City - Regular Meeting

Hey, thank you for joining us this evening. Uh before we call our meeting to order, if you could please stand and if I could have Mayor Prom give us the invitation, please. Father in heaven, we come to you once again gathered together for the business of our city. We give you praise, honor, and glory because you are deserving. And Father, I ask that you will uh touch our minds so that we will do the best that we can to make things good for the citizens of the city and uh conduct the business as we should. Uh give us unity in the things that we do. uh and give us grace in the things that we do and we give you praise, honor and glory in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. Like to call this meeting to order for December 3rd, 2025. And chief, if we could have the pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for its one, indivisible andice for all. [snorts] Okay, if we could have a roll call, please. Perez here. Sanders here. Chavez here. Lewis here. Amil I am here. First item is consideration of the approval of the agenda as submitted.

Do I have a motion? So [snorts] moved. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second to approve the agenda as submitted to the city council. Any questions or comments? Not hearing any. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Eyes have it. Now we have some presentations. I'd like to have the the council come down to the floor with me.

Me? Yeah. That's your presentation.

This is Rosemary. First of all, uh [snorts] you can see we're very festive this this a this uh evening. And Rosemary Sodto is our employee of the month. She's accountant too from Come forward me. Come. She's not here. She's not feeling well this evening, but she's accountant too in our finance department. I mean is our finance director of course and she's our employee of the month and this is in recognition of your her outstanding performance and dedication to services city of Lasanis and being named employee of the month for November 2025. And Rosemary does our decorations every year and she does a fantastic job. Puts us in the spirit. So, please make sure she has that.

Thank you. [applause] Well, Bill is has been uh our city attorney for 22 years and I remember you were like what 25 when you started. No gray hair. [laughter]

I had hair. He had no gray hair. It was a great time. But any we uh he's done so much for our city. He's been a a vital part of making this city run correctly and positively and in the right direction. Making sure we're staying out of trouble. That's what the lawyer does. Make sure the mayor sitting up there is is doing things right along with the city council. And the city council here is honored to be able to proclaim the recognition of retirement of William Avon. Whereas William Avon has faithfully provided the city attorney services to the city of Lasanis since May 21st, 2003. And whereas William Vaughn has made significant and lasting contributions to the city of Laseness through his knowledge, professionalism, and commitment to his role. And whereas William will retire from the city of Lasanis city attorney on December 15, 2025, concluding more than 22 years of service to the city of Lasanis. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that the mayor and the city council members the city of Lasanis do hereby commend William Avon on his dedication and loyalty to the city of Lasanis and congratulate him on his retirement. We can't thank you enough, Bill, for all the work you've done for the city, all our employees, our department heads. You've done a great job and we really appreciate it. CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] [applause] And if you serve the city for 20 years, you do get a retirement watch. And u this is quite this is really nice.

And so we're honored the city council and the city of Los Banis and the residents of Los Banis. Thank you for your dedication and congratulations, Bill. Thank you so much. APPRECIATE [applause] BILL. I haven't been here very long, but I want to say thank you very much. It's been a pleasure uh working with you. Um, I try I tried to get the Rolex, but Minnie just wouldn't let it happen. She was not with it. So, but anyways, congratulations.

Thank you. Yes. Um, I was on planning commission when Bill first started. We had a different city attorney at that time and so it was a a transition that I had to get used to because he was more on the quiet side. Um, but I want to thank you, Bill, for the years that you've served the city of Los Banos. Enjoy your retirement. enjoy your children and your grandchildren and relax and have fun. You're welcome. I also have not been here very long, but it's been, you know, great working with you so far and congratulations and thank you for serving this long.

I can honestly say you're the best city attorney I've ever [laughter] worked with. Thank you. But I thank you for your your guidance and support, mentorship, and as I try to figure this thing out that I've never done before. So I uh I appreciate it. CONGRATULATIONS. [applause]

YEAH, SURE.

So I definitely appreciate the kind words. I don't know where 23 years has gone, but it's gone fast. And yes, I remember Mrs. Lewis that first planning commission meeting I went to uh I was I don't think I knew very much but uh she helped me and it educated me as to what was going on in the planning world in Los Banos. Um, it's been my honor, uh, to have this job as city city attorney and it's really the highlight of my professional career and part of that is the people that I've met along the way, worked with side by side, the staff here in Losanos, the employees. Uh, that's the big part that I'm going to miss is the, uh, interaction with everybody uh, on staff. Um, however, to be honest, what I'm not going to miss are these Wednesday night meetings. [laughter] Uh, but I I appreciate the kind words and I hope I've done the city proud. You sure have, Bill. Thank you [applause] very much. And just to let you know, too, Bill is not retiring from his private business, only from the city. So, he's right across the street if you need a lawyer. A lawyer. That's nice. Okay. Now, we'll turn to our public forum. Members of the public may address the city council members on any item of public interest that's within this jurisdiction of our city council. Uh, this includes agenda and non-aggenda

items. No action will be taken on non-aggenda items. Speakers are limited to 5 minutes. Anyone would like to speak to city council, please come forward at this time and state your name.

Welcome. Good to be back. I know I missed the last one last month, but uh I'm back now. So, [sighs] my name's Anas Brown. And what I wanted to bring up was the people. So I've been all around the city. I've spoken to people that own land in the city. I've speak I've spoken to the homeless and everyone in between. And what I found out was that I've been helping out the people. I've given them personally my own clothes off my own back and I've given them food out of my own cabinet to the homeless because no one's going to be starving throughout this winter. Now, I've worked with the churches, [snorts] particularly the one on D Street, First Baptist Church, along with a couple others, but they're the main ones. And out of their own tithes and offerings, I was able to get I was able to get two grills, two 150 ft cables, and a bunch of extension cords that they can link their electronics and their phones to so that they can keep in touch with their loved ones. Now, I heard that the grills were taken from them, and I get the whole fire thing, but it's cold and it's raining, and no one's going to starve, especially the pregnant women and the young families that are at the camp. None of them are going to starve. Everyone's going to make it

towards winter, through the winter, and onto spring. So with the girls that they have left, do not touch them. The generators, I'm working with the churches to collectively give donations both of food, more food because they're going to need it and generators so they can keep warm because I've heard from them that the tents are too thin for them to keep warm. And [sighs] again, the warmth, the tarps aren't doing anything. So, [sighs and gasps] and because not all all of them have beds, I'm working with Mid Valley Disposal to get them mattresses that the people with homes do not need anymore. Because when I've been doing my runs to keep my body in shape to do volunteer firefighting, I've seen that people have thrown about a lot of stings, a lot of stuff, mainly mattresses. The mattresses I'm speaking and working with, I have actually have the meeting with them, but May Value Disposal has been open to preserving the mattresses that they collect around the city to give to the homeless because not everyone has mattresses. And I've also been told that they don't have clear. [snorts and laughter] They don't even have sight at night. So, we need to get together and get them flood lights so that they can see at night. Not only that, but the rain. The rain will come back. And when it does, they're going to be either ankle deep, hopefully not knee deep, but they're going to be ankle deep in water because not everyone's on pallets. Not every tent has pallets underneath it. And I regularly go all

over town because this is my work. I don't get paid for it, but I do it out of the kindness of my own heart. So they, ironically enough, chose me to speak up for them because they're super angry and they don't want to cuss nobody out. So I'm being formal and being the messenger for them. Now, when it comes to the National Guard, I have sought out the National Guard's help to get rations for people that do and do not have homes because the rations last a month and others last two weeks. I've done this because I know Thanksgiving, we all spend money on food and then Christmas dinner, that's basically Thanksgiving part two plus gifts. So come spring, nobody's going to have much. So, um, and to coincide with the National Guard bringing rations through, um, I'm also working with Chief Towali. He's been a great help for the people even though his people are stretched thin and they need help too because the city's grown to 50,000 plus and they only have so much people to go around and I know that the other stations are in the works of being created but we got to anchor down until that happens. Um, the reason why I brought the fire department up is because I'm working with Mercedes fire department and their food drive to bring down rations and whatever canned goods and fresh water they can spare to station one so that I can personally have the churches disperse the food out

to the people as needed. Other than that, human life is more important than whatever de facto penal code legalities that are going on that prevent the people from having the warmth that they need, whether it be from the grills, the fires from the grills or whatnot. [snorts] And I'm saying this because we have homes. Not everyone has one. So, winter's coming hard. Whatever we just went through with the rain and the clouds for a whole week, that's just the beginning. It's going to be a whole lot more rain and a whole lot more ice. So, we're going to need to band together and look out for each other. [snorts] The homeless are getting themselves on their feet, and it's best that none of us put them down in any sort of way. They need as much help as the rest of us do. Whether it be from the highups, you on the council, me just doing this stuff willy-nilly on my own, or they themselves. So, other than that, they're going to need

You need to You need to wrap it up here. I've passed. I get I'm getting to it. Thank you. They're going to need canopies and proper tarps to cover themselves up for the rain. They're going to need proper showers and restrooms because that's what they're mostly angry about. And they're going to need plastic bins and tubs. So, whoever around the city can and will donate. That is much appreciated. Like I said, I'm a broke college kid. I'm trying to go back to college so I can join the firefighters. I got to get my EMT certification. then I got to join the academy. I have no money to do so. So, I'm going to it's going to work out for me regardless, but in the meantime, I'm doing this. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. We appreciate it. Likewise. And I love what you've done with the city. It's beautiful. Thank you. Anyone else? Please come forward. [cough and clears throat]

My wobbling's pretty wobbly. [laughter]

Okay, my name is uh Jerry Giesel and uh I should say honorable mayor, council members and staff. So good to be here tonight. My name is Jerry Gizel, been a citizen of Los Banos for 44 years. And I'm here tonight, it's short, uh to um as a representative of the Losanos Elks Lodge located on East Street and Sixth Street across the fairgrounds of the county fair and the Noah Jones ballpark. Um to extend our appreciation for work done by the street crew from public works. I previously notified public works of a hazardous sidewalk concern on the sidewalk adjacent to the lounge. They did a temporary patch job and they said they would return to replace a section of the sidewalk when they could schedule it in. Um that being said, they followed up and completed the work as of two weeks ago. And therefore, I'd like to thank Azie, Jason, Ron, and Israel and the public works department as a whole for a job well done and a followup. Thank you. And Bill, you're the new guy there. So, appreciate your help. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Anyone else, please come forward. Welcome.

Hello. [clears throat] Uh, first I'd like to uh um [snorts] there's there's two things that the community's been working on and um one is specifically of course the um trying to get every pet home for Christmas. um that are that's at the shelter. Um but also um I would like to thank the public works um for their permission to hang a flyer up at the airport. I I do also want to um it's going to be announced and talked about, but I'd like to thank uh the city uh police chief Rowena, your department for your um [clears throat] for your work with um a very special event that's coming up next week. Um and I know you're going to talk all about that. I just wanted to spend my time. Um I have been volunteering for the SNP bus for over 5 years and um when we did this the last time the city um what was most rewarding [snorts] is helping our fellow citizens um to be able to spay and neuter and get everything done um for their animals. Um, a lot of times some individuals can't afford if it's a big dog, I mean, you're looking at a $600 bill and so they keep their dogs inside their homes and um, so then that way there's no fun stuff going on outside

um, and they don't get puppies. But all of that is during these events. I want to just let me get my my words together. I'd like to encourage you mayor at the council and the staff to come out during that event. You're going to see some downear individuals that are so grateful that love animals so much. And you're going to see some wonderful animals, but mainly you're going to see wonderful community. And the pictures and the videos that will come out are just genuine individuals that are so grateful. Thank you. Because life can change on a dime. And so it's important that you come out and just take a look, spend a little time and see everything. And I'm so proud of our police department for uh doing the work um to bring this about and uh whatever chains of command you had to go through. So thank you very much and please come out. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else please come forward. Okay. I do not see or hear anyone coming forward. So, I'll go ahead and close the public forum. Do appreciate before I close the public form. We do have some letters to read. Um, if Lucy, if you could read uh Miguel's letter and I think I want to hold on to uh Julie Kraton's letter till when we reach that Okay.

that item on the agenda. [clears throat and cough] Mayor and council members, I am reaching out to respectfully request your support in establishing quarterly public reports regarding both the homeless encampment and the progress of the one tree project. as a resident who is committed to keeping our community informed and as someone who strongly believes in the potential of this program under Christiey's leadership. I also recognize the ongoing concerns about transparency that many residents share. Number one, quarterly reports on the homeless encampment. Residents are asking for consistent updates on how the encampment is being managed, how many individuals have been helped, are currently being helped, or have exited the program, any plans to improve the well-being and safety of those living at the encampment, challenges staff are facing, and what support may be needed. Two, quarterly reports on the One Tree project. As the one tree housing project move forward, I request updates on construction progress, clear communication about the future placement process for unhouse individuals and explanation of whether a selection or scoring system will be used and how fairness will be ensured after opening quarterly outcomes such as successful placements, program effectiveness, and churn rate. Number three, why transparency matters. We have seen how transparent concerns can affect public trust, whether the ARPA funding process or with the PBID discussions among downtown building owners. The same applies here. Residents deserve a clear understanding of how decisions are made,

how individuals are selected, and how success is measured. Number four, community partnership. I am I am committed to helping keep the public informed. Quarterly reports would give me and many others accurate information we can share with residents. But we need the council's assistance to make this possible. If there is anything we can do together to improve community trust and ensure that transparency is upheld throughout this process, I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to collaborate. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter and for your service to our community. Respectfully, Miguel Alejandra, Losanis resident.

