We're ready. >> good evening. I will now call this meeting to order.
time is 6:00 p.m. Madam clerk, can we please have the roll call? >> mayor medina.
>> here. >> mayor pro tem saldana. >> here. >> council member martinez. >> here.
>> council member raya. >> here. >> council member reyna. >> I'm here. >> all members are present.
>> thank you. If you can, please stand for the flag salute. The salute pledge.
I
please remain standing. Is there anybody in the audience that would like to lead us in in vocation?
if not, we'll observe a moment of silence.
thank you.
we'll move on to item number 5, approval of agenda.
are there any changes to the agenda? >> none. Thank you.
>> with that, I would like to intent a motion for approval of agenda.
>> moved. >> I will second. Madam clerk, I'm getting the [overlapping] mr. Martinez.
>> do either of you have an agenda for me? [inaudible]. >> yeah, would you like one?
>> I don't have one. I just realized. [overlapping] >> let me put one up here.
>> thank you. >> yeah. The there's one right here or no.
that's a different one. That's a different. >> thank you. Motion by mr. Martinez, seconded by myself.
madam clerk, we get the vote by roll call. >> mayor medina? >> aye. Mayor pro tem saldana. >> aye.
>> council member martinez. >> aye. >> council member raya. >> aye. >> council member reyna.
>> aye. >> motion by council member martinez, seconded by mayor medina to approve the agenda as to form.
motion is unanimous approved. >> thank you. We'll move on to item number seven,
public comments on items not on the agenda. This portion of the meeting of chair for persons desiring to address the council,
including the council acting as the governing board for the successor agency on any matter not
on this agenda or which the council and successor agency have jurisdiction.
speakers limited to two minutes, and maximum of 30 minutes will be allowed for any one subject.
please state your name for the record before making your presentation. Brown act requirements that brown act does not allow
action or discussion on items not of the agenda. Subject to narrow exceptions,
this will limit a council members response to questions and request during this comment period.
are there any public comments? Please come up and state your name for the record, please?
>> push the button. >> there's a button on the mice? Yes. Yeah. There you go. Yeah.
>> good evening, honorable mayor and city council members.
my name is nicole vilarose. I'm the local government affairs representative from pg&e.
you may have recognized my name from the emails that I send you regarding storm updates or emergencies or outages.
I just came in to say, hello. I'm trying to make it to all the city council meetings in my division.
I barely made it to this one because my son had an art show at five o'clock.
but I'm grateful that I'm here. I meet with your city manager, scott,
and staff pretty frequently. Scott knows where to find me when he needs something,
but I give my local government affairs updates with him, but I wanted to say hello to the council and to the mayor
to let you know that I am available via email,
phone call, text, if you have any questions regarding pg&e, I'm just doing my due diligence and seeing you guys at
city council meetings and let you know that I'm here for you. If you need anything that comes up,
I'm going to leave my card and information with monica and yolanda here.
monica, who so graciously took my call today. Thank you. You have an amazing staff,
and I'm very thankful for them for always answering my questions and emails that I wanted to say hello to you guys tonight. Thank you. That's all.
>> thank you, nicole. Your name does seem familiar, so it's good to put a face to a name.
yeah. Well, thanks for being here.
are there any other public comments? None, madam clerk. Do we have any email comments?
>> yes, mayor. I'll go ahead and read that now. You all each have a copy?
>> yes. >> hello. My name is tania cordova.
I have been a wasco resident for most of my life and have seen wasco evolve into the city it is today.
I am here today to speak about the street of wasco and some concerns.
I live on the corner of rosewood avenue, and ninth place, close to baker park.
ninth place is a very busy street because it heads directly towards palm avenue middle school.
I'm here to address concerns about speeding cars on this street and see if the city can have
a stop sign placed on the corner of maple avenue and ninth place to help prevent some of the speeding.
I also have another concern with the corners of
popular avenue and 11th street directly next to the old veterans hall.
cars usually speed through popular avenue headed west and/or east.
I've physically seen it with my own eyes because my 10-year-old son attends wonderful college prep academy in lost hills,
and the bus stop is on 11th street next to the vets hall.
sometimes he has had to walk home and cross popular headed west to get home.
I have lost count of the times that he's informed me that he almost got
run over due to cars not stopping at all for pedestrians.
it seems like a stop sign also needs to be placed on this intersection.
I have called the city before and expressed these concerns and was informed that there was a study being performed on this issue,
but who knows how long the study has been going on for now. I just wanted to say my piece and inform you of the situation at hand.
if something ends up happening to a child at dislocations, knowing that this is an ongoing issue,
it will be in the hands of the city and is it is now documented in this meeting. Thank you.
>> thank you, madam clerk. Are there any other email comments?
>> there are no other email comments, mayor.
>> thank you. We'll move on to item number 10, public safety reports, item 10a,
kern county fire department. I don't see chief appleton. We'll move on to item 10b, wasco police department.
>> good evening, honorable mayor and council members. I'll be presenting the public safety report for this meeting. Please keep in mind.
these numbers cover the period from october 1st through october 15th.
it might be off a little bit. So far this month, we had a total of 806 incidents.
out of those 485 were called for service,
and 321 were officer-initiated activities. On average, our department handles 1600-1700 total incidents each month,
and we're on track to stay within that range again this month.
on the enforcement sides, our officers have conducted 157 traffic stops and issued 56 citations from those stops.
we've made 33 arrests so far for this month and handled 77 cases,
45 of which were criminal in nature. We've also responded to nine traffic collisions.
there were four stolen vehicle reports and our officers recovered one stolen vehicle during this time.
in terms of the community engagement, our officers continued to stay active in making
21 positive contacts with our community members this month. We recently held our national night out event.
it was a great success. A lot of the community members came out and had fun and showed their support.
I want to thank everyone who helped and participated in making the event possible.
that concludes my report. If anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to answer them.
