[7:21] All right. Good evening everyone. Good evening. Or early evening or good afternoon, you guys. All bearing the heat. You guys feel like you’re in Florida right now? Yeah. Ooh. All right, guys, we’re gonna go ahead and call to order our September 8th meeting. It’s about about 602.

[7:40] We’ll start off this meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance held but done by Rosemarie Vasquez from to the big sister cities, followed by the invocation done by Pastor Grady Jones of New Commandment. Missionary Baptist Church. Everybody could please stand. Good evening. Mayor, council members and members of the public, thank you for this opportunity to join you tonight in leading the Pledge of Allegiance.

[8:02] At this time, please stand. Place your right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing. Let us pray.

[8:32] You turn to God our father and make him creators to come before your presence. Once again, we thank you for the state. Best to see. As always, to give you glory and praise for just letting it live another day.

[8:43] We praise you for the things you’ve done for our lives, our city, for this council who works so hard to keep this city going forward for the right way. Pray for the divine guidance. Father God, help us all to understand how blessed we are to live in a city where people are concerned about their constituents. We glory. Honor your name, father, for all the things we pray for our world.

[8:56] Father God, there’s so much turmoil and turbulence in the world right now. Ask you to please step in and calm the storms in this life. Father God, we know that you’re able to do it.

[9:08] And when the white House, down to the level of a government father, heal this land, heal this nation, bless those less fortunate, we are going to give all the praise and glory for this council. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much, Rosemary and Pastor Grady Jones. Appreciate you guys being with us tonight. All right. We’ll go ahead and take a roll call of council members, please. Councilmember Aguayo Council member Delgadillo.

[9:28] Council member Lemons here. Vice mayor Cuellar Stallings. Mayor Olmos here. Can I get a motion to excuse Council member Isabel Aguayo. So moved. Motion second. Can I get a roll call, please? Council member Delgadillo. Yes. Councilmember Lemons. Yes. Vice mayor Cuellar Stallings. Mayor. Olmos. Yes. All right.

[9:49] Before we begin our agenda tonight, we definitely have some recognitions that we want to be presenting. But I think what we’re going to do first is we have some quick videos. We had our back to school event that took place. That was a great event. And I think we also have a safe walking class video that we want to show.

[10:04] So we will go ahead and run those videos. Out goes back to school on August 5th and sixth, the City of Paramount Public Safety team, in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, posted three back to school safe walking classes for cUSD students and their families.

[10:37] Residents joined deputies there for a guided walk, noting important pedestrian and personal safety tips to help students start the new school year. Prepared, confident and safe. Our public works team also helped get our crosswalks and sidewalks safe and ready for the new school year.

[10:57] On August 8th, the city hosted its sixth annual Back to School event, providing students from transitional kindergarten through eighth grade with backpacks, school supplies, clothing, and even fresh haircuts. Thanks to the generosity of our community donors, 500 students are supported each year through this event, helping local families start the school year ready to learn and succeed. See you next time! Paramount. Thank you.

[11:29] We’re gratitude for all the sponsors that help again, 500 kids. I think there was more than 500 kids, to be honest. But it was a good crowd. Nice environment. I think the kids even got ice cream. I mean, you can’t go wrong with ice cream. So. All right, my colleagues, if you can join me down, I think we have a couple of presentations to do.

[11:59] To turn it up away. All right. What? Rosemarie Vasquez, please come back up. I’m going to introduce Rosemary. Rosemary is a treasure of the the big Sister Cities club here in Paramount. We invited her to the pledge in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month.

[12:26] Many of you might not know, but paramount the beach. Mexico has been sister city since 1963. Tonight we’re celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15th through October 15th. This is a wonderful time to celebrate the culture, traditions, and many contributions of Hispanic Americans. And we’ve already started celebrating. Last week we held a great celebration.

[12:47] Um, it was called Fiestas Parties. At Friday night. Paramount. Here’s a quick clip so you guys can see how the evening went. Great event. I think we were a little nervous because it was a holiday three day.

[13:43] We were not sure how Friday attendance was going to be, but as you can see, it was well attended. The mariachi was amazing, good vibe, so great. Uh, great teamwork to that. Parks and Rec and public works for having everything out there for us. Great event. So Rosemary, again, thank you for joining us. Would you like to share anything about the big Sister Cities and any words that you’d like to share? Uh.

[14:00] Back in 63. Yes. Or haven’t been part of it that long? I’ve been probably about ten years. Um, the biggest thing that we do now is help. Help the city of Paramount host their Nino in March. Um, just before Easter, which is a, uh, a great event attended by.

[14:19] I think we gave out over 500 Easter baskets this last year. 5 or 600. I think that that we did. So, um, we meet once a month. We haven’t done it for a while, but we’re going to start meeting again once a month, and we’ll put it out on social media and invite you. Yes, please. Thank you.

[14:36] Well, thank you for being with us again. We want to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, and we appreciate the big sister cities. So we’ll take a photo. All right. Right up in here. There you go. And then if I can have. Little cup. Yeah.

[14:58] If we can scoot in. Let’s go over there. At least two and two. If you don’t mind. Two and two. We gotta make it even. Even. All right. Thanks. One, two and thank you. Thank you for. All right. We’ll Linda Timmons from the Red cross. Please join us.

[15:48] So September is national preparedness Month, and it’s a great reminder to ask ourselves one simple question. Are we ready? We all hope we never have to use our emergency plans. But if an earthquake, fire, or other emergency happens, it’s much better to be ready than to be scrambling.

[16:05] We’re proud to work with the Red cross and our many other preparedness partners, which help cities across the region prepare for respond to emergencies. Doctor Timmons here helps us stay sheltered and ready. And speaking of being ready, we have a great event coming up on Saturday, September 26th from 10 a.m. to 10 a.m. to one.

[16:25] We’re hosting our public Safety and Disaster Preparedness Expo at Paramount Sheriff Station. It’s free, family friendly, and packed with hands on demonstrations, helpful resources and tips from our public safety partners. So come out, learn something new and get family prepared. Because when it comes to emergencies, being prepared is always a good idea.

