City - Regular Meeting

Thank you for joining us this evening. It's good to see a full house. And before we start our meeting, I'd like to ask Pastor R. Reneo from Mercy Springs Church of the Nazarene to come forward for our opening invocation. Ro, thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Council members. Heavenly Father, we give you praise for all things, for allowing us this opportunity to gather, for allowing us this amazing community, for every single heart and person, Lord, that you have brought here. I pray for each one of them, and I pray that you would bless them, that you would anoint them, Lord. I thank you for those who have come, who are willing to serve, Lord. And I pray that as we gather today to do the work of the community, that we would feel your presence, that we would consider your words, that we would seek to be like you and to reflect your image back into our community with everything that we do, Father. So I pray, Lord, for these council members, their task isn't easy. Um, but I pray that you would give them just your divine imagination and direction for this community. I pray for all of the staff, for all of those who work for this city, Lord, that you bless them, anoint them, Father, for Chief Twala, for Chief Rea, Lord, just um bless them as they as they um take up those huge roles, Lord, in our newest members, Father. I give you praise for Councilwoman Perez. Lord, I pray that you just bless her and anoint her and give her a strong voice, Lord, that you just come out of the gate running. Lord, for all of our newest members and those who are leaving, Lord, I just lift them up. I pray for brother Bill or that you'd bless him in all his endeavors as he has blessed this community. So be with us in all we do Lord. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Call this meeting to order for October 15th 2025. Chief we have pledge please to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God indivisible and justice for all. We have a roll call, please. Perez here. Sanders here. Chavez here. Lewis Amabil

here. First item on our agenda item four is consideration approval agenda as submitted. I have a motion and a second, please. Yeah, I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as submitted. Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second to approve the agenda as submitted. All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Eyes have it. Now we have a a proclamation for National Friends of the Library Week. The librarian come forward, please. this way.

Well, it's great to see everybody. Really nice to see everybody. So um this is a proclamation recognizing the national friends of the library week. You all do such a good job for our community. Really appreciate it. Whereas the friends of the library raise money that enables our library to move more from good to great providing the resources for additional programming muchneeded equipment support for children's summer reading and special events throughout this the year. Whereas the work of the friends highlights on an ongoing basis the fact that our library is the cornerstone of our community providing opportunities for all to engage in the joy of lifelong learning and connect with the thoughts and ideas of others from ages past to present. Whereas the friends understand the crucial importance of well-funded libraries and advocate to ensure that our libraries get the resources it needs to provide a wide variety of services to all ages including access to print and electronic materials along with expert assistance in research, readers, advisory and children's services. And whereas the friends gift of the of their time and commitment to the library sets an example for all in how volunteerism leads to positive civic engagement and betterment of our community. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that the mayor and the city council members of the city of Lasanis do hereby recognize October 19th through 25th, 2025 as friends of the library week in Lasis, California, and urges everyone to join the Friends of the Library and thank them for all they do to make our library and community so much better.

Congratulations. Thank you. Um I just wanted to say our mission statement and um gratitude. I just would like to appreciate the mayor and the city council for this proclamation for this national friends week. And then our mission statement is just something I wanted to briefly bring up. The friends of the Laser 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and advocating for the Laspanos branch of the Merced County Library. And I just want to thank every single in um volunteer that has helped us with this organization from start to current. Thank you so much for your time and care. I appreciate it. Thank you.

And I'll wave to that.

So everybody will get your library card. Okay, before let's see before we do our our uh public forum, I'm going to ask uh Council Member Chavez asked to speak before we do our public forum. Thank you, mayor. So, I wanted to speak on the comment that I made at the last meeting and uh I just want to say that, you know, that was inappropriate. It was wrong. I shouldn't have said what I said and I wanted to basically apologize to everybody. Um especially, you know, the community. Uh I want to you know apologize to his staff obviously because I don't you know represent uh I don't representing you know you guys and and that's not right and as well as the council but more so uh the people that were here during the last meeting uh when I made that comment because it really had nothing to do with majority of the people that were up here speaking. One thing I want to make clear is that you know I I didn't make that com I'm not trying to dissuade anybody for coming up here to speak. It's hard enough to speak up there. it's hard enough for anybody to speak and that's why I felt it was important to you know to apologize and and admit that that's not right and uh I want to also thank uh you know the people that reached out to me as well and but like I said you know I want to thank the people that were here I mean sorry I apologize to the people that were here I think Khaled you were here I think Carlos Miguel I think Julie was here I think um I think I said Miguel the guy from the fire department was here, Blanch as well, pastor, and

there's some other people. I know I've left some people out, and I don't, you know, I don't remember everybody that was here, but I do want to say that uh, you know, that I am truly sorry about that. And that's uh I own that. And I did have, you know, conversation with my daughter and I did tell her, you know what, it's okay to say when you're wrong because if you can't say you're wrong, you can't learn anything. And that's uh one thing that I uh I did tell her and hopefully, you know, we both learned from that. and uh like I and she's watching now, so I just want to tell her your dad will be a better person. Anyways, thank you. And again, I apologize. Thank you. Thank you, council member. Now, I'd like to open the public forum. Members of the public may address this city council member on any item of public interest that's within the jurisdiction of our city council. This includes agenda and non-aggenda items. No action will be taken on the non-aggenda items. Speakers are limited to 5 minutes of the presentation. anyone that would like to speak with us, please come forward. And I see we already have. Let's go ahead and start.

Uh good evening uh Mayor Amabel and council members. Uh I want to speak openly and honestly this evening uh our community of Los Balance has been operating uh in a reactive mode uh for too long. Uh that's not just on the city council. It's all it's on all of us as a community for allowing things to get to this point. The result is that the residents continue to face the cost and challenges that come with delayed action. The general plan amendment openhouse that took place on September 25th perfectly showcased the ongoing issue. But we wouldn't know this unless you had the municipal service review or uh MSR as it commonly referred to um which wasn't present at this event or even discussed. I want to point out a few items. So let's talk about public safety starting with our police department. According to this uh report, the MSR, the city currently has 48 sworn uh personnel officers serving some 47,000 residents. Uh that's just over one officer per 10,000 residents according to this report. Uh with a projected population of about 56,000 at buildout, the city would need to add roughly nine more sworn officers and six additional support staff just to maintain the current ratio. To make matters worse, the latest general plan that uh and this report highlights this doesn't make no mention of a police officer service standard. Research shows that each additional sworn officer hired directly correlates to 1.3 fewer violent crimes and 4.2 fewer property crimes per year according to the Peace Officers Research Association of California. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, the state average in 2021 was 1.7 officers per 10,00 residents. Los should be striving to become one of the safest cities in Merced County, not one that continues to fall behind. Now, let's look at our fire department.

Again, according to the municipal service re review report, the fire department serving committees over 25,000 people typically have between 84 and 1.3 career firefighters per 10,000 residents according to the National Fire Protection Association. Based on this standard, Los Fire Department is significantly understaffed, currently at 040 or 61 if you include the volunteer firefighters. Again, this is this information came from the MSR report that was triggered um when the city submitted uh the amendments for the general plan. And so, and what does the general plan amendment do to address these problems? Nothing. Were these deficiencies highlighted or even discussed along with the general plan amendment? No. In fact, it's likely to make things worse, especially when it comes to our growing traffic congestion. How? because it eliminates one potential solution, the long discussed bypass that's currently included in the city's general plan, no matter how far-fetched it may seem right now or not feasible. And what's being proposed instead? Again, nothing. What this amendment really does is push the problem down the road for the next city council to deal with. All at the expense of us, the residents. Let's do better. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Anyone else, please come forward. Welcome.

Hi, my name is Khaled Sanchez and I want to say thank you to Hansan Chavez for doing the public apology to everyone. Um, especially the community that deserved it. But I also want to say something. I want to say that uh I believe that the comm community also deserves an a public apology from the rest of the members who laugh that day because by laughing you accepted what he said. Not he stood up he he um said sorry to everyone. he did uh private um phone calls and apologized. But I also believe that all the representatives of the city that were present should give a public apology for laughing because that's not acceptable. Also, I'm also here uh to encourage the community to come and speak to to uh follow what uh Councilman Chavez said. Don't come and and speak up regardless of of that comment. I encourage everyone and for that same reason I want to talk about um the la a uh program that the police department's doing. Uh it's called uh academia the polic um I encourage uh several of the members of that uh academy to come and speak up and they're here. They're present. They are going to speak up in Spanish because that academy is in Spanish. So, if you have someone that could translate, that would be good. If not, um, regardless, they're going to speak in Spanish. Um, thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Please come forward. Anyone? Welcome.

Good evening, mayor, council members, and community members. My name is Joe Ballas, and I'm here on behalf of State Senator Anna Cavalero. I want to take a moment to thank the city of Laspanos for your ongoing partnership and support of Anna Cavalero's Young Legislators Program. The Young Legislators Program was created by Senator Cavalero to inspire and empower high school students across the 14th Senate District, which includes Fresno County, Madera County, and Merrced County to become active informed leaders in their communities. The program provides young people with firsthand experience in public policy, civic engagement, and community service. Students participate in monthly workshops, leadership trainings, and field visits to learn about the legislative process, public service careers, and the impact of local and state government. The goal is to help students understand that they have a voice and that their ideas and energy can shape the future of the Central Valley. This year we're proud to have had several outstanding students from Los Spanos representing representing representing their community in the program. Their enthusiasm and leadership reflect the values of this city, hard work, service, and pride and community. Through the program, they've engaged in discussions on housing, education, water, and local e economic development issues that directly impact the west side. We want to express our deep appreciation to the city of Laspanos for helping support and encourage local youth participation. Your city's commitment to youth leadership, education, and civic engagement makes programs like this possible. Senator Cabalo and our team are grateful for your collaboration and helping build the next generation of leaders right here in Laspanos. We look forward to continuing to partner with the city on future youth engagement and community initiatives. Thank you again for supporting our young people and for helping to build a

brighter future for the Central Valley. I must say I love the city of Laspanos's logo. This is a beautiful uh city chamber and we appreciate all the work and collaboration with the city of Laspanos. Thank you and have a good evening. Thank you very much. Anyone else please come forward.

Thank you. Blanch, welcome.

Good evening, mayor, council, uh, community officers. Uh, so I'm a nervous public speaker, which everybody knows me as a to speak privately. I'm yaky yak. I'm here this evening to um let the council know and let the community know that we are doing the uh annual exciting one-of-a-kind Halloween event October 25th. It's an Elks Lodge hosted Halloween event. Uh it's a um and a fundraiser, excuse me, for the animal shelter and an adoption event. The Elks Lodge is hosting the event. It's only for a couple hours. It's a super fun education, joyful uh event, but the deeper meaning behind it is to put the hands of the community in the hands of the shelter and and of course community- based. Um, it's an educational multi- holiday, like I said, joyful event, uh, geared towards bringing the community to have a social event. It's super fun. Everybody brings their animals dressed up in costume. We have the Claus family there. This year, we're going to have the Ghostbuster mobile this year. Free food, great raffle prizes. Um, and for those who don't know, I'm like I said, I'm Tracy Dyenroth. Uh, and this is Winsome. So, it's it's literally named the Halloween party. Get it? Um, and fundraiser. Uh, I want to uh officially thank the supporters of the event. We have, like I said, it's an educational event. um animal-based. So, we have veterinarians

that are going to be there, um groomers, borders, uh feral cat, uh information along with the festivities. Uh so, I wanted to officially thank the supporters, the local businesses here and the people have just been absolutely I'm very emotional about it and very passionate about it because the support that we get from the community for this event um is just amazing. So, it's a it's a big uh give back to the community and the kids. It just it's super exciting. So, please come. Again, it's October 25th, uh 11 to 2:00. And sorry for my uncomfortability. Alex Lodge hosted. Thank you. Thank you. Says yo and thank you for all the work that Alex does for our community. Very great. Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Arma Ruiz. I need somebody who translate to Yes. Uh please many will translate.

Are you going to go up there? Okay. I'm not going to say anymore about Mr. Chavez's comment because he's it's already been told and I'm here to speak about the academy. My experience uh driving with the police officer was I saw uh firsthand an aggression against the police officer. I know it's a a a very dangerous job and uh I hope that the academy continues for a while.

Thank you. Thanks very much.

Good evening, mayor, council members, and all citizens. Um I'm a member of the academy and it's a privilege and honor to be a part of it. I was part of the people requesting the academy to Chief Reena to be a part of it. It makes me very happy to know that here in Losanos, the Hispanic community is heard. Being a part of the academy has been great. Um, all the sergeants and the commanders and everybody has been great to work with. Um, wow. This is very difficult. Um, Oh my goodness.