>> thank you. Any questions from the members? >> no questions. Thank you.
>> seeing none. Thank you. >> thank you. Continue to do a great job, sorry, lieutenant.
>> thank you. Thank you, sir. >> I believe we have a pal presentation.
>> yes. I'll invite our pal director, diana garcia.
>> thank you. I did a little powerpoint.
it's here to give a little stats on pal and how the program going up-to-date.
it's a quick powerpoint just to give information on what pal is,
a quick mission and vision of pal, and then our moment stats.
then to talk a little bit about volunteers and then community events that you participate in.
the program has been open for the third month, I believe.
just a quick explanation of what the wasco pal is.
the pal boxing program is a juvenile crime prevention program that uses sports,
academics, and recreational activity to foster relationships between law enforcement and youth.
the program is used to build self-confidence and self-esteem, make healthy lifestyle choices,
enhance teamwork and leadership skills, develop good character, and give back to the community.
it's a little bit small, but the mission and vision and values of pal.
the mission is dedicated to building positive relations between law enforcement and the youth in our community.
the pal vision is to create a safe and supportive environment where youth can develop leadership skills,
build character, and foster trust with law enforcement. The values that we work on in ceiling on the youth is teamwork,
integrity, growth, excellence, and respect. Those words spell out tiger.
enrollment stats; currently there is 90 youth enrollments,
ages 11 to 17, currently in the program. Average attendance varies, but it's 25-30 kids a day.
we have seven volunteers, and three of the volunteers are the boxing coaches.
a little background on the three coaches.
one is our own officer, wasco police officer talavera.
he volunteers his time and trains the kids. Our local member is carlos pieto,
and a coach that comes from bakers, his name is mario vega.
those are the three that do the coaching specifically for boxing for the youth.
then community events and activities. We're big on community events,
having the kids be part of the community and activities not only to give back to the community,
but again, it reinforces personal development.
like I always say, there are future leaders, so there are pipeline to maybe the future on one of those seats.
the community events that they participated in.
the first one was in september; was a rose parade. That was the first activity that the pal youth participated in.
they handed out a rose, I don't know if you guys got to see,
but they passing out roses mainly to the other community youth around the route,
and they had a message of saying no to fentanyl; give the awareness of that.
they did get the first trophy for pal.
they got third place, so that was our first pal trophy. Very proud of it. [laughter]
>> the first one of many to come. >> yes. This is the first one, but it was really fun for the kids.
we see that they enjoyed it. They really did get involved with the community.
we were really really happy. They did a really good job with that.
the second was a national night out.
also, they helped setting up. They helped the vendors assist in getting their stuff out of the car.
wherever they were needed, there were a group of kids. I believe they helped put the hot dogs together.
yeah. Move water. Wherever they were able to help, they were there.
it was a really good outcome of having them there.
this past saturday, they were part also of the community cleanup.
photos there too. They did really good.
those are the ones that they've done so far.
just a little informational of what's been going on at the at the pal.
we partnered up with the boys and girls club.
they serve as a sponsor for the usda meal program.
starting, I believe it was, the first week of october,
they started getting supper meals from 3:30-4:30.
every day they get a meal, and it's a full meal.
not just snacks. It's a full meal. They've been getting that on a daily basis.
then we are also partnered up with kern medical and kern family healthcare for the mobile clinic.
they did get a new mobile vehicle. They park once a month at the pal facility and provide services to the community.
we've been using them mainly for the physicals. But every time they've been coming in,
they get quite a bit of of responses. There's times where they stop people because they run out of time,
but it's been a success too. But that's what we parted up with.
>> that's my update on pal. If you guys have any questions that
we might be able to answer for you, you're more than welcome to. >> thank you. Any questions or comments from the members, mayor pro tem saldana?
>> I have no question, then. Thank you for presentation. >> thank you. >> doing a good job.
>> member martinez. >> you guys are doing great. I think at our last meeting, I think the number of enrollments was like 70, and now it's up to 90,
so you guys are still growing, and it's just going to continue to grow,
and we're going to eventually have to find another building for you guys or something. >> thank you.
>> but you guys are doing awesome. I've heard nothing but good things, and it's happened here that we got our first trophy,
so keep up the good work. >> member raya. >> I wish there was this program when I was youth here in wasco.
I see the youth there having fun. What I like about it is, I go constantly there.
the atmosphere is real discipline, cultures already set up.
everybody picks up after themselves. Everybody works as a team.
they're very respectful. I don't hear no cursing, no anything after they spar.
I love it when they hug each other. They give high five, and then afterwards, they talk about hey, man, you should do this.
I was getting you with this. We get you with this punch, so they're coaching each other. It's like a family, a team and those activities that
you do outside that pal building through the community, it just helped build that bond more.
you guys are doing a great job. The night out, I loved it because I saw the pal kids running around, helping out.
I saw the police officers talking to people, walking down in the community.
that's just going to build more trust with the officers, and the kids get to see that,
and like you said, those kids are our future leaders. Keep up the great work, [inaudible].
>> thank you. >>> member reyna. >> you're doing an outstanding job,
and I congratulate you for it. You're creating the future good citizens of wasco. That's what you're doing.
many of these kids, if they're not involved with a pal, might be out on the streets,
getting into trouble, so it's wonderful to see that you're growing the membership as well.
I wanted to ask you, you mentioned that you partner up with the boys club of america,
I think you said, and that you're providing meals for the kids 3 30-4:30 or something to that effect.
are you seeing more children attend because of this offerings of meals?
are you seeing an increased attendance because of it? >> it has.
they come in once they see the personnel come even from the boys and girls club,
they already know they're going to get something to eat.