[16:43] So, Doctor Timmons, would you like to say a few words about the American Red cross? Thank you. I’m torn. I need it higher. Thank you. Good evening to our mayor. Members of our city council, staff, friends and members of the City of Paramount.

[17:10] This is truly an honor to stand before you today to accept the proclamation on behalf of the American Red cross, and not only for myself, but for the many volunteers, the donors, the individuals who make the mission of the American Red cross possible. September is National Preparedness Month. September makes both National Preparedness Month and an action and an active push by the Red cross to urge all eligible donors to give blood, if possible.

[17:38] It’s so important to stabilize the national blood supply following recent seasonal shortages and Red cross, so we’re urging all who can to please give blood. Red cross is also actively, as our mayor said, actively sharing low cost and low cost ways for households and businesses to make sure that your Red cross ready, make sure that you have a package ready at your home

[17:58] because as you can see, disasters are all around us and it’s just inevitable that it’s coming to us sooner than later. Red Cross Month is a time to recognize an organization that’s there when people need help the most. During disasters, emergencies, fires, floods, hurricanes, and other moments when lives can change in an instant.

[18:22] I personally experienced Red cross years ago because my parents lost their home in a fire and they lost all their belongings. Red cross was there to take care of them, but also I’ve had an opportunity to work with Red cross in the last, oh, not so many years, but but with the Red cross, I’ve had an

[18:42] opportunity to go to, um, to help with the Katrina disaster and also to go to Haiti when the earthquake, um, happened. So I’m just asking that each and every one of you take the opportunity if you can help somebody in your neighborhood learn about what you can do to save your family, to save those

[19:00] around you, and also just to prepare yourself because you never know. Things happen in a flash. So thank you, Paramount, for recognizing this opportunity and recognize or recognizing me for this opportunity and for recognizing National Red Cross Month. Thank you. Thank you. For. Thank you so much. Thank you.

[19:45] All right. We have concluded our presentations. We will go ahead and start our business portion of the meeting. Hi. All right. Um, John, do we have any city council public comment updates? Uh, we do have one in person. And looking at our city clerk, do we have any, um. She was asking for updates.

[20:28] Oh. No updates. I’m sorry, Madam Mayor. I thought you would jump to public comments, but no updates. So would you like to move to public comments? We’re moving to public comment. All right. Excellent. We do have one in person. Uh, Madam City Clerk, anything online or anything? Nope.

[20:44] No, there have been none submitted via email and no hands are raised in zoom. Great. Thank you, Madam City Clerk. Now we’ll move on to the in, um, in person public comment. Um, our librarian, Andrea Crowe, would like to discuss some library programs. Come on up, Andrea. Hi. And good evening, mayor Olmos. Vice mayor Cuellar Stallings, council members and residents of Paramount.

[21:09] Paramount library has three upcoming programs to share. Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 9th from 6 to 7 p.m. children ages 5 to 12 are invited to join us for back to school mini tote bags.

[21:25] Participants will learn about helpful resources that the library offers and decorate a mini tote bag to match their own style. On Friday, September 11th, from 11 to 11:30 a.m.. Bring the little ones to Smarty Pants. Storytime children and caregivers will enjoy books, songs, rhymes, and movement while building school readiness skills.

[21:48] This program is for ages 2 to 5 with their parent or caregiver, and on Tuesday, September 15th, Paramount Library begins a four week session of Rainbow Parenting and Family Programs, which strive to build community and create a safe space for LGBTQ plus families in the library. It’s a chance to meet other local families, share experiences, and inspire and encourage each other. The first session, Rainbow Parenting Storytime, will be held at 1 p.m.

[22:07] and features a special LGBTQ plus themed storytime. All families with kids ages 0 to 5 are welcome to participate. Thank you. Thank you, thank you for the updates. All right. We’re going to move on to Consent Calendar. These are items three through 12. If I can get a motion and a second please. Second.

[22:25] All right. We have a motion and a second. Can we get roll call on that please. Council member Delgadillo. Yes. Councilmember Lemons. Vice mayor Cuellar Stallings. Mayor Olmos. Yes. The motion carries. So much. All right. We’re going to move on to new business. Item number 13 is actually a presentation update on Rancho Los Cerritos historical site.

[22:44] Yes. Thank you, Madam Mayor. To get display ideas and preparation for our first city museum staff recently visited the Rancho Los Cerritos Historical site in Long Beach, and we came away very impressed.

[23:06] Uh, the the land that Paramount sits on right now is once part of the original Rancho Los Cerritos, and as such, we feel that there’s a strong historical bond or connection between our city and the organization that continues to run the the rancho today. During our visit to Rancho La Cerritos, we agreed to stay in contact with one another. Um, and to build this relationship even stronger.

[23:30] So it works well with our recent emphasis on the city’s heritage, the paramount Historical Society formation a few years ago. So there’s a lot of, uh, nexus there. So tonight, there are two members from the rancho who are with us to that would like to give us an update. Um, so now I’ll ask, uh, Mr.

[23:51] Pat West, vice chair of the board at Rancho, and Rene Salvador, director of development, to come on up. Thank you, John, for that presentation. Um, so when I separated from Long Beach, I immediately got snapped up to join the board at Rancho Los Cerritos, um, which is a jewel of the area. So I’ve been the chair.

[24:16] I’m the vice chair right now. I’ve been working with Rene the whole time there as our community development director, and we’re so, um, happy that John, Mr. Moreno took the time to bring some people out to the rancho, especially now that you’re considering a library and all that.

[24:30] So it’s just it’s just really cool. So one of the things about the rancho, it’s not the biggest property in the world, but imagine, you know, you’re you have something right in your backyard that’s comparable to the Arboretum or the Huntington Library or Descanso Gardens. So there’s gardens, there’s beautiful things there, and it represents a lot of stuff.

