City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to the Brawley City Council and successor agency to the Brawley Community Redevelopment Agency. Regular meeting agenda September 15, 2026 at 5.30 p.m. City Council Chambers, 383 Main Street, Brawley, California. Madam Clerk, can we have the roll call?

Yes. Council Member Rebler? Here. Council Member Monita?

Here.

Council Member Grass?

Here.

Mayor Pro Tem Kelly?

Here.

And Mayor Galvan?

Present. Okay. Can I have a motion to approve the agenda as presented? So moved. I have a second. I'll second. I have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposition? Motion carries. Okay. At this time, we will be stepping into closed session and returning at approximately 6 p.m. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

She's coming.

Okay, we are back from closed session. City attorneys, anything to report out? There was no action taken, Mr. Mayor. Okay. At this time, will you please stand for the invocation by Council Member Grass and Pledge of Allegiance by Council Member Monita.

Please bow your heads. Heavenly Father, we come before you tonight to... thank you and praise you for the gifts and prosperity that we have, safety in the city that exists, for the dedicated employees and their families who give themselves to the city selflessly. We thank you and praise you for that. Lord God, we pray for wisdom and understanding of how to do your will tonight. We pray for the ability to make decisions that result in unity and strength for this city, making this city a healthy place to live, a safe place to live. Lord God, we do pray for our first responders, that you give them a blessing of protection and safety, that you watch over their families as well. And we also lift up the city employees who also give of themselves to this city. We thank you now and invite your presence here tonight. In Jesus' name, amen.

Everyone can face the flag.

Again, I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

At this time, we are going to move the presentations in front of the public comments. So we'll start with

The Employee of the Month.

This is in recognition for his 18 years of dedicated service, exceptional professionalism, compassion for animals, outstanding customer service, and willingness to consistently go above and beyond. Refuge Hill's interactive teamwork, dependability, and commitment to serving both the city of Brawley and the community reflect the qualities of an exceptional employee he is. Thank you. Do we have anybody? Chief. Chief.

Good evening. It is with great honor that we recognize Mr. Martinez here tonight. I've worked with him a long time and by far one of the hardest workers I've ever encountered. Helps people without even having to be asked to do so. Just the ultimate team player and can always count on him for anything we need. And HE'S DEFINITELY HELPED ME ON SNAKE CALLS IN THE PAST, WHICH I DON'T DO SNAKES, SO HE'S GOT NO PROBLEM WITH IT. HE REPRESENTS THE DEPARTMENT AND CITY EXTREMELY WELL. SO THANK YOU.

WANT TO SAY A FEW WORDS?

WELL, I'M HAPPY TO BE HERE. I'M SO GRATEFUL THAT I'M WITH A GOOD TEAM. THEY HELPED ME A LOT. AND I'M SO HAPPY TO BE WITH THEM.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COCO. DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS BY THE COUNCIL?

NO, I'VE SEEN YOU OUT THERE DURING THE EASTER EGG HUNTS, CATCHING THOSE SNAKES AND PROTECTING OUR KIDS AND FAMILIES. I SEE YOU A LOT. You've got a lot of cats and dogs and animals running around here. You have a tough job. And so I'm really grateful for your work as well. You have a great team, individually as well. Your work is recognized and appreciated by the city. So thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, I've worked with Mr. Martinez when I was with Wally PD. He was always someone I enjoyed working with. He never created an issue, which was nice. He seemed to be able to talk to people and resolve the issues. And then on another note, I mean, I've also been on the other hand of it where he's caught a few of my dogs that have gotten loose, and he was always polite and professional. So I appreciate that. So thank you very much, Mr. Martinez. Thank you.

I'd like to say thank you, Mr. Martinez, for your service. It's a very difficult job balancing enforcing the ordinances and the rules and people's love for their pets. It's a tough balance to strike, and you do it with diplomacy and dignity. And so we thank you so much for your service.

There's been some times we've had to call on you in our neighborhood and around Brawley for Dog issues, you're taking care of those. Got to let you know, I'm taking care of the cat issues in my neighborhood. But I know if I need help, I can call on you. Thank you. Thank you.

I only know him by Kuko. I didn't know what his real name was. So I actually worked about 15 years with Kuko. I actually went on some calls. I got to tell you one thing. Dogs are like humans. They see him coming, they take off. I've seen that plenty of times. He calls on the radio, can you meet me somewhere? Let's try to block him off. It's been a pleasure, Coco. And like Chief Blackstone, I think I helped him on a few snake calls and Yeah, but this guy is not afraid of anything. So good job, Cuco, and hopefully you can spend another 18 years with us, but we'll see. Thank you.

Could I add something? Yeah, sure, go ahead. So just to speak in terms, I know it's been a short time that we've worked together, Mr. Martinez, but what I've been able to assess during this time, aside from the fact that People speak highly of you. You received multiple nominations. It was not just one person that nominated you. You received multiple. But I've been able to observe and assess the fact that you're very effective, very professional, very informed and educated in what you do. You have that skill. And it's recognized not just here in the city, but in other cities. Other cities have reached out to you for your guidance to help with training animal control officers in other cities and so forth. So I think that speaks volumes. So I think this is just a little opportunity that the council and the city has to really thank you for your years of service. So thank you.

Thank you. Good job. Get a picture.

Amen.

Okay. We're going to move on to a proclamation recognizing September 15th through October 15th as National Hispanic Heritage Month, whereas National Hispanic Heritage Month is observed annually from September 15th through October 15th to recognize, celebrate the history, culture, and achievements of Hispanics and Latino Americans. And whereas Hispanic Americans have made significant contributions to our nation through leadership, service, innovation, education, science, The art, public service, military service, and whereas a rich tradition, languages, customs, and values of Hispanic cultures have strengthened our communities and enriched the social culture and economic fabric of the United States. And whereas Hispanic Americans have demonstrated resilience, preservation, and dedication in overcoming challenges while helping shape more inclusive and prosperous nations for future generations. and where Hispanics, His Heritage Month provides an opportunity for residents of all backgrounds to learn from, learn from, appreciate, and celebrate the rich history and cultural traditions that have been passed down through generations. So there we have two service clubs that are here, American Citizens Club. Anybody from the American Citizens Club? Nope. Hidalgo Society, I know they're here. Come on up. You guys want to say a few words? Anybody want to speak, say a few words? Fernando?