Okay. Thank you. And we'll we have another letter that we'll read when we get to that. item on the agenda. And so I'll close the public forum at this time and turn back to the city council. And the first item is consideration of approval of the consent agenda. Items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine and may be voted on with one motion unless removed from the consent agenda by a city council member. So with this, Lucy, if you could read the consent agenda, please.

Items on the consent agenda are as follows. Warrant numbers 254-915 through 255134 in the amount of 4,336,353.73. City council resolution number 7022 rejecting the bids for the water meter replacement project. City Council resolution number 7023, accepting the Meadowlands wet well replacement and bypass project as complete and authorizing the filing of a notice of completion with the Merced County Recorder for Ralph Construction, Inc. City Council resolution number 7024 authorizing a lease agreement between the city of Lasanis and Fernando Escobido DBA Escobido and Suns for the purpose of leasing agricultural parcel APN454-2000-00001 amending the fiscal year 202526 budget by increasing revenue in the amount of $7,500 and authorizing ing the city manager to execute the lease and all related documents. City Council resolution number 7025 approving and adopting final track map number 2021-01 Coil Meadows Villages at Stone Creek 5 phase 3 unit 4 for Anderson Homes City Council resolution number 7026 accepting the transportation development act funds financial statement for the years ended June 30, 2021 and 2020 as prepared by Price Paging Company, Merced County Association of Government's Auditors. City Council resolution number 7027 accepting the transportation development

act funds financial statement for the years ended June 30, 2020 and 29 as prepared by Price Paging Company Merrced County Association of Governments Auditors City Council resolution number 7028 authorizing a one-year facility use agreement between the city of Laspanis and Laspanis American Little League for the use of Colorado Ballpark in the amount of $3,387 for the 2026 Little League season and the items are to be approved as submitted. Thank you very much. Is there any questions the council have or any items you want to pull off for further discussion? Then I will entertain a motion.

Yeah. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as submitted. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second approve consent agenda as submitted to the city council. Any further questions or comments? Not hearing any. All in favor signify by saying I.

I opposed. Eyes have it. Motion carried. Our next item is a public hearing. If you challenge the proposed action as described herein in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described herein or in written correspondence delivered to the city at or prior to the public hearing. Our our public hearing is to receive public comment and consideration of a general plan amendment 2022-02 final development 2022-02 and an addendment to addendum to the previous certified villa barano area plan environmental impact report SC number 20006011135 for the north point at Regency park project and let's see and we have [snorts] four resolutions under that and if we could go ahead and turn it for staff report first before we open up the public hearing.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and city council. Um so just an overview of the North Point um project. Uh it consists of 114 acre planned development community. It has 543 single family lots with six open space lots, one fire station site which is 1 acre. It has 4.23 acres, four up uh about 84 to 127 multif family units with that range and infrastructure that includes new roads, utilities, a trail and a roundabout. Some background on this particular project. It originally this land um was annexed into the city in 2008 under the Villa Barono area plan with a certified environmental impact report. Uh since that time um which that original applicant was Woodside Homes um but since that time a new applicant has taken ownership of the property which is Stonefield Home Inc. and they've rebranded [clears throat] the property as North Point at Regency Park. So this is the location of the property. Uh it's located between Place Road, Lord Road Extension. Um so Place Road is on the west side. Um the and then it turns into uh Westminster and then we have Ward Road on the east side um which has an extension. Uh it's bounded by Coil Street on the north side and which would be an extension of Quail Street, South Point Subdivision on the south side, Westminster Way and Place Road on the west side and the St. Louis Canal on the east side. You can see this is uh just north of uh Pacheo High School and south of the A Sports Complex and it's considered an

infill development project as it's really the last missing puzzle piece of development on this eastern section of town. Uh the city council tonight uh what you will be considering is an addendum to the environmental impact report which was previously certified under the Villa Barono area plan. Uh you'll be looking at a general plan amendment and a zone change. A final development plan uh that really facilitates the development of uh the entire 114 acre plan development community. and you'd be authorizing the city manager to execute a reimbursement agreement for the sewer main replacement project. So, the planning commission held a public hearing on November 12th to consider the general plan amendment, the zone change final development plan, the addendum to the EIR, and the vesting tenative track map for North Point. At the completion of the public hearing, the planning commission approved the vesting tenative map and recommended approval of the general plan amendment, the zone change, the final development plan, and the addendum to the ER to the city council. So, the planning commission only has authority and jurisdiction over the vesting tenative tract map. They are a recommending body though for the other entitlements which is the general plan amendment zone change final development plan um and the um addendum to the EIR and then there is um one item that it is not under the discretion of the planning commission is that is the reimbursement agreement which is added tonight. That vesting tenative map is conditioned though to only become active upon city council approval of the final development plan should that happen tonight. Uh the environmental review um an addendum was prepared uh originally to

the Villa Barono EIR um which was prepared per sequa section 15164. Um within that addendum is identified that no new significant environmental effects were identified. Uh minor updates to address current transportation and mitigations um have occurred. Uh we did a mitigation measure review. We went through all of the mitigations within the mitigation measures within that original environmental impact report. Um and we reviewed that with the applicant and uh specifically the applicant reviewed um and hired a qualified consultant um to review air quality, biology, noise and traffic studies uh to confirm that those mitigation measures are satisfied and um all other measures remain in effect from the certified EI. So no other uh mitigation measures um were affected uh since the time that the EIR has been originally certified back in 2008. We also did a transportation analysis and the applicant had a traffic engineer um which is Wood Rogers prepare a traffic memo um based on a transportation analysis that they did on the new layout proposed with the North Point project. We then had that analysis peer-reviewed by the city's traffic engineer consultant fair and peers and um determined that the intersection at state route 165 Dove and Vineyard is projected to be at a level of service of D which is acceptable per our general plan. The project will be required to pay their fair share toward controlled intersection which is at that intersection above and beyond the city's transportation impact fee 14% that is their fair share contribution

um which then also identified that originally a roundabout was identified at Ward and Dove um because that in the original layout back in 2008 had an intersection that was created there um where Ward crossed Dove and now with the new layout proposed within North Point, Ward Road actually turns into Dove, which that means that that roundabout is no longer needed based on the new layout. Uh then a general plan amendment and zone change is what's proposed tonight. It adjusts land use to match the final development plan. It removes a pocket of neighborhood commercial and replaces that with highdensity residential. Um staff with the applicant determined that that original old neighborhood commercial land use was not ne necessary um nor is it conducive in that area all the way on the eastern edge of town. um and probably wouldn't be able to um be feasible to be built in that area where it's typically commercial development is looking for uh traffic volumes near Mercy Springs or on Pacheo. Uh but would be conducive for highdensity residential as we just adopted a new housing element and um also uh recently adopted a new general plan. Um and within that uh new general plan as well as our housing element, we are looking for pockets um within neighborhoods to be able to provide high density so we can provide all levels of income, all levels of housing um within community. Um and this also supports the city's goal for housing diversity, connectivity and public facilities. So this

development is proposing a range of housing diversity with single family, residential. It has low density, medium density and high density. So it covers all of the density ranges. It creates connectivity with a linear trail um and the street grid section uh transportation network. Um, it creates that connection with the trail system down to Pacheo High School and further down to uh the Meadowlands subdivision and it creates public facilities um which is open space, parks and uh 1 acre designated for a fire station. Uh the final development plan highlights uh it does establish framework for land use, circulation, infrastructure and open space. It promotes highquality neighborhood design. It provides for six parks which is six open space uh parcels, linear trail, a 1acre fire station, and a roundabout. That roundabout is really uh designed to be that ornamental feature as you enter into the subdivision. Um and then you'll open up into open space into a park. Um, and then that connects you to the linear trail along the St. Louis Canal. And there will be a variety of lot sizes um, and architectural styles. The project design and architecture, it does consist of uh, a mix of low, medium, and high density housing. It provides for 27 home plans that range between uh, 1,200 square ft to over 3,300 square ft. Uh it does consist of American traditional styles with color and material variation and it focuses on neighborhood character and visual diversity and those architectural features are within the final

development plan which is in this bound book. Circulation and infrastructure the street network connects to existing roads such as Place Ward Westminster and Broadstone. Broadstone's a new street uh that's located within South Point. Um and as I said, this is really that missing puzzle piece. It's that final piece to be developed on this eastern section of town, this northeastern section of town, and really creates that um extension of those existing roads such as Place Ward in Westminster. It creates pedestrian and bike trails. It has shaded sidewalks and an 8-foot canal path, which is a joint use trail for bike and pedestrians. And it has water, sewer, and storm drain systems in accordance with the city's master plans. Uh this is an exhibit showing the circulation. Uh Place Road as um it comes up from the south. So from South Point and the existing piece of place road as you're traveling north towards North Point is an arterial and then as you pass through the roundabout then it uh tapers down into a local street and then Ward Road is a collector that then bends over into Dove Street which then Dove takes you westward and connects you to Mercy Springs. Um, and this is the land use uh layout of the final development plan. And you can see there's a range. The yellow represents low density residential. The orange is medium density residential. And then the darker um brown or darker orange color is 4.23 acres, which is the multifamily. And you can see where the parks are in

open space. Uh there is a reimbursement agreement component. Um and that's because North Point is bisected by an aging and deteriorated sewer main that serves a portion of the city's wastewater collection system. This is an old sewer man um that we think is probably about a hundred years old. Um not um at any fault of North Point. It's an aging infrastructure that needs to be replaced. And the city is already um working on replacing the line on the east side of the canal towards the wastewater treatment plant. We already have that project under construction. Um and so um this component of it was also originally included in the overall the city's overall um capital improvement project for replacement. Um but it just works out that the applicant, the developer um is electing to replace um that sewer main and provide those improvements within the project boundary. They've agreed to um construct those that sewer main um those improvements. So the city will reimburse the developer for eligible actual costs not to exceed 1.4 4 million um which is the bid amount that the city would have expended to the vendor um to complete the work as part of the broader sewer trunk line replacement program. And the agreement establishes required construction standards, inspection provisions, warranty obligations, acceptance procedures, and the recording of a public utility easement over that sewer line. Um, and this is where that reimbursement agreement where that sewer main replacement will occur. It's actually that rectangular area that's the uh dark

um gray rectangle I've just highlighted in red around that to show where that project location and that's just the section of sewer main replacement that actually goes through the project boundary. outside of the project boundary. The city will still continue to work through our capital improvement project and replacing that sewer main. It's an old 24in line that is being upsized and replaced with a brand new 36-in line. Uh public comment public hearing notices were published and mailed on November 19th, 2025. They were published in the Merc, excuse me, the Westside Express. One comment letter was received from the grasslands water district which is attached in your packet and all of those issues were actually addressed within the vesting tenative tract map as conditions of approval which were approved by the planning commission. Um so it satisfied grasslands um comments which were really uh requesting a um fence um which is uh that applicant has agreed to a steel rot iron fence um between the joint use trail and the canal um and limitation on the type of vegetation and to ensure that vegetation doesn't um impede on um the grassland canal area. So staff is recommending that the city council will consider adopting resolution number 7029 adopting an addendum to the previously certified Villa Barono area plan environmental impact report in compliance with SQA to then adopt resolution number 7030 approving a general plan amendment and zone change for the North Point at Regency Park subject to the conditions of approval that are attached with the resolution. adopt a resolution number

7031 approving the final development plan um for North Point at Regency Park subject to conditions of approval. And then finally, adopt a resolution approving and authorizing the city manager to execute a reimbursement agreement for the sewer main replacement project between the city of Laspanis and Stonefield Home, Inc. And that concludes my presentation. I know I went through that pretty quickly, so please feel free to ask me any questions. Okay, we'll first open the public hearing if then if city council has any questions. So, at this time, I'd like to open the public hearing to receive public comment and consideration of for the general plan amendment 2022-02, final development 2022-02 and the addendum to the previous certified villa of Verono area plan environmental impact report for the North Point at Regency Park project. You heard our director, our planning director Stacy just describe the project. If anyone has any comments, please come forward at this time and say them to the council.

Good evening.

Uh Mr. Mayor, members of the council, my name is Jeff Roberts. Uh I've been asked to speak on behalf of Stonefield Homes, the owner of the property and the subject of the discussion here this evening. I first off want to thank staff for their excellent presentation. It makes it very easy to see what the project is and how it's evolved over over time. I think Stacy called it the last puzzle piece on the east side of town. And it I think that's very fitting and we would certainly like to complete the puzzle tonight. So with the this brief introduction, I'd like to uh respectfully say we do concur with the staff recommendation and with their conditions of approval and we I want to thank staff again and uh also concur with the unanimous recommendation of your planning commission which occurred on November 12th. Uh Stacy made it very easy for you this evening. Um on this last page there's four resolutions. one covers the EIR addendum and I think it's important to note that the staff noticed that there is no significant environmental impacts that were not looked at when the Villa Barono EIR was first certified. Number two, the resolution um 7030 addresses both the plan amendment and the reszone that are before you this evening. They're minor adjustments to the original plan. Number three, the final development plan is uh represented under resolution 7031 which is before you. And then the reimbursement agreement which was not considered by the planning commission but is strictly a council issue was I think very well laid out here tonight and provides for an efficient delivery of sewer lines within the project area. Um, if this is approved here this evening, it allows Stonefield to move forward with their plans to develop the uh the project of with all 111 conditions of approval that were approved by the PC

by the planning commission. Stacy mentioned there's 27 home plans. There's 117 acres. There's multifamily. There's single family of low and medium density. and it allows for a fire station site of 1 acre within the project area. So with that that uh with that Mr. Mayor, members of the council, I'll just briefly summarize by saying that Stonefield folks are here in the audience if there are questions. If not, we do concur with the recommendation of staff with the unanimous recommendation of the commission and be happy to answer any questions if we if we can. Thank you. Thank you for Thank you very much.

