[11:10] Hey, thank you for joining us this
evening. We appreciate everyone being
[11:13] here. Uh before we start our meeting, if
I could ask you to stand for community
[11:18] blessing and Mayor Prom, if you could do
the honors.
[11:25] Father in heaven, we come to you giving
you praise, honor, and glory, and
[11:30] thanking you for life, health, and
strength. We thank you for your many
[11:34] blessings that you bestowed upon not
only this city, but our country, Father.
[11:39] We ask your continual blessings, Father.
And we ask that you oversee everything
[11:44] that we do. Give us a right mind to make
sound decisions here in Los Banos. Lord,
[11:50] bless our staff as they work so hard and
diligently for the various projects that
[11:56] we have in our city. And we just give
you praise, honor, and glory. And thank
[12:00] you for everything in Jesus name. Amen.
>> Amen. Like to call this meeting to order
[12:06] for September 2nd, 2026.
Chief, if we have the pledge. I pledge
[12:11] algiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic
[12:16] for which it stands. One nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
[12:22] justice for all.
[12:26] [clears throat]
[12:33] » Okay, if we uh Lucy, if we go ahead and
have roll call, please.
[12:38] » Yamis.
Chavez
[12:40] » here.
>> Lewis
[12:42] » here.
>> Amil
[12:43] » I am here. And the first item is
uhformational and presentation agenda
[12:48] items. And that's for me to
[13:04] lock us in here.
[13:09] » Yeah.
I can come to you. Okay.
[13:16] » Let's go over here.
>> Our logo.
[13:22] » Well, this is definitely Come a little
closer. Yeah. This is definitely uh
[13:28] [snorts] a long time making and we've
waited too long to honor this gentleman
[13:33] that has done so much for our city and
our community. Not only did he he serve
[13:39] on the city council, but he also uh
served many years as our our director
[13:45] for the city. Did an excellent job. I
had the honor of being mayor when my
[13:50] first time around and you were director
of parks and wreck. And uh
[13:57] so we're proud, Joe, to be able to give
you this proclamation recognizing you.
[14:02] And there's more to come to I'll talk
about in just a second. So this
[14:05] proclamation recognizing Joe Souza. And
I also want to just say Donalda, it
[14:10] takes a good woman to to to be with a
good man and both of you together has
[14:16] made this community better. So thank you
so much. Whereas Joe Souza faithfully
[14:20] served the city of Lasanis for 26 years
beginning in 1980 and ultimately serving
[14:26] as public service director. And whereas
following his retirement from city
[14:32] service, Joe Souza continued the
commitment to the community as a member
[14:37] of the Las City Council from 2006
through 2012. And whereas throughout his
[14:44] career and public service, Joe Souza
demonstrated dedication, leadership, and
[14:50] commitment to improving parks,
recreation facilities, trails, trees,
[14:55] and public spaces for the residents of
Los Banis. And whereas Joe Suza played
[15:00] an important role in the vision,
planning, and development of Losanis
[15:04] Community Center, helping create a
lasting community facility that
[15:09] continues to serve residents of all
ages. And whereas the city of Lasanis
[15:14] wishes to recognize Joe Souza for his
years of service and lasting
[15:18] contributions in the in our community
with a plaque outside the Laspanis
[15:23] Community Center that's coming in a
couple of weeks. Now therefore, be it
[15:27] proclaimed that I, Michael S. Samville
mayor and the city council of the city
[15:31] of Lasanis do hereby honor and recognize
this great man Joe Souza for his
[15:36] outstanding public service and
dedication to our community. Joe, thank
[15:42] you so much. [applause] Thank you. You
want to
[15:50] [applause]
[15:59] Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[16:04] [applause]
>> And like I said, in a in a couple of
[16:07] weeks, oh, Joe has
>> Yeah. From Park and Recre.
[16:17] » Do a little something. You can you can
munch on when you get home.
[16:21] » Thank you. It's good to see you. And in
a couple of weeks, we're going to be
[16:24] putting a plaque on the Quinny Center.
[applause]
[16:47] And now we come to our public forum. And
this time reserved for the members of
[16:51] the public who wish to address this city
council and any item that is not on our
[16:56] agenda this evening. If you'd like to
speak on an agenda item, u we'll give
[17:01] you that opportunity when we reach that
item. And u this is within the subject
[17:07] of matter jurisdiction of our city. So
if you'd like to speak to us about
[17:11] something that's going on in our
community you'd like us to know about,
[17:15] please come forward. You have three
minutes to speak.
[17:21] Welcome. [sighs]
>> It's a pleasure to be here um on the day
[17:26] that the city council honors Joe Souza.
I want to thank the mayor and the
[17:31] council for the proclamation today. I've
known Joe probably almost since the day
[17:37] I moved to Laspanis over a half century
ago. A remarkable man who's done so much
[17:43] for the city. I'm really glad that he's
being honored. Uh, you know, every time
[17:49] I walk down the canal trail, for
example, I think of all the work that
[17:54] Joe has put in along with Rick Dalgood
and other people uh who were related to
[17:59] me to make that canal trail so good. And
I served on the parks and recreation
[18:05] commission and tree commission for a
quarter century. And it I'm just so
[18:10] proud of the parks that we have, the
recreation that we have, the trees that
[18:17] we have, and that didn't happen by
accident. A lot of people did a lot of
[18:21] work, and Joe Souza was among the very
best and the most hardworking. Uh I
[18:28] remember when I was uh jogging along the
uh along by the airport there along the
[18:34] little canal trail. I would see a light
on like late in the evening, you know,
[18:38] near sunset. And what was what was this?
This was Joe finding time at the airport
[18:45] lounge to do city work, which he
couldn't do during the day because he
[18:48] was always busy or helping people and so
forth. So again, I want to thank you for
[18:54] making sure that Joe Souza has been
honored. Uh couldn't be more deserving.
[18:59] Thank you again.
>> Thank you very much.
[19:04] » Anyone else would like to speak? Please
come forward. You're welcome to speak.
[19:09] Please uh introduce yourself for the
record.
[19:13] » Yes. My name is Blanch George and I live
in the downtown area. I've missed you
[19:18] guys. [laughter]
But um the kitten season ended um but we
[19:24] have a resurgent of that and a lots of
puppies coming through.
[19:28] But I didn't want this evening to be
missed um because after this evening uh
[19:35] we are going to be uh thinking about
September 11th.
[19:40] Um September 11th was
a very
[19:46] we all remember where we were at. I just
happened to be um having an early
[19:52] morning meeting with the fire chief and
the police chief. We were going over
[19:57] some details um city
details
[20:03] and um
you know Chad was there, Mark was there
[20:10] and to experience what they were
experiencing. Um I was a fly on the wall
[20:16] and then moved myself out. Um, and I'll
never talk about what
[20:22] they were. They seemed to be so close to
everything that was going on even though
[20:27] they were
across the United States.
[20:33] That comes to the fact that um I'd like
to
[20:38] a lot of stories are told about
September 11th. Um, what I do want to
[20:43] mention is the the dogs that are part of
September 11th.
[20:49] And we do have working dogs. Um we do
have our shelter that's hardworking
[20:54] individuals.
But there was over 300 dogs that were
[20:58] helping at September 11th. Um they were
search and rescue dogs.
[21:04] They were uh police canines. Um, they
were also bomb detecting canines
[21:11] as well as the therapy and comfort dogs
to those uh first responders that were
[21:18] being affected.
And then eventually they had to be the
[21:24] cadaavver and recovering uh dogs that
had to recover.
[21:30] The last person pulled out that was
alive from September 11th was pulled out
[21:36] because of a dog, one of the rescue
dogs. And thank goodness for that. Um
[21:43] along with them, they did perish um as
much as the firefighters and police
[21:48] officers from terrible cancers.
But actually, Losanos, I want to pull it
[21:55] over to Los Banos. We actually have a
rescue dog that was discovered from our
[22:02] shelter people that discovered this dog
and um put the right pieces together and
[22:10] we did produce a rescue dog from our
shelter. So, thank goodness for our
[22:14] shelter. Thank you.
>> Thank you for your comments.
[22:18] [clears throat]
[22:21] » Yes, please come forward.
Introduce yourself for the audio record.
[22:26] appreciate it.
>> Welcome.
[22:28] » Good afternoon. Um, my name is Mariana
Neves.
[22:32] » Good afternoon. Thank you. Um, I wrote a
little something. Maybe I'm just gonna
[22:36] read it.
Um, I am the owner of my hippie soul
[22:40] store here, a business in downtown
Losanos.
[22:44] And I've been an owner for six years.
Um, I'm also the founder of the artisan
[22:50] market which happens every Sunday um on
J Street as well.
[22:56] and thank you for giving me the chance
to speak today. Um,
[23:02] this past six years has been up and
downs having a business, but uh, the
[23:08] most important thing for me is that I
started as a pop-up vendor. Um, the same
[23:14] thing the market does basically. And for
these five five years, I know what is
[23:21] preparing for one market and having one
good market to c covert groceries or
[23:28] paying a mortgage or paying a bill,
right? Um, so I've been there. I know
[23:34] what it's like. and the artisan market.
I created it because I I thought I will
[23:40] create opportunities for other small
businesses as myself that we don't have
[23:46] at the time. I we didn't have um to open
a store, a brick and mortar store.
[23:53] And for some of the vendors, this isn't
a hobby. It starts as a hobby sometimes,
[23:57] but it's not a hobby. It becomes a
business. Um, just this past week I um I
[24:04] got
around 10 businesses to get their
[24:08] business license with the city of Los
Vanos. We I have been um committed to go
[24:14] to other markets with my five years of
experience doing pop-ups. I know a lot
[24:19] of vendors, a lot of vendors. And I've
been getting vendors from Modesto, Turlo
[24:26] Cities, Fresno, Madera, and those Palos.
I got one from those palace as well. Um
[24:31] I encourage my vendors to obtain their
proper permits, business license and
[24:36] paperwork to accord to operate
accordance with the city um and the
[24:42] county requirements
and we want this market to be something
[24:46] our community can be proud of.
I feel like the impact it goes beyond
[24:53] vendors. Every Sundays hundreds of
families goes and shop with us and it
[24:59] becomes as a a family
not only just a market. Um it's my idea
[25:06] is for every Sunday families to come
downtown. Everybody lies downtown for I
[25:12] think for every dollar spent in the
market they also have to go to um other
[25:17] businesses. They have to go to um
they have to go eat as well. We do
[25:23] provide food, but they have to go
somewhere as well. So, I'm just um here
[25:29] to present myself that that's me.
>> Thank you very much. We really
[25:32] appreciate the work you're doing.
>> Thank you.
[25:40] » Please introduce yourself for the
record.
[25:42] » Carlos Flores, District 1.
Um the first thing of topic of what I
[25:47] want to talk about is the Mitsy Perez
resignation. Okay.
[25:52] Um, I know there were some issues going
on during the election, right? I know
[25:57] there was, uh, pap fi filed at the
county for possible election fraud,
[26:03] right? And so, um, the thing is is that
you can't trust the county when the
[26:10] whole county is involved in the
politics, especially who has been
[26:14] running the valley for I don't know how
many years, right? But they always blame
[26:17] the Democrats for everything that
happens. But they don't rule here. you
[26:21] guys. Okay, that's the first thing. And
the thing what I want to know is what
[26:26] happened to her? Why did she resign so
early? From what I heard, she wasn't
[26:31] even from here. It's like another that
scandal is happening what's happening in
[26:34] Stockton with that lady. So, is that
happening in the whole valley or is it
[26:38] happening at the federal city county
level um federal? We know what's
[26:43] happening at the federal level because
the guys that you guys that the guy that
[26:46] you worship, Donald Trump, you can see
in the state of array of what this uh
[26:51] government and this country is about,
right? We're tired of it. We're not
[26:56] believing you guys' lies anymore. We're
just not. Right? We're finding out the
[27:00] truth. And now I know why you guys try
to cover up the truth because you guys
[27:04] are the ones that have caused the most
damage.
