[0:00] new ordinance. All right, I'm going to call this meeting to order and if you

[0:05] will lead us in our pledge. >> Just say ready, begin. Okay, whenever

[0:11] you're ready.

[0:14] » I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic

[0:21] for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:28] justice for all.

[0:34] » So, we're having the uh Melon Carnival coming up and we have a bunch of uh

[0:39] young ladies that are going to be in a contest. So, now you have a little bit

[0:43] of appetite for what's going on out there. And I hope everybody wants to

[0:47] participate. So from that point, let's start with a roll call for uh

[0:52] declarations of conflict of interest and being present.

[0:56] » Council member Abram here and none. >> Council member Vixel,

[0:59] » here none. >> Vice Mayor Mes.

[1:01] » Council member Phillips here none. >> Mayor Bidler,

[1:03] » here none. >> All right. Uh approval of agenda as

[1:06] posted or amended. >> So moved. Second.

[1:08] » Motion to second. Call the role, please. >> Council member Abram, yes. Council

[1:11] member Bixel, >> yes.

[1:12] » Vice Mayor Monet, yes. >> Council member Phillips, yes.

[1:14] » Mayor Bibler, >> yes. Passes on a 5-0. All right. Uh, we

[1:18] have Turtle Partnership Incentive Program and I believe that Mr. Sims is

[1:22] ready.

[1:28] Tell us something good. >> Good evening, mayor, council members,

[1:30] city staff, and members of the public. Tonight, we are celebrating another new

[1:34] Turlock business that has completed the steps in the Turlock Partnership

[1:37] Incentive Program, Inspire and Bloom LLC, located at 21101 Gear Road, Sweet

[1:43] 101A. They're family-built organization providing applied behavior analysis

[1:47] therapy and support to children with autism and developmental needs, helping

[1:52] children build communication, social and everyday life skills. Beyond supporting

[1:56] local families, Inspire and Bloom is committed to our community by hiring

[2:00] locally, mentoring students with institutions like Santa State, and

[2:04] creating sustainable ABA career opportunities right here in the Central

[2:07] Valley. We wish this new business continued success and look forward to

[2:11] watching them thrive in our community. At this time, I'd like to invite Mayor

[2:14] Bublack, city council members, city manager, and the business owners, Mr.

[2:18] Mike Morgan and Olivia Morgan, forward for a special check presentation.

[2:36] It's child.

[3:05] One, two, three. One more.

[3:17] [applause]

[3:24] Just like that.

[3:38] » You got money for us, too?

[3:47] All right. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, on behalf of the transit

[3:51] team, I want to give you a brief update on what we've been up to in July. We've

[3:54] been pretty busy with a lot of different activities, a lot of good stuff.

[3:58] First, I wanted to speak about our free rides in July program. This is something

[4:02] we've been doing for quite a few years now, partnering with our regional

[4:06] partners at Stan and most recently Merced to offer free rides throughout

[4:09] the region, which has been great. Um, so here you can see our writership numbers.

[4:14] Saw a 14.2% increase of writership overall compared to the same period last

[4:18] year, which is great. If you look at the details there, you can see the large

[4:22] portion of that was our on demand service. So, as word gets out about

[4:26] that, I think more and more folks are using that. A lot of folks use that to

[4:29] get to the fair, which is great. And so, again, the purpose with this is

[4:32] increased writership. It's achieving that purpose. Every year we do this,

[4:35] we're seeing more and more writers, which is great. Um, this is largely

[4:40] funded by a grant through the state called LCTOP.

[4:44] Unfortunately, LCTOP funding is being cut and so we aren't going to be able to

[4:48] do these free ride promotions throughout the year like we used to. We used to

[4:51] have multiple periods. Now, it's just going to be limited to July. If things

[4:54] change, we'll increase it back again, but for now, it'll still be July, but

[4:59] received well by the community. Hearing a lot of good things.

[5:03] Obviously, the fair is a big part of that. Uh I just got through talking

[5:07] about all of July. Now we're focusing on the fair and we provided a lot of

[5:11] expanded and extended service during the fair which was July 10th through the

[5:14] 19th. And that service was running buses to later, running more buses, running

[5:19] the shuttle and um the the main difference between this year and last

[5:23] year is that prior we would have a physical presence inside the fairgrounds

[5:28] and this year we changed it up a bit. We decided to focus our efforts at the

[5:32] transit center itself. That seemed to work really well. We invested a lot more

[5:35] effort and time into the folks that were using the service to get to the transit

[5:39] center to ride the shuttle. It started with our gateway to the fair kickoff

[5:42] event which was great. Had lots of regional transportation partners there

[5:46] with us. We had the recreation department there with some food, some

[5:49] games and just was received really well by the community. And so radio

[5:53] advertising was another big change. You may have noticed uh in prior years the

[5:58] transit center parking lot would maybe be 50% full at the most. Well, it was

[6:02] packed pretty much every night of the fair this year. And so, a lot of people

[6:05] are hearing about the shuttle, uh, hearing about our service, and again,

[6:09] lots of good things coming from that. The shuttle itself was running every 5

[6:14] to 10 minutes. We saw, you know, over 7,400 total trips provided, which is a

[6:19] 72% increase over the prior year. Pretty substantial. We handed out over 3,600

[6:24] bottles of cold water, which was 111% increase. So, for give you an idea, we

[6:29] order a large pallet of water. That's what we typically go through. We went

[6:32] more than two pallets of water this year and so it was pretty substantial. We're

[6:36] going to increase that order next year. Um, but again, the radio advertising

[6:40] played a huge role. Lots of strong positive feedback from writers, largely

[6:44] non-transit riders, too. That's the beauty of this system is we're we're

[6:46] investing in typically non-transit riders. And so, we're breaking down some

[6:50] of those stigmas that folks have about transit in the community. So, it just

[6:54] helps us achieve our goals. Going past the fair, we also sponsored a free swim

[7:00] day at Columbia Pool, which was great. So on July 30th, uh, everybody could

[7:04] come in for free and so 38 adults and 56 youth were able to take advantage of

[7:08] that. We were there with our staff. Buzz was there. He did not get in the pool,

[7:12] but he was there. Um, but had a great time. Uh, lots of interactions with

[7:16] folks that were learning about the service. And um given that that

[7:21] particular segment of the city is a disadvantaged area, transit is a really

[7:25] important feature for a lot of households in that area. And so they

[7:28] were able to learn about services that are available to them often for free. A

[7:32] lot of times we're still letting people know kids ride free, you know, so that

[7:35] they they're not aware of this. So we're able to do that. We had a great time

[7:38] there. And last but not least, our short-range transit plan. So we at the

[7:44] last meeting here, we let you know about some upcoming community input sessions.

[7:48] And so we actually had those. We had our pop-up events throughout Turlock. We had

[7:52] two community workshops, one at the library and one at the transit center.

[7:55] We had 10 or 11 folks that showed up for that. Provided a lot of good feedback.

[8:00] Few notes for the council and the community to know. Community is

[8:04] generally pretty happy with the transit service that they have. So we were

[8:06] hearing that loud and clear. We also heard loud and clear Sunday service.

[8:10] That's probably the most common request that we're getting is for some version

[8:13] of Sunday service, whether that's fixed route, on demand, uh something just to

[8:18] be able to get around on Sundays, whether that's to church, whether that's

[8:20] to Amtrak, um just various places in our community. So, we're hearing that loud

[8:24] and clear. And then also some other general service changes and some bus

[8:29] stop improvements, amenity improvements like bus shelters and benches and things

[8:33] like that. So, a lot of good stuff. And where we're at in that plan right now,

[8:37] we're at the end of phase two. So, we're kind of wrapping up the community

[8:41] feedback portion. By all means, if you have feedback, uh, feel free to continue

[8:45] to send that in. But, we're kind of reaching the end of this phase, moving

[8:48] into the next phase, which is service evaluation, where we crunch all the

[8:52] data, look at all the numbers, and eventually get to um some

[8:55] recommendations back to the community and to the council and say, "This is

[8:59] what we're hearing. This is what we understand. Here's our budget. Here's

[9:02] what we can provide. Here's our recommendations. What do you all think

[9:05] about that?" So, that's where we're at. So, we've been pretty busy during July.

[9:09] Wanted to give you that update and happy to answer any questions you may have.

[9:13] » Dr. Murphy and I uh joined there. It was pretty nice. Yeah, I drank at least two

[9:17] of those waters. >> Very good.

[9:19] » Any questions? >> Thank you, Mr. York. I appreciate it.

[9:22] » Thank you. >> Okay, we have a sidewalk program.

[9:28] Director Fiser,

[9:32] there's a sidewalk on the mountain.

[9:39] Good evening, council members, mayor. Thanks for having me tonight. I wanted

[9:43] to bring you a brief update on our sidewalk program. The last time we

[9:46] talked about this was in January.

