City - Regular Meeting

Look like this. Oh,

Thank you for joining us this evening. Before we uh start our meeting, I'd like to introduce Pastor New from the St. John's Lutheran Church to give us our invocation. Pastor Mr. Mayor, honorable council members, let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for all that you have given this community, blessing us with fine farmland, range land, and a place to build a community for our families. We ask you send your spirit to attend your servants who enforce the rules, serve the sick, keep the store, teach the young, who labor at their craft, and minister to your word. Isaiah told the people to loose the bonds of wickedness, undo the straps of the yoke, and set the oppressed free. We are to share our bread with the hungry, give shelter to the homeless, clothe the naked, and satisfy the desires of the afflicted. We will see your light rise in the darkness, and gloom will be as noonday. Help us citizens of Los Help all citizens of Laspanos to work for a common good through useful invention. salutary regulation, helpful occupation, wholesome recreation, good manufacturing, and meaningful education. We ask you preserve this community from recession and depression, e epidemic and contagion, misrule and disharmony, drought and flood, fire and holocaust. Give them the grace to obey and trust your word through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Amen. to call this meeting to order for February 4th, 2026. And Commander Fugav's pledge, please. To the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Okay, if we could have a roll call, please. Perez here. Uh Chavez here. Lewis here.

Amabel here. First item is consideration approval of the agenda as submitted. If I can have that approval, please. So moved. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second to approve our agenda this evening as submitted to the public. Any questions or comments? Not hearing any. All in favor signify by saying I.

I opposed. Eyes have it. Motion carried. Now we have a couple of presentations to make. you're hiding from me. Well, we're very proud. Stuart is a longtime member of our community. He's been instrumental in teaching the youth in our high school. He's a great cook too on top of that. There's a lot of things and we we heard about uh being we wanted to recognize him because of his accomplishments in duck calling. And so I am honored tonight for this proclamation recognizing Stuart McCullik. Whereas Stuart McCullik earned his fourth California state duck calling title on August 23rd, 2025 at the 15th annual California State Championship, an outdoor ex exposition held in Kousa, California. And whereas Mr. McCullik achieved a significant world stage milestone by winning the 2025 senior world duck calling championship as part of the wings over the prair prairie festival world's championship duck calling contest. Mr. McCullik has dedicated three decades to the sport of duck calling, demonstrating sustained excellence, discipline, and sportmanship while earning a respect respectful place among California's most accomplished competitors. And whereas

prior to his return to competition stage, Mr. McCullik's leadership within the sport has been widely recognized through his work as coaching callers of all ages, judging contests locally and nationally and serving for many years as master of cere ceremonies for the contest and exposition weekend inclusa. And whereas Mr. McCullik has com comp uh competed in more than 130 calling contests across the nation and earned over 30 titles in event including world qualifiers, open competitions and twoman team events since 1998. And whereas beyond the stage, Mr. McCullik serves his community as an educator currently teaching a food science and coaching public speaking reinforcing the values of preparation confidence and personal growth in the next generations. And whereas Mr. McCullik's return to competition was inspired by his son appreciation of the special memories created through the sport reflecting the powerful row role that traditions, families, and mentorship plays in shaping a community. Now therefore, be it proclaim that I, Michael S. Tamville mayor and the city council of the city of Los Banis, California do hereby proclaim that the city of Los Banis recognizes and commends Stuart McCullik for his exceptional achievement and we applaud his commitment to representing Lasanis and the state of California with excellence on the national and the world stage. Be it further proclaimed that the city of Lasanis expresses its appreciation for Mr. McCullik's years of leadership, coaching, judging, and community mind service and congratulates

him on the milestones and his accomplishments. Congratulations quite an accomplishment. We really appreciate you. Thank you so much.

Yeah. Well, it's good to see you gentlemen this evening. We're proud that you represent our country and our community. And it's my honor to give this proclamation recognizing the four chaplain Sunday. Whereas February 3rd, 2026 marked the 83rd anniversary of the sinking of the troop ship US Army Transport Adorchester, which traveled to the deaths which carried to the deaths four US Army chaplain of three faiths who stood united in prayer as a ship went down. And whereas these four chaplain, Methodist, Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Protestant, gave their own life jackets to four soldiers and thus sacrificed their own lives to save the lives of others. And whereas the historic deeds of Chaplain Lieutenant George L. Fox, Lieutenant Alexander D. Good, Lieutenant John P. Washington, and Lieutenant Clark V. pulling and their combined act of supreme devotion and sacrifice for the American liberty and human freedom will be inspiring and ever shining example of real brotherhood for all time to the people of the United States and the

world. And whereas we must all see to it that their supreme sacrifice to the common cause of human freedom and justice for all shall not have been in vain. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that I, Michael Assam Bill, mayor, and the city council of the city of Lasanis, California, do hereby recognize February 8th, 2026 as four chaplain Sunday, and encourage all to give special recognition to the memory of those who sacrifice their lives for the cause of freedom. So, thank you so much for bringing this forward. We really appreciate it. Would you like my nipple words? Well, we'd we'd like to thank the city for this. It's a uh it's a very important um date and it's a very important thing that goes on every year and uh we're privileged to be able to uh to honor the uh the chaplain and uh with the with the turmoil that's going on in this country today, hopefully we won't be in another world war. So, uh, we keep, uh, pushing forward and, um, and it's the most important, uh, thing is to to honor the people that have, uh, gone before us.

Thank you very much. We really appreciate. Thank you. Thank you so much. We really appreciate Okay. At this time, I'd like to open the public forum. Members of the public may address this city council members on any item of public interest that's within the jurisdiction of our city. This includes agenda and non-aggenda items. No action will be taken on non-aggenda items. Speakers are limited to five minutes to speak and you're all welcome to come forward at this time. Please state your name.

Good evening. Vanessa Barza. I am honored to serve as a field representative for Assemblywoman Esmeralda. I am based out of our Mercured district office and serve the city of Los Banos as well as the communities of Do Palos, Chachilla, and Madera acting as a direct connection between the community and the assembly woman. My role is to assist residents with state related issues, advocate for our community, and ensure Lasanos has access to state programs and resources while also making sure local voices are heard in Sacramento. We have officially started the second year of the 2-year legislative session. In January, the legislature completed work on bills carried over from the previous year that were still in the House. They were introduced in assembly bills in the Assembly, Senate bills still in the Senate. We are now moving toward the end of a new bill introduction period with February 20th serving as a deadline to introduce legislation for 2026. Assemblywoman Sora is currently finalizing her legislative package, so I don't have specific details to share just yet, but please stay tuned. I want to briefly share a few updates from 2025. This year, California took meaningful steps to address the affordability crisis. The legislature passed historic reforms to build more housing, cut red tape, and improve affordability. We also delivered the largest energy affordability solutions in years, helping lower electricity rates and utility bills for families and small businesses. Assemblywoman Sawyer was proud to author and support legislation that directly benefits our region. This includes AB36, which helps smaller smaller rural cities and counties qualify for state housing funds. AB457 which expands streamlined approvals for affordable farm worker housing in Merced County. AB639 which reduces unre unnecessary regulatory burdens on agriculture water

infrastructure. She also authored AB848 and AB849 strengthening patient safety in healthcare settings. The state budget delivered important investments locally, including 5 million for flood infrastructure in Merced County, 2.75 million for immigration legal services in the Central Valley, as well as continued investment supporting community assets like Colorado Ballpark, which received 1 million in state funding in 2024. In addition to state funding, our office partnered on several local initiatives. A 1,000 backpack giveaway back to school celebration last fall in partnership with the Los Banos Community Center, Losanos Unified, and by National. 500 turkeys distributed in partnership with Los Banos Unified and Cisco during Thanksgiving holiday last fall. We wanted to thank assemb uh councilwoman Perez for being in attendance. Thank you so much. We really appreciated that. Uh $300,000 were brought back to the district through constituent service case work um through our office. Assemblywoman Sora values strong partnerships with cities like Los Vanos. Our office is always available to assist with state resources, navigating agencies, and supporting local priorities. I am here to listen, collaborate, and work alongside you to support and strengthen our community. I would love to host mobile office hours here at city hall once a month on a schedule that works best for the city and for the constituents. Thank you for your time and I look forward to staying connected. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And tell Assemblywoman Sora we really appreciate the support of our community.

