[0:00] of the Orland City Council for Tuesday, September 1st, 2026, to order.
[0:06] Roll call, please.
[0:08] Let the record show we have a quorum with all council members present.
[0:13] Okay. We're going to go into closed session.
[0:15] Any of the public have
[0:17] something they would like to say? Comments, restrict it to three minutes.
[0:21] Do I have any public comments? None online and no one present, so we'll move on to
[0:26] the closed session, please.
[0:36] We will reconvene and to regular session.
[0:39] We have no reportable action from the closed session tonight. Pledge of allegiance.
[0:46] Yes. All right. Stand if you are able.
[0:50] Salute. Pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[0:56] United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,
[1:01] one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[1:13] Okay. We'll look at Orland communications and public comments.
[1:17] Of course, we're going to limit them to three minutes, and after you are recognized
[1:22] by the leader, we will be more than happy to yield you my time for any other
[1:26] comments tonight, so you all know. Okay.
[1:32] Good evening.
[1:36] Good evening, Mayor and Councilmember.
[1:41] Excuse me, but I missed a couple of meetings, and I want to ask a question.
[1:47] Maybe you can answer it or not. I don't know.
[1:50] Is the big tank hooked up and in service?
[1:53] I'm going to let our city manager respond to that because I'm sure he's fully up to
[1:59] date on that.
[2:02] It is hooked up, but it is not in service.
[2:06] To my understanding, the last missing electrical piece, we're waiting for the
[2:10] control room, and finally-
[2:12] The one that's supposed to be in July.
[2:14] Yeah, it's finally here.
[2:16] It came.
[2:16] It did come in. So we're just waiting on the contractors to finish up that last bit
[2:21] of work on the tank. The well on the end of Walker Street is still missing one
[2:26] component. So that project's still on hold waiting for that, but that's where we
[2:31] stand at this point.
[2:34] Question, will it be hooked up to the internet?
[2:42] Let's see.
[2:42] It'll be hooked up to a SCADA system, which is internet-based, but it won't be
[2:48] accessible for public internet, but it will be controlled by those employees.
[2:54] Well, I'm concerned with the threats that we get over-
[2:59] Yeah
[2:59] ... from overseas.
[3:01] Yeah.
[3:01] About internet connections and support.
[3:04] Yeah.
[3:04] That was my question.
[3:06] It's like all of our wells. Everything's connected, so it can be controlled easily
[3:10] through the internet, but at the end of the day, it also can be controlled
[3:13] independently.
[3:14] Okay.
[3:15] So when we had the fire on Railroad and all the power got shut off in town during
[3:18] that fire, they had to manually go fire up all the wells for that.
[3:23] So we still have the ability to control it.
[3:26] It just takes a little bit longer to get the employees out and go turn it manually
[3:31] on.
[3:32] Okay.
[3:32] We're not going to be completely shut down if something happened on a cyberattack.
[3:37] Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
[3:38] Very good questioning. Thank you. Anything else?
[3:42] I'll take a public comment tonight.
[3:45] No? Okay. Well, we're going to move on to the administrative business portion of
[3:49] it. I'm sorry. The consent calendar.
[3:52] We have four.
[3:54] The city council minutes from August 16th, the Recreation Commission minutes from
[4:00] April 22nd, and the ABC minutes from February 10th. Any comments on any of those?
[4:06] No. Okay. Do I have a motion?
[4:12] Madam Mayor, I move to approve the consent calendar as presented.
[4:16] I'll second.
[4:18] Motion is made and seconded. All those in favor?
[4:20] Aye.
[4:21] Aye.
[4:22] Opposed? None. The motion is carried. All right.
[4:25] We're going to move on to administrative business, the Feline Population Reduction
[4:29] Program history. The status of the $25,000 allocation, reimbursements,
[4:35] and requested direction from Justin McKeon. Over to you, Justin.
[4:41] Good evening, Mayor, Council.
[4:45] In a quest to try to clean up some of the outstanding things that have been on the
[4:50] city's books, and having talked to Valerie Johnson about trying to find a complete
[4:55] record of everything that's happened in.
[4:58] The mayor's also asked about trying to get to the point of where we're at right
[5:03] now. And so I worked on the history side of this.
[5:09] Scott worked on the other part of this.
[5:11] So mine was the history, to try to bring you guys up to speed on everything that's
[5:16] transpired over the last three years as far as meetings and decisions, and just
[5:21] everything that went into it. And so that was my side of it.
[5:26] As far as the rest of it, from the legal opinion sides of it, I would defer to
[5:30] Scott on that. But this is really just a chance to clear the air, set the record
[5:35] straight on what has happened over the last three years, and then for you guys to
[5:40] make a decision what you want to do going forward.
[5:43] And so that's what this is tonight.
[5:46] Thanks, Scott. To you.
[5:49] I'm happy to answer any questions.
[5:51] So the status of the money is outlined in the staff report.
[5:54] It was initially designated American
[6:00] Recovery funds, but it's not restricted.
[6:04] So, there's no restriction to that.
[6:09] But at the same time, as outlined in the staff report, the program was never
[6:14] implemented. The intended state reimbursement program was never implemented.
[6:19] So it was left out in the open. The city currently has no outstanding
[6:24] obligation regarding that side of the program.
[6:27] Sounds good.
[6:29] Up to the council at this point.
[6:30] Okay. So we're going to open for public comment.
[6:36] You want to go, Maggie?
[6:39] Thank you so much.
[6:41] I'll just comment on this, and we'll make it very, very easy because in the
[6:45] beginning, when we began and came about, it was out of pure need.
[6:51] And there was a lot of suffering going on with the cat situation,
[6:57] and we were getting inundated. Let's make it a long story short.
[7:02] I would just like to be thankful and grateful and very
[7:08] gracious thus far. We did,
[7:13] in all honesty, set this whole political angle and getting involved with how
[7:19] the city council and county works and what have you.
[7:22] It's been an experience and learning experience with that.
