action where we could take some of that
into effect and look at the speed in which we implement
some of these.
There's some we can do, but some we
would need to come back to your board to formally implement
and some we've already started prepping for pending direction
and inputs from your board.
>> Any other comments?
>> Yes.
Dustin, correct me if I'm wrong.
But was it 2019 that the board entered
into an agreement with Cal Fire to provide
some protection in wide areas?
And what we're looking for now is
to substitute that, even though this was a 20 year agreement.
This additional resources that are needed
to provide additional coverage.
If you want to talk a little bit about that,
that would be helpful.
>> In 2018, before an agreement, there's roughly 980,000 acres
of unprotected land in Fresno County that do not have fire
protection.
And whether it's the state responsibility
of the federal responsibility, there
needs to be some level of local control for infrastructure,
structures.
The normal day to day, medical aids.
Those don't fall to the wildland agency.
We are able to do that.
We had the Amador agreement that basically
had an agreement between the county, which means
local agency and Cal Fire.
2018 of that, almost roughly a million acres,
that was under contract of the fire district
to be able to provide adequate level of response for those.
So we had the Creek fire, several fires in the last eight
years for that instance that have occurred
within the unprotected lands between the district and Cal
Fire that we were able to mitigate that
by reducing the fiscal impacts across the board.
As we continue to grow, costs have increased since then,
and we've had an outbreak of COVID.
Skyrocketing infrastructure costs of station
builds, repairs, replacement.
All of those costs continue to increase, we look at,
how do we better more efficiently provide
higher level of service while maintaining
fiscal responsibility and accountability?
So this time, we have MOU 2.0, which
was the bridge to get to where we
needed to be with the reduction of the workweek.
And then we have the Amador program
that's going to go away because the Cal Fire is going
to have year round staffing.
So we have the opportunity that we
can redirect some of those amateur possibilities
into one wholesale agreement that
would provide an adequate level of funding to look
at a long term strategic plan.
They would allow us to look at growth,
it's fire station locations, increased in fire stations.
Because the way that we're situated,
might be opportunities if budgets align that we could do
increased level of staffing within the Cal Fire station.
With other resources that could help minimize the community risk
reduction.
Could help having larger pump capacities, which
increase your fire protection and lowers your ISOs
and those underserved areas to potentially reduce
insurance premiums.
But I think the best way is rather
than having several different agreements out there,
we consolidate it into one where we
have one master agreement that provides a level of protection
countywide.
>> Okay.
I just want to say, I appreciate all the work
that you and the firefighters do throughout the county.
Got a chance to be at your training center
and see what you all do.
It's amazing work.
It's dangerous work.
And like our sheriffs and police officers,
you do everything you can to make our community safe
I appreciate what you do every single day.
Yes, sir.
>> I think this is a receive and file item.
When it's time, if the board is supportive,
I'd like to direct staff, Paul Nerlin,
to work together with the fire chief and Mike Despain
to begin to put together an item that this board can act upon
to begin to move in the direction to implement some
of these things that are in the plan
and what the chief talked about as well.
>> Can we just do that for direction?
Or do you need a motion?
>> You can give direction to come back with something later.
>> Any comments from the public?
I will bring this back.
You have direction.
And we will move forward.
Thank you very much.
Next item, please.
>> Mr. Chairman, I apologize that I was just informed from
the Business Journal that we may have a publication issue on item
six.
If we can move to seven to get clarification and discuss public
works.
We'll move to item number seven under Public Works and Planning.
Consider appeal of Planning Commission’s denial of Initial
Study No.
8517, Conditional Use Permit No.
3778, and Variance Application No.
4158, which propose to operation of a special event facility,
and grant a Variance to allow a mapping procedure to two
substandard-sized parcels from existing 10.39-acre subject
parcel; if appeal is upheld and Planning
.
>> Before we start, do any board members need to report any ex
parte communications they've had on the matter?
>> Good morning.
This item comes to your board on appeal of the Planning
Commission's June 18th denial of 5 to 0 with three commissioners
absent.
One abstaining.
Application number 3778 and variance
application number 4158.
The project proposes to allow the operation of an event
facility with a concurrent variance
to create two substandard sized parcels from an existing 10.39
acre parcel.
The project site is located adjacent to the Northwest
corner of the intersection of Fowler and Manning Avenues.
Outside the city of Fowler's sphere of influence.
At the Planning Commission's June 18th hearing,
the Commission heard testimony from the applicant
and applicant's representatives Pierre code enforcement staff
provided information on the violations and on site
inspections testimony was received from individuals both
in favor of and opposition to the proposed.
Closing opposition cited concerns,
with excessively loud music and bright lights during events.
Following the Planning Commission's denial,
an appeal was filed by the applicant and appellant on June
24th, 2026.
If your board is able to determine that the required
findings for granting approval of CEP 3778
and variance number 4158 can be made,
your board may adopt the draft resolution on file
with the clerk to grant the appeal.
An approval classified conditional use
permit application number 3778 and number 4158
and adopt the mitigated negative declaration
based on initial study number 8517,
subject to the proposed mitigation measures, conditions
of approval and project notes.
With the additional conditions for indemnification
and public water system requirements.
If your board is unable to make the required findings
for granting c p number 3778, the board
may make a motion to deny the appeal
and uphold the Planning Commission's
denial of unclassified conditional use
permit application number 3778 and variance application number
4158.
I'm available if you have any questions.
>> Any questions from the board?
We will now open the hearing to public testimony.
The appellant is here, they have five minutes to present.
Are they here?
Okay.
>> Good morning honorable supervisors.
My name is John Kinsey with Wenger Jones LLC.
I'm here with Mr. John Khosa, who is here
on behalf of the Sunset Acres.
I want to thank you for your consideration of this project
today.
Ask the county grows, there is a real need
for top tier event spaces.
The Sunset Acres provides that type of space.
Where members of the community, county residents
can convene and gather with friends colleagues
and loved ones.
This is a professional designed venue
that really is a state of the art amenity
that the county can be proud of.
I want to reiterate that the Sunset Acres and the coasters
are members of this community.
They live here.
They work here and it's important for them
to be a good neighbor.
To that end, they've taken the community feedback
that they received at public meetings and otherwise
and have responded to that feedback
intangible, meaningful ways.
With respect to noise management,
the speakers are faced inward and there's
continuing monitoring during events at the boundary
to make sure there's no leakage.
Events must stop by 10 p.m..
With respect to traffic and those concerns,
the traffic has been evaluated by professional.
John Rowland, you're familiar with.
And to ensure that the traffic impacts
won't affect the surrounding community.
They also believe in responsible hospitality.
They take safety very seriously, especially when
it comes to alcohol.
The only authorized use of license, trained vendors
and bartenders who were trained on how to spot fake IDs,
and to make sure nobody gets overserved.
They also shut down the bar completely at 930.
So everyone has plenty of time to wind down
and to head home safely.
We have our transportation and noise consultants here with us.
If you have any questions, but I did
want to thank you for your time and your consideration
of this appeal.
With that, I'd like to turn it over to Kirjan.
