[0:00] Okay, you ready? >> Okay, we're ready. I'd like to call the

[0:04] meeting to order. Roll call. >> Council member Chan

[0:09] » here. Council member Smith >> here.

[0:11] » Mayor Prom Power >> here.

[0:13] » And Mayor Penord >> here.

[0:15] » Everyone is present. Thank you. >> Okay. And um would you please rise for

[0:20] our invocation with Pastor Nick Smith from Christian Life Assembly. Thank you,

[0:26] Miss Pastor. Lord, we thank you for today. We thank

[0:30] you for the opportunity to come into this place, Lord. God, we ask for

[0:35] wisdom. God, we ask for your guidance. Lord, we ask for your protection. God,

[0:39] we ask for health into Hatropy. And God, we ask that you continue to uh protect

[0:44] America. God, we ask that you would just lead us, Lord, in the decisions and and

[0:48] the directions that are going to be brought to the floor today. And God, we

[0:52] pray that you would just guide us in your name. Amen.

[0:55] » Amen. >> Amen.

[0:57] Pledge. >> Sure.

[1:00] » Salute. Pledge. I pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[1:07] republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[1:13] justice for all. >> City clerk report, please.

[1:23] » Clerk. Thank you, honorable mayor and council members. With the resignation of

[1:28] council member Davies on January 20th, 2026, a vacancy for district 3 city

[1:34] council seat was created. Mr. Davy's term was set to expire following the

[1:38] certification of the November 2028 election. As a vacancy occurred in the

[1:43] first half of the term and no more than 130 days from the next general municipal

[1:48] election, the appointed resident will only serve until the certification of

[1:52] the November 2026 election, at which point the seat will be filled by an

[1:55] elected candidate. In response to the publication, the city clerk's office

[1:59] received one application from Mariana Gutierrez, a resident and registered

[2:04] voter of district 3. Mariana is here if she'd like to come to the podium and

[2:08] speak.

[2:13] Hello. >> Good evening. Um, mayor, council, city

[2:18] manager, and staff. First, thank you for the opportunity to be considered. It

[2:22] truly means a lot to me. When my family and I first moved here, we didn't just

[2:27] choose a house. We chose a community. Early on, I had the opportunity to work

[2:31] for the city, and that experience gave me a deep appreciation for the

[2:35] dedication it takes to serve to Hatchby. Over time, my involvement grew. I step

[2:40] into the role of city treasurer because I care deeply about responsibility,

[2:44] transparency, and always keeping the community's long-term health in mind.

[2:49] Every decision I've made has been rooted in one simple thought. This is our home.

[2:55] Beyond the roles I've held, I'm a mom raising my two daughters here. I'm a

[2:59] small business owner helping families put down roots here. I attend local

[3:03] events, support local businesses, and see firsthand what makes this town so

[3:07] special. District 3 isn't just a section of the map to me. It's neighborhoods,

[3:13] families, and people who want thoughtful growth while protecting the character of

[3:17] our town. I also want to say how much respect I have for the current members

[3:22] of the council. Each of you has shown dedication, leadership, and heart for

[3:27] this community. If appointed, I look forward to learning from you, growing in

[3:32] this role, asking questions, listening carefully, and being guided by the

[3:37] example you've already set. I come in ready to serve and ready to learn. To

[3:43] Hatch has given my family so much opportunity, connection, and belonging.

[3:48] Serving on this council would simply be my way of continuing to give back to the

[3:53] place that has shaped us. Thank you for your consideration.

[4:00] Do I have any audience comments? Council.

[4:06] Um, Ashley will uh take nominations. >> Thank you. As a reminder, uh,

[4:12] nominations do not need to be seconded. So, I will now open nominations.

[4:17] » I'll nominate. >> Okay. For Mariana Gutierrez.

[4:20] » Mariana. Okay. >> There was only one person.

[4:24] » Yes. if there are no other nominations. >> Well, I'd also like to nominate her as

[4:28] well. And I did have a chance to comment. You were very quick tonight.