Thank you. Anyone else please come forward? You're welcome to speak. Good evening, honor council and the staff. Um, I want to continue to um give you the positive message about catching ferals, helping cats and dogs in our community. I'd like to thank you guys personally for and the staff members for pushing forward on helping the animals in our community. the police department along with the commanders, Sergeant Menddees and of course the animal control officers and their staff just finished a hard program of kitten season that really never ended. It's starting right back up. I think we had a week of breath as we continue in our community with pushing forward like the program of our animals getting hitching rides, you know, to different states and different cities in our community. It can be done. There is states and cities that really don't have any animals and they want our animals. So, we can do this. I just wanted to read something that um some of us put together um one evening when we were exhausted for feral cat trapping and we decided to put these words together. A dream of a community is where all animals are left safe, cherished, and free from harm.

It's a vision of profound compassion and we can have that compassion and in those spanos we really do. We didn't get this, you know, with all these animals. We didn't get this way overnight. It's going to take some time, but I appreciate everyone's forthright on making sure that we progress forward that downtown adds some really exclusive things for the animals. been pushing that off to the side, pushing forward. So, thank you very much for all that you guys do. I think that sometimes people really need to hear on how much really truly the community loves our animals and we appreciate you. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else please come forward? You're welcome to speak. Welcome.

Good evening, mayor, council members, fellow residents. My name is Sibil Howerin. I'm here to share a letter with you that's been signed on by over two dozen um fellow residents. We have wa watched the recent escalation of federal immigration enforcement across the country with increasing concern, particularly for the fear and instability it has created for families here in Losanos. Families and communities are being torn apart and threatened through practices that appear to violate constitutional rights, including due process and privacy protections. Now is the time to make sure we are being intentional in strengthening our community's ability to respond to such stressors. As Losanos residents, we urge you to take steps now to ensure that city resources and personnel are not used for federal civil civil immigration enforcement and that our city fully complies with California's sanctuary laws SB54 and the constitutional protections of due process, non-discrimination, and equal protection. While the existence of such protections is paramount, they are only as good as our ability to know them, practice them, and protect them on the ground. California's SB54 limits local agency participation in federal civil immigration enforcement to protect due process, community trust, and public safety. While Laspanos council members, staff, and law enforcement may share these values, we also know that the practicalities of how to engage in such situations, the confidence gained from knowing one's own and others rights and the effectiveness of clear procedures cannot be taken for granted. Current compliance does not guarantee that all staff understand how these protections apply in real time situations.

We hope that you will take active urgent steps to ensure city personnel and local families feel your support behind them with clear training, messaging, and information. We ask that you ensure city staff and police personnel receive training on constitutional and immigrant rights, specifically the requirements of SB54 and lawful responses to federal immigration inquir inquiries. Establish and enforce clear internal procedures to prevent the use of local resources for federal civil immigration enforcement and publish clear accessible public guidance explaining residents rights and resources during enforcement interactions. During times like these, the value of clarity, preparation, and communication cannot be overstated. The chaos created by discordant orders from figures of authority can be reduced through such actions effectively protecting residents rights and city staff from legal exposure and being placed in untenable situations. People in Losanos are afraid. Many residents are unaware of these protections or unsure whether they will be upheld in moments of crisis. Public guidance and visible leadership are essential to closing that gap. We look to you to take every action possible and ensure our city is doing all it can to protect its residents, maintaining the trust necessary for public safety. We look forward to hearing how the council plans to address these concerns and welcome the opportunity for continued dialogue. I'll give you the letter. Okay.

Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Anyone else, please come forward.

Welcome.

Good evening. Good evening, council members, Mr. Mayor, and city staff, and all of those in attendance. Um, it's a pleasure to be here. Tony Whitehurst. Tonight I'm speaking in behalf of the uh Chamber of Commerce. Uh done it a number of times and really been a member for about 50 years. Um but uh uh there are there are constant changes taking place. Our chamber of commerce is currently uh currently being challenged by a by the funding shortage that results when old contracts uh expire and and new ones don't follow up closely enough. But the city has been helpful to to the chamber for a long time. It's a century or or more. Um they were that organization was the first one to lobby for the pavement of Poacheo Boulevard from the foothills all the way out to Highway 59 and and uh I have a lot of pride in that that kind of a history. I know my own family was was new in the funeral business in Las Vegas 105 years ago and all of those years are surround they're surrounded by such things as attitude and attitude changes constantly. Um and we what holds us together is pride confidence in our ability to face challenges. uh the the the successive uh work that we've managed to do to try to keep the uh community um an attractive place not just to live but an attractive place to

do business and to strengthen the base the economic base of our community. And so we're facing this now and uh there are obviously some changes in the attitude of of city administration and how the um how the the chamber of commerce is going to continue as a group of volunteers which we have been for clearly since its very beginning. Um, and so, um, I, uh, I know that it won't be terribly long before you start to hear repeat repeat repeated comments about, uh, how we should stay behind them, continue to give them an opportunity to improve any way they can. um as a group of volunteers who want to um strengthen the the local taxes and improve the business environment. Uh to strengthen the community entirely. uh just by making it a stronger a healthier place to to reside, to do business, to raise your family, and to um and take pride in in all of the the benefits of having all of those volunteers behind you. Um so, um the uh that that's the whole purpose of my being here today. We we we tend to report everything that goes on in the chamber. Uh what kind of success we may be having with the Christmas parade or the Mayday parade or the Mayday fair or the the u uh Fourth of July activities in the community. These are all things that have been held, conducted, and con constructed and actually supported by the Chamber of Commerce for a great many

years. And so we expect that's going to continue to go on as a bunch of volunteers. But if you can help them, if you can look back in the the way it's been helped in the past and how successful it's been, um we urge you to to respond to their current need and they're they're sticking together because the only alternative for them is to walk away um as a volunteer. And the one thing you won't find in a successful chamber of commerce is is quitters. You just won't find them there. Without that, without the strength of staying together, the success would not continue. So, um, thank you all for the opportunity to uh to address you and and we're going to be here. We're going to continue reporting and working with you and trying to make things better. Uh, and I know it'll succeed. So, please help out if you can. Thank you all very much.

Thank you. Anyone else? Please come forward. We welcome you.

Welcome. Um, my name is Javier Powell. I I'm usually here just to report on the meetings. Uh but here I'm representing the Milicanin Museum today. Uh I believe uh thanks to assistant city clerk, you all received our membership flyer and a newspaper clipping. Uh we just started our 2026 uh membership drive. Um to understate the not understate to um state the importance of what this drive means to us. Um we don't accept any federal, state, or local uh tax funding at all. We're entirely funded by our memberships and our donations. And these memberships are the reason why we can keep our lights open. We can keep our operating hours from 1 to 4 every day except Monday. Um, we are able to start digitizing our archives. We're able to apply for grants. We're able to get TVs to display our photo archives. Um, and it's really thanks to these memberships we're able to keep going. Um, recently the this year we invested in PayPal. We invested in getting Square. So we're fully able to take card now. Before we used to only take uh check. We were kind of living in a stone age. We now also have a QR code which is on the the middle of the flyer which you can scan and you could just go to PayPal and pay it that way. It lets you also pay with your credit card. Um we're starting up our newsletter again. Uh we we know we let that one get defunked a long time ago, but we're working on getting that restarted uh uh starting this spring. It'll be quarterly and that'll be part of the membership is you will receive either a email version of that or a print version depending on if you opt in. Our upcoming events at the museum uh is the 8th annual Charles Sawyer lecture series which is February 20 25th 2026. It'll be in the Ted Flask Arts Council building and the theme this year is wartime tales of a small town. how the world wars affected Laspanos and the homeront also our veterans while

they were fighting the war. Uh the next event after that is our major um uh fundraiser we do which is the annual Arbor Day breakfast which before you head out to Arbor Day celebrations this year it'd be good to get some breakfast uh that's on March 6, 2026 and will be in the Laspanos Community Center. Uh there are uh sixish tiers of uh membership at the museum starting with senior citizen student at 10 bucks going all the way up to $500 as patron. It uh anything really helps. So even just small amounts just helps the museum keep going. Uh, another thing I figured I'd share because I'm taking up some of your time here is a newspaper clipping which is from May 3rd, 1907 from the Merced County Sun and it's the creation of Laspano City. Uh, it's the big head title is the new city of Laspanos. I figured I'd share that. Uh, and it shows that Laspanos by a vote of 83 to 15 became incorporated. Uh, which is a fun thing. Uh back then they didn't select the mayor. They would uh they didn't select the mayor at large. Uh you would have the trustees which are elected at large and then they themselves would vote who would be mayor. So you can see who uh JD McCarthy got 99% of the vote. Uh J place JB Tuscano WT White and a uh Janelli. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that right.

