City - Regular Meeting

Father God, we're so thankful to be here, Lord. We're thankful, Lord, that as a little city, Lord, as a small city, Lord, that we live in a country that we can come before you and and lift up your name, Lord, as we pray over the leaders of our our city and our country, Lord. We're thankful for all that you do for us. Thank you, Lord, for the freedom that we have in this country and in the city, Lord. Father, I just pray over our leaders here in the city. That you will give them your grace, Lord, as they govern over our city, Father. And I pray, Lord, for all the citizens here in Los, California. That you continue to bless us, Lord. That you continue to shine your grace upon us, Lord. That you will continue to protect us and cause us, Lord, to always look to you when we are in trouble. Father, we're thankful for all that you do in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. Like to call this meeting to order for December 17th, 2025. And Chief, if we have the pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. That was our police chaplain Stewart. Thank you for doing the invocation. So now let's see if we could have roll call please. Lucy Perez here. Sanders

here. Chavez here. Lewis here. Amil I am here. Next item is consideration of the approval of the agenda as submitted. So, so approved. 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're going to have some presentations. Thank you, Lucy.

Well, first off, you know, every every uh it's cool. Thank you.

Is it go? So, so every month we have our employee of the month and at the end of the year we have our employee of the year and this person exemplifies what it means to be an outstanding city employee consistently demonstrating a positive can do attitude, exceptional work ethics and strong leadership. Their dedication and commitment to excellence reflect the highest standards of service to the city of Lasanis. He was previously named employee of the month June 2025 for playing a key role in the planning and preparation of the homeless cla camp cleanup project. So on behalf of the entire city of Lasanis, we want to congratulate Mark Hegy as foreman in the public works department for employee of the year. Mark, if you come FORWARD TOGETHER, thank you, Mark. Mark's best of the best. Oh, Mark. Yeah. So, as you can tell, we we finally have new pins with our logos on them. So, we're going to start using those and handing out so everybody can be proud of their city and their community. So, now we have presentations recognizing city uh committees and commissions. And so, let's see, we'll start off with airport advisory. Anyone from the airport advisory, please come forward. So all these we these all these uh committees and commissions are very important to to the city. Um they meet sometimes once a month, sometimes every other month, but the department head

guides them through what's coming up to the city council. Come forward. And and it's it's really important to get, you know, the opinions, the dialogue from our citizens. And this is the this is the first step before you get to the city council. We encourage everybody to please look at the commissions and the committees that are formed for this city and try to be a part of them. You can really you can really make a difference for our community. There's five of us up here, but we need you know we need a lot of voices to hear. And so it's on behalf of the city council and I so let's see so the this is the airport advisory commission and therefore be it proclaimed that the mayor and the city council members of the city of Lasanis do hereby recognize and commend Denise and I'll get yours Dennis yours Dennis Dennis on being part of their dedicated service to the Laspanis airport commission and it's our pleasure and we can't thank you enough for your service to the community. And congratulations Thank you so much again. Really appreciate it.

Okay, so next is measure H citizen committee and we have Herman and Douglas. I saw Okay. Thank you so much. I got the right one. So, Herman here is part of the Measure H, Citizen Oversight Commission. And what they do is they make sure that the city, we have a measure H and a measure P that collect takes tax monies and then uh puts them towards our police department and our fire department and a public parks uh department. And so they overlook to make sure that what the bond said at the voting time when that bond passed that the city council is actually doing what the bond says it's supposed to do. So this is very important and then they can come to us and say things aren't right or or to staff and uh and it's very important to keep everything. These these citizen committees are throughout the county. You know the college has one, the county has them. So this is very important. So Herman Jackson is here and he was appointed to serve as a member of the Las Measure H Citizen Oversight Committee on January 17th, 2024. And he's faithfully attended all the regular meetings of the commission and he's a dedicated member of the Los Banners Measure 8 citizen oversight commission and continually provides his support to the goals and mission of the commission. So now, now therefore, be it proclaimed that the mayor and the city council members of the city of Los Banis do hereby recognize and commend Herman for his dedicated service as a member of