[7:26] We want to stay on the gracious side of things.
[7:29] And actually, we did go forth and implemented the program with
[7:35] the wherewithal that we thought that everything had been approved and it's gone
[7:40] forth and continued. We've done so far $10,000 worth
[7:46] of spays and neuters, felines from the city and the county.
[7:49] We didn't differentiate against the county lions or city.
[7:55] They come from everywhere. So we fixed them.
[7:58] And with that, graciously, we like to have that be set behind us.
[8:03] The city has no obligation. The county, we know their stand.
[8:08] Mostly what we'd like to see going forward is the city of Orland staying
[8:14] on the same page and the same board with us on our stance towards the cat
[8:19] situation, with the solution being spay and neuter.
[8:22] Whether it be TNR or what have you, the program, we have a benefit in our county
[8:28] that we have sanctuary. We have 20 acres, and we are able and willing to
[8:33] help the county and city cats. We are getting calls from the county for help, and
[8:39] thus far, we're helping. Thank you. Please let me continue just a minute.
[8:43] And with that, we want the monies and that we've spent so far thus far out of our
[8:49] own pocket, hidden treasures, and
[8:52] self-fund it to be our donations of the city and county.
[8:57] What you do with the decision you make with the $25,000 that was allocated,
[9:02] and as the rest, whichever page. We're in agreement.
[9:07] We like to give these donations. We love it, and we receive them.
[9:10] But we're going to go forward. We want to be on the same page with our city.
[9:15] We're proud of them. So that's far, and we've made a dent
[9:21] in the cat problem. We heard police level went a long way go, but we're not going
[9:26] to be asking for funding in the future. We're self-funded. We have other options.
[9:31] We're self-sustainable at this point.
[9:33] We want to be on good terms with our city, and that's where we want to leave it.
[9:37] So at this point, we know our city doesn't have any money, and we wanted to stay on
[9:42] the Asian side and go through convincing city pass any caps
[9:47] going forward to now.
[9:49] Thank you.
[9:49] Thank you.
[9:49] Thank you so much for your commentary. I appreciate that. Any others?
[9:55] Any online?
[9:57] No. All right. Council. JC, would you like to start?
[10:05] Justin, I want to thank you and your staff.
[10:06] This is a great detailed staff report, and I recommend anybody in the public that
[10:12] hasn't seen it yet, we'll have meetings pulled up online, and you can actually see
[10:16] what the city council has done in the past, and you have a better understanding of
[10:22] what they're talking about tonight.
[10:24] So it's a thick packet, so by all means, look at it.
[10:30] For me, when I look back at the notes and talking to some of the previous
[10:34] council members and talking with some of the board of supervisors, this was going
[10:38] to be a great program, I think. However, we needed to have a partnership,
[10:44] and we lost that partnership with the county because of funds.
[10:50] So we have to look at it ourselves now. What can we do?
[10:54] What kind of... If we could probably design our own thing, but again, who's going
[10:58] to implement it? Who's going to run it?
[11:01] Can we talk to the sheriff to see if he would run it?
[11:04] If he would implement it, maybe not charge us any admin fees on top of it.
[11:09] Would you like that-
[11:10] Or would like to talk about other options.
[11:14] Can we come up on part of here?
[11:16] I'm sorry. We've got people on TV, but go on then. Quick question, councilman.
[11:21] So we do have our sheriff on board. He's very supportive.
[11:25] He actually donated $20,000 to us over a year ago, and it was very helpful.
[11:30] It helped us get our spay and surgery room completed, and we did 1,000 surgeries
[11:35] when we were in town. So-
[11:37] What about now, though?
[11:38] Sheriff is-
[11:39] Because I know that you have said, I knew that he had given you guys some funds,
[11:43] but does he have the funds to give now?
[11:45] Yeah.
[11:46] Talking with some of the board supervisors, they were hoping that there'd be some
[11:49] funds available somewhere, but they said, "Don't hold your breath."
[11:53] I believe Sheriff Gibbs just recently
[11:55] He wants to go help me at this point.
[11:58] Yeah.
[12:00] And I believe that they get those monies from the licensing for the dogs.
[12:04] There's-
[12:05] And let me ask you this again, because you and I had a couple of discussions.
[12:08] But when you believe, did they tell you they have-
[12:11] Yes
[12:11] ... or just your interpretation of what they may have said?
[12:14] He has told me that he's on board to help me.
[12:18] Okay. Okay.
[12:19] I believe so.
[12:21] Okay.
[12:21] Yes, I believe people's words.
[12:25] Thank you.
[12:25] Well, we and I talked before, and I said, "When you talk with a politician, listen
[12:30] to what they say, not what you assume they said."
[12:34] No.
[12:34] Right? And then if you're not sure, then by all means, ask for specification with
[12:38] any politician.
[12:40] Right. But he said he was supportive to us. Yes.
[12:44] So, for me, unless we can have a partnership with the county,
[12:49] I don't see this thing moving forward any further.
[12:53] And if we were to, say, not have a partnership, then I think that we have our own
[12:58] financial issues as well. Then maybe we should just resend the last
[13:04] city council vote and go ahead and just absorb that back and
[13:10] general fund use it for whatever we need it for.
[13:16] Okay. Thoughts on this?
[13:19] Yes.
[13:24] So
[13:26] my wife is a researcher at the animal shelter, and they
[13:30] got a lot of help from... Sorry.
[13:34] The neighborhood cat advocates got me to return, and they did all the Butte
[13:39] County... They do all the Butte Counties return
[13:44] cats over there. And of course, it looks like they've done about 20,000 cats, so
[13:49] about 1,500 cats per year.
[13:53] And they get a bunch of donations to assist with this program.
[13:58] And I'm sure that they won't end anytime soon.
[14:04] So it's going to be a lot. There's going to be a financial burden for
[14:11] who knows how long until we do something,
[14:16] find something that can be permanent.
[14:18] Yeah.