Janelli. Janelli. That was the ones who were sitting in the same seats you are to now in an older building. uh but in the same rough uh seats in spirit. The marshall was uh Joel Webb. The clerk was JJ Sweeney. The treasurer was JB Dismute. I'm not sure if I'm saying that one correctly either. Uh but uh I figured I'd share that as well along with our membership drive. Um when you uh become a member of the museum, you support us being able to preserve things like that. Um and hope you all have a great day. Sorry for taking up your time.

Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Anyone else, please come forward. We welcome you. Okay. I do not see or hear anyone coming forward. I just want to make a statement that uh we we welcome all the statements here at the public forum. Uh we listen to you, we hear you and we understand you and we don't take it for granted and our number one priority as a city is to keep our residents safe and protected. We've had meetings I've had two meetings with a city manager this week about what's going on at the high school and the walkouts and stuff like that. So, we're on it. But I just want to let you know that your safety and all the safety of all the residents of Lasanis is our priority. So, I appreciate everybody that spoke in the at the public forum. And now I'm going to turn over to our city manager, Neron Than.

Good evening, mayor and council. As part of public forums um this afternoon, I'd like to introduce everybody to our interim HR director, Isabelle Carlos. So, I have a little bit of a little bio for her. So, Isabelle is joining us to fill in the vacancy that was left by our former HR director, Lucy Maloney. Um Isabelle came to us on January 26. She brings over 20 years of responsible um municipal management experience with 10 of those year at the executive level. Um she is experienced with all facets of human resources and risk management including best industry practices having served 18 years in the city of Paris, California in various capacity including director of admin services and assistant city manager for um and over three years of those will also be with the city of Milbury as assistant city manager/HR uh director. In her role um as a um as assistant city manager, she has overseen multiple city department division and program. Her accomplishment include developing and implementing solid programs to manage, develop, and recognize employees. She also facilitated college education employee and community programs and award-winning projects to advance community public health. Um she also hold a bachelor of science from California State in Pomona and a master in business administration from the University of Redlands. So, please um join me in welcoming uh Isabelle Carlos to the team. Welcome and welcome aboard like they say. Uh let's see. Is there any letters that came in from public forum or anything? Okay. Okay. So, I'll move on to item seven which is consideration approval of consent agenda as submitted. Uh items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine and will be voted on with one motion unless removed from the agenda by a city council member. So uh with that uh Fiona, if you

could read off the consent agenda.

Items on the consent agenda are as follows. Warrant listing check numbers 255813 through 25650 in the amount of 1,41 401,74465. City Council resolution number 7043 designating 30 Taser X26 units as surplus equipment and the items are to be approved as submitted. Is there any questions or comments or thoughts from the city council and since this is uh routine if we could have a motion for accepting that please? Yeah, mayor. I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as submitted. Second motion.

Okay, thank you. Okay, we have a motion and a second to approve consent agenda as submitted. Any further questions or comments? And the consent agenda also has resolution number 7043 within it. So with that, all in favor signify with say by saying I. I opposed. Eyes have it. Item 8 is also a public hearing. You may challenge this proposed action as described in court. You may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised during a public hearing described herein or in written correspondence delivered to the city at or prior to the public hearing. The public hearing will be to receive public comment and consideration of a conditional use permit 2025-03 to allow the on sale of alcohol type 41 ABC licensed beer and wine at DO incorporated located at 2160 East Pache Boulevard sweet D and E. So with this we'll turn it to our community and economic development director Soua Stacy Soua Elms.

Thank you Mr. Mayor and city council. Um so just as uh the mayor stated, we're going to consider a conditional use permit number 2025-03 for DEFA, Inc. Uh the proposed operations, it is an existing fullervice Vietnamese restaurant. Uh they are located in the College Plaza Shopping Center. Um the request is to allow to allow on sale of beer and wine. That's a type 41 license. Uh this is with an eating establishment and they are proposing no expansion of the building or change in use intensity. Uh the project is located at 2160 East Pacheco Boulevard suites D and E. Uh again that's within the college shopping center, College Plaza Shopping Center. Uh, Food for Less is located uh within that shopping center uh Panda Express and this is directly adjacent to uh La Machuana Restaurant. Uh the proposed operations um so they are requesting a type 41 ABC license. Again, that is onsite beer and wine only. Uh, the alcohol does have to be served with food for on-site consumption only, and their hours of operation are 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. uh the environmental review, SQA, the California environmental quality act. This project was deemed to be categorically exempt under SQA guidelines per section 15301 in that it is an existing facility and that there are no physical expansion or increased intensity of use proposed at this time under the use permit analysis. This is required under the Lasanis Municipal Code. their general findings um for use

permits in general. And then in addition to that, our municipal code has specific findings for the on sale and off sale of alcoholic beverages. Um all of those findings are located within the staff report. Um and I can go over them if you have any questions. Otherwise, they are uh pretty standard findings. And the issuing authority is the department of alcohol beverage control ABC which is the state of California. This project is located within census tract 23.03. There are 10 existing onale restaurant licenses within that census tract and this approval would increase that total to 11. Uh the nearest license is adjacent just to uh the west of the this restaurant location. um which is La Mitwakana. Um and you can see here that census track 23.03 um is uh really just east of um Mercy Springs Boulevard and it encompasses all of the commercial area um on Pacheco Boulevard. So, and it runs the almost the complete east end of town from Mercy Springs all the way to almost the city limit line. Um so it's a fairly large census tract uh which encompasses a large swath of uh PCO Boulevard. Uh this is the proposed uh security plan uh with the current floor plan. Um the camera covers uh cameras cover um all of the dining area as well as the um kitchen stations in the rear. This is a photo of the front of uh the restaurant suites D and E

and this is the interior of the restaurant in their dining area. public comment. Uh, public hearing notices were published in the Westside Express and mailed out to uh, adjacent property owners within 300 feet of the property on January 21st, 2026. And as of the preparation of this presentation, no comments have been received. So staff is recommending that the city council would consider adopting resolution number 7044 finding the proposed project to be categorically exempt from SQA pursuant to article 19 section 15301 existing facilities and approved conditional use permit number 2025-03 to authorize the on sale of beer and wine uh with a type 41 ABC license subject to the conditions of approval uh attached to the staff report and resolution And that concludes my presentation. I'm here to answer any questions.

Okay. Thank you, Stacy. Before we open up for questions by the council, I'll open up the public hearing for use permit 2025-03 that was just described by our community development director. If anyone would like to speak on this subject, this public hearing is now open. Please state your name. Hi, my name is Kathy Ballard. I just have one quick question. Um, you showed cameras on the inside. Are they required to put any on the outside? That's my only question I had.

Okay, we'll answer that when the public hearing is over. Okay. Anyone else would like to speak on this this uh liquor license proposed? Going once, going twice. Okay, I'll close the public hearing, turn it back over to city council. And yes, uh you want to Stacy, you want to just talk about cameras?

Sure. So there is a condition of approval uh condition number 16 uh that requires the applicant to have monitoring cameras in the exterior and interior of the restaurant at all times to the satisfaction and approval of the police chief. So that is a condition of approval. Any other questions by city council? Okay. Um well, we're really excited that this restaurant's going to open. We welcome new businesses and especially restaurants to our community and we wish them uh only the best luck. We've been open for three years. Oh, for this is just your license for

correct. Okay. I thought you were expanding too. Okay, good. So, with that, we glad you're opening up a little beer and wine too. That helps. So, with that, um, I'll need a motion to adopt the resolution as submitted, and it's resolution 7044.

