City Council Regular Meeting

Moreno Valley, CA · 2020-04-07 · More Moreno Valley, CA meetings · More California meetings

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Agenda

[1:58] CALL TO ORDER

[3:12] INTRODUCTIONS

[7:30] Keri Then

[10:12] Robert Then

[13:00] Daryl Terrel

[15:36] Council Member Cabrera

[20:42] 2020-45 : APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT WITH QUINTANILLA AND ASSOCIATES TO PROVIDE INTERIM CITY ATTORNEY SERVICES (AGMT. NO 2020-100)

[22:14] 2020-42 : AUTHORIZATION TO AWARD A CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT TO ALL AMERICAN ASPHALT FOR PAVEMENT REPAIR SERVICES (AGMT. NO. 2020-98)

[22:52] 2020-43 : ACCEPTANCE OF SB821 FUNDING AND FUNDING APPROPRIATION FOR THE HEACOCK STREET PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE ENHANCEMENTS PROJECT (AGMT. NO. 2020-99)

[23:06] 2020-38 : APPROVAL OF CONTRACTS WITH AGATI FURNITURE AND YAMADA ENTERPRISES FOR LIBRARY FURNITURE AT THE IRIS PLAZA BRANCH LIBRARY (AGMT. NOS. 2020-94 and 2020-95)

[23:06] 2020-39 : AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR TENANT IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE IRIS PLAZA BRANCH LIBRARY– RFP NO. 2020-0003 (AGMT. NO. 2020-96)

[23:35] 2020-46 : Emergency Operations Resolutions (RESO. NOS 2020-14 - 2020-21

[27:39] MINUTES of Mar 17, 2020 4:30 PM (See A.2)

[27:39] JOINT CONSENT CALENDARS (SECTIONS A-E)

[27:40] 2020-40 : APPROVE A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MORENO VALLEY TO AMEND THE ELECTRIC RATES FOR MORENO VALLEY UTILITY (MVU)

[27:43] MINUTES of Mar 17, 2020 5:55 PM (See A.3)

[27:44] CONSENT CALENDAR-CITY COUNCIL

[27:45] MINUTES of Mar 17, 2020 6:00 PM (See A.4)

[27:48] MINUTES of Mar 17, 2020 6:00 PM (See A.4)

[27:48] CONSENT CALENDAR - BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES

[27:49] ORDINANCES - READING BY TITLE ONLY - THE MOTION TO ADOPT AN ORDINANCE LISTED ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR INCLUDES WAIVER OF FULL READING OF THE ORDINANCE.

[27:50] 2020-41 : AUTHORIZATION TO AWARD A CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT TO NPG CORPORATION FOR PARKING LOT REPAIR SERVICES AT THE PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING (AGMT. NO. 2020-97)

[27:52] CONSENT CALENDAR - HOUSING AUTHORITY

[27:52] ORDINANCES - READING BY TITLE ONLY - THE MOTION TO ADOPT AN ORDINANCE LISTED ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR INCLUDES WAIVER OF FULL READING OF THE ORDINANCE.

[27:53] Minutes of Mar 17, 2020 4:30 PM

[27:55] 2020-44 : SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT FOR PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANT SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH PARSONS TRANSPORTATION GROUP FOR THE STATE ROUTE 60/MORENO BEACH DRIVE PHASE 2 INTERCHANGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT 801 0021 (AGMT. NO. 2018-402-02)

[27:56] MINUTES of Mar 17, 2020 4:30 PM (See A.2)

[27:57] ORDINANCES - READING BY TITLE ONLY - THE MOTION TO ADOPT AN ORDINANCE LISTED ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR INCLUDES WAIVER OF FULL READING OF THE ORDINANCE.

[27:58] Minutes of Mar 17, 2020 5:55 PM

[28:00] MINUTES of Mar 17, 2020 5:55 PM (See A.3)

[28:02] MINUTES of Mar 17, 2020 4:30 PM (See A.2)

[28:02] Minutes of Mar 17, 2020 6:00 PM

[28:03] CONSENT CALENDAR-COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT

[28:04] MINUTES of Mar 17, 2020 6:00 PM (See A.4)

[28:06] MINUTES of Mar 17, 2020 5:55 PM (See A.3)

[28:07] ORDINANCES - READING BY TITLE ONLY - THE MOTION TO ADOPT AN ORDINANCE LISTED ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR INCLUDES WAIVER OF FULL READING OF THE ORDINANCE.

[28:09] CONSENT CALENDAR - PUBLIC FINANCING AUTHORITY

[28:10] MINUTES of Mar 17, 2020 6:00 PM (See A.4)

[28:12] 2020-37 : COUNCIL DISCRETIONARY EXPENDITURE REPORTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019/2020 FROM JULY 1, 2019 THROUGH FEBRUARY 29, 2020

[28:12] ORDINANCES - READING BY TITLE ONLY - THE MOTION TO ADOPT AN ORDINANCE LISTED ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR INCLUDES WAIVER OF FULL READING OF THE ORDINANCE.

[28:16] MINUTES of Mar 17, 2020 4:30 PM (See A.2)

[28:19] MINUTES of Mar 17, 2020 5:55 PM (See A.3)

[28:32] PUBLIC HEARING TO ADOPT SUBSTANTIAL AMENDMENT #4 TO THE FY 2019-2020 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN

[30:32] CITY COUNCIL REPORTS

[30:39] Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) - Council Member Marquez

[32:05] CITY MANAGER'S REPORT

[33:51] CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT

[36:53] Council Member Thornton

[41:38] Council Member Marquez

[46:16] Mayor Pro Tem Baca

[50:26] Mayor Gutierrez

[54:17] ADJOURNMENT

Transcript

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[1:44] Good evening and welcome to the joint meeting of the City Council of the City of

[1:48] Myrna Valley, Myrna Valley Community Services District, City as Successor

[1:51] Agency for the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Myrna Valley,

[1:55] Myrna Valley Housing Authority, Myrna Valley Public Financing Authority, and the

[1:58] Board of Library Trustees. The City Council receives a separate stipend for CSD

[2:03] meetings. I now call this regular meeting to order on April 7, 2020 at

[2:08] six oh one p.m. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. And begin.