Anyone else please come forward. Welcome.

Hi. Um, I just have a real quick question. I know that developers, the school district and the city, I know you have your 2 by3s. That's a lot of homes and what they're the school district is running out of places to buy land to put a school. And so, I just wanted to bring it to your attention. I I know you want a another fire department and I know we want more parks, but I wish we could offer some land up in some of these residential areas for schools. Um because otherwise we're not going to have a place to put them. Um so that's all I wanted to bring up. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Anyone else? Please come forward. Blanch George one more time. This project is beautiful and it's wonderful and it's complete and it's well thought of. The one thing I would want to emphasize since I have the ears of the individuals of Stonefield Homes, but I'm addressing you guys for proper protocol, is that pushing the limits as far as making the amenities available, [snorts] some of the unique housing properties that are being built currently have amenities for animals. whether or not it's high density or whether or not it is just, you know, a regular home. There are some amenities that residential people are purchasing and that is to have catios built in and people pay for those additional amenities. the cap walkarounds, um the running um the running trails for back and forth for a sideyard. All of those residents is are purchasing those add-ons. So, it's really nice that we have a local boy that is um thinking outside the box hopefully and um and his personnel can take it back to him that if those amenities are sold to these individuals, his properties are going to stand out compared to every other property currently [clears throat] right Now, in

the city of Los Banos, everybody has a cat or dog, whether or not they live in high density or not. Giving those individuals that purchase a a home to have something built in for that um that they even have um in the garage, they even have access to pull some big heavy uh dog food through the garage through a pathway so it could be stored. A building can do all of those, charge the resident that wants those and then also have a very unique subdivision and other developers are doing it currently, but we can make a difference in doing something a little bit different. Thank you for listening and let's keep on with the with the pets. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else please come forward. Welcome. Good evening, council members, mayor. Um, my name is Matthew Rogers. I'm a project manager with Benchmark Engineering. Um, we're responsible for developing the final development plan, tenant map, and uh, working with staff on taking this project to this point. Um, with that being said, I would like to thank Stacy and her staff for all their hard work on this because we've been working on this very long time with them and we're happy to finally get to this point. Um, hopefully start building homes soon. That's what our main goal is. Um, so as Stacey said, this is a nice infill project to finalize the connectivity between Ward Road, Place Road, and Westminster and every other connect road connection um the not only for circulation but also for utilities um in including the sewer um replacement project. Uh this project we believe provides a lot of amenities. It provides the park the trailway system dedications that the city will be responsible or that the city has agreed to develop as far as the trailway and the park. Um so this we would um dedicated [snorts] to them for the development. Um the multi-family parcel is something we believe that the city well the city has requested and so we know that the city would really needs and so we're happy to provide that parcel for them. And to address some of the question uh concerns that were brought up, um I know Stonefield is in talks with the school

district to uh develop a school site in the area. So I know it's not with this project, but it's they are in talks with them on another project site and then um to address the pets. Um that being said, the trailway and the park being a developed by the city should um help provide that um walkability for the pets. And as far as the homes go, they are pet friendly and so maybe something can be worked out in that end. Um I'm available for any other questions. I'm was heavily design um involved in the design process so know quite a bit about it. Um if anybody has any questions. Yeah, we'll we'll ask her questions after the

Oh, sorry. Okay. Uh, thank you for your time. Um, thank you very much. Anyone else, please come forward.

Welcome. Hey, Mr. Mayor. Uh, city council staff. Just had a two questions. Now this proposed fire station or location for a fire station is that in addition to the uh fire station is proposed to the south on Ward Road near the water tank and Lindamman Trail or is this going to be a replacement for that fire station? Uh second is the width of the streets are they going to be sufficient to allow the emergency vehicles to pass um having vehicles parked on the roadway. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll answer those questions after the public hearing is closed. Anyone else, please come forward. [snorts] Okay, I will go ahead and close the public hearing. I appreciate everybody that spoke in the public hearing. And now I'll turn it over to the council with questions. First of all, before I before I do that, um I want to answer a few of those questions. Uh the school district, uh like was said, uh in the early 2000s, uh this the building schools have been a problem in the state. The state is supposed to fund schools 100%. They're not doing it. They stopped doing it I think in the 80s, the late 80s, the early 90s and then there was some kind of formula. The school district had to put up so much money and you had to qualify and it really was difficult. So, in the early 2000s, uh, I brought forward a a man, uh, a request to, at that time, there was about six developers in town that were working, uh, throughout our town. And we had a volunteer agreement signed by this by the developers, and I know a lot of you already know this, but I'll say it again, that raised the fees above the what was required by the state. And those that raising of those fees could not be required by the city council. It had to be an had to be an agreement between the school district and the developers. They all signed it and uh Mr. Hostetler Stonefield Homes was the first one to sign it along with uh Larry Anderson at the time. The both they both signed it right away and we got the other ones to sign it. Um so that really

helped since then. as 20 years, little over 20 years, we managed to be able to help fund the school. So then, you know, it we went on and I could see there was much more to building schools than just money. And it was like said, it was property. We needed property. So we started negotiating. We negotiated the property for Pacheo High School. Um I helped negotiate that property with that developer at the time and that was gifted to the school district for Pacheco High School. Then we worked on the college and Larry Anderson donated the college property for where you see Merced College. Those were above and beyond what was ever required. And our philosophy, and I'm sure it's still the same up here, was that all new development has to enhance our existing residents. It can't just burden the city, whatever. It has to enhance all of us. the state uh as we said the housing element uh that gets updated it's we have to update our housing element every eight years

every eight years and then we're required to follow that housing element and if we do not follow it and that means building homes then the state can come to Los Banis and control our development and we really don't want that doesn't happen very often but those are some of the things we're up against as a So, uh, for the school, um, I know there is we've been negotiating with the school district. We do a 2x3 with this land owner for a new site and we're in the prelim preliminary discussion on it. So, that will continue and after this development will continue for other developments. I've talked with the school district. We want them to tell the city where they need schools for the next 20 years. We got to put a little dot on the map. Even if it's, you know, even if it will change down the road, the city needs to know what's best for the school district and the best for our children and the parents of those school children. So, we need to plan and do it right. And so, this is part of that with the school district. Now, the fire station um that uh was talked about um I know that will be a new I don't know if it's going to replace Stacy. Can you answer that one or Paul? You want to answer that?

Yeah, Chief. Uh with the new fire station. Yes, it's going to be the actual site for the east side fire station there in lie of the where the water tank was. So, we did do some um some mapping of the area to get our response times down. This was an ideal location for the Yeah, I know things changed with with building things changed and we moved it from [clears throat] the from the south end to the north end and we that's why our new fire station that's going to be built next year, starting to be built next year is on the west side on the south side. So, so that's with that. And

Mr. Mayor, if I may add that that fire station on the west side is where the regional emergency operations center will occur. That was originally thought would be off of War Road and that's why that was a thought to be a larger site, but that will be with fire station number four, which is on the west end of town. Um, and this east end will serve the the response times that are needed on the east end of town. this was a more ideal location um based on the growth of the city um and that larger fire station on the west end of town is because that's where the city is growing to the west. Okay. And so now let's uh another question was about street width.

Yes. So this is a a larger uh street width. It is proposing the local streets are 52 feet wide which is an extra 4 feet than what we see in the smaller streets which is no longer the city standard. Um but this project was technically vested with the old city standard so the smaller street size but the developer opted for a wider street um based on discussions with the city. Um, and so it is four feet wider, two feet on each side, so it's not as tight. Okay. And chief, with the streets only,

Stacy, with those streets, that's just so people have context, that's larger than the streets behind Target, right? Yes. An extra four feet than the than the streets next to Target. So the streets next to Target are relatively like 16 on each side travel lane and this will be 18 and 18 on each side. And the plan that we've been working on to update we're consideration of widening a little bit more just because again you know for police and fire and ambulance and all that good stuff, right? Yes.

And council member I may speak to that. Um back in 23 we did saw an issue with some of those smaller streets. So we did adopt the new standard. So this development when it comes to curb to curb uh space that does meet the 2020 2023 standard that we adopted to account for that and that went through the traffic safety committee planning commission and council at the time. Yeah. Can I go back to the fire station real quick? I know you're saying it's that here in this new new spot but will that land for that where you had it originally proposed by the water tank. Is that still property that we can still hold on to in case we want to put one there in the future or no? I'm asking. I don't know. It's our property. So, we still can do that in the future if if we saw we had a need for that. Okay.

Yes, it is city- owned property. Okay. I'm going to open it up to any council members for any other questions. Staff. Mayor PM. Thank you, Mayor. Um, my my only question is, Chief, is the one acre going to be sufficient enough uh for a new fire station to cover that area? Uh, yes, it will be. at the station station station 4 it's going out in the west is a little bit over an acre in itself and we're in that location we have emergency operations center and a fire station going there so with station 3 only needing a fire station there one acre is going to be sufficient for for what we need all right thank you thank you mayor Kevin

um staying on the topic of the fire station at what point will that be built during the development like I know it's coming from the impact fees, but is there any kind of estimate of when that's going to happen because the east side is lacking in fire station?

So, it's being dedicated [clears throat] to the city. Um, and it so it's actually with the first final map, an irrevocable offer of dedication. So, we will have the right to have title to that parcel um prior to the first final map being recorded. And we wanted to make ensure that and the applicant agreed on the front end so we could have that dedication. Um but we also want to be sure that we don't necessarily take that ownership until the streets are in and the infrastructure is in because we wouldn't be able to build the fire station without that and need and the houses being there is just the need intensifies the need for uh the fire station being there. So um we do h we will have the irrevocable offer of dedication and then when that phase is um ready to be uh built then that will either we've already recorded that irrevocable offer of dedication or it'll be dedicated with that phase um when that map comes forward um and that will be the city that will develop um and build that that fire station

there. So there's no real idea when because the so the the site for this fire station on the east side's been there for quite some time but still no fire station on it. So I'm just curious like if there's a plan like I know the land's there for it. I just am curious about any kind of timeline or that's just kind of TBD. I think the priority is to have fire station number three built first and that's still going through its excuse me four, right? We we keep confusing ourselves with the numbering um system. Um so the number four is on the west end and that's where the focus will be and once that is complete then we'll be able to focus on standing up fire station number three on the east side. So it's going to be a minute. Yeah. May go ahead.

Um and council member Sanders just to add to that too is that with the additions of fire station number four will free up a lot of response call from station one because we still have station two and station four now going to be up to date. Plus with the cities working on the vineyards and 165 intersections that's open a brand new corridors on the north side to where currently you can't do that right. So the response time will improve regardless of when the phase of that project is. So we are right now is working toward that staffing plan so that when station 4 come in it's going to be staffed and then now you're actually going to have that that additional response time and additional body and freeing that off of our headquarter which is off of station one. Okay, which kind of leads me into my next question, which is we talked a little about the interchange between uh Dove and 165 and that um so the traffic studies did it look at what's going to happen when Vineyard connects? So, we already talked about a roundabout or a light at Vineyard 165 Dove, but having Ward connect into Dove and come through that neighborhood and then all the way across the city,

like I feel like that's going to end up being kind of a default north bypass that people are going to use that are in the no. And I'm curious if those traffic studies have taken that into account.

It did. It still determined that the level of service would still be at D with this project buildout. Um, so that's still acceptable with our um our general plan. So it's still within the the parameters of the general plan, the threshold. Um, but it did identify that this project will have a 14% fair share above the transportation impact fee. So of that intersection, that roundabout, that controlled intersection, it's responsible for 14% of that construction. It's not responsible for all of it. Um and the city is already in the design process of um designing that intersection for that roundabout with CALR. Um so it did identify that that intersection does need to be controlled, but this project's responsibility is only 14%.

Right? And so the responsibility is one thing. I just want to make sure that we're thinking forward and 10 years from now we're not like, "Oh gez, we didn't make these streets wide enough and and now we have trouble at this intersection that we can't remedy because there's houses or whatever it is that we have."

So, okay, you're right, Mitch. I remember this because this project came in while I was still public work director a couple years ago. So, we actually take a look at intersections. So typically in a traffic impact analysis, we look at the existing project impact which is the existing development plus the development that's going to come in and then we look at all the other developments that are going to come into this place typically through a traffic model. Um and that's what we did. We have an update traffic models use those intersection critical intersections like 165 and vineyards look at ward look at place and B and look at what's that going to take with final buildout. So at level service D that's pretty much at build out. So, we did account for all future development if they were to come in and infill all those in infrastructure. So, it's it's based off the model. Okay.

Also, I'm sorry, council member. Yes, ma'am.

Uh I do want to add that on Ward Road, um really taking into consideration what that would look like because that is here in this exhibit, you can see it's a collector. That's that orange street as it connects into Dove. uh no houses face Ward Road and it's really to preserve that collector to get traffic efficiently east and west but because Ward runs north and south predominantly until um it it starts to curve towards the north end of North Point. Um but it's really looking into how can we efficiently get traffic north and south and then over up to Mercy Springs because you're absolutely right. Um, this will have it will carry um and it's meant to be it's designed that way to be able to help traffic.

It's that little section of Dove that's my concern because our house is facing that street. There is um that there is that impact. Um but un unfortunately that's this grid that's we're trying to get traffic efficiently out to Mercy Springs and unfortunately that's already developed. Exactly. If I could go back in time and be able to fix, you know, Dove, Overland, Wilmont, those would be the streets that I would definitely take houses off of the fronting of those streets. Which leads to my next question. Ward Road, the 19-year-old hooligan in me looks at that as a nice long straight piece of road without a lot of intersections.