I know. Sorry. Now you made me nervous. Repeat that. That's okay. Um, so yeah. So, gracias.

It's a privilege to know that we, the Hispanic community, are also very important to you. I have learned a lot through the classes. They have been really educational and I've learned a lot. Um, and I hope that this is uh one of many to come and that a lot of people will be educated through this uh through this academy. Because for me the idea that I had of police officers has changed. So it helped me make connections especially with the homeless population. So, it really helped us understand. It changed the vision that I had of the homeless and being able to connect and make those connections has been really great. I'm a part of Ro's church and um I think by joining um and being a part of this, we're going to make things or change and

uh being able to take food to the homeless has really changed and and we'll be able to make a better better future for them. Yeah. So um yeah sociademia. Thank you. And it makes me very very happy to be part of the academy. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Good evening, mayor and council members. I'm also part of the academy

there. I I want to thank every everybody for um Chief Raina. He said Sergeant. That's what I was a little chief for all his help. The perception of police has changed.

Only a few of us were able to come, but the academy um in the academy there's about 27. And I think it's the perception that they're not heard in terms of why, you know, there's not more had a bad experience with the police,

but I also didn't have good ideas of them. and we realize that we don't know a lot of what the police does. Um, I think it's a great program and it needs to continue in Spanish. So, there will be unity in the community.

Great. Thank you very much. Thank you. Natan. Hello. My name is Natan. Nathan. Nathan.

Yeah. Um, I'm also here to talk about it. Um, we're learning a lot about the laws and what the laws here in Losanos are. And we're learning a lot. And I also want to um recognize that the police officers in Losanos are also getting training so they're better police officers. biases.

Uh some of the things that they get training on is to not stereotype and not have biases. the associ they have to take a tea or test or training of a specific test for to be able not to do these biases and um it's called IAT in English and it stands for do you need me

see it's cuz you didn't say it right I'm sorry you didn't um and it stands for You want me to say it? Yeah.

Okay. Implicit association test and that helps you with the biases that they acquire. Everybody has them. Even if you're a police officer or not a police officer. And this training helps them so they can get rid of those biases. Because of the negativity, the people don't understand that these police officers in Losanas do have this type of training. But they do. Spanish. This academy is really good for the people and especially because it's in Spanish.

How did I do? Good. Not exactly what I was saying. No, not exactly what I was saying, but got the point. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Hello. Hello.

It's me, Blanch downtown. And this is Grace. Gracie. Gracie. actually about 2 years ago was a feral cat. She was trapped on Christmas Eve and um if you notice her ear, her ear is notched. Um and that's to let everybody know that she is been fixed. She has all her shots and her baby shots. We wanted to come up because we're on our third wave of kitten season. Yes. Even though it's raining, it's kitten season and it's the third wave. Um the shelter has been doing very wonderful with the guidance of Ivan Mendes, the commanders, and of course the chief. Thank you, Chief. One thing that I think the chief can explain a little bit better um is that um the what you had expected and wanted um which was the reduction rate of um the the season uh the quarter has been getting reduced by 35.5%. So, um, it was the chief explained better during his his presentation, but I wanted to introduce you to Gracie. She's a good mouser. I think that any feral cat can be adopted, can be in a backyard, and can get rid of all all the mice and the critters, and then you can um socialize them. Um, and like I said, she was wild and I trapped her. But, um, I just wanted to introduce you. Thank

you for your guidance, your trust. We're doing well. And, uh, um, let me put Gracie back. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Bye, guys. Welcome.

Thank you for having me back. Uh my name is Anas Brown. Um a couple things I wanted to say. First thing is that I want to give my divine gratitude to Chief Tala and the Lasanos Fire Department. Um I'm starting the journey of becoming a firefighter myself. So, uh, firemen and women that were there today at station one have been fantastic. They showed me everything I needed to know. Um, answered every question that I had and, um, I'm very blessed to be in the situation that I'm in. So, thank you again. The second thing is, um, concerned with downtown area and the city as a whole. So, I seen the changes that were made and I think that they were wonderful. Um, I think that uh council should get a um city planning team together and if the budget allows um revamp the this the downtown area, but more so the city to reflect um the progress towards the future as well as the roots from our past. um using a method called retrofuturism. Um for those of you on the city council panel that are not aware, I suggest that um you find out for yourselves what it means, what it is. Um I think it'd be really good for the city, seeing as how we've made it to 2025 and seeing as how we are a very old school rustic city in the rural region. Um, as well as being the crossroads of all California, I think that it would symbolize the city a lot. Um, not just with our growth that we've that we've came to, but also to, like I said, to honor our past, um, and have the city reflect that. Other than

that, thank you.

Thank you. Good luck to you. Anyone else, please come forward. Welcome. It's been a while. Good evening. My name is Mariel Garcia and I'm uh here to represent the Las Downtown Association. I am the executive director. Um good evening, mayor, council members, and staff. Uh, I have a lot actually to say, so please bear with me. I want to begin tonight by expressing my sincere gratitude. Thank you to our mayor, Michael Amabil, and our intern city manager and city staff for your continued partnership and support. You've shown the Las Downtown Association working with people who truly care about our city has made a tremendous difference, especially during our biggest community events like the Fourth of July celebration and our farmers market. Our farmers market has now come to an end for the season. And what an incredible season it was. It has quickly become one of our most loved traditions, bringing families downtown every Friday to enjoy local food, music, and community. It connects local growers, small businesses, and neighbors in a way that truly brings downtown to life. I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Joe Delbosski with Delboski Farms and Lesma Family Organic Farming and all of our loyal vendors and entertainers who made every Friday something special. A very special thank you to Sutter Health for their generous sponsorship of the farmers market and your continued partnership helps makes this community tradition possible. And thank you to council member Marcus Chavez for attending and showing your support for our renters and small businesses. And of course, a big thank

you to public works for their help and setup and cleanup. Your behind the scenes work keeps everything running smoothly week after week. I also want to sincerely thank the Las Police Department and the Las Vegas Fire Department for their ongoing support and presence during our events. Your service and dedication ensure community gatherings remain safe, welcoming, and enjoyable for everyone. Let me breathe. Our Fourth of July celebration once again brought families together in community pride and love for our country. A big thank you to Morning Star for their sponsorship. Through partnerships, fundraising, and a shared vision, we provided a free family-friendly event filled with joy, music, fireworks that hit up the sky over downtown Lasanas. I also want to highlight our farm-to-table dinner, one of our mo most meaningful community events. The dinner truly reflects the heart of Lasmanas where agriculture, family, and community come together under one roof. A very special thank you to David and Carolyn Santos for their use of the beautiful venue and their hardworking team who made sure every detail was perfect. To Espa South Bar uh Southwest Bar and Grill, your catering team was absolutely amazing. The food and service were outstanding. Thank you to Stu, our wonderful master of ceremonies, who kept the evening flowing with warmth and humor. To Garrett Jones, our talented auctioneer, for bringing energy and excitement to the fundraiser, and to the FFA students who volunteered their time and effort. Your help was invaluable. Finally, a special thank you to County District 5 Supervisor Scotty Silver for always stepping in, lending a hand, and showing genuine support for our events. Your presence and leadership truly makes a difference. I also want to take a moment to recognize all of our farmers of the

year, past and present. Your dedication and commitment to a to agriculture are the foundation of our community, and we are deeply grateful for all that you do. The proceeds from the year's farm-totable event will be determined by the board of directors with valuable input from our sponsors. And this year, celebration Hispanic Heritage Month and other and other downtown events continued to strengthen the heartbeat of our community. None of this would be possible without the incredible dedication of our volunteers and board of directors. Their time and passion commitment show what it means to truly believe in unity and progress. I want to thank each of them for standing beside me and working so hard to make every event a event a success. We also would not do this without the generous sponsors David Santos Farming, Morning Star, the Pentagon with Delta Farms and Garden Tractor and many others who believe in investing in our community's future. Their support helps us lift the spirit of our downtown, not only through the music that fills the air, but through a shared sense of pride, hope, and community. And I would also like to extend a heartful thank you to Merced College for the beautiful banners that enhance our downtown and showcase our community pride. Your partnership continues to bring co color, energy, and inspiration to our city streets. Every show of support helps build a stronger connection between our residents and our downtown. When we work together, it builds trust, unity, and a shared sense of purpose. That's what keeps our community thriving and moving forward. A beautiful united lesbianis. The downtown association. The downtown association doesn't just host events. We create experiences that

strengthen our city. We give residents something to be proud of and our businesses reasons to keep investing here. So tonight, I simply want to say thank you to those who have supported us, encouraged us, and continue to see the value in what we're doing. And all and to all council members, I warmly invite you to join us at our next event, the Christmas scavenger hunt. Meet our businesses and vendors, feel the energy, and see firsthand the difference your presence makes. Downtown Los Viennas is the heart of our city and together through unity, respect, and collaboration, the heart will only grow stronger. Thank you. Thank you very much.

And I'll leave some flyers in the front. Okay. Thank you. Have a great evening. Thank you.

Welcome,

mayor, council members. I admit um I've come here today to address the council about the way we speak and um I really love uh Councilman Chavez how you handled that your apology. There's no butts about it. Just I really do. Um, and it really got me to thinking about just so much that I see here, especially after watching all the people come up and and speak and and many doing an amazing job of translating on the fly, which it really is difficult, right? Like people think, well, it's easy. It doesn't work that way. But, um, I say I say to say this, that that your words do matter. What you do up there matters. And you know that you know that they have great weight because you've come up to this seat and what has happened is the voices that you already have as community man members has been amplified and then that's an awesome thing. That's a great thing. But but unfortunately it's easy for us to hold you to a standard that's not fair and say well you have to be perfect and and you you can't mess up and you will. Every one of you is going to mess up. I've seen you all mess up. I watched the video from last week and I watched the cringes on her faces going, I don't know, right? Because I don't believe for a second anything was said with malice at all. But we're human beings. Every one of us, Councilman Chavez. I mean, you're you're a human being. See, you're a human being, right? Like, every one of us are humans. We mess up. We say things. We get angry. And I just want to encourage the community to remember that that no one's out to cause some conspiracy. That we're not out to cause problems, but that we we mess up. And what really shows what

matters is how we handle it when we mess up. When you step up with grace and you apologize and you own it, I got so much more respect for you right now than I've ever had. And it took you messing up to get there, right? That's awesome because you're a human being. And I love seeing that and own that. And I want to encourage the community to to accept that and to be okay with that. Um I love I love the direction that we're going with. You all are doing an amazing job. There there are a couple things here today that I hope everybody caught. Number one, a bunch of a bunch of Hispanics came up here and said that their they felt their voices were heard in this community. That is a win. You can walk out of here with your heads held high because y'all all y'all did that. They they rode with the road with the chief and with everybody and realize you know what the police the policemen and women who serve they're people also and then they seen them in a different perspective when you get to know people. I keep saying that like the you get you want to ruin your hatred for somebody, get to know them cuz it's hard to hate up close. And this community has come so far in allowing people to feel comfortable doing things that I was absolutely ecstatic that even at our last special election, two Hispanic women said, "I'm going to take the courage to take this mantle and take a swing at it. Bravo." I mean, that was awesome for me. It was a win-win no matter what. And now now you're up here and let your voice be heard and and and use it. And when you mess up, it's okay. Own it and and and be whoever it is you need to be. Whoever God called you to be to represent that district. My district. I'm on your district. So, we need some cool things. I'll get with you later. But I just want to encourage you all to to be mindful. I want to encourage the community to show grace in these times more than anything. It's easy to convict. It's easy to judge. We all do

it. But it takes a lot to show grace. And that's what we need is to show more grace. So, thank you all for what you do. Appreciate you. Thank you for your comments. One else, please come forward.

Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening, Mr. mayor and city council members and wellpanos city staff. My name is Larry Buyers. I live on Foothill Street here in Los Panos. That's in the Crest Hills 2 development. I live about two blocks away from Pioneer Road. And as some of you may remember, I am a proud member of Los Spanos Tree Commission. My two-year term on the commission ends as of December. So, I'm here in part to ask the city council to please consider renewing my term for another 2 years on the tree commission. But tonight, I'm not really here to talk about trees. Not really here to talk about trauma like I did a while back. Tonight, I'm here to talk about traffic. So, not trees, not trauma, but traffic. I've attended a few meetings regarding the complete streets project, otherwise known as the pioneer corridor project. The plan is to expand Pioneer Road to eventually be up to four lanes over the next 20 years. We were told the state highway 152 freeway bypass will not be happening. This is due to the fact that CALR has some very serious funding limitations. We simply can't afford to build a freeway bypass. So, it very sadly needs to be removed when Spanos general plan. I get that. I do. So, the city's newly revised plan is to eventually build our own city bypass roadway to help our residents to get around the town. This will be accomplished in multiple stages over the next 20 years as funding allows. The hope is that Pioneer Road will be expanded and upgraded to run from Voltaar Road to Word Road. At least that's the dream as I understand it. At

the Laspanos 2042 general plan revision meeting held recently, it was discussed that the hope is to acquire the real estate and today's dollars to eventually build a four-lane Pioneer Road. That's a very smart plan. I heard we're trying to write the wrongs of poor planning decisions of the past. Poor planning on roads like Badger Flats and Overland were used as examples of roads not built to meet today's growth. At the last city council meeting, we heard from former Losano City Councilman Refugeio Yamas. He got me thinking. He made the point that in 20 years, our population growth could really render Pioneer's four-lane plan obsolete. He said we should really plan for Pioneer Road to be a sixlane road. That certainly makes sense to me. When I arrived here 27 years ago, our town was 22,000 strong. Fast forward to today, we're now nearly 50,000 residents strong. That was tremendous growth. My question is, are we perpetuating the wrongs of the past by simply not looking far enough into the future? I know the right growth plan depends on the right planning and money is the real issue here. Losanos will continue to be a bedroom community for cities like San Jose. Can we at least consider getting those Los the Spanos general plan um amended and zoned to accommodate the growth that we already know is bound to come. Thank you for listening.

Thank you very much. Hello. Good evening. I'm Jessica Lugo and I'm just going to speak briefly on behalf of the friends of the Los Banos Library. Um, as was previously recognized, next week is National Friends of Libraries Week. Um, and while some of you may have already heard about it through imitations, we just wanted to extend the invitation to everyone in our community um, to come visit the library and to join us in celebrating next week. Um, we're going to be hosting events all week. So, since the library is closed on Sunday and Monday, our events are going to begin on Tuesday, October 21st. Um, and they'll continue through Saturday, October 25th. Um, it's all going to be here in town at the Los branch of the Merced County Library. Um, our goal is to celebrate the value of our library as well as the volunteers who helped to support it. Um, so on Tuesday, we're going to have a meet the friends event, which is we're going to be there from 2:00 to 5:00. Um, it's kind of a meet the friends kind of uh table. Um, so we're all going to be there. We're inviting the community to come in. It's a great opportunity to stop by, meet some of the people behind the scenes that kind of help support the library and kind of learn more about what it is that we do. Um, I think it's a a great thing like if you value the library and you've been interested in finding ways to support it, this is the perfect opportunity to visit and see what's going on and how you can help. Um, and then on Wednesday, we're going to host a community book discussion. Uh the book selection is All My Rage by Saba Tahir and that's going to be from 6:00 to 7:30. Um and we have provided free copies at the library. So there's still time to stop by, pick up a free copy and read the book and then come join in on the conversation. Um on Thursday, we're going to hold a plant and seed exchange

right outside the library between 1 and 3. Um, so we're just encouraging our neighbor, you know, the neighbors to bring in any seeds, succulent clippings, or, um, plants that they'd like to exchange with their neighbors. Um, and then on Thursday, I'm sorry, on Friday, uh, we'll offer a bilingual family craft activity in the library from 11 to 1:00. Uh, this activity is going to correlate with the library's regular bilingual story time. That's every Friday. Um, so this is going to give families an opportunity to stay after story time and make Mari gold flowers um in recognition of the Adel Muertos. Um, and then on Saturday, we're going to wrap up the week with a children's scavenger hunt from 10 to 1. Um, this is for kids aged 6 to 12. So, they can come in to the library to search for little hidden like library friends that we're going to have around. Um, and for the kids that complete it, we have some little prizes for them. Um, so we're really excited about the week. We're really excited to engage with the community. So, we hope a lot of you guys can come and meet us.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Welcome. Hello.

Um, my name is Patricia McCoy. For those of you that don't know me, I'm not only a member of the Losanos American Legion, but I've been a chairperson of the Losanos Veterans Parade since 2017. The Lasbanos Veterans Parade is put on by the local um American Legion and the VFW. This year's parade will be on Saturday, November 1st at 11:00 a.m. And the theme this year is salute to the Space Force. Yes, that is a branch of the military. It is the newest branch and it was established December of 2019 and currently has about 14,000 guardians. Um that is what those that are active duty members are called. We want the community to know that I get asked this all the time on social media and around town, especially when it gets closer to November 11th, which is the actual Veterans Day, why we have our parade at the date that we do. It is always that first Saturday. Um, and the reason for that is because we cannot compete with the larger cities like Merced, but most especially Fresno when it comes to the entries in our parade. And also, we don't want to make our community have to choose between going to um maybe Merrced or Fresno, which in case you did not know, Fresno's parade, Veterans Day parade is the largest parade west of the Mississippi. So, we don't want to um make our community choose. Um, additionally on um, November 11th, we veterans are very busy putting out approximately 975 flags around town to those who subscribe to our flag program. Um, lastly, I do want to mention that if anyone would like to participate as either an entry in the parade or as a volunteer, yes, I still need lots of volunteers. Um, I can't believe it's only like two weeks away.

Um, please visit our website lobanosveterans.org and complete the online form. There is also a map of the parade route on there. And um, I hope everybody will come down and show your support to all of our veterans. Like I said, even though this theme is salute to the Space Force, we honor all veterans and no veteran will be turned away even if you come up on the the morning of the parade and say, "Hey, I want to participate." So, I hope to see you there. I did get your email, so thank you. But I hope to see all everybody else there. Thank you. Thank you.

Welcome.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, City Council, City Staff, and of course, fellow residents. Um, talk a little bit about growth. Uh again, when uh my wife and I moved here from San Jose, the Bay Area in 1992, we moved here because we thought that uh we'd go to a small town setting that it would remain that way for decades to come. Lo and behold, within a few years of us moving here, uh the population grew from, I think at the time was 12 or 13,000 and it just uh started mushing and it's continued ever since. And now it looks like the city is going through another growth spurt. And what we're doing is repeating the failure to plan like we did last time during the last growth. We're not planning for the increased Well, we're not planning for the the needed increase in police and fire personnel. I understand we're building another fire station, but that we're already behind on that for at least 15 years in my opinion. So, we don't have plans for that yet. We're planning for growth. We're planning for more development. We're planning and we're going to have more congestion. Yet we again we are eliminating the only viable uh relief for that congestion and that's the bypass. So again increased population, increased traffic, increased response times from our first responders, which means less safety for our residents, which is your primary concern of any municipality. And as Mrs. As uh stated clearly, the only reason the bypass is no longer tenable is because we no longer advocated for it. For example, we have the issue of Danza. If the residents had not clamored for it, if not beat the doors down basically to have that thing addressed, we would have forgotten about it and in a few years

would have said, "Oh, it's just not tenable anymore." It's not tenable anymore because we just forgot about it. We didn't advocate for it. But the residents have been advocating for it and now the city council was is working on it and thank you uh chief for uh giving that update last. We appreciate that. But again, it's just a minor example in relation to the bypass. The bypass is feasible. The planning has been done. Most of the work has been done. It is feasible and it is the only thing that is going to relieve our traffic congestion in light of especially in light of the growth that we're anticipating. Now, tonight's agenda, we have a lot of items on the agenda that uh are going to transform to make up our city. And yet, we haven't had public town hall meetings that we need to in order to get the input from the public. And yet, the town halls that we have had, none of you attended. And I think that's that's a real shortcoming. If you want to know what the people are thinking, attend the town hall meetings. You get it right from them because a lot of folks, they can't attend the meetings tonight, okay? For various reasons. So, I encourage you to attend those public events police academy. Uh it was fantastic listening to the folks who are attending the police academy because that was one of my intents when I pushed for this project. when I met with Chief uh Raina and advocated for it. Hispanic population makes up over 60 70% of our population. Many of those do not speak English or speak it very brokenly. I can tell you that my parents when they first came here, they didn't speak English. As years went on, they spoke very good English, but now that they've retired, they speak very little English again. So, and we have a lot of that

population here. And the reason I'm very happy for that and for the chief's encouragement and support on that and all the fire and all the uh police officers is that it builds community. It breaks down the barriers to communication and it increases capacity within the police department because now they have other resources and we engage fully with the community at large and it also reduces officer safety or excuse me increases officer safety. So that now we have folks who are willing to come by and assist with solving crimes because as you know that's one of the greatest reasons or uh of solving crime is by tips from the public. So thank you chief for your efforts on that. People are very happy and I think it's again it's a way to assimilate yes I want to use that word to assimilate all the populations into one into one society. Um, crazy people. I appreciate your your apology, uh, Council Member Chavez. I do. I really do. Um, but I also believe that Mr. Mayor, you owe an apology because you laughed the loudest. Mr. Sanders, you also smirked and it's there on video. In any regards, Mr. Mayor, you're responsible for the conduct with that dis. You should have turned to him immediately and corrected that. And also, it should have been shouldn't have been two weeks later. you have all the means disposable at your disposal to make a video to apologize immediately. I mean, better late than never, I suppose. But again, you take charge, you own it, and you move forward. Thank you very much. Thank you for your comments. Anyone else, please come forward.

Hi again, Arasmo here, res lo panos. Um, you got to make it short. I want to make sure I think I have two minutes left because I two minutes. How many minutes I have left for my last I used a full five. None left. Go ahead.

Okay. I just make um so I just want to say is uh I think there's a lot of good ideas that came from that community listening session uh for the bypass. I know there discussions about Pioneer and my only my only just hearing some of the comments here would be that uh if if we are going to go to Pioneer we need to address the PCO situation. And if not, you're going to have a state issue there and then we're going to be owning the full issue on Pioneer in the future. Someone said something really uh I think impactful at that one meeting. I didn't get to share my notes. Um is that why not just make the current highway PCO the bypass? Um and then you're not going to split the city any further. If you create another bypass somewhere down you have the city split literally in three sections. uh and we know historically from a planning perspective when you go down that route, property values are impacted, businesses are impacted uh and that also splits up council districts as well. So just want to share that impact uh and what what I perceive the problems to be. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else please come forward?

We welcome your comments. Okay. Hey, I do not see or hear anyone coming forward. So, I appreciate all the comments at the podium this this evening for our public forum. And now we will move on. So, let's see. Uh number seven, consideration approval of the consent agenda. Items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine and will be voted on with one motion unless removed by one of the city council members. So Lucy, if you could read off the consent agenda.

Items on the consent agenda are as follows. Warrant numbers 253959 through 254151 in the amount of 1,160,953.71. City Council meeting minutes for September 3rd, 2025. City Council meeting minutes for September 17, 2025. City Council resolution number 6997 authorizing the interim city manager to execute a grant agreement with the Sanwalken River Exchange Contractor's Water Authority for the HG Faucet Canal Trail Overlay Project and amending the fiscy year budget to increase revenues and expenditures in the amount of $100,000. City Council resolution number 6998 approving the acceptance of a $50,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety and amending the 2025 2026 fiscal year budget by increasing the appropriation amount of the state grant fund account for expenditures and revenues in the amount of $50,000. City Council resolution number 6999 approving parcel map number 2024-01 which includes dedications of the right of way along Highway 152 and Ward Road and a 10-foot public utility easement along Highway 152 and Ward Road along Highway 152 and Ward Road as shown on said map. Um Amy Chang as trustee of Amy Chang Family Trust. City Council resolution number 7000 awarding the construction contract for the pavement of F Street Corporation

Yard Parking lot project to Cal Coding Asphalt Inc. in the amount of $167,488 and authorizing the city manager to execute the agreement. City Council resolution number 7001 approving and authorizing the interim city manager to sign the acceptance of a Samwoken Valley Air Pollution Control District Electric Electronic Mobility Grant in the amount of $150,000 and approve a budget amendment to the 202526 fiscal year budget to reflect the additional revenue and expenditure. under this grant and the items are to be approved as submitted.