[14:20] I think we've already set this money aside.
[14:23] I think there is a need for this program,
[14:28] even if the county cannot proceed, if they cannot afford with this.
[14:35] Since we've already set the money aside, I think we should move forward with this,
[14:38] and then hopefully the county will join on. Someone's got to start it.
[14:40] So we've already set the money, but we have the support here.
[14:46] I think we should move on with it. Stop at $10,000 if the county
[14:52] can join the board with us, then maybe we can
[14:57] keep eye funds to this problem that we do have a cat problem population.
[15:02] There's a lot of stray cats. Certain areas
[15:07] are more impacted than others.
[15:13] And along with that, I think we also need to look at the root cause of why there
[15:17] are so many cats.
[15:20] People, residents don't spay, neuter the cats, so we can do some education on
[15:26] that and
[15:28] try to give more education to our residents to not...
[15:33] Try not to feed stray cats because then of course they'll repopulate.
[15:37] And so just along with this, there needs to be education.
[15:44] That's what I'd say.
[15:46] Okay. Thank you. Now we go to John.
[15:50] I mean, pretty simple for me. Is your government responsible
[15:56] for taking care of people's animals? No. Can we help our neighbors?
[16:01] Absolutely. To me, this is one of those issues to where
[16:07] people like you, Valerie, the folks that are good-hearted who want to go help out
[16:11] an issue, that's great. But at a point, now that you're talking about Valerie, too,
[16:15] is where funds are tight. I'm all for even the money, figuring out a way in the
[16:19] original to go do this back in '22 or '23
[16:24] to do that
[16:26] reimbursable for the citizens that reside in New Orleans before it, before again,
[16:32] mostly for householders with cats and with dogs.
[16:35] But here and there, I think it's a good start, and then maybe in the near future,
[16:39] we can get more broad in terms of how we do things.
[16:46] To chime on what JC said, we, you know, waiting for the county is going to be a
[16:49] while, and I don't think we need to partner with them per se.
[16:53] But then again, my final point is going to be, and I don't want to burden the staff
[16:58] who already have to shut the doors one day a week to be able to deal with one
[17:02] thing. But I think with patience and time, we can get this solved, and we won't
[17:06] ever fix it, no pun intended, but we definitely can
[17:11] help address the issue. So we'll just do it one person at a time.
[17:15] That's good.
[17:17] Well, let me just first say thank you, Valerie.
[17:21] We did meet, and you said it's going to be a really short meeting, and I'm going to
[17:25] make it really easy, and you did. I think what people say matters.
[17:31] You said, and what I heard you say tonight, is there, in your view, you and your
[17:35] board believe there's no obligation by the city of this.
[17:39] What you seek is us to be supportive of the mission, which we can do just by saying
[17:44] what you're doing is a good thing. And so I'll say it's a good thing.
[17:49] The other thing I heard you say is that
[17:54] you're self-funded.
[17:56] And that's a good thing.
[17:58] I also did a little research on that Cat Alliance out of Chico, and they are
[18:04] also self-funded. So here's what we know about the good neighbors in New Orleans
[18:09] and Glenn County is they love pets, and
[18:16] when they see a need to help, they give
[18:20] So I think the solution here is to continue for us to be positive about the idea
[18:26] that there is a place where we're trying to reduce the feline population.
[18:31] They're breeding by eliminating the ability to breed.
[18:35] If you want to know why there's a problem, I can tell you.
[18:38] Cats breed, and they breed fast, and they breed often, and they have large litters.
[18:41] The problem is that individuals who are cat owners don't care for
[18:47] their cats, and they don't take responsibility for their cats when they choose not
[18:53] to, or neglect having them spayed and neutered, and then they breed, and
[18:58] then those feral cats, those new cats, become feral in the county.
[19:04] So I think yours is one of many solutions.
[19:07] I think it's the more humane solution than trapping and euthanizing.
[19:12] And so I'm so glad that you came tonight. I'm so glad that we met.
[19:18] I think you see where this is going. I think I do, too.
[19:21] I think the financial needs of the city are paramount for this,
[19:28] for
[19:30] me in particular, but I think for this group.
[19:33] And so the fact that you took the gracious exit option for us, thank you for that,
[19:40] because I will also support returning those funds back to the general fund.
[19:44] You're welcome. Blessing.
[19:46] Yeah. And I see that and yeah, I believe that. Thank you, Valerie.
[19:53] Okay.
[19:56] It's difficult to be where we are because a promise was made back in 2023
[20:02] to address what was a serious problem.
[20:06] Yeah, a serious problem in the city limits. It certainly is.
[20:11] I've told the story of my own son, six-year-old son, being bit by a feral cat, and
[20:16] my inability to find out whether or not that cat had rabies, because the cat died
[20:20] two days later for no good reason, found it dead in the backyard.
[20:25] So having feral cats running around that are not
[20:31] being cared for, some people are very, very gentle and care enough that they throw
[20:37] food out for them. Putting food out does not make them overpopulate.
[20:42] They will populate whether you feed them or someone else puts food out for them.
[20:48] The way to manage the problem is the TNR program.
[20:53] And actually, I had gone to former management at the city of Orland
[20:59] before Valerie ever came along, trying to have a discussion over the issue,
[21:05] and the response was, "It's not a city problem." It is a city problem.
[21:10] We're in a really good place now, because we actually, the numbers, I truly
[21:15] believe, Valerie, are going down.
[21:17] Our business right there on Highway 99, there were cats everywhere,
[21:23] all the time. They were in the dumpsters, they were underneath buildings, they were
[21:27] flops. That population has decreased, and I would have to, and Valerie
[21:33] actually provided some traps for me to trap some of them, have them fixed, and
[21:39] allow them to either stay with Valerie or return them to the streets.
[21:43] And so the population is going down, but it's going down because something is being
[21:48] done. So Valerie's effort is paying off.
[21:53] The city is benefiting from Valerie's effort.