>> Good morning.
First of all, I'd like to thank the Board of Supervisors.
My name is Kirjan Kosa, I live at 421 East South
Avenue in Fowler, California.
I wanted to thank you for your consideration of the Sunset
Accords.
I'd like to thank the staff of Fresno County Planning
Department.
We live here we work here.
We strive to be the best neighbors we can.
Our family is very proud of this venue.
It is a special place for members of our community
to celebrate the most important events of their life.
I appreciate your time today and all
that you do for the Fresno County and the rural community
out there.
I am a farmer.
I appreciate all that you do for us in the whole area.
I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.
>> Any other comments in favor of the appeal?
Anybody who would like to?
Please come forward.
>> Good morning, Fresno County supervisors.
My name is Benta from Fresno.
Prior to my recent move to Clovis
I have lived in two homes.
The first at 8745 South Fowler Avenue, Fowler,
immediately adjacent to the property being discussed today.
I lived there from 1962 until I married in 1979.
My parents lived there until my mom's passing in 2009,
and my dad until 2019, when he was 91 years old.
The second home I've lived in is at 6596 East Parlier Avenue
Fowler about a quarter mile from the coast property
I owned and occupied the residence from 1982
until about a year ago.
My comments today are to share my experiences with the Khosa
family as exceptional and thoughtful neighbors.
Having lived in such close proximity
to the proposed Sunset Acres, I have experience of its impact.
Our families never experienced inconvenience from this venture.
It has not created undesired noise, light.
It has not created undesirable or impactful changes
in traffic patterns.
What has been impactful is the beautification
of the property itself and the property surrounding it.
The property had not been used for any agricultural purposes
for many years.
The owners, Urgant and Preet removed an eyesore deteriorating
barn, adding trees, roses and grass
to create an esthetically pleasing property,
a home anyone would welcome as a neighbor.
My family home and property adjacent to the Kosta's property
was sold in 2019.
The buyer severely neglected the property, killing
two and a half acres of walnuts, have an acre of oranges,
and the amazing gardens my dad had
an orchard for over 60 years.
>> Please just finish up.
>> When the closest bought the home in 23,
they cleared away the acres of dead trees, all the weeds,
and a shed that was often tagged with graffiti.
They repaired the house and made a lovely residence again.
The zoning changes in and around the property
had been significant in recent years.
Our own property and my parents property were at one time
restricted from building additions because of AG 20
regulations.
>> Could you close up?
>> I have one very brief one.
The county supported requested changes
and were able to improve our properties for purposeful use.
The Fresno County Planning Commission personnel
have assisted the courses in addressing
the requests and suggestions of the Commission,
as well as concerns of a few neighbors.
They desire to offer a diverse community in and around Fowler,
a greatly needed venue where families can honor and celebrate
life events.
In addition to the venue, the courses
seek to establish their primary residence
next to the venue, a testimony to their commitment
to the property.
This is a unique, lovely and timely opportunity
for our community.
Thank you for your time and favorable consideration.
>> Thank you.
Any other comments in favor of the appeal?
Welcome.
>> Thank you.
My name is Joe Rivera.
I am a business owner out of the city of Fowler.
I have been a business owner for 39 years,
out of repair, U-Haul Fowler and Redcat towing.
I want to thank you for the opportunity
to come up here and speak.
Gerjant has invested a tremendous amount
of time money and hard work into building this business.
Sunset acres is not simply a property.
It's someone's livelihood.
A business that provides a place for families and communities
to come together for weddings and special events.
Gerjant has made every effort to operate Sunset Acres responsibly
and to address the concerns of the county and the surrounding.
Environmental studies have come completed with traffic studies
and they were done to evaluate the potential impacts
of the business.
The venue also operates primarily on weekends and events
generally conclude no later than 10:00 PM.
Urgent is not only trying to --
Gurjad is not trying to create a problem for his neighbors.
He's trying to operate a legit business
while being a responsible member of the community.
A lot has already been invested in making Sunset Acres comply
with the county's requirements.
Closing the business or placing restrictions on it
that make it impossible to operate
would have a serious financial impact on Gurjant and his family
as well as many employees, vendors, wedding professionals
and other local businesses that benefit from the events
held there.
I asked the county to please consider this studies that
have already been completed.
The efforts has been made to comply with the reasonable way
this venue.
We're not asking for special treatment.
We're asking for a fair opportunity for Sunset Acres
to continue operating as a responsible business in Fresno
County.
Please do not take away someone's livelihood
when he has made a genuine effort to follow the process,
address the county's concerns and be a good neighbor.
Thank you for your time and considering Gurjant and sunset
acres and everybody's livelihood depends on this business.
>> Thank you.
Anyone else who wants to speak in favor?
>> Hello.
Good morning everybody.
My name is Ajit Singh.
I know Mr. Kosa and their family since 1977.
They're very responsible.
He turned that junky place into a very nice place
but the community needed for weddings and everything.
He's very responsible person.
I think we should give him an opportunity and think about it.
Thank you, everybody.
>> Thank you.
>> Good morning, supervisors.
My name is Don.
I live at 5699 Manning Avenue, which is catty
corner across from the venue.
It's less than a 10th of a mile away.
Anything between it it's just vineyard.
So I'm gonna hear a noise or whatever,
it's going to be there.
I'm almost 80 years old.
If anybody's going to complain, I'm
the guy that should be complaining.
But I'm not.
I enjoy the venue.
I enjoy when they're having fun over there.
When it's a wedding or quinceanera.
Fowler needs a place like this.
They've done a heck of a job with developing the property.
I know it was not a great property.
They made it into a wonderful place.
The house I'm in, my ex's grandparents built.
She was there for a long time before she passed away.
I would like to say, if you could
please pass this ordinance.
It's going to be good for them.
It's going to be good for the county,
as well as for Fowler California.
Thank you very much.
>> Thank you.
Anyone else to speak in favor?
>> Hi, good morning, Supervisors.
My name is Rathmonten.
I was born and raised in Fowler.
I live on 5431 East Fowler Avenue, which is in the quarter
mile radius of sunset I am in favor
in support of the event Hall.
I think the property event are esthetically pleasing.
I drive by there every day.
And he's always making improvements
and he's a very hard worker.
Mr. Kosa is very respectful and a nice person and he's always
willing to work with you.
From what I have been hearing I'm trying his best
and putting his hard earned money and sweat.
And he's a farmer and he's always hard working and always
been working.
Anytime I pass by, he's there and always greets you
with respect and love.
I also believe it's a great valuable place for weddings,
celebrations and other community events.
We never really had anything like that
in our Fowler community.
I think it's a great addition.
As far as the noise and living nearby,
I don't have any concerns with the venue.
As far as the noise, I don't hear much noise.
I think our coyotes are louder than the event center.
I just wanted to make it short because I know you
guys want to--
>> Thank you.
Anyone else want to speak in favor of the appeal?
>> Hi.
>> Welcome.
>> I want to thank you for this opportunity to speak in front
of you.
I was kind of afraid to speak at the last meeting
because I kind of regretted that.
So I wanted to make sure I spoke today.