[24:50] And Paramount used to be holy, um, inside the entire three, I think 300,000 acres that made up the Rancho, um, way back then. Wow. Um, right now, Rancho Los Cerritos is known as one of the few authentic remnants of California’s cattle ranching area. However, most people may not know that the rancho is also an archaeological site.

[25:11] Rancho Los Cerritos has been the location of several excavations that have uncovered artifacts dating as far back as 5000 BC, so you have a regional legacy here. It’s 300,000 acres. At one point in time, it encompassed all 100% of paramount. Many parts of Long Beach, Signal Hill, Downey, Lakewood, and Bellflower.

[25:32] So more than likely, we’ll probably probably get on those city’s radar screens too shortly to make sure that they recognize that, um, the Rancho is all of your property. It’s it’s all all these. The rancho belongs to all of these cities. And we just want to make you aware of that.

[25:46] And again, we’re so happy that, um, to to see what you guys will be doing with the, um, the museum. So right now you have tours of the historic home and the gardens. There’s monthly bird walks, there’s storytime programs for children, bilingual, and they’re free.

[26:05] There’s city nature challenges where you can go find critters out there for the kids holiday open house. There’s beautifully maintained gardens. Um, they have a famous Morton Bay fig tree that can rival our own Paramount’s hay tree. There’s over 200 active volunteers. There’s seasonal exhibits, um, festivals, film screenings, artists workshops.

[26:33] Um, this past year we hosted 5,004th graders, um, and most have been met by docent volunteers dressed in period pieces representing the 1800s or early 1900s. And they interact with the kids, too. So there’s just a rich history, and I’m going to turn it over to Renee right now. You guys each have, um, the impact report from the board. And also like a children’s book of Adelante. Thank you for having us here.

[26:52] Can everybody hear me? Yeah. Okay. So I am home today. I am third generation Paramount. My grandmother was born here in Paramount. Until the day that she passed away, half a block from where she was born. So we’ve been here a long, long time.

[27:09] My mom graduated Paramount High and I went through school here, too, with your mayor. Um, so I’m delighted to be here. And I know what struck me when I went to work at Rancho Los Cerritos a little over three years ago, was that it truly is home for all of us. For every one of your citizens.

[27:26] As Pat said, uh, the Rancho Paramount was once part of rancho lands, and Rancho Los Cerritos encompassed 300,000 acres as a land grant from the King of Spain. It got a little bit smaller, um, 27,000 acres. Then was what was given to Manuel Nieto’s daughter, Manuela. And those are now the cities of, as Pat mentioned, Long Beach, Signal Hill, Paramount, Lakewood, Downey and Southgate.

[27:47] And the special thing about Paramount and the connection there is that of all the cities, parts of those cities were in the Rancho Los Cerritos area, but the city of Paramount was fully in rancho lands. So that really is home. And it’s a wonderful opportunity for your your citizens to come and to see what we have to offer.

[28:03] Everything that’s done there pretty much is free. So we have a department there, the development department that works very hard to fund all of those things so they can come out to our storytimes, our storytime bilingual, which is also once a month.

[28:18] We have an award winning fourth grade field trip that I met with Diane Martinez recently so that she could present that to the school board, because, again, it’s all free. We served almost 5000 students in the last school year. It’s fourth grade. It aligns with fourth grade curriculum and just won awards. It’s called Adelante. The people of Rancho Los Cerritos.

[28:35] And it’s wonderful because kids come and they’re with, uh, costume docents who come back, uh, to present day from back in time. And it’s just a wonderful program. So that workbook that Pat pointed out, Adelante. This is also provided to each and every one of the kids that comes to visit.

[28:52] If the teacher requests it again at no charge. So the only fee that that schools have to pay for kids to come out is the transportation. But we even cover that. So if the, the, um, school district or the school, uh, submits title one, proof of title one, we will even reimburse the busing.

[29:12] So it’s really just opportunity on top of opportunity for small kids, for adults. We’ve got our bird walk, which is which is amazing. Our horticulturist leads that. You learn more about the flora, the fauna, the animals. And it’s just a wonderful place to go and to exhale. So it’s open every day.

[29:27] But Monday and Tuesday and even on Monday and Tuesday, you can still go walk around the grounds. Although it was once many, many, many acres, now it’s 4.7 acres, but it’s adjacent to the Virginia Country Club.

[29:43] It’s in the Bixby Knolls area of Long Beach, and you can go just take a walk and exhale. And the peace that you find there really is something that can’t be found in too many places in Southern California anymore. This is your backyard. This is home for you. So please, please warm welcome.

[29:57] I have a whole history lesson to give you, but I won’t take you into that. Um, just really want to reiterate that you are all warmly welcomed. Come on over. Whether you just take a walk, whether you go with a docent who leads the tour, they’re costumed, they’re not costumed. You can do a self led tour.

[30:13] You can visit our Adobe home, which is 182 years old this year. So yeah, a lot of really cool things, and we’d love for you to take advantage of. It. Thank you. Okay. Thank you so much. So, so before you go, Renee, we might have questions for you and Pat.

[30:28] So so John, you’re always one step ahead of us on this. So what’s the project? So are we going to be like maybe marketing this or how would we get this out to the community. Yeah. We’d like to include some information at our museums. So any visitor that comes to our museum, they would get intrigued.

[30:44] Like, where did this start? So we would direct them to, uh, a Rancho La Cerritos. If the Rancho Los Cerritos has any events that are coming up, we’d like to publicize that on our museum. And also on our social media channels. We would like to build that partnership. So anything that they have going on, we’d like to publicize that as well.

[31:03] So and right now to piggyback to when you guys came out to visit, one of the things that you really loved was our current exhibition. And that’s one of the things where you’re taking the panels and the ideas.

[31:17] We got to meet Yesenia and John, both, uh, and right now there’s an exhibition up for a couple more months. It’ll be taken down at the end of the year. And it is called Seeds of Resilience. Audio Americano. And it tells the story of Chicanos back in the early 1900s. It’s our story. It’s interesting. Uh, it’s a small space. We do a lot with it.