Okay, with that, thank you, Lucy. With that, does any of the council members would like to pull off any of those items for further discussion? I have a question on 7D. I don't necessarily want to pull it. I just want to ask some questions. Go ahead and ask your question. Um, is the HD Faucet Canal the only one in the city that falls under the Sanwaqin River Exchange contractor waters authority? Yes. Yeah, it's a a group uh including CCID um that so it's along that trail. Uh and they um don't necessarily have exactly defined uh um eligibility requirements, but it needs to relate to something um uh in relation to uh the irrigation system. Um

right. So I the reason I ask is because we have other canals in town like the one that runs way on the east. So I don't believe that would be eligible. Um, that's a grasslands. Uh, I don't believe that's part of that group, but I'd have to check into that. Okay. The only reason I ask is because we have that canal. It's already paved. It's got lights. Like, it's a great walking path already. And putting a 100 grand into that. It's It's not our money. It's a grant. There's no matching funds. So, I'm not going to vote against it or anything like that. I just would like to see other projects where people can go do stuff instead of, you know, taking a trail that's an eight out of 10 and putting money on that to make it a nine out of 10. Let's I'd really like to see more projects happen and and it'd be nice to go for funds for that kind of thing. So that's my only comment on that.

Is there any other questions from the council comments? And if I have a motion, please. Yeah, mayor. I'd like to make a motion to approve consent agenda as submitted. Second. All right. Motion and second to approve a consent agenda as submitted. Any further questions or comments by the council? Not hearing any. All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Eyes have it. Motion carried.

Okay. Item eight, public hearing. This is a this next item will be a public hearing. And if you challenge the proposed action as described herein to this in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at a public hearing described herein or in written correspondence delivered to the city at or prior to this public hearing. Our public hearing is to receive public comment and consideration on the proposed participation by the city of Lasanis in the bond opportunities for a land development or bold program of the Lasis Municipal Finance Authority. Participation is said program will enable property owners to finance public capital improvements and or develop impact fees or public capital improvements imposed on new developments within the boundaries of the city of Lasanis for before we open it up to the public hearing. I um uh many you have anything to state before we open up the public hearing that's more than that?

Mr. Mayor, if I may. Oh, okay. Um, if I can introduce Ralph Holmes, he's a managing director with Piper Sandler and, uh, company. Uh, they facilitate the Bold program. Um, and he's going to give us the presentation tonight. Nice to meet you.

Um, as she said, I'm Ralph Holmes. I'm with Piper Sandler. We're a bond underwriter. We help run the program. And um just sort of big picture, what the program does is allows for CFD funding for new development projects. And so no uh no development project participates in the program unless they want to and they apply to do it. Um CFD funding is a development tool that the developers use to fund infrastructure and fees for new development projects. Um, it allows a developer to place a tax against the property and that tax is used to to pay debt service on bonds. One of the benefits of this overall is it allows for the acceleration of the funding of infrastructure and fees for our local jurisdiction. So, we'll go ahead and go to the first slide. Uh, this is sort of a summary of what the program is. So, the bond opportunities for land development, we call it bold. It's a nice acronym. Um, it allows for the outsourcing of CFD financing. So, the city could do this themselves. The city could decide, hey, we want to allow for the formation of a CFD to help this development project to accelerate funding of infrastructure. What what Bold allows the city to do is say, yeah, we won't allow this, but we're going to let this outside agency do it for us on our behalf. And so, the benefit is, you know, your staff has other projects they're working on, other things that are more pressing really for staff. And so, this is an outsourcing So, in terms of the program itself, it's it's run through CMFA, the California Municipal Advance Authority. CMFA is a joint powers authority that is statewide. It's got several hundred members, uh, cities, school districts, counties, special districts, and whatnot. And I'm going to go ahead and move the next slide. So, community facilities district basics. So, basically, you can fund all sorts of infrastructure. We've

got a list here of the different kinds of infrastructure that can be funded. Um, this is infrastructure having to do with new development. So, typically you'll have a developer that comes in and they want to build a 100 houses and they've got to fund different infrastructure. There might be traffic lights, you know, streets, curbs, gutters, sidewalks. This allows for the for the funding of that on a tax basis. And these are a list of some of the things that can be funded. It's very broad on what can be funded. So local agency requirements and you know this is sort of a little behind um in terms of local agency all you have to do is join the program. So you have to join CFA become a member and you've you've got to join the bold program and the resolutions before you tonight allow for that. There's no cost for doing this. It's you know it's a JPA you would just join it. So, what are the benefits? Um, the big one is you're you're you're allowing for the acceleration of the funding of infrastructure and fees for the city. So, instead of money coming in as they pull building permits, oftentimes you can go ahead and get that money up front and invested in projects, you can also work with your developers to get some projects funded faster than you otherwise would be able to. Um, an additional benefit is, you know, bold as opposed to CFD. So, so the benefit I just mentioned is of CFD financing. Bold allows you to um to outsource this. And so, CMFA does all this. They do the formation of the district. They issue the bonds on behalf of the development. Uh the city's name doesn't show up on tax bill. You're not involved in the off the the bond offering. You're not responsible for disclosure and any of that. So, requirements of projects. So, we do small projects and the idea is we pool

small projects to make it cost-effective. And so, if you've got 50 houses, 60 houses, you wouldn't do that as a standalone uh financing. It just be too small. So, we so we combine them. So, you have to have at least $500,000 in improvements for a project in order for it to make sense. Otherwise, it just it costs too much. Away from that, we want to make sure that we're meeting city's goals and policies. We want to make sure that we're not doing anything the city doesn't want to do. We want to work with your staff and and make sure we're meeting your needs. Uh in terms of issuing bonds, we issue bonds when it makes sense. Typically, the developments got, you know, um finished lots, they're building houses out there. You know, we're not doing way way in advance. So, the formation process is undertaken by CMFA. And so, you wouldn't be really involved with this except for the fact that your staff would attend calls. But what happens is CMFA goes through the formation process. It requires two uh meetings. They have to be more than 30 days, less than 60 days apart. Um and it's a three to four month process. It's pretty straightforward. It's initiated by the developer though. So the developer comes and says, "Hey, we want to do this." They provide an application. We reach out to staff and say, "Is this okay? This is what they want to do." If the city says yes, then we go ahead and move forward. They fund the cost of forming the district and then we form it over a three to four month period. So the bond issuing process is different and again it's all done by CFA. It's not done by the city but once we aggregate a bunch of districts we'll we'll issue bonds on their behalf and again it's three to four month process we go through the process of actually structuring the financing and selling the bonds to investors. Um I was asked by staff to provide a couple case studies. Um these are kind of interesting ones. Matos Ranch was in

uh Newman. Uh it was a small development. Um I can't see from here, but um it's LGI Homes. It's about 106 units. And what they did is they put in place a tax. It was roughly $800 a unit. um and they were included in a pool and they issued bonds to fund school fees and that allowed the school district to accelerate projects. So there's another project in Riverbank kind of a similar story. Um and this project um you know roughly the same level of tax again they they raised about $1.2 $2 million and that was to fund park improvements, storm drain, uh, roads and underground utilities. So, the rest of the presentation really just sort of overview is an overview of the program. I'm going to do it quickly and I'll answer questions at the end. Um, this is sort of the the history of the program in terms of formations. We started the program in 2018. It's been very very successful. There's been a lot of participation. I won't go through each of these boxes. Um on this slide we show jurisdictions that have joined the program and so you know we started in 2018 and there was nobody and then plaster county joined and plaster counties actually run more than 20 projects through the program and the reason they did is they didn't want to particip they didn't want to do the CTFs themselves they want to outsource it and help projects and accelerate funding. Um this next slide is instead the prior slide was um authorized jurisdictions. This is actual projects. So again, there's a lot of information here. I won't go through it all, but if there's questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Um, terms of funding, this sort of shows the bond financing process, um, or our

history. Um, and you know, we started off, you know, doing a few deals the first year and it's just kind of grown on itself. And you can see that actually in the next several pages. I'm not going to go through this, but you'll see that some of these are large standalone issuances. A lot of them are pools of smaller transactions. And we've done over $600 million in bonds in the last eight years. Um, it's been a really fun program to work on. It's allowed for the acceleration of infrastructure improvements and it allowed for development to continue and housing development to occur in California. So, I went through that quickly. It was on purpose. Um, but if there are questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

I'd like to go ahead and open the public hearing before the council gets involved with questions. So, at this time, I'd like to go ahead and open the public hearing to receive comment on the bull proposal. Anyone who would like to speak on this, please come forward. You have three minutes. Hi, Ross Moham, president of Los Panos. Um, just a more of a question and perhaps the council asked a question of this uh individual here. um what are the pros and cons of the city taking the lead of implementing the CFD versus outsourcing it? Um and then more specifically uh those cities that did outsource uh the CFD um what was their size and scope of the work? Uh and then those that that did decided to do it in house. Um again, what was their size and scope of the work? Uh and then lastly is uh did the city give consideration of doing this house? Uh what were the pros and cons that they decided to go in this direction to have this presentation? Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else would like to speak? Anyone? Okay. Thank you for speaking and you want to go ahead and answer this question.

So the pros and cons I you know it's interesting because some jurisdictions decide they want to manage this process. Maybe they've got an in-house department that actually does this and they're like hey we we've got a debt department that actually manages these processes and we don't want to outsource that because we've got employees. Um, but it, you know, it's funny because when I started this program, it goes back some years, but I used to do this kind of financing for the city of San Diego, which is a large public agency. And one day the debt manager looked at me and said, "Ralph, I don't want to do these. I'm going to use this other program and I don't want to do it." And I thought to myself, "The city of San Diego doesn't want to do this. Why would anyone else want to do it?" Um, some of the jurisdictions that do do it, um, they're larger financing. They're $10 million plus. I don't know if I answered all your questions, but I

Yeah, I I think the the big if we're a larger city and bigger projects, I could see maybe doing something in house, but for smaller projects, you know, I I look at this sort of like a redevelopment agency, which we brought in an outside firm to run all that for us

and uh and and take it over because we're not in that job doing that. Yes, we have an expert finance officer, but you know, she has more things to worry about on her desk than than CFDs and stuff like that. Um but and I think that's what I I really compare it to in 95 when we started our redevelopment agency in town and just opened up and the I think one of the biggest complaints you hear through the years is that project will start small or large and the last thing is built is the park

and here's all these beautiful homes and then we start building the park because that's the way the funding mechanism works.

Well, now we can build the park with the first homes, you know, or whatever that is or whatever it fits into that. And not only that, but street lights and other improvements that will make it. And it seems like funding for projects have really changed, like you said, when you start in San Diego has really changed over the years for the way cities fund, way private firms fund. uh banks are really uh tightening their grip on things and they don't want to fund anything that's outside the project like a stoplight that they might have to fund. So then when does that get done after the last house is built or so this I think it's a good thing. It's what you're going to see the city. I know I didn't I imagine just on your your report there. I know the city Merrced's done it too.

And uh so I'm actually really in for in favor of this and I think it's it's something that will enhance future developments, small and large ones. Any questions or any comments? Um yeah, I have some questions. Yeah. So we already have um impact fees. Is this is this in addition to the impact fees we already to charge or is it a way to just finance those impact fees? Finance and accelerate. Finance and accelerate. Okay. So, this puts layers between it. So, if we have an impact fee of whatever it is, $20,000 on a home. Do we does this is the city still going to get that? Yes. $20,000. So, the cost is just a homeowner. Basically, it goes to the homeowner and they're paying it on the property tax. It does. Yes.

Where right now it's built into the price of the home. Well, in both cases kind of go the price of the home, right? Right. Both cases are going to price though. My concern is that you end up with basically I feel like the developer is the person that's going to get the most benefit out of this because on a $500,000 home if you're not having to tack that $20,000 impact fee, which we all know gets tacked on the price of the home, are they really going to charge only $480,000 for the price of that home now? Or are they just going to make an extra 20 grand, give this person a property tax that's buying the home, and now the homeowner is basically on the hook for it, and our housing isn't any less expensive?

Yeah. I mean, that that's a conversation that's had all the time. I' I'd say that, you know, the argument is, well, when I go and buy a home, I can afford to spend four $4,000 a month on it, right? And so, if if I'm spending $1,000 on a meal tax, I can only spend 3,000. So, it's going to impact the price of that one,

right? I I just my my concern my concern on this is and I know it's not locking us into using this for our developments. It just gives us an option in the future. But if if the city's not getting more money for projects and the houses are costing more for the consumer, then the developer is the person that's going to win on this. I my I'll give you my personal opinion. So, one of the thing, one of my philosophies is that any new development has to pay for itself and can't try as little as possible to impact our existing residents. And that hasn't been the case. you know, we just talk about traffic. Look what's going on.