I had a couple actually that they want to leave early because they're hungry, they want to go home and eat,
or so this keeps them there, and they know as they come, they're going to get.
even if they don't like the full meal, they at least eat the fruit, something else on it in the bag, so it does.
it's helped a lot. Like, what we say, we don't know if that's
the only thing they're even going to have to eat this afternoon, or a lot of the parents are working, they get home late,
so at least that's something in between until they get home or their parents get home,
or maybe that's their last meal of the day. For us, it's been a real positive impact to have that for them.
>> you've made the point that I wanted to make, that you may be serving a meal that these kids would not otherwise get.
I'm really happy to see that you're doing that and that it's being successful.
we have kids that otherwise would go hungry, but you're feeding them,
and they don't have to go home and maybe be out on the streets when they could eat there.
thank you so much. Thank you for what you're doing. >> I'll label that is, you've definitely hit the ground running for being three months,
definitely fulfilling the purpose of the program. It's doing exactly what it was meant to do,
keeping our youth engaged, keeping them busy,
and really teaching them how to engage with the community, not just with themselves and the boxing deal,
but really the whole parade interacting with the community, really building those future leaders.
keep up the good work. Three months seems like you guys have already done a lot,
and I'm sure you guys will do a lot more. Keep up the great work,
and like mr. Martinez said, hopefully, at some point, we have the problem where we need a bigger building.
because it's a good problem to have. Keep up the good work. Thank you. >> thank you.
>> with that, we'll move on to city council business, number 11.
the consent calendar consists of items that are routine and non-controversial in the staff's opinion.
these items are approved in one motion unless a council member or member of the public requests the removal of a particular item.
this evening, we have items 11a-11e.
at this time, I would like to ask the members if they have a conflict of interest on a particular item on the consent calendar.
mayor pro tem saldana? >> I have none >> member martinez. >> no conflict. >> member raya?
>> none. >> member reyna? >> no conflict, mayor.
>> I have no conflict. Is there anyone in the audience who would like to remove item? Seeing none. Are there any council members who would
like to remove items? Mayor pro tem saldana? >> I have none. >> member martinez? >> nothing, sir.
>> member raya? >> none. >> member reyna? >> I have a question for staff, mayor, if I may.
we're approving the minutes of october 7 on this agenda,
and I don't see it on the items listed. Am I missing it?
>> it's item b. >> item b. >> october 7. >> yes. It's staring at me.
[laughter] >> you might have noticed that I took
these glasses off and put this ones on and then took these ones off. I can't see with any of those.
>> I'm glad we didn't forget. [laughter].
>> in any case, as I read the agenda, I did find some issues with it,
and I want to point them out. On page 14 of the agenda,
and that is where the october 7, 2025 minutes, under new business item b, c,
and d, list mayor medina and me is absent,
and we were both here. On those votes, it shows the other members voting,
but it shows us as being absent. Then on page 16,
item 18, under the closed session minutes for september 16,
the closed session action lists me as the one making the motion to approve the minutes,
and it then lists me as absent on the vote.
>> we can get that correct. >> I think I know how this happens.
somebody is working on it, and then they got to something else, and it didn't get that.
then also page 17, these items b, c, and d again.
those are duplicate of the previous page.
I just wanted to make those corrections.
>> the second repeating of b, c, and d, that's our normal format.
that's the reportable action, and each line item is has its own reportable action bullet.
>> then that may be my misunderstanding.
but just take a look at it. Because if it's wrong, it needs to be correct.
>> I believe we can approve with the corrections to attendance.
>> I would move to approve the consent calendar with this correction.
>> with the stated corrections. >> yeah. >> okay. >> would that work?
>> I believe so. >> with that, we have a motion.
I will second. Madam clerk can get [inaudible]. >> sorry. Who motion?
>> mr. Reyna. >> mr. Reyna. >> okay. >> with the noted changes?
>> yes. Mayor medina? >> aye. >> mayor pro tem saldana.
>> aye. >> council member martinez? >> aye. >> council member raya. >> aye. >>council member reyna.
>> aye. >> motion by council member reyna, seconded by mayor medina,
to approve the consent calendar with the changes to the october 7 agenda minutes,
with the changes to be followed. Motion is unanimously approved.
>> thank you. We'll move on to item 14.
new business. We got item 14a receive and file the community development quarterly report information only. Ms. Cobb.
>> yes, honorable mayor, and members of the council. In the past, the council has requested updates on
development projects that are happening in town or in the pipeline somewhere. That's what this report attempts to provide information on,
and scott, correct me if I'm wrong. This will be the one time that we do it orally on the agenda,
otherwise, in the future, it'll just go on consent for you to read through, and of course, if you have any questions,
I'm always available to answer. I won't read it to you, but just as a general reminder,
the city doesn't own commercial property. We don't build commercial projects typically.
we act as both a regulator and a facilitator for projects and businesses that
want to come to the city because they believe they can have a successful business here.
there are several steps to the development process. It's a fairly complicated process, particularly in california.
I've tried to group the projects based on where they stand in the process.
from planning approval only, to plan check, to under construction, or fully permitted.
all of the projects you see listed there fall into one of those categories or to the recently completed projects.
there's also a map attached that shows you where each of those projects is located in town by address,
and I'm happy to answer any questions. >> thank you, ms. Cobb.
are there any public comments at this time? Seeing none, any comments from the members, mayor pro tem saldana.
>> I have none. >> member martinez? >> I really like this because I got blindsided by the wing stop going in.
[laughter] the people that that wasn't true. >> it's true.
>> I think that was more than one. >> thank you. >> I like this.
>> member raya. >> none. >> member reyna? >> just a suggestion.
as we know, the fact that somebody is planning to open a business doesn't necessarily mean that they will open the business in wasco.
maybe there should be some clarification
at the bottom of the page that states if it's plan, doesn't mean it's coming necessarily.
because unless they pull a permit, if I understand it correctly, they could fall off at any one time, am I correct, kerry?