[31:34] And against that exhibition is also free, so we’re happy to put that up. We have the impact report that we gave to you. This is a 16 page report that we put together each year, but we have it fully electronically.

[31:48] So almost that might be something that you can link somewhere so that people can have easy access to this report. It gives them all the information they need to know. So I’m also thinking ahead to with historical society. I mean, I’m just like my mind is just going right now. So my last question is, if I complete this book to get certified so I could be a historian.

[32:02] You can and we can take a picture and maybe put that side by side. I would. Like that. One of your childhood pictures that I have an abundance of. If anyone would like to see. Okay. I know if my colleagues have any questions. I do. Um.

[32:18] How often do you have like holiday events? Do you have like a. Christmas event? I would love to attend. We do. We’d love you to attend. Diana actually came out to once, maybe two years ago. Anyway, we have a holiday open house and we decorate early in December. And the rancho stays decorated for the entire month. It’s a beautiful time to visit our holiday.

[32:36] Open house is free. We offer usually light refreshments during that time, and then we normally also have a smaller donor event. And if you’d like to come, we’d make sure to put you all on that list and have you come out and enjoy the rancho with us as well. Our decorations. Um, don’t hold a candle to yours. Yeah.

[32:53] Don’t expect that. I’ve seen it. Yeah, but it’s beautiful. It’s a really beautiful. And we try to stay within, um, the historical integrity of it. So we don’t do anything too dazzling. We really try to stay back into a lot of what we show is from the 1930s, when the Bixby’s were the landowners. Yes.

[33:09] And how long is it. usually the the tour, I guess.. You know, it. It just varies. We have such wonderful docents. They kind of try to get an idea of what you’re looking for, so they can do it in as little as maybe even 45 minutes.

[33:25] Just if you tell them I don’t have a lot of time, here’s what I have. Here’s what I’d like to see. Or they can go much longer.

[33:35] If you have a group of people that you’d like to come, we’d be happy to reserve that for you and have somebody walk around with you and show you a lot of we have a lot of things going on as well.

[33:46] About 80% of the historic Adobe home is open to the public, but there are areas that aren’t that we’d love to show you kind of in advance and just let you see what’s going on. The goal is eventually to have 100% of the Adobe open to the public. And, um, there’s not another Adobe in California that currently does that, so we’re working hard to get there. And one last question.

[34:01] Are you able to accommodate a disabled people, like with the wheelchair? We are. Yep. That’s another thing. And one of our commitments to accessibility. So yes absolutely okay. Thank you. You’re welcome. You’ll be seeing me soon. Thank you. Any other questions. All right. Well thank you guys for coming out. Great information. We appreciate you guys. Thank you. Thank you. All right.

[34:24] Moving on to item number 14 which is approval of a lease agreement with Paramount City Investors LLC for community room staff. Report on. That, please. Yes, madam Mayor, we’re getting closer to our goal of having our very first city museum that will celebrate the city’s heritage.

[34:43] So this next item is a lease agreement with the owners of the 100 year old former Western consumers, former Ted Moser, former Paramount building. Uh, as you know, the building will soon be called the Hay Tree Public Market. So this lease agreement before you, it covers not only the museum, but a very cool community meeting room.

[35:01] And with that, I’ll turn it over to our assistant city manager, Miss Krystle Chavez, to cover the highlights of our lease agreement. Giselle. Thank you. John. Good evening, mayor and members of the city council.

[35:24] So this lease agreement implements commitments made under the June 2023 Disposition and Development Agreement with Paramount and city Investors, or PCI, for the redevelopment of the store building. This was back in June 2023. City Council. In addition to approving the DDA of, also approved the city contribution, financial contribution of $2,063,000 for that saw building property.

[35:51] In order to help enable construction of the Hay Tree Public Market and grant the city rights to a designated space within that completed project, and the planned uses. Uses as a council’s Aware, including museum, the community meeting room and adjoining patio. These would create new public programming while advancing the revitalization of the Paramount Boulevard corridor and also the civic identity centered around the hay tree.

[36:13] And here’s a rendering council may have seen remember seen before the museum on the top left is just one a concept schematic, and the other to show the community room from different views. And what’s not shown would be the adjoining patio on the west side. These would all be exclusive city use spaces only.

[36:34] And some of the key terms of the lease regarding the the scope and uses. Of course, formalizing the city’s long term occupancy. Of the approximately 4000 rentable square feet within the total 12,000 square foot market building area, which again includes an exclusive use of that west side patio and the.

[36:58] The uses, including the City Museum, the meeting room for staff, as well as meetings with the public. Create those compatible community activities within a retail commercial environment.

[37:25] In terms of key lease terms, the the initial term of the occupancy would be for 20 years, with the option to extend for two additional five year extensions, making it a total 30 year period. And during the initial term, as well as the extension, so for a total of up to 30 years, the city would not pay any rent.

[37:45] And so this rent free occupancy is being provided and consideration of the city’s DDA contribution provided back in 2023 and also in consideration of an easement conveyed to the owner, which will be part of the next item. I’ll be discussing for the patio deck construction and the maintenance that would serve the market operations, as well as some city shared use. So again, more on that in the next item. Um, there. Are there are also. Myself.

[38:07] Uh uh, building operation costs, maintenance costs that the city would have to pay along with taxes. Those would begin at year 21, uh, of our occupancy there, and the city would be required to pay roughly 33% of its share, because that aligns with the total square footage we would be occupying.

[38:31] Uh, this includes, you know, maintenance of the common areas that we would have non exclusive use, uh, for, you know, there’s large public restrooms that are being, uh, provided by the owner. We’d have to help pay our share for those other non-exclusive uses throughout.

[38:51] And also included in the lease agreement is a provision that would require PCI, as the owner, to pay for their proportionate share of the maintenance for the city owned parking lot, as is specified. And long term benefits of this agreement is that it secures a prominent, long term, rent free public space that anchors the museum and the community meeting space.