So, I think with this is the new way to be able to mitigate uh conditions that building a house in a new house in this town would help mitigate uh issues that that house causes for our existing residents. I don't know of another way we can do it without this. And yes, I think it could work both ways on the cost of the house. If this see if this cost is uh $100 a month and they can't afford it, does he lower the price of the house so they can afford it for $4,000 a month? Say if it's $4,000 a month, you lower the price so it's 3,900 plus the tax or is what the market bears. You know, it's really a market uh based thing. Whatever the market demands, that's the price the developer is going to pay. Yes, it can help the developer because he can get monies to do things. He still has to pay for everything, but he, you know, but who's going to benefit if that's built first? It's us. Yeah, the developer still has to pay everything and pay for all his his doings. But I think outside and our existing residents will probably benefit the most by doing something like that. That's my personal opinion on it.

Yeah, I I do see how there are benefits from it. I just we have a big issue with affordable housing and doing things like this that I don't unless we we do this in a way that we can really see on paper that that this is affect the the price of the houses are not exactly the same plus an extra property tax so it's going to cost people more money. Like I just I I like having the option. I'm not saying I I I think that we should definitely have the option, but if we decide to flex this muscle in the future, we need to make sure that we're really clear on how how the developer is passing these costs along. That's very good. And passing the savings passing the savings along and like you said, this just gives us the opportunity to do it. We still have to do it and still have to prove it up here.

Yeah. Yeah, and I don't want to speak out of turn, but I would say that one of the things it does is it gives you it gives you a tool to go and sit down and talk with developers when development is coming in and negotiate these things. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good point.

And at the sorry at the and I think the also what it also does is it incentivizes the developer to also have those conversations with us on what can be financed through the through the bond proceeds. Um, and it it it doesn't necessarily mean we have to go with it. It just gives them the option to do it. At the end of the day, the city is controlling what is going to be financed. We're the ultimate say we're going to be the one saying yes, you you can finance this. So, it's an option that we can have. And in my pri prior jurisdictions, I had six different contracts to do this this work

with six different firms. one was the bond counsel, one was the the person putting it on the tax role, one was um the finance adi financial adviser. And so this way it it takes the city again away from the from having that tax on the on the property. Um in my prior jurisdiction, there was adjustments in market. There was those that had valerus and those that didn't. But development is very um can be very in um what is the the word? Um when the market crashed um they were paying off those those malarus and and and lowering their prices and and by not having the malerus they were you know selling their properties a little better. And so it's it's just a give and take I think but it having the option to do this here I'm very surprised we don't have that option. we didn't have that option and having worked with um the attorney um that's part of the program and Goodwin Consulting that's also part of the program and my prior jurisdictions um I I know they're a really good team and and for them to come up with this in 2018 and be able to have it to the point where they have it now um we all were kind of asking for it.

Yeah. When I was appointed I asked if we'd ever done Melou because I like the idea of it. I saw what Tracy did 25 years ago with their Melus and it's a great way to to fund projects in the community. I just want to make sure that the right people are benefiting from it. That that's my only concern. So, I just want if I I'm for this. Um, I think it's a great idea, but the first time we actually do this and flex this, I want to make sure that we have it really we have it really tight and we're we're doing it right and we're making sure that the it's not just the same home prices plus an extra tax and the developer walks away with all the benefits. So, that's all I want to say.

Yeah, I'd agree with with what Evan's saying. So, basically, this is no cost to us if we approve it. But then once the development's going to come in and then it comes to us again for each one if we're gonna, you know, want to approve this to to use and like you're saying, but we have to basically be on board with it or whichever council's up here. So we're not locked into anything. It's just available to us if we approve today basically. Correct. Yes, it's available. Just to be extra clear because this was asked of me. I reached out and asked for some opinions and residents were concerned that it might affect people that already own homes or already here. Just to be super clear, this does not affect anybody that has already purchased property or this.

It will not affect anybody with any existing customers. Right. And it's completely voluntary by development. They're not forced. Developers are not for forced to join the program. It's completely voluntary. No cost to the city. So again, it's just a tool that we're able to use. It's great to have options and for new development. Correct. So just right what he said as well. I'm in my existing home. I don't have this, but I'm going to sell and the person buying is not going to get this thrown on top. It doesn't work that way. Correct. Yeah. To make sure just so everybody understands. That's all I'm saying. Something here.

Yes. Uh, Council Member Sanders, I I agree with you. Staff had more than one conversation specifically about that topic that you uh brought up about the price remaining the same and it being a benefit. And so we will definitely be cognizant of that as we move forward because that was a a concern that staff had for sure. Okay, any other questions, comments? Uh I'm sorry, closed public hearing. Sorry, but you can ask this gentleman right here afterwards. Sorry. Uh okay. So before us we have resolution 7002.

Yeah. I'd like to make a motion to approve uh resolution 7002 as read by title. I'll second. Here we have a motion and second for resolution 7002 as stated. Any questions or comments? All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Eyes have it. Now we have city resolution number 703. I'll make a motion to approve motion resolution 7003 as read by title. Second.

A motion and second for resolution 7003. Any further questions or comments by the council? I'd hear any. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed eyes have Thank you. Thank you very much, sir.

Okay. Actually, next item is item nine, consideration of approval of the city council resolution number 7004, approving the award of contract to swing swinger 10 builders and the Taylor Group architect for the Las Civic Center project in amount not to exceed $7.8 million and finding the project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act or SQA. With this, we'll go to Stacia, Community Economic Development Director, Susa Elms.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and City Council. Um, the Civic Center project, just a project overview. Uh, this project is a comprehensive renovation of the former police annex right across the street um from city hall into a development services center, a one-stop shop for all development. Uh it will also be for the reuse of the old police station properties based on a feasibility study and then future direction that will be given from the city council. It'll include the modernization of city hall workspaces, cubicles, and electrical systems. It'll be essentially a a cosmetic uh tenant improvement of city hall interior um update. And then it will the end goal will be to improve customer service efficiency and interdep departmental collaboration. So community engagement um uh quite a bit of community engagement was um incorporated and thought through uh with this project. Uh we hosted a community workshop on July 8th and took copious notes and received community input um from about the 24 uh residents that were in attendance. We also conducted a social media poll for about 2 weeks um on Instagram and received over 250 responses. And we did receive city council direction on August 6th. Uh and that direction was to conduct a feasibility study on the old police department properties and uh based on the findings of that feasibility study to bring that back to the city council for direction on what to do with the um old police department properties. But the other two projects

being the development services center and city hall um interior renovations uh we received direction to move forward. So the procurement process um that really kicked off this process uh city staff issued a request for qualifications an RFQ on July 30th, 2025. And what we did was we utilized a two-part qualification selection process that's consistent with the progressive design build procurement. Uh this is provided in the California government code and the public contract code. We received three statements of qualifications SOQ's uh by our deadline which was on September 4th. Uh we received uh SOQ from DAD construction, Fortune Ratliff general contractors and Paul Halagian architects and Swintton Builders and the Taylor Group architects. Um then we evaluated all of the submitts that we received. Uh we created an evaluation panel. It consisted of six staff members um from various departments. We had the finance department. We had our finance director uh Minnie Mareno and our finance manager Sarah Rosco. Um from community and economic development d department uh myself I was represented from our public works department. We had our interim public works director Joeim. Um and uh we had Mariah Martinez uh representing the engineering division. Um and then from the fire department we had our fire chief Paul Tala as a part of the evaluation team. Uh the evaluation criteria consisted of team structure and key personnel, progressive design build experience, safety and litigation history,

understanding of the city's vision, uh relevant project experience, project management and communication, and then budget and capacity. Then the selection process based on scoring that the evaluation panel um provided as as a team um the top two teams that scored the highest advanced to the confidential interviews with the evaluation panel. So those top two teams were the Fortune Ratliff Paul Halagian architects and then Swertton uh and the Taylor Group architects. Both teams submitted a postin project and an understanding summary from um that confidential interview process and then based on the scoring from the SOQs, the confidential interviews and the project understanding recaps uh staff recommended moving forward with the Swton and the tailored group. Um uh and that was based on their strong technical experience, their collaborative design philosophy and the successful track record with the police station project which they were the general contractor. Swindon um builders was the general contractor for the police department and the Taylor group um was also um the bridging architect uh that helped design that project. They also uh Swintton uh built the courthouse next to the police department and they've been involved in other projects within the community. Uh the progressive design build method is um uh what we used um we used a similar process um in the building of the police department and taking from our experience through building the police department. um we really wanted

to to have that method um also used for this project um because we enjoyed the outcome of it and how um easy it was to go through. So it integrates design and construction under one contract. So you're not dealing separately with an architect and a general contractor. You're dealing with the team together. It promotes early collaboration between the city, the architect and the general contractor. And the key benefits are that it has cost control with a guaranteed maximum price. It reduces change orders. It has a faster delivery method and as a single point of accountability. So the project phases and schedule. It's going to be a two-part project a process. So two phases that will take about 20 months. The first phase is going to be preconstruction. Um, and this is really as it relates primarily to the police annex across the way because there's quite a bit of investigation and in assessments that we need to do to the building. We've done some preliminary assessments um and we've had a structural engineer go through the building and provide um some assessments, but additional further investigation needs to occur like the roof. We need to assess the status of the roof. We need to assess the status of the foundation. We need to do a geotechnical report. Um we need to assess the electrical and the plumbing. And a lot more technical assessment needs to happen with our architect um and general contractor that design team. We need to then create a program and a conceptual design. Um there will be some cost estimating and constructibility reviews. So that'll be a team collaborative process and then

we will develop the guaranteed maximum price um which which I'll get into with the fiscal um impact of the project in a couple of slides. And then phase two is the design build. This is the actual construction. Um and this will be the final design and permitting will be under this phase. It'll be the construction of the development services center. It'll be um some direction provided which we would get direction from the city council on the police station properties and that again is going to be based on that feasibility study and the outcome that happens there. It'll include the city hall modernization and then it'll be commissioning and close out. So final completion of total project um team qualifications builders have had over 135 years of experience in civic and public facilities. They have expertise in progressive design build delivery and they have recent municipal projects across the central valley and the Bay Area. And then the Taylor Group architects, they specialize in civic and educational design. They have experience in adaptive reuse and mid-century modern rehabilitation, which our building across the street, the former police annex, is a mid-century modern building. That's the architectural style. And they are based in Fresno emphasizing functional and aesthetic design. So environmental review uh this project is categorically exempt under SQA the California environmental quality act um under section 15301 in that it's existing facilities and also section 15302 and that it's the replacement or reconstruction of those facilities. The work would be limited to existing

developed city-owned sites and there would be no increase in operational capacity or use. The fiscal impact uh the not to exceed amount uh total project for the agreement with Swton and the Taylor Group agreement is $7.8 million. Uh there is a contingency of 200,000 which gives us a total budget of 8 million. Uh which the city council committed the project total budget in fiscal year 2025 2026 adopted budget of the general fund for the police annex renovation city hall improvements and the old police station properties. So, the civic center project, um, that's all been committed already, that $8 million within this current year's fiscal budget. So, staff is recommending, uh, that the city council would adopt resolution number 7004 authorizing the interim city manager to execute the agreement with Swton and the Taylor Group Architects for Progressive Design Build Services. And that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions as well. We have uh representatives from Vanner um which is our construction management um team that we work with helped us through this process. Um and a representative um Brenda Gary from Swerton Builders.

Talk a little bit about what it does for capacity the next 20 years with city hall. So for city hall, uh we're essentially going to be moving um half of city hall into another building. Um so it is going to increase capacity at city hall um by moving those departments out so that finance, human resources, and the city clerk's office, which are separate departments, have room for growth. right now they're all compacted into one half of city hall where development building and planning community and economic development were all we're on the other side of city hall. Um so by freeing up that space that allows for um and the vision is that human resources and city clerk would be able to move over to the other side where development was development services were and to be able to have growth there. Um, and then the finance department would be able to utilize their whole half of city hall and really plan for future growth. Um, as the community continues to grow, um, and we provide services and folks need to pay their utility bills that we would have the proper capacity to be able to to to sustain that. Yeah, I think that's really important because just to try to expand city hall without doing this would cost a lot more money. You'd almost have to build another city hall. So,

absolutely. Yes, you're going to be able to double um really what those teams are able to do, those departments. And in addition, we're going to be expanding the future capacity for development services. we're going to be a lot more efficient and collaborative and being under one roof. Right now, we're sending developers and citizens just needing a a regular building permit. We're sending them all over town to the public works department or to the fire department to get answers and get various permits. If it's an encroachment permit or maybe it's a fire sprinkler permit, you know, they're they're being tossed around um because we're not under one roof. and be able to collaborate together with the engineering division with planning from the be beginning and then with public works and our public works inspectors and our building inspectors that follow those projects to the very end. Um it's really going to make us a much more efficient operation,

efficiency and coordination. Let's see. Any questions for staff? This is also excuse me this is also um renovating current city hall, right? Not just what's across the street.