My family resides at 5616 East Manning
Avenue, which is about 0.28 miles from the venue itself.
I am usually outside from late afternoon to the late evening,
working in the yard trying to keep up the property.
I have witnessed events.
I could barely hear any noise coming from an event.
So there's probably only been one time, but other than that,
it's to a minimum.
The lights are nice to have out there.
They are kind of comforting.
Because without them, it is pitch black.
And they are not always on.
It's not like it's a big distraction.
There's been moments where I'll go in the house and tell my mom,
the lights are on tonight, and she doesn't even notice.
Doesn't notice the music is playing from inside the house.
We have one pane windows.
We can hear diesel trucks passing our house,
shaking our house.
We would hear noise.
Especially her.
I think it's a benefit to the community.
There's not much that we have in Fowler in terms of venues.
It would be nice to have something local for the younger
generation to go to and utilize, especially for the schools.
It would be a little bit more comforting,
and I'm pretty sure for parents knowing that their children are
closer to the community rather than going out
to close or Fresno areas.
Even members from Selma could utilize that as well.
I think it would be a great benefit.
Please put a lot of work into it.
From the reports, it seems he is being very responsible
>> Thank you very much.
Anyone else wish to speak in favor of the appeal?
Anybody wish to speak against the appeal?
Seeing none.
Yes?
Okay.
>> Thank you.
My name is Paris Campbell.
I live at 9403 South Claremont.
I oppose giving a conditional use permit to the closest
operating at Sunset Acres.
Their facility is very inappropriate
for a quiet country location due to the frequent high level
of noise, lights and traffic congestion,
which is all now for almost three and a half years very
negatively impacted our quality of life.
The first few homes on our block are less than half a mile
from the venue as the crow flies,
and are subject to the intense glare from their yard lights
during events.
They have finally within the last two weeks moved only three
of the lights that were particularly
bright and intrusive, but had they
wanted to be good neighbors, they would have done
this much sooner instead of waiting
for two and a half years, since they knew that it was a problem.
In coincidentally, just before this hearing.
They also have very tall palm trees,
which are circled with lights, and the palm trees are probably
close to 80 to 100ft tall.
You can see them from a long distance.
Loud noise music, including profane lyrics,
words that I would not repeat are
heard by the children on our block and by us.
We've called the Fresno County Sheriff's Office over 60 times.
We don't want to keep calling the police.
The police report that they are treated very rudely
by the Cosas.
Sunset acres is constantly disturbing the peace.
I hate to have to call the police because of sunset Acres
refuses to follow the rules that apply to all of us.
The coast has have stated that their nearest
neighbor to the north is not opposed to their events,
but that property is owned by the coast
and beyond that is a cemetery.
We want our lives back without intrusion every weekend
of noise, rude lyrics, traffic congestion, extra dust
and excessive light.
Water use in this area is also a problem
when you have that many people.
The city of Fowler opposes Sunset acres
due to having annexed property less than half a mile
away from when there will be a construction of 179 new homes
in the near future.
These are consist of families with many more children being
subjected to these same issues.
The city of Fowler has also viewed the numerous complaints
about Sunset Acres.
Lastly, everyone should have to follow the rules
and regulations.
The causes have not done this.
When purchased, the property had a single family home in a barn.
, without any permits made all the changes to convert
the property into an event center.
They begin operating without a permit.
They knew this and have been operating without a permit.
They were reported by a neighbor adversely affected
by their operation.
Fresno County Code enforcement issued a cease and desist order,
and they ignored it.
They went on continuing.
We have video evidence that they were continuing to operate.
The causes have a proven record of ignoring
legitimate concerns of the neighbors
and threatening those who oppose them.
At least two neighbors reported being chased in a vehicle
by someone associated with the.
They have no regard for their neighbors or the regulations,
and I hope the board will not reward
three years of illegal operation and will not give them
a conditional use permit.
>> Thank you.
Anyone else?
>> Hi, I am Bradley Reed.
Good morning, supervisor.
I will not have time to read everything in the letter,
but I will leave that to you to do.
With regard to the request to subdivide the property
through a variance, there is no merit or legal basis
for the request.
The applicant claims that there are
four exceptional, extraordinary or unique circumstances
or conditions that apply to the land.
One, the property is substandard in size, and two, the parcel
is non productive farmland.
Three, proximity to the cemetery makes the parcel less
than ideal for farming.
And four, an irrigation pipeline easement
traverses the portion of the property.
In truth, substandard size parcels
are abundant in the county.
This is in no way an extraordinary circumstance.
There's no credible evidence that the parcel is not
suitable for agriculture or that the proximity to the cemetery
makes forming suboptimal.
And if truth be known, the buried pipeline
does not traverse the property as claimed by the applicant.
The applicant also claims the need
to preserve two property rights.
First, the right to split the parcel
to bring it into consistency with other similar
sized residential properties in the vicinity.
Two, the right to create a sub residential parcel
because farming is not a viable option.
Farming would put an unnecessary strain on the areas of water
supply, and because of farming, farming
would detract from the efficiency
and sustainability of neighboring farms,
your board knows that.
Owning a subdivided partial does not afford the property owner
the right to divide the property.
You also know there's no credible evidence in the record
that the parcel is unproductive farmland.
You have no proof that the farming of the parcel
would place a strain on the area's limited water resources
or detract from the efficiency or accessibility
of the surrounding farms.
>> Thank you.
>> In conclusion, one sentence.
There is no credible evidence in the record to support the need
that there is -- to support a substantial property.
>> Hello.
I'm Evelyn Beisel and I have a letter from a person who
wants to remain anonymous.
I'll read it quickly.
Dear Fresno Board of Supervisors, the Sunset Acres
event opened in 2022 and has hosted 100 plus events
since opening without a conditional use permit.
They are serving alcohol and law enforcement
has been called an estimated 50% of the events for various noise
complaints and physical altercations.
As well as them continuing to be untruthful
to the numerous County of Fresno departments
that they have communicated with neighbors and law enforcement
personnel.
I'm not sure how this continues to happen.
There are multiple signed petitions
by the neighbors, photographic evidence,
video evidence, logs of the call to emergency response agencies,
and also a denial that a county of Fresno Board of Supervisors
of the application.
In most cases, and event facility
that continues to operate in this manner
would either be locked by Sheriff's department
or the owner arrested for continued violations,
lies and disregarding the orders.
Where do we go from here?
Do the residents of Fowler and Fresno
County to take legal action to get this issue resolved?
Who is paying for each time the law enforcement is
being called out for repeated violations of the Advanced
Center?
Has the owner agreed to pay for this?
Will the county enforcement Department
need to work overtime to be called 11 p.m.
On Saturday nights to say that the party is taking place?
They have had events all nights on the weeks
and even on Saturday nights events have lasted until 10 p.m.
Or later.
Who is in charge here?
Where does it end?
Will they actually stick to the event dates that are allowed
and the hours from 4 to 10 p.m.?
Is there adequate fire protection
for the storage barn that has numerous commercial air
conditioning units attached to it?