[21:56] Now, I want to make sure I 100% understand you.
[21:59] You're saying you do not need the 25,000 that the city has previously
[22:05] discussed providing you, and that you were thinking you were going to get when you
[22:10] went out and built your facility, your spay, neuter facility?
[22:17] Go ahead.
[22:17] At the time, when we were first in town, I was desperate for money because the
[22:22] overtime was high, and I was under a lot of stress.
[22:26] So I think that that came about in a desperate way.
[22:30] But since we did move out to our ranch, and we
[22:36] have the future of the Rampant Pit Judges is going to continue after I'm gone.
[22:41] My son is taking over gateway. But
[22:45] we don't have that. We have a viable sustainability at this time, and we've gone
[22:51] viral on TikTok, which is providing a lot of-
[22:54] A lot of film there, isn't it?
[22:56] A lot of amazing people.
[22:58] My other question to you.
[23:01] We-
[23:01] The history with this, what I understood was that it was not going to you.
[23:06] It was a voucher program where anyone could trap or take a cat to any vet,
[23:12] and any vet would get the $100 reimbursement.
[23:15] That's the original, and we had
[23:21] wanted to go for that, and that was our original proposal.
[23:24] But nobody at the vets did not come forward. Nobody did.
[23:28] So the vets weren't going to sign off.
[23:29] They weren't interested. So we did go forward and do all of the work, and I met
[23:34] with all the different counties for advice and to find out how a voucher
[23:39] program is actually enacted and
[23:44] we can go forth with it. And a lot of counties, Colusa County helped us, the
[23:49] sheriff's department there, animal control, and a lot of people, Chico NCA,
[23:56] Sarah Downs came here, actually, and we met in the ad hoc committee with them
[24:01] there, Matt Romano. So I believe that's where with-- I don't blame anyone here
[24:06] because there's been so many changes, and just like Chief Chaney, he helped
[24:12] and stepped right in to help find out what the issue was, and Councilman Elliott,
[24:18] and you too, Mayor Barna. I do appreciate everybody doing some homework and finding
[24:23] out, getting to the bottom, because when words are said in conversation, it's
[24:27] different. Conversation is not what's in the book there that's not house to take
[24:32] care of. So we get that, and with that, there's no blame anywhere.
[24:37] We
[24:38] always just wanted to have a solution for the cats, the most humane.
[24:44] Euthanizing, trapping cats, euthanizing is not the correct way.
[24:47] If you leave the stray cats out on the street, they're going to not
[24:53] feed them and have a program. There is no responsible feeders as well.
[24:57] That's a whole other story. But you need to have a program of feeders trapping
[25:02] follow-through. Fix them. If they're not able to TNR return where they come from,
[25:08] we have that option, which is a real blessing in our county because a lot of them
[25:11] don't have that. They only have TNR. We have a sanctuary.
[25:15] So if right now, if I were to feel like I have
[25:21] three cats, they're eating my cats' cat food because they're strays, and they're
[25:25] coming along, and I decide, "Okay, I'm going to do something about that," and I
[25:30] were to come to you and ask for a trap, you'd give me a trap, and I can bring the
[25:36] cats out. And then what is it going to cost me to have the cats fixed?
[25:39] Our program is that we have a new sponsorship program of the people.
[25:43] They're buying people and it's foreign people.
[25:46] And for an example, we had a call that was desperate. A woman hoarding cats.
[25:51] She didn't start out right, but living in an apartment in Live Oak, out of our
[25:55] county, which we're helping as well.
[25:59] She had me out by 6:00 PM, and the cats were all going to be fed out to the street.
[26:03] And you're talking 10 cats that are five males and five females.
[26:07] Well, the females all had litters. So now you're talking...
[26:12] Exponentially a lot of cats.
[26:14] So we said yes, bring them. So it was $100 each.
[26:17] So we take a surrender for $100 each.
[26:20] We offer lifetime wellness, care, fixing if they need to be fixed,
[26:26] and a free roaming on a 20-acre sanctuary.
[26:30] So I guess my question was, I'm just a retired senior-
[26:34] Yeah
[26:34] ... let's say, and it's going to cost me $300, or it's not going to cost me $300
[26:40] because you have a program that's going to help me, a retired senior, pay for the
[26:45] cost.
[26:45] Okay, so this woman that was evicted obviously had no money.
[26:49] So we put it out there, and about three or four shelters and rescuers got together,
[26:57] Placer County, Butte County, and us.
[27:01] And between all of us, within, mind you, five hours, we raised
[27:06] $7,000. We moved those cats in. So-
[27:09] So there's some of these who help the folks that don't.
[27:12] That was a sponsorship that came forth in a great way for one situation in an
[27:18] emergency in five hours worth of time. But that was very impressive to us.
[27:23] And since then, we've had several more donations come in at $100 each for those
[27:28] kind of people that don't have money.
[27:30] And those also, the people that have cat issues that want to do the
[27:36] right thing and get them in and get fixed, we have that option now that we can have
[27:40] an account, a fund for them, or we can put it out there, and as it comes in, it
[27:44] comes in quick. So people are good. It's a lot better.
[27:49] Had we known in the beginning, maybe we'd have gone there.
[27:52] But we came to our city and county first, as we thought we would, to tell about the
[27:57] problem.
[27:58] And my concern is if-
[28:00] We want people to continue what you've started, that they are going to trap, and
[28:05] that they are going to get through this.
[28:08] And I don't want it to die because people now say, "Well, I'm going to have to pay
[28:13] $300 to fix these three cats, and I don't have the money, so those cats are just
[28:17] going to have to have babies."
[28:19] We found the opposite. It's actually working the opposite because when we were
[28:24] doing the voucher program, and we had all the extra paperwork that we created, a
[28:29] lot of the people said, "You know, I don't really want all this, and I just want
[28:31] maybe $100." And $100 is kind of a new fee, and that's easy to come up
[28:37] with. It's not that hard. So $100 for fixing a spay of a female or a
[28:43] male is a great deal. It includes the rabies vaccine.