Yes, exactly. So, moving the development services folks, planning and building out, like I said, would um be able to expand capacity for human resources and finance and admin. Um, and that will include a um a cosmetic upgrade to the internals of city hall with new carpet, new paint, new electrical, new cubicles. Um, it'll be a lot more modern and efficient here as well in this building. You mean we won't be tripping over the carpet anymore, right? With Yep. Any other questions, Con? Yes. This has the police station on there as well, but it talks about assessing the police station. Is an actual build included in this or is it just

um It will determine what that feasibility study uh determines and then the path that the city council provides forward. um whatever direction that could potentially be included. Um but we won't quite know until we determine the feasibility and then what path the city council would want us to take. You mentioned that the police station used the same progressive design. It's interesting concept to me like approving $8 million for a project when we don't even have a design for it. What did we learn from the police station from that design process? What did you guys learn that you might bring into this one? I know I've heard that there's some stuff about police station that isn't ideal. Um, so are there lessons learned that we could take forward to make sure that we do this maybe a little better?

I think Gary will answer that. I think Yeah, we have an expert. Yeah.

Yeah, definitely some takeaways from the build of the new facility. It's beautiful, but there's always things that you can improve upon. Um, some of our weather issues that we deal with, some of the rain um gets into some of our entryways. We have been working on that. My last report from the last rain that we received from the chief is that we had one very small leak. Uh but things like that, the construction side of it are important. The difficulty is even as and I thought we went through the planning portion of the police department for months and we thought we had I mean we were down to the um location of different outlets and different plugins for HDMI and cables and telephone and you get there and you build it and you don't realize because it's not it's not exactly from paper to uh the actual construction of it. you're always gonna have some changes and minor um

I've walked through the police station and I see stuff from my perspective of being in tech for so many years. I'm like I don't know why they did that.

So I get that. Um what what are we going to do to make sure that the public has input on this because this is going to look this is downtown like this is a big part of our town. So making sure that we do I know we did some public input but having a design phase as part of this after we approve the $8 million. What is what does this look like tonight? So, this approving tonight allows us to just start that design process with the contractor that we've um selected through that process that Stacy went through. This is just the very first step of that process. As we get into the design, we will interview staff from all of the different departments that are affected by this move. Public works staff at the Madison Yard have no room for growth. You all approve additional bodies there. We need to get them out of that space at the Madison yard so that we can move in some more bodies there. So, as we go through an internal process where we're going to start to ask all the staff what they want, what they'd like to see, how they'd like efficiencies in their workspace, after we get that, we start to work on a the mold of that design with our architect and our our contractor, we tape those things back to the public and say, "Hey, this is where we're at. This is where we're going. We're going to explain that process to them just like we did at the police department. We had outreach meetings at the community center for the police department where we talked about the design, why we were going in the direction that we did. U and then we just keep we go back and forth and back and forth. And it's a it's a learning process as we go. It's a living document. It's a living process as we get through this project and hopefully come up with something that's really good for the entire community when we're all done with it. I hope that answers your question.

It does. Thank you. Have you ever built anything that comes in under like and say, "Oh, I got a million dollars left over. We can move it over here." No, because I was just curious. Maybe this time. I was Brenda's shaking her head. She's saying, "Yes, we're going to do it this time. This will be the project." We include a splash pad. Maybe.

Yeah. Well, I'm really glad that Swingington and the Taylor Group uh I'm very impressed with the city with the police department and uh has done well. I like the project and I like putting everything together that's been explained. I think that's really the way of the future. So, thank you. And with that, I'll I'll uh like to see a motion here. Entertain a motion. What's the number again? Uh 7004. I'll make a motion to adopt resolution 7004. Second.

Okay, we have a resolution. A motion to adopt resolution 7004 as stated and we do have a second. Any further questions or comments from the council?

All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Eyes have it. Thank you. Thank you very much. So item 10, consideration approval of city council resolution 7005 awarding the construction contract for the basin and storm water capture project to Archer Civil Construction LLC in the amount of 2,199,376.75 and authorizing the interim city manager to execute the agreement and issue the notice of award and amending the fiscal year 2025 2026 budget. to recognize additional grant revenues in the amount of $525,000. And with this, we'll go to our acting public works director in our parks and recreation director, Joe. Joe. Thank you. Good evening, uh, mayor and council members. Uh, hopefully my last public works, uh, item presentation as acting public director. So, uh, tonight is, uh, a notice of award for the basin and storm water capture project. hoping that the mouse still works. Y

as I mess it up. Um so this project is a partnership with the city of Los Banos and Grasslands Water District. Um it's uh uh via grant uh through the state and the Dell uh Puerto Water District. Um some history on May 21st, 2025, uh city council approved with grassland district for cooperation um on the effort to implement this project. And the project itself formally dates back to July 5th, 2023 with anou approved by city council to proceed um with exploring the benefits of constructing the detention and recharge basin at this location. Uh the property was also approved for annexation on February 19th by um city council of this year 2025. Um this is it's designed to enhance groundwater recharge, improve our storm water system uh performance and support long-term water sustainability goals. Uh the project is located on city-owned property near Henry Miller Avenue and S Santa Fe grade. Um it's a key state uh step towards uh meeting our state um groundwater mandates while also improving our local flood uh control capacity. Looking at the project itself, um it's going to construct uh three recharge basins totaling 185 acres um and along with the infrastructure needed to control um the movement of that water. The key features include a 24-in turnout from the St. Louis Canal, two concrete inner basin structures to balance flows, and a 60-in outlet stand pipe equipped with a 30-in flow meter uh for accurate discharge measurement. Um these basins will help us uh reduce downstream impacts uh increase storm water cap capture and create future flexibility for recharge um or supplemental supply storage. Um looking at the budget and the fiscal impact um the total project we're estimating about 2.75 million. You can um see the the breakdown there. We have the base contract with in this case Archer Civil Construction LLC um at just

about 2.2 million. Um we also have a 15% contingency for unforeseen conditions um as well as uh funding for construction support and testing. Uh the funding comes from the wastewater collections capital fund. Uh and you can see the the breakdown there uh in terms of the line item. Um and this project also benefits from a $1 million grant uh prop 68 grant um through the partnership with grasslands and again through the deluto uh water district. Uh it's a part of a larger grant um regionally. Um so that $1 million will be reimburseable um as part of this project. So um as part of that we need to both um look at the expenses which again we're looking at about 2.75 million for expenses and then the um we're also uh requesting a revenue amendment um of increase of 525,000 and the reason for that is because we had um put into the budget into the fisc year 2526 uh bud budget we had appropriated uh the 475 uh,000 and we need to go up to the 1 million. The reason for that is because we thought we were going to have um some reimburseables collected before June 30th, 2025. Um that was not the case because the state um requested that this this um project be um passed the notice of award phase in order to collect on that. So um there's some um reimburseable uh project uh uh elements from a previous project that's associated with this project that um we'll be able to reimburse and get back on track. But the the end of the story is that the um we will um bring our um revenue account up to 1 million in order to account for the extra revenue that will be coming into that account. And again, the project itself is a 2.75 uh million dollar project, 2 just about 2.2 million um for the uh award on the base contract to uh Archer Civil. Um with uh with council approval tonight, the city will issue the notice of award and authorize the interim city manager to

execute the agreement with Archer Civil Construction LLC. Um construction is anticipated to begin this fall with uh completion expected uh by April 2026. U this project will play a major role in improving the city's storm water management and advancing our long-term groundwater recharge strategy. Um there is a phase two to this project that will um be a separate design and and and release for a bit uh most likely in the summer of 2026. Um and that includes the installation of pumps on this site. Um and I would just add uh to my comments that um I think we had 15 biders on this project which is the most that I've um ever come across personally in terms of public works or parks projects. So very happy to see um the competitive bidding for this project and I'm available for questions. Thank you. Okay, any questions for Joe?

My other question is 15 bids and one of them was like three times what this one is. Did they all get the same proposal? It all depends if you if you notice there's different locations. Uh different companies are in different positions to mobilize. Um they may have also just gotten different estimates. Uh it's uh we'll get a wide variety on different projects, but especially if there's 15, you're you're bound to get some. Yeah, but we're confident that this is not going to have overruns and changes and all that stuff, right?

So, we have appropriate in the budget 3 million. Um, like I said, going back to the fiscal um budget, um, we're only estimated this at 2.75 million. So, there is extra funding appropriated in the budget, but again, we ant we we built in the 15% contingency. Um, which in the case of a multi-million dollar project is, you know, 329,000. So that that that builds in a lot of space for unforeseen um activities out there. There's this project will include some SQL elements um that will do for environmental analysis. Um you never know what can pop up when when you go through that process and that's probably one item that I keep my eye on. But short of that um uh you know I think that's going to be a fair amount of contingency for this project.

Only comment I have is we need another one of these on the west side. That'll be the next guy. So, yes. Okay. With that, we have before us city council resolution number 7005. I'll entertain a motion. I'll make a motion to approve resolution 75. I have a second. Yeah, I'll second that.

Okay. We have a motion for uh resolution 7005 as stated in the agenda. Any further questions or comments from the council? All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Eyes have it. Motion carried. Thank you, Joe. Item 11, consideration of approval of city council resolution number 7006, ratifying the city manager's approval of the employment agreement with the public works director, William V. So with that, we'll go to our interim city manager, Gary Breezy.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council, uh, staff, and the community. I'm pleased tonight to present this item. Uh before you you have a request to approve an employment agreement with William Vi, the successful candidate for a public works director position. I'm very pleased to say that William is a Los Banis native. He's called Los Bannis home since the 1970s and he is a proud graduate of the Losanis High School class of 1985. Further, William is a past president and secretary for the Friends of the Losanis Library. William is a veteran serving in the United States Navy between 1986 and 1989. After the military, he worked in the private industry, including owning his own business and as a maintenance worker for CCID. In 2017, he was hired by the city of Lasanis as a streets division foreman where he managed a number of streets division activities for our city. maintenance and repair of sidewalks, streets, street lights, pavement, street markings, coding invoices, budgeting and procurement of goods, as well as many other street related duties, including the supervision supervision of streets division employees. In 2018, he was promoted to public works operations manager where he supervised the operations and employees of several divisions within the public works department, including wastewater treatment, drinking water, utilities, streets, solid waste, airport, and the fleet. William developed yearly budgets for each of these divisions. He participated in labor negotiations, managed the public works budget, and was the project manager for various public works related projects. In 2022, William left the city of Los Banis and was hired by the city of Hollister as their public works director where he currently manages a

very similar public works operation. William brings the experience as a current public works director as well as the knowledge of our systems, our history, and our programs as both a former employee for the city of Lasanis and a lifelong resident of our community. Educationally, William has obtained a jurist master's degree in American legal studies from the Liberty University in Virginia. He also has a master of arts degree in public administration from Norwich University as well as a bachelor's degree in public administration from Southern New Hampshire University. A summary of his agreement language is as follows. The effective date of the agreement or his first day on the job will be Monday, October 27th. His base salary will be $224,000 a year or $18,667 per month. medical, dental, vision, life insurance packages similar to those other exempt management employees hired after April 1st, 2010. Retirement, we will contribute a percentage of employees reportable wage to PERS for the plan he is eligible for retiree health. When eligible, the city will provide access to medical insurance for those employees who retire as defined by PEMPA and consistent with city policy. He will be entitled to accumulate vacation and sick leave, acrewing up to 120 hours of annual vacation at 10 hours per month. He'll be front-loaded 24 hours of both sick and vacation time upon his start date. Administrative leave. As with other department heads, he has access to 12 work days off per year. He will be prrated based on his hire date. As the public works director, William will be

responsible to plan, organize, direct, review the activities of and operations of the public works department, including drinking water, wastewater, fleet, airport, street, solid waste, and to coordinate assigned activities with other departments and outside agencies to provide highly responsible and complex administrative support to the city manager. In other words, the train is going down the road at 100 miles an hour down the track, and we're going to require William to jump on as quickly as he can and get up to speed and moving forward as quickly as we can. Right, Joe?

Yes. Really happy to to actually provide this um staff report to you. So, that concludes my presentate my presentation. Mayor William is with us tonight with his wife. If you have any questions of either him or I, my recommendation is to approve this contract as identified in this item's staff report.