the Las Vegas H Citizen Oversight Commission. CONGRATULATIONS. And Douglas Young is is not here this evening, but he he was appointed also um in December 3, let's see, he goes his term ends December 31st, 2025. Hopefully, he can continue. He first became on the commission on April 17th, 2024. And we can't thank Douglas enough for his commitment and his oversight to the measure H commission. So on behalf of Douglas, thank you very much. YEAH. OKAY. Measure P. You want to hand them? So I'm not handing out the pins that I'm supposed to be handing out. So Lucy, hand out to the people already done. There's only one man up here. So, Richard Stewart here and I know Jerry Geel's here. Jerry. So both Jerry and and Richard are serving on the Measure P, Citizen Oversight Commission. And this commission's been in place since the early 2000s uh when the first public safety uh halfcent sales tax went into per into place for the city. And uh so they have both been a big part of the citizen oversight committee and their voice has been needed to make sure we are doing what we promised to do. So on behalf of the mayor and the city

council members of the city of Lasanis, we do hereby recognize both Richard and Jerry for their dedication, their service as a member of the Measure P Citizen Oversight Commission. And I think is Nathan here. Nathan Mancibo. Okay. And Nathan's also part of this. And measure P2.

Okay. So, we'll have the chief up here tell Nathan thank you. And we'll do a picture here.

Here's some pins for you. Newly printed. I was going I was going to remind you.

Yeah. Thanks for reminding me. Keep me straight. Now, Parks and Recreation Commission members, I didn't Oh, John. John's here. I didn't see you, John. Jerry, it's good to see both of you. How many years have you been on the parks commission? Well, it was uh 25 years ago when this fellow here said, "I think you ought to join the parks and recreation commission." There was a reason for it, which we won't go into, but I said, "Okay, all right." And then, uh, since 2000, I've been serving either on parks and wreck or the tree commission. So, that's 25 years. And now that I've turned 80, it's time for younger people like Jerry to keep things going. Uh but I will I will add uh as Mayor Mike said that it's really important to be a part of a commission. It uh you you become a part of the city. You get to know more about what's going on and you're performing a true civic duty.

Thank you John. So I'm like he John said it's a very important part you know our parks are very important to our city and it's really for the youth. So now there now therefore be it proclaimed that the mayor and the city council members of the city of Lasanis do hereby recognize Jerry and John for their dedicated service as a member of the Lasis Parks and Recreation Commission. Congratulations Part of the reason it was my honor and privilege to serve on parks and recreation and tree commissions, we've had outstanding parks and recreation directors uh that I've worked with. Rick Dalgrren, Joe Souza, Paul Cardardoza, and Joe Heim. We've had some extraordinary people that we all of us in Las Vegas can be proud of. Thank you, John. Thank you. Last but not least, we have our tree commission, Abel and Larry. So, Larry has been Since I got elected, it's been a year since I was elected. He's been at a lot of the different functions in the parks. We've talked about trees. We've talked about business. He's been a big part of this city. He's given me his ideas. Very smart man that knows what's best for our community. and on behalf

behalf of the city of Lasanis, you have attended your meetings regularly for the tree commission. You're a dedicated member of the Laspanis tree commission, continually providing your support to goals and missions of the commission and you you have fulfilled your term as a member of the Laspanis Treat Commission as of December 31st, 2025. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that the mayor and the city council members of the city of Lasanis do hereby recognize and commend Lawrence Buyers for his dedicated service as a member of the Lasis Treat Commission. We can't thank you enough. put it on your and you'll be accepting for able. So again, able we thank Abel. Let's see it also started in 24 March 20th 24. And as a member, as the mayor and the council members, we thank uh Abel Molina for the dedication to the tree commission, for the dedicated service as a member of the Las Tree Commission. So, make sure that they

Thank you.

Thank you very much. I got a Thank you. Does that Does that do it? Okay. And before we uh go on to our public forum, I'd like to introduce our public works director, William Vai. You have a presentation, William.

Engineer. Yes. Uh, good evening, uh, mayor and council members. Um, tonight I'd like to introduce to you our new city engineer. Uh, I'm assuming that's what that's what we're doing here, right? Our new city engineer, James Koad, who joined us here tonight. Um, uh, do you want to say a few words, James? He'll he'll give you probably a little bit better background than I would. So, welcome, James. Welcome to the city. Thank you. Good evening, council. I don't think I've had the uh pleasure of shaking all of your hands, but I look forward to that. Um I look forward to working with all of you. Don't have a whole lot planned to say. Um Stacy wanted me to mention what a wonderful staff we have here and and

and from my time here before, I can confirm that is very true. Um just want to say thank you to all of you for the warm welcome. Um, and I'm just so happy to be back. And if any of you need anything, please don't hesitate to reach out and can't wait to get started. Well, thank you very much. Welcome aboard.