Yeah, Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to uh adopt or approve resolution number 7044. Okay, we have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 7044 as submitted. Any further questions or comments? Not hearing any. All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Eyes have it. And again, we wish you the best. Next item is also a public hearing to receive public comment and consideration of a final development plan number 2024-01 and development agreement for the village six subdivision. And this would be resolution 7045 and an ordinance number 1214. So with this, if you could bring us up to speed on this, Stacy.

All right. Thank you again, Mr. Mayor. Uh so just a little bit of background. um on this particular item. Uh back in November of 2003, the planning commission recommended approval of the Stone Creek area plan. Now, that's the entitlement that facilitates annexations. Um then in April of 2004, the city council approved the Stone Creek area plan, which included the eventual annexation of um over 400 acres into the city of Lasanis. Uh I do have in a couple of slides that area that shows uh the boundary of the Stone Creek area plan. Um so that that's coming up shortly. Um, and then in December of 2025, the planning commission held a duly noticed public hearing and approved vesting tenative trackmap number 2024-02 and recommended approval of final development plan number 2024-01 and associated development agreement to the city council. And that's what brings us here tonight is to consider the final development plan and the development agreement. Now the vesting tenative map was approved. The uh authority the um body having jurisdiction over uh tenative tract maps is the planning commission. Um but that entitlement is conditioned upon approval of the final development plan by the city council. So the proposal before you tonight um that vesting tenative map was previously approved but what it did was subdivide 8.2 2 acres into 30 single family detached residential lots ranging in size from 5,50 ft to 10,985 square ft. The final development plan sets forth the proposed layout, circulation, architecture, street sections, landscape concept, and site features.

So, it's really how does that neighborhood how does that neighborhood look? Um the project covers approximately 2% of the Stone Creek area plan. It's a very small component of the Stone Creek area plan that was originally developed by Anderson Homes. Um also tonight you will be considering a development agreement which set forth sets forth uh terms for development of the project site. So this is the location of uh the neighborhood villages 6 subdivision. It is um really in the uh southwest quadrant of the city of Lasanis. It's right off of Doc Avenue. And if you take Cardo Road, you go through uh which right here you can see where the roundabout is off of Badger Flat. But if you continue um through this fivepoint roundabout and continue through Cardoza Road um that is where this um new neighborhood will be located which has 30 units. This is really a continuation of the Stone Creek area plan. So these units that have been built um in phases over the last 20 plus years, this is just a continuation of that original approval back in 2000. Ultimately it was 2004. Um, so to access this neighborhood, um, entry is off of Cardoza Road on the south and off of, uh, Mariposa, which is on the north. Um, and to get there, uh, it's now called Kathern Hostetler Boulevard. Um, but that's the street that's right next to Walmart. Um, so if you can imagine, this is just southwest of Walmart.

This is uh outlines the Stone Creek area plan boundary and this is really just to show what that entire boundary that got annexed into the city 20 plus years ago. What that all encompassed. So this is the 400 plus acres that was annexed into the city. Um it is the southwest quadrant like I said of the city and over the last 20 years this area has been built out in phases. This tenative map these 30 units are just right here. If you can see my little cursor those 8 acres um are are almost in the center of this area plan. So, SQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, um through environmental analysis, it was determined that this project is within the scope of the original Stone Creek Area Plan Program Environmental Impact Report, state clearing house number 206015, certified by the Las City Council. The proposed project was adequately described, examined, and evaluated in that environmental impact report, and no significant new information or changes in the environment have occurred that would result in new or greater significant effect not studied in that original environmental impact report. That EIR contemplated a total buildout of over 1,800 residential units within the area plan. And as of today's date, um, only 1,200 units, over 1,200, almost 1,300 units have been approved. So, it's definitely within the threshold of all of the dwelling units that had been approved with that original environmental impact report. So, with the addition of the 30 units uh proposed for this subdivision, village 6, it brings the cumulative total to over,300

units, definitely within that threshold originally. um analyzed. So the final development plan analysis uh the purpose um is that this is a plan development. So, not only does it have its base land use designation of R1, low density residential, that determines how many units can be built on an acre, which that range for low density residential for the city is uh essentially 1 to six units per acre. So you have that base zoning, but then um as this project got annexed into the city, it was annexed in with a plan development overlay. And what that zoning that overlay district does is it allows for flexibility within the zoning that are traditionally not allowed in your lot by lot zoning where you have very stringent setbacks. There's no flexibility really no flexibility in design lot sizes very stringent but the plan development gives you some flexibility to kind of move with that depending on amenities um having flexibility for amenities um and it's just um a way to provide a more creative innovative neighborhood. So that was the overall plan for that Stone Creek area plan. Um, it encourages, like I said, innovative and creative development by allowing flexibility in land use and design. A part of that original analysis and uh, Mr. Mayor, I think um, you were originally on city council when that area plan came forward and um, possibly council member pro Tim Lewis may have been on the planning commission at the time. may have been. Um, but definitely as a lot of these tenatives maps were

processed through, you were definitely a part of that entitlement process. Um, but as you can imagine, that had um a very specific requirement of how that area was to be developed. It required the Stone Creek Plaza Shopping Center, Target, uh, and what was Lowe's, which now is Hobby Lobby, Marshalls, all of that shopping area was required to come in. Um, and some of that give and take was to allow that plan development, that flexibility in zoning. Um, also there was some um creativity at the time. it was considered creativity in the in um street widths and street frontages and how those street frontages look. Now that's a planning fa fad that has since gone away. Those smaller streets that you see right behind Target uh we've pulled away but you can see that at that time the city was considering those different planning styles to see if it would work within our community. we've pulled away from that and you won't see that now in this newer neighborhood. Um, but it's just to show emphasize that's kind of the the creativity that goes into the development and creating that development. It's not just what does the house look like. It's really about the entire development, the commercial component, whether they're schools, um any amenities, parks were a big part of this development, Aloe Vera, soccer, that park that uh those soccer fields were also a big part of this plan. So, it also allows the opportunity to provide amenities, like I said, and conveniences while maintaining a suitable neighborhood environment and permits development based on a high standard of performance and design by creating greater efficiency in land use by providing flexibility in the strict application of the zoning code. And again, that would be um to the city setbacks and achieved by maximizing open

space, preserving natural amenities and creating additional amenities as approved by the city council, which was done when this was annexed in. So this is the project design. Um, and as you can see, this is just plugging in into that existing development. It's 30 units. Um, and the project design, the intent is to present present a diverse selection of production homes positioned on a range of lot sizes with varying widths. And that's really just to be harmonious with the existing neighborhood adjacent um to this development and really just to plug in with what's existing there. It consists of sync 30 single family residential units. It does have a neighborhood park component and that's because when villages uh 2A and three map um came into the city which that's what developed Dock Avenue, Doc Avenue is just east if you can kind of see that those light uh gray uh shaded lots. uh it had um identified a park and that park like I said was a part of that original area plan that original plan that designated what this development was going to look like when it first got annexed into the city. And then when villages five uh that map came forward which was by Anderson Holmes the dedication of this park uh a portion of that was dedicated and now this is the remaining piece. Um staff does take a very um critical analysis. we take a um a very serious look when um parks are proposed and really look at the benefits um not just to have every park in every map even for 30 units that it it wouldn't be

necessary but in this instance because we already had land dedicated north of this for a park use and at the time that this map was was um final, it had already carved out this this land for the map or for excuse me for the park. That is why um staff in in taking this map into consideration allowed that uh park space to continue to move forward and to accept that dedication. Um the city is proposing to um accept the dedication but collect the park uh development fee which would mean then the city will develop the park. And we've had some really good success lately in our last two parks that our um parks and recreation director Joe Heim developed. Shaughnessy Park being one of them, our newest one, and then Sunrise Ranch. Um but this will be a neighborhood park. Um, and that's only because uh land was already dedicated to the city and this park area was already set in motion uh about 20 years ago. The density is 3.66 dwelling units. Like I said, that range for single family low density residential is between 0 to uh six units per acre. Uh the architecture proposed uh it is production homes. Uh there is a singlestory and a two-story model then with various uh elevations, three different elevations within um the singlestory and the twotory models. Um and then five architectural styles. There's traditional cottage, ranch, craftsman, and farmhouse. All of those styles plug in very nicely into the existing Anderson Homes architecture.