And I'll ask Chief Raina, what are there any traffic calming measures on this? because I see this being a racetrack. Like people kids are going to look at this. They're going to drive their cars up this nice new piece of asphalt. Mhm. And it's going to be racetrack. So if you'd like, Chief Rain, feel free, but I have some info on um Go ahead. I'm not sure this project.

Yes. So we have some bullouts of where uh those intersections. Um so um and it's built into the conditions of approval, but it's also here in the final development plan. Um but the streets bulb out and it's designed that way as a traffic calming measure. It's here, here, um and here. And then we also have um conditions of approval that require traffic calming measures to the satisfaction of the public works director. Um, and we've been able to implement that in other brand new subdivisions where we've used speed cushions to be able to slow traffic down. And we'll be looking at whether that's a suitable treatment here in this subdivision as it continues to get built out.

Okay. So, I know the speed cushions are just really hard to add later on. So, I'd really like to see something done when it's built. Absolutely. So, that that'd be cool. Um, let me see here. You didn't lead smoothly into my next question, so I have to find one. Um, can I and this is just for my education because I looked over the I looked at this plan and there's the so everybody talked about low density, medium density, high density. I see the high density which I don't think is actually being built here. It's just carved out so somebody can build on the future.

What's the real difference between low density and medium density? Like what's the actual difference? Because when I think of medium density, I've always thought of like condominiums and town houses and things like that where it's like connecting walls between them, but these look like they're kind of the same houses just on smaller lots. So, is there a difference other than that?

It is. It is smaller lots to be able to achieve that lower density. Um, and it it is on the lower end of medium density. Um, but it is still achieving medium density. Um, so they're all smaller lot size. Typically, that yields to a starter home, first-time home buyer, um, that maybe can't afford a 6,000 ft lot, but can afford a 5,000 ft lot. Um, so they are typically smaller houses on smaller lots. Um, but that's uh medium density is ranges from 7 units per acre up to 20 units per acre. Um, and this is on the lower end, so it's between seven and eight. and the medium density side. Um, but it does allow for single family residential just on a smaller lot size.

Right. So, yeah, it looks like most of these lots are 4,50 ft I think it was, which is pretty small lot. I'm curious what the biggest house is. Maybe one of the Stonefield folks can't answer what the biggest house is that's going to be seen on those little lots

for the medium density. Mayor. Yeah. So, you want to repeat that, Stacy? Uh uh Tiffany Marshall from Stonefield Homes stated that on the medium density it would range from 1,000 square feet to 2700 square ft in the medium density low and medium. Yeah. So we see in the final development plan it's 1,200. Um it it does show 3,300 but 3,300 would be on a a larger right low density.

So there isn't a specific set of houses for the medium density than another set of houses for the high density. They're just kind of all mixed in. Yes, there is specific plans that will only fit on the medium density lots because they will not achieve the setbacks that the city requires. So, it is a specific type of house. So, again, you know, this meets all of our requirements and I have no problem not trying to change rules or anything, but I do think it's something that we should probably discuss because

I think at some point you lose the benefit of putting that bigger house on a smaller lot and it's time to maybe move to something that's more traditional, medium density. I get the single family home. Everybody wants a single family home, but um you know in our city we run into all these parking problems and people end up with nowhere to park but their lawn which isn't working. I completely agree with you council member Sanders and uh that will be something that we will need to and the council will need to consider and that would be diving into our zoning code to really define what medium density um as the minimum standard is probably a duplex town home versus a single family unit.

Sure. And that's, you know, I know Stonefield did it's this this is a nice community and, you know, it's just for the future. I think we need to think about it. Um, the trail was mentioned. I really like the trail along canal. It's something I've been pushing for for a long time. Is there any push to extend that down past the high school or is that I know it's completely separate, but having this hopefully plants an anchor and we can continue doing that. Yeah, I'll let Director Hine.

Um, yeah, so we recently did the South Point public uh meetings and so there's definite discussion there as far as having a looped trail there. Um, in terms of the Pico High School that would just require discussion with with them and the school board. Um, and then I know we've discussed as well carrying it down through Medelance Basin as well. So, uh, I guess the answer would be yes, but we would try to make that effort, but it ultimately Okay. Well, hopefully people see this on in this development and push for it going the rest of the way because it'd be nice. We would also I and directorheim connect up to the north to the a sports complex. That's our ultimate goal is to create that full loop system that could take you from the a sports complex potentially all the way to PO.

Yeah. Well, and potentially all the way down to Melanes would be really nice. Yeah. Uh, I think that pretty much covers my questions. Thank you. Thank you.

Just to kind of go back a little bit with with Evan was saying, I think as far as some of the zoning, I think something we need to look at is uh space between the homes, a little bit more space. They seem to be very very close together. You know, I mean, this is a nice development and we're good here. I'm just saying moving forward, something to consider. So, I I think that's something I'd like to consider moving forward. Um, I think the gentleman's name is Matthew. I I think Yeah, I had a question for you. You had mentioned Well, first uh you said something about pets and those amenities would be something you guys would be open to as far as uh you know, were were residents if they wanted to add certain, you know, add-ons within the bill that's that's possible. I know it's not a yes, but you but you'd be open to taking a look at that. Yeah, I'm sure Stonefield would be open looking at that. I know that they had stated that their homes are pet friendly and so if that's something that they want to work with the home buyer on, I'm sure that they can look into that.

And then my second question, you make mention about uh you guys are already looking at property with school district somewhere. What area is that or can you even say where that potentially might be? Is that Oh, yeah. It's it's north of that. Okay. I was just curious to where in relation just you know just wanted to know more that's where it was at. So kind of north of that then council member if I may just you know usually a sighting of a schools does get quite a bit complicated maybe because circulations water capacities and all that connections has to come in and plus the

really the majority of the stakeholder would be the school district because the school boundary itself. So we are working toward that with the mayor as well as mayor proams on our 2x3. So that is to be further discussed cuz we are really very much look forward to that facility master plan from the school district so that we can incorporate those into our circulation element as well as our um utilities and master plan. So that's coming up. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Ma Matthew before you leave um

you said that the homes were pet friendly. Could you describe exactly what does that mean to a per potential buyer? Unfortunately, I I'm not really versed in the home itself. Um, that would be a question for uh Stonefield. Um, I don't know if Tiffany would be able to handle that.

Hi, good evening. To answer the question about um our homes are designed to be pet friendly. So pet friendly has a lot of variation of design components for the floor plan itself but also the amenities within it. Energy efficiencies. You also have pet friendly options of no carpet. We work with our buyers if um buyers want to add in pet doors, pet doors. Um, we don't particularly add in the catwalks, but I mean, we certainly would work with a buyer if they had a special request.

Okay. Thank you. Does that answer? Um, there was something else that was Oh, so I know the mayor spoke to our discussions, preliminary discussions with the school district. And I would like to say that we are very much in preliminary discussions with the school district about one if not maybe two school sites to the north of North Point. Um, we understand schools are needed here. we are as the developer and applicant trying to also work with the school district on what sites could be dedicated for that. So um and then we can design communities around that. So the school district is also in their preliminary talks with one particular location north of North Point um with the state to get that process and the ball rolling. So thank you.

Thank you. Any other questions? Um, yeah. Okay. But not for you. But so I don't know if this is Neuron or Stacy or Bill. I'm not really sure, but I'm just kind of So this development, there's a lot of homes here. So the infrastructure we already have in place for sewer, utilities, all that. We can handle all that. Correct.

I think that was done through our environmental documents. So yes, um, all of the infield, so aside from any future annexations, all of our infield has been taken in account into our general plans environmental documents. So that look at water supply, sewer and storm. Yeah. And we are actually have quite a few project coming up to make sure that we account for that. For example, that trunk line going from a 24 in to a 36 as well as a new storm drain um basins um that was being done with grassland water street just uh west of that to handle more storm water. Thank you.

Anything? So I before we take a make a decision on these this project, I want to just say the last couple city council meetings I've talked about a growth management system that I had in place in the 2000s that I thought worked really well and uh we are going to bring that back and this project will be part of it and we are going to go out and talk with the public. Um we have to make sure that growth is at a level that that our public services can handle it, our police and fire can handle it and public works and parks and everything. It's really important and u so we will make sure that's in place. So it's uh it's not going to be any kind of housing going crazy and we're going to build hundreds and hundreds of homes a month. We're not going to do any of that. This is just planned growth management that keeps our our city healthy, keeps our taxes lower, hopefully brings in more businesses and better paying jobs because all those companies look at potential growth of your city where you are today as long as where you should be in 10 years and 20 years before they make a decision to come to our city. So those things are really important. So that's why we have that when the and a growth management plan actually really helps that process and makes us look more favorable to those types of companies coming in because we need to bring in good paying jobs. And so I'm I'm very pleased with this project. Um it's been on the books for a lot of years and we've the last year a lot has changed. The city council and staff have worked really hard along with the developer to make changes to benefit our city and our community. and I'm like I really am uh agree with it and are happy where we are with it today. So with that

we will move to item one which is uh city council resolution 7029 adopting addendum to the previous certified environmental impact report SC2000611135 for the Villa Morano area plan related to North Point at Regency Park project. I will entertain a motion on that. Motion to approve resolution 7029 by time. A second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second for resolution 7029 as stated. Any further questions or comments from the council? All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Eyes have it. Next item is city council resolution number 7030 approving general plan amendment 2022-02 and zone change 2022-02 for North Point at Regency Park located at Cessor's parcel number 42410 002 005 and 006. I'll entertain a motion on that resolution. I'll make a motion to approve resolution 7030 as read by title.

Second. Okay, we have a motion and second for resolution 7030 as stated. Further questions or comments? Not hearing any. All approved by saying I I opposed eyes having have it. Item three is city council resolution 7031 approving final development plan 2022-02 for North Point at Regency Park. I'll entertain that motion. I'll make a motion to approve resolution 7031 as read by title. Second.

Okay. [snorts] A motion and second for resolution 7031 as stated. Further questions or comments? Not hearing any. All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Eyes have it. Item four, city council resolution number 7032, approving and authorizing the city manager to execute a reimbursement agreement for the sewer main replacement between the city of Laspanis and Stonefield Homes Incorporated. I'll entertain a motion for resolution 7032. I will make a motion to approve 7 resolution 7032 as read by title.

Second. Okay, we have a motion and second for resolution 7032 as stated. Any further questions or comments from the council? All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Eyes have it. Appreciate staff. Appreciate Stonefield. We appreciate the process. Thank you all very much. Now we'll move on to consideration of emergency shelter options. And uh with this, we'll go back to our community economic development director, Souza Elms. Going to get this presentation going um and introduce our housing program manager, [clears throat] Christy McCammon. She's going to give us this presentation tonight. Christy, do you need the clicker? Yep.

Good evening.

Good evening. Oh, I'm taller than I thought I was. That's awesome. I was going to ask for a step stool, but I feel much better. Good evening. I'm Christy McCammon. I'm the housing program manager, proudly serving the city of Laspanos. Good evening, mayor. Good evening, city council. I'm here to talk about emergency shelter options and I'd like to start um by talking about the objective. Um we would like tonight to give the city council and the mayor information on options researched and our objective is to um seek direction from the city council. Uh let me just put on my glasses here. We formed a joint commission um that included um the police department, community and economic development, um fire, finance, um I'm going to just advance there for a moment, and public works. and we joined those teams so that we could make a thoughtful recommendation to city council considering all elements that homelessness touches. And so that joint commission has been meeting for quite a few months and you may remember if you were part of the goals and objectives workshop um that part of these um recommendations came up there as well. After the goals and objectives workshop, this joint commission was established and we came up with four considerations for you to um to review. One is the purchase of residential homes to increase shelter bed capacity uh for emergency shelter and discontinue the current rental model and add at least two more houses through purchase or develop a tiny shelter village using statewide purchase agreements for emergency shelter structures. This is the option that was brought up at the goals and objective workshop.