How would they feel when their water table level drops
from the venue-- between the hundreds
if not thousands of shrubs, and bushes and trees planted
on the property in the last four years,
how much water is being used to keep them alive?
To the property taxes paid in the last four years in operation
reflect all the improvements made?
How did the restrooms and septic systems on the property
handle 400 plus people per week?
Do they have permits that this is taking place?
And now you can see the concerns that the residents of Fowler
and Fresno County have--
and have general concern for the quality of life
we now enjoy in Fowler and Fresno County.
The people have spoken.
Thank you.
Lifelong Fowler resident.
>> Thank you.
Anyone else?
>> Good morning.
My name is Barbara Bray.
I live at 9403 South Claremont Avenue in Fowler.
I will be brief.
At the previous meeting of the Planning Commission on Sunset
Acres was told to cease and desist their events.
They never did until the last meeting when the 5 to 0
vote was against them.
Last year, we were encouraged to film and document
the steady stream of loud and illegal events.
When my friend and I pulled off the road to take pictures
one evening, a big white pickup truck pulled around
and a man said, do you need help?
I said no, thank you.
He then said, you're not fine.
I know who you are.
He didn't know me.
I had never been there to take pictures,
and I've never seen him before.
He proceeded to spin around and pull up to us within inches
and shine bright lights in our faces.
These two items were at the beginning of his harassment.
As he followed us super close for about two miles south
on Fowler Avenue, until we pulled over and then
he followed us back.
We finally pulled over at the interstate and called 911.
He circled, rolled his window down and yelled, damn bitches.
We ended at the Fowler Police station.
One officer followed him out of downtown
and pulled him over just to hear him say
that he was just going home.
When I told the officer, I didn't
know who it was, the officer said it's him.
The owner of Sunset Acres.
We showed the officer photos of his license plate,
and they transferred our videos documenting that event.
Despite the good things they say,
and you've heard this is the way they
treat their neighbors with anger, harassment and threats.
The Cosas bought up property from Donny and Kellie Wiggins,
who are good friends of ours 15 years or so.
We both raised beautiful alpacas in our barns,
and we played pickleball with them on the weekends.
As the closest -- it was agriculturally vacant.
Thanks for this opportunity to speak, hoping you
will honor the importance of following
the rules and regulations of running a business in Fresno
County.
>> Thank you.
>> I have copies.
>> Anyone else that wishes to speak?
>> Thank you for allowing me to speak.
I live on Claremont in Fowler.
I respectfully ask the board to deny the CPU for the sunset.
My concerns are not personal.
They are based on first hand observations.
From 23 to May of 26, I observed approximately 100 events.
The impact of increased traffic is noticeable.
A road reflector has been removed
in a driveway added to accommodate large scale events.
The light pollution goes beyond the property line.
Noise has been my primary concern.
From my backyard, I have been able to hear
amplified music and explicit lyrics from events.
For example, I've heard the song,
what's your Fantasy by Ludacris from my property.
Event trash is often seen along the roadside or at the vineyard.
The neighboring farmer may feel uncomfortable or be
hindered when (Indistinct).
With this event center affect the desirability and property,
the value of surrounding properties?
Who is accountable for this?
I wonder how events will be monitored in the future?
As stated by Mrs. Kosa at the June 2025 Commissioners meeting,
the Sunset Acres is not our bread and butter, and quote.
Sounds more like a hobby for them.
It does not affect their livelihood.
One interesting observation I've made
is that the Cosas have already leveled
the prepare the land they would like to parcel,
and that makes me very presumptuous of them.
And also are being sued by the county
for not following the rules.
Approving this teaches them that the rules
don't apply if you're willing to withstand a slap on the wrist.
Thank you for your time.
>> Anyone else who wishes to speak?
>> Good morning.
My name is Rod.
I've lived there since 1983 at 9254 South Claremont.
In the past, one time I got a petition,
a notification that somebody wanted
to do a variance on property.
It was to the west.
I looked at it and it didn't concern me or bother me.
I can't remember what it was about,
but I got the notification.
We have never received the notification, ever.
They have been there for four years.
You've heard it all.
We haven't received any information since.
We have no notifications or nobody's
coming to talk to us about what can be done.
They printed here, the lights don't
shine down here they said they're going
to put the lights shining down.
They shine out, they're LEDs.
They're extremely bright.
They're not like the mercury or the high pressure sodium.
Also, They built the building venue with a permit for storage.
That's how they got it built. They
talk about the antiquity of the houses there,
But I've seen venues that use old barns.
And they just tore the barn down.
It would have been-- the noise is really bad.
The lights are worse because they point south,
and they have indicated other times
that it's one of the reasons we receive a lot of noise,
we found out it's coming out that they aim
the speakers to the southwest.
That's where we are.
I don't know why we should be subjected to this.
Maybe the gentleman that lives catty corner from them,
maybe they claimed the speakers at him since he likes the noise.
But I never properly started in a proper manner,
they have lawyers in the family.
They know what's proper.
They just went ahead and, what is it?
Beg forgiveness?
I don't think we should forgive them for this.
It's not their livelihood.
>> Thank you.
Anyone else wishes to speak?
>> Hello.
My name is Laura and I live at 9282 South Claremont.
Thank you for the time to voice my concerns about the business.
The Sunset Acres were told to stop operating during
the Planning Commission meeting on June 26th, 2025.
But they did not appear during the Planning Commission meeting
on June 18th 2026, they stated they only had one event
in February 2026.
This is not true.
They had over a dozen events throughout that time frame.
The last event was on May 31st, 2026.
Like others said, the lights are very bright.
They have recently moved parking lot lights from the north side
to the south side, but I asked them
to do that 2 or 3 years ago.
Why now?
Because they want their CUP.
The noise this business has to conduct a field study.
It stated that the noise will not have
an impact on the neighbors.
It is disturbing my peace.
I can hear DJ announcements.
I can hear music that sometimes contains bad language.
The Sunset acres said that they monitor
the music with noise meters.
However, there is no one monitoring the sunset.
Some events have lasted until 12 a.m..
The sunset Acres said that this was an existing event facility.
This is not true.
The Sunset Acres bought this property a few years ago
and they created this event facility
before obtaining the proper permits.
I've never owned a business before,
and I even know that I have to get a permit to do it.
Even with simple research.
The Sunset Acres have said that this property
was agriculturally abandoned.
This is not true.
It was owned by people that lived in the home
and had alpacas and kept the property maintained.
This business should not be allowed to operate.
When I tell people that they are operating
without the proper permits, they do not feel it is right or fair.
Businesses in the community tell me
they do not feel comfortable signing the petition
in opposition because they fear retaliation
on their livelihoods.
This is not right.
It appears they don't have to follow the rules unless they
are forced.
Everyone must follow the rules and regulations,
which they have not been.
>> Anyone else?
I'm going to bring it back to comments or questions.
>> Mr. Mata, what are some of the original conditions that you
told them they had to do, and what did they do?
Like the lighting.
>> Large zoning required them that had to be directed away
from the surrounding properties.
That's a requirement in the zoning ordinance now.
