[0:00] Okay.

[0:05] It's called to order for the meeting. And to make a roll call. Thank you. Mayor Wu.

[0:19] Here. Mayor Pro Temtray-guards. Here. Council Member Kahulis. Here. Council Member Friedman.

[0:26] Here. Council Member Long. Here. Thank you. Thank you. So we have an item for discussion

[0:35] and review as the number one is the seniors and the modernization project manager and I have

[0:46] the staff. Thank you. Thank you Mayor Melissa Barcelo will provide information and we do have

[0:52] the PowerPoint for this as well. Thank you. Thank you, manager. Good evening Mayor Wu and

[1:00] City Council members. Thank you for being here this evening. Tonight we're

[1:06] going to be talking about a potential project. A in in staff's opinion a much

[1:13] needed approach and some attention to our senior center. We are calling it a

[1:18] senior center modernization project, but we will get into all of the details.

[1:32] We're

[1:33] As you all know, being residents of the City of Walnut and council members, the City of Walnut

[1:41] treats our senior center very much like a community center. It hosts our special events,

[1:47] it hosts our older adults programs, it hosts everything from dance classes to karate in the evening

[1:56] to Mountsack older adults classes, so we really do use our senior center as our community

[2:05] center. As such, it's over 30 years and has provided services for thousands of residents

[2:14] and individuals throughout the community. It does provide our daily recreation, our congregant

[2:20] meal program, health and wellness classes, special events, and lots of volunteer opportunities.

[2:28] Both community meetings, right, we've had city meetings in there, we've had county meetings,

[2:36] we've had election meetings, we've had all sorts of things.

[2:39] So as you imagine, after 20 years of continued use, many of the original interior finishes

[2:46] have reached the end of their useful life.

[2:49] Truly today, the need of our senior center is to help make the interior spaces reflect

[2:56] what we think we want to showcase to everybody who comes to our senior center and our community

[3:02] center. Modernizing these public spaces throughout

[3:05] the facility will improve functionality, accessibility, comfort, and overall experience for both

[3:14] for seniors and all community who uses the facility.

[3:19] Next slide.

[3:22] We are going to break up the facility into two separate phases

[3:29] conversationally speaking.

[3:30] The first one is going to be our most heavily used room

[3:36] in meeting with senior center and community services staff

[3:41] being a staff member in that facility.

[3:43] There's countless things going on all of the time, switching from bingo to lunch to

[3:49] karate, opening and closing the partitions, you know, as fast as we can, it's always

[3:56] in movement to provide a space for all of our programming.

[4:01] As such, we've, we have not only been really hard on our facility, but the dated finishings

[4:10] also show the age of the facility.

[4:12] What we're proposing is that we need to replace the flooring.

[4:16] We would hope with a more upscale would like finish.

[4:21] Refreshing our paint and wall finishes.

[4:24] Replacing lighting.

[4:27] Replacing and modernize our room partition system.

[4:30] So Jen and her staff don't have to run through

[4:33] and push the big partitions anymore.

[4:37] We'd like to update cabinets, countertops, and address the much needed storage in the facility.

[4:44] We'd like to find a home for all of our chairs that hang out along the wall.

[4:50] We want to improve the stage area with a more permanent integrated design

[4:55] and help us accommodate that additional storage.

[4:59] Additionally, we want to coordinate.

[5:00] He finishes for a cohesive upskill, but durable appearance. Next slide. We do want to focus on our stage. The picture on the left. These are purely conceptual. I wanted to show you the vision that staff has in the facility. They were amazing. They went and did site visits at other facilities to get ideas of ways that they could improve our own facility.

[5:32] So we took those inspiration photos and our own needs and kind of came up with some ideas

[5:39] of the direction we would like to move towards.

[5:42] As you can see in the photo on the left, it's a more integrated built-in stage,

[5:47] updated finishing behind it, or you look to the right, is that new storage area,

[5:54] so cutting off where there's piano and some other miscellaneous items,

[5:58] updating the stage and the floor to a more wood-like appearance and giving the

[6:05] overall room a refresh in the drywall and the paint to truly match the aesthetics

[6:10] and have a more updated look. The photo on the right shows you the other

[6:15] perspective of the room so you can see how we would like those changes to really

[6:21] tie the whole room together.

[6:25] Next slide.

[6:28] The second phase of our potential

[6:30] project would then be moving to help that look transition through the rest of the facility.

[6:37] We were all over at the senior senate right now, you've been there many times, and while staff

[6:44] in the facility and public work staff do an excellent job of trying to maintain the facility,

[6:50] it really doesn't have that warm welcoming feeling. We want to update the lobby and create a

[6:58] stronger first impression for everybody who walks through the doors.

[7:02] We propose to do that by replacing flooring through the primary public areas.

[7:06] We want to update from our existing carpet to a tile finish.

[7:12] We'd also like to modernize the reception desk for improved accessibility and staff functionality.

[7:19] I assume when you've walked in there ourselves have walked behind the desk, seniors do it time

[7:25] in a time and again.

[7:26] And so we want to just give ourselves, we want staff in the facility to feel more functional

[7:33] and help more defined look.

[7:37] We'd also like to cover those brick surfaces with drywall to give us a more updated and

[7:43] finished look.

[7:46] We'd also try hoping to add senior center and city branding as well as way finding signs

[7:52] throughout the facility.