[39:18] Uh delivers the strategic the city city presence within a major redevelopment effort supporting economic revitalization along Paramount Boulevard, as well as protecting the city’s investment and ensuring predictable, community serving access. Uh, we are anticipating that the city would begin constructing its portion of the tenant improvements.

[39:43] You know, the actually building the museum, the community room next month with the goal of opening in early 2027. Uh, so, again, in terms of fiscal impact, the city would not have any obligation to pay any rent for a total of up to 30 years.

[40:08] The city would be responsible for funding the construction of the interior improvement, as is being planned for, as well as operations of our own internal space. Any programming needs related cost to that are all on the city’s expense.

[40:29] Uh, the shared building maintenance costs and taxes would only begin at year 21, and there is funding for the tenant improvement portion of it, the construction portion where we will be building the museum space that’s included in this current fiscal year budget. And so, as staff’s recommendation is City Council approved the lease agreement with between the city and paramount city investors and authorize the city manager to make non-monetary edits to the lease agreement and authorize the city manager to execute the lease and related documents. And that concludes my report.

[40:53] I’m available to answer any questions. All right. Before we get into questions from my colleagues, do we have any online comments or written comments? City clerk. No, Madam Mayor, there are no online comments. All right, all right. We’ll go to my colleagues. Do we have any questions. for Roselle at. This time? I have one question, Madam Mayor.

[41:10] Absolutely. Um, you went by the part about PCI and, um, their, uh, maintenance or cost for the parking lot, because that was the question I was actually going to ask because I saw our information about what we have to start paying in 21. So could you go over that? It just went so quickly.

[41:31] I don’t know what they’re responsible for. Just maintenance of the parking lot. Yes. So PCI would pay for their proportionate share of the city parking lot in terms of maintenance costs, the landscape maintenance, any staff time, utility bills they would pay, their proportionate share of uh for because their tenants would be allowed to use that parking lot.

[41:54] So we would also just like we’re paying our proportionate share for the maintenance of that entire building site. You know, the free public market, we’re asking them, and they’ve agreed to pay for their proportionate share of using the new parking lot spaces. Well, ours was 33%.

[42:12] What is theirs? Um, so. it’s only for the parking lot. I think it ends up being roughly 40% of the parking lot total. That spaces that they would be using. So that’s. How we. Ensure the maintenance of the parking lot. Are there any. Because it’s a property that we own.

[42:32] Are there any taxes involved at that with that at all. Like you know, do we get taxed because they assess the size of your property just how like they’re assessing US taxes. There’s no tax assessment with the parking lot. The city property. The city does not pay property tax. So there would be no taxes we could pass on to them.

[42:51] Okay. That’s a thank you. Thank you. All right. If there’s no more questions, I’ll entertain a motion. I’ll move second. All right. We have a motion and a second. Can I get a roll call, please? Councilmember Delgadillo. Yes, Councilmember Lemons. Yes. Vice mayor Cuellar Stallings. Yes. Mayor Olmos. Yes. Motion passes. All right, you.

[43:10] guys., moving on to item number 15, which is an approval agreement for easements, joint use and use of restrictions between the City of Paramount and Paramount city investors. Yes. Thank you, Madam Mayor. This next item is related to the previous item.

[43:30] It really shows a true public private partnership with our lease agreement of the museum and community room space. We have a request from the owners of the free public market to use a portion of our property, which is right next door to theirs. Uh, the owners would like to use our portion of our land for a dining patio.

[43:48] Um, so we are more than willing to partner with them for this use, as this will bring an overall overall synergy to to the land that will someday include traditional park like amenities. So with that, I’ll turn it back over to our assistant city manager, Miss Krystle Chavez, who will walk you through the item for sale.

[44:07] Thank you. John. As background, last year on October 28th, the city council had approved a covenant and latte agreement related to the shared property line between the city’s hatchery property and the former store building or, you know, home of the free public market.

[44:30] Uh, this is the property line along the northern, uh, building wall, which is touches our hay tree parcel. Okay. So after additional staff review and coordination with that building property owner, we determined that a more comprehensive instrument would be appropriate. And the proposed agreement before you would replace that covenant and a better captures the construction details.

[44:55] Joint use requirements, operational controls and needed flexibility for both the city’s museum and community space. And the building’s commercial and restaurant operations. Okay, in terms of construction and code requirements and obligations in the, uh, proposed agreement here, the agreement with would authorize the Sor building owner to construct, maintain and operate approximately 410ft of patio and deck

[45:25] improvements on that portion of the city parcel. So at the northern, uh, property right adjacent to their building wall, uh, if you see, you know, go in front, you could you could see the area currently being built on and, uh, you would see the, uh, glass doors and windows openings being

[45:42] built. So that’s the wall in question here. And that shared property line. So those improvements may, would, will include hardscape planters, railings, lighting, drainage, shade structures and movable furniture.

[46:03] So all the costs of that, uh, patio and deck, the construction, utilities, maintenance and any removal are being done at that property owner sole expense. And the doorways and window, the doorway and window openings that you see along that northerly wall are in the process of being added. This would enable the circulation between the interior of the public market, the community room, the museum allow access to come and go, uh, to enjoy that shared patio.

[46:25] And uh, the openings are openings are limited in wall area to comply with the building code. So the agreement also includes utility easements to serve the patio on deck for any utilities needed water, sewage, electrical, storm drainage, etc. and the owner again is responsible for securing the permits and covering any other associated costs. This is a rendering.

[46:50] Uh, again, may look familiar to Council of what the, uh, public public market shared patio deck would look like again along that northerly building wall to the right of the pictures. Our hatred.

[47:15] And in order to balance predictable scheduling for the city’s use and access of that patio deck area, the agreement does establish clear provisions on the shared use. Um, the city would retain designated city reserve dates each month for our exclusive use in holding public events such as art nights, movie nights, performances, education, educational programs, etc. the city would provide at least 14 days notice to the owner, and we would provide.