[2:14] Pledge of Allegiance to the President of the United States of America and to the Republic

[2:20] of which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all.

[2:29] Thank you. Madam Clerk, roll call please.

[2:32] Yes, sir. Council Member Thornton.

[2:39] Council Member Thornton.

[2:43] She says that she can't hear us speaking.

[2:47] Okay, okay, but we do see her on the screen. So she's here

[2:53] Okay, councilmember Cabrera here mayor pro tembaca

[2:57] He's also here

[2:59] They are good to us present so Carla we we counted you present

[3:04] And yeah, now we can hear you and Victoria we counted you present

[3:09] Present okay great. All right

[3:12] Staff introductions, please

[3:16] Hey Bryant management assistant. Marshall Ironman assistant city manager chief

[3:21] financial officer. Mike Lee interim city manager. Steve Kintania hopefully your

[3:26] interim city attorney.

[3:30] Manuel Mancha community development director. Michael

[3:33] Wolf interim assistant city manager, public works director, city engineer.

[3:39] Patty Solano parks and community services director. Captain John Salisbury

[3:44] functions as chief of police. I'll do along with fire chief. All early assistant city attorney.

[3:49] Okay great. All right well thank you to the staff for being here. Before we hear public

[3:54] comments on items on non-agenda items and agenda items I just want to make it very very clear

[3:59] there's been some concern about item a8 which is the utility rates and so I just want to make

[4:05] it clear that there will be no action taken on the resolution on tonight's agenda item a8

[4:11] regarding marine value utility.

[4:13] And this is because the disaster council,

[4:16] which is convened by ordinance when we have an emergency

[4:20] and I'm actually the chair of the disaster council,

[4:23] we already took action a couple of weeks ago

[4:25] and that is to not raise any of the rates

[4:28] and also any of the shutoffs or anything like that.

[4:30] We're not doing shutoffs or anything like that.

[4:33] So this item, the reason why it's on here

[4:35] is because normally the resolution comes

[4:37] before council twice per year

[4:40] in accordance with MVU's founding agreement

[4:43] that MVU's rates keep pace with those

[4:45] of Southern California Edison.

[4:47] However, given the circumstances

[4:49] of what we're going through are the crisis, the COVID-19

[4:52] and also, you know,

[4:54] although the disaster council already talked about this

[4:56] already, there are gonna be no rates,

[4:59] rate increases, you know, for that matter.

[5:02] So I just wanna make that very clear.

[5:05] You know, I thought I made it pretty clear

[5:06] to specific people, but you know,

[5:08] and I just want to make it very clear to the public.

[5:13] So before we hear public comments this evening,

[5:16] I ask and encourage everyone that's participating

[5:20] to keep their comments respectful towards each other.

[5:23] We can accomplish more if we're respectful to each other.

[5:27] I embrace and support the First Amendment right

[5:29] to free speech, including everyone's right

[5:31] to speak at this meeting and share his or her views

[5:35] about issues concerning our city.

[5:38] Finally, I ask that speakers bear in mind that, if you would like to speak, that you

[5:44] press the raise hand icon, okay, so thank you, so like Kari, she pressed it right there.

[5:52] And if you don't know where that's at, if you kind of hover over your screen, there's

[5:58] three little dots, there's an icon with three little dots, you click that and the

[6:01] hand should be there.

[6:02] So you're going to click that hand,

[6:07] all right?

[6:07] And comments tonight will be on agenda items and non-agenda items, and there will be two minutes each.

[6:13] Any person wishing to address the mayor, which is myself and city council on any matter,

[6:18] either under the public comment section of the agenda or scheduled items or public hearings,

[6:23] must follow the teleconference procedures, which is basically clicking on that icon to speak.

[6:30] You can also, if you can't find it, okay, don't worry.

[6:33] You can also just put your hand, you know next to your screen like I'm doing right here and

[6:40] And if you do that then I'll know that you know, you're trying to speak as well

[6:43] But that means you have to actually take off

[6:46] You have to put your video on your video camera on

[6:50] If you can't find the raise hand I gun

[6:55] All right in order to preserve the meeting decorum council and staff will not respond during public comments

[7:00] any council comments or questions to staff will be addressed during the

[7:05] council closing comments all right so we'll go ahead and begin and just keep

[7:10] in mind that there is a timer you know so the two-minute timer and so just keep

[7:15] that in mind okay I'll put my hand up or you know something like that but just

[7:20] keep in time keep in mind of the time all right so let me go ahead mute all

[7:25] Great, the first speaker we have is Carrie then.

[7:30] Hello, Council.

[7:31] Can you hear me?

[7:32] Yes.

[7:33] Okay, great.

[7:34] Reference to now removed agenda item A8 regarding

[7:38] the Moreno Valley utility rate increase.

[7:40] I'm a little concerned because the February 25th,

[7:43] 2020 Finance Subcommittee Special Meeting draft

[7:46] minutes state that MBU is still balanced within their

[7:49] budget and meeting their bottom line.

[7:52] This finance subcommittee meeting was attended

[7:54] by both the mayor and councilmember Cabrera. The information was presented by the city CFO.

[8:00] The CFO stated MBU was balanced. Why then would the city staff recommend a rate increase?

[8:06] What are the GAN limits for this utility? And how can the city request a rate increase when

[8:12] clearly the utility is performing on par and current rates are covering expenses?

[8:18] My next comment, the city must deploy the internal stockpile of face masks to our

[8:23] citizens. At the March 17th city council meeting I earned council to release the city's internal

[8:29] stockpile of protective gear to residents. We had no known cases of COVID-19 at that time.

[8:36] Today however our city has 94 cases and unfortunately three deaths. You could at least

[8:43] release a portion of your internal stockpile as the Marino Valley Unified School District has done

[8:48] as well as other governmental agencies.

[8:51] You could offer that stockpile to local hospitals

[8:53] if you don't feel compelled to release it

[8:56] to your own citizens.

[8:57] Your action could save lives.

[8:59] Don't wait, please.

[9:01] Regarding another issue,

[9:03] Marino Valley residents have been paying

[9:05] a temporary tax on utilities since 1991.

[9:08] It's time to eliminate or refund this tax

[9:12] for the rest of the year 2020

[9:14] to help residents and businesses

[9:15] during this national emergency.