If either through complaints or inspections
shows that's not the case, we need to move the lighting around
so it's not causing glare on the properties.
There's noise mitigation that's attached
to this project that requires noise metering, direction
of the speakers.
We've added conditions to require them to cease operation
by 10 p.m.
For outdoor events, and then cleanup ends by 12.
In general, we were looking at the outdoor noise impacts,
trying to do things that we've heard neighbors concerns on.
Timing and noise mitigation, those
are the things that we have added
as far as conditions of approval in the course of lighting.
>> So they basically did what you told them they had to do?
>> Our understanding, as far as operating,
I can't speak to that, although we know there's been read policy
service out there, and code enforcement has been involved
with that.
But we do have conditions to try to address those.
>> Prior to the Planning Commission,
because this is basically, can you make the findings?
I'm going to use finding one of the size of the proposed use
is adequate in size and shape to accommodate the use of all yard
spaces, walls and parking.
Did they meet that?
>> Staff was able to make those findings.
There's overflow parking available on the site
to deal with extra folks as long as they're not
exceeding the total number and the OP statement,
staff reviewed the site plan and there's adequate parking.
>> Finding two sets the site for proposed use relates to streets,
highways adequate in width and pavement type to carry Quantity
of the traffic.
Did they meet that?
>> Yes, they did.
The only condition that came out of this
is that they need to do a traffic management
plan for events that they work with road
maintenance and operations Division to submit those plans.
>> The proposed use will not have any adverse impact
on abutting property and the surrounding neighborhood
for allowed to use there are?
>> Staff was able to make that finding based on the mitigation
measures and conditions.
>> And the last one is the proposed development is
consistent with the General Plan.
>> Staff is able to make that finding event centers is
permitted with the conditional use permit now in agricultural
zone districts, there are a number of them in the county.
>> Anyone else have >> Mr. Mata, one of the resident says they
didn't receive any notification.
Did we send notifications for this kind of thing?
>> We do.
A quarter mile.
>> Everyone within a quarter mile should have received
notification?
>> That's correct.
>> Also on the agenda item, is they want to split the property
in two is that correct that's correct.
The applicant requested to do that so they could separate
the event facility from their other part of the parcel
so they want to build a house on their.
>> Staff was able to make the findings for the variance.
>> Did they build significant portion of this without proper
permits they're?
>> There was.
Activity occurred without permit.
They do have permits and process.
They aren't all final because it's pending.
>> So they have been out and inspected and they've passed all
of those?
>> We haven't completed all of the inspections,
but they do have permits in process and there's things like
the restrooms.
>> And my last question it's been stated several times that
during the Planning Commission, they were asked to stop,
but it seems other people said they kept going.
What do you know about that?
>> Those complaints would have gone to code enforcement.
We did check with the Sheriff's office.
They were calls of service from February-- mostly related
to noise.
So our understanding is there were events.
I don't know how many, but there were calls to service out there.
>> I have one of these in my district.
We have similar concerns.
We put several measures against that.
I'm assuming this is a conditional use permit?
>> Correct.
>> What are the ramifications if they violate our conditions.
What happens?
>> Revocations.
We can bring it back to the decision making body
to your board for if they don't comply.
>> And what sets the parameters for that?
>> Violation of any condition.
If we get complaints enforcement gets complaints,
they don't resolve the issue, then we can take it back.
>> My question more specifically would be,
how many more complaints would we have to get before it comes
back?
>> There isn't a number.
It could be one complaint.
If they're not operating.
>> So they're supposed to close down by ten,
and they stay open till midnight and a neighbor filed
a complaint, what happened?
>> Code enforcement contacted them,
and were contacted and it continues to happen,
then we would tell and send them a letter,
we're going to revoke your use permit.
If it doesn't improve or if there's a pattern,
then we'll bring it back for revocation.
>> Because I think the one speaker said they just kept
going because there was no teeth or getting slapped on the wrist.
I can appreciate that.
I'd like to have a little teeth.
The one in my district seems to be operating fairly well.
This is definitely more split.
We have half in favor and half opposed.
It's a tough call.
For those in opposition, for me, my only concern
is I'm willing to give people a chance.
It seems like they pushed the outer envelope
and even when they were supposed to they pushed anyway.
I don't really appreciate that.
I don't like that I think when you're asked to stop,
you're under review, you have to stop.
And if you think you're going to push the envelope
and keep going, that's just not right.
Not right.
For me, I like to have the applicant come forward
and answer that.
I would.
I want an answer to that.
>> I want to make sure that this is John Quincy again.
I'm bringing up Mr. Kosa.
I want to make sure that we're clear on the timeline.
After the Planning Commission, my understanding
is the event ceased.
There was actually an event that was scheduled,
it was for this month in August, and that
resulted in a very difficult conversation with the bride,
where she had to be refunded, damages were paid to her.
She unfortunately had to look for a different location
for her wedding.
So that ceased pending the outcome of this hearing.
>> You as an attorney, what is your justification for even
scheduling such a thing when you're not fully permitted?
>> Oftentimes, those are scheduled before these events
arise to this level.
So unfortunately that happens, ultimately the Cosa
made it right to the bride.
Since the planning commission meeting
I just want to make sure we're clear on the timeline.
Since the Planning Commission meeting,
there haven't been any events.
>> You're gonna state that for the record?
>> So if I go and bring the log in here,
they go out there and have events,
you're gonna state that they didn't occur?
>> There were no events.
I can't speak as far as calls for service.
>> Yes, there were no events and no share departments contacted
us as a family by any situations after the Planning Commission
meeting.
>> Let's be clear on that timeline,
because I feel like there was a planning commission meeting
a couple of months ago, but then there was 1 in 2025.
That was my understanding that in 2025, there
was a statement saying that activity
should cease and desist.
So to your point, just to make sure we're
talking about appropriate timelines,
are you saying there haven't been
any events since the summer of 2025 until today?
>> No.
>> Go ahead.
When I was referring to the Planning Commission meeting,
I was referring to the Planning Commission meeting
a couple of months ago.
And since that time, there have been no events.
There were events prior, mid 2025,
that's something that the coaches have been
working through with staff.
They understood after the second Planning Commission meeting,
they needed to stop.
And they did until they ultimately
got their land use approval of the Board of Supervisors
pesticide.
>> I'm sure you're aware that the five up here have
a balancing act, and I believe every one of us believes
in personal property rights, you should be allowed to do what you
want with your property.
However, those of us in AG also believe
you shouldn't interfere with someone else's rights as well.
I hope your applicant-- and this is Supervisor Mendez district.
You will have the greatest say.
Just like we're given the greatest
courtesy in that district.
So whatever his recommendation is,
I'm prepared to support that.
However, if he is willing to give you the conditions
to meet as what happened in my district, if you violate that,
I'd be the first one to make a motion to take it away from you.
I don't care how much money you have
invested because you've been given a chance,
you've been told.
And if you violate that rule against the defiance
of the members of this board, then you
shouldn't be allowed to operate.
And I want to make that perfectly clear if you're given
the opportunity to go forward.
Do you understand that?