Third option on the table uh for consideration is the purchase and rehabilitation of a local motel. And then finally, we're we're bringing to the table continuing the current emergency shelter operations um through the bridge house rentals and the sanctioned uh tent encampment near the police department uh and provide ongoing funding to sustain the current operations. So, um, as for some background and for some level setting, the city of Losanos has approximately 114 individuals experiencing homelessness according to the point in time count last recorded. Point in time count is done annually. Um, it is only required to be done every two years, but uh, Merced County does it every year. And then point in time count will be conducted here very soon at the end of January. But um the current number is 114 people experiencing homelessness in the city of Los Banos. The city of Los Banos through um efforts even before the housing division was here, but certainly after the housing division was created in 2023 is to create a a a coordinated and a comprehensive system to address homelessness within the city. And I'll tell you what, I'm going to need to put on my glasses. You might need to put on yours as well. Um, and so part of that coordinated plan is that we have outreach and engagement and we are proud that we have two outreach and engagement coordinators that are on the housing division team. And we also partner with many many community organizations from the private sector, from the independent sector, from the faith-based um, uh, community and through governmental agencies. And we [snorts] leverage the outreach and engagement resources that are amongst those community and and governmental agencies so that we can um have a force multiplier for our own

outreach coordination um resource. We also have system support. Um this can include um the coordinated entry system that is part of the Merced County um continuum of care body. That's that HUD um uh required body. We've got the homeless management information system. We have data and reporting systems and that's part of our um system [clears throat] response to homelessness is to make sure that we have that system support. We also need to have as a comprehensive um program shelter and we need that more than ever today and that's what why we're here today. Case management is part of our coordinated system addressing homelessness and we are um leveraging not only our own case managers and outreach coordinators but then again the case management that can come from the other partners um that we coordinate with every single day. And then there's public uh space management that is part of our um system response and we do that very well through the public works um partners that we have through the police department code enforcement partners that we have um keeping our city as beautiful as we can while still being um humane and having compassion for addressing homelessness. And then of course as part of a comprehensive system we have permanent supportive housing. We just had the groundbreaking for the one tree permanent supportive housing project which will add 58 units of permanent supportive housing. I want to draw the distinction here between housing and shelter. Um housing of course is long-term to permanent and shelter is a um temporary place for somebody to come in off of the street or out of the car or a p a place not meant for human habitation. So that there is a very big

difference and in our complete system although one tree is well on its way um and under construction now we still have a need in our comprehensive system for for this emergency shelter. I want to share with you that although we have a 114 number that we're working with today, we have to accept the reality that there may be people at risk of homelessness now. And I want to share with you in the last 2 to 3 months we've had four to five families calling us living in cars. We do not at this time that we know of have any families in the encampment. However, we do have families living in fields. We have families living in cars. And so we want to address that as soon as possible. And h having these calls come in just recently tells us we have to not only plan for emergency shelter that we have today. And even though we've got one tree coming up and we believe many people from the encampment will go into permanent housing and we have the bridge house model still. We have to accept the reality that emergency shelter may be in need ongoing. We wish that wasn't true. Moving on, I want to talk about our current shelter capacity and the needs assessment, why we're here today. The city currently has a maximum of 20 emergency shelter or interim beds. These are available through the bridge housing program jointly fund by the Merced City and County Continuum of Care and the City of Losanos. We have two homes, one on um Rock Creek and one on Champagne. And those houses are um operated by the rescue mission. Um they're the bridge homes have remained at 100% capacity since May of 2023.

Um and that tells you they're being utilized. Um but they are full. That means even if we have somebody inside the encampment right now who is willing to go to emergency shelter, we don't have an emergency shelter bed available for them. So currently the need really is that coming from the city not having a sufficient amount of shelter beds for the unhoused residents living in the city limits and the rental of these bridge house units are are subject to the ongoing renewal of the rental agreements. And [snorts] so these rental agreements are with private landlords. We hope that they enjoy the relationship with our operator, but we have to have a plan B in case those landlords decided that they did not want to rent that unit for whatever reason. Um, we would have a transition period. And during that transition period of trying to find another rental, we might experience folks returning to the encampment or living in other places not meant for human habitation. I want to just make a note here that for one tree we have several people in the encampment what we call one tree ready. Um but we are going to have a gap and that ongoing need. So we estimate that if we've got even 40 people from the encampment moving onto one tree and we've got the shelter beds through the bridge house program, there is still a need for some sort of emergency shelter. Emergency shelter is extremely important because it provides security and stabilization where case management can happen. It is incredibly difficult for our case managers to have effective work with somebody in the encampment or another place not meant for human habitation who is just struggling to survive. It is very difficult if they don't have electricity for phones to stay connected with us. And participants

in emergency shelter are able to stabilize and better participate in case management if they have that shelter stability. There's also a need for emergency shelter to preserve public spaces, address public health and safety issues, and to stabilize people experiencing homelessness, providing an environment where case management has an opportunity to be successful. While unhoused community members are in crisis and living in extreme conditions, case management is challenging. Unhoused community members will focus on acute emergent needs and have difficulty focusing on little else besides basic survival. We'd like to give you an example of where shelter has really made a difference in union with case management. We have a recent participant who was living in the encampment. They accepted an emergency shelter bed in one of the city's bridge homes. She was able to stabilize her life, enter substance use treatment, and after a long period of sobriety, she received a job offer at the Bridge House as a house monitor. Not long after, she received a section 8 voucher. I want to give very special thanks to Jennifer Lower, outreach coordinator, who did intensive case management with this participant and intensive work with the section 8 and public housing. um folks to get that voucher for this participant. She's [snorts] now secured permanent housing of her own, she was approved for an apartment. [snorts] In the same week that she got an approval for her apartment, she received news that she has a full-time job offer now with the rescue mission as an enhanced care manager. That comes with benefits as well. Um this person was living in the encampment just one short year ago. It was one of the people that we visited tentside on a weekly basis. She is now employed full-time in a job with benefits and has her own apartment to call home. Before she was able to participate in the Bridge House program with security, stability, and safety, it

was incredibly difficult to participate in case management while she was in the encampment. We're extremely happy for her. Thank you, Jennifer. So, of the four options, I'd just like to break them down one by one. Um, both in narrative, but uh by the numbers as well. And in your packet, you also have a table representing all four options with pros and cons and um with uh financial analysis. So the first option presented tonight is the purchase of residential homes to increase shelter bed capacity for emergency shelter where we discontinue through a phased approach the rental model and move to a purchase model using a permanent local housing allocation dollars and city funds. The city could purchase residential homes over time using that phased approach for emergency shelter use. Landlords and properties as we me as I mentioned earlier can terminate rental agreements leaving us vulnerable to a transition time where we may not have emergency shelter beds available and it's difficult to sustain the case management while that transition is happening. Purchasing rather than renting could be a more reliable source of shelter and perhaps economically feasible. Residential homes large enough to accommodate 12 people in Laspanos range from 450,000 to 600,000. The total average annual cost to operate and perform general maintenance for one home is today averaging about $128,400 and this does not include rental costs. These numbers are based on actuals that um we pay for one of the um current bridge homes. So, we see an occupancy potential with this option of 40 people. And as far as the annual operations,

that breaks down to about $12,840 per person per year. And on the capital cost side, it breaks down to about 67,500 per person. Now we move on to the tiny shelter village using the statewide purchase agreements for emergency shelter structures. We're going to spend a little more time on this option because we found um we found a lot of advantages with this particular option. So the state of California adopted a statewide purchase agreement through the statewide RFP and you've got the contract number there for reference with six different um individual emergency shelter vendors. Um the joint commission evaluated over 15 properties that we could perhaps put these um structures upon and we de developed a decision matrix with criteria on how we would evaluate each of those properties. All are of course within the city limits and we looked at both city and privately owned properties to make a comprehensive search. A site near the current encampment scored highest based on criteria such as access to services, utilities, access to utilities, uh neighborhood compatibility, and future use of property. Um the property evaluation matrix is included in your agenda packet and we can look at that um as well a little bit later so that you can see which properties the joint commission reviewed. And we also have the matrix um the decision matrix with all that criteria in your packet as well so that you could see what we um what we reviewed when we looked at each of these properties. The tiny shelter village would be served by an operator chosen through a competitive bid process and would uh also be supported by leveraged resources of the medical calim enhanced care management program and the community

supports program for both formal case management. um and other um services through community supports such as um deposits and application fees um that are available as people move from emergency shelter to permanent housing. And the tiny shelter would be connected to city services such as water, sewer, and connected to the electricity grid. Each shelter unit would be connected to electricity and have an electric miniplit for air conditioning for both cooling and heating. There would be a community area of the Chinese shelter village that would um include laundry, bathrooms, and showers. And we know these are key elements. um the dignity of having a shower, the dignity of having clean clothes, to be able to go to a job interview or to an important um social security meeting. I'll also add that the accumulation a lot of of a lot of the garbage is clothing because if you cannot afford um to clean your clothes, it ends up in the landfill. Um we've looked into options for vouchers for um laundrym mat um and it is quite expensive. We find that there's a significant advantage to having washer, dryer and shower on site. Um and so that would be um the proposed um combination of the tiny shelter village. just to continue with the tiny shelter village um option. Um to fully research, I visited Grace Gardens in Modesto. Um this is a project very similar to the one that we would be um proposing. This is a 12 unit um program that is um that also includes an ADA unit, laundry

facilities, and the restroom. They're using cabins from Boss Cubes, one of the six approved um um vendors. Boss cubes are a little bit more pricey than um pallet structures. We find uh pallet structure has a lot of merit and a lot of um advantages. And so our our numbers of course would not be the same as Grace Gardens, but we wanted to provide an example. any hard numbers would need to go through a formal bid process or we would refer to the statewide price agreement. Um, but just to give you some kind of reference, we found that the cost per unit is right around $80,000 and that includes the actual tiny shelter, the site construction, project administration, and oversight. Um, and so for their 12 units, um, it was about $941,000. Again, this is just an estimate, but we thought it was a good uh base to look at. And because the mission um is very similar to what we would be doing, I interviewed while I was there, not only the city um uh principles that were there. I also talked to um the construction managers that were on site and talked to the operators and I took a bunch of pictures because I wanted to see is this an applesto apples comparison? And just finishing up on the tiny shelter option, um using the Modesto cost data, the estimated total construction of materials cost for Los Banos to um stand up 30 units would be approximately 2.4 million. This estimate doesn't include the ongoing operations and services. Those ongoing operations and services for the 30 units are estimated to be approximately 100,000 per year. And this is an expense that

could be funded by the permanent local housing allocation dollars that I mentioned which are now used for those bridge homes which is an expense in rental that is just going to go on and on and on and on and on. Um so we can potentially uh have an occupancy of 30 to 40 people because each pallet structure can hold two heartbeats. There are several people that cohabitate in the current encampment and that could certainly be an option. However, we don't anticipate that 100% of these pallet structures would be double occupied. But to give you a practical range, that might be 30 to 40. The cost per occupant is most favorable amongst um at least three of the options. And that's $2,500 per person per year in terms of annual ongoing operations and um $60,000 per person in capital costs. We also present tonight uh the purchase and rehabilitation of a local motel. Now, this might sound familiar because we propose this as a home key project. However, it doesn't find itself favorable in terms of emergency shelter. And the difference is we are not um we're not dealing with home key level funding which is in the tens of millions of dollars. And we're also not rehabilitating a local motel in this kind of option for permanent supportive housing at housing quality standards defined by HUD which could lead to section 8 vouchers. So, we're talking about two very different applications of a local motel for permanent supportive housing in a home key like um grant environment, we perhaps it would be favorable and it is something that we've brought to the council before. However, if you remember that project and wonder, well, why are

we thinking about it here um as a nonfavorable when home key was favorable? And it really is about the application and the use. When we're talking about acquiring and rehabilitating an existing motel for emergency shelter and case management, we would have to purchase and rehabilitate at least up to code. We do not know what is behind the walls and in the panels and in the plumbing of of a lot of these older motel, hotels, but we certainly would need to make it at least safe. And so the acquisition and the rehab could be a very unknown. Although we have an appraisal for some of the motel along Pacheo. Um those appraisals could have changed and we just have no idea what's behind the walls in terms of rehabilitating. Even with a um average or a range in cost, it's still the the highest cost option, at least 3 million for the site acquisition alone. And again, the rehabilitation carries a financial risk because there are construction issues that maybe you can't see or that aren't apparent in the beginning of a project. The cost for rehabilitation could be between 2 and 4 million. Um, and this is based on other rehabilitation um hotel and motel projects that that we've seen throughout the state. Now, there is a higher occupancy potential. However, it's very costly. on a per person per year and very costly on a per person in terms of capital. Now, we could, this is the fourth option presented tonight, continue current emergency shelter operations, keep the status quo. Um, this always has to be considered as an option. Uh, we wanted to make sure that we brought everything

that the joint commission talked about to the table. This option maintains the status quo. No changes would occur within current service and supply levels. The tents that you see out the encampment would need to be regularly replaced as their expected useful life is about 8 to 12 months. Tent costs range from $800 to $1,000 each and at least 40 tents would be purchased annually to refresh that stock. The public works staff time. Um, we researched this as well and what it's costing for the code enforcement, police department expense and the public work expense for the cleanups is about $65,000 respectively and honestly could range even into 70,000 annually. Case management services for the encampment residents would continue to be provided by the city lobos and our community providers that I mentioned earlier and governmental agencies. If option four is selected, this option of current status quo, it's recommended that laundry and shower units are placed in the encampment. Um, currently we have no staff or volunteer force um, identified to operate shower or laundry facilities, but we know the benefits of providing those services as mentioned earlier. But I want to make clear just because we put a shower unit out or a laundry unit out, we have to consider that there's maintenance um, ongoing and that we've got to have either a volunteer or staff support for that um, for the smooth operation. Um the occupancy potential here about 40. Um and we've got 4,865 per person per year in annual operations. No capital costs because we would just be using the tents as they're being used now. And so we tried to summarize all of this

information in the tables that you have available to you. Um we talked about the pros and the cons. Um, I just want to narrow it down that if we purchase homes, um, the the pro is the stability of ownership versus the risks of the rental um, agreements ending and not being renewed. The cons is that we've got a loss um, of tax revenue. Um, we also take some of the housing stock that we're already finding so precious to people trying to find housing in Lospanos. And so if we sort of take offline some of these homes, even if it's two to four, um, that is a con that that the joint commission found. The tiny shelter village, um, the pros is that we own the units. And so we talked about the future use. If we did solve homelessness at one point, how could we still have the asset of these structures and what could we use them for? We were even talking about um them being a force multiplier of ADUs and people putting them in their backyards and we've just we've got to house people. So the tiny shelter village takes into account that possibly we could reuse these in the future. We would have it on the dedicated space on city property and all residents are in one area. That is so helpful for us as case managers. Extremely helpful. You may have noticed um on Wednesdays usually there's some provider, but Miss Loa also once a month organizes a very large outreach event um in the encampment. And we've got mental health out there. We've got physical health out there. We've got food. We've got Narcan. We've got substance use treatment um

providers. Aegis just joined us. And so having everybody in one place is just huge for us. It is extremely helpful. And the tiny shelter village does that for us. Cons. Really all we found is the shorter lifespan of the units compared to a purchase of a home. However, that tradeoff of having everybody collectively in one place and the financial advantage of the tiny shelter village really kind of outweighs that con. When we look at the acquisition of the hotel, we talked a little bit already about the con of that and it's a pretty big one. Um, now the pro is that again we have everybody in one space. Um, however, we also lose the tax um were the occupancy tax revenue. Did I say that properly? Thank you. I'm learning. Stacy's a very good teacher. And so we lose that. Um, which is another pretty big con of that rehab acquisition option of a a local hotel. And then to continue the current model, it's it's very difficult. We've done such a beautiful job. Chief Raina is amazing in code enforcement and public works. I mean that what we've been able to do is being studied by many jurisdictions. However, it's a short-term plan. Uh we affectionately called it phase one and the tiny shelter village would be phase two. Um and one tree and other um affordable housing that we hope to develop through the housing division and the community economic development department um is our future. And so with that, um I'm not sure if we have the map. We don't. That's okay. Um the map should be in your packets. Each of the properties researched are numbered and correspond to um the decision matrix. So if you have your

decision matrix with you, you should be able to follow each of [clears throat] the properties here laid out for you on the map and understand how each of them scored according to that decision criteria. We know that this has been brought to the city council before and we want to honor and respect the work of the past. Chief Stacy um and former city manager and chief Breezy worked on this far before I was here. And so we want to honor and respect that what we've done here closely mirrors the reviews that have been done before. Um, but if there are any questions about why we chose the decision criteria we did or how anything scored or frankly anything in the presentation, um, I'd love to take your questions. Stacy, I'd like to ask you um, did that cover everything for us? Okay.