[9:17] We currently pay a 5.75% tax on water, electricity, natural gas, cable television, local and long-distance phone service, as well as cellular phone services.

[9:29] With so many parents instructing children and working from home and the mass closure of businesses and or their accompanying reduction in sales, the elimination of the tax would save all of us money.

[9:40] Thank you. Thank you, Kerry.

[9:42] Thank you.

[9:43] Okay, next speaker we have is Mr. then Robert then go

[10:06] ahead, Mr. then.

[10:43] Okay, go ahead. Yes. Yes.

[10:48] Sorry about that and the relocate that's a technical different difficulties here. That's okay.

[10:54] Okay, here we go.

[10:56] As I have a tendency to go over my three minutes, let me say this up front to the city council to the city staff to all those who may be watching and listening tonight.

[11:05] stay well, be safe, and be smart in all you do. I urge everyone to heed the

[11:13] Mayor's guidance and warning, stay home. And if it becomes essential for you to

[11:19] leave your home, practice safe distancing and wear a mask. The mask has

[11:25] become this season's fashion statement and no one was anyone should be caught

[11:31] out and about without one.

[11:35] In a time of crisis, everyone has a part to play, each of us as an

[11:39] individual, as a part of a community, and as a member of our city. Likewise, in a time of crisis,

[11:45] the community and the city has a responsibility to do their part. We will get through this,

[11:50] and when we do, it would be a shame not to have learned from our experience. With nothing else,

[11:57] we should have learned or relearn that this life of ours is fragile, so fragile that a

[12:03] microscopic protein module can spread from a city in China around the world causing

[12:08] havoc, death, and shutting down of economies. April 22nd is Earth Day, a day to raise awareness

[12:17] on the negative impact our actions have on our environment and the Earth as a whole.

[12:22] Obviously, our immediate attention is on the C-19 global crisis, but we must not forget

[12:27] that we are also in another global crisis, a global warming crisis.

[12:33] And as with the C-19 crisis, everyone in every community and every city has a role to play.

[12:39] That is why I have stated in the past and will continue to.

[12:42] That is environmentally irresponsible and morally indefensible for this city to continue

[12:48] to support the environmentally disastrous...

[12:50] Thank you, Mr. then. Okay, next speaker we have is Daryl Tarrell.

[12:59] Hi, this is Daryl Tarrell. Good evening. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that we are all

[13:06] interconnected. Our lives and our livelihoods depends on getting through this public health

[13:11] crisis together with dignity for everyone. We have moved away from in-person contact

[13:18] And our governor has called upon us to stay home where it's safe.

[13:24] However, this shutdown is causing tremendous hardship for you, our residents.

[13:29] Many of you are seeing reduced or eliminated paychecks while rent continues to come due.

[13:36] Service workers, restaurant workers, retail workers, and small business workers are just some of the categories of working families

[13:44] who will be unable to pay their rent due to COVID-19.

[13:51] Many of these folks spend 30% of their income on rent and even more spend 50% of their income

[13:57] on rent in our city where 40% of our residents are renters.

[14:02] Mr. Mayor and City Council, you have a responsibility to act urgently to prevent thousands of families

[14:08] from facing eviction and homelessness.

[14:11] That's why I'm submitting into the public record electronically a proposed ordinance that protects residential and commercial tenants from eviction because of financial impact of COVID-19.

[14:25] This proposed ordinance establish residential and commercial rental deferral program.

[14:29] It doesn't alleviate people from not paying their rent.

[14:32] But what it does is under this proposed ordinance, landlords must not evict residents and commercial

[14:40] tenants who are unable to pay rent because of loss of income.

[14:45] And also, most importantly, it gives a year up to a year to pay your rent with a payment

[14:52] plan with your landlords.

[14:54] So, I will transmit this electro-

[15:01] Okay. Thank you. All right.

[15:08] Okay. Seeing no more public comments here, we're going to go ahead

[15:10] and move to consent calendar. And the consent calendar is considered for routine and noncontroversial

[15:19] items, all items listed under ABC and D. Yes. It's a quick question. Do we have the

[15:26] opportunity to give our comments now instead of at the end of the meeting? Yeah, sure.

[15:30] Yeah, if you'd like. Yes. Thank you. Sorry for interrupting. Okay, it'll be five minutes. Yes. Thank you

[15:36] Yeah, so I just want to provide the community with a few updates, you know all pertaining to COVID-19

[15:42] The first one as you can see I'm wearing a face mask today. This is actually made at home. It took me

[15:47] No more than 10 minutes. It's one bandana two rubber bands on the side

[15:53] It's very easy to make and as you've probably seen by now the county did issue an order and is

[15:58] requiring everyone to wear masks when outdoors, so even if you can't get a hold of an actual N95 mask,

[16:07] you know, there's a lot of different items that you can find at home, so you can make your own mask.

[16:11] So I would highly recommend that.

[16:14] Also, moving on to the topic of resources, there's a lot of food pantries and food banks here in the city of Moreno Valley.

[16:22] The city actually just created a website mobile.org backslash food where you can go

[16:30] and find more information on these pantries as well as grocery store hours.

[16:35] So please feel free to visit that and get that information so if you know of

[16:40] anyone who's in need so you can send them that way and they can get the

[16:43] resources they need. Next topic I want to talk about the census so you know

[16:50] Now more than ever, because of the coronavirus,

[16:53] we're going to need as many resources as we can possibly

[16:56] get once the crisis is over.

[16:59] And the census actually determines

[17:05] so many different programs and free and reduced

[17:08] lunches, MediCal, and a ton of other programs and funding

[17:15] sources that come down here to our community.

[17:18] And so now is the time to fill out that census.

[17:22] You probably got something in the mail that gives you a unique ID code, so you can fill that out on a website.

[17:29] You can also call. So if you just look online, you can find the hotlines.

[17:34] There's also one in Spanish, so you can speak to someone, a personal assistant, and they'll help you fill out the census as well.

[17:41] For small businesses, you may have heard as well for a few programs, the Economic Injury

[17:47] Disaster Loan, the Paycheck Protection Program, you can actually go to the SBA.gov for more

[17:54] information.