[7:54] and create a community news wall with a digital display and organized flyer space.

[8:00] Most importantly, we want to update and refresh our furniture, lighting, paint, and supporting storage.

[8:08] Next slide.

[8:10] Once again, conceptual, not necessarily the direction that we're going,

[8:15] but we wanted to show you what that dry wall and paint in tile can do to the overall look of the facility.

[8:23] So we are hoping for a more modern, clean, bright, neutral look throughout the facility.

[8:32] The picture on the right shows just an idea of how we can free brand our senior center

[8:39] and showcase some more modern furniture and our front desk.

[8:45] We have a lot of things we would like to address in these areas and just wanted to show

[8:52] you what we think we can achieve.

[8:55] Next slide.

[8:57] Some additional enhancements that we've talked about briefly are that throughout the facility

[9:02] we would like to address all the cabinetry and countertop spaces.

[9:07] We would like to integrate that community kind of message board and flyer system to be

[9:13] something a little more substantial and currents in our technology.

[9:18] Lastly, the bane of my existence when I was a rec leader in that facility, our

[9:23] partitions have seen some age throughout the facility, so not only do we need to

[9:27] address them in our assembly room, but also in our side rooms or the other

[9:33] classrooms on the other side of the facility. Next slide.

[9:38] As you can see we're

[9:39] looking at a more updated countertop, a more updated cabinets throughout the

[9:46] facility, our community news board, to be some place we can truly showcase what's going

[9:52] on not only at the senior center, but throughout the city, and then the last photo is going

[9:58] to be what we think those.

[10:00] Partitions would look like if they were really given a clean and modern look, not only helping the functionality, but the aesthetics of the room.

[10:10] Lastly, next slide. We'd like to talk about what we think we wouldn't potentially need in a potential budget. The assembly room is in need of repair. We have looked at quotes and contractors to

[10:31] help us with the partitions. We have looked at drywall subcontractors. So really taking

[10:38] a pause and looking at the whole room and its entirety, we do think that we can do some

[10:44] amazing work with a million dollars. We would like to proceed with the highest use interior

[10:50] space because that really is the home of so many of our community events, our classes,

[10:58] are lunch program and really is where the heart of the senior center takes place.

[11:07] Currently we are proposing a general fund approach to this phase one.

[11:12] Phase two would then be the lobby in the side rooms or the rest of the finishing throughout the facility.

[11:20] We'd like to break it up into two phases so we're not just completely closing our senior center.

[11:26] staff, we met on Jen had some creative ideas of how do we move programming, re-invent where

[11:36] maybe our front desk is for a little while so that we can still provide some of those

[11:39] essential services while we would potentially be in construction.

[11:44] If we also broke it up into two phases not only could we start this timeline now but we could

[11:50] use that phase one to leverage that the city is committed to a final project and help leverage

[11:56] some additional funding if you'd like staff to go and seek some additional

[12:01] supplemental funding. I recommended approach is to initiate Phase 1 with

[12:06] General Fund and to leverage the completed project to support outside

[12:09] funding for Phase 2. Timing, as you can imagine a highly used facility, it's

[12:16] difficult when when do we close? When do we do? How do we be the least

[12:21] impactful to all the operations of the facility in talking with our community

[12:27] services manager and looking at the facility. They they've proposed the

[12:32] timeline that we could be the least impactful to their operations if we

[12:37] started an early spring in February. So we would like to start now so we could

[12:45] be in construction in February 2027 where all of the facility programming can be

[12:50] relocated to another facility or off-site somewhere.

[12:56] Next slide.

[13:00] This evening, staff is seeking direction on a scope,

[13:05] phasing, and the proposed funding for this potential project.

[13:10] More importantly, we're looking to see if you support

[13:12] the two phase modernization approach

[13:15] if we should proceed with phase one of the assembly room

[13:18] with general fund money.

[13:20] Okay. Talking about phase two of lobby and flooring and what the final funding plan would

[13:26] like to return to council. And then lastly, council's pleasure. Any alternatives, any

[13:31] questions that you might have? Staff's happy to address any of those, but we are looking

[13:36] for feedback.

[13:41] Thank you, Marisa. And also,

[13:48] any question?

[13:49] Yes, please. Thank you, Mayor. In terms of the phases, I know you mentioned early February

[13:56] that's when it would start. Do you have an estimate of what it would be completed?

[14:00] Good question. So in talking with some contractors, it really depends on what that final scope looks like, how big we need to go.

[14:07] We could be done in a little of six weeks. It could take 12 weeks. So it really depends on what that final scope is.

[14:13] We have expressed the need for an expedited timeline.

[14:17] So it kind of depends, unfortunately, but we're thinking between that six and 12 week mark.

[14:24] I don't want to thank you for bringing this up.

[14:30] I think we've had conversations before that this is a great project to bring to the

[14:40] residents to show them that we are passionate about bringing the best facilities that we

[14:46] can to our community.

[14:47] And like you said, this would be, I think you called it the stronger first impression, I think it's really important when we walk into the senior center that it is a strong impression. So I know we're all imbued with this great passion to make.

[15:00] Well, not just the best place possible, but I have a few questions. The sound system. Is that also part of an upgrade or is that separate cost? That has already been completed. One more time. That has already been completed. So staff is it? So we would be fine. Okay. Is there a drop-down screen? There is currently a drop-down screen in talking with staff. The second one would add an additional drop-down screen to the back of the stage.