Um, and even to the lots that Anderson Homes has sold off um historically to Dr. Horton and to Legacy Homes. Um, they're all very complimentary. Uh, so it's traditional American architecture. Like I said, it's consistent with the villages at Stone Creek. Um, which um really surrounds this um proposed development. uh circulation. Um so this is within the packet. Um but just a snippet of uh what that circulation looks like. Cardosa road is a uh major collector. It's a four-lane road that will have a median. Um so access to devel development is from Mariposa Drive which runs um uh north and south down into Pacific Drive and uh Cardoza Road which runs east and west. Cardardoza Road, like I said, is designated as a collector. It's a 100 foot rideway. So it has two-lane travel in both directions, four lanes altogether. It has a 12-oot median, a 5-ft bike lane, a 5-ft sidewalk, a 5-ft landscape strip, and then a 6ft masonry wall. Um, and this is just a continuation of the existing Cardoza Road. What you see today, um, but into this development coming from Cardoza Road, it will be right in, right out. And the purpose of that and extending that median is just because of the curve, the curvature there. there is a bit of a um curve going through Cardardoza Road and it's to ensure that drivers um there isn't conflict and that was uh based on um the city's analysis of the circulation. So Pacific Drive and interior local streets will be 58 ft wide, 58t rideway, um 36t pavement widths, 5-ft sidewalks, and six foot landscape strips.

Uh the infrastructure proposed um is to connect to city water off of Cardardoza Road, sewer off of Pacific Drive. Um and then storm drainage will connect north um to through Pacific Drive um and is designed according to the city standards and specifications. And this project has been contemplated in the city's utility master plans and it will be sized to accommodate the use and will be built in accordance with those master plans. So the development agreement um proposed within this development, it's a legally binding contract between the city of Laspanis and a developer that delineates the terms and conditions of a proposed development project. It allows the developer to secure vested rights and allows the city to secure certain benefits. uh this is mostly used um to implement uh a project over time. So a phased project over a long period of time. Now this is only 30 units. Um so it's not anticipated that this will take 20 years to develop. Um but that's typically the benefit of a development agreement. It provides assurances to both parties that the terms of the agreement, the conditions of approval will not change. Um, and this is just consistent with all of the developments within the Stone Creek area plan. Each map has had a development agreement that has come before the city council. It protects the developer from expending energy and money on a project only to have the terms of conditions and standards changed before the development is completed. So it just vests them um for the duration of that development agreement um into the conditions and standards at the time of the approval. Um and then on the city side, it ensures that uh the project gets developed, that they pay the appropriate fees, um and

that it's really consistent with that original area plan uh that the city approved when this was first annexed into the city. So it's in line with that original vision. Uh the development agreement does have some defining characteristics. There's uh three characteristics. It allows greater latitude than other methods of approval to advance local land use policies and sometimes new and creative ways. It allows public agencies greater flexibility and imposition of conditions and requirements. So sometimes we can use a development agreement when we need special conditions. and it affords the project proponents greater assurance like I said previously that the project can be built over time. Uh the benefits to the city is continuation of this plan development formation of um or annexation into a community facilities district. This is to fund uh public safety and also the formation into a landscape and lighting district. Uh public comment. Uh public hearing notices were published in the Westside Express and mailed to uh adjacent property owners within 300 foot radius of the project on January 21st, 2026. And um as of the date of um preparation of um this uh presentation, I had not received a public comment. Um, but I did receive uh a comment um from CCID, the Central California Irrigation District today um that reads, uh, "Thank you for the opportunity to comment on item 8B, pages 37 through 143, consideration of final development of villages six subdivision. Please be aware that property has been farmed in previous years. Central California Irrigation District doesn't object to the development. However, we

do ask that before any work is done, all irrigation and/or drainage facilities in the area must be identified by the developer and protected from impact or interruption according to our specifications as lands continue to be farmed in the west of this development both in CCID as well as class 2 lands. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned sincerely yours, Maria Fatima Sequa, uh, assessor for CCID. So staff's recommendation um is that the city council would consider adopting resolution number 7045 approving final development plan 2024-01 for the villages six subdivision and then wave the first reading and introduce ordinance number 1214 authorizing the mayor to execute a development agreement for the villages six subdivision. And that concludes my presentation and I'm here to answer any questions.

Thank you very much. We'll go ahead and open the public hearing to receive public comment as what's been stated by Stacy. Development plan 2024-01 and a development agreement for village 6 subdivision. This would be resolution 7045 and also an ordinance number 1214. Anyone that would like to speak the public hearing on this item, please come forward. We will go ahead and put in the CCID letter into the public hearing. So, it's going to be entered into that and you're welcome to come speak on this subject. Okay, I do not see or hear anyone coming forward. So, I'll go ahead and close the public hearing just entering the letter from CCID. So, with that, is there questions from the city council to Stacy or staff? Deborah?

No. No questions. I was going to go on and make the motion for this. There are no questions of council. Any questions from rest of council? Mayor, may I make one or two corrections? Um, in the development agreements, there's a few typos on there on how we refer the exhibit. One is on page 91. Um, just to correct that, this is West Tenerative Map 2024.02. Um, and then on page 93, uh, when it say exhibit E, uh, under section 1.1, that should be exhibit F. Um, and on page 103, it's call out for exhibit F, which it should be exhibit G. So, we added one thing and forgot to change the the call out. So, okay. So, we'll make that changes. Okay. With those.

Thank you. With those changes uh recommended, I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution number 7045 as read by title. I'll second.

Have a motion and second for resolution 7045. Questions or comments? I'm I'm going to make a couple of comments on this. This was seen when I was mayor point 1.0 I guess and uh this was probably that 400 acres was a lot of acres to annex into the city at that time but uh that's when we really started making some big advances at the city and a lot of negotiations with developers. Uh this, as Stacy said, this included the whole Target development, the Olive Vera Park. We negotiated land for a church. It also had negotiations for the land for Merced College was all built into negotiations of this 400 acres. And so, um, at that time is when we really started putting into place that any new development has to enhance our existing residents. And a lot of those developments, the Walmart, uh, the Target shopping center, Lowe's at the time, and that Olivea Park were all in under construction before really any major homes were built. That was also a very big part of it. So we wanted to bring those that we went out to the public and we heard what you know everybody said they were driving to Turlock and Merrced to go to these stores and we wanted to bring these stores in. Luckily at that time the developer had connections with that and then we just kept on asking for more and more and more and we got it. And so this is the same type of thing we're doing now in the future. This council believes that that if we approve any further annexations, they will have to exist. They have to enhance our existing residents. Can't just be houses. It has to be more than that. And that's our uh what we stand by today. I

just wanted I never thought it was going to take 22 years and we're still doing this project. That's really called market conditions. this the whole country went through a lot of uh downtimes with COVID and the 20089 uh crash of this housing markets and stuff like that. But this this uh this development is still going strong. So, we're glad for that and we So, with that, I will go ahead and we have a motion and a second and I'll All in favor signify saying I I

opposed. Eyes have it for resolution number 7045. Now, ordinance number 1214. Yes, mayor. I'd like to make a motion to approve ordinance number 1214. I'm sorry. I'd like to make a motion to wave the first reading of uh ordinance 1214 as read by title. I'll second.