[17:55] I highly recommend looking into those if you're a small business.

[17:58] The stimulus checks, those according to the federal government, are supposed to start

[18:03] going out mid-April.

[18:05] And you're going to get those faster if you do have direct deposits.

[18:09] So, the IRS has said that they're supposed to set up a tool to allow you to set up four

[18:14] direct deposits.

[18:15] So, if you haven't already done that, please look into that.

[18:19] And forgive me for being a little out of breath.

[18:21] It's the mask messes with your mouth a little bit, but I'll try to take deep breaths here.

[18:29] So, also tax refunds.

[18:32] If you have not submitted your taxes for this year, please do so by April 15th

[18:39] so that you can get your tax refund as soon as possible.

[18:43] On the topic of evictions, one of our public commenters spoke about that,

[18:48] but yesterday the California Judicial Council did publish rules.

[18:57] Basically, there will be no hearings for evictions until 90 days after the governor

[19:03] lifts the state of emergency here in California.

[19:06] So that's good news for a lot of tenants who are in situations where they may not be

[19:12] able to pay their rent right now.

[19:13] So that is for commercial residential tenants across the board.

[19:18] So if you have any more questions, please feel free to reach out to us.

[19:21] We're happy to help.

[19:25] Lastly, just, you know, we are in the midst of a crisis.

[19:29] We're all in this at the same time.

[19:31] We're all in this together.

[19:33] But it is temporary.

[19:35] You know, it's important to remember that this is not going to go on forever,

[19:38] if not just a few more weeks, maybe another month or two.

[19:42] But the more we collaborate to stay at home, to wear a mask, to wash our hands,

[19:49] to stay healthy, eat good foods as well to keep our immune system strong the

[19:55] faster we're going to get out of this and recover from it. So you know this is

[20:00] the time where I've seen a lot of our community members showing the best of

[20:04] what we have. I've seen leaders throughout the community standing up

[20:07] and giving back and I'm so proud of that especially to our city staff and my

[20:11] colleagues here and the mayor as well. So you know we're all fighting the

[20:16] fight and we will overcome this brief moment in history so with that I want to

[20:24] wish everyone a good evening stay well and stay healthy thank you okay all right

[20:30] so there has been a request for a few little items here we have 813 council

[20:36] Marquez we'd like to say a few comments on that item go ahead that

[20:40] Councillor Marquez? Yeah thank you Mayor. To the public we're hiring a company

[20:51] association associates with our

[20:58] and from city attorney for services since we

[21:01] don't have our own our own city attorney right now I've been asked by

[21:08] several residents well what about what's the cost what are we paying this

[21:14] guy more than our regular attorney.

[21:18] That's all public record.

[21:19] I don't want to waste time right now going into that.

[21:22] But you can send in a request to get his salary.

[21:26] It's not more than what we would be paying

[21:29] our regular city attorney.

[21:32] But I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce Steve.

[21:38] Going away, Steve?

[21:39] Steve?

[21:41] Yeah. Steve is our new intern city attorney and he's worked with us before and he's come

[21:49] with good, good recommendations and I personally want to welcome him to the city. Thank you,

[21:54] Steve. That's all I have, man.

[21:57] Thank you. Okay, and then we also have some comments on items A-10 and A-11. A-10 is

[22:05] about potholes, A-11 bike lanes, and this comes from Council Member Thornton, and then

[22:09] and I think you also have a comment

[22:10] on the other two of the items.

[22:12] Yes, I wanted to get the comment on A10 and A11.

[22:15] So A10, I just wanted to give recognition

[22:17] that concerning construction and improvement around the city.

[22:22] So for A10 specifically,

[22:24] we'll be spending no more than 200,000

[22:26] on potholes and road infrastructure.

[22:29] So I want to commend the city staff

[22:33] and public works on continuing to make,

[22:36] to partner with the community

[22:38] and making this a priority for us.

[22:41] We all know with the rain that's happening now,

[22:44] our streets deteriorate at an even faster rate.

[22:46] So this is something that is ongoing for us.

[22:48] There is a five year infrastructure plan

[22:50] and so this is leading to that.

[22:52] And A11 also really feeds into our mission

[22:57] to make a Reno Valley bicycle friendly.

[23:01] So this is around improvements to bicycle enhancements.

[23:05] I also wanted to register a no vote

[23:07] for A6 and A7. Okay great all right thank you so much Council Member Dr.

[23:14] Thornton on item A14 I believe our city manager actually I'm asking our city

[23:20] manager to give just some brief just to give a brief summary of you know just

[23:26] what we kind of did at the disaster council and then what these entail

[23:31] these emergency resolutions.

[23:35] Arnold Mayor, Mayor City Council, this item before you for your consideration is our set

[23:41] of resolutions pertaining to the emergency order on the city's ability to deal with

[23:46] the COVID-19 pandemic.

[23:48] Under the municipal code, the city can convene a disaster council and the disaster council

[23:55] is made of, as the mayor alluded to, the mayor serving as the chair, the city manager

[24:00] serving as the director of the emergency services, and I have appointed the fire chief

[24:04] to serve as the assistant director.

[24:06] We recently convened the disaster council initially on March 11, and subsequently on

[24:11] March 17, they made the recommendation for the city council to declare a local state

[24:15] of emergency on March 17, which did occur.

[24:19] Subsequently on March 31, we convened the disaster council again to make further

[24:25] recommendations and these are a set of recommendations on various resolutions pertaining to how we

[24:32] could conduct business in dealing with the COVID-19.

[24:35] And just a quick summary of some of the resolution is of course we need to continue the local

[24:40] emergency ordinance.

[24:41] The initial ordinance would have lapsed on April 15th and this is now extended indefinitely

[24:46] until the governor lifts the emergency declaration for the state.

[24:50] Also there is a resolution pertaining to the pandemic preparation plan.

[24:54] plan. We made changes to that. And this actually plan was devised by our fire chief and emergency

[25:00] management with feedback from the city manager and also the mayor. And this is really our

[25:06] emergency operation plan. And it is now really a model for a lot of cities in which they're

[25:10] actually adopting our plan as the boilerplate, the template for their city as well. One

[25:17] important component of this is that now under the pandemic plan, all employees of

[25:23] city are considered disaster workers so that we are allocating different employees to different

[25:29] places to deal with the COVID-19 crisis. Also another resolution pertaining to the closure plan,

[25:36] we made recommendation amendment to the closure plan. Initially we had closed all public

[25:44] buildings to the public, access to the public, but we are maintaining city services

[25:50] And we are still dealing with a lot of the permits and everything that's coming in.