[15:28] we have a current drop-down screen. We actually have two. This would add a third.

[15:33] Okay, great. And again, we were over there today celebrating Kim Wath's, but it is a situation

[15:40] where those brick walls and just it's very evident that it's dated and I think the city of Walnut

[15:46] deserves to have a center that is that they walk in and they're just like, wow, this represents

[15:52] So, I would also like to propose the idea potentially of, I know it's right now the City of Walnut Senior Center, I think we should look at potentially having a conversation about making it Walnut Community Center because of making it so updated and not changing anything for the seniors just making it community center so that all residents kind of feel like, hey, that's a place.

[16:17] And that's a discussion obviously that I don't know if it's in here we have that discussion or if it's another point that we have that discussion.

[16:27] I think depending on how the conversation turns out there's probably some potential future conversations.

[16:34] We can look into the history of the naming of the facility, the funding and what that might look like.

[16:39] We would definitely come back for a specific conversation.

[16:43] There was just some restrictions because I know when it was originally built wasn't there certain funding because it was supposed to be a senior center and open to around it.

[16:50] I'd have to check there was some proposition A funding through the county of Los Angeles that was received.

[16:56] We'd have to check into what that grant agreement looks like if there were naming restrictions if there were any use restrictions on times those things.

[17:06] So I will undoubtedly, I will look into all of that and bring back to see if it's feasible or not.

[17:15] I'm sorry, the scope of the study session are physical improvements, so it's fine to raise those issues, but it's really not on the agenda for discussion.

[17:25] So those are things Melissa and if she needs our help, we're happy to help look at and bring back.

[17:32] Yeah, I just have some follow-up questions like on councilmember Law said so so the timeline will be like February, I mean six to eight weeks, right? So where are we going to put those other activities?

[17:45] What are the current activities that's happening during that February timeline?

[17:48] Good question. I'm going to allow Jen to speak if she'd like to. We've had some initial conversations about what we could do with those facilities are those programs that happen on a continuous basis basis.

[18:02] But she has some good ideas of where we can move our lunch program. So I'll let her speak to that.

[18:06] This wouldn't affect the other side of the Senior Center, so a lot of the activities that

[18:11] happened during our lunch program and in the middle of the day when we do have reoccurring

[18:17] things going on in the assembly room, we would move to the other side and allow our social

[18:21] programs to be more in the morning and in the afternoon to accommodate our lunch program

[18:26] to move that there during the spring time around February to about early April.

[18:32] me is our spring session for Mountsack. So for that one's normally a little bit lower

[18:38] attended. I'm not sure why. I think just our seniors kind of tend to travel during time

[18:45] and just around the Easter holidays, they're gone for a while. So another option is having our

[18:53] healthy aging classes which are our most popular aerobics classes. Those can be moved to the gym.

[18:59] So that was an option that we were talking about as well.

[19:03] Okay, she's already reached out to our YWCA who offers our lunch in the facility to see how we can have like a mobile type program so we don't we're still continuing to feed our community is still continuing to feed our seniors.

[19:16] So some of those essential services, she has some great ideas of making sure that there's no impact to those.

[19:22] They might look a little different, they might, you know, go to a different location or be outside.

[19:29] I don't know, what will you will plan, but we are committed to making sure that there's no laps and services.

[19:34] Thank you. And another follow-up question regarding Council Member Fidma said, the projector, right, or drop down.

[19:45] Maybe you can check.

[19:46] There's a drop down DVLED.

[19:50] Just to see how much would it cost.

[19:51] But idea as the seniors see me walking through the facility in Jen and Rob and I all talking they get really excited, right?

[20:00] What's happening? And they have ideas. One of those things, I just so happen to come in on a bingo day and see what their program looks like. We would also explore opportunities to improve that. Can we get a new? Can we go away from a bingo board that I will no longer have a space for and do something more digital? We've also already talked with an AV contractor of how do we get the best AV quality without having any interruptions, right? We want someone to be able to stand in front of it comfortably.

[20:29] So we have started those conversations and rest assured we will explore those as soon as we possibly can if we are given a green light to bring back a final scope.

[20:41] We'll make sure we bring what a potential finished product will look like to count before we proceed.

[20:47] Yeah, so you mentioned we already upgraded our audio system.

[20:52] Maybe we can incorporate their video systems as well.

[20:55] The audio visual.

[20:56] That's a great idea.

[20:57] Yeah.

[20:57] Yeah, staff would be excited. Yes, seniors would be excited. We definitely think that's a good investment to a room that we maybe could open up the use for a little more broadly than we do currently is it.

[21:11] Yeah, very excited in this phase one. Hopefully we can push this through in February.

[21:19] I already think you've been to seven, that's it, Mayor.

[21:23] Thank you.

[21:24] Council member Low, do you have anything?

[21:26] Council member, that you got?

[21:28] I really like the stage improvement.

[21:30] Probably my most favorite one of the whole thing.

[21:33] Yeah, well, it's my most favorite,

[21:34] because you need to update that stage.

[21:36] So, yeah, I like the designs that you guys came up with

[21:39] and I call your work you done.

[21:42] Thank you.

[21:43] Thank you.

[21:43] So for me, it's a divisible room, right?