[28:47] We have that cat on the table. We give them a pain shot always, and we let it go
[28:51] home. And then if they have fleas, mites, worms, or anything, we treat it.
[28:56] So the people can pay that extra for the worms and the mites and what have you if
[28:59] they like, but if there's not, we're still going to treat that cat while we have
[29:03] that cat.
[29:03] Oh.
[29:05] Whoops.
[29:06] Terry?
[29:08] Yes.
[29:11] Terry?
[29:13] It's Bruce. Hello, Bruce. How are you today?
[29:16] Damn it.
[29:17] Okay.
[29:20] Bruce, you're on.
[29:23] Maybe he don't-
[29:24] Bruce?
[29:27] I don't know.
[29:29] Is he talking? Yeah.
[29:30] Yeah, he's got technical difficulties.
[29:34] Oh, technical difficulties. Bruce, are you there?
[29:37] Yeah.
[29:37] Okay. So you're saying the program will go on whether or not it's funded by the
[29:43] city. So it sounds like we're not going to end people's ability to
[29:49] continue what we've started, and that is to be able to get the cats fixed so that
[29:53] we continue to reduce population.
[29:55] What I want mostly is for us to be on the same page as
[30:00] far as the solution, to be the humane answer for our community
[30:06] because we're making an impact with the other counties that are coming up.
[30:11] They have the same problem, but they're coming up in a trend of the food
[30:17] bans, I believe, and the responsible feeders, even if you have to get to the point
[30:21] of certifying them, like what's going on in Shasta County, which is disastrous.
[30:26] But they've got a whole mess up there as well with a lot of starving cats because
[30:30] the stray cats, the feral cats, community cats, they're an abandoned cat.
[30:36] Somehow or another, the route is people move, and they leave them.
[30:41] That's a big cause. We have a lot of those cats. So that's how they come about.
[30:46] So, it's a slow death of starvation for them cats
[30:52] if not being fed in the traps. And we don't want to see that because then you get
[30:55] the disease factor. Doctor, uh, councilman, uh,
[31:02] well-
[31:03] John. John Durden.
[31:05] John, that's awesome. We were going to see, four, few years ago, we were finding
[31:10] dead kitties on the ground on the way to school, and the kids were picking them up.
[31:14] So we don't want that. Yeah. It sounds like what we can offer you probably, and
[31:19] this will be a five-member decision, but maybe rather since we are in dire need of
[31:24] the funds to stay in the city's conquer, if you're very healthy, obviously, and
[31:29] you're able to continue the mission that you've started, maybe what we can do is
[31:33] exactly what Alex said. Maybe we can participate in assisting you with an
[31:37] educational program, either through our mailers, we have bill mailers, an
[31:43] educational program that educates the public on the need to continue to
[31:49] work towards a sustainable population of cats that are healthy.
[31:54] It's your legacy because you're going to be remembered as being kind to the cats in
[31:59] a humane way. You're not going to be on the record for other ways that are not that
[32:04] good and that don't really work. Thank you very much for all the information you've
[32:08] provided us tonight and for all the work that you're putting in to take care of our
[32:12] kitties and our community as well. Thank you. Okay.
[32:16] So I think with all that being said, I don't think there's even a...
[32:20] What needs to follow? To kill-
[32:22] I'm sorry, I just saw the shirt of one member of the audience.
[32:25] I'm sorry if I'm laughing. I finally read it. I didn't know what it said.
[32:30] I think just for clarity, it'd be useful for, if you'd be willing to say, that's
[32:34] what I'm hearing. To re-designate
[32:39] to the general public.
[32:39] That would be my motion then, is some quick question.
[32:44] Is that a resection?
[32:45] Yeah, my motion.
[32:46] Oh, it can be. It can be.
[32:49] Okay.
[32:49] Make the motion.
[32:49] You should.
[32:49] No, you can do it if you want.
[32:53] Well, I make a motion that the $25,000 previously designated for the feral cat
[32:58] program be returned to the general fund, designated for
[33:04] other means of the community. And that
[33:10] we
[33:11] have a discussion about additional means of supporting the program
[33:16] by education. Can I do that?
[33:20] You can.
[33:21] Do I even need to do that?
[33:23] No, probably not. That was-
[33:24] We were talking, if you-
[33:25] Yeah.
[33:25] Direction, I think it's good.
[33:27] Okay.
[33:27] Yeah.
[33:29] Because I think that would help. People need to know that they do have the vehicle
[33:33] too, because I don't want to see it go backwards.
[33:36] It really has been successful once it's started.
[33:39] So second to my first half of the motion. Okay, all those in favor?
[33:45] Aye.
[33:46] Opposed? None. The motion is carried.
[33:48] Thank you, Ms. Johnson.
[33:50] Thank you, Mandy.
[33:52] Oops.
[33:55] I have bottle babies.
[33:56] That's all right.
[33:58] Thank you.
[34:02] All right.
[34:05] Okay.
[34:10] That's all right.
[34:11] And how Carrie has been doing this actually put Oregon on the map in a very
[34:17] positive way. She literally has thousands upon thousands of followers
[34:23] of her
[34:25] hidden treasures out there from all over the world and for the care that we
[34:30] provide as a community for our cats.
[34:33] So that's a good positive thing for Oregon.
[34:37] Yep.
[34:37] These items. Okay, we're going to move on to the next one.
[34:41] Thank you for your patience while I move yours.
[34:47] 824 Fourth Street. Did you want to make a discussion, Dustin?
[34:54] Sure.
[34:56] So this is another one of the issues that we've been sitting on the back burner but
[35:01] needs to get addressed. So I got you guys a history.
[35:05] I learned things about this property I didn't even know.
[35:08] So we got you guys a history, a financial analysis, and we're kind of looking for
[35:13] direction. It basically reads with history and then kind of a menu as to what some
[35:19] of your guys' options are.