[27:07] You guys want will say, "No, no, no.
Read the textbooks." But those textbooks
[27:12] are wrote written by you guys in Texas,
right? So I'm trying to find out and you
[27:17] can laugh all you want. But it's truth.
I'm not laughing. Anyways, are we going
[27:23] to find out what happens to that with
that investigation so we know what
[27:26] really happened? Cuz we want to know
what's really going on here. All I know
[27:31] is in these small towns, old money and
the oligarchs in these cities run you
[27:37] guys.
They do.
[27:40] So the thing was the saddest thing about
that is the whole city knows. You should
[27:46] hear the conversations when you go out
to this into the public here guys. You
[27:50] guys are not famous. You guys are not.
I just want to throw it out there. Until
[27:55] you guys start doing the things you say
you do, right? Why is Merced County the
[28:00] lowest paying jobs? Why isn't there any
jobs?
[28:05] I know who has the money. I know who's
living well.
[28:09] Right. Another thing I want to talk
about is uh what was what was the last
[28:15] thing? Oh, I heard you guys hired
another lawyer. Is that true,
[28:22] man? At what price?
At what taxpayer money did you guys hire
[28:26] that lawyer at? 250,000?
Why do you guys need another lawyer?
[28:30] What are you guys trying to cover up?
What's what's the situation here?
[28:35] You guys might look at me like, "Gee,
what's wrong with this dude?" But we're
[28:38] tired of it. We're not asking anymore.
We're demanding
[28:42] because we've been as a Native American,
as Mexican, we've been dealing with you
[28:45] guys stuff for 530 years and we're done.
Thank you.
[28:50] » Thank you for your comments.
Anyone else, please come forward. We
[28:54] welcome your comments.
[29:04] » Good evening.
>> Welcome. Please introduce
[29:06] » man district one. Um, I've been a
resident of Los Banos for the last 11
[29:11] years and I really appreciate um I can't
remember your name
[29:17] » uh for starting a very cool idea of of
this artisan market. I have been to it
[29:22] and I think it's amazing. It's a good
way to really promote small businesses.
[29:25] It's a good way to get the community
out. Um, as a mom of three teenage uh
[29:31] kids, I'm concerned about the activities
that we have in our city for our youth.
[29:36] Um, you know, I know that you all are in
plans of an aquatic center, but I think
[29:41] that's been for many, many years a
lot of movement. Uh, the last I saw is
[29:47] there's some architectural plans that
are in the works, but there's no dates
[29:50] of when that's going to be completed.
Uh, we don't have much for our youth
[29:55] here and it's concerning because the
violence in this city has gone up a lot.
[29:59] Um, every day it's reading one thing
after another, a shooting, a this, a
[30:03] that, and I'm afraid for my children.
There's not a lot that they can get
[30:08] involved in unless they're in some sort
of uh sport at school. Um, the community
[30:13] center is awesome, but there's again not
a lot of activities that are happening
[30:17] there for the youth in the age range of
like 15 to 17. Um I know that there have
[30:25] been uh you know lots of events that
have been trying to be put on for the
[30:31] community and those uh permits are not
um being uh approved for those events.
[30:38] And so a lot of this is to get the
community out and just like having an
[30:43] artisan market or having the flea market
on Fridays um is great farmers market,
[30:49] but that's still not meeting the needs
of our children that are growing up in
[30:53] this city. Um I see tons and tons of
houses being built, but I'm not seeing
[30:59] jobs. I'm not seeing youth centers. I'm
not seeing community events that are
[31:04] beneficial for our children who are
growing up here. It makes me sad because
[31:10] my children are now withdrawing from
school because there's bullying, there's
[31:14] violence, and I'm now having to deal
with homeschooling. None of that is
[31:19] being addressed. If we can't get um the
right types of events and the right
[31:24] community for our youth, we're going to
go down this very negative path. And I
[31:28] would hate to see that. I moved here
because it's a small town. I come from
[31:32] Gilroy. I'm a small town girl. I love
Gilroy. It got too big and it got too
[31:36] expensive. I'm now here and I want to
invest time and effort into making this
[31:41] city something that I want to be um
proud of. And right now I'm not feeling
[31:46] that. I want to be able to say like I
want to bring something here. I would
[31:50] love to be more involved but I just
don't know what the plan is for a lot of
[31:55] these projects that you all have been
working on for many many years and it's
[31:59] concerning. Um, my last thought is, um,
we got to do something about these
[32:05] streets and them potholes.
Thank you.
[32:08] » Thank you for your comments. We
appreciate it.
[32:12] » Anyone else? You're welcome to come
forward.
[32:23] Okay. I do not see or hear anyone coming
up. So I think we have some
[32:30] we have a letter right Lucy there
>> anyone on
[32:34] » Yeah. And so uh and then also before you
do the letter is there anyone on Zoom
[32:39] right now?
>> Okay. And I just want to remind
[32:42] everybody if you're on Zoom, uh, if you
hit the raise your hand icon, that tells
[32:48] us you want to speak. And if you've
called in,
[32:52] um, to raise your hand is to press
number nine and to unmute is to press
[32:57] number six. So with that, Lucy, go ahead
with that letter, please.
[33:03] » First letter, good evening. Las Vegas
are facing yet another 65,000
[33:10] plus special election because the
District 1 seat has been vacated by
[33:15] resignation twice in a single term. The
residents of District 1 deserve to have
[33:21] this seat decided by local voters, not
by developers, special interest groups,
[33:27] or sitting council members attempting to
sway the outcome. Conducting media
[33:32] interviews for candidates at a council
member's private business was an obvious
[33:37] conflict of interest that should have
never happened again.
[33:42] Obvious conflict of interest that should
never happen again. District 1 voters
[33:47] are thoroughly fatigued by the constant
tactics and smear campaigns used to
[33:52] undermine candidates who refuse to
answer to special interests. It's time
[33:57] to step back and let the voters choose
their own qualified representative.
[34:03] Thank you, Julie Kraton, resident of
Laspanis.
[34:09] The second letter,
um, dear mayor and members of the
[34:14] Laspanis City Council, I am a Lasis
resident asking the city to provide more
[34:20] information about its plan to help
people experiencing homelessness.
[34:26] I support helping people find safe,
permanent housing. Permanent, supportive
[34:30] housing is especially important for
people who have experienced long-term
[34:36] homelessness or need ongoing services.
However, permanent housing is only one
[34:42] part of the solution. The city also
needs a plan for people currently living
[34:47] in encampments who cannot immediately
move into permanent housing. According
[34:52] to the city's March 2025 announcement,
the One Tree project is receiving
[34:58] approximately 143 million in public and
grant funding.
[35:05] The project is expected to provide up to
58 housing units, supportive services,
[35:10] and temporary operating assistance. The
city's May 2024 city council report
[35:16] showed that Laspanis had only 20
emergency shelter beds, while the 2024
[35:22] point in time count identified 121
people living outside without shelter.
[35:28] The report also stated that bridge homes
have been full since May 2023 and
[35:35] acknowledged that permanent supportive
housing would not resolve the shortage
[35:39] of emergency shelter beds. Los Bannis
therefore needs a complete system
[35:45] encampment, emergency shelter or
navigation center, services and
[35:50] stabilization, permanent housing.
[35:56] One tree may address the permanent
housing stage, but the city also needs
[36:01] emergency shelter services and
short-term support for people who are
[36:06] not yet ready or able to move into
permanent housing. I respectfully ask
[36:11] the city council to direct the following
actions.
[36:15] Um, number one, provide a complete
review of the one tree project.
[36:22] Um,
explain the number of units eligibility
[36:27] requirements. How many units are
expected to serve people currently
[36:32] living in Losanis encampments? Total
project cost, cost per unit, operating
[36:38] fund, funding expiration dates, expected
opening date, and projected reduction
[36:45] and unsheltered homelessness and
encampments within 60 days. Assess
[36:51] lobis's emergency shelter needs.
Identify the current unsheltered
[36:56] population, available shelter beds,
additional beds needed, necessary
[37:01] services, staffing needs, and realistic
operating models within 90 days.
[37:08] Evaluate a centralized navigation
center. Compare permanent construction,
[37:14] sprung structures, modular shelters,
tiny shelters.
[37:18] » Sorry to interrupt, but time has
expired, Lucy.
[37:20] » Okay. Um, that letter was from
Angelina Mendoza, a Las Spanish
[37:26] resident.
>> Okay. So, we'll have those those two
[37:29] letters online, correct? So, since we
didn't finish that one, you could read
[37:32] them online.
>> Yeah, with the agenda packet.
[37:35] » With the agenda packet. Okay. So, is
there anyone else now on Zoom or on a
[37:40] call that No.
>> Did you see anybody?
[37:44] » Okay. Thank you, Lucy. We appreciate
that. We appreciate the letters
[37:49] and we will move on.
Let's see. Uh, we're going to
[37:55] consideration of approval of the consent
agenda.
[37:58] And Lucy, for that, I'm going to ask you
to read off the consent agenda.
[38:04] » Items on the consent agenda are as
follows. Warrant numbers 259737
[38:10] through26006
in the amount of 3,28,1146.
[38:19] Minutes for the August 19th, 2026 city
council meeting. City council resolution
[38:25] number 7151
accepting the downtown gateway sign
[38:29] project as complete and authorizing the
filing of the notice of completion with
[38:34] the Merced County Recorder PNF Metals.
City Council resolution number 7152
[38:42] authorizing award of construction
contract to Hensley's Paving and General
[38:46] Engineering Inc. in the amount of
$419,580.3
[38:53] with a 15% contingency in the amount of
$62,937
[39:00] for the downtown alley overlay
improvements project. City council
[39:04] resolution number 7153
authorizing award of construction
[39:10] contract to Catch Environmental Inc. in
the amount of 1,574,16
[39:18] with a 15% contingency in the amount of
$236,12
[39:25] for Mercy Springs waterline improvements
project authorizing the city manager to
[39:31] execute the agreement and amending the
fiscal year 2026 27 2027 budget city
[39:39] council resolution number 7154 Four,
reject rejecting the bids for the a
[39:45] sports complex pickle ball lights
project. City Council resolution number
[39:50] 7155
approving the purchase agreement for
[39:54] three fire command vehicles in the total
amount of $191,828.3
[40:03] from Winter Chevrolet Elkrove Auto Group
through the state of California contract
[40:09] number 1-22-23-23D
[40:14] and authorizing the city manager to
execute the agreement.
[40:18] City Council resolution number 7156
approving the purchase of one BMW police
[40:25] motorcycle in the amount of $44,31.91
[40:31] from Long Beach BMW motorcycles through
the state of California contract number
[40:37] 1-22-23-30
[40:40] motorcycles ordinance number 1217
renewing title 4 chapter 12 of the
[40:48] Losanis Municipal Code authorizing the
funding, acquisition, and use of
[40:52] military equipment pursuant to
California Government Code section
[40:57] 7071E.
[41:01] And the items are to be approved as
submitted.
[41:06] Okay. Thank you, Lucy. So with that, is
there any
[41:10] comments from the public um on any of
those items that you would like
[41:18] to make a statement about?
[41:22] Is there anyone online?
>> I don't see anybody.
[41:24] » Okay. Now going to the city council.
City council, is there any items A
[41:29] through I that you would like to discuss
further?
[41:35] » Yes, Mr. Mayor. Okay.
>> Like to uh just have a little discussion
[41:39] on item H if I could please.
>> Item H.
[41:45] Okay. Anyone else?
Um I'm going to ask to I'd like staff to
[41:54] talk a little bit about
the a sports complex just the steps
[42:00] we're taking basically. So, uh, since
there's no one else, if I could have a
[42:05] motion for approval A, B, C, D, E, G,
and I of item six from the city council
[42:12] if I have that motion. Appreciate it.