[21:48] Yes, so the divisible room will be in phase one correct the entire room would be in the entire assembly room, which is that large room we see on the easterly side of the building that would be phase one.

[22:03] Okay,

[22:06] just making sure because, you know, when you divide the wall, you need to have to, I mean, your vision system and your system should absolutely so we did counsel's counsel was

[22:18] is supportive enough as a staff that we were able to do an update to our AB system already

[22:28] to help with how we use that AB-type room front and back.

[22:32] So we've been able to put some investment in our current system, but once we take a pause

[22:38] and add other things, we'll make sure that we wrap it all together and that you work seamlessly.

[22:43] So we'll go over to that.

[22:44] Yeah, I know it's well, um, but you go, well, I mean, everyone wants to use our senior

[22:50] center.

[22:50] Everybody does and I think if we everybody wants to use, um, yes, the facility and if we

[22:59] do update it, I can imagine that those means and requests will only increase.

[23:05] Okay.

[23:06] Thank you.

[23:06] Yes. I have a question. We never have the renovation changing the carpet or anything. We never have the.

[23:16] The question we have changed the carpet one time. It's been.

[23:24] It's been maybe eight eightish years since we've done it. Maybe only six. It just really isn't the correct finish.

[23:33] type of flooring for how heavily that facility is used.

[23:38] We've tried carpet tiles to have staff be able to pop them out

[23:42] and replace them.

[23:43] The carpet gets cleaned every six months by a professional company.

[23:48] We just can't keep up.

[23:50] So that is why we're proposing to switch to a different finish.

[23:54] We really want to go to a tile, make it look more more updated,

[24:00] but also help us in that maintenance cost.

[24:03] Other than the carpet, I mean, anything upgraded?

[24:08] So instead of carpet, we would like to go to tile.

[24:12] I mean, before, before, hasn't it?

[24:14] No, it's only been carpet since the facility has been open.

[24:16] So they've flooded it.

[24:17] It's a full time.

[24:18] Yeah.

[24:19] So the entire building only carpet is being replaced.

[24:21] Inside of the assembly room, we do have an LVT type material.

[24:27] so you can see that's a little more high traffic. We also have that material that's in our back

[24:33] arts and crafts room. We redid that about, oh man, I did that project so maybe eight years ago or so

[24:42] and pulled it into our club room too as well. It does withhold traffic a little bit better,

[24:51] aesthetically pleasing. I don't necessarily think that it's the most aesthetic option, so we are

[24:58] hopeful that we can work with

[25:00] The vendor to show us some long lasting, high traffic solution. Every traffic. Yeah. But in that lobby, we really do want to have a tile. We want it to look. We want it to look nice. Okay. Hi. I'm kind of, yeah, this building has been 20 some more years. Well, I want to say appreciate this. The maintenance. It's been 20 some years because

[25:29] the commercial is always way until very, very quickly fast. I mean, so 20 some more years,

[25:39] the life cycle, I would say 20 some years life cycle for commercial is very good,

[25:46] and most of the very good maintenance and a very good user.

[25:52] Thank you. I will echo the citizen, the citizen, the resident, and then we'll come to use.

[25:58] they are very, very behave, very, very polite.

[26:02] Yeah, I wanted to give the credit to the staff

[26:06] and also the user.

[26:11] And I'm okay with the modification, modernization,

[26:18] the two-phase.

[26:21] But we're going to open a bit

[26:25] For the to look for the event or something good question. So with the million dollars of a project. There are different mechanisms that we can use that are our current city code allows for.

[26:40] So we will look into some different options. We want to prioritize not only timeline, but obviously be in the best interest of citizens dollars.

[26:49] So there are different ways that we can perform this work so because we're looking at our current code to see what's allowable.

[26:57] Because most of the scope of work here, it's very common. It's not specialties. Probably are you going to have a design? I've been interior designer too far.

[27:07] was it? Good question. We also so you can be a traditional approach to a facility would be you

[27:16] would have a designer come in and you would pay them to give you a scope. You would pay them to

[27:22] give you a bid document and then bid document then open bid for good and a better price and good

[27:29] quality then for another 20 years that time we are retired you know. Absolutely. There are other types

[27:36] of procurement tools that you can use that help you work directly with the source so it's either

[27:42] a sole source type vendor or a nationally bid type vendor. So there are different things

[27:48] that we can do. We'll definitely work with the attorney to make sure that we are dotting all

[27:53] of our eyes and crossing all of our teeth. But we have some ideas of how we can make sure that we are

[27:58] in construction in February okay and obviously will be in compliance with public

[28:05] contract code yes and then last one I I want to take a person member in the

[28:14] female and say the name well when we see Damien Barr city of Damien Barr

[28:19] they are done by center. And then maybe I'm kind of okay with the any more common name

[28:31] for everybody, for all the users. That would be, you know, sometimes like my mom, sometimes

[28:39] No, I said, hey, why don't you go for a senior send-out, oh, am I not, oh, yes, you know,

[28:46] it's, yeah, it's, yeah, it's, yeah, it's, I'm, I'm, I'm okay.

[28:51] I can't hear that, and we will look into all of the documents and the funding to make sure

[28:55] that if it is feasible, and then we will agenda for a future discussion, absolutely.

[29:01] Yeah, thank you, so any question or comment?