[35:21] And then depending on choices of options as far as what we would do to move forward
[35:26] as staff. The biggest one, I guess I would like to say to you guys is winter's
[35:32] coming, and it's not weatherproof right now with that face open.
[35:36] So, at the very least, making a decision whether we're wrapping it back
[35:42] in plastic again, which has to be fixed several times every winter because as soon
[35:46] as there's a high wind, it opens it back up.
[35:48] But I would just like that, keep that in the back of your mind that that's coming,
[35:52] and we really need to do something so it doesn't get water damage in it if...
[35:56] Unless demo is the choice, then I guess that part doesn't matter.
[36:00] So it really is based on what you guys want to do with this building, or if you
[36:05] want to limit it down to a couple different options that we can look into for you.
[36:10] We're just trying to get this moving in a direction.
[36:13] Realistically, your next city manager's going to be dealing with this, but I'd like
[36:17] to just be able to hand them where something is a little bit narrower than this
[36:21] broad scope that you're looking at right now.
[36:24] So I think just a broad overview and some direction from you guys as to what you
[36:29] guys' thoughts are for the future of this thing.
[36:32] Well, thank you for a very in-depth report for us to sift through.
[36:37] It's got a lot of information. It does give us many choices.
[36:40] Do I have any public comment on this issue?
[36:44] Online?
[36:46] No. Okay. Then wait. Do you want to take the lead on this one?
[36:51] Yeah. So this starts before my first stint on city council, but I came towards the
[36:57] end of it. There was a lot of optimism at the time on the council.
[37:02] We were not yet aware that the Great Recession was looming, and real estate had
[37:07] been a very solid investment
[37:10] Now we have the benefit of hindsight.
[37:13] That was 2005 when this property was acquired, 2008 when I came on the council
[37:19] at the time of the Great Recession, which really changed the
[37:25] numbers. So here we are, literally 18 years later, and we
[37:31] still have a property that we've invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in that
[37:36] currently is of no value to anyone, and in fact, is an expense
[37:42] at best, and an eyesore at least. I think it's pretty obvious to me that
[37:48] it's a great location for a future city
[37:52] facility because of its proximity to the existing police department.
[37:58] I think the best option is option two, and that is to demolish the site and
[38:02] eliminate the eyesore, eliminate ongoing cost, and more importantly, ongoing
[38:07] potential liability of a building that could come down, a building that could be an
[38:12] attractive nuisance to somebody who thinks this is "Call of Duty"
[38:18] in real life where you can go in there and play.
[38:21] I think it's the least expensive option right now, except for the option of doing
[38:25] nothing. And I don't think the option of doing nothing is an option.
[38:28] So if it were me, I would remove the property and make the site
[38:34] safe,
[38:36] and then allow a future time when the economics allow to see what's the best and
[38:41] highest use of that property, develop it for the city's use, is probably my
[38:46] preference, or sell it, and now you have a clean property that's more sellable for
[38:51] maybe a future business that could benefit the city of Orlando and the citizens of
[38:55] Orlando downtown. That's my recommendation.
[38:58] John?
[39:01] I'm sure everybody here and everybody on this council has a plethora of
[39:08] recommendations of what to do, and usually it's either you sell it or bulldoze it
[39:13] or give it to somebody who'd appreciate it more than us.
[39:16] Listening to everybody, I'm on board with option two, demolish,
[39:21] build something new, keep it to develop later.
[39:27] But I think the best thing right now would be is to see if
[39:33] somebody would be willing to buy it, at least get some of the money back, and
[39:38] hopefully that person would have the funds to do something quicker than what we'd
[39:41] be able to do as a municipality.
[39:44] That's where I'm at. I'm easy either way.
[39:48] Unfortunately, to do a city hall there,
[39:53] it's just too small of a site, especially as the town grows.
[39:58] We've got a library park across the street.
[40:00] But with that being said, for somebody else that wants to come in and develop it
[40:04] and do something really nice with it, like we've heard about other buildings
[40:07] downtown, other facilities, it would be really nice to see who
[40:13] bites and who is interested. That's my two cents.
[40:18] Mark?
[40:21] Since I was around back when we purchased that building, I was never a big fan of
[40:26] that building, to be genuine.
[40:29] Didn't think it was going to meet our needs because we had a big general plan put
[40:33] together, and they were talking about how big the city was going to be and stuff
[40:36] like that. I could see it's already outgrowing that block already for a police
[40:42] department. So for me, I agree with Wayne and John about option two, but I
[40:48] lean more towards option three of selling it.
[40:51] But I'm all for about demoing it also because I think it's prime location.
[40:56] But if you get somebody to make a good offer, I'm all about turning it down.
[41:07] I would say if I go with option two, demolish and build new.
[41:12] I personally would not want to sell the property because I think it's prime
[41:17] location. You're not going to
[41:20] find other more properties within downtown to keep as
[41:27] public government property. You'd have to build outside the city, and we
[41:32] run the risk of relocating everything and
[41:36] trying to communicate between two different sites miles away,
[41:42] and trying to make it as multi-purpose as possible
[41:48] of a site so that maybe business, other city property, some
[41:54] campus, a deal.
[41:59] Yeah, so I'm up. Yeah. Okay. So I tend to go towards the
[42:04] number three for a couple of different reasons.
[42:07] One is I think the estimates for demolition of that property are so far under what
[42:12] the reality is, like we have tried to get down and haul out that property.
[42:17] Personally, I know of a home that I owned that we had to haul off to debris because
[42:22] the house burned down, and it was $135,000 just to haul
[42:28] off to debris. This we're talking, it's already been established that there is
[42:34] hazardous materials in the building, so it's not just going to be hauled to the
[42:38] dump, it's going to be hauled to Coal River, roof of the house, for instance.
[42:43] So cost of demolition, I think, are going to far outweigh the value of the
[42:46] property. And as a couple of you said, the property is just too small.