>> Okay. Second.
[42:16] » Second. Okay. We have a motion by Yamis,
second by Chavez to approve item six, A,
[42:21] B, C, D, E, G, and I on the consent
agenda. Any further questions or
[42:26] comments? Not hearing any. All in favor
signify by saying I.
[42:29] » I.
>> I. I opposed. eyes have it. Uh, okay.
[42:33] The first item is F. And my question
basically, Joe, just uh or William,
[42:41] whoever wants to talk about it, just
tell me what's I think the public wants
[42:44] to know what's going on.
>> So, uh, we did we did go out to bid for
[42:48] pickle ball lights. Um, we received
six bids. There were some irregularities
[42:55] with the three lowest biders. Um, some
of them didn't sign some documents. they
[43:00] didn't acknowledge some addendums and
then by the time we got to the fourth
[43:04] lowest bidder, it was way beyond what we
had budgeted for this project. So, we
[43:09] decided it would be in the best interest
of the city to reject the bids, go back
[43:13] out to bid, and hopefully we can get
some compliant bids, um, some responsive
[43:18] bids within our budget.
>> Okay, that sounds good. And with that,
[43:24] um, I'll entertain a motion to accept 6F
unless there's no questions for the
[43:29] council.
Can I have that motion, please?
[43:32] » So moved.
>> Second.
[43:35] » Okay. Motion by Lewis, second by Chavez
to approve item 6F as stated. Any
[43:40] further questions or comments? Not
hearing any. All in favor signify by
[43:44] saying I. I. Opposed. Eyes have it. Now
we move on to item 6H. Yamas.
[43:52] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, yes. Item H,
uh, dealing with the purchase of the BMW
[43:57] police motorcycle. Uh, I just wanted to
have a discussion with more information,
[44:02] let the public know what the motorcycles
being used, their effect on public
[44:06] safety, and um, I think the the benefits
of this purchase.
[44:13] » Absolutely. Uh, council, thank you for
those questions. Uh so as you all know
[44:17] the city of Los Banos approved um the
startup of a traffic division um this uh
[44:25] last fiscal year. Um so going back in
time probably about 2000
[44:30] » Chief I'm sorry. Can you get closer to
the mic a little bit? It's why it's get
[44:33] feedback. You get a little closer.
>> Okay.
[44:37] Um sorry new setup. So probably going
back about 2007.
[44:42] um the police department. That was
probably the last time that we had a
[44:45] full-time uh traffic division and then
um many things happened since that time
[44:52] and I want to say during that time we
were also the recipient of quite a large
[44:56] traffic grant. So a lot of things
happened from that time. Um moving
[45:01] forward now uh the city of Losanos um we
have seen the benefits of having a
[45:05] full-time traffic division just like
other communities. Uh traffic remains
[45:10] probably probably one of our biggest
complaints in in our community and in
[45:14] many other communities as well. Um
oftent [clears throat] times um
[45:19] communities that don't have a full-time
traffic motor unit. traffic enforcement
[45:24] falls upon the patrol officers. And as
you know, we can all walk outside and um
[45:31] we can look around and as we see a
police car approaching, we're going to
[45:34] see that police car probably before the
officer inside sees us because they're
[45:39] very distinctive. Motorcycles are
different. Um they get they can get into
[45:43] tight spaces. They can maneuver around
traffic. Um they can squeeze places that
[45:50] you can't get a car. They can monitor
traffic. They can carry large amounts of
[45:53] equipment. They can do everything uh
that a patrol car can do um outside
[45:59] transporting a prisoner and things like
that. And so, um we have been able to
[46:04] successfully deploy our three traffic
officers in a variety of areas. Uh as
[46:09] you know the police department reports
quite routinely on the reduction of
[46:14] traffic collisions that um we are now
seeing because of um our enforcement and
[46:20] our education. Um most recently we are
using the motors to address some of the
[46:25] traffic concerns around schools. Um and
I think there was a thought that perhaps
[46:30] that we just went out there and we just
did this. Um, we had some of our motor
[46:35] officers at some of the schools on the
PA systems, public address systems
[46:39] notifying uh parents, you can't park
there, move along. And we did that um
[46:44] before we started issuing citations at
many of the uh sites. And so we just see
[46:49] a a a benefit to having motorcycles. And
then lastly, um you know, it's it's it's
[46:55] easy. you look online and you see the
comments and the public is starting to
[47:00] notice this and ultimately what we want
is we want the public on their own to
[47:06] change their their driving behavior and
the outcome that we're looking for is a
[47:12] safer community where we reduce
accidents and as I've reported here
[47:16] before um every accident is a
life-changing event and so uh our goal
[47:22] is to make the community safe and we use
these motorcycles for for that reason.
[47:26] So, two of the motorcycles that we
currently have are newer, 24, 25, and
[47:31] one of them is a 2007, so it's quite
old. And so, our plan is to uh bring
[47:37] this new motorcycle to replace that one
and then move that motorcycle down to
[47:41] either training or in the event one of
the bikes is down for maintenance, we
[47:46] have it, we have a spare bike so we can
continue operations.
[47:50] Thank you very much
to understand the purchases, the intent,
[47:56] and the overall effect it's going to
have on our city, our safety,
[47:59] particularly for our children during
drop off and pickup. So, I appreciate
[48:03] what you're doing. I appreciate your
direction. Uh, and I appreciate the city
[48:06] manager's leadership on this. Um, that's
all I have, Mr. Mayor. Thank you.
[48:10] » Thank you. Then, if if there's no more
questions, I'll entertain a motion.
[48:15] [clears throat]
[48:18] Move to adopt measure H as read. Yeah.
>> A second.
[48:22] » Okay. Motion by Yamis, second by Chavez
to approve item 6H.
[48:28] Uh any questions or comments? All in
favor signify by saying I.
[48:33] » I.
>> Opposed. Eyes have it. Motion carried.
[48:37] Okay. We'll move on to our regular
agenda items. And on our regular agenda,
[48:43] the first item is item seven is a
discussion and direction of chromium 6
[48:47] treatment engineering report. And with
this, we'll go to our public works
[48:51] director, William V.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, city council
[48:55] members, uh, this item tonight is, uh,
anformational item and, uh, we're
[49:00] seeking direction on on how to move
forward, uh, with the treatment of the
[49:05] chromium 6. I have a ra rather lengthy
staff report here. Um we do have our
[49:12] consultant um from Provos and Pritchard
Engineering, Kevin Barry Hill, who has a
[49:17] presentation for us tonight that's going
to cover most of everything that's in
[49:21] this report. And he's more of an expert
on this subject. So if there's any
[49:24] questions, he'd probably be better to
answer it than me.
[49:31] » Good evening. Thank you. Yeah, my name
is Kevin Barry Hill. I'm a consulting
[49:34] engineer with Provo and Pritchard. uh we
recently completed the engineering
[49:38] report looking at different alternatives
for the city to mitigate the hexavalent
[49:42] chromium and drinking water and I want
to give a brief summary of that report.
[49:47] I'm going to try to present my slides
now. See
[49:52] one second
[50:13] Okay. Are you seeing the slides?
>> Yes.
[50:16] » Okay. Very good. Um so the
the um report addresses the city uh
[50:25] hexavalent chromium drinking water
issues. Uh provides a brief description
[50:29] of alternatives that have been covered
over the years. It's been many years
[50:32] that this has been uh going on. Uh
presents the results of some recent
[50:37] pilot testing that was conducted and
then updated costs that are based on
[50:41] those pilot test results. So uh we're
able to get a lot closer or more
[50:45] accurate cost estimates put together
based on the testing. And before I do
[50:49] that though, I would like to just
briefly cover some of the background,
[50:53] provide some context. So, I'll talk just
briefly about the chromium 6 regulation,
[50:57] how we got here, uh the source of the
contamination to the city, the
[51:02] compliance timeline that you have to
look forward to, uh alternatives that
[51:06] have been considered, and then we'll
talk about reduction coagulation
[51:08] filtration, which was the treatment
process that you're most likely to use
[51:12] at your wells. U with that go and I'll
describe some cost estimates and uh some
[51:18] of the next steps that we would take.
So the regulation goes back to before
[51:24] 2014.
Uh it was first enacted in 2014 with a
[51:28] limit of 10 parts per billion. Uh a
judge rescended that in 2017
[51:34] based primarily on the inadequate
economic evaluation that was completed
[51:38] by the state and that started a roughly
7-year period of uh limbo where nobody
[51:45] was quite sure what to do where the
regulation was going to land. In 2024,
[51:50] the state re again reenacted the same
MCL of 10 parts per billion. That's been
[51:54] challenged in the courts since then. Uh
but the judge ruled in favor in the
[51:58] state. Uh I believe that it's being
appealed, but at this point it looks
[52:01] like it's going to stand.
The source of the contamination at the
[52:06] city appears to be entirely naturally
occurring. Uh the contamination extends
[52:10] all the way from Los Banos to at least
Patterson in Crow's Landing uh with no
[52:15] indications of any kind of man-made
source.
[52:17] All 13 of the city's wells are
contaminated above the MCL and have to
[52:21] be treated or replaced.
Um, this regulation gives the city until
[52:27] October 1st, 2026. That's what's
officially written into the regulation.
[52:32] The city based on the severity of the
impacts with all 13 of the wells uh over
[52:36] the MCL requested an extension to 2030
which was granted by the state.
[52:43] alternatives that have been looked at
over the years have been drilling
[52:46] replacement wells. Um, most of the
investigations to date have shown
[52:51] hexavalent chromium contamination
extensively throughout the aquifer. Uh,
[52:55] I know the city staff is continuing to
look for opportunities to try to find
[52:59] wells without hexavalent chromium and
we'll probably continue to do so for
[53:02] some time.
Uh, we looked at blending. Uh blending
[53:07] is a a process where you take higher uh
wells with higher levels of
[53:12] contamination and you would blend them
down with wells with lower levels of
[53:14] contamination. In the city's case, all
the wells are over in the MCL, so that
[53:19] really isn't a viable option.
Uh consolidation, this this is kind of a
[53:24] check the box item to be eligible for
state funding. Uh consolidation has to
[53:28] be considered as an option. And in the
case of the city, you know, the closest
[53:33] water system in comparable size would be
Merced. Clearly that's not feasible. Uh
[53:37] but like like I said that has to be done
in order for the state to be uh
[53:42] potential for state funding to be
provided.
[53:44] Uh surface water treatment was
considered and you know long term it
[53:49] probably is something that the city's
eventually going to have to look forward
[53:51] to uh as you grow. Uh but in the short
term uh there are a lot of technological
[53:57] and other challenges associated with it.
Uh the city doesn't currently have water
[54:01] rights.
uh it would be extremely expensive to
[54:05] implement even in in the context of the
groundwater treatment. Uh and it would
[54:09] undoubtedly take beyond the 2030
extended timeline to complete that
[54:13] project.
Uh we looked at several types of ion
[54:17] exchange. There's multiple types that
are considered for Xavailent chromium.
[54:20] Ion exchanges similar to what you would
have in a home water softener.
[54:24] Um reverse osmosis, which is kind of the
nuclear option of water treatment. It
[54:29] would definitely take the hexane and the
chromium out as well as a lot of other
[54:31] stuff out of the water. Unfortunately,
it generates very large volumes of waste
[54:36] on the order of 15 to 20% of the water
that's being treated.
[54:40] Uh, zero veilent iron is a very
proprietary and innovative technology
[54:44] that was developed. I mention it only
because the city hosted a one-year pilot
[54:49] study of this technology at well 14 that
was at no cost to the city. It worked,
[54:54] but it was complicated and messy. and
the company that uh marketed that has
[54:58] since gone out of business. So all that
leads us to reduction coagulation
[55:03] filtration which is the last best option
available to the city to get the wells
[55:08] in compliance.