I don't like last minute announcements or speeches. But anyways, I want to thank you guys for giving us this proclamation and acknowledging our work. We do try to keep our culture, our cultural going as a club, Hidalgo member family here. And I think we do several culture activities for the community. So Again, as president of Hidalgo and our board members that are here, we want to thank you guys as we continue and your guys' support supporting our Hidalgo Society.

Good evening. Thank you so much for having us here today. My name is Robert Cortez. I'm a sergeant at arms and an honorary board member for the Hidalgo Society. On behalf of the Hidalgo Society, I'd like to thank all of you for acknowledging our what we do for the community as we are a non-profit organization and we strive to do better each and every year to support everyone and anyone that is in need of any type of assistance. So here we are accepting this proclamation on behalf of the Hidalgo Society. Thank you again. Anybody wants to become a member, they can certainly come on over and become a member. AND WE'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU. AGAIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH. I APPRECIATE YOUR INVITATION AND APPRECIATION TOWARDS THE HIDALGO SOCIETY.

THANK YOU. ANY OTHER COMMENTS? NO? COME ON, PAUL.

WELL, MY NAME IS PAUL HERRERA.

I'VE BEEN DOING THIS SINCE, WHAT, 2011? I KNOW JANE for a long time. And we've been doing nothing but heat dog work for the community. That's all we do. It's the heritage. It's Mexican heritage. And it's for the community. No matter what, we do banquets, everything. We're always there. And it's one of those things where it's a proud thing for Raleigh, I would think, since we're getting this. And thank the board. It's not easy. We go through a lot of stuff. It's week in, week out. And I just thank you for this. This is awesome. Thank you.

Thank you, Paul. Anybody else? Fernando?

I think they've said it all. But we are honored to receive this recognition. We're simple people just like you guys. And, you know, it's all hands on deck when we have something in our minds. And we make sure that we succeed in that effort. But, again, we thank you for this invitation.

Thank you. All right. You got a picture? Yep.

Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, moving on to number three, public appearances and comments. This is the time for the public to address the council on any item not appearing on the agenda. that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city council. The mayor will recognize you when you come up to the microphone. Please state your name and address for the record. Speakers are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful and orderly manner. Disruptive behavior and profanity are not permitted. You are not allowed to make personal attacks on individuals or make comments which are slanderous or which may invade an individual's personal privacy. Please direct your questions and comments to the city council. Is there anyone who would like to come up and speak?

Come on up.

Good evening. My name is Patricia Carrillo.

I live at 1109 Pecan Street here in Brawley.

Good evening members of the council and fellow community members. I am a resident of Brawley and I am here today because I stand strong and unwavering in my support for first responders, the police officers and firefighters, and emergency personnel of the city who put their lives on the line for our safety every single day. When Measure J was placed on the ballot, the community was heavily led to believe that this sale tax increase was essential to properly support and sustain our police and fire departments. Many of us residents voted in favor of it because we wanted to guarantee that our public safety department had the resources they needed and that our first responders were fairly compensated for their vital life-saving work. Now, despite the city bringing in substantial revenue from this tax, our first responders are still being withheld the fair, well-deserved raises They earn. This feels like a breach of our trust that we, the voters placed in the city administration, our firefighters, police officers show up for us in our darkest hours, leaving their families to protect us. The very least the city of Brawley can do is be fair, show real accountability and take care of the people who take care of us. If we expect them to be there for us in an emergency, we must support them today. I urge this council to do the right thing and prioritize the raises our first responders rightfully deserve. I honestly am very grateful. In case of an emergency, you call, they'll be there. But I was told that recently there were issues where there was a bomb and then other things happening. And there was not enough to go around. That's scary. Our city is growing. We want to keep personnel that is trained. And if you keep losing this to other cities or other departments that can provide the raises that they need, That's not right. So as a citizen, I know I'm not the only one that feels this way. And hopefully more people will start coming and, hey, if we're going to have to hold up a sign out there in the streets, I'm willing to do it. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other public comment? Come on up.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Fred Miramontes, Sheriff, Imperial County, 328 Apple Steel Road in El Centro. So I'm here before you to share some information about a Citizens Initiative ballot that's going to be in November. We've hired attorneys, and we've gone to two-thirds of the process, and it's already... BEEN WRITTEN AND THE NECESSARY VOTES FROM THE CITIZENS TO PUT IT ON THE BALLOT ON NOVEMBER THE 3rd. SO FROM HERE ON TO NOVEMBER, IT'S OUTREACH TO OUR COMMUNITIES FOR SUPPORT FOR MAJOR S. IMPERIAL COUNTY IS FACING GROWING PUBLIC CHALLENGES. OUR COUNTY SPANS NEARLY 4,500 MILE, SQUARE MILES, YET MANY OF THE FACILITIES AND SYSTEMS THAT SUPPORT FIRE, LAW ENFORCEMENT, EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES, DISASTER RESPONSES ARE DECADES OLD AND NO LONGER ALIGNED WITH THE CURRENT DEMANDS. RESPONSE DISTANCE ARE LONG. CALL VOLUME CONTINUES TO INCREASE AND CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE HAS NOT BEEN KEPT UP. AS A COALITION, BECAUSE IT'S A CITIZEN'S INITIATIVE, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE COUNTY, ALL RIGHT, IT'S CITIZEN'S Coalition of Concerned Citizens that launched the 2026 Imperial County Public Safety Citizens Initiative to assure that our first responders have the tools, facilities, systems necessary to protect our communities. Our goal, straightforward. I am one of those citizens in that committee. The fire chief is one of them. One of his battalion chiefs in my undersher. We're moving this along as citizens. What it is, it's a half-cent public safety item to be in the November ballot to provide stable and voter approving funding to dedicate exclusively for public safety. And within that realm is strengthening fire and law enforcement emergency medical and response capabilities, improved disaster preparedness and emergency coordination, modernize our aging public safety facilities, infrastructure, enhance communication and dispatch systems, improve law enforcement operational capacities. So within these areas, ASK OUR ITEMS THAT WE WANT TO USE THE FUNDING FOR. WITHIN THIS FUNDING, WE'RE LOOKING TO DO A CUSTODY HOLDING FACILITY JUST OUTSIDE OF RALEIGH. WE'RE LOOKING TO MODERNIZE SOME OF OUR AGE FACILITIES IN THE COUNTY AREAS WITH THIS FUNDING. WE'RE LOOKING TO DO A regional dispatch center where all the dispatch centers like Brawley, Calexico, El Centro, the Sheriff's Office become one regional dispatch center. In the past, there's been discussion and favorable for the concept, but it boils down to money and where is the location going to be and who's going to fund it. So an important item is also a corners facility. We've never had a corner facility. It came to head during COVID. The bodies were stacking up and we had to call in the state to come in with conic boxes, refrigerations to hold those bodies. So we've never had a corners office. And I think our descendants deserve better than a, an iconic box to be maintained while, you know, they're taking to San Diego, they're brought back and released to the families for their burial services. So this particular measure is Strictly for Imperial County Public Safety. The state can't take funding away. The county can't use it for whatever purpose they want. So we're asking that the city support this measure. So in the future, we'll send a letter to the city asking for support through a resolution, and we'll be working on that. So thank you for your time. Thank you.