>> Yes, sir.
>> Then we're good.
>> Go ahead.
>> Briefly, I agree with what Supervisor Pacheco mentioned
with regards to us trying to balance the property rights
of individuals that are trying to make business
in their community.
What I'm trying to reconcile is, and I checked with our folks
from the city of.
There were a couple of references
made that the city of Falls was not supportive of this.
I asked them, in the city of Fowler does not oppose this.
I want to make sure that folks recognize that into the record.
When I checked, they said they had no complaints
about this property.
I agree with what Supervisor Pacheco mentioned.
I think you were trying to be a good neighbor.
You're trying to rectify a lot of things
that did not occur before.
I think Supervisor Mendez did a great job of going
through the checklist of what you satisfied,
and that would be in agreement of Supervisor Mendez would like
to give them an opportunity to do that with the expectation
that they would follow the conditional use permit,
criteria and everything that's outlined on there.
>> I have some questions.
>> No, it's closed.
You can't.
I share all of the concerns that supervisor Pacheco said,
and concern that I have is that there have been coded violations
over three years that they have been operating
without conditional use permit.
Is that correct?
>> That's correct.
There's a violation open on the property for operating
event center without permits.
Code enforcement has been actively involved in that,
dealing with them.
>> So if they've been actively violating, not having permits.
How have we not shut them down for three years?
>> I can't speak to code enforcement actions.
Specifically code enforcement has been invited.
There may be someone here that can
speak to enforcement ongoing investigations and interactions
with the property owner.
They are aware and we are aware of their activities
and code enforcement staff they speak at the Planning Commission
regarding their investigations on the site.
>> Anybody from code enforcement want to address it?
>> Good morning.
I'm here with El Harrison, who can speak for those items.
>> sure.
>> Good morning.
Thank you.
We filed an injunction and process for 8853 South Fowler,
also known as Sunset Acre.
It's in Wood County Council.
>> You filed an injunction to shut them down?
>> That is correct.
Injunction was filed in June 13th of 24.
It is still in process with the County Council.
They are in mediation with the attorneys for Sunset Acres.
>> So why has this taken two years?
June 2024.
>> I don't know why it's taking so long.
I know the temporary restraining order was last November.
The preliminary injunction which was just spoken up
is telling the court process.
>> I think we have to do better than this.
We have people who have been complaining.
The I'm troubled by this.
It feels like we've allowed people to operate illegally.
And here we are.
They're asking to now operate legally
after operating illegally for several years.
That's quite troubling to me.
It feels like somehow we've let down people.
I think we need to own that.
In terms of the conditional use permit--
let me ask you this question.
It says in the staff report that when they went to the Planning
Commission, a motion was made to deny
the applications due to an inability
to make any of the required findings for the UCUP
nor the required findings for the variance.
At that time, were the findings were not there,
but they're saying the findings are there today?
>> The Planning Commission disagrees with
staff's recommendation on testimony.
They received in the the permit.
Ours is a recommendation.
They chose to not be able to make those findings.
>> So the Planning commission's findings.
I got that.
On the conditional use permit, what limits
are you imposing on them in terms of time, operation, noise
to address the concerns of the neighbors?
>> We're limiting outdoor operations to cease at 10 p.m.
And there's noise mitigation to address On-Site noise
monitoring, at the speakers are turned.
Other mitigation measures to try to address those factors.
Based on the noise study that the applicants noise
analyst prepared, the application
did not violate our noise ordinance,
we were agreeable to the analysis that was provided.
I will say that your board can further limit operations.
They can say no outdoor events.
Outdoor events can cease at 9 p.m.
And your board can also add staff
recommending two additional conditions of approval.
And the other is the community water system.
A third condition of approval could
be that if staff receives three validated complaints
for not operating within compliance of these permits,
that we bring it back to the decision
making body for revocation or whatever your board desires.
>> I also share the same feeling with Supervisor Pacheco.
I am very supportive of my colleague
and what he wants to do in his district.
I'm wondering, if some of these issues
around the conditional use permit
and their limitations and requirements of approving
the Conditional use permit, if there's some way
to have neighbors meet with the property owner
to come up with some agreed limitations
on the conditional use permit?
I don't know if that creates a problem for you.
No?
Okay.
I am concerned about this gentleman
having operated for several years without legal permits.
I do think we need to be sensitive to what
the neighbors are requesting and the concerns that they have.
With that, I'm looking forward to hearing from my colleague.
>> I asked Supervisor Pacheco, the one we were talking about
before, because we put on extra limitations.
>> I don't recall everything.
It was several years ago.
Whatever we did to that, I would put on the exact same thing
here to be equal and to be fair.
And it seems to be working well for me
I have not had one complaint since we've done that.
There are neighbors that literally live next door
across the street, and they have been great neighbors
and abided by the rules.
I would like to put a similar on this property
based on what we heard today.
Are you familiar?
I am.
We took that approach with the application.
Initially the applicant requested later time.
Working through with this process,
and we can't speak to how late they have been operating
to date, but the approach we took was 10 p.m..
All events have to cease.
No more amplified music.
We do allow them two hours for cleanup.
So that falls very similar to what you described.
We anticipated that, given the amount of controversy
and complaints we received.
We scaled back their operation from what they originally
proposed.
>> And they still have to follow the noise ordinance.
>> They do.
And they're required to conduct sampling noise surveys
while the activities are ongoing.
We have the ability to monitor what the noise levels are
as these events occur.
To Chris's point, if we get validated complaints
that they're not following their rules or conditions,
and they've heard pretty clearly that this board will not
hesitate to resend that permit.
And I know the neighbors will be monitoring that.
>> I'm okay with that.
>> I'll actually familiar with the area.
>> And I think they understand we take that away
in a heartbeat.
I don't care how much you invested.
You either do it the right way, or you lose that privilege.
>> I'll make that into a motion, under those circumstances that
Supervisor Pacheco outlined.
>> I'll second.
>> All those in favor, say aye.
The motion passes >> And just for clarification, your motion
included other recommended conditions in the additional?
>> Yes.
And if they violate them, bring it right back.
I want to take you to item number six.
>> It appears that the notice of public hearing was not published
in a newspaper of general circulation.
We contacted this morning and they
confirmed that they did receive notice on the clerk's office.
Unfortunately fell through the cracks on their end.
I will put processes in place to avoid
the situation in the future.
Will put extra steps over.
Item six will be continuing until September 8th.
We will publish it Friday, get confirmation from the newspaper
of General circulation, and that will give us ten days so it
lands just right for September 8th.
We will now move to item number eight under Public Works
and Planning pure .
Consider and approve petition for cancellation of Agricultural
Land Conservation Contract No.
8271 filed by Yamabe & Horn Engineering,
on behalf of Joseph Crown (Applicant),
to a 38.18-acre parcel from Williamson Act Program to allow
parcel to be annexed to City of and developed as a residential
subdivision; and after making all five required findings
listed Government Code, Section 51282(b),
take the following actions: a) adopt and authorize to execute
Resolution authorizing cancellation of ALCC No.