>> that's outlined in that second paragraph there, the 1, 2, 3, and 4 under planning approval.
I've indicated that they may or may not proceed to the next phase. They have a planning approval,
but it may or may not move on. I've tried to clarify that in each phase that really until a building permit is pulled and paid for,
that's where I think you can be fairly confident that the project is coming.
but occasionally, we'll see projects that go through entitlements, get their planning entitlements,
and then for one reason or another, they decide not to proceed.
>> we will still get people that will say that this is coming regardless of your clarification there, but sure.
at least if it's there, we can point out to. It may not happen. Thank you.
I missed it. [laughter]
>> I'm with mr. Martinez on this one. This is something that's valuable for us because we get asked all the time.
I'm on the same boat as him. [laughter] somebody asked me the day before that sign went up.
I was like, not that I know of. I said no. [laughter]
>> you wouldn't necessarily, because there's a process that's in place,
and it comes through our department, and we move it through the process, and we respond back and forth.
but I'm happy to keep this updated. We'll do it quarterly and always, if you have questions, feel free to give me a call or send me an e-mail and all.
>> no, I think this is good. There's obviously a lot of projects going on. There's a lot of things that have sort of been stagnant.
having some insight as to why, I think it's helpful. >> sure. >> I think that's valuable for all of us. Thank you for that.
>> good. >> if I can add two things. One is the projects can
drop out even after they've paid and gotten a permit. Things happen.
the other is that there are certain stages of exploration that
we don't just by practice published publicly.
they're still an exploratory stage, they may not have completed a transaction to acquire property yet,
and posting too early can affect those deals. We're pretty careful about making these deals public
until there is actually official paperwork filed.
bear in mind, and those aren't always air-tight activities going on.
there may be buzz out there in the community because someone has leaked
information that we can't verify,
confirm, or deny. >> yes. Add to that,
certain businesses that are exploring to come here appreciate the fact that we don't divulge that information because that,
as you mentioned, puts them at a disadvantage. >> correct.
>> I think it was also suggested that if something significant changes between the quarterly reports,
certainly we'll bring those to you in the form of the city manager announcement or something like that,
and try to fill those gaps between the quarterly reports. >> I imagine that e-mail would be possible as well.
>> sure. >> I think that's really all we're asking for. Thank you.
>> okay. >> with that, we move on to item.
>> thank you, kerry. >> I guess we need to receiving.
with that election 10 motion to receive and file.
>> for item b? >> for item 10a. >> that's just informational, isn't it?
>> yeah. >> we don't need to. Got you.
well, good with that one. Thank you. We move to item 14b.
I receive and file city of wasco homeless outreach quarterly report. Information only.
>> very similar to the last report, and we did one of these last quarter.
this will be the last one, though, that we'll do. As a presentation, we'll provide a report on the consent calendar going forward,
unless you have any specific questions, but this time around,
hang on to that right there.
we continue to work as a team. The service acceptance statistic report is what's in your agenda packet.
that gives you an idea of the increase in the acceptance rate of services.
what we're seeing out in the field is that people are gaining trust, and they're seeing us repeatedly learning
that we mean what we say and we're there to provide services and help.
we're seeing a bit of an uptake in the acceptance rate.
they're either accepting services or hiding from us. [laughter] it's one or the other at this point.
we continue the weekly street outreaches, that we talked about last time on wednesdays.
continuing to work if you go back one monica or maybe even two.
these are some of the partner agencies we're working with. Tonight, I have both mandy here,
and a couple of representatives from be finally free. They've been really consistent in being here with us on wednesdays.
as we go, I'll give them a chance to talk a little bit about some of our particular cases we've been working on.
you might recognize some of these faces.
mayor medina was out for one of our wednesday street outreaches.
these are also code compliance. Flood has been really consistent with us on wednesdays as well.
[laughter] go ahead. Teen challenge continues to be a good partner.
we've referred several folks to teen challenge. Some have stayed in the program, and some have not.
you'll see a theme as we go through, we talked about before,
success is not a straight line. We've got a lot of one thing that didn't work;
we'll try something else, but teen challenge continues to be a really great partner for us.
detox and sober living [inaudible].
this picture was in the last slideshow. I think it's [noise] august. Go ahead and move to the next slide.
that's the same individual from when we took her in to today.
>> [inaudible] this is [inaudible] from be finally free.
this is teresa. She's actually really hesitant to talk to that.
she was actually really short at first. This was last sunday, by the way,
the pink shirt, and this was her, not even three months ago. There's been a huge change not just in her appearance,
but in her demeanor when she's thinking there's more to life, it's friday.
it took a little winning over. She did have some pushback against. She had trust issues.
we've been able to talk to her weekly, making sure she's doing okay.
one of the teachers from the parenting class is here as well, and she's actually had interactions with her,
and she says she's the one who's participating and encouraging the members.
that's what we're trying to do here. It might not be a million people,
but one person out of 10 works. >> siama has done a great job of following up with some
of our folks that we've been able to find services for. She does a really great job of following up
with them to make sure that they have what they need and they're doing okay. See what's next.
this individual, and I will let siama talk about this, too. This was nearly 3or 6 weeks ago.
we approached him out on the street towards the end of wednesday outreach,
looking for help, and siama and vlad were able to get him into tommy's legacy, and he's doing really well.
>> he's doing phenomenal. From the day that he went in to now, he's at the altar.
he's just leading. He could have taken some time off when he went into press his body,
but he burned out the very next day, and he was actually working. He got to go to that at the end of 25,
the retreat with all the gentlemen he was there with. I haven't been able to go because he's in
an interment program and they don't really read likely how people put.
he's doing phenomenal. I am planning to attend church here in
the next two weeks so that I can just research based and remind him that we're still here.
even once he's done with tommy's legacy that he's more than,
wanting to come and reach out to me. He is always going to have that support system.