[47:38] We would have priority on those dates unless there’s a conflict with an already pre scheduled owner event and the owner would also submit a monthly special event schedule to the city to aid in coordination, and also to allow them to have exclusive use of the patio to support their restaurant dining operations.

[47:58] So again, it’s a shared use that has to be done closely coordinated. Uh, for example, if a city special event would arise on a day that the owners already planning to use the patio, the city could request the owner to accommodate the change, or we’d have to choose another date.

[48:16] But it is something that is very clearly outlined on how the shared use of the space has to be coordinated. So this framework in the agreement would ensure predictable scheduling to minimize conflicts and guarantee that public access for the city’s community oriented programs, while also supporting the restaurant’s own outdoor dining needs.

[48:42] Um, so in terms of fiscal impact, as discussed, the owner is solely responsible for all costs associated with the construction, utility, installation, maintenance, and installation of the patio and deck improvements, as well as the installation of the doorway, the window and any any removal that may be required later.

[49:06] And you know, this, uh, agreement would, uh, activate, help activate the area adjacent to the hay tree. Uh, parcel and the city museum community space, while also supporting restaurant liability. And if approved that this evening, the owner would proceed to submit plans for the patio deck and utility work for city review and build to the code.

[49:31] And the city would establish the beginning, establishing a shared use coordination process with the owner for that shared use of the patio and the deck, and finally, staff would rescind the previous covenant agreement that was approved back in October.

[49:58] And staff recommends City Council approval to rescind that covenant agreement and approve the proposed agreement for easements, joint use and use restrictions with paramount city investors for the construction and shared use and operation of the building. Patio and deck deck area. And that concludes my presentation. I’m available to answer any questions. Thank you. All right. Thank you so much, Crystal. So City Clerk, do we have any comments first online or written. Comments. Neither online nor written or email.

[50:19] Thank you. All right colleagues, do we have questions? I have one. So I’m curious. So what the owner like, does he have to get permits to have events there with us, or is he able to do any type of event he. Wants? Okay, what are we going to monitor that or just curious? Um.

[50:39] I guess it depends on the type of event is certain. Uh, if they’re required through existing zoning or planning rules and requirements. But if it’s just I’m using the deck for dining, and I want to have my whole month be just used for the, uh, planned dining operation.

[51:00] That’s a permitted use that’s allowed in the agreement. But if they wanted to bring out, say, live entertainment or something like that, that still follows the city’s. Rules. Um, if that answers the question. Yeah. I’m just saying we’d be partnering. I mean, in a sense of, like, you would let us know, we would let him know and.

[51:18] Okay. Yeah. Are you guys. I’ll entertain a motion and a second. Move second. Get a second. Yes. We have a motion is a little second from the video. Okay. We’ll take a roll call, please. Council member Delgadillo. Yes. Councilmember Lemons. Yes. Vice mayor Cuellar Stallings. Yes. Mayor Olmos. Yes. And we’ll let the record reflect that.

[51:44] Councilmember Aguayo entered the room. Like to vote on this item, madam. I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that. Last part of. It. So we’ll note she abstained. Yes. You’re abstaining? Yes. Thank you. All right. That completes our agenda for tonight. Um, there is no environmental at this time.

[52:07] I know we have a closed session, but we’re going to go ahead and go into, uh, comments or committee reports from our my council colleagues. Um, you just got here. Do you want to start? All right. Go with Councilmember Aguayo.

[52:26] So we actually had some really great discussion at our ad hoc committee, um, meeting with our, our colleagues on the school board. Um, we did talk about the crossing guard issues, um, just safety issues at the schools that we know just every school year we have the same ones. So there’s a few things that that we noticed, um, timers on some of the lights.

[52:43] Um, so, um, that’s something that’s being worked on because the high, the high school is, is kind of right now where we were, we were looking at. So we talked about that. Um, we also talked about the, the walking to school safety class, and we talked about how it has grown.

[53:01] And we suggested that, um, we get input from the school district to see what schools they think, maybe so we can kind of do it on a rotation. So it’s not always at the same site, because Lincoln has kind of been where it started.

[53:16] And but just so that we can maybe go to other school sites just either throughout the year, at the beginning of the school year, um, there’s so many schools that it I mean, it seems like it would be really a difficult task to do every school, but if they’re kind of on a rotation. So it’s something that we’re looking at.

[53:36] Um, and also that we’re going to help our colleagues on the, at the school district with notices about the construction that’s coming in that area. You know, so the high school is going to have a lot of work done so that residents aren’t wondering what’s going on or if traffic is impacted, that you know, that we’re all partners in this.

[53:51] And, you know, so it builds a sense of pride between, you know, just the residents of the community with all that work that’s going to be done at the high. School. That’s all I have. All right. Went on to Councilmember Delgadillo. You okay? Yeah. All right. I’m surviving. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um.

[54:11] I will mention a brief synopsis of the events that I attended, um, with my colleagues. First of all, commissioners barbecue was fantastic, and we had a great time. Commissioners were there, and they were so sweet and sincere, and each one really paid attention when we spoke about the importance of their job as being a commissioner. That was great.

[54:30] And then I finally learned how to play it. Yeah, I finally learned how to do it. And I like to know, are there any challengers now? Yeah. Hey, so then, um, I read the story.

[54:51] Lamar goes to school to our children at the Paramount Library for storytime with the council member, and that went well. And I attended our historical society 50s dance, and we had a great time. There was a good turnout. And, you know, we all danced our little feet away in the afternoon, had a good time, and finally I attended the California Contract City’s fall summit.

[55:13] And at the summit, it was mentioned that we are now in the start of the El Nino season approaching. And Sheriff Luna advised that all contract cities begin now preparing for El Nino. And this concludes my, report. Madam mayor. Thank you so much. All right. Councilmember Lemons. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

[55:40] I would just like to announce to the public, um, there has been some social media chatter regarding issues that are happening at Sciacca, which is the animal control agency that serves the city of Paramount. And I would like to ask that you please check out all information and not assume that everything that’s being posted is accurate.