[25:55] We just recently also amended the closure plan to close all public parks and access to the public parks.

[26:01] So that is a part of your consideration.

[26:04] Also, there is a various of resolution pertaining to the City Manager's Authority for procurement

[26:09] and also public bidding in which it allows the City Manager's ability to move very quickly to purchase goods and services needed during this crisis.

[26:18] Also, there is additional resolutions in which we can collect and accept emergency from the

[26:28] state or federal government.

[26:29] And we are now documenting all the cost expenditures so that we can get reimbursed from FEMA.

[26:35] And finally, there is another resolution which grant immunity for medical personnel

[26:40] and veterinarians.

[26:41] The governor has declared that the need for medical personnel is under the state declaration.

[26:46] However, we do have a animal shelter in the event that we do need to call for veterinarians

[26:52] to help with our animal shelter.

[26:54] This will allow us to do so and also grant immunity in that capacity.

[26:59] This concludes my presentation on the various resolutions.

[27:02] Thank you.

[27:03] Great.

[27:03] Thank you.

[27:06] Okay.

[27:07] And I just wanted to say, yes.

[27:12] Council Member Cabrera?

[27:13] Was that from somewhere else?

[27:15] Okay.

[27:16] No, and I just wanted to say, again, a lot of these resolutions or ideas, you know, we

[27:21] discussed at the Disaster Council and we implement them already, but because of the ordinance,

[27:27] you know, no more than 30 days, we do have to bring it to council, you know, to get

[27:30] that extended.

[27:31] So that's the, you know, basically what you were saying.

[27:34] Okay, great.

[27:37] And all right, so I'll entertain a motion to approve excluding the items.

[27:42] For example, Karla, Dr. Thornton actually said A6 and A7, she's voting no on it.

[27:48] So just entertain a motion to approve the rest of the consent calendar.

[27:52] I make a motion.

[27:53] Okay.

[27:54] A motion by Councillor Marquez, a second by Councillor Cabrera.

[27:59] Okay.

[27:59] Please vote to approve the consent calendar.

[28:02] Can you register me as a yes vote?

[28:05] Okay.

[28:05] Yes, also for me.

[28:07] Okay.

[28:07] Great.

[28:10] Okay.

[28:11] and the Consent Calendar passes unanimously.

[28:16] And then we do have your item noted as well.

[28:21] So we're going to go straight to Item F, which is Public Hearing.

[28:28] And that goes to Public Hearing F1, Public Hearing

[28:32] to adopt Substantial Amendment Number 4 to the fiscal year 2019-20 Annual Action Plan.

[28:37] And we'll have a report from the Financial Management Services Department,

[28:41] our CFO and Assistant City Manager, Marshall Ironman.

[28:45] Good evening, Honorable Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem City Council

[28:47] members.

[28:48] This item is related to the Emergency Solutions Grant

[28:52] that we received in fiscal year 1920.

[28:55] Part of that grant was allocated to what's

[28:58] referenced as SWAG, or the Social Work Action Group.

[29:01] So the City Council at that time

[29:02] awarded $90,000 to that organization.

[29:05] At this point in time, they have not

[29:06] been able to execute a contract with the city.

[29:09] So, what we're recommending right now is we allocate $35,000 of that initial allocation

[29:15] to the Salvation Army, and this will supplement their work on the Homeless to Work Program

[29:20] and the additional homeless services that they're currently doing.

[29:23] And with that, that concludes my report.

[29:26] Okay.

[29:28] Great.

[29:29] Thank you so much, Mr. Ironman.

[29:31] Any Council questions of staff?

[29:34] And then Council Member Dr. Thornton and Mayor Brittenbacher, you can just speak out if need be, okay?

[29:41] I have no questions on that item.

[29:43] Okay.

[29:44] If you have any questions, you can just speak.

[29:46] I will.

[29:47] Okay.

[29:48] All right.

[29:48] So I'm going to go ahead and open the hearing,

[29:52] seeing no public testimony on the item.

[29:55] Hearing closed.

[29:56] Please, entertain a motion by council to

[30:00] Proofs to ask recommendations number two and three.

[30:03] Take a motion.

[30:04] Okay, made a motion by councilmember Dr. Thornton.

[30:07] A second.

[30:08] And a second by Mayor Pro Tembaka.

[30:25] And the item passes. All right, great. We're going to go

[30:29] straight to city council reports. We have one report, and this is for the Riverside

[30:34] Transit Agency. We have a council member Marquez.

[30:36] Yes.

[30:37] Thank you, Mayor.

[30:40] On April 5th, Riverside Transit Agency, RTA, reduced their bus service to Sunday services

[30:47] scheduling due to the 70% drop in service.

[30:54] You've got to remember they have to reduce their scheduling because it's just a waste

[31:02] of money to have empty buses driving up and down.

[31:05] I've had some comments made since we posted it on the website.

[31:10] What happens if I need to get to a certain place right away?

[31:13] Well, unfortunately, under these conditions,

[31:17] they have to conserve their funding for it.

[31:24] They just can't have an empty bus go down the street.

[31:26] So I just want the public to know that RTA is trying everything they can to stay on

[31:32] schedule and get where you want to go on time.

[31:37] So I just want to make sure that if you have any questions in the public, you can get on

[31:41] their website and on the website, you can communicate with them by answering questions, asking questions

[31:48] and they'll be answering them to you.

[31:50] If not, you can contact me or at City Hall.

[31:52] I am the representative for RTA, that represents Merida Valley.

[31:57] So with that, I conclude my report.

[31:59] Thank you.

[32:01] Okay, great.

[32:03] Thank you.

[32:04] City Manager's report.

[32:05] Sure.

[32:06] Mayor, thank you.

[32:07] I just want to report three items.

[32:09] First is I'm excited to report that the amphitheater is under construction.

[32:14] Now many of our residents are at home, reserving to stay at home order, and thank you for

[32:17] that.