Thank you, Sheriff. ANY OTHER PUBLIC COMMENT, ERIC?

GOOD EVENING, COUNCIL MAYOR. I'M HERE TODAY TO KIND OF JUST GIVE YOU A BRIEF UPDATE ON SOME OF THE STUFF THAT WE WORKED ON THIS PAST SUMMER. AS YOU GUYS KNOW, SUMMER GETS A LITTLE SLOW FOR EVERYONE. SO THIS SUMMER WE HELPED PARKS AND REC. WE MET WITH FIRE, PUBLIC WORKS, ORGANIZED THE FIRST SPLASH BASH DURING THE SUMMER AT THE CITY POOL. And right now at the moment, we're starting to kind of just work on cattle call. We do have our branding hour and dinner this Thursday, which you guys are all invited to. If you guys would like to attend, you guys can reach out. And same thing, I know Chino Torres is here, but Chamber has had communication with some individuals from the cattle call road committee. I know this is the 70th. anniversary of cattle call so we're trying to make sure that um it's it's a big one for us and the city as well um so yeah anything you guys need um i think what we passed out is kind of just some tentative dates so you guys can mark your guys calendars and there's a time of year where we start getting really busy um and then i believe that sometime next week we'll start reaching out to see um tree lighting ceremony that we'll have in December and what dates work for the city so we can go ahead and collaborate with the chamber and the city to do that.

Thank you.

Thank you guys.

Thank you. Appreciate it.

So that is new. We're going to be releasing an official flyer, and then we're going to be releasing, I believe it's an email to invite city council. They want to be part of one of the scrambles on there. I don't know if you guys play golf, but I know Tim does. But I know that the last three, four years we've been asked by a couple of different organizations to hold an official cattle call, golf tournament. I think... Just on my standpoint and the board, we thought we had to do the whole organization of it, so we always kind of said no. And then this year we met with Del Rio, and they said they took care of absolutely everything. So we went ahead and moved forward with that. I think we're going to be announcing that, if not tomorrow on Thursday. The only requirement will be you have to play with a cowboy hat. And then we have some really great prizes for that, so we're pretty excited about that, and we're officially releasing that, I believe, tomorrow. Thank you, guys.

Thank you.

Any other public comments? Yes, sir. One more, if you will. Victor Torres, also known as Chino Torres, City of Imperial resident and proud board member of the Brawley Cattle Call Rodeo Committee. He stole a little bit of our thunder. It is our 70th anniversary of the Brawley Cattle Call Rodeo. We're beyond excited to have this event. It's a signature event for Brawley. We want to make it the best possible rodeo, the best possible. Three days you'll have about, I think your population is going to double that weekend or triple, if you will, for this festivity. We're excited about it. We're excited that all the other festivities are going around. Queens are getting ready to do their thing. The Chamber is doing their thing. And we're trying to prepare that arena as best as possible to host these many people and professional rodeo athletes coming into town. I do want to introduce on double duty one of our board members, Cassandra Costa, our president, Danny Williams, another board member, Donald Alford, and those of you that are missing, you guys all know Carson Kalin, Larry Allen, Kurt Rutherford, and Robin Williams. So yours truly, we're here to make this event really, really great this year. I think you're going to be pleased with some of the outcomes, and we are also trying to prepare everyone It might be a little secret, but we're trying to prepare a cattle drive to commemorate this 70th anniversary. So we'll see if we can make that happen. So we appreciate all your support. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

If you try to buy tickets for Saturday, they're sold out. Friday, almost sold out. I think we're probably at 90%. Sunday, I'd say we're at about 60% to 70%. We're really pleased with our outcomes in terms of ticket sales, but these events can't happen without teamwork. Of course, from the Sheriff's Office, thank you. Sheriff Miramontes, and then all of the folks that just take part of it. It's a collective effort. Raleigh PD, the city, all of the employees, volunteers, I can't name all of the volunteers that come out. We'll have about 60 to 6,200 people at the arena on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So excited. Hope to see you there. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, any other public comment? Any other public comments? Okay, seeing none, we're going to move on. Moving on to number four, the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent as stated? I'll motion to approve as presented. Do I have a second?

I'll second.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposition? Motion carries. Thank you. Okay, moving on to number five, regular business. Consideration of sponsorship donation to Imperial County Sheriff's Office inmate welfare trust fund in support of services provided by the City of Brawley for cattle call rodeo preparations. This will be presented by Rebecca Terrazas-Baxter.