Hey be before we ask any questions,

mayor. quick sorry but just to conclude this presentation mayor I think on the background slide when we were on slide number two taking care of homelessness is a very complex task. It is a full continuum of cares to where our staff now has done a really good job through the housing elements through all these developments to prevent homelessness through affordable housing also diversifying our housing stocks through you know demographic specific like senior home and things that is in place. We now have case managements. We have public space management through code enforcement and public work. We also have permanent supported housing. However, they all in a link together. And the missing link now is the shelter. Without having proper shelter and meeting those basic need, doesn't matter how much case management, doesn't matter code enforcement, doesn't matter how many permanent supportive housing we put, we are not able to transition them from those kind of shelters into permanent housing to be able to rehabilitate them back into the society. And that's why tonight we're hoping that you could help provide some directions on what we can do with those emergency shelters so that we as staff can be prepared to bring back to you all the other funding availability that we could leverage. And right now as a city, we are at a very advantageous because we've already have all those other spectrum with just that one missing link. So that's what we're hoping to get your direction tonight. And again, we will be bringing this back depend on what your direction is um in January.

Great. Okay, before the city council asks any questions, um I'm going to open it up. Uh Lucy, if you want to read the letter, please from uh Julie Kraton.

Good evening. This letter is to address the emergency shelter options. After reviewing the options presented in tonight's council meeting agenda packet, it is clear that option three, purchase and rehabilitation of the local motel, is the strongest and most responsible choice. It not only provides resident stability but also offers a true long-term solution rather than yet another temporary short-lived fix. Importantly, it accommodates the largest number of individuals in need, allowing the city to make a real measurable impact. Although the invest initial investment may be higher than some alternatives, the long-term benefits make this the wisest and most costeffective decision. Option three also offers the greatest ability to maintain safe and consistent containment of occupants which is essential both for public safety and the safety of the residents themselves. A single centralized location with proper oversight ensures stability, reduces risk associated with dispersed or temporary sites and allows services to be delivered more effectively and responsibly. The building already exists and while bringing it up to code will require [clears throat] funding, its location is advantageous. Its proximity to essential services, shopping, public transportation, medical care means residents will have far greater access to the resources they depend on. Choosing a site farther from the town center would only create additional barriers and undermine the goal of providing stable, supportive shelter. As for concerns about losing toot revenue, the current occupancy rate at the La Plaza Hotel indicates that the city is not forfeiting significant revenue. In

contrast, transforming the property into a stable long-term shelter provides immeasurable community value by addressing urgent needs and improving safety for everyone. Option three is not just a choice. It is an investment in people, in stability, in safety, and in the future of the community. Thank you, Julie Kraton. Thank you, Lucy. And she makes some good points there. Um, before I open it up to the city council, is there anyone from the audience would like to speak on this? I'm going to ask you to come forward. You have three minutes. Out of those options, does anybody prefer one over the other?

Please come forward.

Welcome. Hi. Um, [snorts] again, I'm from the downtown area. We have coined our downtown area as the living room in the heart of the city. While there is options for this, we are already finding it difficult for retail to to fill some of the retail spots. In the future, there has to be a look at that [snorts] and um and solve that solution in the downtown area. The downtown area already has the maximum amount of high density These are homes that were built in the 1900s and the 1920s and the 1940s. They're the original Henry Miller subdivisions actually. And in some of these homes, you could see his original shoe imprint. These homes have have st stood for over a hundred years to continue to impact one area. It's just not a right thing to do. I just would like for people to think about different options. There's different towns like Tracy, California. They have it actually next to a water treatment plant.

The individuals get bust in and out, but they are a little bit aways from yeah some of the some of the amenities. Um, so that kind of option should be looked at, but impacting again the downtown area over and over and especially ones that are close to homes should be looked at very carefully because as we destroy our downtown, we're going to destroy our town. But like I said that, you know, everyone's trying to work on filling those retail spots without without offices. Um more retail is going to be beneficial for our downtown. Um I particularly, you know, um would like to see when we're looking at all this is that homeless individuals also have pets. And whatever you build, whatever you do, um that that option should be looked at and dealt with whether or not it's one tree or whether or not it's tiny homes or whether or not it's a hotel. Thank you very much.

Thank you for your comments. Anyone else would like to speak on the options tonight? Welcome. Hi, I just have a um My name's Kathy. Um, I just have one really quick question on the hotel. There's residents that live there and have lived there for quite a while. What happens to them? Oh, they go to the tents. Those are good questions.

So, I that's what I'm concerned about. I know there are quite a few people that live there and have lived there for a while cuz the rent's low and if you purchase it, all those residents have to find another home. So, that was my only question for that.

And unfortunately, that does happen to older hotels. They become a long-term residents. Anyone else would like to speak on item the options tonight? Welcome. Hi. Uh, mayor, council members, [clears throat] city staff. Um, so when I get asked by people, Christie, um, the public public how everything is going, the transparency, how I cited on that paper. um how can I go or how can we go about telling the people what's the I guess turn rate like me I have my gym memberships I'm switching over to the system where I can see how much members are signing up how much members are counseling how much members are actually using the membership and how much potential members I can have um it's nice to see those reports as to see what the I guess the how well my business is doing in that sense and I kind of relate that to the homelessness You mentioned that the bridge homes have been 100% occupied since 2023, which is great, but are they the same occupants since 2023 or when does a space open available for new occupant because one is ready to leave and able to depend on themselves? Is there anything we can share the residents to show that this program is working the way it is? That's something I wish we could work on and so I can inform the people if or the city can inform the people on those numbers on the turn rates on how well this is going with uh your plan and you uh manning this. So that's just one.

You have any comments on the options? Um, main thing as long as they're in one area, I'm more against the residential ones because uh I feel like there's going to be a lot of people are not going to be happy knowing that that that's taking on me. If they're my neighbors, great. I don't I don't mind it, but I know there's a lot of residents that's that will not like that. Um, but other than that, one resident, one spot, whether it's the like the village, what's it called? Sorry, the tiny shelter village and or yeah, that's what it's called.

The motel. But as long as they're in one place and being taken care of, that's and if there's numbers showing that it's working or has worked or how it was compared to the one in Modesto. Yeah. I mean, that'd be great numbers to show to the public. That'd be great. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anyone else have any comments on the options tonight? Okay, I'll turn it back over to Thank you all for speaking and I'll go ahead and turn it back to the city council for comments or questions of staff. Mayor, mayor.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, we're talking tonight about emergency interim shelter beds. Um we have a situation where we have the one tree uh and we have the homes that are being used uh the bridge homes. Um and there's also talk about rehabilitating a um motel. Um we have roughly about 114 people uh as homeless in our community. one tree will house 58 people. So that leaves us roughly about 56 people left to deal with and that's based on last year's numbers. But you know in reviewing this project and what I'm seeing is that um our best option for for me is um uh the tiny home shelter village. Uh, and I understand that there's CDBG funds available to apply to help us uh place these uh uh homes uh for people who need that transition period. um rehabbing a hotel, as you said, Christie, it you don't know what's in there until all the sheetrocks down and you're looking at the studs and then the additional cost of what we would have to put in to accommodate a program such as this and the monies that were available several years ago for the turnkey project, that money is gone now, as I understand.

Do you mean the home key? Pardon me. Yeah. Yes. Um the all home key awards have been made and I'm not sure about future home key opportunities. We just go for we don't have any now so we can't speculate what's going to happen in the future. That's correct.

So um and then um purchasing a home as you've indicated you've indicated the various things that it does. It takes uh property out of circulation for possible renters or other purchasers as well as taxes to the community to help us continue to run the city of Los Banos. So, we you know, we have to look at those options. Um we have property on the map. Um I think number one is where I'm not sure if that's where one tree is going to be, but we have additional property there. And uh if we're looking at case management services, it's better to have it all in one site. Uh whether it's going to be, you know, I don't know that it's going to be the people that'll be doing one tree, but everything will be there. Um this, you know, doing projects like this is basically to get people out of the elements and into something that's more suitable. Now, when I was down at the League of Cities, I had an opportunity to physically see some of these tiny homes, and what I saw, I was very impressed. Uh, the one thing I think the fire chief would be happy about is that these individual um living spaces are fire rated, so that if fire is inside one unit, it's not going to spread to the next one, which makes me happy that that's a safety factor in place. So for me personally, that's what I am going to vote for is the tiny homes. And I think that additional property that we have over near One Tree is a suitable site. We already own it. um we can do whatever is necessary to uh uh place a foundation

there for these uh facilities and uh secure any surroundings from uh the apartments that are there as well as the trailer home. Um so I I think that's the most reasonable um that we can do at this particular time since it is an emergency uh since we're talking about something that's more like an emergency shelter. uh to get people out of the tents. Um building a hotel or rehabbing a hotel can take years to do and um I don't I don't see that as the most viable thing to try to alleviate this problem that we have uh in Los Banos. So um that that that will be my vote tonight is for the tiny homes. May I add please um CDBG the community develop block development block grant uh for non-entitlement jurisdictions that notice of funding availability was released. We're going to bring more information to you in a future city council um seeking a resolution and permission to apply. the hotel option becomes even less favorable because CDBG will look at your application and if any relocation plan must be developed because you are displacing people, your points go way down because [snorts] you're creating more homelessness potentially. And so one thing that we may not know widely is that CDBG may it's very competitive this year. There's there are only $27 million for all non-titlement jurisdictions. We're already working on our application preparing for that. Now, we've looked at the scoring criteria and we are trying to address every single category for the most potential um of points and and we

really subtract points when we choose the rehabilitation of the local hotels because we do have people living there. Therefore, it requires a relocation plan.

Well, I I hope that we get that application uh uh information to council as quickly as possible because delaying it uh um you know will probably I I don't know that it will, but we we want to be within that scope of time to be able to get that funding. and and I've, you know, I've seen on uh Bay Area TV where San Jose is doing a lot of these uh tiny home shelters. It's the most affordable thing to do uh for an emergency situation and to get people out of tents and the surroundings look rather nice. You know, you don't have to have it look like a tickytack house that you're living in.

That's right. Uh but I I just I feel that's the quickest way that we can accomplish what we need to do in Los Banos. Uh and also be able to get financial help to do it because you know the burden of homelessness and mental health treatment really belongs to the state and the county. Uh but it's been foisted down on cities to handle. So, if we can apply for funding and hopefully get money that will help us accomplish what we need to do uh to help the people in our community, then I think for me that's the best route. Thank you, Mayor.

Great. Thank you. And I just tonight uh staff is looking for guidance on what option, not necessarily where it will be located. That will probably be in January. We come back in January to talk about that. So, anyone else? Christiey's there. Yeah. Christy, so on the homes, the two emergency homes, there's there's is there 10 people per home currently? Yes, sir. That is correct.

Okay, that's a lot. Yeah, I just don't see people being happy about us pursuing that. At least that's what I would think. Um I think my next question is for many as far as the tax revenue. uh what what do you estimate would be lost if we were to to go down the path of that? You know, as far as taking that over, what kind of tax revenue would we lose? Any kind of estimate on that? Property tax. It would be exempt from property tax um on that home. And so

CFDs, anything for that supports fire, we we wouldn't assess um we'd be assessing ourselves. So probably 5,000 about 5,000 per per and it also depends where it's at what where it's located depending what you know what the the rate is.