[56:06] Um, the agency has been dealing with a large breakout of the parvovirus, which severely restricts the community’s ability to go in and view the animals for adoption. Um, this is for the safety of the animals. It’s. They have to be segregated, held in different areas. It’s an extremely contagious disease.

[56:33] Um, to put a fine point on that without mentioning names, the parvo outbreak that we’re undergoing right now, there was just a visitor to Sciacca with their animal, which happened to be an adorable little puppy, and everybody was petting it and loving on it and talking about how cute it was.

[56:57] And that visitor was the one carrying the parvovirus when they did the traceback that infiltrated the animals within Sciacca Care, because of course, everybody who loved and petted on that little puppy then went back to do little puppies to adopt themselves and spread the virus. So please be patient.

[57:16] Um, please know that all of the staff there are extremely invested in the animals that they care for, and it’s an extremely emotional time for them. Um, when animals have to be put down because of illness. Um, and it’s important to know, too, that Sciacca does have a 97%, um, live response to all intakes that they do.

[57:39] So 97% of the animals that we receive that are sick are injured or lost. Um, 97% of them are adopted or picked up by their owners. So please be patient. Know that the agency is run by people who have been there for many years and love and care for these animals, and wish nothing but the best for them. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Lemons. All right. Vice Mayor, you’re. Up. Oh.

[58:02] Well, um, I attended the Contract Cities conference in Oceanside was very informative and very hopeful. I really enjoy the topic about mental health. And and I I really enjoyed very informative information. Uh, Mayor Olmos, uh, the young lady that you invited to speak about mental health. And it was very important.

[58:29] I like the strategies you used and and the very important information, especially at these times of a lot of the things that are occurring. A lot of people are are suffering for mental health, but very informative and very helpful. I also attended the Friday night market. It was great.

[58:47] I came in a little bit late, but my dancing shoes were ready to dance, so I did it on the outside. So anyway, my daughter and my granddaughters were embarrassed. They were like, oh my God, here she goes again! But anyway.

[59:01] And I was looking for you, but I couldn’t find you, so you could be my dancing partner. That’s okay. Anyway. And then, um, just, um, it’s been a very warm three day weekend, and and, um, just let the residents know that, you know, our community center is open. You know, you can go and sit down and read a book and enjoy the air conditioning.

[59:27] Um, John, I think it’s till 7:00. Sir. I believe so. Seven is that six. 6 p.m.? But if you’re six. But then you can go home, put it on the fan. and and finish reading. Your book. But anyway, uh, that’s all I have to report. Madam Mayor. Thank you.

[59:43] All right. Of course. Right. I have a few items that I kind of want to go through. So I also attended the fall seminar, um, for Contract City.

[59:57] So a couple of the topics that I’m bringing home to us is, um, they talked about care and chaos, kind of like how they’re bringing out these mobile home units that are able to take care of, of residents. They were talking about the linear fire where patients were I’m talking about patients because I’m in health care, where residents were concerned about breathing.

[1:00:15] So they were explaining to us, and this is ultimate who actually, we have a clinic here, impairment of ultimate of how to be proactive versus reactive. And I know, Maggie, we’re really good about working with partners and stuff, but I’m not sure.

[1:00:32] Do we work with ultimate in a sense of kind of like collaboration of like some of our events that we have coming up when it comes to emergency preparedness? Madam mayor? Um, not to my knowledge, but it doesn’t mean that my staff hasn’t reached out. But I can definitely look into that. They’re open in a sense of they want to partner with communities again to bring that mobile unit out again, just do respiratory or whatever they can, but they want to collaborate.

[1:00:48] Very good. Well, make sure to reach out. Definitely. All right. Another big item. They talked about at the conference was measure G. I’m looking at John because this is like all over the place. Again that was approved by the voters back in November 5th of 2025.

[1:01:06] Um, they’re saying that this is going to be the biggest shift in Los Angeles County governance in more than a century. So what does measure G is going to do 2 or 3 things. It brought together an ethics committee in 2026. It’s going to elect a CEO in 2028 and expand the Board of Supervisors in 2032 from 5 to 9.

[1:01:26] So some of the items that were discussed was like, how is this going to affect our cities now? What’s going to happen? We, you know, have this great relationship with our Board of Supervisors, and now there’s going to be an elected CEO.

[1:01:40] So who do we call now? Who’s going to be our partner? Who is going to really take care of this? Is it the partnership with the Board of Supervisors, or is it going to be now with the CEO? And then they also informed us that the Board of Supervisors is going to focus on policy. We’re now the executive is going to oversee county operatives and operations.

[1:01:56] So I think the takeaway is like, okay, for as a city perspective, what do we focus on, right. Who what’s going to be our next step. So they kind of mentioned the three things that we should be looking for is who’s going to get elected to the CEO position. Because that’s going to mean a lot.

[1:02:13] Um, when this nine district board happens, when they do the drawings, we’re going to have a new supervisor, right? Possibly in our district. So that’s something to look for. And then also is measure G going to change county policy and funding. And how is that it affect our cities. So I think there’s a lot said with G.

[1:02:28] It’s in the process. I know a lot of things are being said, but um, John, I don’t know if you have any ideas in the sense of like, what else? The city we can do that’s going to be affecting us. But or did I hit.

[1:02:42] More than just to stay tuned in? And obviously take, uh, take some, uh, direction from California contract cities because, uh, the executive director there has been really involved. In fact, he’s on the committee. So, so he has a first hand knowledge, very informative. So stay on top of that. Yes, definitely. All right. And my last actually, council member Delgadillo mentioned about, um, El Nino.

[1:03:04] So today the sheriff did do a zoom call with about five individuals from the county. Um, it was very, actually very, very informative. Informative, which I didn’t know if. I’m not sure if you guys know that El Nino is not a storm, it’s actually a climate signal.

[1:03:19] Did you guys know that? I always thought of it as a storm. No, but they’re saying we should not say that it’s a storm. It’s a climate signal to prepare us.