[32:18] It had not been around the City Hall, but our amphitheater, which the Council approved

[32:22] earlier this year, has started construction, and we're very hopeful that by the end

[32:26] the summer we will celebrate the opening of a new amphitheater. Second is that

[32:31] tonight you have approved a new branch library to serve the citizens of this

[32:35] great city. This will be our third library and it's important to note that

[32:39] the improvements that was approved tonight is paid for from a library

[32:43] development impact fees and that is paid upon when development occurs and

[32:48] developer pay into this diff account and we're very excited that we will

[32:52] have our third library this year also and finally I just want to commend the

[32:57] leadership of the mayor and city council and the development of the mobile

[33:01] meals program and that we are now serving 500 seniors in need and people on

[33:06] disability and what councilmember Cabrera alluded to it is really showing

[33:10] the best of what we have is really bringing the community together in

[33:14] this really time of need we're seeing a lot of volunteers helping us deliver

[33:19] deliver some of the food to the people on disability.

[33:22] We're seeing large donations from a lot of our large companies,

[33:26] Procter & Gamble, Walgreens, Aldi Foods, UNF5,

[33:30] UN Solaris Paper have donated either monetarily

[33:34] or products into our program.

[33:37] So it is working very well.

[33:39] And I just want to commend once again the mayor

[33:41] and the city council for your leadership

[33:44] and development of that program.

[33:45] That concludes the city manager's report.

[33:47] Thank you.

[33:49] Thank you. City Attorney. City Attorney's report if you happen. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[33:56] First of all, thank you for having faith in me second time around. But I just want to comment

[34:02] about the COVID-19 crisis. And because I've been getting a lot of questions from various people,

[34:08] your constituents and some of you about, you know, which rules are mandatory versus which

[34:14] rules are simply guidance and a lot of that comes from these a lot of that

[34:20] uncertainty is built into the process we have set up because we have the

[34:23] president who can issue orders and issue guidance and we have the Centers for

[34:28] Disease Control and Prevention at the federal level who had issued some

[34:32] certain guidance and how to avoid contracting COVID-19 we have the

[34:37] governor's executive orders that are coming out some of the executive

[34:41] of orders are mandatory. Some of them are simply guidance. Some of them are suggestions as

[34:46] to what cities can do with respect to adopting certain emergency measures. We have the California

[34:52] Department of Public Health. They have been issuing a lot of guidance that the governor

[34:58] follows and suggests to cities and counties. We also have the Riverside County Public

[35:03] Health Officer who has been recently issuing a number of orders. And those particular

[35:09] orders are significant to primarily the cities and special districts because a lot of the

[35:14] orders that are coming from the county are mandatory orders that we have to follow. And

[35:19] then the city has the discretion to adopt certain emergency measures such as it did

[35:23] tonight. But what the common thread is amongst all these different agencies and these

[35:28] different executive orders is that there's a strong suggestion and in some cases there

[35:35] orders to shelter in place, which is some people characterize as stay-at-home, but there's

[35:40] also the social distancing requirement, which is to remain six feet apart, and that's something

[35:45] that we find that's the common thread through all of these orders.

[35:48] And also the gathering of two or more people outside of their household, there is – we

[35:55] should not be gathering more than one person outside of the household, and the only

[35:59] exemption that's been built into that is if the two people or two or more people

[36:03] are from the same household, not necessarily from the same family.

[36:09] So you can have two unrelated roommates who can meet outside of the house, that same household

[36:16] because they're from the same household, but that doesn't necessarily apply to family members

[36:20] and that's where there's a lot of confusion.

[36:23] So I just wanted to put that out there so the public has a general understanding

[36:27] of where all of this is coming from and a lot of it's flowing down, flowing for

[36:31] the president all the way down to the county, and it leaves the cities with the authority

[36:35] to adopt certain measures to fill in certain gaps that we feel are important here to service

[36:41] our constituents.

[36:43] Thank you.

[36:45] Very nicely said.

[36:46] Thank you, City Attorney.

[36:47] And we'll have comments from Council Member Dr. Thornton.

[36:52] Thank you so much, Mayor.

[36:53] I really want to recognize not only our first responders, the individuals still working in

[37:03] grocery stores, our delivery drivers, just all of these individuals, the healthcare workers

[37:08] who have really supported us during this crisis. The surge is still weeks out and so, you know,

[37:15] I know many of us are a third week into our stay-at-home order and we still have a bit to

[37:21] go, and I want to encourage our residents to, as stated before, cover their mouths and

[37:25] stay at home as much as possible.

[37:28] What I'm really concerned about is the mental health, social isolation and depression is

[37:33] something that is real.

[37:35] As humans, we are meant to be social creatures, and even those who are introverts really

[37:41] have a way of engaging with people, and this is restricting that.

[37:45] And so one thing that has been established at the state is there is a mental health

[37:49] hotline.

[37:50] It's 1-800-854-7771, and so if you're someone who's experiencing depression or suicidal ideation,

[37:57] I really want to encourage you to reach out for help.

[37:59] Additionally, the governor has expanded childcare assistance for essential workers.

[38:06] You can go to the state website to find out more information about that, and also

[38:11] Riverside County has made a call for retired medical volunteers to help, and I really

[38:17] want to encourage you if you're someone who has a medical background and is retired or

[38:22] would like to volunteer. There is opportunities for you in Riverside County. Lastly, the one

[38:29] thing I'm really, really concerned about is the economic health of our city and our state.

[38:35] We economically are going to experience a significant blow to our infrastructure and

[38:41] our budget over the next 12 months from COVID-19. I want to commend the mayor for

[38:46] sending a letter to Senator Pelosi and also Senator Medina and I'm assuming Senator Roth.

[38:56] The CARE Act is not going to support city governments who have a population less than 500,000.

[39:02] We are a really big city and due to the impact on our businesses. In addition, Governor Newsom

[39:10] approved a 12 month deferment of sales tax up to 50,000 for small businesses that

[39:17] is going to have a huge implications for our city. So when we talk about improving

[39:22] the infrastructure, providing programs to our residents, we're going to take a

[39:27] hit over the next couple years due to COVID-19 and I really want to

[39:32] encourage our residents to write Assemblymember Medina and Senator Roth

[39:36] and asked within the support legislation to get some money from the state. The

[39:41] ARC state has not yet used the rainy day fund that Governor Brown and Governor

[39:47] Newsom have talked about numerous times to directly support our residents, right?