[9:52] City and state law has long placed responsibility of the sidewalks on the

[9:55] property of the adjacent property owners. In December of 2025, um we had

[9:59] brought um a financial assistance program that was primarily funded

[10:02] through measure L, which gave some assistance to residents that needed to

[10:05] repair their sidewalks or or mitigate some of the tripping hazards. Um program

[10:10] involves a city contractor performing the work at prevailing wage. Um and then

[10:15] the resident the city would pay for that and the resident would then reimburse

[10:18] their portion of the of the cost. Um and then and in January, we brought the

[10:22] finalized program um to the municipal code for the updates.

[10:28] overall process generally takes three to four months um in the from the initial

[10:31] notice to the of the defect to a city initiated repair. Um obviously if the

[10:36] residents want to repair that on their own they can't do that and they can do

[10:38] that within their time frame and we encourage them to do that if if they

[10:42] choose to do so. Um we conduct a lot of public outreach. We um put utility

[10:47] mailers um we do social media. Um, we're actually physically going out to the

[10:51] property and talking to the property owners and we're following up with phone

[10:54] calls just to make sure that we know that we get all of the education

[10:57] opportunity that we can and people that are understanding of the program and

[11:00] what the benefits are. Um, when we do go out to the property, um, once we have

[11:04] notification of it, we'll paint it and we'll put the appropriate signage and

[11:07] that really reduces the risk of tripping hazards because it makes it more

[11:10] obvious. And then we find that some of the smaller lifts in the sidewalks can

[11:14] create some of the bigger problems because they're not they're not as um,

[11:17] blatantly obvious as some of the bigger lifts.

[11:19] Um once we do that, we begin notifying the property owners of their obligation

[11:24] to repair. City does um we do everything we can to

[11:29] make sure that we're properly explaining um what the to the owners what the

[11:34] program is um why why it's respons who's responsible for it and why it's

[11:39] important. Um we also encourage them to to when they when they get um an

[11:44] encroment permit, we'll we'll cover that as well. So even if they choose to

[11:48] repair the subway on their own, we're going to initiate the encroachment

[11:50] permit for them again and give them um financial assistance on that. So the

[11:55] city's typically going to send five notices um combination of first class

[11:59] and certified letters um if the property owner remains nonresponsive um through

[12:04] this process. the city will initiate the repair um and after the pair the city

[12:09] you know begins the cost recovery process which ultimately um ends up on

[12:13] sending a bill to the property owner and ultimately if it's not paid we will put

[12:17] it on the tax ro as a form of a lean again um this is just a visual

[12:22] representation of the 3 to four month process um the mailing uh notices and

[12:27] the owner outreach the phone calls that is the majority of the process and

[12:30] really the the you know the the city initiated repairs smallest portion of

[12:35] that. It usually takes like four four weeks to get it done once we decide to

[12:39] get um that that we'll make the repairs. Couple of stats on it. Um the total

[12:44] number of properties um city-owned and non cityowned inspect in 2026 have been

[12:48] 187. Um number of applicants that have rolled in our sidewalk repair assistance

[12:52] program of 54. We've made um 29 completed repairs. We have 15 more that

[12:57] are out ongoing with the contractor current currently. We have 10 more on

[13:00] deck. Um there have been some pairs that have not completed through our sidewalk

[13:04] assistance program. Um there's 25 of those and so the total repair is about

[13:08] 54 and these range um anywhere from a few hundred to you know to several

[13:14] thousand up to you know in some cases $10,000 depending on you know large

[13:19] properties and business owners and stuff.

[13:22] Um looking at budgets the assist program began um in spring of the prior fiscal

[13:27] year. We didn't budget a whole bunch of money, but we, you know, during the the

[13:30] new fiscal year, we did. Um, so there's approximately 36,000 assistance has been

[13:34] or is expected to be provided this year so far. Um, so we have about $263,000

[13:40] remaining available for the program budget. Um, we're only about two months

[13:44] into this fiscal year, so um there's plenty of funding left. Um, if we do run

[13:48] into a a case where it's wildly successful and we need more more money,

[13:52] we'll we'll be back up here asking for some more.

[13:56] I want to focus on a couple or bring it, you know, notice to, you know, city

[14:00] locations. We have been um busy. We've had a combination of staff making

[14:04] repairs. I know they made numerous repairs at Padretti Park not that long

[14:07] ago. Um but other city locations of Broadway, Crane, Rotary, Four Seasons,

[14:12] Kurt, Andre Parks, making sure those parks are safe for our children and

[14:15] anyone that wants to walk through there, you know, because they're a big part of

[14:17] our our community and we recognize the importance of those.

[14:22] We have had some challenges. Um inspection capacity has been limited. Um

[14:27] you we have a lot of we have a lot of um on deck. We've you know so far we've

[14:30] done 187 inspections. Um the same inspectors reporting the sidewalk

[14:34] program. You know they're they're responsible for the capital work in the

[14:37] city, the utility work um such as like you know looking at race and crochets

[14:41] and other development projects and any other construction that's that's

[14:45] operating through the city. Um some property owners have been nonresponsive

[14:49] or disagree with their responsibility to make the repairs and you know staff is

[14:53] is spending a sign significant amount of time um conducting outreach and

[14:57] explaining both obligations and assistance opportunities. Um so

[15:02] approximately 120 um properties that are currently um in in the compliance

[15:07] program at this point. So as we're working through this, we started off

[15:11] kind of slow just kind of get the program filled out um make any changes

[15:15] that we needed to do and now Now we're at the point where we're ramping up.

[15:20] So in conclusion, staff will continue to outreach inspections and compliance

[15:23] efforts. Um we'll continue to, you know, that we'll continue to make sure that we

[15:28] have adequate inspection capacity and timely um property owner response and

[15:32] contractor availability. That's one of our key things is keeping this rolling,

[15:36] making sure that we're keeping our contractors happy and then and we're

[15:39] going through and making, you know, meaningful repairs where we're grouping

[15:42] them in areas where, you know, it makes the most sense for everybody. um any you

[15:47] know any substantive program change at this point we would bring this back to

[15:50] the council at this point you know we feel that the program is is successful

[15:54] um but if there's any suggestions at all that you know that we would definitely

[15:57] listen to them but we would need to bring it back to the council um

[16:02] currently participation appears generally within our expectations what

[16:05] we expected and I think that we're just a little bit higher than we expected on

[16:08] the sidewalk repair assistance program meaning I think that you know there's a

[16:11] good value to it we're finding that the smaller repairs are generally very

[16:15] inexpensive for the property owners in some cases as low as $60 for their

[16:19] portion. And I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have on it.

[16:23] » Is it true that uh Turlock has one of the better uh methodologies for

[16:29] sidewalks? >> Yes, it is true. We've actually received

[16:32] several um inquiries from neighboring cities um that that looking at our

[16:37] program um and we've also looked at a couple other programs and comparing

[16:41] them. I think that we really have one of the one of the better programs

[16:46] um that that it's out there right now. I know that there's other cities that are

[16:48] really close to us right now that are going through similar issues and

[16:51] they're, you know, they're struggling with it. We'd be happy to help them, you

[16:53] know. >> Awesome. Anybody?

[16:56] All right, stay there because we have to give you a uh

[17:08] traffic.

[17:13] pretty big. >> I think so.

[17:15] » Okay.

[17:19] » Okay. So, um Mr. Fischer, Director Fischer is going to be leaving us, but

[17:24] uh not without uh knowing that he still lives here and his heart will still be

[17:28] here and that he's always welcome to come back, but he got a better job. He

[17:31] can tell you, not me. Um just more money. So in honor of the distinguished

[17:36] service of municipal services director SRWA general manager Christopher J.

[17:41] Fiser. So Chris began his service in the city

[17:44] of Turlock on October 16th, 2023. During his tenure, he helped guide the

[17:49] concluding stages of the regional surface water supply project and the

[17:53] delivery of treated surface water to Turlock and series, a project that

[17:57] received the design build institution uh of America's national award of merit.

[18:02] Pretty big deal. Then Chris advanced difficult but necessary initiatives

[18:06] including financially sustainable and equitable sewer rates and sidewalk

[18:10] compliance programs as we just heard. He supported the city's roads program

[18:14] through interdep departmental coordination and staff support and

[18:17] oversaw completion of the Columbia Pool improvement project. He barely been

[18:20] here. This is a lot. In the summer of 2026, Chris temporarily served in the

[18:25] role of city manager during a leadership vacancy, providing continuity and a

[18:29] steady leadership to city operations, guided by the principles of safety,

[18:32] quality, and community. Your three pillars, uh Chris inspired those around

[18:37] him to work smarter and more efficiently while maintaining the higher standards

[18:42] of ethics, professionalism, and public service. So, on behalf of the city

[18:47] council, myself, our entire team, and our city, we wish you well and hope that

[18:52] you come back soon. But I'd love to get a picture with all of us because you are

[18:56] part of the team. Is that all right? >> Yeah.