Um it's actually a relatively simple
[55:12] process. Hexavalent chromium is
completely soluble meaning it's totally
[55:16] dissolved in the water and it can't be
filtered out. If we add a chemical to
[55:20] the water called ferrris chloride, we
convert that hexavalent chromium into
[55:24] trilent chromium which is insoluble and
can be filtered. Um so it's filtered out
[55:31] using either conventional or specialized
filters everything from uh you know
[55:35] agriculture irrigation disc system uh
sand filter up to membrane filtration.
[55:41] Uh what this diagram shows is after the
ferrris chloride is added you have to
[55:45] provide some contact time. So there's
generally an empty tank where the water
[55:48] flows through just to provide time for
the reaction to take place. You add a
[55:52] little chlorine before it hits the
filters. Filters are backwashed
[55:55] periodically and that's really the
biggest issue with the process is it
[55:59] does generate backwash waste that then
has to be disposed of in some way. In
[56:04] this case, we are recommending that the
backwash water be directed to the sewer
[56:08] system.
[56:11] So we recently completed some testing at
two of the city's wells using a
[56:15] basically a smallcale version of the uh
reduction coordation filtration process.
[56:21] Um it's a relatively new process. There
was a lot of progress being made
[56:26] research and utilities looking into this
very closely until 2017 when the
[56:31] regulation was rescended. And there
really hasn't been a lot of progress
[56:34] since then until now it's starting to
ramp up again with more interest in it
[56:39] now that the uh the MCL has come back.
So being a new process we really need to
[56:44] do pilot testing make sure it's one it's
going to work with the city's wells and
[56:48] then to get a better understanding of uh
what a full-scale treatment plant would
[56:52] look like and how much it would cost to
operate it.
[56:56] The study was conducted in two phases
during October of 2025 and February
[57:00] 2026.
uh it was effective. It reduced the
[57:04] chromium 6 to well below the state's
limit. Um it did that for several hours
[57:08] before needing to be backwashed, but uh
several challenges remain that need to
[57:13] be evaluated and mitigated. There was
relatively frequent backwashing of the
[57:18] filters, which translates into
additional waste that could probably be
[57:22] optimized.
Um we determined that the backwash water
[57:26] was very difficult to handle on site. uh
for lack of better terms, I'll call it
[57:30] it was fluffy or bulky, meaning they
would have to be pumped out of the tanks
[57:33] frequently. Uh discharge directly in the
sewer is recommended.
[57:38] And the chromium levels in the treated
water rose when the filters were let
[57:42] they were allowed to rest. They were
backwashed and allowed to rest for about
[57:45] 16 hours. When they were started back
up, the hex chromium levels rose above
[57:50] what was coming in from the wellwater.
Um that is mitigatable. uh they were
[57:54] able to get get by that with a certain
amount of flushing during the pilot
[57:58] testing, but the exact amount of
flushing in the wasted water that would
[58:01] result still needs to be determined
based on the test results. Uh estimating
[58:08] that the cost to treat a well would be
between 2.7 and 4.8 million. That's
[58:13] really a function of how large a well
we're looking at. Some of the city's
[58:16] wells are smaller, which would be in the
2.7 million range. Some of them are
[58:20] larger, which would land in the 4.8
million range. But the total treat all
[58:24] 13 wells would be around $42 million is
the best estimate at this point.
[58:29] Annual operating costs. So this would be
kind of in perpetuity. Uh the city would
[58:33] be looking at about one and a4 million
for operating costs. That's primarily
[58:38] chemical, but it also includes labor,
maintenance, power, and laboratory
[58:42] costs.
[58:46] The proposed next step uh it's proposed
that the city construct one treatment
[58:50] plant at this time at well number nine.
Well number nine was selected due to
[58:54] logistical uh characteristics. It's
located near large sewer and storm drain
[58:59] pipelines. There's plenty of room on the
site for the treatment plant. This would
[59:04] kind of be a pilot project. So using
that plant, we'd work through the
[59:07] remaining issues identified in the pilot
study. uh determine what operational
[59:11] features are required at the remaining
treatment plants. So I I guess where I'm
[59:15] going with that is instead of
constructing constructing 13 treatment
[59:19] plants without any lessons learned, I
think it's in the city's best interest
[59:22] to start out with one. Um and then
modifications can be made to the other
[59:26] 12 based on what was learned during the
first plant. Um it would establish
[59:31] actual capital and operating costs.
These would no longer be estimates but
[59:34] more facts on the ground. And I believe
that there's there's a chance that they
[59:39] be improved chances of getting funding
from the city when we can go to the city
[59:43] and say this is how much the project's
going to cost as opposed to presenting
[59:46] them with, you know, a kind of a vague
estimate where we're uncertain about
[59:50] what the project's going to cost.
Uh these are just a couple exhibits
[59:55] showing what a couple different
treatment plants would look like on the
[59:58] site. They're just different types of
filters, well nine. [clears throat]
[1:00:02] Uh, but what it does show is that
there's ample space on the site and
[1:00:05] roughly how much of the site would be
needed for the treatment plant.
[1:00:10] As I mentioned earlier, there's an
18inch storm drain and a large sanitary
[1:00:14] sewer in front of the site which makes
it ideal.
[1:00:18] And with that, I'll answer any
questions.
[1:00:24] Council, if I may add a couple thing on
there. Uh, Kevin, thank you very much
[1:00:27] for that detailed reports. I mean this
is go to shows the complexities of the
[1:00:32] chromiums level within the city. Um this
is not something that you know we can go
[1:00:37] to Home Depot and get a filter and put
it under our sink right. Um as a public
[1:00:42] agency the responsibility is to provide
high quality water but we also have to
[1:00:47] be conscious on the cost impact as well
as available resources to be able to
[1:00:50] maintain the system and that's why all
of those different testings has to have
[1:00:56] been completed first. Um as Kevin
mentioned this process started many many
[1:00:59] many years uh um you know some of the
testing required almost a full years of
[1:01:04] of a small scale testing before we can
get definite result. This new
[1:01:09] regulations on a chromium six part per
billion is not as easy to implement as
[1:01:14] some has making it out to be. I mean
just for example the testing of chromium
[1:01:18] alone this is not something that we can
just go to a well site and just put a
[1:01:21] dipstick in and say hey there's chromium
in the water. No these things actually
[1:01:25] have to be sent to lab. it take 24 hours
um for those result to then be returned
[1:01:29] back. So that's why you know it is a
very complex because the systems and the
[1:01:33] effluence that produced by these filter
systems has to work in the event that it
[1:01:38] doesn't now we now have to consider
other things like mixing tank blendings
[1:01:42] and all these other complex mechanisms
that now have to be put into our water
[1:01:46] systems. In addition to that like Kevin
mentions you know it's a million and a
[1:01:50] quarters in operational cost is massive.
um that is a lot uh um for our residents
[1:01:57] and and things to consider. So when we
looking at different treatment method
[1:02:01] that is definitely one of the main
component because we're not in the
[1:02:04] business of building a capital project
and forget about it, right? We we build
[1:02:07] a capital project and it has to be in
place for the next 20 30 years. So we
[1:02:11] want to best return on the investments,
easy to maintain and that if we do have
[1:02:16] to replace them, it doesn't interrupt
the the the current existing system. So
[1:02:20] there's a lot that is worked into this
component. Um, concurrently, um, we
[1:02:24] understand that we also have to go after
additional funding, right? That that the
[1:02:28] city can't afford to do this all by
oursel at $42.5 million. That the
[1:02:32] additional funding has to be in place.
Therefore, it's triggers additional
[1:02:36] considerations like surface water
consolidations and all these other
[1:02:39] method that we have to be done. So,
that's what's really add on to a little
[1:02:43] bit of this timeline. But the nice thing
about it is is that we are now at a
[1:02:46] point to where we can make physical
improvements at least to have a
[1:02:50] fullscale testing of one of our well
site uh well 9ines I believe William
[1:02:54] that's about 1,200500 gallon per minute
that's one of 13 that we can use it is
[1:02:59] important for us to do these pilots full
scale testing first like Kevin mentioned
[1:03:04] because what's the backwash quality
going to look like what happen if the
[1:03:08] system sit overnight over 24 hours
what's that water quality going to look
[1:03:11] like when we first prime up the pump or
prime
[1:03:14] um the filtration system, will we need a
blending systems, right? Will we need a
[1:03:18] storage tank to store some of those
effluent before it get distributed to
[1:03:22] the um the main distribution line. So
there's a lot of questions and uh um
[1:03:25] that we still want to make sure we are
uh um tested um and also understanding
[1:03:30] that that those systems are reliable for
the long term.
[1:03:34] One thing that that Kevin kind of
mentions, there are technologies out
[1:03:37] there and there there's vendors that
contact us on a regular basis about new
[1:03:40] technology, but as a public agency, we
can't relize on proprietary technologies
[1:03:45] to where, hey, if I go with one this
technology, what happen if I can't buy
[1:03:49] the filtrations anymore? Then now we got
13 wells that are are not operational,
[1:03:54] right? So that's why uh um this systems
and this approach is taking some time.
[1:03:59] We appreciate the patience and and more
than anything I want to let our resident
[1:04:02] know that that as it stands our water is
safe to drink. We do have a compli
[1:04:07] approved compliant plan that is in place
with the state water board that allowed
[1:04:11] us a time to actually implement this
safely. We're not the only jurisdiction
[1:04:15] that dealing with this problem. In fact,
I think we're quite a bit of a pioneer
[1:04:18] in in this systems. There's a lot of
different cities that's actually reach
[1:04:22] out to us, how do we solve this problem?
Uh um so we're proud to collaborate with
[1:04:26] them. Um but but we are at the front of
the pack in term of trying to find the
[1:04:30] best technology available uh um for our
water quality. So that's it. Mayor,
[1:04:35] » I I have a question. So when you're back
flushing the filters, then the pump goes
[1:04:41] offline.
>> Kevin, you want to take that?
[1:04:45] » Yeah, with the filtrous design that
we're looking at, which are multiple
[1:04:48] smaller filters. Um they do have the
opportunity to continue produce some
[1:04:53] water while you're backwashing one
filter. Um, so you we're looking at
[1:04:57] there as many as, you know, four to it
could be a couple dozen filter elements.
[1:05:02] Um, the more filters you have, the less
water it takes to backwash any one of
[1:05:06] them. And in some cases, if you have
enough filters, you can continue pumping
[1:05:10] water out into the distribution system
at a slightly reduced rate while you're
[1:05:13] backwashing.
>> Oh, I see. Okay. And that's another way
[1:05:17] is to have the tanks also a tank
>> to pull from.
[1:05:23] » Okay. Questions from the council?
Mayor Pertim.
[1:05:27] » Thank you, Mayor. So, um the
presentation tonight gives us an
[1:05:32] estimate cost of all 13 wells and we're
looking at uh using well 9ine as a test
[1:05:40] site.
What are we looking at it cost uh for
[1:05:44] just that particular well right now?
>> Yeah. And I think our current estimate
[1:05:49] is about 4.5 million um for that well
because it is a larger well but it also
[1:05:53] one that is most representative because
it's pretty much running on the average
[1:05:57] when it comes to the level of chromium 6
and and arsenic in the water.
[1:06:01] » Okay. Thank you
>> Mr. Yamus.