[4:31] Um, Mariana, your your experience in small business in the community, that's

[4:35] how I've I've uh met you and and have worked with you and I think you're going

[4:39] to enrich the council uh should you be appointed tonight. Um, also being a

[4:44] young family, I think you add something uh diverse to this board that we very

[4:48] much need to hear. >> Thank you.

[4:51] Motion to close nominations. >> All right.

[4:53] » If you need that. >> We don't, but that's all right.

[4:56] » Nominations are now closed. >> So, we'll take a roll call vote. Council

[5:00] member Smith, >> yes.

[5:02] » Council member Chun, >> yes.

[5:04] » Mayor Proin Power, >> yes.

[5:05] » Mayor Pogenard, >> yes.

[5:07] » A 40 vote for Mariana Gutierrez.

[5:15] » Congratulations, Mariana. and your experience within the city will be a

[5:20] great asset to us as well. Um Ashley will now administer the oath of office.

[5:25] » It's going to be our city. >> Oh, I'm sorry.

[5:28] » Don't worry for the treasure. >> We can take that from you. Yes.

[5:40] » My right or left hand. >> Right hand. And I just read it and you

[5:44] just say I do at the end. I, Mariana Gutierrez, do solely affirm that I will

[5:49] support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution

[5:52] of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That I

[5:56] will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States

[6:00] and the Constitution of the State of California, that I take this obligation

[6:04] freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that it will

[6:08] well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I'm about to enter.

[6:12] » I do. CONGRATULATIONS. >> THANK YOU.

[6:20] CAN I MEET ALL THE COUNCIL members up for a photo?

[6:25] » Okay.

[6:31] » Welcome to the team again.

[6:39] Sir, >> I don't know if anybody's noticed or

[6:43] not, but we have four females and only one male on the council at this point.

[6:48] So, >> I know. I love it.

[6:54] » I love it. >> All right, I go ahead and look over here

[6:58] in three, two, one. I'm going to take one more. Three, two, one. Fantastic.

[7:04] Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Congratulations.

[7:06] » Thank you. >> And welcome

[7:09] to Congratulations. So excited. Very excited to get to

[7:16] my

[7:32] » Oh, yes. Here's

[7:38] Congratulations.

[7:42] » Okay, we have consent agenda. All items listed with an asterisk are considered

[7:47] to be routine and non-controversial by city staff. Consent items will be

[7:53] considered first and may be approved by one motion if no member of the council

[7:59] or audience wishes to comment or ask questions. If comment or discussion is

[8:05] desired by anyone, the item will be removed from the consent agenda and will

[8:10] be considered in listed sequence with an opportunity for any member of the public

[8:16] to address the city council concerning the item before an action is taken.

[8:22] Staff recommendations are shown in caps. Is there anyone in the audience that

[8:28] would like an item removed?

[8:33] Council,

[8:36] » can I motion to approve as presented? >> Second.

[8:42] » Sean, >> yes.

[8:44] » Gutierrez, >> yes.

[8:45] » Smith, >> yes.

[8:46] » Howard, >> yes.

[8:48] » Court, >> yes.

[8:49] » 502.

[8:52] » First one down. >> Okay. Oral communication.

[8:57] The city council welcomes public comments on any items within the subject

[9:02] matter jurisdiction of the council. We respectively request that this public

[9:08] forum be utilized in a positive and constructive manner. Persons addressing

[9:13] the council should first state their name and area of residence, the matter

[9:19] of city business to be discussed, and the organization of persons to

[9:24] represented if any. No action can be taken by the council on

[9:30] matters not listed on the agenda except in certain specified circumstances.

[9:36] All speakers are allotted three minutes at the podium. Is there anyone from the

[9:42] audience who would like to speak?

[9:48] Okay, we'll have the finance director's reports. Hammed.