[29:04] Yes, we may. Thank you.

[29:06] Not to scare the city attorney, but I also am very much looking forward to the research that you guys will do in terms of naming.

[29:16] In terms of the assembly room, I am looking at the images and I know it's three stairs up.

[29:23] In terms of accessibility, do we have another way to get on stage?

[29:27] current is more accessible. Absolutely, absolutely. So we do want to make sure that our facility is completely compliant.

[29:35] Right now we do have a ramp in the back of our stage. Our stage is more of a temporary modular type setup.

[29:42] You've all been on there. And we need staff would like some additional storage.

[29:50] So we want to take that space from the existing ramp because we are accessible and use it for storage.

[29:57] We don't want to be inaccessible.

[30:00] We are looking at putting in a lift in the backside. So if you look at that rendering behind those double doors, the right hand side, you'll be access to a lift, which will keep us compliant. Okay. Glad to hear that. Thank you. And just really thank you for presenting. I think our community really loves our facilities and anything we can do to improve our infrastructure. I really appreciate. Thank you. Thank you.

[30:28] on the community news board. So that would be outside the the welcome center where it says,

[30:36] you know, welcome to the city of Walnut, where it is right now, right? It does the current

[30:41] one you're saying that is after enhancements still looks a little dated to me. Like, could

[30:45] we do a digital board there as well? I just feel like we're we're trying to modernize it,

[30:52] but you're bringing it potentially back to a lot of pamphlets.

[30:55] Absolutely.

[30:56] So our senior population loves the flyer, right?

[30:59] Well, I get that.

[31:01] I want to point out that that middle portion is a screen.

[31:04] Oh, is it?

[31:05] I really can't.

[31:06] I apologize.

[31:07] I couldn't tell.

[31:08] So that's good.

[31:10] That is currently working on incorporating a big television screen

[31:13] in that space.

[31:14] We like that.

[31:15] We want to go digital.

[31:16] So I apologize.

[31:17] My renderings are, you know, not the best.

[31:20] That's fine.

[31:20] I didn't want to invest too much into this, but that is digital.

[31:25] And flyers have a purpose, I understand that.

[31:27] But as we look potentially down to the, to however many, 10 to 20 years, I would like

[31:33] to consider what would be an alternate use to all of those cubbies that may not have flyers

[31:37] in them eventually.

[31:39] But that's stand out.

[31:40] You know, again, as long as there's a, that middle part just didn't look that way to me.

[31:44] So it doesn't.

[31:45] I'm hearing not feedback, but I rest assured that's, it is the digital display.

[31:49] But I hear you, we can look at that as we refine the scope.

[31:55] Yes, yes, please.

[31:56] Actually, I noticed that as well.

[32:00] I should have pointed like, hey, features.

[32:03] Yeah, I'll take that feedback.

[32:04] That's it.

[32:06] That would be in phase two.

[32:07] Yeah, because it's located in the lobby.

[32:09] The other two photos on that page would be during phase one.

[32:12] We're more focused on phase one right now.

[32:15] We're wanting to talk about phase two as well.

[32:17] So we are focused on phase one, but we're happy to discuss either of those phases.

[32:23] We're looking at some feedback of how quickly council would like to go, what approach

[32:28] we'd like to take to funding, where council's pleasure, we're looking for some direction.

[32:35] Yeah, and just thank you for your presentation, it looks really good, but how about funding?

[32:42] Are we okay with the funding?

[32:44] So funding we are proposing to use general fund reserves for phase one and then phase two would be council's pleasure.

[32:52] We either fund that with general fund reserves as well or we get direction to seek alternate funding.

[33:00] If I may excuse me, the funding question ties in with the timing as well.

[33:08] The Council authorizes general fund use for phase one, we go.

[33:13] As we're doing that, I've already had conversations with certain elected official staff regarding

[33:20] our potential plans.

[33:21] I told them about this meeting tonight that we would follow up with them after this, because

[33:25] I just wanted to be respectful of the process and the council's feedback and direction.

[33:31] So really what we're looking at is if the council gives a green light, general fund phase one, we go.

[33:37] That doesn't mean we're not looking for funding, but what happens is that when we get bids and do all that, it's fully funded and we can go.

[33:44] As we do that, if there's some funding that's tied in because they ask, well, what is the city doing?

[33:51] We're already put a million dollars to half of this and we like you to help us finish finishing.

[33:56] That's a very easy way of putting it, but you know that's what the advantages of doing it that way.

[34:02] We are obviously going to wait for council to give us a proper feedback on it, but that's kind of what we're looking for is to see if we can go with phase one.

[34:11] And then as we go into phase two, hopefully by then we do have some money committed.

[34:15] Otherwise we would come to you to kind of give you an update.

[34:18] Hey, we got this pot of money. We're gonna have to go back to the general fund for another piece of it or however that works

[34:24] So that that's kind of the quick snapshot of so the the facelies or the budget it is fiscal year. No, no, that's what we're here to

[34:34] to talk about

[34:36] and then

[34:38] This year we are surprised for how many hundred thousand

[34:41] And last year, well, I'll let our finance director have.

[34:45] Yes, he's physical, yeah.

[34:47] Thank you, thank you, Tom.

[34:49] Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the city council.

[34:51] This fiscal year, we have not finalized our numbers yet,

[34:54] because it just ended on June 30th.