Yes, good evening, Mayor, members of the City Council. The item before you tonight, as stated, is a donation request from the Imperial County Sheriff's Office for its Inmate Welfare Trust Fund. On June 24th, the Sheriff's Office requested a $2,500 donation to its Inmate Welfare Trust Fund, which supports programs and resources for incarcerated individuals, including vocational and work programs. The connection to the city is through the inmate work crews that support these programs, which routinely assist the city and the Cattle Call Committee with landscaping, cleanup, painting, planting, and other preparations for the annual Cattle Call Rodeo. So staff has identified a potential public benefit in supporting programs that facilitate these work crews as the services they provide can help supplement city resources and assist with the preparation and maintenance of public facilities for a major community event. Staff has not made a specific funding recommendation for tonight. Rather, we are seeking community COUNCIL DIRECTION ON WHETHER TO MAKE A DONATION, AND IF SO, WHAT WOULD THAT DONATION AMOUNT BE? THE ADOPTED FISCAL YEAR 2627 BUDGET CURRENTLY INCLUDES $1500 FOR CONTRIBUTIONS, MEMBERSHIPS, AND DUE. THEREFORE, IF COUNCIL DOES ELECT TO APPROVE AN AMOUNT THAT IS GREATER than the $1,500, a corresponding budget adjustment would be necessary. So if an amount that is greater is provided direction to council to do so, we would need direction for also the budget adjustment. Just letting you know. So council has several options tonight. That one, you could approve the requested $2,500. You could select a different amount. You could decline the request or you could provide alternative direction to staff. So representatives, as we saw earlier from the Imperial County Sheriff's Office and from the Cattle Call Committee are here tonight. And they are available to address any technical or program specific questions you may have. regarding this request. So with that, I will turn it over to the council for the discussion and direction.

Okay. Do we have any comments from council?

So this is an expense that we've done in the past, in previous years?

Not that I'm aware of, no.

I think it has been done in the past. It was not, we did not provide any funding last year. And it was recommended that we put, we identify some funding for this year's budget. But I think people from the Sheriff's Department will be able to address that.

Anybody want, yeah, come on.

Hi, my name is Cassandra Costa with the Imperial County Sheriff's Office. I have been with the Sheriff's Office since 2011 and working with the program's work crew since 2012. I have personally overseen the work at the Cattle Call Arena since October of 2012. That work entails of landscape maintenance of the three tiers, the terraces that are out there, landscaping of Rotary Park, landscaping and maintenance of the parking area behind Rotary Park, and the outer perimeter landscaping of the, is that the parking field? the parking lot field that's there. Generally, the work assignment is we have worked in conjunction with the city, coordinating with the Parks and Recreations Department, reaching out to the Sheriff's Office, providing us with what we can no longer call an inmate worker request form, but it's an incarcerated person request form. And they request our assistance. Over the last couple of years, the assistance has turned into work crew only services and lack of city employee assistance due to the minimum amount of staff and the other details that need to be done within the city. So we kind of coordinate. They let us know, I think, We know what to do out there, so they just make sure they check on us, provide us with direction and contact numbers if needed. We go out there and we've done the work in the past. Like I said, over the last couple of years, it has turned to what we used to have four parks and rec staff and six to eight incarcerated people is now just the six to eight incarcerated people and We do all of the grounds maintenance, and then at the end of the day or on the Monday back, public works individual supervisor will come and run the tractor to take all the debris that we've cleaned up and put it into the roll-off dumpsters to be picked up. So we have, again, the work has transitioned to... from a collaborative effort to us going out and doing the work for the city, or not necessarily as a replacement of the city, but on behalf of the city. And then mid-October, we roll into working directly for the rodeo committee. And I say directly for the rodeo committee, that is for the city of Brawley as well, because the city owns the rodeo arena, the committee leases, The arena area. And so the rodeo committee donates $2,500 to cover the work that's from mid-October to the rodeo event, which is a sum of $2,500. And again, all of that goes to covering the... education materials, the maintenance costs of the equipment, the teachers that come out and teach the incarcerated people how to maintain the maintenance equipment. We do programs in the downtime of working the work assignments. We do business plan type of work with the incarcerated population. As we know, not a lot of them can come out and get a regular job because of their employment history. So if we can teach them how to Self-employed as landscapers, cleaners, whatever these programs can provide them with service skills is what we try to do with the programs. They are providing physical labor, but we are also giving them behind the scene of the actual work detail education and vocational training.

So, yeah, so pretty much just this amount covers work that if a city were to take it on, it'd be far more expensive. And so it's essentially a deal. Not only that, beyond that, I support this. Councilman Monique and I chose our self-secret election, so we're saving the city tens of thousands of dollars. So I think we could absorb this in our budget. But, yeah, I think it is a win-win for all. It makes sense. It's work that's going to be done, like I said, for Cattle Call, but year-round. I mean, those trees, this work needs to be done regardless. And so for $2,500, it makes sense. And so I support this, but I'll also leave comments for my fellow council.

Just a question. You mentioned that Cattle Call Committee provides $2,500, and then you're asking for an additional $2,500. Is that correct?

That's correct. Yeah, that's the ask. So it really is a collaborative effort between the Rodeo Committee and the city. And particularly, there's some areas in question that are not in the lease for the rodeo committee that also need to be cleaned year-round, and this crew does the work. So in reality, you're not using... PARK AND RECS FOLKS TO DO THAT WORK, BUT IT'S BEING THAT BURDEN IS COMING TO THE INMATE CREW OR INCARCERATED CREW, IF YOU WILL. I NEED TO GET IN TUNE WITH MY TERMINOLOGY HERE. SO, YES.

SO IT'S MATCH. IT'S A FIFTH WORD GRANT WE'RE PUTTING IN THE MATCH.

I REALLY DON'T LIKE THE WORD DONATION, IF YOU WILL, BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE YOU'RE ONLY GIVING, BUT YOU'RE ACTUALLY GETTING SOMETHING IN RETURN. SO IT'S REALLY A SERVICE FEE, IF YOU WILL.

Any other comments from council?

Yeah, I think we need to clean up that language that's in the agreement between the cattle call committee and the city of Brawley. Just a couple things is that, you know, I was on a call today with a group in San Diego, and they were asking if I knew anybody that that was involved in the cattle call committee. A little bit. But the thing is, one of the things I asked is if there's ever been an economic impact report on the cattle call activities. And I remember we did that years ago for the Chamber of Commerce. But for that weekend, actually the whole week, the amount of people that come into town and the sales tax that are collected is definitely a benefit for the city of Brawley, not to mention just the notoriety of having such a fine rodeo. And believe me, when I bring people to this rodeo, they can't believe it. They're like, wow, this is more than they ever expected. and the quality of the acts. But something else about Rotary Park, it's the largest park in Brawley. A lot of activity there. There's people there all the time. There's other people that participate. The Rotary Club does provide financing to Rotary Park. And without your help coming beforehand, We couldn't focus on things like the benches and some other things. Last year, we, Raleigh Community Foundation, we actually raised money for the snack shack, which probably would have been about a $25,000 burden. And that money was donated not only by the Cattle Call Committee, but many people throughout the community to redo that whole thing and get it to where it's usable for the community. The arena, of course, you guys do most of the work there. And so the bluff is kind of the issue. And I think if we looked at what it would cost to maintain that bluff for the city of Brawley, it would probably be about $25,000. And so the amount of money that we're putting into it is very minimal for what we're getting back. And I agree with Chino. is that we don't like to call a donation because they're really providing a service for us.