>> flood is also bringing out on wednesdays, bringing showers out.
they're set up next to frew baptist church on seventh street.
that's become a central location.
people who show up there, we offer services to try to get them, what they need, housed,
or into a program. That seems to have been successful.
support of services. These individuals are in one place or another.
we're working with them to get vital documents. In particular, the individual on the far right,
well may you talk a little bit about how he came to us three weeks ago,
maybe four weeks ago, came to the office looking for mandy, looking for help.
he's somebody that mandy's had contact with weekly basis. We're still working with him to get some documents in place.
>> this individual, he wants to live a sober life.
he wants to help, he wants the resources, but he's very self-aware of his addiction and what that withdrawal.
he did come to the office. He wanted us to help him.
[inaudible] and we drove him down, city serf, where he was able to do a night detox.
he knows he needs to detox from alcohol, but he's scared to do it alone.
he wants to be watched in case of an emergency. He made it through the night, made it to the challenge,
which was his the next day, but was still going through withdrawal.
next, he did leave, but his next step is to get recertified medical benefits,
so that you can transition into a medical detox where you can be washed in a medical facility during that condition.
I do believe that it will be someone. It's going to be very successful.
>> that gives you an idea that sometimes it doesn't work.
we got to a pretty group and rethought what the next step is. It's a bit of that as well.
apartment hunting. We've been out looking for
housing for one individual in particular for quite a while now, and we're still working on it.
as you might expect, it's a more complicated process, than that.
that thing is never very easy. But following up and following through
and having this individual check in with mandy as often as possible to see what the status of dates is. Apartment hunting.
>> yeah. She comes to us. We've done it several times. She comes to me and is very aware of [overlapping] my friend.
is my case worker here? [laughter] we went out to match to a city service.
but then, due to the background that f. We're now working also on the legal side to help get
some expunge and just working with different agencies to help secure housing for them and different options.
>> this is another piece of what we've been doing. This couple ended up in wasco
with they ran out of gas and didn't have money to keep going. They were headed home to indiana.
we were able to fill their tank and help them on their way.
>> this couple actually came
from indiana to work in the monterey area. They were promised work.
the jobs had so they returned.
they were very [inaudible].
>> we talked a little bit last time about amtrak and some of the issues that we're having at amtrak and the nsf property just on the other side.
that continues to be a primary area, of focus for us.
this individual, we discovered a young woman one day out at the amtrak,
the nsf property, seemed to be getting hooked in with the crowd out there, didn't seem safe.
we were able to get her moved away from that area and back into bakersfield. Go ahead.
you'll see that we continue to have encampments on the bnsf property.
we've reached out to bnsf. They've done cleanups. We'll continue to work with them.
it's an ongoing problem. The folks who are out there seem to be resistant to services.
we continue to offer. But it's going to be something we need to work
with multiple agencies and multiple people on, go ahead. I think we've got a few more that give you an idea of what we're working with.
had we continued to work with those folks with the encampments?
again, we've got to just keep being creative and working with other agencies and other partners on that. Go ahead.
>> carry a question. Are they burning those railroad ties for heat?
>> we have had, I don't think they are burning the railroad ties for heat, but occasionally the fires that they do build for heat,
will catch the ties, and that becomes a big problem.
there was a fire out there. Late spring, I want to say,
early summer, maybe. That was a problem.
we're working with bnsf to try to get them to secure the property better.
like I said, they cleaned it up a couple of times, but the fencing is cut and broken.
>> it needs to be replaced. >> there is a big issue with those railroad ties being treated with [inaudible],
I believe. That's toxic. >> yes, it's a problem. We'll end on a positive note.
mayor pro tem saldana probably recognizes this individual. You were out this day when we met elvarado.
he had been sleeping in the alley here, and I believe public works reached out at one point to
somebody because the trash trucks were going in and out of that alley, and they were concerned that, it was dangerous.
he was just camped out in the alley there.
we met elvarado, and I'll let you tell the rest of that story.
go ahead. [laughter].
>> I actually spoke in. I try to call him just to touch base.
he did not remember. He remembered, but he didn't remember,
so he said the last call he was doing, he was so grateful.
I'm going to tell you, I had the roughest few weeks before he called next week to check out.
he's on, and I don't know what you mean. You guys stand there and treat me.
why did at me? He didn't even know that we found him in abys. He vaguely remembers you.
he remembers you remember. He vaguely remembers.
the biggest thing with this was that he didn't understand why he was so eager to help.
now he's in such a great place. He's at washington, services, [inaudible] job.
he found me; he sent his message.
I put it in spanish and got [inaudible].
it's just basically, he's so thankful for everybody.
he's very thankful because he believed he was, that's work.
I don't know why he did, and I don't know why he took the time to go home.
but thank you, he broke down happy I'm te.
but we don't see how much of an impact that means until we never see it, we never see it.
able to hear that from because I know what counsel to get,
I see it, we just want to see the mess. I'm sure that he doesn't always see it,
and he didn't see it to be able to have just one person in. Buttill, he was so willing to send me
a text and said
I'm going to put my two sets in there and say I agree. Here is the approach to homelessness,
and addiction in a whole different way. You're not like it's just a problem.
we're trying to meet every individual and get to know them. Allow them to have trouble. A lot of people.
but you're starting to see that even with the lifting ones opening up,
coming around, and asking you about services, not taking that. But that's just opening.
what is phenomenal?
I look forward to coming just, spending some time.
we have another gentleman not on wednesday, but three words to us.
he helps with the showers. We had him fighting people I saw the other day.
that's 5 years now.
[inaudible] approaching, I love it. [laughter]
>> like I said, so you guys can see and it's beautiful.
beauty this morning.