[39:52] The residents of California. And so when you hear conversations about why is our

[39:57] city not giving the residents money? Why are we not directly impacting? The

[40:02] state has the capacity to do that, and I really want to encourage our residents to lobby our

[40:09] state legislators to support us. So the mayor wrote a letter on behalf of the city encouraging

[40:16] Assemblymember Medina and other representatives to work on some type of financial assistance for

[40:24] not only our small businesses but for our residents. In addition, our city, which as

[40:30] Ms. Finn mentioned earlier has a large count of COVID-19 cases and we currently have a shortage

[40:37] on our N95 masks. So our first responders are down to a less than seven day supply and we need

[40:44] assistance from the state concerning N95 masks, financial assistance for the city

[40:52] government and also for our businesses and I really think that this should be a priority of

[40:59] us as a city council. I'm happy that we have taken the initiative. We were the first city

[41:04] that had to deal with COVID-19 back at the end of January and I think that we have been leading

[41:10] from the front and serving as a role model for other cities in Riverside County and for the

[41:14] state on how to not only be direct about what we need as a city to continue to operate in

[41:20] a successful manner but to also provide the resources and the services to our residents.

[41:25] So that's all I had to say, sir. Thank you.

[41:29] Thank you so much, Council Member Dr. Thornton. Appreciate that.

[41:32] We have Council Member Marquez, if you'd like to see closing comments.

[41:37] First of all, I want to say Sherman paints. I understand they donated some

[41:43] 95 masks to the fire department. I want to shout out to them for

[41:49] donating those face masks to the fire department.

[41:53] Secondly, I want to say, you know, without volunteers, where will we be today?

[42:01] I came over to the CRC yesterday, and it was the first time I've been in there since this

[42:06] happened, and I was just amazed how many volunteers were in that CRC.

[42:14] And I want to commend Patty for you and your crew out there and the donations we've

[42:20] been getting.

[42:21] It's just, you know, when you see these crises happen, everybody comes together, and I love

[42:27] to see that.

[42:28] But our volunteers, I just – I mean, they're beautiful people to come out and donate their

[42:36] time and these crises to help our city and our seniors.

[42:42] And I want Patty to pass that on to the volunteers.

[42:46] And I'm not only speaking for myself, I'm pretty sure my colleagues would agree

[42:48] with me that thank you very much and we won't forget them after this is over.

[42:54] We'll throw it, have a big old party somehow and celebrate. Next is the,

[43:03] you know, if you

[43:05] have bills to pay your debts, don't use this, an excuse not to pay, I got to get used

[43:12] to this. Don't pay your debts. If you can afford to pay your debts, there's companies

[43:18] out there, small businesses that give you credit and they need those funds as

[43:24] bad as anybody else. If you're able to pay your debts, don't use this

[43:30] coronavirus as an excuse not to pay the debts. Pay your debts, keep on them.

[43:36] Again, we have to all work together through this and if you don't can't pay

[43:40] them, that's understanding because you're laid off,

[43:44] cost your savings, just pay your debts, that's all I could say.

[43:49] On the good note, we're talking about face masks.

[43:54] On social media we had a person make a face mask out of a pamper, I don't know how many

[44:01] people have seen that.

[44:03] Go on to Facebook, I believe it's Merida Valley Matters it was on, and this girl

[44:09] had a pamper, baby pamper, and she made a face mask out of it. And, you know, if you

[44:17] have children at home or you use pampers at home, you know, just look at that. You'll

[44:21] probably make dozens of face masks and sell them if you want to. But it was

[44:26] amazing. I've never seen anything any type of creation like that. But it's

[44:30] out there. And the last I want to say is this, our staff has done a

[44:36] marvelous job through this. And I want to commend all of you, even my colleagues, for standing

[44:45] up and saying, hey, the city is going to continue functioning under these circumstances. And

[44:52] this goes with the police department, the fire department, all departments, especially

[44:58] Actually, you might, you're still...

[45:00] It's been just awesome. And I want to congratulate all you guys for what you have done. I want to

[45:08] have a special shout out to Mike Wolf and his crew. I don't know what it is, but it never

[45:14] seems to fail towards the end of the month or first of the month. There's so much trash

[45:19] dumped out in our streets. I mean, last week, tap furniture, mattresses, sofas, you name

[45:28] even a refrigerator out in the middle of the street.

[45:32] You know, you can call Waste Management

[45:36] and they'll pick up those items at your home.

[45:38] You don't have to throw them out on our streets.

[45:41] That's more work for our crew, public works crew.

[45:44] And I think Mike gets tired of me calling him every five minutes

[45:47] and saying, hey, we have a refrigerator out in the middle of the street

[45:50] or dishwashers or sofas.

[45:53] But to the public, if you have a large item,

[45:56] waste management will pick them up just call them ahead of time and when it's

[46:00] your turn or your cycle to come by for your trash they will come by and pick it

[46:03] up and that's all I have to say thank you. Thank you Councilor Marquez we have

[46:11] closing comments from Mayor Pro Tembaco. Thank you can you hear me? Yes. Okay

[46:17] great thank you well first of all I just want to commend you mayor for

[46:21] your leadership and for the item A8, which was the item that you removed. I want to thank

[46:29] you for that ahead of time. I had a little speech written, but I didn't get to do it

[46:33] because you pulled it. So I just want to say that many people think that you put it

[46:38] on there or that I put it on there or that you and I put it on there. But the fact

[46:43] is that this is a consent calendar and this is where staff puts their routine and

[46:49] noncontroversial items there that are usually voted in simply by the city

[46:55] council so that the everyday process can continue. For example, paying the bills

[47:00] and so forth. So that's how the item got on the consent calendar. It doesn't take

[47:07] three people on the council to put the item on the agenda. This is, like I

[47:11] said, the consent calendar for staff to put items that are routine and

[47:16] non-controversial. So that's the end of A-8. Thank God. So I also want to say thank you Mayor

[47:22] for your leadership. Thank you City Council, the City Manager, because we're in uncharted territory.