[42:53] It's not realistic to think you're going to build Orland's future city hall,
[42:57] parking, and everything that needs to go with it on that tiny little parcel and
[43:01] have it last very long. We already own the parcel that is contiguous where the new
[43:07] water tank was. That's a nice big parcel of property that if we're going to build
[43:11] it, let's build it where we have room to grow, not right there in the middle of
[43:15] town. And then the other reason is it doesn't, in my mind, have historical value.
[43:20] And although we don't feel that it's warranted for us to renovate that building,
[43:25] especially when the very first estimate was $130,000 just to get underneath
[43:31] it to the studs of the building to see what the structure actually is.
[43:39] Honestly, I think that we can build a building over on the other city-owned
[43:43] property and build something much nicer that allows room for growth.
[43:47] And this, the historical value, maybe a buyer would actually do something.
[43:52] I'm one of those people that bought a historical building that maybe others would
[43:55] have torn down. That's the 501 building that for a while was Discovery Center.
[44:00] It's now they just hauled in trash cans, and we have a doctor and his wife out of
[44:05] Chico that's just about to build a nice little coffee shop there.
[44:10] Only because I went in there and made the first effort because that building had
[44:14] been for sale for many years. Nobody wanted to touch it.
[44:17] I went in, I cleaned it up, I renovated it, I showed the real jewel of what's in
[44:21] this town, and so it was preserved.
[44:24] Purity Building very well, if you got the right buyer, might do that.
[44:28] And we have actually had, when I first came onto this council in closed session, we
[44:33] had very high interest in that building purchase at that day.
[44:37] So I wouldn't be surprised if we were able to find one of our local
[44:42] developers who has developed many of the other properties in this town.
[44:46] Don't know who that might be. I can tell you it won't be me.
[44:49] But one of those people may walk in there and decide that there's worth here and be
[44:53] able to turn it into a business complex with multiple offices.
[44:57] We're short on office space. We ourselves couldn't find office space to move City
[45:02] Hall to so that we could serve the congregation on the police department, but maybe
[45:06] someone else will. So I think that before we just tear it down, spend the money
[45:11] that its value has, spend it all on a tear down, let's go ahead and offer it
[45:17] up for sale. And if we're able to sell it, then that's going to be money for us to
[45:23] start really seriously thinking about the next city hall, because we still need to
[45:29] do it. The police department needs to be able to expand in that space.
[45:32] So let's get that done. That's my vote.
[45:35] So at this point, I guess I need a motion to somebody.
[45:38] You're seeking direction, is that correct?
[45:40] Or is it just direction?
[45:41] You're seeking direction.
[45:43] Is the direction a motion of one, two, three, four, five? Or what's a motion?
[45:48] What is direction? What should we do?
[45:50] It can be whatever the council-
[45:52] Do you have a preference?
[45:52] ... agrees is the best option. So I like what you said.
[45:56] What I basically heard is option three is plan A, and option two is plan B.
[46:01] And I'm 100% comfortable that if somebody would buy that and make it a useful
[46:05] amenity for the citizens of Orland in a downtown business district, that's ideal
[46:09] for everyone
[46:11] Given that we do have property here, not my first choice.
[46:16] I think your choice over there on the road with the right way, that land that's for
[46:20] purchase there is the ideal place to expand city offices and city government.
[46:25] So
[46:28] I'm perfectly comfortable with that kind of direction.
[46:30] Pursue the sale, but not forever.
[46:33] Yeah.
[46:33] I don't want to be talking about this in two years.
[46:35] If nobody buys, nobody buys, then I think we were talking about option two, and
[46:40] figuring out how to pay for that. That
[46:44] might be our cleanup grant that we might look for, a city beautification grant, a
[46:49] downtown improvement grant, whatever they want to call it.
[46:53] If it exists, that would be what I would call plan B.
[47:00] So I guess you would investigate
[47:04] maybe a stage to get this appraisal?
[47:07] Yeah. We're looking to get an appraisal and a real estate agent, and that's the
[47:10] only thing I'd like to see if I can get you guys to agree to, is if we're going to
[47:15] look at trying to sell it, at least spending a little bit of money to wrap it back
[47:19] up so we don't incur more damage. Like somebody earlier going into winters,
[47:25] maybe try to do something to weatherproof that exposed face.
[47:29] Yeah, we do that anyways.
[47:30] Yeah, we do do that anyways. I just want to make sure you guys are good.
[47:34] We'll use a little bit of option four. It's tied together.
[47:38] Why don't you do pre-appraisal stuff?
[47:40] We'll see what...
[47:42] Okay.
[47:44] Understood.
[47:45] Okay. That's good.
[47:48] Okay.
[47:50] So we have the resolution for a memorandum of understanding with the United Public
[47:54] Employees of California Local 792 general unit for the period July 1, 2026 through
[48:00] June 30, 2027. Justin?
[48:05] Yeah. So in the last closed session,
[48:08] I believe all the terms were agreed to between the city and the union, and
[48:14] everything was formalized and voted on and passed.
[48:16] And so we're just bringing it to you for the final piece to finish this up for the
[48:22] year, for the memorandum of understanding.
[48:25] Any public comments
[48:28] online? No. Okay.
[48:33] I think we've kind of fairly well covered this-
[48:35] Yeah
[48:36] ... previously. So motion please.
[48:39] I would make a motion to adopt resolution number 2026 next in line, which is a
[48:44] resolution of the city council, or the City of Orland, approving a memorandum of
[48:49] understanding between the City of Orland and the employees represented by the
[48:53] United Public Employees of California Local 792 general unit for the
[48:59] one-year period effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.
[49:05] Second.
[49:07] All those in favor?
[49:08] Aye.
[49:09] Opposed? No. Motion carries. So now we go to the resolution approving a memorandum
[49:15] of understanding with the United Public Employees of California Local 792, the
[49:19] mid-management unit for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.
[49:25] Any discussion with public and comments? No.