[9:54] And before you get up here, congratulations. They won another award

[9:58] for all of this. And it takes hours and hours and days and days. And I envy you

[10:04] guys that you understand it. So, >> uh, thank you, Mayor Penort, council

[10:11] members. Um, this is an information only item uh before you for our fiscal year

[10:16] end 2425 financial reports. Um, so the our city staff uh completed our year-end

[10:23] audit with our independent auditors last fall and we issued our financial

[10:27] statements in December. Um, and so the reports that are included in this agenda

[10:31] are our annual comprehensive financial report, the independent auditor's report

[10:36] on internal control and compliance, the report on the city's appropriations

[10:40] limit, and the statements of audit standards 114 communication letter. Um,

[10:45] so just in summary, I'll say uh that the city did receive a clean unmodified

[10:50] opinion from our auditors for our financial statements. Uh, they found no

[10:54] material deficiencies in our internal controls and they were in agreement with

[10:59] our calculations on the annual appropriations limit. Uh, the city

[11:04] continues to have strong reserves as our general fund is very healthy.

[11:09] Um, we submitted our annual comprehensive financial report to GFOA

[11:13] for the excellence in financial reporting award and we hope to receive

[11:17] this award for an eighth year in a row. >> Wow.

[11:20] » Um, at this time I'd like to turn it over to our auditor Greg Vancel of Van

[11:24] Land and Van Kennel LLP for his presentation.

[11:35] » Thank you. See if I can get this to her. Justin auditors.

[11:41] » Um >> she'll be the one to decide.

[11:45] » All right. So we have finished the audit um financial statement audit for 25

[11:51] fiscal year. Excuse me. Um

[11:56] like I said last year, I wanted to thank the city staff for all their hard work

[12:00] and getting us through the process. Um, we issued our reports a couple months

[12:05] ago. Right now, we're working on this what's called the single audit, which is

[12:09] the audit of your federal grants. And this year, we're there's a process

[12:16] we go through. We're auditing the airport improvement

[12:20] grant, which was you had about 4.1 million in costs last year that were are

[12:26] subject to the single audit right now. We should be finished a couple weeks

[12:30] from now. issue all that. Um there's a lot of work that feds require for that

[12:37] process and

[12:41] already went through this.

[12:45] So there's uh our

[12:52] I just wanted to point out the financial statements are are the city's financial

[12:55] statements. They're managements. We we assist in the process of preparing the

[13:00] document but ultimately it's your responsibility and we express an opinion

[13:08] and mention we've all the reports are all clean again. I could just say the

[13:14] same as last year and sit down but I'll say a few things.

[13:20] So yeah you're he mentioned the general fund's doing good. uh the re revenues

[13:25] exceeded expenditures by about almost 3 million but then you transferred about

[13:30] 4.7 to other funds for various street projects and other projects. Uh there's

[13:37] significant because of all these projects there's a lot of in increases

[13:41] to your capital asset balances. Um, and there was no new long-term debt

[13:51] and how mentioned the appropriations limit.

[13:55] Any questions?

[14:00] » No, I don't have a question, but I have a comment. Thank you so much, Greg. Um

[14:04] just for for everybody to know when I first started with Greg and his firm uh

[14:10] there was a lot of work lot and lots and lots of work but but we

[14:17] we we improved on lot since then so I always have my deep appreciation to to

[14:24] his farm. Thank you. >> Thanks.

[14:30] » Any questions? >> Thank you. All right. Thank you very

[14:33] much. Thank you so much.

[14:37] » So, I don't have anything else to report, but if you have any questions

[14:40] for me, I'm happy to answer them. >> I just wanted to tell you I know what it

[14:45] takes to get here. >> So, good job. And please pass that to

[14:49] your staff. >> I will. Thank you.

[14:51] » It's a very lots and lots of work. >> I know. Do I have any audience comments?

[14:59] Council, >> congratulations on another year. That's

[15:03] wonderful. >> Hannah Hannah's having a good year

[15:08] always. >> I'm happy to keep

[15:13] the next comment.

[15:16] » Do we have any comments? Yeah, >> you don't mind.

[15:19] » Um, thank you to Greg and his firm. I consider our auditors an extension quite

[15:26] frankly of our finance department. We have a rock solid finance department.

[15:31] And I appreciate Hamemed and his crew and Greg and his firm for his work and

[15:39] all the work we do collectively. It's very important. We take it very serious.

[15:43] Uh taxpayer dollars are few and far between and we want to make sure that

[15:48] we're uh caretakers of that resource. So, thank you to everybody involved.