And if we had to outsource this activity, it would probably cost us into $25,000.

So I would like to make the motion that we consider matching the funds of $2,500 with the Rotary Committee for the full amount. And if that fails, then we'll talk about some of the alternatives, but I hope you'll support that.

Okay, I have a motion by Councilmember Rebilar. You want to second that? I'll second.

Okay, we got it.

You want to second it? Yeah, I'll second it.

You go second.

Can you include in your motion a budget direction for a budget adjustment so that we can...

Okay, so we have a motion by Councilmember Rebilar, second by Councilmember Molina, and we need a budget adjustment of $2,500. Of $1,000. $1,000. $1,000, I'm sorry. Yes, $1,000, because we have the $1,500, correct? Mm-hmm. So $1,000. So all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposition? Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you, Joe.

Before you sit down, could you kind of talk about some other activities that have taken place with the Sheriff's Department and the City of Brawley in the past pertaining to the cleanup crew?

Yes. In about 2017-2018, there was a big EPA inspection that was happening at the city public works yard, maintenance yard, like where the vehicles go. And we brought a crew in that did all of the cleanup and landscaping all behind the mechanics building, around the water tower base. all through the front on Western. Sorry, I don't know the street on the other side. There's the oleanders that run on Western, all cleanup of that area. And then about a year after that, we did a full weed abatement of the old ponds, the water holding areas. And again, at that point, the city of Brawley's police chief was part of our community corrections team. partnership program that was established in 2011 through Governor Brown put a realignment rehabilitation realignment initiative down to the counties and a committee was formed. We've had El Centro Police Department, Police Chief, Raleigh Police Chief. Now we have Calexico as part of our partnership. And at that time, Brawley was kind of our city of focus. We would, the sheriff's office has been in partnership with Brawley for quite a while as through our cadet program, working with cattle call and being in partnership with Brawley Police Department as they are the leading law enforcement down at the arena during cattle call. So we kind of work – we work as behind them when we're there. And so there are – we've done some – there is – I can't remember the name of the street where the old airport, there's like a big warehouse back where the airport is back there. We've done, there was some inspections that were coming from over there and the road that leads up to the maintenance bays out there. We did some weed abatement and some gravel removal that needed to happen. So the workers have been in Raleigh doing activities over the years. Then we got hit with COVID in 2020. Um, in, uh, right before COVID we had the, we partnered with Imperial County Fire and we had, um, a county based, um, uh, worker, uh, I want to say it was like a incarcerated person fire program where they went to IVC, they got certified. Um, and we had a crew, they went out to Nyland, um, and they worked in some of the riverbed fires that were in that same year out, you know, in the the more north end of Brawley. So there has been numerous activities and different events that have happened over the years. And those crews are available as needed when projects are identified. And this $2,500 is really just support, continued support. It is a work crew. that is with the sheriff's office. We do contract, um, we have a actual road crew that's contracted with the county public works where we do all the road cleanup. Um, but we have on the other, another road crew that's called the sheriff's community service, um, work crew. And that's the one that really comes out here and does all the special audit and end, um, uh, details. And, and all of that throughout the year can be done through what is called the incarcerated person, um, work crew request form, which we could send to the city so that anybody who, any community member or county and city entity could reach out to the department and request support. If there's going to be an event coming up and you want all the trash cleaned up off of a specific area, we could come out for the day and spend a couple hours and clean up that area. It's not just support of work that's going to be with Cattle Call. It is an open-ended ability as we have availability to participate in events and activities that are here in the community.

Thank you. Thank you. Just real quick.

The Sheriff's Office will always be in Brownlee. I'll tell you that right now, okay? Take care of my B-town there, Gil. So, you know, we start in September working our way up to Catacal. And she just mentioned we usually send eight of the INCARCERATED PERSONS, BUT ALONG WITH THAT COMES STAFF, ALL RIGHT? SO I INSTRUCTED THEM THAT WE'RE NOT GOING TO CHARGE FOR OUR STAFF TIME. ALL THE WORKMAN COMP STUFF THAT HAS TO BE PAID WHILE OUR PEOPLE HERE, EVEN THE INMATES ARE ENTITLED TO WORKMAN'S COMP. I PICKED THAT UP. I think the $2,500 is for equipment, fix it, update it in the training classes. But here, regardless, if you said no, you know, we're going to be here helping you. So I appreciate what you're doing. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. Any other questions, comments?

Yeah, the comments.

Go ahead.

Just also the $2,500. like they said, helps with the programs that we're offering. And there's several Brawley residents that are incarcerated people. And we're helping them. We're trying to rehabilitate them. And the county gives us a small budget. And this just helps it. And we stretch it as far as we can. We're willing to help the community in any way. But the $2,500 does help try to rehabilitate and give some of our people life skills to get out and rehabilitate themselves and give them a chance to have a productive life.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Sure.

IT'S GREAT THAT YOU GUYS ARE SUPPORTING THEM, AND YOU GUYS VOTED TO ASSIST THEM, BECAUSE JUST TO MENTION THAT THEIR INCARCERATED POPULATION DOES COME OUT AND HELP HIDALGO SOCIETY THROUGH OUR CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS. THEY BRING OUT ABOUT THREE TO EIGHT INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS, AS WELL AS MAYBE TWO TO THREE STAFF. SO THEY COME AND VOLUNTEER FOR US. WE ACTUALLY DO FEED THEM. I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE SUPPOSED TO FEED THEM AS A COMMUNITY, BECAUSE I WORKED IN... INVENTIVES ARE A HUGE COMPETENCE BOOSTER FOR THAT. SO I FELT, YOU KNOW, I HAVE MY PARTNER HERE THAT WORKED IN A FACILITY OURSELVES, AND WE KNOW WHAT IT IS TO BRING THESE INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS OUT FOR SELF-LEARNING AND, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THEY'RE GOING TO GET REINTEGRATED BACK INTO SOCIETY. I, you know, on behalf of Hidalgo Society, I don't think we've ever had the opportunity to thank you guys ourselves, so we thank you guys for bringing them out to help us also.