Gotcha. So we don't have any estimates all the landscape maintenance district it's in what benefit assess what what districts it's in those all those assessments would go away. Yeah, because I mean the the letter that came in has a lot of good good points to it, but with what Kathy said as well, we're displacing people. We might cause more homelessness, but then also that's why I'm just want to just so we have all the information on the table. What what kind of tax revenue would we lose and the motel would be uh what you would be losing the toot tax. It's not much in terms of of the toot tax, but um

but it is the displacement I think of the of the people. And it council member Travis to add to that too. Another thing that we can't really be in our control with has the house has to be available, right? So the location aware that purchases have to be unavailable sales. So picking a location would not necessarily be an option for us. Um so that's that's a big one. I think to to Mini's point, typically our LNLDS run somewhere between 600 to a,000 property tax at about 1%. So you have five to $6,000 a year on loss property per house. Okay. Yeah. What about the hotel tax? Hotel tax is nine 9%. Let me check.

I think it's around 9%. I think it's 9%. Yeah. And that's transit occupancy tax. So So it's the rental of the rental of the room until they stay 30 days and then the tax goes away. Yeah. That's how that works. Gotcha. So if they're being lived in for more than 30 days, then there wouldn't really be a a tax loss. Tax loss then. Okay. So it minimizes that loss. All right. Right. Evan. Um so I know this isn't the decision being made today, but you mentioned that there was like a decision maker and maybe I'm missing something, but I have this map with numbers on it, but nothing that tells me what the numbers mean other than one is one the primary pick first and then number two would be the secondary pick or your guys'

So I'm so sorry. This matrix should have been in the packet. It's there on page 365. Oh, it's in Okay. So, it's not in this one and it's not on this one. It's in this one. Yes, [laughter] it's in your staff report. Thanks. So, I can look at that later because we're not deciding that today. Um, very last page. Yeah. Oh, there. I remember seeing that earlier. Okay.

One thing you didn't address. Uh, so for all these four options, is there estimate on timing for each of them? Well, um let me um talk a little bit about CDBG. That is the funding source that seems uh most suited for this. It was actually just delayed um at the federal and state level. Originally, the application, which is not an over-the-counter um application process, and that over-the-counter means first first come gets preference, which creates quite an anxiety and a flurry. Thank goodness this is a deadlinebased grant application process and the original application due date was January 30th that's now been pushed out. We believe that the application won't even be be online until February now it was going to be online December 1st. So we've got some time and that urgency of trying to get it in as fast as we can which sometimes can lead to not the best application that you would hope to put in. we now can be a little bit more careful. So, if we're talking about using CDBG funds, we're talking about at least 18 months out. The application process takes about 30 to 60 days after that due date and then it's usually three 2 to 3 months after that when award letters come. Um, so I would estimate about 18 months.

Okay. So, 18 months before we even get started on any of these. No, 18 months till completion if we were awarded CDBG at the timetable that we have today. So the timing of building a tiny shel the tiny shelter village or reurbing a local motel is basically the same. Refurbing the motel might even be longer um because we there's just too many unknowns about rehabilitation on the construction

and then continuing the current model is obviously the fastest one because we already have it. There seems to me there's a lot of overlap between continuing the current current model and the tiny shelter village because you still need the same facilities. You still need laundry and uh showers and and all that kind of stuff and those are going to be separate units because these little buildings are not going to have that. So is there is there like a kind of a mix that we can do with this where we can start getting some stuff in that they need regardless of what we do if we do decide to go to tiny shelter village. And also following up, I assume to get these CDBG funds, we have to tell them this is what we want to do, not that's why we're making this decision now.

Yes, we're trying to work um quite early because in order to have the best CDB CDBG application we can have. Um there are stamped engineering plans that need to be included. There need to be all of that background work. CDBG, the notice of funding availability really stressed the need for qualified applicants to have readiness. And so we've even worked ahead um to purchase or to I'm sorry, publish a request for qualifications for developers in construction and general contractors that can work on a project like this. Because when you submit your application, they want to know that you're already, you know, law of attraction, right? that you've worked on it well ahead of of this application. Um, and that can earn you the most points. So, we're doing all that foundational work and if it's not CDBG and we're not awarded that, there really are very few grant sources for emergency shelter or interim shelter right now. Um, we can look at using our permanent local housing allocation that's now being used for bridge homes, but again, we have that overlap. So with the CDBG, what percentage of that are we expecting to be able to like if we get the grant, is it going to pay for the whole thing or is this like a funds matching thing?

Um, no, there are no funds matching, but CDBG, this um particular notice of funding availability has a $3.6 million cap for applications for each jurisdiction's application. There are four major categories um of um eligible activities that you can apply for. We would apply um to cover the construction costs completely. Um we would also apply for program um costs to perhaps marry not only the capital construction project but also have even more case management um and for the ongoing costs of operation. Um, and so we would be applying for both a project and a program with the sum total being 3.6 million, which is the cap under the current NA.

Okay. And I guess the reason I ask is because if there's funds matching, if the city's going to be spending money on this anyways, getting started on some of these things that we're going to need, I think we need regardless the showers and the laundry and things like that, which is going to require power and, you know, sewer and plumbing and all that. getting started. Would that help with the process to show that we've we're actually working on this? Most definitely. You know, the skin in the game, right? If we take funds um city funds and devote it to a project like this, of course, it would show readiness and then that that particular um scoring criteria category could be increased.

Would those funds be something that we could recoup with the fund if they if we get the grant? Could we reimburse [clears throat] ourselves with that or that's not Unfortunately, no. it usually on these grants it's from expenses that are eligible in in all regards um only back up to the award date and I not since co have I seen them retroactively um reimburse so I do not believe so um any comment on that yeah agreed or okay good

oh great thank you Stacy so supplanting basically you need to use these funds for program, a service that does not exist now. It cannot fund things that a city or jurisdiction is already um funding and operating. So, we can't say, "Well, let's have it pay for the housing division." Now, having said that, you can apply for administrative costs. I believe in this noits 5% um of the total ask you can devote. So that can offset administrative costs, but really that is supposed to be devoted to administrative um tasks that are happening because you've now added this. So the reporting, the grant management, it cannot uh supplant or cover things that a jurisdiction has already budgeted for. Hey Christie, another quick real quick question. Um do we have anybody in the hotel [clears throat] currently that we do anything with whether it's emergency shelter or stuff like that? So, there's already some people there, huh?

Yes, sir. We did have some funds set aside for emergency shelter motel stays. Um, we've written policies and procedures for the housing division and we decided um um through through the group that we could fund only up to the available amount in our budget when two criteria were met. Um, one is that we had an exit plan for that person. An example would be they have a section 8 voucher and it's going to be a week or two before we can get them into the unit. So that bridge um and um eminent harm especially with minors. So, typically we've used our emergency um motel money for families with minors because there is no family shelter except for the domestic violence um survivor and victim shelters through Valley Crisis Center save for those beds. There is no family shelter in Merced County.

Okay. So if so then if you know something like the tiny shelter if we did something like that then that kind of leaves us flexibil flexibility at the hotel for maybe you know for these families or comes up future. I'm just saying just trying to think of all the things that we can consider. That's all I'm saying. I would agree. Okay. Thank you. And council member Chavez uh the rate is 10% for toot tax for Las Vegas.

Okay. Thank you. Any comments? is um after looking at all the options, I'm also right there thinking the tiny shelter village would be um the best option just due to the balance of affordability and the capacity. Um displacement of people in the motel currently um doing the tiny shelter village would um help us avoid that and like Travis pointed out, we can keep the motel for those families that are already there. Um I also think it's good to have everyone together. It'll make case management easier. Um having them on site and um it'll have a secure managed entry I think. Um and then another thing I was looking at is scalability too. U maybe for in the future we might need to add more units and I think it'll be the easiest option to do. So,

I'm really glad that you brought that up because through the use of our PLA dollars, if we're not spending them as much on bridge homes, those PLA dollars are dollars, funds assessed on real estate transaction through the authorizing legislation of Senate Bill 2. So, it's a steady flow of funds. However, it's volatile because it is based um on real real estate transaction fees that are assessed. So, it is a constant funding source, but it is a volatile funding source following the housing market. However, we get a one-year allocation sometimes of 113,000 all the way up to 289,000 in this current 5-year cycle and we could add, like you said, add on. it is scalable um both up and down. So I agree.

Okay. Thank you all very much. Well, I first of all uh this is a process we did uh thankful to our department heads and staff and Christie, you and Jennifer and Stacy. We [clears throat] did stay phase one which was the encampment, but we all know that has to go. That is not the answer. I'm in favor of the tiny shelter village. Also, I've I studied it personally. I think it's the best the the best chance of us getting any type of reimbursement through community block grants. Also, I just want to add you don't qualify for community block grants unless you follow your housing plan, which is what we just did with the with uh that the let's see, that's called North Point.

That's following our housing plan, which then qualifies us for community block grants. That's how the state ties you all in and makes you do what they want you to do. But anyway, um so the encampment has to go. Um I think we have to discuss where we're going to put this project if the council decides on the tiny shelter. If that's the decision of the council, it has to be done sooner than later. We need all those other services that will be offered, the laundry, the the showers, and everything like that. And I think it's uh the right direction to go. Bridge homes are where it's at and we have to be able to increase the size of the footprint if needed in the future because we need to get those people out of that encampment and uh for the people of our community and the people that live there. They both need to be we need to deal with that. So with that, um I don't think we actually need a motion, but

just just direction. Tiny tiny homes, Marcus. Yeah. I mean, with everything said, I I just displacing more people and just the grants and all that stuff is going to affect I just can't see that. Yeah, absolutely. There's good points made to the hotel and I agree with a lot of it, but hearing all this other stuff, I just think that the tiny shelter I agree. I do not think we'd get the community block grant with the hotel and what you're and you already said uh

yeah so the the tiny home I think is kind of the obvious choice here but I'd like to see it presented in a way that we can if we don't get this grant that we can understand what the different costs are so we can understand what our appetite as a council is to spend city dollars on this to build things like showers and laundry you know a pavilion that has the the the amenities that they need to stay, you know, clean and connected and and all that sort of stuff because I think that is something that we probably need to do regardless, even if it's just making the tent the tent city better if we don't get any of these money and we don't want to spend the whatever it is $3 million on tiny homes as a city. So, I think it just needs to be broken out in a way that we can decide, you know, what we want to do, maybe a phased approach if we don't get grant money and then we can go for grant money next year, the next time something comes available to do, you know, the next step.

Good point. Okay. And I so you this direction of the councils to go with the tiny shelter village. Thank you very much for your presentation. We appreciate it. And we will now move on. Next item is cancellation. And I do appreciate everybody and the that sent the letters and spoke at at the podium. We appreciates everybody comments. But that item 10 is cancellation of the regular city council meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 7th, 2026. Oh my gosh. 2026. due to the Christmas holiday season. Yes. Yeah. I'd like to make a motion to cancel the regular city council meeting. I'm waiting for Bill to to correct me. One last correction before he's gone, you know, before he leaves.

What are you doing right? [laughter] Okay, we have a motion. We have a second. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second by Sanders. Uh all in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Eyes have it. Go to city department reports. We'll start with our community economic development director, Els, Stacy Souza Elms.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, so I do want to start with the public hearing notices. Um, and these are we will have two planning commission meetings next week. The first will be on Wednesday, December 10th at 6:00 p.m. Uh, the first item will be considering a rehabilitation of an existing car wash. This would be a demolition and rehabilitation at 10:15 East Pacheo. This is the car wash that's located uh next to um I call it Marian Santos's Chevron next onto on 10th Street, right across the street from Elgarens's restaurant. Um and the second item is villages six subdivision which consists of 30 units. This is a small pocket that's within the Stone Creek subdivision right off of Cardoza Road. Um and then on December 11th, we will be holding a special meeting. Um and this is based on um us having a conflict of interest um and a planning commissioner having to recuse themselves and not meeting a quorum. So we will be holding a special meeting the following day on December 11th for St. Louis Estates. uh that consists of 96 units. It's located uh just south of Laspus Junior High in between Miller and the continuation the extension of Place Road. Um so both of those items um all three of those items will be held next week. The first two are on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and the last item St. Louis Estates is on Thursday at 6 p.m. And then I have some exciting news. We have two businesses that uh will be opening this week with their grand openings. The first is Ono Hawaiian Barbecue. Uh their grand opening will be Friday, December 5th at 11 uh a.m. They are located at 1443 West

Pekco Boulevard. This is right next to Dutch Bros. um in the sh same shopping center as Target, just in front of Target. And then the next one is Retro Rewind. This is a pretty cool uh new business at 537 I Street in our downtown. Um it is uh family entertainment with cool retro arcades um that maybe some of us older folks remember. Um and that concludes our report. But yeah. Yeah.

So what you when is that grand opening? That one is on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Okay, great. Anything else? Thank you very much. Finance Director Mini Moreno. Any nothing to report.

Thank you very much. Fire Chief Paul Dwala. Paul, good evening everyone. Um we're looking forward to the parade on Saturday. So, we will look forward to hosting everyone uh that night. Uh leading into that, now that we're in the Christmas season, we will have uh Santa on the engine December 17th, 19th, 21st, and 22nd this year. And we're trying to make a little bit more rounds uh around the neighborhood. We're stopping at various parks along the way. So, everything's on our social media page and we have some flyers that have been handed out. So, we have that. We look forward to that. Um, and on the uh 15th of December at 10:00 a.m. at Fire Station 1, we're going to be doing a swearing in badge pinning ceremony for our new folks. So, uh, we are really excited about, uh, uh, recognizing our folks that have been promoted, uh, new folks that have started and filling those new battalion chief positions. So, we thank you again. That's going to really help with some management and oversight of our personnel. So, look forward to that. Uh, and we're still working with the county on our EMR transition with the ambulance service and it's they're doing a really really good job with um uh having those relationships with everyone and and attending a lot of meetings and they've met with our folks and PD folks and dispatch uh with our police services manager and the dispatch supervisor in regards to some of the transition that will happen. So, we look forward to having them as our new provider in the county. So, that's all I have.