[15:54] It's very much appreciated. We could not do what we do without good, clean, solid

[16:00] finances. >> I have one more comment after.

[16:04] » Sure. >> So this is kind of a long time ago city

[16:09] was accused that we were misappropriating federal grant

[16:14] and I have to show them different financial c you know capturing method

[16:18] this and that. There's no way city can misappropriate federal grant or any

[16:23] other grant the city receive. You do not understand how many steps

[16:28] that we have to go through in order for us to get approval and not only with the

[16:34] governmental agencies such as states you know mostly federal and whatever CALR we

[16:39] have to go through the hoop in order to have a completion of the project not

[16:44] only that like Greg has mentioned we have to go go through another audit just

[16:49] for the federal big federal grant project single audit that's very arduous

[16:55] There are a lot of schedules and backups that city staff has to provide. So

[17:00] please, you know, understand that city is has never misappropriated

[17:07] any revenues or any grant whatsoever. I can tell you that.

[17:12] » Thank you. It's good to know. Anybody else?

[17:18] Audience? >> Okay. Can I have the developmental

[17:22] services report? Okay, Andrew's up at the plate.

[17:29] » Good evening, mayor. >> Good evening,

[17:31] » council members. New council member. Um, tonight I bring to you the pressure

[17:35] reducing stations at Applewood, Vinion, and Hickory, the notice of completion.

[17:40] Um, just so you're aware, we constructed two of the three stations. The developer

[17:44] of the pinion condos was conditioned to construct one. We had offered to help

[17:48] them by taking it out the bid. After the bidding process, they elected to

[17:52] self-perform their station. Um, with that, uh, it was a long lead time

[17:58] project. Otherwise, the construction went pretty quickly. Um, no major

[18:02] impacts to traffic, water service, anything else. Um, special thanks to

[18:07] Tyler and his water team for we did have to shut down a portion of the water

[18:12] system and and Tyler and his team handled that flawlessly. So overall the

[18:17] the project was delivered on budget um with a little bit longer lead time for

[18:21] the manufacturing of the vault and the pressure reducing assemblies. Um

[18:24] otherwise it was aformational only and I'm here to answer questions if you guys

[18:28] have any. >> Do I have any comments from the uh

[18:33] audience council?

[18:36] » So this is basically a balancing of our water system.

[18:40] » Sure. We moved one of the three stations.

[18:43] » Yeah. we moved to the zone boundary north um by you know 500,000 ft to

[18:49] redefine that edge along pinion in the development that that's

[18:54] is and will occur there. >> So can you tell um tell us that what is

[19:01] the downside of the pipeline or whatever if we didn't do this project? Mhm. So

[19:07] along the the Virginia boundary, you would experience lower pressures. Um so

[19:13] we redefine the boundary between the two. You're now in the northern portion

[19:18] of the up uphill side. You're you're on the we

[19:24] move the boundary line north. Everyone south of that now gets to experience the

[19:29] higher pressure of being on the bottom of that boundary.

[19:32] » Okay? So being on the down, >> you're kind of balancing the pressure

[19:36] out >> in a way.

[19:37] » Yep. We're redefining the boundary of of two pressure zones.

[19:40] » Okay. >> Thank you. Because it's my understanding

[19:44] too much pressure then you start blowing lines. Is that correct?

[19:46] » Y. >> So it's very it's a fine line as you

[19:49] said to make sure >> that it's regulated.

[19:51] » Exactly right. >> Okay. Council I think you all anybody.

[19:57] » Okay. >> Information only.

[19:58] » It's information only. So no vote required. Thank you all.

[20:02] » Thank you. >> Thank you for the update.

[20:04] » Okay, city manager. >> Thank you, Mayor Pogen Court. Just a

[20:08] couple of quick things for you. Um this Wednesday, after tomorrow in this room

[20:13] at 5:30 p.m., we're going to host uh another public planning meeting for the

[20:20] United States of America's 250th birthday coming up, July 4th, of course.

[20:25] So, in this room, uh we're inviting anybody that might be interested in

[20:30] that. Bailey, anything to add? We I know we've had one a couple really good

[20:35] meetings. We have a lot of interest volunteer groups, so on and so forth.