Okay, we have a motion to wave the first reading and the introduction of ordinance number 1214 as stated. Any further questions or comments? Not hearing any. All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Eyes have it. And I would like to make a motion to introduce uh the reading of ordinance number 1214 as read by title. I'll second a motion and a second to introduce ordinance number 1214. Since this is an ordinance, this will be a roll call vote will be required. Perez, yes. Chavez, yes. Lewis, yes. Emma Bill,

yes. Okay, thank you. Thank you for that staff report. We appreciate that. Now, we'll turn it over to our public works director, William Vib about a Pioneer Project updates. William,

thank you, mayor and council members. Uh, I have a an update. Um, Stacy's going to help me get this set up. I'm technologically challenged. So, um, this is a a relatively short um presentation, just an update on kind of where we're at with the Pioneer Pioneer Complete Streets project. Sorry, I need to change out my glasses so I can see what I'm doing here. Um, so this is the location. Um, you can you can see on the map there, the pink line is the entire project um as as it's proposed um for the a lot of this is is in the future. Um, this is a little bit more of a close-up map. It's in green. Um, but it it basically starts out um depending on which end you start at. I'm going to start on the west side. Um, it starts out just east of the college, just east of the creek, comes down and connects 152 to Pioneer and then follows Pioneer all the way out and eventually to Ward Road where it then goes back up and connects to Pacheco. um and various various fourlane sections, two-lane sections, uh center medians, um very very large complex pro project. Uh so this project was approved by city council in January of 2021. Um and without improvements, multiple intersections fall to uh level of service of F, which means severe delays. So that that contributes to congestion. Um, and then we're going to close some of the gaps in in the bicycle and pedestrian fil uh facilities. They're current currently inconsistent and unconnected. So, it as part of this project, there's going to be, if I remember correctly, a 10- foot wide shared use path um that could be used

for pedestrians, bicycles, and it will connect kind of eventually provide a loop on the southern uh uh edge of the city that you can get from one side of the city all the way to the next side of the city to the other side of the city um by by foot or by bicycle. Um, it also provides an alternate route. Um, instead of going down Pacheco Boulevard all the way through town and hitting all the all of the traffic lights, it provides um a safe, efficient east west option uh to relieve some of that congestion on State Route 152. And it um reduces congestion, which also red uh improves the air quality because you don't have all those cars sitting and idling at stop lightss. uh the current project that that's in construction now and is nearing completion. I just signed a uh I think I hope the final change order today. It was just we had to re relocate uh one not not the traffic light but the the street light on top of it was in a conflict with one of the power lines. So we had to move we had to add a street light. So that was the change order I signed today. So hopefully that's the last one. Um, but in February 2025, the council approved a $6.67 million contract for this first phase, which is Pioneer Road and Ortigalita Signalization. Um, and the, as I mentioned, the improvements are almost complete. Um, including that traffic signal. The traffic signals in, it's just not quite energized yet. and we're the completion is scheduled for March of 2026 which is next month. So this is the entire project broken down into segments and these segments are required um so that we can finish

all of the environmental documents associated with this project. So, we've these have been changed a couple of time at time times and this uh this is the what we have worked on uh Neuron and I um and our um and Stacy's been involved too, but citywide we've been working on this getting these se segments laid out to so that it makes the best sense to remove the most congestion um as early as possible because as you can see from the dates on this segment segment one which is the the connection um between 152 and Pioneer on the west side is is projected to be compleeded in 2030. So this is a long range plan. Um segment two is uh Pioneer Road Mercy Springs um intersection improvements which um will likely be a roundabout at that um intersection. That's a state route 165. So we have to go through CALR for that. Um and that's that's scheduled for 2033. So these are about stage about 3 years apart. Um phase three uh segment three is uh the Pioneer Road actually not making the connections and the intersection improvements but actually doing some work on Pioneer Road itself. Um and that's scheduled for 2036. We go to 2039 for um four for phase 4 which is the Ward Road safety project. So that's the stretch of Ward Road from Pacheo down to the future projected extension of Pioneer Road which will will go all the way through. Um and that's so that's 2039. And then we go to five, which is the

extension of Pioneer Road from 165 to Ward Road. And then segment six is the last section of of the how it's proposed now. And that's the segment between Center Avenue and 165 area almost where wherever phase 2 ends is where we'll make that connection. And one of the reasons that's one of the last ones because there's a bridge there that needs to be upgraded and that we're going to have to work in conjunction with CCID to make that bridge into a a fourlane two lanes in each direction. So, as you can see, very long, very long range, very uh forwardthinking project to try to relieve the congestion um on 152 and provide access to some of the new homes that are currently being built and some u some of the existing homes that are still there. uh another way around instead of going right into the middle of town and and uh either commuting out or traveling out um uh on weekends or uh getting to the Bay Area or or to the east to Fresno, Madera, uh Yeuseite area. Uh so this kind of breaks down uh the two-lane sections and fourlane sections. So, it'll be a two-lane section um basically from Pacheo on the west side uh down to Pioneer and across until we get to that section at center. Um and then that section will be four lane from center to um 165. Is that center I'm looking at? Okay.

Yeah, Gus Gus Falta. Uh I guess it's a little a little east of center. um all the way to 165 and then it'll go back two lanes again over to Ward and back up to Pico. So, this is a proposed crosssection of the fourlane section. So, you'll have two lanes in each direction, bicycle path on the shoulders, plus the the 10-ft um multi-use path on uh one side, and I think it's projected on the north side of Pioneer if I'm not mistaken. Uh so here's a public meeting recap. In on on September 9th, 2025, we held a public meeting. Um there were approximately 30 uh residents, 30 attendees. Um the primary comments uh included public safety, traffic flows, and design of medians, the impact on the nearby homeowners, and the conditions of the current road. And the next steps are uh completing the environmental and technical studies and then to continue secure funding through state grants, federal grants, um regional transportation funds, any local funds that we may need to plug in. Uh it's it's a a very large expensive project as as a whole. So, we're going to get try to get funding wherever we can get funding to help us get it get it done um on time. And that concludes the presentation, but I am available for questions. And I know a city manager has a lot of experience with this project. So, anything I can't answer, I'm sure we can come up with an answer uh for any questions that you may have.

William, sorry if if we may go back to like slide number five a little bit just because, you know, it it is quite confusing and at times kind of trying to fathom all of the things together. You know, it's Pioneer Roads is a very very large project. um as it stands right now looking all the segments and at the time of delivery which is you know can go up to about 2045 we're looking at a total project close to $150 million worth of projects to that kind of level of complexity take times right it is a multiacets of getting grant funding as well as rightaway dedications from developments really careful planning with those developers coming in through whether future annexations so that all those land can be acquired and being built as part of those new developments. So, what we have now is a little bit different than was presented to you back in September, mainly because of the segment number of phase two and phase one. It's flip-flop. Originally, um intersections of Pioneer 165 was prioritized. Uh but as you can imagine, the reason for the project delay in the last couple year has been the environmental portions. there is a disagreement between the air quality or air conformity standard between the federal government and the state of California that causes the projects to re-evaluate all of that stuff over. So that's why in the last two year we kind of been at a standstill waiting for those interpretation between the state and the federal because this project is funded both by our tax dollar the state uh grant as well as federal government. So we have to get it clear through California Environmental Quality Act as well as the national EPA uh standards. Therefore meeting both states and federal trying to get both of those to work together and have a single interpretation was proven to be challenged the last two years. So that's why the segment of 165. So we didn't want to have this project continue to be delayed because waiting for those answer. We flip-flopped that to get the east of creek alignment which is what

you see now as segment one to be the priority. when we look at um um priority also it's aside from the environmental is also the impact right we want to relieve congestions as quickly as we can because that's what we hear a lot about in in Los Angeles we all understand that even with the signal synchronizations on highway 152 there are specific intersection for example 152 and 165 that continue to be bottleneck at peak hours so how do we alleiate some of that traffic immediately is by providing a secondary connections and that connections would be on the east of town because that's where the most upstreams of traffic are coming in and getting exited out of town. So, this would give us a lot of that synergy as well. As you can see on this map over here, majority of that part of segment one has already been annexed. It's already been identified as part of the area plan that was just presented to you in a public hearing earlier. So, we have a lot of that right away been secure that we allowed us to go to be able to deliver this project a lot quicker. Um, of course, um, these will have to then go back to the, uh, M, MCAG governing board. Um, we do have quite a bit of measure V, uh, measure V money that has been allocated for this project. And in total, that's $ 8.6 million. And that's why we want to make sure that we can get those delivered, um, and get our residents access to this road as as quickly as we can.

Mayor, council, if you have any questions. I I want to make a comment too on those section one and two will be probably the biggest relief of our residents for traffic and uh that's 2030 to 2033 hopefully sooner and when you think of 2030 is only four years away that's scary in itself but um that'll be the majority and we're going even the two road section two lane section will be able to be built out to forward the future. Correct. Yeah. So, we're going to prepare that with the land. And if I and if I could just add, we'll be working on multiple

sections of this at the same time. One might be in construction while while another one's in one stage of design while another one's getting closer to complete of design. We we don't wait for one to get finished before we start working on the other one. So, so we'll be working on multiple pieces of this all at the same time. That's good. comments.