[18:57] » Do you want to say something? >> I do.

[18:59] » All right. >> Yeah.

[19:01] » You know, and this wasn't a decision that was that was made easily. Um, you

[19:06] guys have been incredibly supportive throughout and I have a great staff.

[19:10] They just they're wonderful people and they will take care of this and like my

[19:13] work isn't done here you know like I I expect to be back here in you know in

[19:17] the future because this is my hometown and this is this is where I belong and

[19:20] I'm I'm extremely proud of the work we've done and JJ I mean I'm sorry Dr.

[19:24] Murphy, I you know I you know I'm just getting to know you, but you know like

[19:29] this is the first time and I've seen smiles in the hall and just in people

[19:32] jumping around. So like I I I feel like you know like there was a lot to learn

[19:37] you know from you and and but I I hope we can stay in touch and and we can

[19:40] definitely you know work together in the future.

[19:48] [applause]

[20:20] Two, three, four.

[20:39] So the next one will not take place today because uh Martin is sick and uh

[20:44] we asked if he wanted if he wanted to do this or if he was sick and he he is in

[20:48] fact sick. So he he would like to do it another time. So we'll probably the next

[20:51] meeting we'll we'll correlate with him. He he actually will be uh I think

[20:55] September 1st is his last day or something. Is that right?

[20:58] » That sounds about right. He told me when I was uh found him in Ghiradelli in San

[21:03] Francisco months and months ago he's like I'm I'm leaving. I'm like, "No."

[21:06] So, 30 some day years he's he's entitled. But our next person is a

[21:11] police captain, Miguel Pico. Come on up, [applause]

[21:19] man. Is it something in the water, Chris?

[21:22] What's happening? Why are these people leaving?

[21:25] So, uh, we have Captain Miguel Pacheo here who was hired as police officer on

[21:31] April 16th of 2000. Beginning more than 26 years of dedicated service to the

[21:36] city, marked by courage, integrity, and professionalism,

[21:39] Miguel advanced from police officer through the ranks of corporal, sergeant,

[21:43] lieutenant, and captain, reflecting his enduring commitment to the city, proven

[21:48] leadership, and continued pursuit of excellence. During his distinguished

[21:52] career, Captain Pico served on the SWAT team and was entrusted to lead the

[21:56] police department on several occasions as interim and acting police chief. As

[22:01] police captain, he provided steady leadership, oversaw critical public

[22:05] safety operations, supported and mentored fellow officers, and worked

[22:09] with city officials and community partners to meet the needs of residents.

[22:14] Uh, it doesn't say on here, but you did. FBI also started running again. That was

[22:18] awesome. So Miguel Sound judgment, dedication,

[22:22] and commitment to community oriented policing have strengthened the police

[22:25] department, advanced public safety, and helped build trust throughout our

[22:29] community. So on behalf of myself, our entire council, and our community, we

[22:34] thank you for so many years that you've given to our city and the safeness that

[22:40] we feel because of you and your leadership. So thank you, Miguel.

[22:44] [applause]

[22:47] » Yeah. Uh just super super quick. Um to my wife, uh it's been a journey, but we

[22:52] made it, right? I'm retiring, so uh most of my sanity is still here, so we're

[22:56] doing pretty good. Uh to my mom who took me to Explorer meetings, um when I was a

[23:00] kid, thank you. Family came in. To my kids, uh thank you for all the bad days

[23:03] they came home and hear me talk about it. Uh won't have that anymore. Uh I

[23:07] made a lot of requests to council in my years here. Thank you for all the

[23:09] support. Usually it was around money and stuff we were trying to get, and you

[23:13] were very supportive. So, thank you. Uh I think it's appropriate to say one

[23:16] thing before I leave. Uh, one last request and it's really for the city of

[23:20] Turlock. Please keep the officers in mind who are still doing the job. Uh,

[23:24] admittedly I've wrote a desk for several years, but um, cops are my heroes. Just

[23:28] straight up, they are. Um, if you can imagine the worst day in your life, our

[23:32] officers do that uh, every day of every shift that they work. They meet people

[23:36] in trauma, dangerous, emotional stuff they go through. So, to the city council

[23:40] for your support of frontline staff, I do thank you. Turlock's very special. Uh

[23:45] to the community out there, you've got good cops working here. Um don't believe

[23:48] everything you see in the paper. It's a special place. I came from Sacramento. I

[23:51] thought I'd be here a year. We made a life out of here. I raised my kids and

[23:54] my beautiful wife. Uh we laid roots here special. Please keep the cops in our

[24:00] prayers. That's all I ask. But thank you.

[24:01] » Thank you. [applause]

[24:23] One, two, three, four,

[24:53] Wait till the KMA point. That's the hardest part, huh?

[24:58] All right. On to consent calendar. At this time, we will open the public

[25:02] comment on the consent calendar. This is the opportunity to comment on any item

[25:06] on the consent calendar or to request from the council that an item be removed

[25:10] for separate consideration. If you are requesting that an item be pulled,

[25:13] please state the item number and briefly explain

[25:17] your request to the council. Public comment on the consent calendar is

[25:20] limited to one minute. The city clerk will now facilitate that public comment.

[25:25] » All right, we will for consent item we will begin with we have zero speaker

[25:28] cards. So we'll go to our online remote speakers. If anyone online would like to

[25:33] speak, this is your time to raise your hand or press star 9 to indicate so.

[25:39] Seeing none, we'll go back to in person. If there's anyone in person that would

[25:42] like to speak regarding the consent calendar, please come forward to the

[25:45] left turn. >> Seeing none, mayor.

[25:49] » Okay. At this time, public comment is now closed.

[25:52] » Move to approve consent calendar as written.

[25:54] » Second. >> Second.

[25:55] » Have a motion to second. Will you call the role, please?

[25:57] » Council member Abram. >> Yes. Council member Bixel.

[26:00] » Yes. >> Vice Mayor Manz. Yes. Council member

[26:02] Phillips. Yes. >> Mayor BL.

[26:03] » Yes. Passes on a 5-0. There are no final readings. Public hearings. We have 8A

[26:08] authorizing the submitt of PLHA plan amendment uh for 2020 allocation year.

[26:14] Money man.

[26:21] Thank you, honorable mayor and council members. item we have before you today

[26:25] is a request for an amendment to the permanent local housing allocation plan

[26:29] for the program year of 2020. So the recommended action before you is

[26:36] really just to amend that the program year of 2020 to adjust what was

[26:40] submitted prior to for the 80% factor of area income um which we call AMI from

[26:48] 80% to 120%. Really what this does is realign all the other allocations that

[26:52] we have in place and how we're utilizing the AMI uh factor for first-time home

[26:57] buyer program background. Um so this program came into

[27:02] place back in 2017 2017 for some legislation that move forward. Basically

[27:07] what they did is establish a fee uh for recording uh real estate documentation

[27:12] for $75 that was carved out uh established this program. Overall, the

[27:17] program was meant to to assist with housing needs.

[27:22] Current issue as we just stated really again remending what was done in 2020 um

[27:28] to match what our current program years and how we're doing the AMI factor of

[27:32] 80%. Why this is important? Because we have an 80% factor for some of our enter

[27:36] programs where the PHA is a state program which actually has a little more

[27:40] flexibility where we can increase that number and take on other applications

[27:43] where we couldn't do another program funding sources. Just to give you an

[27:47] overall idea of what we've done so far with these with these fundings, we've re

[27:51] rehabilitated a forplex, one forplex, uh three single family homes, and we've

[27:56] also done for two first-time home buyer programs.

[28:01] The physical impact of this action is none really just staff time really

[28:05] submitting the application and what the action we're doing today. Next steps

[28:09] overall is to execute the the resolution and the amendments. Again, that is

[28:13] before you with within your packet overall today.

[28:17] Again, this this is really just amending the overall program itself to be in line

[28:20] with the rest of the fiscal years and how they line up. We actually do have

[28:23] the first-time home buyer in place ready to go as soon as this amendment is done.

[28:27] So we'll submit that resolution application at least about 30 days to to

[28:31] move forward and then we can get the applicant moving forward.

[28:34] » Is there any questions? >> Questions for director.

[28:38] » Okay. Uh at this time I will open the public comment and ask the city clerk to

[28:42] facilitate the public comment. Each of you will have three minutes.

[28:46] » Okay. We have no blue cards for this item. Um if anyone joining remotely

[28:50] would like to speak regarding this item, please raise your hand or press star 9.

[28:55] No one online is indicating as anyone in person would like to speak regarding

[28:58] this item, please come forward to the left turn.