They build 200 to 300 bikes a year for their community programs. Yes. And so we pick them up from our trailer trucks, from boxes, and then the workers come out and make an assembly line and build all the bikes for them.

Yes, and all those donations of bikes come from sponsors, our community donations, our members, and so they're of great help to continue making our Christmas program a success. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. Thank you, everybody. We're moving on to 5B, potential action to approve the Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, between the Imperial County Transportation Commission and the City of Brawley for ongoing maintenance of the Imperial Valley Transit bus stops within the city and authorize the mayor to execute the MOU presented by Rebecca Tracis-Baxter.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the City Council. Yes, this next item is proposed MOU with ICTC. It is for the maintenance of the bus stops in Brawley that are currently served by Imperial Valley Transit, which is managed by ICTC. ICTC is working to take over bus stop maintenance throughout the IBT service area. so that it can be handled on a regional basis. Historically, the city has maintained the bus stops within the city of Brawley and has received TDA funds to help cover these costs. Under this agreement, ICTC would take over the day-to-day maintenance of the bus stops and use those TDA funds directly for that work. This would include things like trash removal, cleaning, graffiti removal, and maintenance of shelters, benches, lighting, and signs. ICTC would also handle replacement parts and equipment when funding is available. For Brawley, the main benefit is that it would reduce the amount of bus stop maintenance currently handled by our Parks and Recreation staff and other staff, allowing them to focus more of their time on our parks, our recreational facilities, and other city maintenance needs. The city would still be responsible for things that are part of our own infrastructure, such as sidewalks next to the bus stops and the red painted curbs and so forth. There is no new direct cost to the city under this agreement. The TDA funding would go directly to ICTC along with the bus stop maintenance responsibility. So staff does recommend approval of the MOU and authorization for the mayor to execute the agreement. Mr. David Aguirre, the executive director of ICTC, is here tonight and available to answer any technical questions the council may have if necessary.

You want to come up, David? Okay.

Good evening, honorable members of the Council. So thank you for the opportunity to be with you this evening. As City Manager Tarazis-Bachter noted, this is an ongoing effort that ICTC has led for I think about a year now. We currently provide the same service for the City of El Centro, City of Calipatria, City of Westmoreland, the unincorporated areas like Seeley. We provide the service for City of Calexico as well. So pretty much all of the cities with the exception of the City of Imperial. City of Imperial elected to maintain the shelters on their own, but they have customized shelters. As you've seen in the downtown area, they're like stained glass and they have like tile roofs and all of that stuff. So this is just an ongoing effort on ICTC's behalf to essentially kind of develop a regional network for us to maintain the shelters. It allows us to respond a little bit quicker in terms of maintenance efforts. So if there's ever an incident of... vandalism or someone spilled something on the floor, we can deploy our team out to the shelter itself and have it cleaned generally probably within a few hours. So we're able to respond fairly quickly in most instances to be able to maintain the shelter. In most cases, most of the shelters are serviced without a doubt at least once a week. But in those heavily utilized areas, the shelters are often serviced more than once a week, sometimes twice, sometimes three times a week. So it just kind of varies depending on heavy usage or, you know, what kind of activity we see throughout the network of bus stops. So in addition to that, as City Manager Terrazas-Bachter noted, We will also take care of the maintenance of the shelters themselves. So if there's ever a need to replace anything or if we need to paint over shelters, we'll go ahead and take care of that. We're actually in the process of acquiring backup shelters for each of the networks. So we're buying some backup shelters for the City of El Centro. We're looking at buying some shelters for City of Calexco and Brawley as it stands now just to have them on standby in case we need to replace them. It's very seldom that something like that actually happens, but it could happen. Someone can run into one. We'd have to take it down and replace it. So in a nutshell, that's essentially what we're aiming to do, and we already provide similar service to some of the other cities within the county.

Any questions, comments by council? David, does that, your responsibility to cover, I didn't see it here, any kind of overgrowth, grass, weeds, bushes, overgrowth around?

Generally, we'll take care of that. Yeah, if it's a significant effort, like if it's, you know, we have to cut down a tree or anything like that, we'd reach out to the city to support us. But if it's like, you know, a branch that's kind of overlooking the shelter, we'll generally take care of that.

Okay, thanks. Will that cover the transit station as well?

It does not cover the transit center. No, only the shelters themselves, the bus stops.

The city would maintain maintenance of the transit center.

So I would move to approve.

Okay, I have a motion on the floor to approve. Do I have a second? I'll second. Okay, we have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposition? Motion carries. Thank you.

Thank you. And David, I'd just like to thank you for your partnership. There's a lot that ICTC does. They just reopened a transit center in Calexico. They're planning one on the east port of entry. They're at the same time getting ready to build a new facility in El Centro. El Centro, yes. And... They actually were the fiscal agent for IVDC in our broadband initiative and made a lot of progress there. So there's a lot more that they've been doing, and it's really a partnership that's been good for our community. So thank you very much.

And thank your staff. Thank you very much. Thank you, David, for your hard work.

Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, David. Okay, moving on to 5C. Approve a two-year extension to defer construction of the required offset improvements for the property located at 899 Main Street. and authorize a continued issuance of a temporary certificate of occupancy subject to the terms of the amended deferral agreement presented by Ana Gutierrez, Acting Public Works and Operations Manager.