[20:39] » Um the only thing I would add is uh farmers market applications are open.

[20:44] » We currently have gotten over 30 applications so far. They do close April

[20:48] 15th and we are also looking for hot food vendors for 2026 events as well as

[20:53] musicians and those are available on our website under the community tab.

[20:58] » Thank you. Mhm. >> The other is this Friday is first Friday

[21:01] of the month downtown. So we invite you to come downtown. TVA tattoo gallery

[21:06] arts association hosted by Galler and Gifts. Uh and then I know the American

[21:11] Legion on F Street hosts bingo which is very popular getting more and more

[21:15] popular all the time. And lastly, I want to thank Mariana for joining the

[21:21] council. As you said in your speech, we have an amazing city council and you're

[21:26] accenting that very well. So, I look forward to working with you.

[21:30] » Yeah. Thank you. Congratulations and welcome.

[21:32] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[21:35] » Okay. Council member reports. Hannah. >> Nope. I don't have anything to

[21:41] » Janette. Uh just want to comment that um our council now has two individuals who

[21:47] with strong backgrounds in accounting, which is huge. uh since a lot of city

[21:53] council members and other communities don't have that benefit and I think

[21:58] that's that's uh tremendous and I'm very excited to work with you.

[22:02] » Okay, Mary. >> Um I just want to say thank you to all

[22:07] of you. I'm very grateful and I'm really excited for what's at Tacoma.

[22:13] And Phil, >> I have a really

[22:17] I think it's a big announcement from current council of governments. You

[22:21] know, I I talk about truck climbing lanes and and the key pavement projects

[22:26] for >> a long long time. Uh we are now it was

[22:32] announced at our last meeting that the uh Keen pavement project which includes

[22:38] the truck climbing lanes the middle section starting at Galianti

[22:44] uh is listed as RTL. Remember those initials ready to list which means going

[22:51] to bid this summer sometime later in the summer. doesn't mean that we're that

[22:57] means they're getting uh contractors ready to give their estimates. It's a

[23:03] it's a process but this has been a very very long uh in the making process and

[23:11] so the abbreviation ready to list saying saying that the next step will because

[23:19] the funding was approved by CALR by the California transportation commission in

[23:25] the tune of about 247 million sound that right?

[23:27] » Yes. uh for that includes a portion for the truck climbing lanes in that area

[23:32] and the Keen pavement project from I think highway 202 to

[23:38] Kellyani right in that area or or 223. >> So a bulk of it that section of roadway

[23:46] has been in need of repair as anybody who's driven it from here who stays in

[23:50] the left lane for most of the way till you get down the way. Right. So that is

[23:54] going to be uh so the construction is hopefully going to begin in 2027. We

[24:01] were given a really interesting presentation by CALR District 9 and I

[24:07] asked uh I asked them to uh get a hold of staff and make that presentation. Did

[24:13] they do that? >> Not yet, but we're working closely with

[24:16] them. So we'll help facilitate something soon. They got a really interesting

[24:20] video showing uh how this is going to happen because they've got uh because a

[24:26] lot of the when you have uh new lanes added and construction like

[24:31] this and rehabilitation, they'll divert traffic over onto the other side of the

[24:36] freeway. in this area since one lane's here and one's uh their elevations are

[24:42] not the same, the grades are different, it's going to be they they're not going

[24:46] to be able to do that. So, they're going to come and report how they're going to

[24:51] uh attack this this project building outside lane first. They're they're

[24:57] addressing emergency vehicles, stalled trucks, all that. So you can imagine if

[25:03] it's bad now, three years of construction is going to be a challenge.

[25:08] So I look forward to them making a presentation uh and letting everybody

[25:13] know that it's in it's a go. So

[25:19] I um yeah, we we obviously fully support this project and with your leadership

[25:25] led um this project to where it is.

[25:29] » I just showed up. just kept poking, >> you know, the squeaky wheel.