8271; and b) authorize Chairman execute Certificate of Tentative
.
>> This item is our request to approve a petition
for cancellation for agricultural and conservation
contract number 8271 between approximately 38 acres.
Staff was able to make all of the cancellation findings,
recommends approval of this request
that concludes my presentation.
>> Any comments from the board?
Any comments from the public?
Is there a motion and a second?
All those in favor, say aye.
It passes unanimously.
Next item.
>> We now move to item number nine.
Or of supervisor's committee reports and comments.
>> Any reports or comments?
>> Some of Fresno County staff, my office we have a community
meeting which is going to take place tomorrow for Silver
Springs, water work district 40.
I want to thank staff and I know that we're reaching out
to the State Water Board as well to try
to see if we can get a representative coming out.
We've got over 100 special districts in Fresno County,
I brought it up in the past that there
are many challenges and the strains that we face as a county
as it relates to a lot of our districts,
whether it be water districts, CSAs, CSDs,
so I think it's important for us to be fully engaged
in that front.
Meeting going to take place tomorrow.
I know many residents are going to be coming out for that.
I look forward to providing an update
on outcomes from that meeting.
A lot of other things going on.
I will say yield my time back to buddy,
because he always has witty things he likes to say.
>> I'll make a comment.
I see Ben Ewell sitting in the back there.
He has two of his sons with him.
It's always good to see Ben.
>> Anyone else?
No.
We don't have any-
>> We now move to item number ten.
Board appointments.
>> None?
Nope.
We will move on to the next.
>> We will now move to item number 11, public presentations.
This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons.
>> Any comments from the public on any matter not on this agenda
or any comments from the public on closed sessions item 13
through 22?
Please come forward.
>> My name is Jennifer Taber.
I'm a resident and customer of Fresno County Water Works
district number 40, Shaver Springs.
I want to put several facts from the government's own records
into public record today.
Because residents deserve an explanation of what
happened to this water system over the last 17 years.
Records dating back to 2008, 2009
describe an extremely Serious situation
of WWD-40, all wells that served w WD 40 have been contaminated
with uranium nitrates.
As a result, the district no longer possesses drinking water.
Another government record describes 5 or 6 wells
chemically or radiologically contaminated in the state's.
The district does not have potable water.
That same record identifies three water storage tanks
and the -- it also states that four existing wells were
supposed to be destroyed pursuant to recommendations from
the California Department of Public Health.
In March 20th 2025 state drinking water document states
that compliance order was issued in 2009 for uranium MCL
noncompliance at Wells six.
Another compliance order was issued in 2013
for a gross-- the water system must comply
with the requirements of compliance orders
until the water system is returned to compliance.
What happened between the record saying the district
does not possess potable district water and Fresno County
providing the water to WWD40 customers.
Is that tank still part of our drinking water system today?
The board has authority to call an emergency.
I want the record to be clear that Fresno County is not
limited simply to waiting for another agency to act.
>> Thank you, ma'am.
Next, please.
>> Hi.
Good afternoon.
I am a young resident of Shaver Springs.
My name is Kelly Taber.
I live in Shaver Springs.
I'm not a water engineer, attorney or governor official.
I'm a young person who should be able to turn
on a faucet in my home without wondering
whether the water is safe.
Over the past several months I've
watched my mom spend countless hours trying
to understand what has happened to our water system.
What she found didn't come from Facebook or rumors.
It came from the government records.
Those records talk about uranium gross alpha, contaminated wells.
A system that was described as not having potable water
in a storage tank that was described
as deteriorating beyond repair.
These problems started when I was a little kid
and some of them even started before I was born.
Yet, families are still standing here asking what happened.
Young people in Silver Springs didn't create these problems.
We can't inspect the water tank ourselves.
We can't replace the contaminant well.
We can't issue an emergency declaration.
We can't force a government agency
to fix the public water system.
We depend on adults like you, responsible for the system
to protect us.
I'm not standing here today to tell you
what our water costs anyone's illness.
I'm asking something much simpler.
Please make sure the water provided to our families is safe
and prove it with testing inspections and records.
If the tanks haven't been internally inspected,
inspect them.
It's not that hard.
If contaminated wells were supposed to be destroyed,
show us what happened to them, and while these questions are
being resolved, please do everything within your authority
to help families obtain safe drinking water.
Please treat the families and children of Silver Springs,
like how you would treat your family.
We shouldn't have to wait for something worse
to happen before someone decides this deserves urgent action.
Thank you for listening.
>> Hello.
My name is Jessica Mahoney.
I'm here to support the families of Shaver Springs California.
Their water system has been horrible for years.
Before and after the Creek fire incident.
Our resident of district three.
I did not live in Silver Springs,
but this doesn't mean I don't care.
I volunteered with the Red cross during the Creek Fire.
I helped people get into motels.
I delivered food to the motels.
I care about our community and our neighbors.
Our neighbors our neighbors in Christ
and human beings that deserve clean and safe drinking
water I submitted to the county clerk this document
from last year.
Sanitary Survey report on Silver Springs Wells.
They give you 15 different items to fix your different timelines.
Three of them were immediate corrections.
One was called to Billy, which is
the discoloration of the water.
It's caused by minerals, bacteria.
Bio contaminants.
High iron and uranium.
It's in that water.
And Jubilee is usually one m HCl.
This was 28 according to EPA.
Anything over a five is dangerous to drink
and should not be drunk by anybody.
Not just babies.
Not elderly or people that are sick.
Nobody should be drinking the water at a w w d 40.
These people need bottled water like you guys did in Creek.
Those areas a couple of years ago
I don't know why these wells haven't been fixed.
That property across from militant the development
a few years ago they got a COVID loan to fix their wells.
These people are not big developers.
Their families paid a high rate.
The biggest in the country.
Thousands of dollars each month for water they cannot drink.
>> Thank you.
>> Good morning.
My name is Olga Maria Silva.
I live in the community of Del Rey.
Del Rey is a small community of a lot
of poor people, a lot of seniors people
that do not have a lot of resources.
I'm here to talk about an intersection
of Del Rey and American Avenue.
It's a very dangerous intersection.
There have been many accidents.
I passed by their daily.
I have had very often serious near-misses
of having an accident here there have been deaths there before.
There have been accidents recorded in the past.
A lot of people that I know I've had near
misses or been run off the road.
They do not report it because a lot of Mexican people
don't like reporting things.
You guys have done, or there have
been measures where they put flashing lights
and they sign that says cross traffic does not stop.
And that's fine, but it's not going to solve the problem.
We've been having this problem for years.
We need a four way stop there.
Someone said it's a highway or a major street
especially for the business of Palm Wonderful, which is true
but there's a stop sign a mile down American and McCall,
and there's another one on Bethel.
So we're requesting that you provide another stop sign.
There's an issue with visibility.
If you're on Del Ray Avenue heading north,
you have a light pole.
You have bushes and mailboxes, and you have
vehicles that parked there.
That's becomes unsafe.
You have to pull out into the middle of the road
to see oncoming traffic.
Which are mostly big trucks.
You have weeds.
So we're asking, is it going to take another death?