I'd just like to say um I'm glad at least um there's a portion in district 4 that's that's been completed right now. uh the portion that goes out to 152 in Merrced 2030 that's only four years away and then you know as the mayor said uh number uh segment two is um uh 2033 that's roughly seven years away but the rest of them I don't know if I'll be driving so I may not get to enjoy this especially phase 6 uh 45 um we'll be flying

maybe Mity will still be she'll be our age and able to drive on it. But, um, it's I'm happy to see that the progress is going. Uh, no matter how long it takes, this is definitely needed for our community. And maybe, um, as time goes on, there'll be a circle around the city uh, in the northern phase to to bring it down uh, to the east and west off 152 for the northern hemisphere of the city of Los Banos. I agree with that, too. We need to look at a northern one and a north to south one besides the highway.

So any other comments? Let's see. Anything? Okay. Appreciate it, William. Next items. Dansza Way and Mercy Springs Road uh Highway 165 intersection project update. We'll go back to William. Okay, thank you, Mayor, City Council. Uh, this one's much shorter than the last one. Uh, this is a rather brief update, but we wanted to bring an update just so um everybody could kind of see where we're at and uh make sure that we let everybody know we haven't forgotten and we are currently working on this. Um, almost daily there's some some kind of movement, some kind of conversation. um at least weekly uh we we are actively working on this project. So, um, for those of of you who don't know, which I don't know if there's a person in Las Spanish that doesn't know, this is the location we're talking about, you can see the big red arrow, and this is the connection for the Shaughnessy Village um, subdivision, the connection that was made u multiple years ago that was then closed. Um and and what we're trying to do is work on a plan to get it back open so that we can kind of relieve some of the congestion that happens because there's um it it will add another in uh entrance and exit to that subdivision. So this is at Danzaway and Mercy Springs. So the Shaughnessy Village subdivision phases one through three were accepted by city council in November of 2019. So a few years ago. Uh CALR requires the intersection for additional improvements and as requested by CALR public works placed K rails to block the intersection and I was um uh uh even back in 2019 I

was um a city employee at that time. So that's how far this goes back. I left and came back and uh it still looks like it's in the same condition but we're working on it actively. Um the uh the desire is to open Danza Way and State Route 165 as I mentioned to provide better access and emergency responsiveness as intended in the original design. Um the uh we uh initiated a task order with Mark Thomas Consultants in June of 2025 to design a safe entrance and right in right out only access with the use of a pork chop island and a curb gutter sidewalk along the east side. Uh so right in this picture right behind that wall on the right of the picture would be the sidewalk. Um, so this is the striping conceptual design. Um, so this kind of gives you an idea of uh what it uh will look like as it's currently being designed. So on the left of the picture here is where where we see the new um what's the credit the new credit union there at Scripps Drive. And then uh right where the big red arrow is, that's the Deansza uh uh connection. And you can see that that little piece of median, it's almost a triangle. Um that's what we refer to as a pork chop. So that keeps uh vehicles. You can only turn right coming out. And you can only turn right if you're heading northbound. You can turn right to enter. There'll be no left turns allowed um off of 165 if you're heading south. And that the reason for that is we don't want those conflicts. We don't want to create uh an area where it's going to cause more accidents by uh allowing left turns across there because there's not enough there's not enough rideway there.

There's not enough space to be able to put a dedicated left turn lane in. And that's per Calrant standards. So, it's just going to be striped. Um, we're not going to add um, at least not at this time. We're not considering adding any delineators like we have out um, on 165 to the north uh, in the Skyllock area where everybody where you see those deline delineators. We constantly have to replace because they get hit and broken and knocked down. So, we're not proposing any of those at this time. Um, um, and this has all been discussed with CALR. We've had multiple meetings with Calrans about this design. Um we recently received the geotechnical report. Um, so we uh our consultant hired a subconsultant to go out and take core samples of in the pavement area and in the shoulder area that will be paved to to determine what the soil that we're going to be paving over looks like because that's going to help determine how much base rock we need to put uh the the design and thickness of the pavement that goes over the top of that. So we recently I think on Monday we received that that uh geotechnical report which will be submitted uh or or was submitted to Calrans for their review. Um so the way we're moving forward there's multiple different ways uh to proceed with um any kind of construction in CALR right of way. So, the way we're moving forward this with this is an encroachment permit uh um and we're coordinating that with CALR. And basically what that means is we're going to design our project um to CALR standards, but we're going to design it and then we're going to submit that project for an encroachment permit with CALR. Meaning we're just going to

ask them to encroach on their on their property just like we would uh require anybody if you wanted to put a new driveway in front of your house, if you're going to encroach on city property, then you need to ask us for the permission to do that. So, we're just doing that with Calrans instead of submitting our plans to them, letting them review them, getting them back, making changes, submitting them again because CALR doesn't People think the city moves slow. CALR moves much slower. So, we're trying to speed up the process by designing the whole thing and then submitting an encroachment permit with Calrans. Um, and we've we've used uh Mark Thomas for uh to complete the design plans. they have lots of experience working with CALR. Um the next step after we we finish design and get uh apply for the encroachment permit and get the encroachment permit, then we'll release the project for bid. We'll award the bid for construction and then we'll construct it and um complete the construction and open it up for traffic

this year, right? Um, I I don't think it it may it'll be done this this calendar year. Yes, we'll do everything we can to get it done this calendar year. I'm not sure about the fiscal year. Um, but because we have to work through CALR, it does kind of delay things, but but we're actively working on it and and we're going to hit all of those steps as fast as we can. And that's that concludes the presentation, but I I am here for any more uh questions that you may have.

Mayor, if I may clarify on some of that stuff. I know I think since my first time around to uh Neuron 1.0 as a public work director, we've been hearing a lot about this things, you know, since 2019 about access to that neighborhood. We hear you. We understand how much how frustrated it is for how long this process has been taking. But rest assur we have a plan in place. We do have to work with a third party and that is Calran that is within there right away. um our instructions to our consultant has been very clear that we want to have full 100% design and bid package completed by the end of March. Um but we have to um you know respect our partner agency who has control over the state highway um and they essentially control all the design of that. So they will be the one that dictating the time but from our end um rest assured that we will get 100% of our um responsibility done by this spring um and turn that over to Calran.

Good to hear. Any questions? Yeah. Oh, go ahead. I was just gonna ask um so this won't help like uh fire department, police, ambulance or anything trying to access that area because you can only drive you you can't turn in there, right? Coming from from the north fire will be able to to turn left if they can navigate the pork chop. It's it's I mean uh yeah, they're if they're responding to an incident, they'll be able to to access. I'll I'll let the chief maybe you might have a better answer than that. But for me, if I have lights, I'm doing whatever I want, right? But they don't give me those kind of lights. So,

uh yes. So, we should be able to go into that opposite lane in traffic and uh they've been consulting us throughout this whole process just to make sure we have enough uh to be able to access that. Deborah, well, uh my question was around that as well. And I know that we have a couple of pork chops on uh 152 that don't flare out enough and people uh make left turns out of them onto Pacheo. So, is this pork chop in place already or is it to be uh constructed?

Yeah, it's not in place yet. It's going to be constructed. And one of the comments we received from Calr um was they wanted a redesign of the pork chop so that that uh to try to prevent some more of that. It's it's really hard to stop people if they're determined, bound and determined to do it, they're going to do it. Um, but I'm sure we'll have full cooperation from the police department once this gets installed, especially initially to make sure everybody's following the rules and if they think there's going to be a police officer there, somebody's watching them, that usually deters people. So, we'll just get them used to using it properly. Um, and hopefully they they they continue to do that. And well, you know, I'm not a designer, so I I don't know. I just know that we we have some problems in our community with people uh violating the pork chop, but the pork chop is very small, so it's easy to just get around. And uh that was one of my concerns is that it flared out far enough uh and maybe out uh into the road a little bit so that uh we don't have those issues, but also to make sure that we can get our emergency vehicles in and out of there when necessary. Thank you, Mayor.