[25:34] » But, uh, kudos to district diner staff. They have, they've done a lot of hard

[25:38] work, a lot of heavy lifting with the engineering and design. Uh, it's it's

[25:44] very complicated because, as you say, the off camera turns and all those

[25:48] different elements. You could go on and on and on, but looking forward to this

[25:51] project and we we're working with district 9 for presentation here at the

[25:55] city council. >> Perfect. Yeah, that's I think that's

[25:59] officing for now. >> Thank you, Phil. People continually ask

[26:03] me about that project and is there a website? I told them there's a website

[26:07] that they can go on and and check it out.

[26:10] » Go to Calrans District 9 and see what they've got available. There's some

[26:14] there's some vid videos, but this one here is uh in house at the moment

[26:19] » at this point. Yeah, right. That's absolutely correct. There are some there

[26:23] is some information but they're constantly updating it and providing it

[26:27] to the public. So um when we talk to them next we'll ask request that they

[26:32] update. >> Thank you

[26:33] » and put all the research >> because people are always

[26:36] » amazing videos that they put together and how you're going to do it and you

[26:41] can imagine you know what Mr. Smith pointed out, you know, the emergency

[26:45] lanes and different things. There's so much the wildlife crossing,

[26:49] undercrossings, and so much to take into account. It's mindboggling, quite

[26:53] frankly. So, >> this is one of the biggest projects for

[26:57] our area. Even though I remind everyone, this is not a city of the Hatches

[27:03] project. This is a regional project. Just so happens we really kept pushing

[27:08] for it. >> That's right. And if we didn't have the

[27:10] council, staff, the finances, quite frankly, even though we didn't

[27:15] contribute directly to this project, we've spent a significant amount of

[27:20] funds supporting this project, going to meetings, lobbying the CTC, working with

[27:26] Calrans, District 9. We we have contributed a whole heck of a lot of

[27:32] dollars to this project. >> Yeah.

[27:35] » And it's our turn. Well, thank you for all your efforts because I know since

[27:39] I've been on council, you've been working on it continually. So, we

[27:43] appreciate your efforts. Thank you so much.

[27:46] » Absolutely. >> Stay tuned.

[27:48] » Also, um I get a lot of comments about our snow globe. Everybody just loves

[27:55] that snow globe. And I said, "Well, it will be around." I said, "We've had

[27:59] people from all over the area, not just to Hatchipy, but Bakersfield and

[28:04] Lancaster." and they come up and they have enjoyed that tremendously.

[28:08] Um also um there's is I have a question for

[28:14] you. You know the uh is there a market going in next to the valley park or is

[28:21] it something else? It looks like it's individual offices to me as I pass by.

[28:25] » So you're referring to the old Valley Foods.

[28:27] » Yes. >> And then the Mexican meat market for a

[28:30] while and then it was demoed, >> right? Right. And so the owner has he

[28:34] submitted plans that were approved through the planning commission and it

[28:37] is going to be uh a couple different suites.

[28:41] » That's what I >> it's going to have the look and feel of

[28:43] across the street Dr. Kerr the kidney dialysis. So it'll have the look and

[28:48] feel of that. Uh but those suites once completed will be available for rent or

[28:54] lease. Uh it won't be a market necessarily, more of a professional

[28:58] setting. That's what I thought because once the walls went up, it looked like

[29:02] individual openings or offices and I thought that's

[29:06] not a market. >> There are three or four suites,

[29:10] » but uh tenant improvements will take place and hopefully it'll fill up with

[29:14] some nice professional services. >> Okay. And then I have one more question.

[29:19] Um is Burger Brothers open or not open? >> Burger Brothers is open.

[29:23] » It's open, >> right? and they are at the far west end

[29:26] of the particular shopping center right beside Walgreens.

[29:31] » They have a drive-thru and their restaurant is open. I've heard nothing

[29:35] but great reviews. >> The food, the service, the look and

[29:39] feel, the cleanliness. So, um you know, congratulations to the

[29:44] owners and we appreciate the investment, but I've heard nothing but good um good

[29:49] reviews. We'll have to launch there. >> Yes,

[29:52] » they have a huge menu, too. We have way more than just burgers.

[29:56] » Wonderful. >> Okay. Anything else?

[30:00] Okay. I'd like to adjourn to close session

[30:05] if you like.

City Council March 2nd 2026

Transcript