I hope not.
>> Thank you.
>> Hi, good afternoon.
Victoria with the California road legal assistance.
I'm here because we work with the community group
in the community of Del Rey.
We are here to request for an all way stop
on Del Rey and American Avenue.
In December of 2014 a young lady named
Alejandra Yanez lost her life, leaving
behind an eight month old child who is now 11.
Marvin will not ever know his mother.
He will never remember what her touch is like.
I would just like to take something.
For the supervisor Mendez referred
to when he was dealing with the divider
that they put on to the 41 between L'amour and Riverdale.
Board of Supervisor Mendes, you made
it clear that this divider was a Band-Aid on a broken arm.
So here as somebody who works with the community of Del Rey,
we'd like for you to help them move forward
and help them take off that Band-Aid for the intersection
of Del Rey and American Avenue.
Help put a cast on that arm so that they
can start healing and have a more safer way of commuting
to and from the community of Del Rey.
It's very important to make this intersection safe
and move forward with taking off that
Band-Aid and putting on a cast and letting them heal
in the community of Del Rey.
Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Good.
My name is Amanda Estrada.
I'm asking for the four way Stop...
I don't live Del Rey anymore, but I'm through there every day.
I'm part of Shining Life I'm also
part of the Delray community.
When you lose someone, it's a person.
My Grandson is Marvin Gonzalez.
The only you can get is what the AI can make.
The roads are dangerous.
This is my second time up here.
But before this, I've been signatures.
Whatever needs to be done, I stop I'm doing.
I help run a food ministry. have my own.
But whatever it takes to to get these four stops,
it's not going to bring her back.
But it might help somebody save their life.
When you guys go home, your wives expect you Home safe.
She left-- and we got a phone call saying, go get her.
We had to drag my son.
Four couldn't get him off.
He was saying, let get her.
We need this done.
Whatever it takes.
If you need us to sit there and record whatever it is,
let us know, because it's just my family.
It's everybody else's.
Thank you.
>> Thank you, ma'am.
>> , supervisor. name is Joel Hinojosa.
That was my wife. were devastated
when this accident took place.
We were both active members in the community of Del Rey.
We attend church there.
There's a men's home that we're a part of.
We have lived in Del Rey.
I am in the ag industry.
I go that intersection on a daily basis.
It's like day.
Since the 70s, I've been in this of the valley my whole life.
Since the 70s, there's been numerous accidents there.
I know personally three that have been fatalities.
Unfortunately, that affected lives being one of them.
When this took place, we started to become active,
trying to signatures and take the steps
to see if could get something done about the intersection.
And a member of the community, I've
spoken to many people in Delray in the city.
I've never spoken to anybody in that city
that hasn't said that they would love to see a four-way stop.
Being in the ag industry, I realized
that pom Wonderful has a lot of trucks that are going through.
I know that a lot of times it's about the dollar, how much can
be moved on a daily basis.
I send trucks out all the time.
But in the ag industry, we never put life above the dollar.
We always look out for the best of our employees,
the people that work around us.
I look at it from that aspect as far as the ag industry goes.
Above that, I don't want anybody to have to go through this.
I don't want anybody else to have to lose a loved one
or have to deal with the repercussions of it.
My wife was trying to get across that--
I'll end there.
>> Thank you.
>> good morning board of supervisors.
This is Leticia.
I am a staff attorney with California Rural Legal
Assistance.
I am providing a public comment on behalf of residents of Del
Rey to request that Fresno County install a four way stop
on American and Del Rey Avenue pursuant to the county ordinance
11.04.020, which allows the Board of Supervisors
to authorize the installation of a stop sign.
The lack of a four way stop sign at the intersection
has resulted in at least 21 pedestrian and traffic
collisions in the last 12 years.
These collisions have led to known fatalities,
but despite this troubling history,
there's currently only a two way stop sign at that intersection.
In 2020, Fresno County determined
that the intersection of Del Rey and American
failed to meet the necessary criteria for the installation
of the four way stop sign.
Based on a 2020 Traffic engineering request.
However, this request that Fresno latest decision on
was unsupported as it was based on incomplete and outdated
information.
The installation of the four way stop at the intersection
remains necessary to reduce the likelihood of collisions,
therefore avoid fatalities or injuries.
Additionally, the board should adopt the resolution
to install the four way stop sign to align with the currently
approved 2025 Del Rey Community Plan
that emphasizes the county's commitment
to improve traffic safety and being a part of bringing
the community's vision to life.
This request is made and pursuant to the County
ordinance and documented history of the dangerous Intersection.
We also submitted a public comment written,
and it has signatures that Amanda was talking about.
There is support in the community.
Thank you so much.
>> Thank you very much.
Seeing no one else.
>> We now move to item number 12.
>> Item 11.
Go ahead.
>> Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
My name is Jeff Roberts.
I'm a consultant and I do planning entitlement work here
in Fresno County.
I'll be brief this morning.
I'm here with Ben Ewell who will speak for a couple of minutes.
We would like to ask for your help
in providing direction to staff to work with us on a new idea up
in the Millerton specific plan area.
Very quick history.
The specific plan was approved by the board in 1984
there has been development that's occurred in the area.
Infrastructure that's been installed.
I can tell you that the area is not developing as fast or as big
as was once envisioned.
Things have changed up there.
There's been some ownership changes that have occurred.
There's been some rules and regulations
that have occurred that didn't exist back in 84.
So we'd like to ask for your staff's assistance
to look at some possible additions to the area.
Not the ones that would necessarily add count, traffic
or environmental issues and haven't
been looked at before, but possibly
in a different location.
I passed the handout that shows the specific plan area that's
highlighted in a pink area.
In the area in yellow that we're talking about, looking at
is possible for the new development adjacent to the CSA
and Millerton.
We'd appreciate any help you can give us.
Our goal is to develop a conceptual plan
and come back to your board with a conceptual plan.
We will have to file what are called Pre-applications
with the county.
That has not been done yet.
We fully intend to do that.
So when we do come back, we'll have
a complete picture of what we would like the direction to be.
And your staff will be fully informed.
Appreciate the time to speak.
Thank you.
>> Good morning.
Mr. Chairman and members of the board
just want to make a quick mention on the project
that Jeff Roberts just spoke to.
Years ago, when this project was approved unanimously
by the board we've obviously done a lot of work
and a lot of things have been built and a lot of issues
have come and gone.
A lot of people have come and gone.
I'm kind of sitting here.
But I do recall, a hearing when it was approved unanimously.
Supervisor Aaron Collegiate, one of your predecessors
leaned over up there and said, I'm going to give this to you
and unanimous approval here you got a promise one thing.
Stick it out and see it through and don't mess it up.
That's kind of why I'm here and would
like to continue to keep my promise of what I said that day.
Thank you.
>> Thank you.
Anyone else?
We will now close that and move to the next item
>> We now move to item 12, County Council reports from
previous closed sessions.
>> There are no reports from prior closed sessions.
However, I would expect a report after today's closed session.
I want to wait to vote to.
>> We are now going to closed session.
[Meeting entered closed session]