Good evening, council members, members of the public. The item brought before you tonight is for an extension of deferral, of two-year deferral on off-site improvements. On February 2, 2023, the Brawley City Council approved an initial three-year deferral agreement with Desert Assets for the construction of required off-site improvements at 899 Main Street, Javier's Liquor, Temporary improvements were submitted subsequently and completed in order for them to receive a certificate of occupancy. But just recently, Mr. Sacco applied for a new business within the liquor facility. He wants to open up a Mexican restaurant. And so that triggered, again, for us to come back and revisit those improvements. that needed to be done. He is asking for a two-year extension, and the reason for that is because from the time they gave him the actual extension, there was a two-year lapse until he opened. So he's requesting, and he's here tonight, he's requesting that we defer those two years so that he can open up his business, generate some income, and be able to do those off-site improvements. And I'm going to ask Mr. Sacco if he would come up and...

Thank you, council and elected officials. My name is Russ Sacco. I'm the owner of Javier's Liquor here in Brawley. And we're seeking deferment, if we can, to generate more income for the off-site improvements.

Hello, everyone. I'm here as a friend to Russ, in support with him. FOR THE DEFERMENT. SOME TIME IS NEEDED IN ORDER TO GATHER THIS FUND. IT IS A PRETTY SUBSTANTIAL SIZED PROJECT THAT COMES AT A SUBSTANTIAL COST FOR THE ROLE WORK. AND THERE WAS SOME DELAY IN GETTING THE BUSINESS UP AND RUNNING. WHAT RUSS IS ASKING FOR IS THAT DEFERMENT TO HELP OUT WITH THE, IT WAS A STARTUP BUSINESS, SO THERE'S SOME RAMP UP, THERE'S SOME STABILIZATION TIME, AND THEN AS WELL AS profit time before he sees some profit. I believe it's a two years he's being asked and if the possibility is on the table of even another year to three, that would be very helpful to him as a small business owner. He did run up some additional costs in construction of rehabbing an existing building that was there. It was abandoned for many years. And there was just some unknowns that he went into during construction that kind of brought him over budget in that project.

Any comments or questions by council?

So the current request is that the deferment would allow you two years to complete the project.

We've done partial already. Spent almost, on total concrete, about $75,000 already. That was for the second improvement. Public Works, we worked with in Public Works. We came to an agreement. I drew up new plans, spent more money, and got it up and running for the time being. Since then, the business is still progressing. It's not profitable just yet. With the new improvement on the food, hopefully it'll bring up the business and we can get the concrete done for public works if they're required.

But you anticipate the work will be completed in two years?

I hope so. That's the plan. I mean, if we're looking, we can do three years just to be safe. I'd ask for three years if that's okay.

Is there any new improvements or just within existing?

Existing building. It's inside. It's 100 and maybe 200 square feet of improvements. And I think...

Sorry to interrupt. Some of the improvements were made on the row? Right. On the... What's this? It's the...

They were made off on the entrance of 9th Street. Correct. So the improvements that we're deferring are the ones on Main Street, which is the handicap ramp and the driveway that goes from Main Street and the sidewalk.

Okay. Okay.

The improvements on 9th Street were done so that he can have access.

So is there any improvements that needs to be done for the restaurant or taco shop?

That we are, it's their improvements on the building.

Those are internal improvements. I get you, okay.

I don't know if that was something you were asking more time to improve that or just the off-site only.

I just want to say, I know Mr. Sacco. I'm not a small business owner. My parents, I understand. I hear them about sometimes, you know, throughout their career of government, making some things where they're just trying to open and do business. And so I understand that and respect that. Thank you for that. filling up a building and putting in work. The only question I know is this. I know initially this project, I believe it was a deli, a deli and convenience store. Then something changed. I remember when I first heard it, I remember it got me excited, something different. I remember going around telling people we're going to get a deli and then I see liquor. Javier's like, hey. I guess what changed in that because I know now it's going back to now selling food when Wasn't the initial concept?

When we did the initial, we were going to put food inside from the beginning. The initial plans had the business with the liquor plus an improvement of food facility. The food facility was going to be done on the second tenant improvement, which is now. We were going to do deli. Then I did some numbers. Deli is only lunchtime, dinnertime. not so much sandwiches for dinner. So I came up with a different theme. The more experience that I have is with this concept. I thought it would be a better suit for the business and for the city.

I'm just curious if we could just share these with the council just to see where some of the expense went into what the building was for versus what it is right now.

If I can make a couple comments. Go ahead. So I've been following this project for many years, and I think it took a little longer than they were expecting. A friend of mine, Ronnie Rodriguez, I know that was consulting with them and was keeping me abreast of some of the challenges they were having. The biggest challenge is money. And so these off-site improvements were something that really held back the food portion of the facility. I visited the facility a couple months ago and walked through it. All the equipment has been purchased. The county signed off on the permits for the health. And there were some issues pertaining to the legal status because there was a name change. that the original deferment cannot be deferred for a new company. And so the city staff worked very hard on that and to come to a solution. And I think that what's being presented to you today is that. The other thing I think was a real shocker was how much it's going to cost for the improvements along Main Street. And I know that this is a concern that's been brought up before. These improvements need to be made, and it's a real burden on those businesses. So we're trying to find solutions for that. So this deferment is going to help. If they can open their business, they're going to be able to generate more income and, therefore, hopefully get to the solutions that they need. If you take a look at what the building – this was after the cleanup. Before the cleanup, it was a lot worse than that. So I'm totally in favor of this. We really need to find a solution on how we can assist these businesses. On Main Street, as we know, we got a grant to be able to – was it Eastern to West Road we were able to improve the sidewalks?

Is that correct? It was various areas within that area.

Yeah, and that's really beautified the city, but the businesses that are on this side of that grant area are having challenges being able to improve that. It needs to happen. This needs to happen. But I think this deferment is going to help. So I'd like to make a motion that we approve. Okay.

We have a motion by Councilmember Kelly. We have a second.

If I may, please. Also, it's also the approval of the temporary certificate of occupancy. So it's the deferral and the approval of the temporary certificate of occupancy.

And I'd like to make that motion. Okay. We have a motion. We have a second. I'll second, but is this for two years or three years?

That's what the next question I had was, can we extend this to three years rather than two?

If it can be done before three, we'll get it done. We're just asking just in case so we don't have to come back to council.

I would say we'd do it for two, the consideration of three if they need it.

Yeah.

And I think you'll know... Within six months before that deadline.

Okay, so we have a motion for a two-year agreement and a second by Council Member Monita. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposition? Motion carries. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you all.

Thank you for beautifying Brawley.