>> he sent that text to me this morning. A little bit of background on him,
I know that it may be confusing. He he had family in washington. He was he had been brought here a year and a half ago,
we think, two years ago, maybe for work and just kind of fell
off and so we were able to get him back to washington where his family is.
then as a year to he said drives. L.
now conversation very proper,
you know, someone passed you know, into this.
and I'm actually waiting for one more.
because this is, you know, what we find every day. Happy to answer any questions.
all right. Thank you. There any public comments at this time?
a. Any comments from the members, mayor pro tempt to?
well, pig says that all as you guys saw a smile, you know, just seeing him that day.
I mean, you guys intervening on taking different spots here in waco,
meeting different people, going into some areas where I mean, it gets it get pretty intense right away.
and it's people's attitudes and some some say no, some say yes, and that gentleman right there said no, at the beginning.
I still remember and he was saying, no, no, I like, we started talking to talk to him, switch his mind.
and that's awesome. That's a good story. So I think thank you guys for all you guys do.
remember, martinez. First of all, thank all you ladies for what you do.
this is very important work. You know, when we decided to have a homeless coordinator,
I thought maybe we might get one or two success stories within the first year,
and you guys are just doing a bunch of these. I love hearing these stories. Last week, I was at the league of california cities and I
attended the session on homelessness. And like a lot of the sessions there,
it's not applicable to wsco because the city that presented was much larger than ours. They did a $30 million public private hotel,
94 room hotel that they bought and I was like, yeah, we can't do that, you know.
but what I did enjoy was they had their homeless outreach coordinator,
and I think they have a five or six person team in that city. And everything that he was saying is what you guys are doing.
the repeated contacts. I think he said something like their average is like 17 contacts before somebody accept services.
you know, the community partnerships, all of that. You guys are being very successful,
and you guys are doing exactly what the successful model city is doing.
so thank you guys for that. I do one other thing. I don't know how comfortable these folks that we're getting
services to are with sharing their story, but I would like to see us maybe share
one or two success stories on social media if possible. That way, word spreads that, hey,
we are having success to people who need the services and the we're willing to
help and also it shows the rest of the community that the city is doing something about our homelessness problem.
but you guys are doing outstanding. I can't say enough good things about you guys.
thank you. Great idea. Thank you. Merv. Well, thank you,
ladies for sharing these life changing stories. You know, I just I was impressed with the acceptance rate.
you know, it's about a 70 80% a acceptance. They accept the service.
that shows that you guys have showed they believed you and there you guys already built that trust among all these individuals.
and I think when the program started, you guys took up running, you guys didn't reinvent the wheel.
we just were providing services, what the person needed.
you guys have already the services in line for those people that they needed. So great job, ladies. Keep it up.
thank you for sharing all the wonderful stories. Member rina?
you know, we can measure your success by the people that you have helped.
and you have helped several people. It was very moving to read
this text looked like an e mail to me that this gentleman sent, you know,
he's grateful and to have made contact with all of
you and being able to return home and now have the hope that he can stay clean,
whatever was ailing him, I believe it was alcohol. So
I think it's wonderful that you're doing this, continue to do it.
I know it takes time. All of you mentioned it. It's difficult to make contact with somebody and
then gain their trust so you can do something for them.
I guess this chart that is right here specifically talks to that,
that it's a zigzag road to get there.
thank you for all you do. I'm ha that this program in waco is so successful that you're making a huge difference.
yeah. I mean, thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I mean, obviously, it's a team effort, right?
I know you guys do a lot that day that I joined you. I know it's a collaborative effort and those contacts.
I'm glad that mayor pote made it out there because it's really it's neat to see sort of what goes into it, right?
just making those simple conversations and making those connections. And and that we're having some success with that.
you know, giving us the rundown of the different placements and helping people I mean,
washington is a long ways away, and the nas too. So it's those things that really make a difference.
seeing this woman, just sort of that change, that picture.
I mean, it's amazing. It's amazing and it's happy and it's fulfilling to see that,
that we're able to accomplish that through you all. So keep up the good work,
like we said from the beginning, whatever we can do to continue to support the effort, let us know.
but I think we have a great team that's boots on the ground, that's getting the work done.
and I definitely encourage you other the council members that whenever they have some time to, you know,
join you guys because I think it's a good deal to just go out there and see what you guys are seeing on a weekly basis.
so thank you. And with that,
I would like to entertain a motion to receive and file.
I second. Madam clerk, can we get the v by roca?
sorry. Move. Mr. In a second. In.
mayor medina? Aye. Mayor pt medina, I'm sorry.
mayor pote saldana. A. Council member martinez? Aye. Council member raya.
a. Council mmbena. Aye. Motion by mayor pote saldana,
seconded by council mmbena to receive and file the homes outreach quarterly report.
motion is unanimously approved. Thank you. We'll move on to item 14 c. Council finds this action is
not a project as defined under section 15378 of the sql guidelines,
adopt the resolution approving, an application for funding and the execution of a grant agreement,
budget appropriations and any amendment there too for the community cleanup and employment pathway ccep grant
program under the clean california program administered by the california department of transportation c trans miss data.
good evening, mayor and council members. Yes. The city is working with
hopefully we're working with p and we're hoping to submit an application
to give summer internships to our pl kids to do job training when it comes to community cleanups,
mainly working with public works and helping them beautify the city.
the incentive would be, they would get paid for this and get some job training out of it.
so we're asking for you to approve this application for the city to submit it on behalf of p.
all right.
are there any public comments at this time?
any comments from the members, mayor? I think it's a great idea.