[49:30] Nothing online. I believe we're probably in a position where
[49:36] we just were that we've had live discussions and already agreed and been home with
[49:41] this stuff. We have read through the resolution.
[49:44] Yeah.
[49:44] And it's in line with what we have previously agreed to, therefore a motion.
[49:51] Go ahead.
[49:53] I hear none. I would again make a resolution approving a memorandum of
[49:56] understanding with the United Public Employees Union of California Local 792
[50:01] mid-management unit for the period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027,
[50:07] as indicated in the packet.
[50:09] I'll second the motion.
[50:12] Okay. So the motion made is seconded. All those in favor?
[50:16] Aye.
[50:16] Opposed? No. That motion carries as well.
[50:20] So we now have a city manager verbal report.
[50:23] Anything new, Justin?
[50:27] On a good note, last Monday here as a flyer went out into the world to
[50:33] hire the new city manager.
[50:34] Yeah.
[50:35] So, staff helped with
[50:38] creating a little bit more warm and friendly atmosphere in it, and everybody felt
[50:42] it was a little on the cold side, but some input from staff added some-
[50:46] Yeah
[50:46] ... people and some life to it through some of the photos.
[50:50] So everybody participated in trying to get that out and get it finished.
[50:54] I believe September 25th is your close on it, and so hopefully we come back with
[51:01] lots of good applications for you guys to review.
[51:04] Okay.
[51:06] I believe
[51:08] we'll be able to bring waste management to you guys at the next meeting.
[51:11] I had a nice little talk with Jonathan about the waste management contract, and I
[51:17] believe a very simple resolution to that will be coming.
[51:20] So I'm hoping we can get that presented to you guys at the next city council
[51:24] meeting, which will take care of quite a few of our outstanding issues that we
[51:29] have.
[51:31] I know Joanne's working hard on trying to close out some of the delinquent stuff
[51:35] with the state under finance. We're closing out some of the delinquent stuff with
[51:40] the housing with the state. So I believe,
[51:44] fingers crossed, that we're actually going to make it across the finish line and
[51:47] get all those things done in time. So this should make, I'm hoping, for a pretty
[51:53] clean slate for your next city manager to walk in here and start dealing with
[51:59] the things you guys like to-
[52:01] Fantastic. Thank you.
[52:04] Any reports?
[52:05] Wonderful. Very impressive.
[52:09] Council?
[52:11] Real quick. Just wanted to thank Justin and his staff for everything that they've
[52:15] been doing. It finally feels like we're getting out of that stuck in a rut, and
[52:20] we're probably moving forward with everything. So I really appreciate that.
[52:24] The only thing I have is, I attended, we had a short waste management meeting last
[52:28] week. I think it was like a 20-minute meeting. That was it. That's all I know.
[52:34] Any additions?
[52:34] Yes.
[52:37] I attended the planning commission meeting last week, I think.
[52:41] There was a discussion about rezoning a property on South and Baps from Par 1 R3.
[52:47] That discussion will continue to the next planning commission meeting, so if you're
[52:50] interested, please attend. The recreation commission, I met with them at that
[52:55] meeting as well.
[52:57] Successful summer. Jujitsu classes continue for adults, so if you're interested in
[53:02] that,
[53:03] please check it out on the recreation website.
[53:07] And then soccer season begins for the youth.
[53:11] And then I wanted to... I was thinking about the EEC,
[53:16] the Economic and Development Commission, and the huge finance manager or director,
[53:21] and I was thinking maybe perhaps they can join forces and perhaps also do budget
[53:27] discussions or finance discussions, whatever that entails to
[53:31] kind of... Now that we have that avenue to increase awareness of
[53:38] transparency of the finances in Orland, the City of Orland.
[53:41] I think that's it.
[53:45] Dan?
[53:48] I'll just wait until you go through me.
[53:50] Oh, that's good.
[53:52] No, and then I totally echo what JC said, and for people that don't
[53:58] get to see Justin Chaney's face from the position I'm at, this man has done a
[54:02] wonderful job, but he absolutely does not like it.
[54:06] And for all of us in this world who have had to do things we do not like or are
[54:10] uncomfortable with, I appreciate him and I appreciate his staff.
[54:14] I cannot wait to get our chief back to do what the chief needs to do.
[54:17] And thank him for doing all the stuff he's doing, and especially his wonderful
[54:21] wife, Joni, who's putting up with him during the strike time.
[54:24] Other than that, I can echo what JC said.
[54:29] It's so nice to actually be moving forward.
[54:32] It's a breath of fresh air, and I will leave with that.
[54:37] Okay.
[54:38] Yesterday we had our first meeting of the ad hoc committee.
[54:41] Two representatives, myself and Council Member McDermott, met with Tony Ayren and
[54:47] Grant Carmona. Those are both county supervisors, including the president of the
[54:52] county board supervisors, along with the chief administrative officer for the
[54:57] county. That's Scott DeMoss. I'm going to tell you that it went exactly like we had
[55:02] hoped it would. We acknowledged that we're neighbors. We have common cause.
[55:08] We're public servants, and we're here for the people.
[55:11] And so this tax agreement largely got out of hand, but I think only because we
[55:17] didn't get together and talk like neighbors with common cause who care about the
[55:22] citizens of the county and cities that we serve.
[55:26] So I think that the results of this going forward, it will be ultimately the
[55:31] council's full participation that will matter.
[55:34] But I think we set the tone on both sides, and I think we are going to work through
[55:39] this. And the results of this, and I fully expect, will be good for all.
[55:45] So we have to participate. That's all I have to report.
[55:50] Okay. Very good. Again, I do believe this is First Friday, so the arts commission
[55:56] usually has the gallery open on First Friday.
[55:59] So if there's anyone out there that wants to go, I really like believing in the
[56:02] Rosendale Art Gallery right now. It's a fabulous direction.
[56:08] No, we call only report tonight, and thank you folks for coming.
[56:12] It's been a lovely meeting. Thank you.