[47:30] This has been unprecedented. No one alive, I believe, has ever gone through what we're going

[47:35] through. The nation, the state, our city, people are scared. They don't know what's happening.

[47:41] The children are scared. Even our pets are like, why is everyone home? You know,

[47:46] we want to do our thing. But I just want to say that we need to unite as a city. I'm glad that

[47:52] we've been fiscally conservative and that we have money in our reserves that where I know we're

[47:59] going to top into because we're not going to receive sales tax, the hotel tax, a lot of taxes

[48:04] we're not going to receive as a city. And we just assumed that they would be there

[48:09] in March and April and May. They're not. So we're going to be looking at other ways to make ends meet.

[48:18] So just beware and hold on and stay with us for the ride because Merino Valley is a great city.

[48:24] We have great leadership. We have an excellent e-team that's, you know, just doing everything.

[48:30] It's like the mobile meals when you have all the volunteers and some of our, and the mayor.

[48:37] I remember the mayor was the first one out there.

[48:39] In fact, he's the one that came up with the idea and I was just so proud of him and proud

[48:45] to live in Myrtle Valley where we are taking care of our seniors and our citizens with

[48:50] special needs or disabilities or different needs.

[48:54] But I'm glad that we have that program and that we are at capacity.

[48:59] People need to call in every week, but I didn't think that we would reach that

[49:04] capacity, but I'm glad that we're able to do that.

[49:06] And I just want to thank our partners and nonprofits, the big companies that are in Murna

[49:11] Valley for the donations, for everything that they've given the city so that we could survive

[49:16] and that we could support the less fortunate.

[49:19] And many people still have jobs.

[49:22] Many people are out there commuting, going to work, and they do have jobs, but it's

[49:26] not everybody.

[49:28] And you can't imagine, I don't think you can imagine if you still have a job

[49:32] and you still have a home and you're able to pay your bills, you can't imagine

[49:35] and what it is when both heads of household are unemployed,

[49:40] people with kids don't have food,

[49:42] and we have a lot of poverty.

[49:45] So please, if you can, unite instead of finding differences,

[49:51] we need to find our common ground

[49:53] and take care of each other.

[49:55] And when you're in church and you say, love my neighbor,

[49:59] keep that promise until you come back

[50:01] to the church the next day, the next week,

[50:03] And, you know, we commit to being a good Christian or good, whatever religion you are, it doesn't matter.

[50:11] I think we all have the same tenets of love thy neighbor.

[50:15] So love thy neighbor is not just the feeling, but it's an action.

[50:18] And if we can, let's help the less fortunate.

[50:22] Thank you.

[50:23] Thank you so much, Mayor Britambaka.

[50:25] And just in talking about, you know, the less fortunate, that's really what the Mobile Meals program is about.

[50:31] and really giving, you know, those 500 care packages to, you know, those 500 families that are out there.

[50:38] And these care packages, by the way, people are actually able to have food enough for almost about a week.

[50:44] So it is a great blessing, I believe, to them.

[50:48] And I do want to commend our city staff, especially our city manager and also our parks director as well

[50:54] and just everyone that has been involved in all of this, you know, and really organizing it from the staff level

[51:00] as well. You know, it's just gone really, really, really well. The way they have it organized,

[51:07] the two different lanes, you know, checking, you know, and just providing those meals,

[51:11] and then they even deliver it to your house as well. So we've just been doing things

[51:16] that are just above and beyond that, in fact, other cities have actually called us and

[51:21] called me, you know, about implementing that similar program, you know, mobile

[51:26] meals in their city. So I think we are doing something great, but you know what, there is

[51:32] going to be difficulty. I mean, no doubt about it. I mean, when you lose your job, that's

[51:37] something that's powerful right there, that's going to affect your life, that's going to

[51:40] affect your family. And just even the kids as well, their fear as well, like Mayor Pertambaca

[51:47] was mentioning, we see that, I see that in the community myself. And so I am concerned.

[51:54] But I think that, like she mentioned, we really need to unite.

[51:59] We really need to come together, you know, and really like she mentioned, you know, love

[52:05] thy neighbor.

[52:05] That's really what it's all about.

[52:07] You know, we should always do that, right?

[52:09] So I think that this is the time that we can continue to step up and I know we will

[52:13] step up as a city and we're going to do that.

[52:18] I am thrilled and excited about some of the programs that we are creating or

[52:23] actually that we passed, you know, as far as the third library opening and the

[52:27] amphitheater which will be under construction and open by August. Now

[52:34] again, these were items that were already money was already allocated for

[52:38] and that's why, you know, those items are going forward. But like my other

[52:43] colleagues have mentioned, you know, we're not going to be receiving the

[52:45] sales tax, you know, for about 12 months. Also, you know, other types of

[52:51] funds, like from the hotel tax as well, that's going to be a major hit to our budget.

[52:57] But I am proud to at least make sure that we're doing whatever it takes to save jobs as much

[53:04] as possible, and that we're doing whatever it takes, whether it's part-time jobs or

[53:07] any temp jobs, we're doing whatever it takes to save them, because I think it is important.

[53:13] People deserve that, but just keep in mind, it is going to be a bumpy road because

[53:19] because it's going to be a big hit to our budget, so keep that in mind.

[53:26] I also want to thank the residents just in general, the residents, the volunteers.

[53:31] I've had the opportunity in either doing some of the deliveries or even just in talking

[53:36] to some of the residents, and there's just a lot of compassion out there.

[53:40] So even though there might be some people that want to sometimes unfortunately spread

[53:45] had rumors and those kinds of things.

[53:47] There is a lot of compassion and love out there,

[53:50] and I have seen that, especially through the churches.

[53:54] I've been working with the church community.

[53:56] I actually established a list of faith-based communities,

[54:00] food pantries together, and working with the nonprofits.

[54:04] So it's just, it's really nice to see the positiveness

[54:08] that's out there in our community

[54:09] and how we all care about each other.

[54:12] So I really like that, and I wanna commend people

[54:14] for that. And without further ado, we will go ahead and adjourn the meeting

[54:19] tonight at 6.54 p.m. Thank you. And thank you to all for participating on Zoom

[54:27] too. Thank you.