[29:02] » Seeing none, mayor. >> All right, I will close public comment

[29:04] at this time. >> Move to approve ad.

[29:06] » Second. >> Motion in a second. Will you call the

[29:08] role, please? >> Council member Abram, yes. Council

[29:11] member Bixel, >> yes.

[29:12] » Vice Mayor Mes, yes. >> Council member Phillips, yes.

[29:14] » Mayor Vlac, >> yes. On a 5-0. Thank you, director.

[29:17] » All right. The next item is a second reading of the ordinance amendment for

[29:20] our general plan amendment of 2026.

[29:25] Miss Quintterero. >> Yes.

[29:28] » Thank you. Good evening, mayor, council, members of the public. The item before

[29:31] you tonight is the housing element and the associated general plan amendments,

[29:36] ordinance updates, and reszone actions. This item was introduced at the last

[29:41] city council meeting and tonight is the public hearing and second reading of the

[29:46] item and I'm available and happy to answer any questions if there are

[29:50] » questions for Okay, no questions. All right. So, at

[29:55] this time I will open it to the public and ask the clerk to facilitate public

[29:59] comment. >> We have no blue cards for this item. If

[30:02] anyone is joining remotely that would like to speak regarding this item,

[30:06] please either raise your hand or press star 9.

[30:10] Seeing none, mayor, moving back to in person. Would anyone in person like to

[30:13] speak regarding this item? Please come forward. Thank you.

[30:21] » Good evening, council, staff, community members. Milt treeer. Our Turle planning

[30:26] department along with consult have been working on this Turlock housing element

[30:29] for over two years now. On July 18th, 2024 at the planning commission meeting,

[30:34] there was a Turlock housing element study to prepare for the housing

[30:38] element. A notice of the city of the first public review period for the draft

[30:43] of housing element ran from October 1st or October 2nd to November 1st, 2024.

[30:50] Two years ago, almost two years ago, the state responded on April 30th, 2025. The

[30:57] California Department of Housing and PUNY Velum completed a review of the

[31:00] draft housing element and found that while the draft address sees addresses

[31:06] many of the statutory requirements, some further revisions are necessary to

[31:10] substantially comply with the state's housing element law.

[31:16] After that, multiple plans were submitted to the state for review and

[31:21] they were all turned down by the state. It seems to me that our planning staff

[31:25] and consultant were not allowed to make or present the solutions to the issues

[31:30] of not complying to the state because possibly of from pressure of the many

[31:35] city managers we had during that period of time

[31:40] because the city managers are Atwell employees and they're controlled by our

[31:44] current city of Turlock elected officials. But now once again we're

[31:49] presenting this to the state. So we will once again find out if the

[31:55] planning department and the consultants were allowed to do their jobs because if

[31:59] they have been this will go through. Thank you.

[32:04] » Is there anyone further would like to speak? Ron Ber

[32:13] uh just some general comments. Um I've looked through a little bit of the

[32:17] document. It's a long document with a lot in it. Um, it's got some fascinating

[32:24] information in it. It really does. Um, and I've made a good number of posts

[32:29] about that. Um, I just u basically wanted to uh thank

[32:35] Katie and everybody else who worked on it. I mean, it's a very detailed, very

[32:39] involved document. I know it's been a long process, but I can't imagine

[32:45] how much time and effort they had to put into it. So, I just wanted to say thank

[32:50] you. >> Are there any further speakers regarding

[32:54] this item? >> Seeing none, mayor.

[32:57] » All right. Closing public comment. >> Motion to approve the resolution and

[33:03] both ordin ordinances contained within item 8b.

[33:06] » Second. We have a motion in a second. May you call the role, please.

[33:09] » Council member Abram. >> Yes. Yes. Council member Bixel. Yes.

[33:11] » Vice Mayor Monet. Yes. Council member Phillips. Yes. Mayor Bill Black.

[33:14] » Yes. Pon50. Thank you everyone. >> All right. 9A is accepting the economic

[33:19] development strategic implementation plan.

[33:23] Mr. Sims got a lot going on today.

[33:30] Good evening, mayor, council, members, city staff, and members of the public.

[33:34] Before you tonight is the proposed economic development strategic plan

[33:38] implementation plan for 2026 through 2029. As council will recall, on March

[33:44] 10th, 2026, council adopted the updated economic development strategic plan

[33:48] prepared by Cosmont, establishing nine strategic priorities to focus on in

[33:52] economic development. The implementation plan takes those priorities, turns them

[33:56] into specific action items, timelines, and performance metrics so we can track

[34:00] our progress as we regularly report back to council.

[34:05] The plan is organized into three phases over three years. Phase one is

[34:09] foundation and business engagement. Phase two is investment and development

[34:12] activation. Phase three is long-term growth and destination development. Now,

[34:18] these phases are not firm boundaries. Economic development doesn't always

[34:21] happen according to a predetermined schedule. Markets change, opportunities

[34:25] arise, and we have to be nimble. Something identified for year three may

[34:29] make sense to pursue in year one. Several activities are also reoccurring

[34:34] strategies that will continue throughout all three years, including business

[34:37] retention, attraction, developer engagement, marketing, and business

[34:41] assistance. We look at this implementation plan much like a playbook

[34:44] as a coach will carry on the field. We have a game plan. We know what we want

[34:48] to where we want to go and what we want to do, but we also have to read what's

[34:52] happening in front of us and adjust the play when conditions change. So, this

[34:56] plan is I just want to say it's very collaborative. It's crossepart

[34:59] departmental effort and a great example is the Chick-fil-A grand opening. Uh

[35:03] that project required significant involvement from development services,

[35:07] engineering, municipal services, fire, police, city administration, and others

[35:11] working together to get that project across the finish line. So, great job to

[35:14] Adrian and her team, Chris and his team, city administration, all staff involved.

[35:19] And we received tremendous feedback. Chick-fil-A's opening team told us

[35:22] Turlock was their most businessfriendly experience and that Turlock's

[35:26] Chick-fil-A grand opening day was the highest performing of all Chick-fil-A

[35:30] grand openings in the US. So, being able to receive that type of feedback from a

[35:34] new business comes from leadership, coordination, and city staff working

[35:38] together to get a project to Yes. So, and as the mayor had said, this isn't

[35:42] just about Chick-fil-A. It's about using that success as a springboard for

[35:46] additional investment, jobs, sales tax revenue that support services for our

[35:49] community. Tonight, rather than going in depth on every

[35:54] action item in the plan, there's about 35 to 40. I want to highlight a few

[35:58] examples of what's already happening and why it's happening. One action item

[36:03] focuses on business retention and expansion. Our city manager is joining

[36:07] economic development on meetings with some of our largest employers and

[36:10] stakeholders to better understand challenges, successes, and opportunities

[36:14] for growth. In one recent meeting, we learned that a large employer has an

[36:18] opportunity for a 10,000 square foot expansion that could add production

[36:22] lines and additional jobs in Turlock. This organization has a corporate office

[36:26] out of state is in and is competing to have an additional investment at their

[36:30] Turlock facility. And being able to have a development incentive program like the

[36:34] Turlock development incentive program is an added benefit that we can that can

[36:38] add to help that large employer win that job.

[36:43] These incentive programs are prime examples of how it will bring wins to

[36:46] us. This will help attract projects in WISP and throughout Turlock. We met with

[36:50] another business that happens to be opening soon that needed assistance with

[36:54] their project and through collaboration, we coordinated a team meeting to help

[36:58] that business find a path forward. This is an example of business concierge

[37:02] priority that is called out in this implementation plan. Instead of

[37:05] businesses being stuck or not understanding a path forward, acting as

[37:09] a business concierge will assist our economic development efforts going

[37:12] forward. Another major focus is business attraction. And we're going all in on

[37:16] this one. The city manager and I are committed to targeting recruitment

[37:19] meetings and conferences ICS uh to prospective businesses uh outside

[37:26] of California to put Turlock in front of them. We've already had several

[37:30] discussions with high performing businesses considering Turlock for a

[37:33] location. We're speaking with large employers, potential sports users, and

[37:36] family entertainment venues. Sports and entertainment are massive economic

[37:40] drivers for communities, a magnet that pulls outside dollars and assists

[37:44] others, other local business such as hotels and shopping. The incentive

[37:48] program will help us get those business attraction wins as well. We're also

[37:52] meeting and strengthening partnerships with organizations in our community,

[37:56] including the Turlock Chamber, Santa Loss, Latino Chamber, Beam Circular,

[37:59] Opportunity Stannis Loss, and Volt Institute. and we're increasing

[38:03] engagement with developers, property owners, and commercial real estate

[38:06] brokers. We want to hear what's working, what isn't, and where we can move

[38:10] faster. The city manager and I have the developer roundt scheduled for early

[38:15] September to continue that conversation with our local realtors and developers.