[1:06:05] » Yes sir. Thank you Mr. Mayor. I had a
question. So there are no other similar
[1:06:10] plants in operation or planned. This
would be the first or are there other
[1:06:15] plants like this?
operating systems
[1:06:19] » in the city. This would be the first one
that would test but but other cities
[1:06:23] unfortunately it's not quite
appletoapple when you're looking at
[1:06:27] other city because some city would use
what's called a hybrid or a blend
[1:06:31] system. So they would have a centralized
system that are are completely different
[1:06:34] than how all waters are set up. So
that's not really a good example of it
[1:06:38] and that's why we have to test it on a
small scale and now bring it into the uh
[1:06:42] uh um the full scale testing. And even
then, kind of like uh uh Kevin alluded
[1:06:46] to, even with this system, with the same
technology, reduction um reduction
[1:06:50] coacilations uh uh method, there's
different vessel setup. There's a single
[1:06:54] tank uh uh treatment system or it's a
multiple dozen smaller vessels set up.
[1:07:00] So, all of those need to be uh um test
out first to see what's worked best for
[1:07:04] us.
>> Thank you. Now, with the flushing of the
[1:07:11] water into the um public runoff system,
will that create additional issues or
[1:07:18] secondary effects that the city's going
to have to prepare for?
[1:07:21] » Yes, it does. Um it would be going into
our sanitary sewer systems. Um the back
[1:07:25] wall, which will contains heavy metal,
chromium 6, because it's getting
[1:07:29] filtered out. Um as well as we
introducing ferrroschloride. So, now
[1:07:32] we're introducing irons into the
wastewater system as well. So that's why
[1:07:36] it's important for us to do this test
because we want to see when we back wash
[1:07:41] the systems testing it at the wastewater
treatment plant and see what actually uh
[1:07:45] influence is coming in and how much can
then be treated with our current uh
[1:07:49] wastewater treatment system because
right now our systems is fairly uh
[1:07:53] primary um it's it's a flocked uh tank.
>> Thank you very much. Thank you Mr. Mayor
[1:07:59] » Chavez.
>> Thank you Mr. Mayor. Um, so there's an
[1:08:03] appeal you had talked about, but it
sounds like it's not they don't think
[1:08:07] it's going to hold up and get
overturned. Is there any way or any
[1:08:11] chance in the future that um this gets
another extension? I just hate to see us
[1:08:15] spend over $4 million to do this and
then it's still not quite proven yet. At
[1:08:20] 1.25 million to maintain, it seems quite
expensive, but there's no chance that we
[1:08:25] can hold it off longer to find a proven
method. Um from our discussions with the
[1:08:30] state water board they are amendable to
an extensions. However they they want to
[1:08:34] make sure that hey all those schedule
that we submitted as part of our
[1:08:37] compliant plans get met first which so
far we have been meeting those
[1:08:41] compliance plan but understanding that
when you do roll up into a full-scale
[1:08:45] testings if there is some unforeseen
thing that pops up let's say hey you
[1:08:48] know now we have to deal with uh um an
overnight priming situation and need to
[1:08:53] put in holding tank that's going to
throw a little wrench in there to where
[1:08:56] additional time is needed. We've been
working with the waterboard very closely
[1:09:00] and making sure that they're aware of
that.
[1:09:04] » Okay. Thank you.
>> So, I think uh we're I think we're on
[1:09:08] the right direction. Uh it's a little
bit unknown out there, but we we can
[1:09:14] find our answers. I know it's this city
council wants to be able to do this the
[1:09:19] least amount of expense to our residents
and to the city. And um so we'll keep on
[1:09:25] doing our pilot program and move
forward. Uh is there do you need a
[1:09:30] direction from the city council with
this or just move forward or?
[1:09:33] » Yeah, overall if council's okay, we
would like to go ahead and proceed with
[1:09:36] this. Ultimately, the construction of
this would start sometime in the spring
[1:09:39] uh um of 2027. So we will have our first
treatment systems up and live next
[1:09:45] calendar year.
>> Okay. Everybody okay with that? Yeah.
[1:09:50] Yeah. Okay. Hey, it sounds like we are
going forward and Kevin, thank you for
[1:09:53] the presentation. We appreciate it.
>> Thank you for the opportunity.
[1:09:57] » And as if Yes. And anybody from the
public would like to speak on this?
[1:10:03] » Yep. Please come forward. We appreciate
it.
[1:10:12] » Good evening, Anna McCaulay, local
resident. Um, we've had a conditioning
[1:10:18] system from the first time from the
first day we got our keys. We didn't
[1:10:21] have the furniture yet, but we we knew
that with hard water we needed that and
[1:10:25] we're really fidious about how it's
maintained uh [snorts] including filter
[1:10:29] changes every year. Um,
we've got a reverse osmosis and we've
[1:10:35] also we always get the water tested at
the tank um at the bigger tank. Um, now
[1:10:42] you're saying the water right now is
safe to drink, but we still have some
[1:10:46] issues we have to address. So, how much
does our conditioning system in the
[1:10:51] house and reverse osmosis
help to protect us? I know that, you
[1:10:56] know, you can't go out and and just go
to Home Depot and buy the unit and
[1:11:00] expect it's going to take care of the
city because the city's going to have
[1:11:04] has deeper issues. So I'm just going on
a residential level,
[1:11:09] how does that affect us if we have these
systems in our house?
[1:11:14] » I can answer that once you sit down.
Thank you, Ann. Uh so
[1:11:20] it's okay to me. Okay. And so reverse
osmosis completely eliminates
[1:11:25] uh the chromium 6 and other things out
of your water. Uh, one of the things I
[1:11:30] threw around is maybe we could put a
reverse osmosis in every home and
[1:11:36] maintain the filters. How would that
work? But that is not allowed by the
[1:11:39] state. I uh to me it seems like that
would be a better fix because now
[1:11:45] everybody has even better water. But the
state doesn't like that. So uh keep
[1:11:50] doing what you're doing is the best
thing.
[1:11:54] » You have anything to add? and mayor and
as as it relates to water quality, I
[1:11:58] just want to make this clear. The state
of California water quality is recently
[1:12:01] changed from 50 part per billion to 10.
The rest of the nations US EPA water
[1:12:08] drinking water quality standards is
actually a 100 part per billion. So the
[1:12:11] rest of the nations are drinking the
waters as actually our water would would
[1:12:14] consider much cleaner than the rest of
the nation. So, and that's why you know
[1:12:19] some of these research that is based um
that this regulation is based on um are
[1:12:24] fairly old. Um we are um supposedly the
office of OEHA are looking at um a new
[1:12:30] study on on on how chromium 6 are
affecting uh uh people. Um unfortunately
[1:12:34] when the the water boards um make the
decisions for this MCL it was based on
[1:12:39] those older study.
>> Okay. Thank you for that. Anyone else
[1:12:44] from the public would like to make a
comment?
[1:12:49] Okay, thank you. Thank you for the
comments and
[1:12:54] » and uh on Zoom. Is there anybody on Zoom
or on the call? Okay, thank you very
[1:12:58] much and uh we will move on. I think you
have direction.
[1:13:04] » Is go forward as as recommended in uh in
the presentation.
[1:13:11] » Yeah.
[1:13:16] Okay. So, let's see. Item eight is
consideration adoption city council
[1:13:20] resolution number 7157 calling and
giving notice of the holding of a
[1:13:25] special election on Tuesday, March 2nd,
2027 to fill a vacancy created by the
[1:13:31] resignation of council member Mity Perez
as required by the provisions of the
[1:13:37] laws of the state of California relating
to general law city and Lasanis is a
[1:13:44] general law city. So with that, we'll
turn to our city man city lawyer, Mary
[1:13:51] Kleiner.
>> Thank you, mayor and council. Before you
[1:13:54] is a resolution calling a special
election to place the district 1 city
[1:13:58] council vacancy on the March 2nd, 2027
general election ballot and
[1:14:03] consolidating the election with the
county of Merrced general election for
[1:14:07] that same date. Former District 1
council member Mity Perez, she resigned
[1:14:12] from her council seat effective August
31, 2026. And as a result, a midterm
[1:14:17] vacancy has occurred for the district 1
city council seat. Pursuant to the
[1:14:22] government code, if a city council
member vacancy occurs, the city council
[1:14:27] must within 60 days from the date of the
vacancy. So here, a decision has to be
[1:14:31] made by October 30, 2026, either fill
the vacancy by appointment or by calling
[1:14:36] a special election.
which can run concurrent with the
[1:14:39] general election or be subs subsumed by
the general election to fill the
[1:14:43] vacancy. However, there are limits to
the appointment power. The city council
[1:14:48] cannot fill a vacant seat by appointment
if that appointment would result in a
[1:14:51] majority of the city council having been
appointed, not elected. In that case,
[1:14:55] the vacancy seat must be filled by
election pursuant to law. Currently, we
[1:15:01] have two council members who hold seats
by appointment rather than being elected
[1:15:05] to the city council.
Since govern the government code
[1:15:09] provides that a majority of council
members cannot be appointed, the only
[1:15:13] option currently available to the city
council is to fill the vacant one
[1:15:16] district one seat by special election.
There are specific legal timing rules
[1:15:21] related to the calling of that election.
That election will be held on the next
[1:15:26] regularly established election date not
less than 114 days from the call of the
[1:15:31] special election. Based upon the 114day
requirement, the next eligible regular
[1:15:36] election date is March 2nd, 2027.
Pursuant to the elections code, it
[1:15:41] states the established election dates
are as follows. The first Tuesday after
[1:15:45] the first Monday in March of each odd
number year. Since the election date is
[1:15:50] March 2nd, 2027, the county registar of
voters has indicated that the candidate
[1:15:55] filing period is from November 7, 2026
until December 2nd, 2026.
[1:16:01] A person elected to fill that vacancy
would hold office until the general
[1:16:05] election on November 7, 2028. That's the
time period between the special election
[1:16:10] and the general election on November 7,
2028. As the unexpired term of the
[1:16:15] former incumbent, the city would be
responsible for the cost of that special
[1:16:19] election, which is estimated by the
county elections office to be about
[1:16:23] $65,590
plus or minus 10%. And I'm available for
[1:16:28] any questions.
[1:16:32] Okay, before I turn it to the city
council, is there anyone from the public
[1:16:37] that would like to speak on this item?
Please come forward.
[1:16:45] And I do see anyone anyone online that
would like to speak. Okay, no one's
[1:16:49] online. Okay, I'll turn it over to the
city council for discussion.
[1:16:55] Anyone like to ask any questions or
>> I'd just like to add that, you know,
[1:17:02] it's unfortunate that the situation is
this present is not
[1:17:07] anyone's fault. It's just what happened.
The individual had to make a decision.
[1:17:11] They made a decision and now we're faced
with making our decision. So that's all
[1:17:16] I wanted to state. Thank you.
>> I agree with that. Uh our hands are tied
[1:17:22] by state law.
This costs a lot. This is gonna cost a
[1:17:26] lot of money. And
I just we we need to really encourage
[1:17:32] people to get out and vote. That's we
need to do that. And hopefully we have
[1:17:37] quite a few people wanting the seat and
but but the big thing is to getting out
[1:17:43] getting out and voting is the main thing
cuz the last ele time that district one
[1:17:48] election there wasn't a a big turnout
and uh we just can't see that again. I
[1:17:55] know it's not at this city council
except to encourage we we're not
[1:17:59] spending any money. We're not we just
come back and watch what happens. But we
[1:18:05] can encourage people to vote. Any other
comments from the council?
[1:18:10] Okay. So before us, we have resolution
number 7157.
[1:18:14] What I'd entertain a motion.
>> Yeah. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion
[1:18:19] to approve resolution 7157 as read by
title.
[1:18:24] » Second.
>> Okay. A motion by Chavez, second by
[1:18:27] Yamis as stated. Any further questions
or comments? Mary, anything?
[1:18:32] » No.
Okay. All in favor signify by saying I.
[1:18:36] I. Opposed. Eyes have it. Motion
carried.
[1:18:39] » Okay. Item nine is consideration
adoption of city council resolution
[1:18:43] number 7158
approving purchase agreement with
[1:18:48] Burton's fire apparatus for the purchase
of two Rosenbower type 1 fire engines
[1:18:54] and the total amount of $1,839,615.39.