[34:56] So our financial reporting process lags several months.

[35:00] As a lot of our revenues are received on a cruel basis rather than a cash basis. So staff is currently engaged in the financial preparation process for that. And we should have a number for usage, probably within the next month or so. Are you talking about 25, 26? Yes, sir.

[35:30] We we have a budget. Yes, we do.

[35:34] This question is what's the surplus in the budget? Oh, I'm sorry.

[35:37] The surplus in the budget. I apologize. It's about $200,000, $100,200,000.

[35:43] Why is it $200,000? That's correct. That could go way up or it could stay there

[35:48] or it could go down to. Yes, it's correct. Just budget. Just focus. Yes.

[35:53] And being through the being that we're only two months into the fiscal year,

[35:57] It's a little bit too early for us to tell whether that's going to pan out or whether that's going to be better

[36:02] You know our track record is very strong and bringing the community surpluses, but

[36:08] Through the finance director's credit. We always have to be guarded and not assume that you know something's around the corner that

[36:15] Does it I will remind the council in our reserves?

[36:19] We are clear of 40 million and our reserves have gone up over 30% over the last 36 months

[36:25] last fiscal year for sure we we have a surprise just don't know how much the

[36:30] surprise right we don't know that information yet sir the previous fiscal year so the

[36:34] fiscal year that ended on June 30th of 2025 we had a surplus I'm sorry we had a

[36:40] general fund reserve of about 41.7 million dollars so this project for

[36:45] instance would be funded by money from that 41.7 million dollars okay one thing I

[36:52] want to touch on that thank you Tom for bringing this up is staff are always looking for grants right

[36:58] we have two million dollars it's been awarded for to Minting Center and I do want to point out the

[37:02] fact that we haven't talked about that project just quite yet reason being is it's federally funded

[37:07] so not only do we have to make sure that that gets to us but then there's a lengthy agreement

[37:13] process there are a lot of different requirements for those types of funds amazing that we got them

[37:19] I'm happy to go through all of that,

[37:22] but it's a different timeline

[37:23] than we're looking at for this project.

[37:25] So, we will continue to look for all of the opportunities.

[37:28] If we're not doing it for this project,

[37:31] we are going to continue for other projects

[37:33] to help alleviate the impact on general fund going forward.

[37:40] I also did hear our city messenger say,

[37:44] 40 million in reserves.

[37:46] And I think we have to remember that,

[37:47] even though we're so proud of the surplus every single year,

[37:51] and that is always what we're shooting for.

[37:53] The city has saved and saved and saved.

[37:56] So I feel like the residents who have saved for a rainy day,

[38:01] this is putting back into the city.

[38:04] And I'm really, I'm supporting this, using general funds if needed.

[38:13] How much is our unfunded pension liability?

[38:17] are unfunded mentioned liability in total is about $10 million.

[38:21] Annually, we pay about $1 million to the to CalPERS for a UL.

[38:31] I mean, so are we looking, sorry mayor, I guess, are we looking then to put this onto an agenda for approval then?

[38:38] Or are we looking for a, we're potentially in agreement to move forward on a phase?

[38:45] So staff would like to expedite this as fast as possible if we're hearing a

[38:50] consensus this evening, we are going to quickly do some finalizing of a scope to bring back

[38:56] a final project ready to approve. It will come to Council. That's good direction. I was, yeah,

[39:05] I'm okay to go further, staff go further to come out with more precise, not precise,

[39:13] more better estimate see how much money I mean really needed for this this

[39:20] two-phase I mean if you if you want to go for the interior designer to design

[39:27] and then with the design I mean with the building document that's I mean I'm

[39:35] okay that way then we know how much money we're really going to spend and then

[39:41] And then by that time maybe we already have the first quarter and then we probably know

[39:49] how much money we're spending. I mean how much money we were getting I mean this fiscal year.

[40:00] I, I, I'm still hoping of this fiscal year we have suppressed, you know, yes. That's for me, you know. I do. Reason we're asking about a budget now, right, is that we want to make sure that we don't bring something to council that's not in line with what your initial expectations were, we are not going to be. We're going to be as frugal and responsible of this budget as possible while making sure that all the current

[40:29] needs are addressed. We are not going to be frivolous in the things that we pick. We're

[40:35] going to focus on functionality, durability, long-term use of this facility, but it's very different

[40:43] if I were to come and bring you a $500,000 scope to a million dollar scope. I wouldn't be able to do

[40:50] as much, right? So I wanted to be able to work into what that potential cost could be. Am I going to

[40:58] try to reduce those costs? Absolutely, absolutely. I'm going to try to get the most we can with that

[41:04] budget and be as responsible as we can. But I do want to know where comfortable in that range

[41:13] of a million dollars.

[41:17] Thank you. And also in terms of going forward and looking at not just phase

[41:22] one but also face two. Do we have an estimate of when we want that to occur after phase one?

[41:31] Are we thinking at certain time not to impact the the senior center or are we thinking in terms of

[41:39] when the legislature meets to try and see what grants or funding is available?

[41:45] Depends on feedback from council. If I have

[41:49] instruction to use general fund money, that time line is going to be much, much faster

[41:57] than if we were going to be seeking additional funding.

[42:02] I do have a funding request ready.

[42:05] You know, we, Tom has already seen one and provided it to our local officials.