I don't have any questions for William. William, we're very excited that and welcome you back to the city of Laspass. We're really glad you're coming back home. Um, I think where you belong and looking forward to working with you. I know council has any comments. Um, the only comment I have is the timing is weird here because we have a city manager starting who used to be the public works director in what, two weeks. So, I assume I assume based on the history here that they know each other and everybody's all fun, it's all good. Yes.

Okay. All right. So long as everybody's on board, we're not going to have some kind of strange thing going on in a couple weeks here. I'm good. We'll be sure to cover that next. I would hope so. I I had to assume that you did, but that's why that's why we have a gav. Welcome, Bill. You got a lot of work in front of you. Got a lot of work to do. Okay, with that, I'll entertain a motion for resolution number 7006. Yeah, I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution 7006 is read by title. Second.

Okay. Motion and second for resolution 7006 as stated. Any further questions or comments? All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed? Eyes have it. Welcome aboard, Bill.

Okay. Okay. Item 12, consideration approval of ordinance number 1210, amending chapter 16 of the title 3 of the Laspanis Municipal Code relating to contracting for public works projects, uniform public construction cost accounting act. This would be the second reading and this would be the adoption of this. And let's see, who am I going to? I'm going Joe. Back to you. Dang it. Uh, yes. Um, but I think Mr. Vaughn had taken it last night. Bills, you know, either way, he's pointing to you, Bill. I'll take

So, I have the pleasure of uh presenting this item that I know you've all been waiting for um tonight. This is the second reading and adoption of ordinance number 1210. The first reading and introduction was at your last city council meeting. Your staff report sets forth all of the pertinent information, but I'll summarize that for you. Uh AB292 was signed into law back in late 2024, and AB2192 made changes to the Uniform Public Construction Costing Act, which the city follows in the administration of all of its public projects. Um the main changes made by AB 2192 um are the bidding thresholds for all of our public projects um at three levels. The force account level, informal bidding count level, a formal bidding level, and the formal bidding level. The city follows this through its municipal code and these thresholds have been changed by AB 2192. I think we discussed those actual changes last time. It actually increases each of those thresholds and what that means is there are certain threshold where we can do public projects through a forced account. There are c certain threshold that we can do through informal bidding and then the final threshold being formal bidding for all of our public works projects. Um the purpose of this ordinance amendment is to amend our mun code to reflect the changes in AB 2192 that were made to the uh uniform public cost construction I always get this wrong. Uniform Public Construction Costing Act and so that

we're in compliance with and consistent with uh that act. Um the recommendation is to by motion wave the second reading and then by second motion to adopt the ordinance as read by title and I'm can answer any of your questions that you might have. Any further questions for Bill? Then I'll entertain a motion to wave the second reading of ordinance number 1210. I'll make a motion to wave the second reading of ordinance 1210. Right by t. Second that.

Motion a second to wave the second reading of ordinance 1210 as stated. Any further questions or comments? All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Eyes have it. Now a motion to adopt ordinance number 1210. Yeah, I'd like to make a motion to adopt ordinance 1210 as read by title. Second. Motion and second to adopt ordinance number 1210. It is an ordinance, so we need a roll call vote, please. Perez, yes. Sanders, yes. Chavez, yes. Lewis, Amil, yes.

Thank you very much, everyone. And with that, we will go to our city department's reports and we'll go start off with community economic development director Stacy Soua Elms. Stacy,

thank you again, Mr. Mayor. Um, so we will be holding a public hearing on October 22nd at 6 p.m. uh with the planning commission and this will be for the housing element update. This is for the sixth cycle update. This is for 2024 through 2032. Um, as you may recall, uh, the city of Laspanis, we are within a multi-jurisdictional housing element update with the rest of the jurisdictions in Merced County. Um, and then we will also, um, be including um an overlay district for our regional housing needs allocation. Uh, this will be within our zoning ordinance of the Lasus Municipal Code. And this is to implement the housing element and to ensure compliance with state law. That concludes my report.

Okay. Thank you very much. Finance Director Minnie Moreno.

Good evening, Mayor, Council members. Um, I just wanted to update. Um, I went to the League of California Cities conference last week and it was a really good conference. A lot of networking with other mayors and city council members, city managers, finance directors. Um there was over 2,000 in attendance in Long Beach and um there was really good sessions on AI, uh really good sessions on homeless, really good sessions on general plan and so um a very engaging um and the one of the keynote speakers was um Aaron Brock and so um

ask any questions. We couldn't ask any questions, but um but it was more of a motivational speech than than a chromium 6, but I thought that was pretty interesting. Yeah, that is it. That's all I have to report. Thank you, Fire Department Chief Paul Dwala.

Good evening, everyone. Uh a couple things. Um one, we just had our pancake breakfast last weekend and thank you, Council Member Sanders, for for attending. Uh we had about about 100 folks. It was a good just PR event just to get with the community. we were able to meet uh a lot of folks. So, it was very nice. Um we are currently doing our volunteer firefighter recruiting. We're going to have anformational day on the 25th uh just to kind of highlight the program because it's a two-tiered program. We have a support role volunteer. We also have an active firefighting and EMS uh volunteer role that we're doing. So the support role could be someone that wants to come in and help with rehabilitation things around the station. Uh and then our active firefighting role will be uh focusing on fire and EMS uh related tasks uh to help support fire department operations. Uh we have uh last week I attended the board of supervisors meeting regards to the EMS contract. So AMR was awarded the Merced County EMS contract uh which is going to be a it's going to be a good thing. So, we have uh some upcoming meetings uh with next week actually with their management staff to kind of discuss EMS within Merced County and things that uh they can assist us with. So,

I see you spoke at that too. I did. I did. Yeah. I'm I'm in support of of providing a better service to our community and this is very happy to see this uh coming forward. So, this will be good. And you will see within the next two weeks, you will see our big ladder truck out and about. We're going to we finally got all of our equipment in. So, we are able to start our truck training. So, you'll see the big ladder truck out and about u and actually uh get our folks trained uh in aerial operations and and operating that uh larger fire truck within the city. So, and that's all I have.

Good. Thanks, Chief. Human Resources Director Lucy, you have anything? Thank you, Lucy. Parks and Rec Director Joe. Joe,

hi. Good evening. Um, so one of my well my I will say my favorite event of the year is coming up. Uh, Halloween Fest on um October 25th. Uh, it'll be from 4 to 8:30 over at the A Sports Complex and uh lots and lots pumpkin painting and crafts and a maze and and all sorts of stuff. So um really encourage everybody to go to that. Um we this year we're getting some support from the school district to provide shuttles to it. Um they're bational group through them. So um I know parking is always an issue which is a a good problem to have because that means a lot of people go but this year we'll have that support. Um we're still um refining the locations but we believe high school will be at least one of the locations um for that. Um speaking of a sports complex if you make it out there there's the two construction projects going on. Um so you can see the new playground. The new netting is also um just about up and ready to go. Um if you take take a drive out there, you can see that progress or if you just come out to that event, you can see it. Um Shaughnessy Village is also uh uh continuing on its progress and you can kind of see the grass coming in the basin and the playground and picnic tables um will be um getting installed very shortly. Um also pleased to to see the uh uh grant for the canal trail. Um obviously we we want to continue to to look at other amenities as well, but uh um definitely very grateful for their support. Um this is the second time we've gotten that grant from um that agency uh Sanwaqin um river uh exch water authority exchange contractors u and I very much just appreciate their support uh of our projects. Um shifting over to the public work side um uh you'll start to see some internal overlays of particularly courts. Um and so I think you've seen uh some Facebook uh photos of of some of the work that I'll be continuing this fall. Um you also see a video from imagine way more on um uh speed bumps and our streets foreman presenting that. Um this Friday in a couple days we'll be celebrating the treatment plant solar um

uh project that went out there with partnership with Peninsula Clean Energy. Um we hosted the community center back I think in March. Um and so it's very um good to see that the um treatment plant also coming on board. Those two projects um have been a number of years uh in the in the works and um obviously saves the money saves the city a lot of money. Um also just because this is my last public works uh update uh William uh I wanted to provide an update on the Deansza way opening. So we we are um in design for that. Um uh right now we have a timeline and I know it sounds far out but we have a timeline of fall 2026 December 2027 for that construction to be complete. um that may be expedited by by CALR and by review process. Um I suspect that William and and the next city manager will be in communication with them. Um, we wanted to provide as realistic a timeline as possible for that. But I just wanted to to leave that um because I know uh interim city manager really had that as a the project that he was passionate about getting um moved along as best as possible and and I know um just having worked with the Shaughnessy project with the park side um just how much those residents um both have been passionate about getting it open. Again, I'll just say it just like the honesty. They've been very courteous with with me and um wish we could wave a wand and and get it open, but I just wanted to provide that update. And then just lastly, just wanted to thank um just because this is my will be my last uh couple weeks here as public works. Uh I just wanted to thank all of our consultants, um Calrans, MCG, um our staff. Um you know, I'm coming from the parks and rec side and this is not my forte or my background and I just really appreciate um how they've educated me and welcomed me on that side of things. It's been very um uh helpful to me. So, thank you.

Great. Thanks, Joe. Um yes, I think the Peninsula Clean Energy is going to save the city another $380,000. So, that's that is really good. Okay. Uh with that, so let's go our police chief Ray Rea.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of council. Uh a few things. So, um, as you know, we had a shooting last week. Um, just you'll be happy to know we have all three in custody. We have the suspect vehicle. Um, this is something, um, violent crime shootings in Los Panos that we've committed to working on. So, as an example, uh, between 2023 to 2024, uh, we reduced these types of cases by about 22%. um the first actually year to date where we are now compared to where we are last year about another 50%. That being said, we had one last week. Um and it's only due to the hard work of the men and women of the police department um who worked uh day and night all weekend and um we were able to bring this case to a close. So, my hat goes off once again to the staff uh who make all the difference and who understand um that we really want Los Bounds to be completely different, very safe, and someplace where people are happy to raise their families. Um, tomorrow, uh, Commander Eddie Drum and I will be attending the Delta Academy graduation where we will be swearing in a new police officer, bringing him home to Los Panos, and, uh, I will be sure to bring him to the council meeting so that you all can meet him. Um, as you can see, the citizen academy, the Spanish citizen academy is well underway. Uh, they only have a couple classes left. This is the first Spanish citizen academy that we've um, we've provided. We've done others in English before and they've all been very successful. But this is the first one we've done in Spanish and uh I will be giving you some uh shelter stats tomorrow putting the final touches on them. You're going to like them. Um but that's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you, Chief. And good job to you and your your department, all your officers. Okay, with that we'll go to our interim city manager, Gary Breezy.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Uh, first of all, thank you um for to the staff for all the things that you guys do. Every every two weeks we come up here and you guys say all the things you say. That's just the tip of the iceberg. You guys do a ton of work and I want to say thank you all for the hard work that you do every day, day in and day out. Congratulations, William. Look forward to seeing you on the 27th. Congratulations, Joe. Uh Joe sits back and he has been a rock star for this city. He has not complained a single bit about the additional duties that he has taken on. Uh the people around the table at the at the department head level have all helped. But that guy has gone above and beyond all of our even reasonable uh assumptions of the things that he'd get accomplished. He doesn't complain about anything. You see emails from him day and night, weekend, it doesn't matter. He is there working on projects. he hasn't slowed public works down at all in his uh four or five months of doing the job. So, I just want to say thanks Joe. It you've really been a um pleasant individual to work with considering the stress having Leo at home and and mama and all the things that you've been doing since May when you took over. Congratulations on a job. Absolutely well done, Joe. You you deserve all that. Uh, thank you for saying that about Deansza. I I think we may have bridged a part of a funding gap on that project. I won't say more than that. Uh, because Joe was been working very hard on that, but we're looking forward to some work with Danza the day that it was submitted. We had sent an email up to the CALR staff begging and pleading with them to expedite the 30% review so we can get that back sooner than March. Uh, I anticipate that we will. Um, but I

appreciate Joe's reasonable timeline. So, but we're definitely working on it. It's I could I could talk for another 20 minutes about Danza, but uh we're getting it getting it moving and getting it done. We talked uh at the public farm about some staffing issues. Uh we totally understand the staffing issues that we have citywide. Uh this fisc year budget, you as a city council approved 19 additional employees citywide. That's a tremendous increase in staffing for all of our departments because they all need help. That included five at the police department, a sergeant, two police officers, a records manager, and a maintenance worker. That included two battalion chiefs at the fire department, and amongst the other 12 individuals that we hired. So, I understand that we're not um to where we should be based on the MSR, but it's not lost on any of us up here uh the need for the employees, but it's a balancing act every day, every budget cycle to manage our dollars responsibly, but we're trying to do everything we can to provide men and women below here at the DIS all the technical expertise and the employees that they need to do the best job for this community. So, I just want to make sure that that is said because you all have worked very hard up here to make that happen. So, um I want to talk a little bit about chromium 6 because we had our second quarter testing. We had our first quarter testing in July. This is September 24th testing. Those results are in as anticipated. We were above the new lower maximum contaminant level of 10 parts per billion for our wells. And so that triggers a mandatory written notice to our utility payers that has gone out in our first utility payment or utility