Okay, comments. Okay, thank you, William. And now we'll move on to our city department reports and we'll start with community economic development director Stacy Susa Elms. Let's get all this going. Uh we will not have a meeting. Our next meeting would be this follow this coming Wednesday um February 11th. And uh no agenda items. So no planning commission meeting.

Okay. Thank you very much. Finance Director Minnie Moreno. Thank you. Nothing to report. Okay. Thank you, Fire Chief Paul Tala. Uh I have nothing to report also. Okay. Human resources interim human resource director Carlos.

Good evening. Um Mr. Mayor, Mayor Prom, and members of the city council. Isabelle Carlos. I'm the interim human resources director and I do have a a brief update. So, the HR team has been busy with business as usual, helping to manage our very talented city team. Um, on the recruitment front, which I'll present on for this period, we worked on 13 vacancies, um, advertising, proctoring, examinations, facilitating interviews, and onboarding new hires. We're happy to announce that we are welcoming four new hires. We have two new community service officers, Lordes Vega and Jonathan Montes. Uh we have a new legal assistant, Alex Torres. We have a maintenance mechanic, Carlos Fernandez. And we're also pleased to announce that we have three internal promotions. We have Sean uh Carter, who promoted from a part-time maintenance worker to a custodian. We have uh Janelle Kershman who promoted from an administrative assistant to an administrative coordinator for utilities and we have Adriana Vieiraa who promoted from an administrative clerk to an administrative coordinator for streets. Um and that's my update for tonight. Thank you.

Great. Thank you very much. And let's see for parks and recreation. You have anything? Yes. So um our park and recreation directors are still out. um we are working with him to get him back remotely uh in the meantime. Um but in his absence, I want to let you know that the blood drive went really well today. So, thank you for those u member of the community who showed up for the blood drive at the community center. Our next event is going to be this Friday, which is our save a heart event. Um it will be from 10 to 1:00 at the community center. Um and if you are um wanting to know learn how to start a business, we do have the basic of starting a business um at the community center on February 21st. So that's concludations.

Thank you very much. The police commander, you have anything to report?

Uh yeah, real brief, Mr. Mayor, members of council, uh this Saturday on the 7th, uh PAL is going to have opening ceremonies at 10 uh 10 a.m. at Pico High School. Uh several hundred kids are going to be starting their softball season. So, it's going to be followed by a few games at the Noah Jones Park. Um, and I also wanted to make a comment just just out of uh for general comment that we do have our our uh policy and it's a lexable policy section 412 is posted online. It's in full compliance with the California Values Act and it's well known to staff. Great. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Public works. William, anything else? I have no further updates. Okay. Thank you, city attorney Mary Leoner. Thank you, Mayor Council. Just wanted to report that we had a successful Brown Act training for the planning commission last Wednesday. And then also noting that I will be at the Parma conference February 24th through the 27th, but I'll continue to be available um responding to emails, phone calls, anything um staff or council may need during that time. And just for reference, Parma um stands for public agency risk management association. And that's all I have. Thank you very much. City manager.

Aside from the funds, park and recreation stuff, we are uh firing in all cylinders for all of our departments. Um as you can imagine with 23 staff on board just um you know the last week to uh the last meeting when you see all of them being introduced. Um there's a lot of onboardings and training that we are doing internally. Um, and also it's kind of revisionings on what our vision is going to be when it comes to customer service and how we conduct business. Um, on that note, I want to thank Mayor Prom Lewis for uh taking her time to take us on a tour to the uh San Hoken Valley Air Board um last week um to learn a lot about their operations um transparencies and how we engage with our residents uh especially when it comes to conducting our uh governing board meeting. Um we've learned a lot on on the technology front as well how how they interact. So that was a full afternoon for us. Um and that's really will help us through our SB77 implementations and contract with our IT company to get our chambers uh upgraded. So that project will be coming to you here. We anticipates the contract amendment on March 4th and then from then on to get that implemented before July 1 of this year. Um and internally we are also working on complian with AB339 which is our notification to our labor unions when we do um um contract um um issue solicitation for contract that is um uh falling in line with our bargaining group or job classification. So that is a pretty large policy that we are developing um internally and then we're hoping to get that um completed here uh shortly. That's

great. Thank you very much for your report. City Council members, we'll start with Mitsy Perez, District 1. Mity, any report this evening? Thank you. I don't um have anything to report today, but I would like to welcome Isabelle. Um and I'm looking forward to working with you. Okay. Thank you.

And Evan is freezing to death and so he's gone. So we'll go to district three, Marcus Chavez. No, I don't don't really have anything to report on, but yeah, definitely want to say thanks to staff for all their hard work. Also, welcome uh to Isabelle Beneos Vanos. So, welcome. And uh also want to thank uh Viona helping us out tonight and Sarah. She was here as well. So, thank you. Thank you.

Great. Mayor Promp. Well, I would also like to thank our new uh HR interim director, Isabelle Carlos, uh and all the work that you've accomplished so far. Thank you so much for joining us. Um and just in uh a little side note on uh the report that our city manager gave with our visit to Valley Air, uh they've been doing um the SB707 for quite some time. Uh so they were a good asset to help us understand what we're facing and the things that we have to do to bring our chamber up to standard uh for the engagement of public that uh will not be here at the meeting as well as our equipment to make it easier for uh our staff to operate and we have a piece here tonight. We have a new clock

so that's a good thing. Uh but with that mayor I have nothing else. Thank you. that mayor was too lenient with his time. So, we have a clock now.

Well, uh, of course I've Isabelle, I thank you for being here. We appreciate it. Viona and Sarah has have taken their taking care of me very well. I'm a pain for them. I talk to them almost every day and I appreciate all the hard work you're doing, VA. Thank you very much. Uh, couple things. Uh we did have a great city county meeting on the 22nd of January and appreciate actually Steuart McAuliff did our cooking. He did a great job. Our speaker was on AI and that was in government. That was interesting. Um tomorrow I'm going to be speaking to um the parent leadership institution which is the MCE mercy education office of education. It's tomorrow morning at the community center. It's about how local government works. And so I'm going to be talking about the three of you up here more than me. So that's tomorrow. Um I want to tell everybody even though we might not be talking about it every week, we are always working on homeless and the encampment. We're working on streets all the time. We're talking about jobs creation, affordable housing, trying to make sure things are it takes it takes a lot of time to get things into gear where things are flowing correctly with the out our outside partners, but we are working on all those things correctly and together. And I want to throw out something. And I was brought to my attention a few weeks ago that I guess a couple of years ago there was an ordinance change that allowed said and maybe you correct me Stacy on this if I'm not correctly correct exactly. Um that with a new any kind of new annexation a specific plan is required before we bring it to an annexation.

Well there's a lot of problems with that because uh a specific plan is a lot of engineering. So we would that would be requiring all that work ahead of time before even an application would go to LAFCO. This really worries me in case of business opportunities like a business park somebody wants to come in uh it could require additional time and like was said earlier by William you know government runs slowly for a reason so things don't get past our residents. There's a reason for why government moves slowly, but I don't think we should actually have things that slow it down even more. Um, it doesn't doing to going back to the way it used to be. We can still uh look at the project, get the annexation done. We can still have total control of entitlements and everything. So, the city does not lose anything. I just don't want to see this extra layer requiring that upfront. So, I want something that the staff and council think about that in the future. It is an ordinance, so it's a lot to change it, but I think it'd be something for us to discuss in the future. I want to throw that out there. And uh with that, I don't think I have anything else. I do appreciate everyone that spoke at our meeting this evening and the public hearing and the public forums. We'll be going into close session with conference with legal counsel. Uh existing litigation pursuant to government code section 54956.9. Name of the case is the Los Bannis Enterprise LLC versus the city of Los Banis. This is in Merced Superior Court case 24C v03797. The se second item in close session is public employee performance evaluation.

City manager pursuant to government code section 54957B. If any decision is made uh discussed in close session, we'll be coming out here making a public vote and discussing it publicly. With that, thank you all and we'll be going in close session at this time. Okay, we are back from close session conference with legal council existing litigation uh case Laspanis Enterprise LLC versus City of Lasis. There will be nothing to report on that that item. Item B is a public employee performance evaluation title of city manager pursuant to government code 54957B. There will be no reporting on that. So with this, this meeting is adjourned at 8:21 p.m. Thank you.