[38:21] And finally, branding, communication, and marketing are important components

[38:25] of economic development. Our economic development and communications team

[38:28] continues to do a great job highlighting Turlock businesses, community events,

[38:33] and opportunities. And we're seeing strong engagement across all our social

[38:36] media platforms. We're stringing we're seeing strong participation in the

[38:40] Turlock partnership incentive program with economic development, planning, and

[38:44] building staff working together to promote that program as businesses come

[38:47] to the counter. It's really helping us get more wins for that program. Looking

[38:51] ahead, we're going to market Turlock more aggressively. We're going to think

[38:54] outside the box. Working with our city manager, our PIO and communication staff

[38:58] are exploring targeted advertising, commercial real estate and development

[39:02] publications, geo fencing campaigns, and other strategies to put Turlock in front

[39:07] of the businesses, developers, and investors, maybe even advertisements in

[39:11] Bay Area sports team publications. There's a lot of momentum around

[39:15] economic development in Turlock right now with our new city manager economic

[39:18] development experience, energy and and how how we get to yes philosophy. I

[39:23] believe we have an opportunity to build on that momentum and take our efforts to

[39:26] another level. And that philosophy aligns with this implementation plan. We

[39:30] want Turlock to compete for investment, respond when opportunities arise, work

[39:34] collaboratively to solve problems, and get projects across the finish line.

[39:39] This implementation plan gives us the playbook. Our job now is to execute,

[39:44] measure our results, remain flexible, and continue working together as one

[39:48] city team to bring investment, businesses, jobs, and economic

[39:52] opportunity to Turlock. So, with that, that kind of concludes my

[39:56] presentation. If there's further question, we can go into that, but I

[40:00] kind of wanted to give you guys a high level overview of what's going on and

[40:03] why it's happening and the momentum that we're building.

[40:06] » Questions for Mr. Simps? >> Great presentation. Thank you.

[40:10] » Very good. Okay. At this time, uh, we will have we'll open it to the public

[40:14] and ask the clerk to handle it.

[40:18] » Yes. So, we have no blue cards for this item. Um, if anyone joining remotely

[40:21] would like to speak, please raise your hand or press star 9 to indicate so.

[40:28] Seeing none, if when anyone in person would like to speak regarding this item,

[40:31] please come forward to the left turn. >> Seeing none, mayor. Okay, we're going to

[40:36] close public comment, but uh John Madden was on this somehow like the X's and O's

[40:40] all over the place. >> It's a playbook. We're ready to move.

[40:42] » Okay, >> if we got to call audible, we will.

[40:45] » Yeah. Um so, you know, no particular questions, but you know, thank you for

[40:49] really highlighting kind of where we're at, what we're doing. Um you know, in

[40:54] the implementation plan, like you said, I think there's what 35 different

[40:58] different items. Um, and I, you know, back in March when we were presented

[41:02] with sort of the overarching plan, I I think it was, I can speak for everybody

[41:06] that it was important to have like here's here's the order of what we're

[41:10] going to do. Um, and you know, one thing that I I'm not seeing in the plan that I

[41:15] would have wanted to see a little bit more is sort of like maybe a little bit

[41:19] more specific timelines on like, you know, a lot of things are listed as

[41:24] ongoing or in progress and, you know, having having some specific milestones.

[41:28] So we can come back at that date and say where are we at and and a little bit

[41:33] more of the the how like phase phase three year three is we're going to

[41:38] support housing development but I would like to see whatever comes through all

[41:43] of this collaboration and and you know really talking through departments. I

[41:47] want to see the specific policies come forth to us so we can really talk about

[41:51] how we can support what what is out there and what's needed in the

[41:55] community. Yes, sir.

[41:59] » So, I just want to say uh economic development will no longer be a just a

[42:04] department goal. I mean, we're all going to work towards it. If you look at all

[42:08] the directors over there and this the council, the community, we are all going

[42:13] to be part of this team. Uh this is not going to be driven by one person, one

[42:18] branch. We all got to roll up our sleeves and do this. So to your point um

[42:24] and and I think Anthony said it good in the beginning, economic development has

[42:28] to be flexible because today's opportunity may be gone, but we always

[42:34] have to be striving for tomorrow and and how to build what this council and this

[42:39] community needs. We don't have to chase every bright light out there. We have to

[42:44] pick what's right for Turlock and and our team's going to be behind that.

[42:50] Uh, with that I'll move to approve the this item. Second

[42:53] » with a motion and second. I'll call the role.

[42:55] » Council member Abram. Yes. >> Council member Bixel. Yes.

[42:57] » Vice Mayor Manz. Yes. >> Council member Phillips. Yes.

[42:59] » Mayor BL. >> Yes. Pass on 5 Z. Thank you, Mr. Sims.

[43:03] All right. The next one is approving an agreement with St. Francis Electric for

[43:07] traffic signal and and street light prevention, maintenance, and repair

[43:10] services for five years. Mr. Fisher. >> Back again.

[43:21] too soon. >> No, no, no.

[43:25] » This item um tonight before you is requesting a 5-year agreement with St.

[43:29] Francis Electric for traffic signal and street light maintenance repair services

[43:33] in the amount not to exceed 2.5 million. Um just a little bit of background. The

[43:38] city maintains about 100 traffic 102 traffic signals and uh rapid uh flashing

[43:43] beacon locations along with associated controllers uh detection system, battery

[43:47] backups, pedestrian equipment, um and street light infrastructure. These are

[43:51] all critical components um of our of our transportation system and um hopefully

[43:55] you know we can we can demonstrate tonight like what we've done with the

[43:58] previous contract and and get you swayed to to approve this one. So, under our

[44:02] current contract, um, we've been able to do more than simply just respond, um, to

[44:06] when a signal has a problem. Um, we've really taken a proactive approach on our

[44:09] maintenance. We've looked at our entire system. We've looked at all of our

[44:13] inspection records and we've we've prioritized all of the the suggestions

[44:17] or the information. We've replaced all of the aging battery backup systems. So,

[44:21] when our, you know, our power goes out, you know, our street lights aren't dark.

[44:25] Um, fail detection loops. That means that

[44:28] when you pull up to, you know, you and you stage, um, it detects it detects the

[44:32] cars in there and it it changes the light appropriately and it prioritizes

[44:35] those things failed. You won't necessarily know. You're just going to

[44:38] wait a little bit longer. You know, for instance, when I first started here in

[44:42] city tour lock, my my distance from my house to to church on Sunday was 17

[44:47] minutes. It's now 12. Um, so there's a big improvement. Now, have we got areas?

[44:52] » No. [laughter]

[44:55] » Sorry. haven't asked, sir.

[44:58] » So, you know, it's it's a combination of all the little

[45:02] things, you know, and then, you know, and we got far enough ahead on the on

[45:06] the the deferred maintenance so we could start making improvements for safety and

[45:09] visibility. So, you see our new our new uh street signs, you know, replacing the

[45:13] ones that have been damaged by wind many decades ago where you can't unfadable,

[45:17] then putting, you know, the signal tape around there and repainting so they

[45:20] really stand out, right? And like that really helps some of the newer vehicles

[45:24] that have detection, you know, and be and be more safer. Now when the way I

[45:26] look at it is, you know, if we pre prevent one injury accident at one

[45:30] intersection, like the money's well spent. I mean, it's just it's absolutely

[45:33] incredible. I mean, not only from, you know, people having a bad day to, you

[45:37] know, to all the time invest spending on on mitigating some of those things. For

[45:42] this RFP, we went out um and we went out for competitive bid process. Um we you

[45:48] know propos all all the proposals were evaluated on qualification staffing

[45:51] methodology and emergency response capability pricing and re you know and

[45:55] references and following that St. Francis simply was just the the best

[45:59] one. So under the new proposed agreement sorry sticky fingers

[46:07] um we made some changes to the scope. Um, previously it was more just

[46:10] responding um and going out and fixing things. You know, we we've made some

[46:13] changes to include all of um any changes that we want to make to make safety

[46:18] improvements. So, if we want to change, for instance, in front of them, you

[46:21] know, the the junior high to put countdown signal heads for pedestrians,

[46:25] we can do that with this new contract, you know, and we could use utilize those

[46:28] existing assets in other locations that maybe don't need that. Um,

[46:33] so this current contract is basically the same contract. Now, if you remember

[46:37] when I first started back in 2022, we came back to the council and I asked for

[46:41] for more money because like I looked at that, you know, our system and I said,

[46:44] "This is simply isn't enough for what we want to do." You know, when we looked at

[46:47] it and we said, "Okay, I think this is the amount of work that we can do um

[46:50] given, you know, our budget, you know, our budget year." So, we we proved that

[46:55] was accurate. We made a lot of improvements and we're looking for the

[46:58] next phase of of making this this better. So, um obviously the actual

[47:03] expenditures will vary. Um this is a not to exceed amount if we find a place

[47:06] where you know we're we're meeting we won't spend the money but um this is all

[47:09] funded through um fund 219 which is contract services signalization um we

[47:15] recommend that you approve this agreement um and it really the goal uh

[47:19] for me is just have a safe reliable system that is keeps traffic moving and

[47:24] it makes efficiency because it makes all of our lives better. And again it's it's

[47:27] so hard to explain the things that we fix that like we don't notice but we

[47:30] only notice when we're sitting there waiting at a light because it doesn't

[47:33] go. So, be happy to answer any questions. Yeah.