[42:10] We are always asking, we are always looking.

[42:13] We've gotten $2 million for Jim and Senior.

[42:15] at 1.2 million dollars for this versus Ampark, so we are always looking at ways to really alleviate

[42:21] that general fund, but with these grants come just different timelines. We think that this

[42:29] community center, or this senior center, I apologize, is a way for us to show that we have

[42:36] invested in our facilities ourselves, right, and that just like Tom was saying is that if we do get

[42:42] that direction from council, we can leverage that we funded a million dollars of phase one.

[42:47] We are truly committing to offer a phenomenal facility not only to wallet residents but to

[42:53] the community and the region at large. That definitely makes our request a lot stronger.

[43:00] Absolutely, thank you. In terms of what my colleagues think looking towards phase two to have that

[43:07] conversation now if it's not too premature. I would love to have our other elected official

[43:13] support us in this venture to modernize Walnut thoughts. I also am in support of modernizing

[43:25] this facility and also when it comes back to Council I would like the information about

[43:30] name change possibility. One quick thing and there's not

[43:36] something staff typically does, we take orders from the community and the council, but in this case,

[43:41] when we, if and when we do and to go into phase two, we would like the council to be actively involved

[43:46] as well because there are some officials that have not given us money. Some have, some have not

[43:52] elected, and it's probably time for them to focus on the cities that are financially responsible with

[44:00] taxpayer money and help those cities continue to do good things instead of, you know, other cities

[44:06] that may be just raised taxes and are in deficits and they go help them which they need help too.

[44:10] We're not saying they don't but we would we would ask the council to engage as well

[44:16] because yeah we want to keep our general fund robust and strong but this is a situation where

[44:21] yeah we will use general fund money if the council agrees for the first phase and then the second

[44:26] phase have a portion of it if not a good chunk of it be paid through other means.

[44:33] Yeah, sure, definitely. We're a long support for the phase two.

[44:40] For me, I'm phase one. We can proceed phase one, allowing construction to begin the

[44:45] February 5th, 2027, that will be great.

[44:49] And I want to thank the also Council member, Linda Feedman's, if ever we can now.

[44:55] We will talk about the name of the future date, absolutely.

[44:57] would be.

[44:58] Well, so let me invite you guys.

[45:01] I'm just curious why we're feeling this is so urgent, the urgency that I'm hearing here. Why does staff feel this is so urgent? Good question. So in talking about how do we find that gap in a low in programming, so to speak of a highly utilized facility, no time is a good time, but February is the best time. So if we don't start now and we want to do February 20, 28, we've now postponed this project for a whole year.

[45:32] So, we think that, to be the least impactful, our preference is that February timely.

[45:39] That's the reason we brought it today.

[45:41] I think we probably need to hear from the oral communications probably, but the people

[45:47] in the public.

[45:48] Okay.

[45:49] Let's start the, let's move on to the oral communication, any person would like to address any

[46:16] I don't remember anyone coming through my community saying, well, we're thinking about

[46:31] We had a real problem with doing COVID feed and seniors, so it looks like another tobacco.

[46:36] What are you going to do in all the furniture that we have in different parts of the unit?

[46:42] I mean the senior center, what are you going to do it on the chairs, the desk, the center, where are you going to hide those?

[46:48] Now I'm going to ask a question, I'm going to listen.

[46:53] If you can just address the council, Mr. Harrison, and any follow-up that the council can provide, we can do that.

[46:59] And if we have to have a follow-up meeting, that's one and two terms of getting public input and I'm meeting up your time

[47:05] I don't want to eat up your time. We'll stop that and restart it

[47:07] But in terms of public input, this is the beginning process of it

[47:11] That's why we have a study session and there could be no official decision made other than just

[47:16] Feedback from the council for us to know how to proceed and then there'll be

[47:20] Publicly noticed council meetings about it because obviously it's a lot of money

[47:24] But if ultimately the the community doesn't want it of course, you know

[47:28] the staff's listening and council will.

[47:31] It was public health and we know the fact about this.

[47:34] I mean, it just came up.

[47:35] No one's come to the public to say,

[47:37] do we want to do this, do we not want to do this.

[47:39] I'm in favor of the floors, the painting, what have you.

[47:43] I know that when you do a project like this,

[47:47] yours have cost over one.

[47:48] It's not going to come out of million dollars.

[47:50] That's absurd.

[47:52] Then going out to the public asking for money,

[47:54] you may get that.

[47:55] But a third-year-old building is not that old a building.

[47:59] Do we make good use of it?

[48:02] Yes, we do.

[48:03] But it's not used as much as one would think.

[48:06] I come here, like two or three times a week, and it's never made.

[48:10] The crowd has ever seen it was right now, with Kim leaving.

[48:13] Other than that, it's sparsely used.

[48:16] But again, like I said, my whole object and the object and this is, it's not that old.

[48:24] We have not gone out to the community to see if they want to spend the money or did they want to remodel you say staff does it?

[48:31] So I don't know how staff came up with the idea of remodeling that particular building, if you go remodel that one, then you're going to turn around and say if we need to remodel this one, too, up the road.

[48:42] And if indeed you're going to do that, you must have been doing both at the same time or just back to back to back.

[48:48] Again, I'm more concerned with the seniors being fed because we really did a terrible

[48:54] job with that.