I support it. Member martinez. I agree with the mary protean.
this is a really good thing. I'm happy to see you guys you, coming up with creative things to help the youth in our community. So thank you.
t hank you. Member r. Love the idea. You know, not just boxing, but community,
show work, show be responsible. Love it. Thank you. Memna. Just a quick question.
first of all, great idea. Thank you for doing this.
who covers like workman's compensation while they're employed by us?
is it the city, or is it the grant that provides for that also?
and so when we submit the grant, we would be submitting for summer internship,
and it would be for mainly for seniors graduating in the pow program.
they they would need to be 18. So what we're going to be targeting is going to
be our seniors who will be graduating at a pol. And it would be part of the compensation,
part of the benefits. So when I do the budget, I will include that.
no just, you know, the hourly pay but the benefits that the city is going to be paying for. For that.
I mean, because there's always a risk that somebody might get injured. So we need to make sure that we are covered in that regard.
yes. Thank you. You're welcome.
great idea. All right. I agree motion for approval.
moved. Second. I c. We get by roca.
mayor marina. Mayor. Council member martinez. Cc member.
council mmba. Aye. Motion council member rena, seconded by mayor potala to adopt the resolution.
motion is unanimously approved. You one to item 15 reports from commissions and committees,
item 15 a, cren economic development corporation. I have nothing to report at this time.
15 b. Current council of governments, mr. Rena. Thank you, mayor. Just a few brief things.
the sustainable transportation plan grant application is due november 21.
I spoke to maria briefly about it before the meeting started.
anyway, so if we're going to apply, we need to make sure that we meet the deadline.
sheely maggard maggard.
she gave a presentation to this counsel regarding the roundabout on june 3,
and she will be coordinating with
our staff to schedule another presentation after the first of the year.
so staff so hear from her soon, I suppose.
and then the other things that were reported are the things that were approved today,
which is specifically this crossing at eighth street and highway 43 and the crossing at poplar and highway 46,
but we have already apro those. So thank you staff for moving quickly once they got approved to get them done.
it's something that personally had been advocating for many years.
I was discussing with maria probably since 2017,
and it takes a long time to get these things done. So I know it is a safe route to school route,
but still takes for quite a while took quite a while to get it done,
so now the people and the students crossing highway 46 at poplar
will be a lot safer because now traffic will have a red light that will cause them to stop as opposed to those flashing beacons,
which people have a tendency to ignore. Even sometimes they don't see them.
I've seen drivers blow right through them. I experienced that when I took a walk with john lou, I believe,
his last name from caltrans, and we crossed the street and nobody was stopping for us.
thank you. Thank you for that. I believe that's it from kern go.
all right. Thank you, mr. Rena. Move on to item 152, waco task force.
yeah. I was a complete success on the on the citywide cleanup.
I'd like to just send my heartfelt gratitude to the waco rotary for providing
the food through pecana market for ding food and drinks, waco fife,
from frew baptist, st. John's church, waco pal,
and the local church chaperones and I mean,
there was american refuse, city staff, and waco pd.
everybody's contribution was really good. I mean, seeing these elementary faces,
right, there was a biggest thing for me, I was a heart warming feeling just to see
the small little faces eagerly to want to go clean up and make their city,
you know, cleaner place. So that's pretty much all I have to report,
but it was a good it was a good turnout. Thank you, surgeon. Thank you, louis,
for being there and helping out. Lieutenant. Everybody.
everybody contributed. Thank you. Thank you. All right.
want to item 16 reports from the city manager. Mr.? Yes. Honorable mayor and members of the council.
a few things to report. One was the attendance at the cal city's annual conference.
we had myself and three of you attended, and the feedback I've gotten was that a couple of the sessions were better than normal,
and I found that to be same, you know, a lot of them, but the ones that were good were very
helpful along with the expo and the rest of the program.
>> also wanted to report that the snip event was held on the first and we
had 61 animals who were treated at that event, which is great.
the walmart remodel and reopening occurred,
and we have a couple of pictures. This is an audio visual report tonight.
I'm going to have a few sets of pictures to present. We'll give you the quick slide show here.
very good turnout.
pressive speakers.
ribbon actually did get cut. Everywhere these days.
>> whose scissors are those? >> I don't know if those are ours. >> walmart has.
>> those are huge. We need a paint like that.
[laughter]
>> there's the mural inside the door there, so nice picture.
>> [inaudible] that concludes the presentation.
>> that's it for the walmart. But let's not stop now.
we had the national night out. We have a video or a slide show for that.
[noise]
very good turnout, very good representation from not only our own police department and police force,
but many neighboring officers from neighboring agencies were there to support us, too.
that was very nice to see, and a few staff members who are willing to get dunked
[laughter] and the dunk take a popular option there.
next item was the community cleanup has been announced, but I actually have a number to put to that.
15.85 almost 16 tons of refuse was collected over the course of that event.
that's pretty impressive. Trunker treat is coming october 30,
thursday, october 30, from 6-8 over at barker park.
the waco shafter high school football game will
be held on following night at the shafter field,
so don't want to miss that. The whs cowboy christmas parade and tree lighting again on saturday, december 6,
there will be a flyer if we haven't distributed that already, you'll be getting that as soon as it's available.
then the tour of lights with our dialer ride supporting it,
we'll be in december also waiting on date and time for that.
that's all I have for tonight. >> what's the date on the tours?
>> the tours, we don't have the date or time yet. But as soon as we do,
we will distribute that. That will be fine. Thank you. >> thank you, mr. Any questions for city manager?
>> no question. >> I do have a question, scott.
>> sure. >> this is just on the unwire. I know when we had the ribbon cutting,
they mentioned they were thinking they'd be done with the project by december.
have you gotten any sort of rest from them?is that sort of I think so? >> I think the construction by the end of december is
still their target by the end of the calendar year.
then there may still be some finishing up that takes place after that,
but I think they're going to be ready to start signing up customers before the end of the year.
>> perfect. Thank you. One to item 17 reports from city council mayor proton pana.