[47:36] » Is it true the ants were eating some of the

[47:40] » Oh, yeah. Regis, that's a thing. That was I didn't believe it. I had to go out

[47:43] there and look at it myself. But yeah, it was absolutely true.

[47:46] » So, the ants eat like >> they ate the insulation off the wiring

[47:49] which cause intermittent shorts during fog events. Yeah.

[47:53] » Who knew? >> Yeah.

[47:54] » Who knew? >> Question for director.

[47:58] » Okay. Um for that then I will open the public comment and ask the city clerk to

[48:02] facilitate the public comment. >> We have no blue speaker cards. If anyone

[48:06] joining remotely would like to speak, please raise your hand or press star 9

[48:10] to indicate. Seeing none any if anyone in person

[48:16] would like to speak regarding this item, please come forward to lect turn.

[48:20] » Seeing none, mayor. >> All right, then I will be closing the

[48:22] public comment. >> Move to approve 9B.

[48:25] » Second. >> Motion in a second. Will you call the

[48:27] role, please? >> Council member Abram. Yes. Council

[48:28] member Bixel. Yes. >> Vice Mayor Manz.

[48:30] » Council member Phillips. Yes. Mayor >> Back. Yes. Passes on 5-0. Thank you,

[48:34] Director Fischer. >> Okay. This is the time set aside for the

[48:37] general public participation and we'll ask the city clerk to facilitate the

[48:41] public comment. This is opportunity for members of public to address the city

[48:44] council on matters that are not on tonight's agenda and are within the

[48:47] council's subject matter jurisdiction. Each speaker will have up to three

[48:50] minutes and the total time allotted for general public participation is 30

[48:54] minutes. Madam clerk, >> we have a total of seven speaker cards.

[48:58] We'll begin with the first five speaker cards and then we'll move to our remote

[49:01] speakers and then coming back to address the remainder of the blue cards. So the

[49:05] first blue speaker is Maddie S. If you can please come forward to the lect

[49:09] turn. >> Yep. Over there.

[49:13] » Hold that microphone down, sweetheart, so you can reach it. There you go.

[49:23] Hi, my name is Maddie, which you probably already know, and I'm here

[49:27] because I think that kids, too. I have three ideas that I think I

[49:32] could that I think could make our community a better place for kids.

[49:36] First, create a kids cleanup turlock community day where the community

[49:40] gathers together to help clean. It would be great to have free or inexpensive

[49:46] sports art programs, movie night, game night, and community events. Chillock

[49:52] does not currently offer any ongoing completely free self-defense class for

[49:57] kids. So, it would be great to have one so kids can learn to be safe.

[50:02] » Thank you.

[50:08] » We have Haley Cooper.

[50:14] Only speakers with sashes get to speak tonight.

[50:16] » Yes. >> Good evening, council mayor. My name is

[50:21] Haley Cooper. I am 12 years old. What [snorts] I love about Turlock is the

[50:26] farmers market and meeting new people and communities. I also love to attend

[50:31] them with my family and I love holiday parades to see what our community could

[50:35] do and come together.

[50:39] » [applause] >> Thank you.

[50:42] We have Audrey Nelson.

[51:04] » Hi, my name is Audrey Nelson. And thank you for the people that are

[51:11] here today. And I love Turlock.

[51:27] » My favorite thing about Turlock is

[51:34] the fair.

[51:42] Thank you.

[51:47] » Next speaker is Millie Clawson.

[52:02] » Hello, my name is Lily. One of my favorite things about Sherlock

[52:08] is that they brought the melon festival back. One,

[52:13] I really like the parks, too. My favorite park is Crane Park. Thank you

[52:17] for your time.

[52:20] [applause]

[52:23] Next speaker is Melissa Lopez.

[52:35] All right. Can you hear me? Okay. Okay. Uh, good evening. My name is Melissa

[52:38] Lopez and there was two comments I wanted to make. Firstly was one that was

[52:42] already brought up, the sidewalks. Um, myself and other community members on I

[52:47] don't know directions that side of town. Um, really appreciate that sidewalks

[52:52] were put in where there was like more like dirt patch. It makes it look nicer.

[52:55] It's safer. So, we really appreciate that and just wanted to say that. The

[52:58] second thing was um about two years ago uh Self-Help Enterprises came in and

[53:04] built I think 24 homes here in Turlock. And I think that was a really great

[53:07] thing that you guys did it uh really fast. You did the inspections really

[53:11] quick. And as someone that personally benefit benefited from that, um it was

[53:14] really great that you guys did that. So, thank you for your time.

[53:22] Okay, we'll move to our remote speakers before coming back to the blue cards.

[53:26] Um, if you are joining remotely and would like to speak, please raise your

[53:29] hand or press star nine. We do have our first speaker is Ramon Rodriguez. Please

[53:34] go ahead and speak.

[53:38] » Can everyone hear me? >> We can hear you. Yes.

[53:42] Uh anyways, my uh suggestions for to see Turlock grow is since California's uh

[53:53] home to many marathons and half marathons, I think we should have half

[53:58] marathons in marics here in Turlock because you imagine having a

[54:05] marathon and half marathon in Turlock. It will bring it will put Turlock on the

[54:10] map as long as uh being on a list of cities that host marathons and half

[54:15] marathons because we all know Turlock loves the sports. We have great high

[54:20] school and college sport programs. Everyone knows about this all and since

[54:26] uh we can have it, it could be either one year, two years or maybe someday.

[54:31] But hopefully I would love to see a half marathon and marathon because if you do

[54:37] allow it, it will bring a lot of recognition. It will bring many visitors

[54:43] to know where Turlock is and also it means new economic opportunities because

[54:50] who might know a visitor from Bay Area or Southern California or elsewhere if

[54:56] they see Turlock being hey this town's nice we I could open up my business or

[55:01] expand operations. That's a chance right there. So

[55:07] we have everything. We have the Christmas parade, the Fourth of July

[55:10] parade, the melon carnival, the farmers market, the the market. That's

[55:16] everything that Turlock has. The only thing Turlock needs is a half marathon,

[55:20] a marathon, and that could be a huge multiplier effect for our community as

[55:25] well as our economic uh engine because we know Turlock is

[55:30] growing. So if we want to do that, we should consider looking into having a

[55:36] such an events like a half marathon marathon because every city has these

[55:42] events. It's a great huge booster for our economy.

[55:47] You should look at it too.

[55:55] » Ramon, I believe you've muted yourself. >> Oh, sorry.

[56:00] » There you go. Anyways,

[56:03] having a half marathon and a marathon in Turlock is going to be a huge game

[56:07] booster on the on our community. It will bring a lot of change. It'll bring a lot

[56:13] of community pride. Also, a lot of opportunities for to grow our economy.

[56:18] So, we could look at it and I hope you look at it too because Turlock needs to

[56:23] be on the map all over California. Thank you.

[56:28] » Thank you. We have no further online. Um, so next person is Candace Bills.