[1:03:33] So they actually had the national watch service provider was there kind of informing cities, do we have an emergency proclamation? I believe we do. I think at one point we did adopt one. We it’s been a while, but I did. That was one of the takeaways I got to. As well. Emergency proclamation. Right. Okay.

[1:03:48] And they were saying that how we should actually bring our community together and residents to educate them on flood controls, insurance, um, inspections for homes. And if you were on the call, probably you heard all this as well. But how do we, as a city prepare our residents? Do I know we have emergency preparedness, but is flooding a part of our education and what the resident needs to. Do. It is Madam Mayor.

[1:04:06] Okay, perfect. I see you guys are way ahead of me. And there was my comment. Okay, um, finally my last message that I do want to shout out is actually shout out that I do want to share from myself and my colleagues, because I do want to take a moment to

[1:04:22] address a serious issue. Since the beginning of the school year, we have had five reported robberies involving students who had had gold necklaces stolen while walking to or from Fairmont High School. These acts are unacceptable and understandably scary. Our students should not be afraid to go to school.

[1:04:40] The city is working closely with the sheriff’s department and school districts to address this concern. Together, we’ve come up with a safety strategy and increased share of patrols before and after school and at Paramount High School, we’ve also developed deployed law enforcement to investigate and catch those responsible.

[1:04:57] Sadly, this is a reminder that we all need to be more cautious and protect ourselves. We’ll be sharing theft prevention tips with students and families through flyers and our social media. Soon, students look out for each other and stay alert. Parents, please talk to your students about personal safety because those precautions make a difference.

[1:05:14] These robberies have become a regional issue that our law enforcement agencies are working to address. We will continue working with L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and our school district to monitor our community and take swift action to keep our students safe. We take this responsibility, responsibility very seriously, and we will not let these crimes stand.

[1:05:30] So again, I just wanted to share that on behalf of our colleagues. We do notice a lot of stuff on social media, but we want to know that we are aware and we are working towards helping educate the students. Um, there was actually a video that came out as well, right.

[1:05:45] Can you talk a little bit about that video? Yes, of course, Madam Mayor, if I may, I will actually, uh, like to invite Sergeant Meza. Um, he and the, um, school resource deputy put that video together, and he can share a little bit more of just preventative tips to ensure that our students are safe to and from school. No, the other way. Yeah. Light on.

[1:06:20] There we go. To members of the public. We did do a video, and I think it was very informative because we were aware of these incidents that have been happening, and we want to make sure that the students, the staff and the parents know that we are here

[1:06:35] to protect them and help in any way. So these tips that were put on social media, I think they’ve had major traction with shares, views and following in regards to what to do and what not to do.

[1:06:52] And one of the most important things is making sure that the kids aren’t walking around school campus with flashy jewelry, because that’s what’s attracting criminals. They’re pretty much showing up to kids who are outside the school campus, who are wearing expensive jewelry. So that’s kind of been the method. Um, and we want to prevent that.

[1:07:07] And I think that video has been helping out a lot, but we want to make sure that the parents are are letting their kids know not to go to school with with these items. Perfect. Thank you so much. Are we.. Is that on? It’s on all social media. So it’s on Twitter. Am I saying that old. School I. Believe it’s it’s called X.. Now through various social media platforms.

[1:07:25] Facebook X Instagram. And I think also the um, the city’s social media pages are working on a, on a pamphlet for educational so we can share it in and distribute. Is this.

[1:07:40] school sharing it to you like on their social media? Do we know? Um, I have not confirmed whether or not they have accepted the collaboration between the video that was generated, but we are currently, um, finalizing again, just more as a public service announcement. Um, something that can be sent through the school district to all parents via Schoology.

[1:08:05] Um, and it’s again, just great tips to ensure that they speak with their children, that the students are aware not to take anything of such value, um, to a school grounds and again, to definitely be preventative. And if an incident like this does occur, how to be a good witness and how to report these incidents accordingly. So we are in communication with school safety. Thank you so much. Thank you. Have a good night.

[1:08:29] Thank you. All right. Just a couple of last, uh, upcoming events on Saturday the 12th. We have our pitch, and Paramount’s starting at 8:00. And the meet is at Garfield Avenue and Rude Street.

[1:08:46] So if you’d like to join us on Saturday, clean up our community on Thursday the 17th at 5:00, we’re going to have our parcel tax, which is measure P community meeting via zoom. Um, and the link is on all of our social media outlets. And then again, I had mentioned on September 26th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., we’re hosting our public safety and Disaster Preparedness Expo at Paramount Sheriff’s Station.

[1:09:02] So we hope that you can join us at these important events, right? With that said, I think we are moving. Oh, we have a staff comments. Oh, comments from staff. Right. So we will go ahead and move into closed session and we’ll have a report out from our city attorney.

[1:09:14] Thank you, Madam Mayor. There are three items on tonight’s closed session. The first is conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation and significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.921. Case second conference with legal Counsel, Existing litigation pursuant to paragraph one of subdivision D of Government Code, section five, order 554956.9.

[1:09:39] And that’s one case shadow wood development versus City of Paramount. And finally conference with legal counsel anticipate anticipated litigation, significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.92. And this is in regard to the notice of potential liability and request for a tolling agreement from the BK working Group. Thank you.

[1:10:00] All right. We’ll go to closed session. Thank you everybody. Thank you for joining. All right. We have returned from closed session, and we will now hear a report out from our city attorney. Thank you, Madam Mayor. To close.

[2:59:19] The city council met in closed session to discuss the three items on the posted agenda. All five council members were present and no reportable action was. Excuse me. Reportable action was taking on the third item relating to BCC. The City Council authorized the execution of a tolling agreement with the PKK working Group. That is all. Thank you so much for your attorney. Okay.

[2:59:37] We will go ahead and adjourn this meeting till September 22nd at 5 p.m.. Everybody, have a great evening.

Paramount City Council Meeting 9-12-26

Transcript