>> I have a three report. >> member martinez. >> yes. At the cal cities conference,
I rarely come back with anything that I really feel motivated or,
like, a real desire to do or something that changes my opinion. But I went to a session with scott over there and scott and I've been talking for
about a year about this pi in the sky idea of a city private daycare thing,
and initially, I wanted it primarily so our city employees would have access to daycare.
but after a tent session, I realized that childcare is an infrastructure issue.
they made a comment that some people need roads and bridges to get to work,
some people need childcare. We have experienced people who've left our city
to go to bakersfield because of childcare reasons. Like if my daughter were to start school today,
I would have to move to bakersfield for childcare. I just want to plant the seed and everybody in
the city staff and the council's head that, this is an infrastructure issue,
and I would like for us to eventually find some sort of city private partnership to provide daycare to our community. That's all I have, sir.
>> thank you. Member to report. Member marina.
>> thank you, mayor. I attended the waco community cleanup, october 18, and it was inspiring to see over 100 volunteers there.
I was already mentioned that we had elementary school children there,
high school students, students of all types and adults.
we have our police department there, our staff there. It was just great to see,
and I was impressed with the 15.85 tons collected.
that is quite huge. That does not count all of the trash that was collected from the alleys.
because it went in a different way. Differently so great turnout.
I want to thank staff for putting this event together and our partners.
but I also wanted to thank christian for cooking.
he cooked for all of us. I was quite busy. It was quite a long line,
and we all got to eat some delicious cycles. Sir, you were there helping.
kary was helping. Everybody was helping. But it was very good. Thank you all. I also attended the two day
san aqui valley a pollution control district study session at the pines at bass lake.
I also attended the kern cod meeting upon my return from bass lake on thursday evening to,
because there was an issue with having quorum there.
I was told that they were counting on me to make quorum,
so there was no way to avoid it. I also attended the legal california cities at long beach.
I usually attend this al california cities conferences
because just like mr. Martinez mentioned, I always come back with some new idea,
and I think that if that's all you get. One good idea from attending those conference is money well spent.
you mentioned mr. Martinez that scott and you talked about childcare.
that's something that scott has talked about for a while, him and I have looked into also of companies that might be able to provide that,
but I'm happy to hear that now we're thinking about private public partnership.
that might be something that we may be able to do. I also participated in waco pd night out.
outstanding event, really well attended.
I want to give lieutenant gala a lot of credit for putting that event together.
I know you were in charge of it, and it turned out to be much bigger than it was the last time.
we had last time one street and now this time we had
two streets that were filled with vendors and activities, so thank you.
during the smokin valley pollution control district, we discussed the importance of spreading the message of
the success of this organization in cleaning up the air.
all of you have a chart in front of you, which I have given you.
although there are still many challenges ahead, such as mobile source emissions and wildfires
over which the district does not have jurisdiction or control, it continues to work towards attaining the established epa clean air standards.
but if you look at the page that I've given you, if you look at where, for example,
the first circle charts there, it says days meeting versus day exceeding the health standards year round.
in 2002, only 53% of the days was the standard met in 2012,
75%, and in 2024, which was last year, 87%.
if you look at the chart below, it talks about the eight hour ozone,
and we recently met 1997 standard,
but you have cities like bakersfield, which just slightly below,
but others are above it. Then we still have the 2008 standard and 215 standard that need to be met.
if you turn the page over, I don't want to go over every single detail of it.
this is for the day's meeting versus a succeeding the health center year round.
in 2002, it was 40% in 2012, 60%, and in 2024, 74%.
so great strides have been made to get there.
but the fact is that we still have
more stringent standards to meet established by the epa,
and it's going to be very, very difficult to get there. Part of the conversation we had in this study session is, at what point,
do we continue to push to meet this very stringent standards, and at what cost?
I think scott mentioned that as well recently.
but I wanted to bring this up because frequently you
hear people saying that the air is so dirty here in the valley. Now you have some actual data that shows how clean our air is compared to years back.
you know, it doesn't go very far. You got to go to 2002 to 2024.
that's just outstanding achievement. Yet, a lot of issues,
but very difficult to achieve. But the air pollution controls district continues to work to achieve those standards,
and the question is, how long will it take to get there?
if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them, but I think these are pretty self explanatory.
that's it from you, man. >> thank you, mr. Rena.
>> I wanted to report also a harvest festival for the
st. John the evangelist catholic church.
this occurred on october 5. I wanted to give a big shoutout to our police department and specifically sergeant galoa,
because our officers were there. The entire event, and they had a vehicle.
the the kids were able to interact with the officer, officer gonzalez,
and they were able to take pictures with them inside the car and with the officer.
I think this has a great value because again, anytime you get our community in contact with our police department,
it changes the dynamics that occur. Particularly with children, mi kata,
I'll say something that you said in the past. You've heard many parents in the past say,
if you don't behave, the policeman is going to take you. That for kids is scary.
when the kids are able to say that, hey, there's a friendly policeman,
he will not take me. I think it goes a long way, so thank you.
thank you for doing that. It's wonderful to have you participate. That's it. Thank you so much.
>> thank you, miss rena. From my end, it seems like there's been a b going on in the last couple of weeks.
walmart ribbon cutting, which was a big success.
mr. Raya and I attended the police awards dinner,
which was it's always a good event, so that was well attended and a good event.
the night out kudos to you all. I thought it was a great success.
well attended, definitely having different activities and whatnot,
I thought that was good. One of my favorites I think is having that. Taylor deal with that car,
and having somebody there explaining what the backstory is to that,
I think it's very impactful, so I think that's something that we just keep. But, I'd like to see year over year.
then for next year, I'd like to see mayor of them there on that dunk deal.
I'm sure he'd volunteer. >> why approve [laughter] [inaudible].
>> with that, I have nothing else to report. We do have item 18 closed session,
so this evening we have items 188, d ate. Are there any public comments regarding the closed session items at this time?
we will now turn into closed session and return to report out. >> thank you. B.
>> 8:03 pm. [noise] >> that's a record.