[56:44] » Hi. I know you guys all know who I am. So, I think that I wouldn't have been so

[56:48] pissed off last week if our little business arrangement hadn't started off

[56:53] on lies. So, I spent weeks calling the city departments, uh, the building

[56:57] department, code enforcement, trying to get some things set up, um, an

[57:01] inspection of something. And I was told that that wasn't something that existed

[57:04] in the city of Turlock, that you didn't have a code enforcement. You didn't have

[57:08] a building inspection department. So, whoever answers your phone for both of

[57:12] those departments lied to me. It took an email to get the ball rolling. And then

[57:17] you finally got you finally started to listen to me little bit. And then when I

[57:23] asked you to correct your mistakes on the thing because you had it you had um

[57:27] a structural flood listed as a pl a plumbing leak. I said, "Ah, actually

[57:32] that's factually incorrect. It was a flood structural flood. Water came out

[57:37] at the baseboards. I thought a pipe broke. That's not a plumbing leak. That

[57:41] is a flood. Please correct it." Ghost it. Cool. And then there was another

[57:46] time that um when the inspection did happen, it was 4 days late. no problem

[57:50] there because you guys uh said it was fine. Um and and when it was supposedly

[57:55] looked into, uh the city uh manager didn't look into it himself like he

[57:59] said. He passed it on to somebody else who said it was within the time frame,

[58:03] which I'm sorry, but 28 comes after 24. I thought could be wrong but um anyway

[58:09] so that happened and then when I called him out on that on the fact the you know

[58:14] factual like all the inadequacies and all the inaccuracies on his report

[58:19] ghosted again no response like okay well that's fun and so then by the time I did

[58:24] get a response it was past the 10 days so then there was no appeal process so I

[58:28] come here and then I'm told to appeal how it's already past the 10 days and

[58:33] everybody knows it so that was done. So, I dealt with that and then I get told

[58:38] that everything's going to get looked into and it's not. And then last week, I

[58:42] realized that if this might be a racial thing, I said because I'm a black girl

[58:46] with cancer and you guys are trying to sweep me under the rug, but you're so

[58:49] quick to remove a car for someone who is of the white race. And so I just don't

[58:55] think that I'm that there's some there's some racial disparities here because

[58:59] I've been begging for your guys' help for months, weeks, whatever. And

[59:05] nothing. You guys are telling me that 28 is like nothing you guys are telling me

[59:10] makes sense. Nothing. And then you guys are scrambling to like, oh, we're going

[59:14] to come fix it now. We're going to reopen your case based on new

[59:17] information. I'm like, what new information? It's been like this. And

[59:21] it's actually been a year. I tried so hard not to come to you guys. Tried so

[59:25] hard because I knew it would meant penalties. I knew that there would be a

[59:29] problem for my landlord because you guys were supposed to be what's that word

[59:34] where you don't play favorites. You were supposed to be anti-good boys club and

[59:38] instead you went right in there with it and now hindsight's shown me that that's

[59:41] how it happened from the start because you guys would have given me a right.

[59:47] » The next speaker is Amora Maldonado.

[1:00:11] One, two, one, two, three.

[1:00:42] That's okay.

[1:00:56] We're gonna come back to you guys next time.

[1:01:03] » Amora, >> next time.

[1:01:05] » You are smart and beautiful. You come back next time and try again,

[1:01:09] sweetheart. It's okay. Thank you. [applause]

[1:01:19] Are there any speakers that would like to come up to lect turn? Go ahead.

[1:01:29] » Okay. I'm speaking uh unexpectedly tonight. I postponed addressing this

[1:01:34] council regarding the city's gross handling of public records requests, but

[1:01:38] I'm here due to highly unscrupulous interactions that occurred just hours

[1:01:44] ago. Your executive administration has

[1:01:47] descended into operational chaos, providing contradictory directives

[1:01:52] regarding my statutory right to appeal to the planning commission.

[1:01:56] The city manager claims I exhausted my administrative remedies in June, but on

[1:02:01] July 20th, I made an entirely new discovery. Building permit 25-1123

[1:02:08] is void by state law. A six-unit building must be handled as a commercial

[1:02:14] property and the city paid the state a fee based on a residential status rather

[1:02:20] than the mandated commercial status. I cannot tell the story in three

[1:02:25] minutes, but after the city manager sent a letter via certified mail dated July

[1:02:30] 29th, I realized that I had not exhausted local administrative remedies

[1:02:36] due to the explicit and exclusive language of both the planning commission

[1:02:41] and city council resolutions regarding my earlier appeals.

[1:02:46] Dr. Murphy emailed at 3:00 today to unilaterally shut me down. case closed.

[1:02:54] But 45 minutes later, Director Wernern emailed an entirely new appeal form that

[1:03:00] did not exist before today. Yet, it shows a revised date of yesterday. How

[1:03:06] convenient. And in the frantic rush, it cites on the new form a 2023 resolution

[1:03:13] for the appeal fee rather than the council's August 2025 fee schedule.

[1:03:18] I have to ask this council who is exactly in charge. The city manager

[1:03:24] tells a resident in writing, "The case is closed and no fees, no appeal will be

[1:03:28] accepted." Less than an hour later, a department director countermands him

[1:03:33] using a new backdated legally incompetent form. I would like to demand

[1:03:39] immediate intervention from the city attorney to clarify this administrative

[1:03:43] train wreck, but I don't know how she could not be part of the problem.

[1:03:50] You must be excited, mayor, to give your got you covered state of the city

[1:03:55] address on Thursday. But I am forced to constantly wonder

[1:04:01] what would have happened to my elderly mother if she had not had a legal agent

[1:04:06] to stand up to this genuinely unscrupulous administration.

[1:04:13] Is there anyone further that would like to speak? Please come forth.

[1:04:24] » Good evening. uh melt treewater. Do we adults and parents have a responsibility

[1:04:29] to our children, grandchildren, and descendants? We sure do because they

[1:04:33] can't plan for themselves because they're too young or they haven't been

[1:04:36] born yet. In an online vote two years ago, the residents of Turlock responded

[1:04:40] to a survey that they liked our small town. Our 73,000 residents is an ideal

[1:04:47] population for the city in this valley. Residents of Turlock, remember that

[1:04:51] anyone at this das can say almost anything they want. But that doesn't

[1:04:56] mean that what they say is good for the Turlock residents.

[1:04:59] If you're on your computer now, right now, please open up a new window on your

[1:05:04] computer. Go to the city website, city of turlock.org.

[1:05:08] Scroll down to the bottom and click on government. Then select the Turlock City

[1:05:13] Council and then select the picture of the mayor.

[1:05:17] We all know that there's an election coming up, but did you know that we

[1:05:20] Turlock residents are paying for the mayor's campaign literature? Here you

[1:05:25] will see a 1,700word campaign ad for the mayor. Having

[1:05:30] attended, having attended almost every council meeting in the past 12 years, I

[1:05:35] can guarantee you that some t staff time was spent on this campaign

[1:05:40] advertisement. Of course, it's uh got a lot of exaggerations and false

[1:05:45] statements in it, but research will help you find that out. This prepos this is

[1:05:51] preposterous. The residents of Turlock must not pay for the Turlock's campaign

[1:05:55] advertisement. Just check the two council members on

[1:05:59] the same page running for office. They don't have campaign advertisements on

[1:06:03] their Tur on the Turlock website. The other two candidates running for mayor

[1:06:07] do not have campaign advertisements on the city of Turlock website.

[1:06:11] This is a prime example of people seated this dis are falling short.

[1:06:17] Lastly, let me make you aware that we must not allow the data centers here in

[1:06:22] Turlock or Stannislas County. Data centers will suck up our water, eat up

[1:06:28] our electrical power, and pollute our city's air. Data center advocates are

[1:06:32] not concerned that we live in an area with the best farmland on Earth. The

[1:06:37] data center advocates are not concerned about what is best for our children, our

[1:06:43] grandchildren and descendants, but how much money that they can make.

[1:06:48] We must aggressively fight against data centers here in Turlock and in Stannis

[1:06:54] Los County. We must have an ordinance that will ban data centers here in the

[1:06:58] city of Turlock and all the rural areas of Stannislas County. A lot of work to

[1:07:03] do, but we've got to get this accomplished. We cannot have these

[1:07:07] terrible data centers in the central valley of California. Thank you.

[1:07:14] » Thank you. Would anyone else like to speak?

[1:07:17] Please. >> All right. Good evening, mayor, city

[1:07:20] council, all of our amazing leaders over here. Um, I probably should have gotten

[1:07:25] up and said what all our girls were going to be doing. I know that we I made

[1:07:28] sure that Mayor Amy had a text message about 25 minutes before we were coming

[1:07:32] in here, but when we did bring back in the Turlock Melon Carnival, we also

[1:07:36] brought back in the Turlock Melon Pageant. And for the first two years, we

[1:07:40] have done a pretty great job for that. But this year, we have changed our melon

[1:07:43] pageant um to be more of an ambassador program instead of just a beauty

[1:07:47] pageant, right? All of our all of our girls are amazing and beautiful, but we

[1:07:51] did think it was important to go ahead and start instilling in this next

[1:07:54] generation the importance of being civic-minded and being a strong leader

[1:08:00] who has honor, respect, and integrity in their community. So, the girls will be

[1:08:05] attending two city council meetings, this one and the other one will be on

[1:08:07] September 8th. So, I have notified you guys a little bit earlier. I'm so sorry

[1:08:11] about that. And part of it is that they do have to give up and they have to

[1:08:14] speak at just one of those meetings. So, a lot of our girls did a really great

[1:08:17] job not coming in here before and and jumping up there. So, just so you guys

[1:08:21] know, the girls in the sashes, that's what they're doing is they're actually

[1:08:23] practicing what it means to be civic-minded and be involved and learn

[1:08:27] how to make a difference. Um, the assignment was that they were to come

[1:08:30] here and they were to talk to you guys either about something they heard about

[1:08:32] during the meeting or to comment about something in Turlock that they're really

[1:08:36] proud of that you guys have done or something that they would like to see