[1:19:00] authorizing the city manager to execute
the agreement and approving budget
[1:19:04] amendments in the amount of 1,246,615.39
[1:19:11] in measure P fire funds. And with this,
we'll go to our fire chief, Brandon
[1:19:18] Doran Bush. Brandon,
>> thank you, Mayor and Council. Yes. Uh,
[1:19:22] tonight we're going to discuss a little
bit about two Rosenbower engines that
[1:19:26] have um come up for purchase. As you
well know, oops, excuse me. Is our is
[1:19:32] the presentation up?
[1:19:43] » Okay. Is it up there or how do I
[1:19:50] » Is that what it's going to do?
[1:19:55] » Okay.
[1:20:02] While we're at it, mayor, as you can
tell, um the new system does take a
[1:20:06] village to run. Um that control panels
actually has like four different virtual
[1:20:10] machine that it controls. Um so we're
still working on it.
[1:20:16] » Actually, I think we're doing pretty
good for the
[1:20:20] » for a new system. [clears throat]
>> We're up now.
[1:20:24] » Okay.
Okay. So,
[1:20:39] okay. So, the purchase of two new fire
engines. Um, as you well know, over the
[1:20:44] last um 15 years or so, our fleet's been
aging significantly. And so we had an
[1:20:51] opportunity recently to uh purchase a
couple of fire engines at a reduced
[1:20:57] cost. So some of the concerns that we
have moving forward were um because of
[1:21:01] our aging apparatus for the increasing
repair cost, reduce of liability and
[1:21:07] greater downtime. Let me
[1:21:14] Okay,
>> that's okay. No worries. Thank you. So
[1:21:17] some of the challenges that we faced dur
uh for aging apparatus were increasing
[1:21:22] um repair costs, reduced reliability,
and greater downtimes. And we've been
[1:21:27] noticing this significantly over the
last several years since we've been
[1:21:30] running more and more calls. We're
upwards around 4,000 calls now uh out of
[1:21:35] two stations. So that's concerning. And
just knowing that our apparatus, some of
[1:21:40] our apparatus range from 2004 to 2008 to
2015. And they say on an average you
[1:21:46] should replace your apparatus anywhere
from uh 12 to 15 years. Um you can get
[1:21:52] an app you can use an apparatus up to 20
years. It really depends on the usage
[1:21:56] and the stress on that apparatus. Um but
most of the time where we're sitting
[1:22:01] currently it's going to be right around
15 to 20 years uh depending on call
[1:22:06] volume.
Um go ahead and change it.
[1:22:13] Okay. So the opportunity to p purchase
two um type one fire apparatus came
[1:22:18] available about a month ago. We were
researching um the opportunity to
[1:22:23] purchase another mini pumper. The 2026
27 budget um allowed us to to um secure
[1:22:31] $510,000
and in the process of researching our
[1:22:36] opportunities to purchase an apparatus
currently and for and for us moving
[1:22:41] forward. Um
we were presented with um the
[1:22:47] opportunity to purchase two Rosenbower
engines, type one engines and delivery
[1:22:51] date would be before November. uh this
would avoid long build times and it was
[1:22:56] immediately available. And these are
rare opportunities and because they're
[1:23:00] rare opportunities in this case um the
dealer was challenged with uh getting
[1:23:07] those in those apparatus um across the
border due to tariffs and so they were
[1:23:12] able to u reduce that cost and were able
to purchase them at a significant uh
[1:23:18] significantly reduced cost.
So
[1:23:23] here's a here's a picture of the
Rosenbower. We just went back and we uh
[1:23:27] inspected the Rosenbower engine. Um they
are nice. They're a type one engine.
[1:23:31] It's uh 750 gallons. It seats six. This
particular engine itself is again ready
[1:23:39] and available and and this is a rare
opportunity for us to purchase this
[1:23:44] vehicle at such a significant savings.
They're typically run anywhere from
[1:23:48] about 1.2 2 to 1.3 million. This one's
just under a million, which saves us
[1:23:54] significant cost in the long run. Um,
again, our fleet is aging and the oldest
[1:23:59] one that we have currently is a 2004.
And so, this would be our new frontline
[1:24:03] apparatus and we would put our current
frontline apparatus in reserve. Okay,
[1:24:11] our investment summary, uh, total
project cost is 1.84 million. How do we
[1:24:16] get there? Well, we budgeted funds this
year for $510,000.
[1:24:20] We're going to trade in two command
vehicles and two engines.
[1:24:24] And then we're going to use measure P
fund funding of 1.2 million. So, we get
[1:24:30] to a 1.884 million project cost.
[1:24:37] Investment benefits. Well, improves
reliability to ensure that we get to the
[1:24:41] fire scene and we're able to function
adequately on the fire scene. uh
[1:24:45] enhances firefighter safety, reduces
maintenance cost, and they'll reduce the
[1:24:49] maintenance cost immediately, and
supports fleet replacement program. Our
[1:24:54] replacement program uh has been lacking
recently, and so I think that these two
[1:24:59] uh fire apparatus are a significant
improvement in our fleet uh replacement
[1:25:04] program. It also um solves a couple of
problems. We're building a new fire
[1:25:08] station as well. And so for us to be
able to place another apparatus in that
[1:25:13] station or its first apparatus in that
station, this would be one of them.
[1:25:17] Community benefits, reliable fire
protection, reduced apparatus downtimes,
[1:25:21] and improved emergency response.
Okay. What we're requesting tonight is
[1:25:26] the approval of purchase agreement,
budget amendments, and trade and
[1:25:29] recognition and city managers
authorization to purchase. Questions?
[1:25:36] » Okay. Before we open up questions of the
city council, I'll ask anyone from the
[1:25:40] public that would like to make a comment
on this proposal.
[1:25:49] I do not see anyone. Anyone online?
[1:25:54] Do not see anyone online.
>> Okay. No one's on Zoom.
[1:26:00] » So, we'll go back to uh Yeah. So, we'll
we'll go Let's see. We'll start with
[1:26:07] top one or the bottom. I
>> got the top one.
[1:26:09] » Okay, we'll start with Mayor Prom.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Well, I don't have
[1:26:13] questions. Um, it's more of a
congratulations comment to our fire
[1:26:18] chief and to our city uh to be able to
have this opportunity
[1:26:22] um to purchase these apparatuses at such
a discount so that our fire department
[1:26:29] can continue its operations. And I know
for a fact that um at least station two
[1:26:35] is on the road practically every day. I
I can hear that that uh engine going
[1:26:41] down the highway down the streets. And
um when when your product is getting
[1:26:46] older and you may or may not be able to
count on it, it it affects our community
[1:26:52] to the safety of our residents. So um
congratulations. I'm glad that uh this
[1:26:58] opportunity came up for us and that uh
we had the funds available to make these
[1:27:04] purchases for our fire department. Thank
you, Mayor.
[1:27:08] » Thank you, Marco Chavez.
>> Yeah, congrats. Um station 4, the new
[1:27:14] one, one of these apparatus is going in
that one, right?
[1:27:16] » Yes.
>> Okay, good. Um my other I guess my other
[1:27:20] comment I should say is hopefully
William get the roads fixed so you those
[1:27:23] apparatus will last longer so you won't
get premature wear and tear.
[1:27:27] Pressure is on you, Mr. Vai. Hey. Yeah.
And uh I just got an oddball question.
[1:27:31] Why is the bumper so big or long in the
front?
[1:27:35] » Uh I think that Well, it's really
dependent on the uh the department that
[1:27:40] purchases that apparatus. Um this was
actually designated to go somewhere
[1:27:45] else. And so this spec was a little bit
different than most. It's a 24-in bumper
[1:27:50] when we're typically running an 18inch
bumper. So, uh I think it's just
[1:27:54] personal preference. Okay. Thank you.
You're welcome.
[1:27:58] » It's probably for the city council right
on the bumper in the parades. [laughter]
[1:28:03] » Yus.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, yeah, I think
[1:28:07] that this is very good. It positions the
city uh to be able to provide greater uh
[1:28:13] public service uh response, especially
as our city is growing. It's there's
[1:28:17] going to be a greater demand on uh your
services, fire department services. So
[1:28:21] this positions our city into the future.
Uh instead of being uh reactive, we're
[1:28:26] being proactive. So I I think this is a
very good step. Thank you very much.
[1:28:29] Chief,
>> mayor, real quick, I forget to to we're
[1:28:34] not remiss as well is to also thank
Measure P uh uh not measure P oversight
[1:28:39] committee member when this item came to
us, they were able to call in a special
[1:28:43] meeting and within a couple day would be
available to come in and provide us
[1:28:47] comment and feedback on this right away.
Uh, as you can imagine, measure P
[1:28:51] requirement was that the oversight
committee need to be able to see this
[1:28:53] first and recommend to you guys. So,
they came together on Friday, last week,
[1:28:57] um, review this item, provide some great
comment to us, uh, um, and recommending
[1:29:02] to you guys for, uh, for an adoption of,
uh, appropriation of of the budget.
[1:29:06] » We definitely appreciate measure P
oversight committee commission. Uh
[1:29:11] chief, how much time did we save if you
had to order this this uh fire engine?
[1:29:18] » Anywhere from 18 to 24 months. It really
depended upon how customized the
[1:29:23] apparatus is and what the demand is for.
>> Yeah, that's a lot of time.
[1:29:27] » And for a better price, you never see
that either. So that that's really good.
[1:29:31] » Uh and you're you're running a a fire
engine that I I did my last time. So
[1:29:37] that tells you you need a new one,
[laughter] I tell you. So, okay, that's
[1:29:41] great. So, with that, I'll entertain a
motion for the council.
[1:29:45] » Yes, mayor. I'd like to make a motion to
adopt um city council resolution 7. Am I
[1:29:52] on the right one? I'm sorry. 7158 as
read by title.
[1:29:56] » Second.
>> Okay. We have a motion by Lewis, second
[1:29:59] by Yamis for [snorts] resolution number
7158
[1:30:05] as stated. Any further questions or
comments? Not hearing any. All in favor
[1:30:10] signify by saying I.
>> I.
[1:30:11] » I.
>> Opposed? Eyes have it. Thank you. Move
[1:30:15] on. Item 10. Designation of a voting
delegate and alternative alternate for
[1:30:20] the 2026 League of California Cities
annual conference and expo being held
[1:30:27] September 23 through 25, 2026 in
Anaheim, California. And with this uh
[1:30:35] who's going to talk about this?
I guess it's you.
[1:30:40] » Lucy, you want to do it? You want me to?
[laughter]
[1:30:43] » Okay. Well, council, we do have an
annual conference coming up in Anaheims.
[1:30:47] As part of League of California City, it
is a great opportunity for council um to
[1:30:52] have a voice over at the conference
because at the conference, they do vote
[1:30:56] on visions and policy platform of what
the League of California is going to
[1:30:59] lobby in Sacramento for. Um and many
times um major uh some of the central
[1:31:05] valley cities are not being represented.
Um some of those ideology as well as
[1:31:10] needs for our community need to be
heard. Um so having a member from our
[1:31:14] cities representing um the greater
central valley would be really
[1:31:17] beneficial for us and on an annual basis
we have been I think mayor prom has been
[1:31:21] there many time representing the city as
well. Uh um so those are are a great
[1:31:26] benefit to us. Um, as you can imagine,
some of those legislative um, directly
[1:31:30] impact Las Vegas, such as, you know,
some of the protection that Senator
[1:31:34] Cabierro was able to to to do for us.
Some of the direct fundings and earmark
[1:31:37] fund that came from Sacramento. A lot of
those are coming from from these
[1:31:41] conference and these sessions. So, with
that, I'd like to request for council to
[1:31:44] designate a member um to be a delegate
for the city of Laspanis.