cycle. Uh thank you many. Um that went out somewhere around the 5th. So you should be seeing those for those of you who get your utility bill this cycle. The second cycle will be later on this month around the 20th where you will receive that mandatory notification. We uh at the staff level talk about chromium 6 far too much. I talk about it up here far too much. But we do have some positive steps that we're making and I'm going to talk about those really quickly. First, the city completed its um actually I just talked about that one. Um it's important to note with that notice that you all are receiving that the state of California is not saying that our drinking water is not safe to drink. It is above the maximum contaminant level that they have adjusted down, but it's still safe to drink um in our community. They're not telling us to go to bottled water. They would tell us that if that were a necessity. Second, the city city submitted its required compliance plan as part of this process to the state division of drinking water in late September, like September 29th. Literally within two days, it was October 1st, received our we received our notification that our compliance plan had been approved. What does that mean? Our compliance plan included notification to our the state of California that our wells had been above the MCL and that as required. It included a proposed treatment to get that MCL maximum contaminant level back below the 10 parts per billion. In our case, we are going with a wellhead treatment. We have 13 wells around the city of Lasanis. We're working on well number 14 out by the west side of town out by the junior college where we are going to provide it's called reduction coagulation filtration. Uh that is the system that

we have chosen to go with for many reasons financially uh chemically uh engineering wise it seems to be the best fit for the community of Lasanis. They approved that plan and they gave us until December of 2030 to complete that project. I'm going to say that again. They approved the plan based on the 13 wellheads that we're going to be treating and they gave us until December, the end of the month in December of 2030. That's almost 5 years away, if not 5 years from today or yeah, a little bit over 5 years. That doesn't mean it's going to be an easy project for us to do. There are a lot of parts to this process. Uh we are currently in the pilot testing phase. Right now we have a vendor out at one of our well sites with a pilot testing product using that reduction coagulation filtration system as a proof of concept. It'll be there at one of our well sites for the next two to three weeks. After that it'll move to a secondary well site, one of the other 13 wells that we have in our community where it will complete that same process over again. It'll work the that RCF process for a matter of two to three weeks. We'll take all that water back to a testing facility and we're going to see how it goes. That's our proof of concept to make sure that the design we're working with for the state of California meets the need of reducing our maximum contaminant level back below 10 parts per billion. So once that's complete, uh after the wellhead treatment, uh pilot program is done, we go into a design phase. That's not easy. We have 13 unique wells that we're going to have to design a unique system for. Um we're going to have to select a vendor to do the work. We're going to have to design each of those different systems and then we're going to have to go out for construction. So it's going to take a lot of time. And finally, what's going to have to happen is we're

going to have to identify identify a funding source for all of that work. The project is not going to be cheap. Based on current engineering estimates, it's about $60 million. $60 million to treat our 13 wells. But given the time that we have that 5-year period in that compliance plan, we're definitely going to be looking at the staff level for different alternatives to solve this problem other than just that wellhead treatment. But that's the plan that we're moving forward with at the time right now. So, um there's a lot going on as it relates to chromium 6 behind the scenes, but we are moving ahead. We've been approved by the state with our plan. We've got the pilot testing going on and that will continue into the month of November until that's complete. We'll bring those test results back to you at some point at a future council meeting and we'll keep moving the ball down the field one play at a time, one yard at a time until we get to the end of the project. And I think that's all I have for tonight. Mr. Mayor, council members, thank you very much. I spoke a lot and uh if you have any questions about the Chromium 6 issue, I'm happy to answer them offline um whenever you need. Thank you.

Thank you, Gary. We'll move to a city council members report. We'll start off with council member from district 1, Mitsy Perez. Anything to report? Um just a quick reminder that we still have open positions for the city commissions. Um, I would like to see some more applications specifically for District 1 Planning Commission. Um, we still have until November 26, so you still have some time, but I would like to see some more applicants come in. And, um, the application is found on the city website. Great. Thank you very much. And, Council Member, District 2, Evans.

Uh, first, as usual, I want to thank staff. you guys do so much work um to get this stuff together on your you have daily jobs that I know you're really busy with and then you also have to create this and be here to answer all our questions. So just I really appreciate all the work that you guys do um with all of that. So beyond that I want to talk about a public engagement experiment that I did this week. Um, so after I received the the agenda on Friday, kind of broke it down and put some thoughts on it and then put it up on my Facebook page and shared it out um to see on Saturday morning to see if I could get some resident input about um thoughts anybody had about what's going on with with the agenda this week and just to give people an opportunity to speak up that may not want to come here and stand in front of the public and and talk because I get that that's not the funnest thing. Um, and it helps me because I mean a little peek under the skirts how this works is we get this binder every week. This is actually probably on the skinny side of average, but this is 251 pages of dense material that all of us have to we the first time I see this is Friday night. So I have until today to understand this to have questions that make sense. Um to ask staff for clarifications before we get here so it's not, you know, minutia. Um so it's really helpful to get a temperature on people in the community to know what their concerns are. Um, so I wanted to see if I could leverage some social media for that. So I want to thank everyone who responded. Um, I got some responses on the threads and the shares that I did. I got some direct messages. I even got some text messages u because my phone number is out there and I appreciate when people call me or text me about this stuff. Um, it was really helpful to prepare for this. Um, I want to acknowledge also something that I think is really important. Um, it takes real courage to come to a meeting like this and to stand at a podium and share your views. I feel that if anybody that does that deserves our undivided attention and our full respect. Uh I promise for myself if you come up here and talk I'm paying attention to what you say. I may look down and take a note but I am listening. Um I think it's

really important that we treat everybody who comes here to speak with respect. Um and I think everybody up here feels the same way. In the past, I have been to these meetings and I've watched on you on the the live stream and saw a lot of people on the deis that just appeared completely ambivalent to what was going on, staring, taking notes, you know, just not really paying attention. And I don't really feel that that's um the way that we should be behaving when people are coming here to speak with us. Um so, we can't respond to public comment. Sometimes I want to, but we just can't. Uh but if you keep an eye on my Facebook page, my social media, I may make some comments about stuff that happens in uh in public comments here. So with that in mind, um I just want to be really clear with everyone here and to everyone, all the residents of the city. I'm accessible to everybody that's in the city. I I'm not great at public speaking. It's probably one of my least favorite things. I'm getting better at it, but you often see me reading from notes because I tend to ramble a lot if I just speak off the cuff. Um, what I am good at and the kind of person that I think is best for this kind of job is somebody who who's willing to do the homework, get into the weeds and actively listen to what the residents of the city want. Um, I try to integrate that into questions that I ask up here at council meetings and also the questions that I ask staff behind the scenes. So, I have I have my business cards right here. I put some in the back. Also, my cell phone number is on there. My email's on there. Um, pick one up. Don't hesitate to contact me. Pick up a few. give them to people that you think might want to contact me, especially people in district two, but anybody in the city, not just in district two. My goal is to be as accessible as possible. Um, I want to be as well informed as possible what residents want in the city. Um, check my Facebook page. I'm going to I'm I'm going to be updating it a lot more. I kind of was got on my heels pretty quickly after being appointed to this because social media is not a very kind place a lot of the time and um I didn't it didn't make me feel good the stuff

that I saw. But I've worked through that and and this is what I'm going to do. this is, you know, I'm good at I'm good at interacting with people on social media and online. So, that's the way that I'm going to do this. Um, I will try to get an agenda breakdown up every Saturday morning so people have an opportunity to to comment to me and so they know that, you know, I will bring this to the they don't have to come here. If if I see a lot of of comments on things that people are are looking at, um, I will bring that to council for you. So, it's this has been a continuous learning process for me and I'm I'm really grateful to the people that have tried to help me along the way um and hold us accountable because that's how good government works. So, thank you. That's all I have.

Thank you, Evan. Council member District 3, Marcus Chavez.

Uh again, thanks to staff for everything that you guys do always. Sorry, my voice. I'm a little under the weather. Joe, again, thank you. You're always stepping up to the plate. Like I always said since I started, you're like the hardest working man in the city. Uh but thank you again for for what you do. And uh again, welcome, Bill. Welcome board. Um and you know, I want to say uh keep this short, Gary. You've been fantastic. I want to thank you for everything you've done for for the city and for helping us all out. Um you know, I'm not going to drag this. I know you hate this kind of stuff, but but thank you very much. Thank you. very much appreciated. And that's it for me. Okay. Thank you, Marcus. I just want to uh I'll start off by uh a comment on the bypass and our existing general plan. One of the issues. So, like I said at the last meeting, I worked 12 years on that bypass, getting it designed, getting it engineered, getting the environmental done, and uh it's up to, I don't know, $700 million bypass now. Calr said they're not going to do it. But here's the reason why it's being taken off the general plan. Probably the main reason is when you have a road like that, that's huge, it affects your traffic model throughout your whole city. And so when we're doing anything that general that bypass is sticking out there showing that this much traffic in the future is going to be gone. And I'm sort of bringing it down a little bit, but that's really a big part of it. So we need to remove things that aren't going to happen realistically, but also look at what is possible to happen in this city. And yes, we are working on the Pioneer Corridor. We have to work on in two north uh south

corridors. We have to work, you know, improving uh a northern east west corridor, too. We have to do a grid all the way around the city. We realize that. But that's probably one of the biggest It's not that we want to get rid of the general plan. Believe me, no one's worked harder on the general plan and that bypass than I did, and I it kills me to see it gone. But I just wanted to make that point. My next item is MCAG was canceled last month. I have a meeting tomorrow in Merced. Uh a couple weeks ago I visited the museum with Dan Nelson. He's cur curator there. Spoke with a group about the future of Lost Bandis and also about the history. It was was very nice. Uh if you haven't gone to the museum, uh you have to make time to visit it. It's Dan's doing and the volunteers are doing a fantastic job there. Uh this morning I recorded an interview on channel 47 CBS. It's going to be aired tomorrow about Lost Bannis. I talk about all of you. So, if you want to hear your name, no, it was real good. And they're actually I'm they're I'm encouraged them to expand that with all the all the cities, you know. Uh it just drives me crazy when Las is left out of the weather map. We're not even, you know, 50,000 people. We're not even on the weather map. And uh some stations do it, some don't. And so we have to be known and that's just we have to be heard not only through our community but through the valley. Uh and that's very important for working with our neighbors to get monies and to get things accomplished. Um and then let's see. I have a few things to say about I am going to apologize in advance Gary. I know you don't like to be singled out but I wrote something. So tonight marks Gary's Breezy's last

council meeting as interim city manager. This is the fourth time he has stepped up to lead our city and each time he's done it with a steady hand and a full heart. Gary has always done a fantastic job as our police chief and as our interim city manager. He cares deeply about this hometown, about his hometown, and about the employees who he keeps who keeps running this city. He's pragmatic, honest, and level-headed. One of the things I always admired about Gary is his patience. He doesn't make hasty decisions. He understands that every choice he makes can have lasting effects on our employees and our residents. Because of that, he he's careful, thoughtful, and always focused on what's best for our community. This particular time as intram city manager was especially challenging and especially important. He knew exactly what he was stepping into, and he still volunteered for the position. four bargaining unit uh units on the verge of striking, six lawsuits pending, city workforce missing, many many key people and key personnel. And that was only a small part of the hundreds of decisions that were waiting for him on his desk. Even with all those challenges in front of him, Gary never wavered. He filled uh crucial positions with the right people. He stabilized our operations and he brought calm and confidence back to our city hall. He led when the city needed him most and he helped this organization heal and I think that's the most important. This organization healed. Honestly, I do not know anyone else who could have done this job at this time this well. Gary, as your mayor and on

behalf of this city council and our city employees and residents of Lasanis, we sincerely thank you for your job well done. Thank you. So his is going to have big shoes to fill here, but this council will make sure they're filled right. So with that, we do appreciate everybody that spoke at our city meetings um as city public forum, I should say. Um, we appreciate everybody and everybody's opinion. Uh, and it's our job to make sure we do the best for the residents here. So, I thank everybody attending here tonight. Thank everybody at home. This meeting is adjourned.