[1:08:39] improved on. um all with being able to do that with respect and kindness

[1:08:44] because we get a lot more done with honey than we do with vinegar. Um so

[1:08:48] girls, I am really proud of you guys for coming up here and we are really proud

[1:08:51] of what's going on with the Turlock Melon Pageant. And then just a quick

[1:08:56] plug cuz I still have a a$124. I still got a dollar again a minute. Um, the

[1:09:02] Melon Carnival will be this September 19th and 20th, and all of our girls will

[1:09:06] be on stage on that Saturday, September 19th, to see who's going to be Miss

[1:09:11] Melon. Um, and our winners will actually have a legacy program that they're going

[1:09:16] to continue working on. So, anything that you guys need help with, they

[1:09:19] definitely want to be there for you guys. But also, as a group, they'll get

[1:09:22] together and they'll think of one item, one thing that they want to do to leave

[1:09:24] as a legacy for their reign in Turlock. could be something as simple as um

[1:09:30] fundraisers to get blankets for our shelters or planting a tree in one of

[1:09:34] the parks, figuring out how to get a bench somewhere. They'll figure out

[1:09:37] what's what's close to their heart and work on that together as a group of the

[1:09:40] reigning queens this year. So, we're very excited, very proud of them, and

[1:09:44] that is what our girls were doing up here with you guys today. So, thank you

[1:09:46] for your time.

[1:09:51] » Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to speak regarding public

[1:09:53] comment? Seeing none, mayor,

[1:10:01] » I'm closing public comment. Moving to the city manager reports and updates.

[1:10:06] » Good evening, council. Uh, a couple things. First, I just want to commend

[1:10:10] Chris. Chris, uh, it was great working with you side by side. Uh I remember

[1:10:16] watching some Turlock council meetings when you were actually in this chair or

[1:10:21] presentations you made and uh even in your comments today, you can tell you

[1:10:26] love this city, you love this organization, and it's been great to

[1:10:29] work and you'll always have a home here whenever you want to come back to the

[1:10:32] varsity team. All right. >> Oh, dang.

[1:10:36] » Um >> I've been honored. Uh this week I

[1:10:41] started my operation switch. So stopped working in the city hall and I got to

[1:10:44] work in 911 uh with the staff this week uh the other day. I guess it was

[1:10:50] yesterday. Feels like it was a week. It was I guess it was guess it's only

[1:10:53] Tuesday. So yesterday I worked a couple hours over there and you know what the

[1:10:58] police officer said earlier truly you know you you listen to some of the calls

[1:11:03] they take and what what's you know both fire and and police are dispatched to

[1:11:09] you never know uh as bad as a day you think you're having what you know they

[1:11:15] have to deal with sometimes. And then uh lastly uh this is a bad news good news

[1:11:22] story. I had my car towed uh last week and I had to take an Uber to my first

[1:11:29] meeting at 7 a.m. And uh when I explained that to the employees, I met

[1:11:33] with like 70 employees. Uh this is the type of organization you have. I left. I

[1:11:39] was trying to then call 911 to take care of, you know, what's going on and found

[1:11:43] out that the car was towed, but there were like five employees who came out

[1:11:49] and said, "Hey, sir, uh, what's your car look like?" Because we work all over the

[1:11:53] city, you know, where they're the maintenance team and, you know, we'll

[1:11:56] keep an eye out for your car. And I was just so touched that employees listened

[1:12:01] to my plight and decided take it upon themselves to come out and say, "Look,

[1:12:06] we're getting ready to drive out and start our day. But if we can help, we'll

[1:12:09] we'll put our eyes out there." So that's what you have. And that's why I'm so

[1:12:13] proud to work with this team and I understand why Chris was emotional

[1:12:16] because truly we have great employees that are just trying to just do a little

[1:12:21] bit to make our community better. So proud to be here.

[1:12:25] » Thank you. All right, council member comments,

[1:12:28] announcements, and or future items. Council member Raven,

[1:12:31] » uh, just briefly, I wanted to say, you know, welcome to all the young ladies

[1:12:34] that came out tonight and spoke. And, um, I'll look forward to seeing you

[1:12:37] again in in two weeks or however long it is. Um, I saw a couple of you are Girl

[1:12:42] Scouts and I saw a few of the daisies leave. So, I hope you're counting this

[1:12:45] for part of your Democracy for Daisies and Brownies because this is this is

[1:12:49] democracy and work. This is, you know, your government, the closest that you

[1:12:53] can get to it. So, welcome. I'm so glad you guys are getting involved.

[1:12:58] » I just want to give a shout out to Chris. Um, wish you absolutely, you

[1:13:02] know, the best. You will be missed. You're an absolute consumate pro and we

[1:13:07] thank you and welcome you back anytime. >> Um, first to our ladies, our young

[1:13:13] ladies, our ambassadors. I know some of you are going to be future leaders

[1:13:17] around here. And Miss Samora, I just want to tell you, don't be scared,

[1:13:22] sweetheart, at coming back to the next council meeting and speaking because

[1:13:26] we're all leaders up here in elected officials, but sometimes we get nervous,

[1:13:29] too. And it's and it's totally okay. So, we'll be looking forward to what you

[1:13:34] have to say at the next council meeting in September. And I wish all of you

[1:13:38] young ladies the best at becoming the next Miss Melon. I'm so glad that's

[1:13:42] back. Fisher. Oh, Fisher. three short years, Betty, but you've

[1:13:48] done some very, very heavy lifting around here at city hall. Um, and it

[1:13:53] didn't go unnoticed and it certainly doesn't go unappreciated. So, I'm going

[1:13:57] to piggyback what JJ said. When you want to come back to the varsity team, come

[1:14:00] on. Um, because you will be missed and you've done a lot in your very short

[1:14:04] stay here and we're very grateful. So, but we wish you well and we understand

[1:14:07] family commitments and families first and and we want the best for you and

[1:14:11] yours. So, thank you. The last thing I have, fire chief Serpa. Boy, you guys

[1:14:16] are killing it, man. I love it. Um, it's See, am I wrong to say all of our

[1:14:20] firefighters are home? >> Almost except one unit. Just one. Yeah.

[1:14:25] Okay. Um, well done. Very appreciated. Um, you guys are knocking it out of the

[1:14:30] park. Um, we thought we had a reported structure fire uh down on Lewis and all

[1:14:35] of our Turlock units were were tied up and MST showed up with a ladder truck

[1:14:40] and a whole company and five extra engines. I it's the support we have from

[1:14:44] you guys and the organization is amazing and we're grateful. So, thank you for

[1:14:48] that. >> Chris Fischer, we are going to miss you.

[1:14:52] Um, just the time I have spent with you. Um, I've learned a lot from you and just

[1:14:56] listening to your um, presentation. So, thank you for all that you have done uh

[1:15:00] while being here. Um like everybody else said, you are going to be missed. Um but

[1:15:03] I'm sure we'll see you around. And to all the young ladies, um everybody who

[1:15:08] spoke, you guys did an amazing job. I wish I had I was that brave when I was a

[1:15:12] kid. So, um I look forward to seeing you girls back uh in a couple weeks.

[1:15:18] » All right, Chris Fischer, you've got big shoes to fill. You you saved us on SRWA.

[1:15:24] you set it up for complete just wonderful situation now. It's it's

[1:15:30] amazing that what you've done while you've been here and you're always

[1:15:33] welcome back. Um to Captain Peno, thank you for all of your years of service

[1:15:39] that obviously law enforcement's close to my heart and uh I I get what he's

[1:15:44] saying. It's it's think about those people that are going out there every

[1:15:47] day still and taking those calls that are your worst day. And then uh loved

[1:15:52] hearing the the young voices, the the hope and the the dreams. Bring it you

[1:15:57] guys. That's what we need here. That's you guys are our future. So keep coming

[1:16:02] and you'll learn. You you'll get your voice. It'll be perfect. All right. We

[1:16:06] have close session room. >> Yes, we have two items. A conference

[1:16:10] with legal counsel anticipated litigation purs California government

[1:16:13] code 549569D21 case. And item B is conference with

[1:16:18] legal council existing litigation pursuant to government code 5495

[1:16:23] 9D1 one case people versus state of California versus the city of Turlock.

[1:16:28] At this time I will open up public comment for any items on the close

[1:16:32] session the two items that I just read. If anyone would like to come forward to

[1:16:35] the lect turn or if anyone is on the remote that would like to speak

[1:16:38] regarding this item please raise your hand.

[1:16:42] Seeing none, we'll close public comment. >> All right. And we will uh go to close

[1:16:46] session. Should there be anything to report out, we'll let you know. Thank

[1:16:49] you and be safe.

[1:28:11] All right, we're back.

[1:28:18] Three, four.

City Council Meeting

Agenda

Transcript