[1:31:49] » So, my my first question is who is going
to attend?
[1:31:54] Um currently for the two council member
would be council member Yamis and mayor
[1:31:58] proemp. Um and then you have a handful
of staff. Um but we would highly
[1:32:02] recommend elected official for for this
um nominations.
[1:32:08] » Okay. Uh let's see. Mayor Protown, you
have a comment or question?
[1:32:13] » No comment. Mayor, I'd like to uh
nominate uh council member Giannis to be
[1:32:18] the sorry Yamis, [laughter]
wrong name. um to be the um voting
[1:32:25] delegate for the 2026 League of Cities
uh conference.
[1:32:31] » Okay. And I will second that motion. Any
other motions?
[1:32:37] » Accept the nomination.
>> Very well. [laughter]
[1:32:43] » So, uh Okay. And so, all in favor
signify by saying I
[1:32:48] » opposed. And do we have a nomination for
the alternate?
[1:32:56] » Yeah, I'd like to nominate uh Miss Mayor
Prom Deborah Lewis. Is there alternate?
[1:33:02] » Okay. Do we have any other nominations?
Okay. Not hearing any. All in favor
[1:33:07] signify by saying I.
>> Oh, I need a second on nomination.
[1:33:10] » Oh, yeah. We did get a second.
>> Second. We have a second. Second to my
[1:33:14] left.
Okay. Okay. So, we have a motion by
[1:33:18] Chavez, second by Yamis for to nominate
Deborah Lewis as the alternate to the
[1:33:24] delegate voting delegate for the
September 23 25 conference. All in favor
[1:33:31] signify by saying I.
>> I.
[1:33:34] » Opposed? Eyes have it. Thank you.
[1:33:39] » Okay. Thank you both for taking those uh
nominations.
[1:33:46] And now we will move on to
is there let's see is there brief city
[1:33:55] departments reports
and we'll we'll start with our community
[1:34:00] and economic development director Stacy
Susa Elms.
[1:34:05] » Thank you Mr. Mayor and city council.
Uh so today uh we officially went live
[1:34:12] with our new enterprise permitting and
licensing system
[1:34:17] um through Tyler Technologies. Uh we're
treating this as a soft launch while
[1:34:22] staff works through this transition
um and we're refining this process. Uh
[1:34:28] the biggest benefit is that customers
can now apply for permits and licenses
[1:34:32] online for the first time. We haven't
had uh that capability ever and it makes
[1:34:38] servicing uh that service more
convenient and accessible. So folks can
[1:34:44] uh apply online and pay online. Um and
we like I said it's a soft launch. Um so
[1:34:52] we are still working through the process
and entering in through uh this new
[1:34:57] enterprise and permitting licensing
system uh softly. And then I do want to
[1:35:03] report to the council that the planning
commission will have three items that
[1:35:07] they will be discussing um at the next
planning commission meeting on September
[1:35:12] 9th at 6:00 p.m. The first item is a uh
telecommunications facility. It's a 50
[1:35:20] foot tall monopine cellular tower. It'll
be located at 1301 West Pico Boulevard.
[1:35:27] This would be behind Hobby Lobby um in
the Stone Creek Shopping Center. Uh the
[1:35:32] second item is um a site plan review um
for the development services center um
[1:35:40] at 535J Street, so right across the
street. Uh this is the renovation and uh
[1:35:45] reuse of the former police annex
building. And then the last item is a
[1:35:49] design review study session um for a
6345
[1:35:55] foot commercial building uh located at
1309 West Pacheo Boulevard. So in front
[1:36:01] of Harbor Freight um at the corner of
Ortigalita and Pacheo uh West Pacheo
[1:36:06] Boulevard. Um, and it would consist of
um either a quick service uh space or
[1:36:13] retail space next to a dental office.
Um, and that quick service restaurant or
[1:36:20] retail space would have a drive-thru um
capability with it. Um, again, those
[1:36:26] items will be discussed on September 9th
at 6 p.m. here in the council chambers.
[1:36:30] And that concludes my report.
>> I have a fast question to you. Uh for
[1:36:35] the business license, are you still
going to remind the existing businesses
[1:36:40] that they can
renew their license? You know, you
[1:36:44] usually send that out in December,
whatever.
[1:36:46] » Yes. Um so business licenses now have a
rolling expiration. So they each um are
[1:36:53] 365 days from the time that their
business license was issued. And so we
[1:36:59] are um notifying businesses as they
become due. Uh we send them an invoice.
[1:37:05] Now we will have the capability of
sending emails if we have your email on
[1:37:10] file, but we will still be sending out
mail invoices for renewals. Um it's just
[1:37:17] now it'll be more convenient. You don't
have to come down to city hall or send
[1:37:20] in a check in the mail. You can pay
right online.
[1:37:23] » Perfect. Thank you so much,
>> Mayor.
[1:37:25] » Oh, Mayor Pim.
>> Yes. Thank you. Uh I do have a question.
[1:37:29] So is this uh renewal online just going
to be about the license or is there
[1:37:35] going to be other information and
materials sent to the business owners um
[1:37:41] in regards to operation
>> um for this launch. We want to be
[1:37:47] instructions on how to get onto the
civic access portal. So we want to make
[1:37:51] it very much just about the renewal and
how to access the renewal. We we will
[1:37:56] not uh we're not anticipating sending
out any additional information about
[1:38:00] operations. Um really we want to keep it
very simple of the renewal process and
[1:38:06] how to do it step by step.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[1:38:09] » Thank you. Okay. We'll [clears throat]
go to our finance director, Minnie
[1:38:13] Moreno. Minnie, you're online, I think.
Hopefully.
[1:38:18] » Good evening, Mayor Council. Can you
hear me?
[1:38:21] » Yes, we can.
>> Yay. Okay. So, I just wanted to remind
[1:38:24] the public um and our citizens uh that
our campaign is still going. Shop smart,
[1:38:31] support local. Uh keep it keep it up and
keep those dollars coming back to Los
[1:38:36] Banos and let's recover some of that
leakage that's going elsewhere. And so,
[1:38:41] just reminding them, especially since
the shopping um period's going to be
[1:38:45] coming here shortly um towards the end
of the year. So, just making sure we
[1:38:49] keep as much as those uh sales tax
dollars in in Laspanos that we can. So,
[1:38:54] then we can provide additional services
and we can provide more services to our
[1:38:58] community. Um, also letting the
community know if they do need a payment
[1:39:04] arrangement for their water, sewer, and
storm um or garbage um service that um
[1:39:10] just to contact us and and we're willing
to make those arrangements with the
[1:39:14] public um especially with the little bit
higher bills that are coming with the
[1:39:18] water usage in the summer with uh
landscaping. So, um, we're willing to to
[1:39:24] work with our citizens and making sure
that, you know, the payment arrangements
[1:39:28] are available so they can continue to
have the their water service. Um, and
[1:39:33] that's it for me.
>> Okay. Thank you very much, Vinnie. We'll
[1:39:36] go to parks and recreation, Joe. Joe,
>> good evening. Um, so a couple updates on
[1:39:41] ticket sales, registration. Salute to
seniors tickets are on sale through
[1:39:44] September 11th. Um, and youth volleyball
is also registering. Both of those tend
[1:39:48] to sell out. Um, I also wanted to um let
everybody know that we are targeting
[1:39:53] September 8th for a special parks and
recreation uh meeting that'll be going
[1:39:57] over quite a few of our larger projects.
Um, this morning I uh visited two
[1:40:01] classes um special thank you to Miss
Hayworth uh with LBHS and spoke about
[1:40:06] the Pacheco um park grant that um we'll
hopefully be uh pursuing. Um I'll speak
[1:40:10] to a couple more classes tomorrow um
with Mr. Solace and next week with Miss
[1:40:15] Barcelos. So big thank you to them. I
got a nice fat stack of um pretty
[1:40:21] thorough notes from the kids. So,
appreciate them.
[1:40:23] » Yeah, they're good for that. Thanks,
Joe. Go to human resources. Isabelle
[1:40:27] Carlos. Isabelle.
>> Yes. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of
[1:40:30] the city council. Nothing major to
report tonight, but we do look forward
[1:40:35] to introducing our new hires um and
recognizing our employee of the month
[1:40:40] next meeting.
>> Great.
[1:40:41] » Thank you.
>> Thank you, Isabelle. Public works.
[1:40:44] William Black. William,
>> uh nothing to report. Thank you.
[1:40:48] » Question.
>> We have a ask question.
[1:40:51] » Sure.
>> Hey, William.
[1:40:52] » Brief. Real brief.
>> Brief.
[1:40:54] » Yeah. Hey, just uh the sewer odor here
in the downtown area. Is there any plan
[1:40:59] what are the plans to kind of take care
of that? What are the thoughts there?
[1:41:02] We're working on the reconnection of of
a portion of the flow that goes through
[1:41:06] there. And we're also investigating a uh
activated charcoal filter to place in
[1:41:12] the in the manhole as a temporary fix
until we can make that new connection.
[1:41:18] » Thank you.
>> Okay, we'll go to fire with Chief Dor
[1:41:22] Bush. Chief,
>> yeah, we had two new firefighters that
[1:41:26] started this week. It's very exciting
for us. I imagine that they will be
[1:41:29] introduced here in the coming weeks. I'd
also like to say thank you to those uh
[1:41:34] who help with the fire engine project,
especially my team, Dana RS, Captain
[1:41:38] Galikio, and Emily Coleman. Special
thanks to the city manager and
[1:41:42] department heads. And I do appreciate
and thank you to the measure P committee
[1:41:47] and city council for approval. Thank
you. That concludes my report.
[1:41:51] » Thank you, Chief. We'll go to our police
department and our chief of police, Ray
[1:41:58] Reo.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Councel. few
[1:42:01] items. Uh we're in the final stages of
uh bringing on another lateral police
[1:42:05] officer. When that happens, I promise
I'll bring him here to introduce him. Uh
[1:42:09] thank you again for the approval of the
BMW motor that's going to go uh to great
[1:42:14] use in our community. Um the staff are
working really hard night and day. We
[1:42:18] never close. So, thank you for your
support. Have a good evening.
[1:42:22] » Thank you, Chief. We go to our city
attorney report. Mary Ler.
[1:42:26] » Uh business as usual, nothing to report.
Thank you.
[1:42:29] » Thank you, Mary. City Manager report.
Nurenthan.
[1:42:32] » Thank you, Mayor. Um I'll try to keep
this brief, but I was um honored and
[1:42:36] privileged to attend the Boys and Girl
Clubs uh savers and or SIP and Savers
[1:42:40] over the the weekend um with council
member Yamas as well um and continuing
[1:42:45] to talk about investments in our youth
um and what the cities are planning to
[1:42:49] do for or some of the activity that we
already are doing um and especially
[1:42:53] meeting with the presidents from Boys
and Girl Club herself. Um there's a lot
[1:42:57] of great opportunity and partnership
that we are looking to work um together
[1:43:00] with them. Um just a couple updates on
events um especially for um our audience
[1:43:07] there on the youth side. There are
junior warrior basketball starting
[1:43:10] September 14th. There's 3v3 youth
basketball tournaments um start
[1:43:14] registering October 17. Uh Iikido is
accepting registration as always. Uh kid
[1:43:20] yoga class turn up with Sarah. Um also
plenty of volunteer opportunities. So if
[1:43:25] there's anybody youth or any um
demographic background want to go and
[1:43:29] volunteer, we have September 19, the
fall street fair, blood drive October
[1:43:32] 20, trunk uh trunk or treat October
25th, Halloween fest October 31st with
[1:43:37] Veteran Day parade November 7, breakfast
with Santa um also December uh uh 12. Um
[1:43:42] so that's a lot of event for us to
cover. Um I hope that our community can
[1:43:46] participate and maybe volunteer and come
help us out.