Great. Thank you, Chief. Human resource director, Lucy Melanie.

Yes, Mayor City Council. Um, since the last city council meeting, three new employees have started with the city. Jesse Spangler, um, part-time maintenance worker at the community center. Zachary Zuspin, he's a police officer. Carlos Pena, a part-time maintenance worker in the fleet division, and five current employees have changed classifications or received promotions. Martin D. Franco is a utilities maintenance one. Gabriel Cervantes is an environmental control specialist traininee. Brian Thompson is one of the new battalion chiefs. Juan RmIrez is promoted to a fire captain. and Vincent Rizzo is promoted to a fire engineer. We are in the process of hiring at least 12 more employees by the end of the month and we are currently recruiting for community services officer, a custodian, a lateral police officer, a legal assistant, a public safety dispatcher, and volunteer firefighters. And if anyone is interested in working for the city, please visit the city's website to view current job postings or contact HR at city hall for more info at 8272427. And a reminder that the Lasis City Council is hosting its 29th annual holiday open house at the next meeting on December 17th. That's all I have.

Great. Thank you, Lucy. Parks and Rec Director Joe Heim. Joe,

good evening. Um, so the big thing that we have going is our breakfast of Santa coming up. Tickets are on sale now. Um, that event is on the 13th. Um, the Saturday prior, as Chief mentioned, is the Christmas parade. So, um, hopefully enjoy the parade, but also stick around at the plaza because, um, we'll be doing the tree lighting ceremony that we always do at the end of the parade. Um we did get a couple shade structures installed um the last few weeks. So one at the ad complex, one at Shaughnessy um park. Uh we're still looking to open Shaughnessy here as soon as we can. Um there's uh some concrete that'll be going on underneath the shade structure as well as the playground certification to go. And then short of that, I'll I'll lead into Chiefs with Coco with Poke Bones.

Okay. Thank you, Joe. Police Chief Ray Rand Chief.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor. So, I'll be quick otherwise director Moreno gives me a hard time for being up here too long. [laughter] [snorts] Snip Bus. Uh, so this is something that we brought back to Los Pan. Snip Bus is a mobile service that comes to your town. Um, we work with them. Uh, we've signed up about 75 residents to receive uh, free spay neuter services for animals. We focused on um, those who were low income this time. So, they will be here December 8th and 9th. Um all the slots have already been filled up and um it always goes very well. We hope to bring them back again in 2026. Uh we are using funding that um the council approved um this fiscal year uh for these services. So thank you very much. This is a very valuable um event and something that I think you almost gave away last time, but you let me talk about it. So thank you. Um national uh child safety council is uh it's a organization that works with law enforcement to help them raise funds to provide free um material literature for children like child safety books and um how to dial 911 and things like that. They also uh work with you to fund um the um safety pup outfit. So, we had one years ago. So, we worked with them this year. Our dispatch supervisor worked with them. Uh we worked with a number of local businesses and we were able to raise approximately $2,400. And with that, we were able to uh provide uh or to purchase a new safety pup outfit. Um, and so going into that, safety pup will be tomorrow at the hot cocoa with the popo event. Um, this is, I believe, our third year providing this event. It will

be from 5 to 9:00 p.m. It'll be at the Henry Miller Plaza. I will warn you, supposed to be a little cold. So, uh, come one, come all, dress warm, and we will be there. We're going to have a great time. Um, as uh human resources uh department mentioned, Zachary Zuspin did start with us on Monday. He's a lateral police officer. We will be scheduling his um swearing ceremony for the public and we will invite you all to attend. We also have a number of other events going on this month. Shop with a cop. We have about 60 local children that we worked with the school district and we have signed them up and we will be taking them on a shopping spree. cops uh cops for kids, a bunch of other great events that are coming up this year that we are very proud to offer. Thank you.

Thank you, Chief, very much. Public works director William V. William.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members. I'm going to keep it short. Uh this this meeting, we do have a new city engineer that um is going to be starting on December 16th, actually. Um, so he'll I'm going going to uh have him come to the December 17th meeting so he can meet everybody. He's uh James Koad who was formerly I think a acting public works director or acting city engineer um for a consultant in this last three years in one of those gaps somewhere. I'm not I don't remember exactly where, but he will be starting on December 16th. So that's good news. filling one of those vacancies and taking a little bit of a load off of me. So, and then the other thing is um Juan Lopez who is currently an ECM trainee um passed the test for wastewater treatment plant operator and he already has the hours involved. So, he has applied for that certification from the state. So as soon as he gets that certification, then we will have two operators at the plant and with Gabriel moving from utilities to an ECM trainee. Now he needs to put in his time and pass his test. So we're making a little bit of progress out there. And that's all I have for tonight.

Thank you very much. And we'll go to our city manager, Neuron. Then I was asked to also not give a report tonight. No, thank you [laughter] for the staff and wanted to give a shout out to our HR department. They are very small but mighty as you can imagine with the new level of service as well as added staff position. It really does take a lot of toll on our HR department. So thank you Lucy for making that happen for all of us. We finally can start having some of those capacity to deliver a lot of these project that we have on the book. Thank you. That's it.

Wow. Okay. Well, thank you very much and we will move on to city council members report. We'll start with district three, Mr. Marcus Chavez. Um, [clears throat] I wanted to start with that gentleman that first started off tonight talking about uh, you know, the people in the encampment. You know, if if people can uh, help out as much as possible. What is it to raise a child? Takes a village or something like that community public, you know, donate to the local food banks and and other religious organizations to help out and that would be, you know, very helpful and appreciated. Um, and also I'd wanna Bill uh Mr. or or city manager, I don't know who. Hey, just and I know we got plans to work on the roads and stuff like that. Um, but I've been, you know, I've had some messages about potholes. Somebody uh 152 had busted their their blew out their tire, which I I talked about. That's a CALR deal, but of course, we're always working with them and want to make sure we're doing due diligence with the weather and the potholes and coming up. So, just so the residents know, you know, we are trying to keep up with that stuff while we get through our road repair, which is going to take us a while, but at least fill those holes up just to not damage vehicles. Um, you know, look forward to seeing people out at the Christmas parade on Saturday and uh hopefully I'll see some people tomorrow at uh Coco with the Popo. So, we'll get with Mr. Raina tomorrow night at the plaza. And uh last but not least, uh once again, Mr. Von, thank you very much for your service. Thank you for everything you've done. Thank you for all your help. and uh you know I appreciate uh you know your time here. I wasn't with you all the time but uh appreciate everything that you've done. Thank you.

Thank you. And now we'll go to district 4. Mayor Pertam Deborah Lewis.

Thank you, Mayor. Um just a few things. Um um our police department on an annual basis has a fundraiser for community members to bring in canned goods and any food uh that's packaged so that we can help people in our community. So um I just wanted to reiterate that because I I don't want people in our community thinking that our city doesn't do anything to try to help people that are in need. And this is this has been going on for quite a while. So, Chief, thank you for keeping that program going. Um, and and you know, perhaps I missed something uh Mr. City Manager, but uh could you have have your staff send council uh email to let us know where we're supposed to meet for the parade um this Saturday? I'm not quite sure where we're supposed to be. And um uh just just a couple of things moving forward uh in regards to uh perhaps um our design standards and and I know that we're working on that again. But one of the things that I'd like to see included uh when projects are coming to us for approval, um I I think it's time now that we look at video renderings of what a project looks like totally rather than uh paper goods that are one-dimensional. Uh it's it's not just for us to look at, but it's also for the public to see what's going to be coming into their neighborhoods and into their communities. and and I've seen them online uh from other communities uh where it it's a a video visual that gives you the streetscape, you know,

where the houses are going to be put, uh any any community uh facilities that are going to be inside those communities. Um so I I just I think it's time for us to move forward uh with that. Uh and and I don't mind the paper product because I'm a tang um you know, a tangible person. and I like to touch stuff and read it and make notes and things like that. But overall for our community, I think it's good for them to be able to have eyes on what projects look like when they come into our communities. And also um when we're uh along with that uh in our design standards um I think it would be a good idea that when projects are being built and and I take this from like Tracy Hills when we visited out there that after a certain amount of homes are built um you know that there is a fire station there already that there are other amenities that are needed by that community that are in place because it to wait until a community is totally built out and then have to scurry and get these projects completed um can put a hardship on the new infrastructure that's out there. So, I think we it's it for me I think it's time for us to move forward to require those things to be built out after x amount of homes are built uh so that those homes are protected and we also have those services available to the rest of our community. So, um that that's about it that I have this evening.

Thank you. Thank you very much. District one Mity Perez. Mity,

thank you. Um the only thing I wanted to bring up was um like Deborah said right now to help people out um I've seen other communities uh doing this. Um they set up I don't know if you've seen on neighborhood in neighborhoods where they set up um like these little borrow book nooks but instead [snorts] of books they have food like canned goods and other um you know other foods. Um, I've seen a lot, especially right now during the holidays, I've seen a lot of people on social media, um, asking strangers, you know, do you have any food, diapers, you know, any supplies, um, that you can, you know, they're not necessarily homeless, but they're just probably, you know, struggling financially, and I think it would be something we can do. So, you know, they don't have to ask. Some people are too shy or embarrassed to ask for help. And I think it'd be nice to set these places up where, you know, you're it's in your neighborhood and people are welcome to, you know, drop off canned goods or, you know, beans, rice, things like that. And people could just go in and out and grab what they need. And I think that would be something that would be helpful for the community just based off what I've seen online and people struggling. And thank you again for serving the city and congrats on your retirement.

Thank you, Mitsy. and District 2, Evan Sanders.

Well, it's nice to be back. I missed the last meeting. Um, thanks to staff as usual for all your work. You always make it really easy and really clear and answer all my questions. So, I really appreciate that. Congratulations. It's a pleasure. Uh following up on council member Lewis about the facil building facilities at a certain time certain triggers during a project. I think that there's a lot of stuff that we need to address. Um you know the I'm going to keep this because I think there's a lot of lessons to be learned on you know things that maybe we want to do moving forward to make sure that we're building a city that we're all proud to live in 20 years from now 50 years from now whatever however however old you are. Um, you know, we this I think there's a lot of good stuff in this in this in the North Point thing, but I think there are definitely lessons to be learned. Um, especially around the medium density housing. I think that that's something we need to talk about. And then um the other thing is that we keep having these high density little pockets in these communities and that's all this infill. And I feel like something we need to do something to get developers to want to actually build these. And I don't know, you know, we're not developers, so we can't force anybody to do anything, but not it doesn't seem like any of it ever gets built, but we really need it badly. So, I'm not sure what tools we have to to try to get people to take action on this, but anyways, it's a it's a conversation future and I'm looking forward to having it. Um, and then my last thing is kind of a personal one. We have this really cool calendar that Gary worked on for the city like so the city council knows all of the stuff that's going on and it's how I know I can look at the week and be like oh there's all these events. It's pretty hit and miss what's on it. Um so department heads I'd really appreciate if we can make sure that the events get on it if you can help me out on it. Like I as people are mentioning these things happening this week I'm looking at the calendar saying oh no that's not on there. But that's I live and die by my calendar on the phone just like council member Lewis has her written one that she goes by. But um I'd

really appreciate it if I could not hear about events the next day and be like, "Ah, shoot. I forgot about that one." Because it wasn't on the calendar and I couldn't just look at it. So, I appreciate that. Uh that is all.

Great. Thank you very much, Evan. Uh I had an MCAG meeting uh after our last city council meeting. We had did a lot of just normal general business, but we did have two closed sessions about purchasing property next to the Highway 59 uh uh dump site uh solid weight dump site there in Merrced. uh looking at purchasing property there to have a more of a buffer around that uh waste site and also about purchasing some property to expand MCAG's office a little bit so we don't have to keep on using the county's offices and and boardrooms and things like that. Uh I was part of MCAG when we purchased the office that is there and uh it was a hard vote because uh a lot of the supervisors at that time none of them are I don't know that tells you none of them there and I'm still there but but anyway [clears throat] uh they didn't they didn't want to spend any money but you know it's really been a blessing to have that office and not work out of portables and stuff like that. Um, I want to thank the downtown association, the Laspanis Chamber of Commerce, and the downtown businesses. The lights look fantastic. I've gotten lots and lots of comments, positive comments on them. Actually, my wife got a a call last night to tell me how nice the lights look. So, I want to congratulate all those uh that group putting it all up. It's really makes a festive town and things look a lot better. Looking forward to the parade on Saturday. Um, and I want to end with uh like what Lucy said, this is our 29th year of our annual holiday open house. I

think the only one who was here 29 years ago, Lucy, I think it was just her and I we were here. Lucy and I were here 29 years ago. Then I took an 18-year break. But anyway, uh it it's a good chance for you to come on down. It starts at at 4:30 in the lobby of city hall here. Meet our staff, our directors, meet the council, bend our ears a little bit, tell us what we're doing wrong, what we're doing right. It's a good and and to network. It's really good. So, we're inviting you all. There'll be a little refreshments, probably some punching cookies, and too bad there wasn't something a little bit stronger before our meetings, but we can't do that, I guess. But anyway, I invite everybody on December 17th at 4:30. And I just want to end it with another thank you to Bill. It's been a great time with you, uh, working together with you and and looking forward. You're my personal lawyer, too. So looking forward to continue working with you and uh we really can't thank you enough for all you what you've done for the city. You've really moved the city forward in a positive direction with your guidance to making sure we're doing things correctly. So thank you very much. And with that we are adjourned.