[48:55] As she's talking about moving them into several places, etc., these are the seniors they

[48:59] can get around like that.

[49:02] Storage, facilities, things that we have, chairs, tables, etc., what we're going to do with

[49:07] that.

[49:07] They have the most important.

[49:09] It's not the money.

[49:10] I take fluorine.

[49:11] We're really going to use fluorine in these paintings, but you look like you're trying to

[49:14] make a Taj Mahal, Taj Mahal out of the seniors, center there.

[49:20] So again, I would hope that you reach out to the public to find out if what they want,

[49:24] not just simply coming up with these ideas.

[49:30] Thank you.

[49:32] Mr. Warren, did they get back with me?

[49:34] Someone will get back to me on these questions, I guess.

[49:37] I'll be happy to be with you anytime you'd like, Mr. Harrison.

[49:40] I'll be back with me.

[49:40] And no, I'll be with you myself.

[49:43] That's probably the best.

[49:44] And we can talk it, talk it over, and I'll certainly, you know, we'll make sure this process

[49:50] remains open and transparent, because as you said, it is important to have it that way.

[49:56] Hello.

[49:57] My name is Vijay.

[49:58] I'm sure you guys know me.

[50:00] I have a few comments and questions here. I'd like to say you're born very well. I really love the place. But we are talking about two points. I don't know how much million hours to do this renovation. Every time I've spoken to the city staff, I've been told that we don't have any money in the budget for this. Anything we ask for. But all of a sudden, we find 2.5 million hours

[50:29] for this project, which is kind of, I don't understand the process you have, okay?

[50:36] Alpha said, and they find the money, when they want to do something, really, they find the money.

[50:42] But when people ask for something, there is no money, there is no value.

[50:46] So that's kind of, and I don't understand the process.

[50:50] And I hope, I wish, some of you can explain me, what is the process?

[50:55] Well, I often said that we found two and a half million dollars surplus, as I think

[51:01] after prevention was 200,000 dollars last year or so, not a whole lot. Am I right? I don't know.

[51:07] Very little surplus. And now, we have found two million dollars to spend. There is something

[51:14] I wish. You guys, somebody can answer me that question. Another question I have is senior center itself.

[51:22] Wow, it's a beautiful place, it is as old as this place here.

[51:29] Why don't we don't know where this place is also, if you didn't know where it's in your

[51:31] center?

[51:33] I mean, look at that, I'm looking at all our picture, why do we know it only one and not

[51:38] the other?

[51:39] You don't know where both of them take 5 million dollars and do it, why not?

[51:44] But we are selecting only a certain area which you spend money on.

[51:51] The question I have, and I have no answer for that, I don't know, Melissa, I have an answer for that.

[51:57] How many Walnut residents, how many Walnut residents actually use a senior facility?

[52:07] You cannot answer it, or?

[52:09] Mr. Rickield, if you'd like to meet with us after, we can try to answer all of those questions.

[52:15] There's not been one penny committed to this project, not one cent.

[52:19] That's what we're here discussing.

[52:21] There's nothing that's been committed to this.

[52:23] So, you know, we have a budget process, we have a funding process.

[52:27] That's why we're here.

[52:28] But if you have specific questions regarding how many people use the facility, we can get

[52:33] all that for you and we'll have that to you promptly.

[52:34] Because it is a good question.

[52:35] Okay.

[52:36] Can we go back and find out as to how many residents?

[52:38] I'm happy to meet with you, get all your questions answered, Mr. Harrison.

[52:42] I think needs clarification on some things.

[52:44] We're happy to do that.

[52:45] That's why we're here.

[52:46] Absolutely.

[52:47] Okay.

[52:50] Another thing, I think William mentioned that too about public input.

[52:57] If you go to a senior center, why don't you ask senior the question, what do you want

[53:03] to see, rather than somebody sitting in this big office decide what needs to be done?

[53:09] I think we need to have public input, there's nothing wrong with that.

[53:14] I know it's a big project and then you start with two minutes, I'm sorry, I'm thinking

[53:17] a little bit more time, but you're talking about $2 billion here. Trust me, when the project

[53:23] you're over is going to be $2.5 million. Okay? That's the way it goes. Okay? Thank you.

[53:30] Thank you. Any, any present in the Zoom? I'm going to say anything.

[53:39] There's no email. No one via Zoom. No via Zoom. Okay. No email, no via Zoom. Okay.

[53:47] All right, now close to the oral communication and do we have any consent on anything today?

[54:03] No, just a study session.

[54:05] Okay, all right, thank you.

[54:07] I would have one last comment, Mary-Woo.

[54:10] Just in terms of communication with staff, if we do go forward with trying to acquire grant funding,

[54:17] I am absolutely supportive of that and will absolutely be advocating for Walnut.

[54:22] Thank you.

[54:23] Councilmember Law, I already have a funding request sitting here with me.

[54:27] I'll be able to distribute that after.

[54:31] I will second that as well, that we will as part of the use of our elected officials to also

[54:38] what we can or do diligence to meet with our elected surrounding officials.

[54:45] Yeah, okay, I've been doing that ever since yeah, hopefully we get something

[54:51] All right, so other than now if we we only have five minutes for for next meeting. It's the journey

[55:00] We'll be back, 7 p.m., thank you.

Study Session - Aug 26th, 2026

Transcript