[1:43:49] » Thank you. Thank you. We'll go to our
city council members report and we'll
[1:43:54] start with district 2 council member
Yamis.
[1:43:57] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. U
wanted to address some of the concerns
[1:44:01] from the public. Um I guess u first of
all I want to thank uh Mariel with the
[1:44:06] artisans market for your efforts out
there. Uh it's always a a nice full
[1:44:09] house, a lot of variety in the vendors.
So I appreciate your work and putting
[1:44:13] that together for us. And I also
appreciate our uh the director alms for
[1:44:17] facilitating that, working with them to
approve the uh permits and inform our uh
[1:44:22] vendors as to the process and
requirements from the city. So, thank
[1:44:25] you very much for that. Um
yes, I I understand that we need more
[1:44:30] activities for the teens. Um as the city
manager mentioned, we attended the Boys
[1:44:34] and Girls Club uh sip and saver event
and that's one of the things that they
[1:44:38] they're capitalizing on. Um, there's a
lot of opportunities out there for
[1:44:43] recreation as city manager just
mentioned. So, it's about getting
[1:44:47] involved and I appreciate uh Mrs.
Guzman's uh willingness to come up here
[1:44:51] and talk about those. But, uh, again,
it's being involved, getting
[1:44:58] being involved so that way you
understand what's out here and then
[1:45:02] providing your input. That's also very
important. Um, appreciate the uh reports
[1:45:07] from everyone. um
uh specifically on chromium 6. It's a
[1:45:12] it's a big hurdle, a lot of money, and
uh I just I'm glad that the city's
[1:45:17] taking again proactive steps to address
this issue. Thank you very much.
[1:45:22] » Thank you. And we'll go to district 3,
Council Member Chavez.
[1:45:25] » All right. First, I want to say thanks
to uh the uh the measure P commission
[1:45:30] for moving fast to be able to, you know,
help us get those fire trucks. That's
[1:45:34] much appreciated. Um, I want to also ask
the question, um, Jacob, hi. How are we
[1:45:40] doing on traffic and all that stuff,
Chief? Are we doing all right there? Is
[1:45:42] that improving?
>> So, um,
[1:45:48] I'd say yes, unless you're stuck in that
10-minute window at every school.
[1:45:53] » Yeah.
>> Uh, where just everyone is converging at
[1:45:56] one location. U, we're trying to make it
as safe as possible. Um, and all of the
[1:46:00] sites, we're addressing a lot of the
illegal parking
[1:46:03] » that's going on. Um, so and we're also
working with the school district and um
[1:46:09] the principles and their staff.
>> All right. You know, we're we're up here
[1:46:13] because the people, you know, they they
want answers to things and I know it
[1:46:17] sounds like a broken record. I know
trying to beat up on you, William, but I
[1:46:20] get hit up on the road. So, I just keep
bringing it up the roads the roads the
[1:46:22] roads because I want people to know that
yeah, they're being heard. We know they
[1:46:26] need to get fixed. Um, so yes, that's
still we're still working on that. and
[1:46:31] uh the homelessness as far as the one
tree uh project is there anywhere they
[1:46:36] where people can go for more information
on that near do we have anywhere on the
[1:46:39] website or anything like that because I
know that's besides what we got today
[1:46:42] people always ask about that project
because it is a lot of a lot of money
[1:46:46] council members I think we post um
updates um through our social medias and
[1:46:50] our website oftens in fact I think the
last video was just going out a couple
[1:46:54] weeks ago um and I I also while you're
bringing up that topic I want to let
[1:46:58] council know if you happen to drive by
Gilbert Gonzalez The first unit is on
[1:47:01] site.
>> Very good.
[1:47:05] » All right, that's it for me. Thank you.
>> Thank you, council member. And now we'll
[1:47:09] go to District 4, Mayor Prom Lewis.
>> Thank you, Mayor.
[1:47:15] » And again, I'd like to congratulate our
fire chief and our chief of police on
[1:47:19] the new equipment that you're beginning
for your staff. Um, safety for our
[1:47:24] community is priority. the community is
growing and um we haven't grown quickly
[1:47:30] enough to provide the equipment. So,
this is a start. Congratulations.
[1:47:35] Um [clears throat]
[1:47:40] I I want to kind of give a early shout
out to uh outgoing Senator Cabinero
[1:47:47] um because she has been very
instrumental in uh fund getting funding
[1:47:51] to our community uh for our fire
department.
[1:47:56] um re you know helping us with chromium
6 and even some recent money I think
[1:48:02] that's come down from the state of
California for um projects. So uh I want
[1:48:08] to thank her and I know you know at the
time that um it get gets close to her
[1:48:13] retiring out of this position uh the
city will be doing uh something for her.
[1:48:19] But I just kind of wanted to throw that
out there because we are getting all of
[1:48:23] this new equipment and um uh she's had a
hand in helping helping us here in the
[1:48:29] city uh with funding from the state of
California and kind of uh keeping the um
[1:48:34] for lack of words the vultures off of
our back regarding chromium 6 uh in
[1:48:40] regards to lawsuits. So congratulations
to her for helping us with that uh road
[1:48:45] construction. Uh, I know we have an
existing plan. I don't know if that's
[1:48:50] something that we can post on our city
website. I know everything gets posted
[1:48:55] on um Facebook, our city Facebook page.
Um, and I'm hoping I'm going to throw
[1:49:01] this in along with that that somewhere
in the near future uh that we're going
[1:49:06] to fund um getting our new website page
set up so that we're not just putting
[1:49:13] everything on social media, but also on
our website for people who do not engage
[1:49:18] in social media so that they can keep up
with what's going on in the city. But we
[1:49:22] do have a plan in place for all the
street uh remodels and uh resurfacing I
[1:49:30] think for the next what 2 three years.
Um and that was done I think it was in
[1:49:38] 2024 when we approved that. So I I know
there's
[1:49:45] a lot of people that are impatient. I I
hit those ragged roads myself and I'm
[1:49:50] finding myself going around through
surface streets trying to avoid a lot of
[1:49:54] that, but um it it seems like most of
our roads in Los Banos need to be
[1:49:59] repaired. So um I want to thank our our
staff for being on top of this and
[1:50:05] moving forward with the plan um as we've
set forth and it's coming. It's it's
[1:50:11] going to take a little while, but it's
coming to our residents. Um,
[1:50:17] and lastly, I I know that parents are
anxious for more uh recreational things
[1:50:24] for their children here in Los Banos. It
takes a lot of money to do that. But
[1:50:30] this is the other side of the coin that
I want to, you know, kind of put out
[1:50:33] there to parents. Know where your
children are. Know where your children
[1:50:38] are and know what they're doing. That's
a parental responsibility.
[1:50:43] And so, um, we as a city can't be
parents to your children. That's your
[1:50:49] responsibility. But we can provide as
much as we possibly can financially
[1:50:54] within budget uh to give our community
and our children as um decent
[1:51:01] recreation. I I think we do a pretty
good job. It may not be all of what
[1:51:06] every parent wants. And I know that
we've had for quite some time when Mayor
[1:51:11] Amabil was mayor before a proposal for
an aquatic center. Uh but we are working
[1:51:17] on it. It's my hope that this council
will move forward and not let it fall in
[1:51:22] a hole somewhere uh as we've done in the
past. We've spent a lot of money on uh
[1:51:29] bringing in designers and uh people who
kind of plan out what our downtown is
[1:51:36] supposed to look like, what the rail
trail was supposed to look like, and all
[1:51:39] of that kind of went to the wayside. But
we're in a new phase now, and I have
[1:51:44] hope and faith in our staff that we're
going to move forward. Uh we are trying
[1:51:51] to apply for grants to help us with
these projects uh as as they come to us.
[1:51:56] Uh we've got a lot of things to do.
We've got Colorado Park that needs to be
[1:52:01] remodeled and um I'm really looking
forward to that and it's it's going to
[1:52:05] be done in a phase uh portion. So, um,
yes, we're working on it. And again,
[1:52:13] it's my hope that with the
administrative staff we have in the city
[1:52:18] of Los Banos, we we've kind of proven
ourselves in the past year that certain
[1:52:24] things are important to us, our staff
and their equipment and all that goes
[1:52:28] with that. So, the residents and their
families are not left out. But again,
[1:52:33] parents, please know where your children
are and know what they're doing. Thank
[1:52:38] you, mayor.
>> Thank you, Mayor Prom. And let's see.
[1:52:41] Last week we had MCAG meeting, Merced
County Association of Governments, and
[1:52:46] uh we talked about a couple of things.
Uh I just on September 19th, they'll be
[1:52:53] holding a hazardous waste collection
um at the fairgrounds and that's where
[1:53:00] you can dispose of oils and paints and
batteries and that'll be from 8 to 12.
[1:53:05] Uh we also discussed uh we didn't take
any action but we discussed about
[1:53:09] transportation and the bus system. Um so
in the past uh transportation the way
[1:53:16] they made their model is they want to
try to service every area of the city
[1:53:22] and every route that should be serviced.
And I know a lot of you've seen buses go
[1:53:26] by with no one on it. And so that's so
we're looking at a different approach to
[1:53:32] maybe less
uh routes but more people and and trying
[1:53:38] to fit those uh those bus stops in an
area where it's more convenient for
[1:53:43] people to get to. Now we're not trying
to lower or make it harder for anybody
[1:53:47] to ride, but we're just looking at the
whole thing. And like I said, no uh
[1:53:52] decision was made, but that's one of the
alternatives we're looking at is trying
[1:53:56] to get more people on the bus to travel
more often, and that will actually allow
[1:54:03] us to be uh lower costs and things like
that, too. So, that's some of the things
[1:54:07] we talked about. Also just remind the
city council and staff that in Atwater
[1:54:13] in October, Atwater will host the city
county meeting in [snorts] Atwater. in
[1:54:19] LFCco, we had um our annexation of our
storm water basin and that was approved
[1:54:28] and Stacy did a good job discussing it
with the staff and with the board and um
[1:54:34] so that is now within the city limits
and moving forward. Uh last week we also
[1:54:40] had uh
uh a West Light Energy public meeting at
[1:54:47] the community center and council member
Chavez and myself attended that and they
[1:54:52] talked about rebates available. A lot of
new rebates available for people that
[1:54:57] want to try to save money on purchasing
uh electrical products, new water
[1:55:02] heaters, new HVAC systems. And also they
talked about how to save energy in your
[1:55:07] home and uh and how to understand your
bill because that sometimes can be
[1:55:14] pretty pretty hard to understand by
looking all those lines because and also
[1:55:20] to welcome everybody to introduce West
Light Energy which used to be peninsula
[1:55:25] clean energy and the reason why we
changed the name is because they're they
[1:55:30] you started off pretty much as the
peninsula serving that area. Now, of
[1:55:35] course, they're all the way down here in
Las Banis. And unfortunately, we're not
[1:55:39] on the peninsula, so so they changed the
name.
[1:55:42] » Yes,
>> was also there.
[1:55:45] » Oh, I was on the other side.
>> Oh, okay. Mr. Yamas, thank you. And I
[1:55:49] know we also had the alleyway discussion
and you were big part of that, too. Uh,
[1:55:53] that William put together. That was
really good because we're paving our
[1:55:58] alleys and uh
and so we wanted public input on on what
[1:56:05] was going to take place. A lot of good
questions and uh what's planned.
[1:56:11] Transparency and communication is what
it's all about. And that's really all I
[1:56:16] have in front of me. So, is there
anything else any council member want to
[1:56:21] add? Okay. I appreciate everybody that
spoke in the public uh hearing and not
[1:56:26] the hearing public forum and during the
meeting. We appreciate all your comments
[1:56:31] and uh appreciate everyone being here in
the council chambers this evening and
[1:56:35] online. So we will see you soon. This
meeting is adjourned.