Thank you.

Okay, moving on to number six, City Manager's Report.

Sorry. Do my best to keep it brief. Just quickly want to provide an update to the council, to members of the public, those listening. Following an open recruitment process and multiple rounds of interviews, I have made the determination to appoint Interim Police Chief Jonathan Blackstone as the next Brawley Police Chief. THIS IS SUBJECT TO CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL AT A FUTURE MEETING, BUT I WANTED TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THAT WITH ALL OF THE COUNCIL AND OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE. ALSO I DO WANT TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY, CHIEF BLACKSTONE, TO THANK HIM FOR HIS WILLINGNESS TO APPLY FOR THE POSITION AND ALSO ESPECIALLY EVEN MORE SO FOR HIS SERVICE AS INTERIM POLICE CHIEF SINCE JANUARY OF THIS YEAR. So during that time, he has continued to lead the department and support the important work that is being done on behalf of our community. So I appreciate his commitment to the city, and I look forward to bringing the appointment before the council at the next meeting for consideration. Aside from that, just a quick reminder, we have our employee open enrollment benefits event this week, I believe on Thursday. And then Friday is the Senior Grant Parent Day that is being organized and hosted by the Parks and Rec Department. So that is this Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Lyons Center. So congrats, Chief.

Okay. Moving on to the City Council reports. Council Member Rebilar.

If you excuse me, I have a daughter that needs to be picked up.

I'll excuse myself. Thank you.

Have a good night.

Moving on. Council Member Monita.

Yes, I attended the fourth annual recovery walk in El Centro on September 3rd. A lot of people there. I think it was a worthwhile event.

Like I say, a lot of people are recovering from drugs or alcohol.

I think they're really taking advantage of the program to turn their lives around. And then I also attended the board meeting for the library. And that's why I say it's it's still it's still going on there and they're coming up with repairs for the windows.

It's coming up so you still have an opening for the board.

There's still there's still an opening for the board. There's four members. They need a fifth. We could post it again on our social media or something. Anybody interested?

OK, OK, thank you. Council member grass.

Yes, I was able to attend the monthly board meeting for IVEDC, Economic Development Corporation, and learned about some of the initiatives and projects that they're working on. They're planning on an annual meeting coming up, a date to be announced, and so we're looking forward to that. I was able to also attend the Southern California Association of Governments Policy Committee meeting, and who are they – announced the update of the RHNA guidelines, the new housing guidelines, and also the transportation recommendations for the Southern California region and making recommendations for certain funding for counties. And Imperial County is a small population, so we're not getting as much as the larger counties are. So I'm setting up a meeting with David Salgado and David Aguirre, who is just here to talk about the structure and how they come up with their funding strategies and how Imperial County could possibly apply to get their allocation raised. That's my hope, but we'll find out and see how their structure is. But also, the SCAG also released the first quarter financial analysis for Southern California. And it's an interesting read. It's on the website. I passed it to the city manager for the rest of the council to read. But the outlook for Southern California seems like a It's not in a super growth mode. It looks like it's pretty flat in terms of revenue and expenses. Unemployment is kind of up and down. So there's a lot of things that are just unpredictable. Probably that's the case for going into an election year. But it's also one of those things that I think we as a city just need to be prepared for an unpredictable state and federal financial impacts to our area. And I believe that's – oh, and I was able to attend a meeting at Cambria and put on by Berkshire Hathaway regarding an update on what's going on with the geothermal projects at Salton Sea. And they are very close to starting commercial production of lithium. They're still in the testing phases at this point, and they're evaluating whether or not to go commercial, which was their – their language, and my guess is to determine the cost-benefit analysis. Is it time to pull the trigger and start producing? So that's going to be an interesting outcome of that, as well as I learned as well as the court decision to reverse County of Imperial under CEQA Apparently, it's not a complete redo of CEQA. It is areas that they can repair, fix, and update without going back with a total rewrite of the CEQA, which was Very encouraging because they're looking at a three- to four-month process to update their CEQA to meet the court guidelines and expectations. To redo a CEQA, as I understand it, to start from scratch is about a three- to four-year process. So that's good news for Lithium Valley to get going and for their future. Hopefully that will change a lot of the economic outcomes, outlooks for the future, near future. And that's my report. Thank you.

Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem Kelly.

John talked about the economic output, and what's kind of interesting, I just heard this figure today, that if you looked at the stock market, and where money is being invested has been in the tech industry, 37% of all income in the state of California revolves around AI at this point, 37%. And it's flat. And so it's not growing for certain reasons. And so it's kind of challenging when we talk about what the future is going to be like. It's dependent on where tech goes in this direction. So I just want to announce that I was at the Padres and Yankees game and really enjoyed it. I went Friday night and Saturday. I had tickets for Sunday, but I decided to come home. But it's the first time the Padres have won a series against the Yankees in 10 years. And that was a really exciting game. So thanks for all the sponsors to CalCities, including Republic Services. who did a great job hosting many of the communities in Southern California. The organization that put that event on was Geothermal Rising, which is really showing a lot of interest. ORMAT Nevada, which has 90% of their assets, and Imperial County was there also, as well as Energy Source. All the geothermal companies are moving forward at this point. Energy Source is still trying to seek funding. Berkshire Hathaway, as you mentioned. They're going to do a presentation, I think it's next week, in Pearl Valley College about their updates, which I think you can improve since last week. And I'll send that information to everybody. And then Phoenix Lithium also is looking kind of in the same situation of commercial, moving toward commercial of their technology, which is just east of Brawley. So there's a lot going on in this community. You know, it just so happens I was driving around town and I was looking at the bus shades and was thinking about what good condition they're in. And I'm just curious, you know, how the ICTC take over that is probably going to free up some people for the city of Brawley. So that's going to be a real benefit for us. And that's it.

Okay, thank you. I have nothing to report, so we'll move on to the city attorney report.

I went to the Padre game on Friday, too. I didn't see Mr. Kelly. I actually went there myself. Really? It was a heck of a good game. Also, El Nino's in full force is out in offshore Sunday, and the manta rays are thick out there. And I ended up hooked to one for four hours, so I'm a little sore.

Alrighty, thank you. Okay with nothing else to report out. This meeting is now adjourned