It's James second day, too, by the way, so he just started. Um, we also have another uh public works um employee here tonight. Um, uh, Jelene Dlo has recently been promoted to the engineering operations manager in public works. And you want to say a few words, Jolene? Jelene has been with us about 22 years, I think. 28. 28. See, that's why it's better if you get up and only 28.

Yes. Yes. Thank you, council. Um, yes. I started as a junior in high school um part-time and I've worked my way all the way up to now operations manager. So, I'm excited and uh looking forward to getting to work with James and with William and we've got a great team and lots of projects in line. So, I'm excited and reach out to me if you need anything. Well, congratulations for your promotion. Thank you. Anybody else? William, anybody else? Uh not this meeting. the next meeting I'm going to have I'm going to have a quite a lineup for you. Okay, good. That's all good stuff.

Okay, now we'll go to our public forum. Members of the public may address the city council on any item of public interest that's within the jurisdiction of our city includes agenda and non-aggenda items. Uh no action will be taken on non-aggenda items and speakers have five minutes. Please come forward to the podium and introduce yourself to the city council. We welcome you. Welcome.

Good evening, people of the crossroads. My name is Anas Brown. Um, and I have a bunch of good news, but I think this is top of the list. Um I've spoken about this last year and uh it's Nasara Desar Nasara Jasara. Nasara Desara is otherwise known as the the National Security and Reformation Act and the president will be initiating it come this year, the end of next year and so forth. So it's imminent. Um, the benefits of it is tax dollars are going to be found to be traced from the IRS um, to the Bank of England and to the Vatican because they've been driving up the debt state by state, city by city, council by council. So because the farmers caught on to this and we have farmers here um Msar Desar is basically a farmers farmerwide lawsuit across the nation um brought up to US it's brought up to the US Supreme Court um from back in the 1900s. So when the gold standard was changed from our money being goldbacked, silverbacked, platinum backed to now how we have it being backed by nothing and floating on itself. Um it caused a huge ripple effect when it comes to the debt and the benefits of Nasara being implemented rids debt. So it affects everyone. Um

well what it'll basically do when it comes online is it'll zero out all credit card, mortgage and other bank account debts due to the illegal banking and government activities resulting in the debt forgiveness um of the people that the government has been using as debt leverage. That includes birth certificate accounts, any shity or bond accounts put into our individual names. All of it collected into one big pool. Um, it'll also create a 14% flat rate of non-essential new items. Only tax revenue for the government, i.e. food and medicine will not be taxed, nor will old homes. Um, so a lot of the homes in the city aren't going to be affected. I know that we have a bunch of cities that have been building houses, us included, um, but a lot of the old houses here are in pristine condition. I myself have been looking at a couple but it will not be affecting the city in that aspect. So real estate is going to be relatively healthy in this regard. Um there's in there's going to be increased benefits for senior citizens. So all the things senior senior senior citizens benefit from already is going to be double tripled and then there's going to be more incentives given. Um what it's also going to do is it's going to return the way we do things when it comes to economic value and financial stability. Um, it's going to put everything back under con constitutional law because recently everything's been

admiraly law which is law of the sea and I'm sure you guys can do your studies on that. Um, it'll reinstate titles of nobility. Um, so people that have indigenous ties to the land, they're going to be able to get their, say land was stolen or land was sold off, that stuff, especially for people that don't have homes and stuff now, it's going to be returned. And so whether that be anybody in any of having lost ones, things like that, everything's going to be returned to back to the rightful people, back to the rightful families and not going to be hold or shy accounts with the government. Um what's going to happen is there's going to be a creation of a new US treasury and gold silverbacked currency is going to come back. It's going to end bankruptcy in the United States um initiated by Roosevelt back in 1933 when he changed the standard from goldback currency to now fiat based currency which we all use today. It's going to initiate a new US Treasury bank system. Right now, I know for sure that it's held in Nevada right now. Then, Treasury got moved from East Coast over to Nevada. So it's closer by and everything's going to be reestablished, reorganized in the manner that it should have been back before the government changed the currency from being goldbacked having actual value to having no value.

If you could sum up your 5 minutes of sub. Um, it's also going to retrain all the judges and the attorneys in common law removing the admote jurisdictional law that we've been running off of. Um, I know this is very vague, but it's going to do a lot of good. I know poverty is going to be gone. I know that people struggling is going to be it's going to cease. And I know that for a fact um everybody's going to get the amount of wealth that we deserve individually and it's going to help also incentivize us to do the public works that we're already doing. There's going to be a huge huge huge grant pool um in the millions range for everyone that's involved in doing public works um similar to the Pell Grant with the students. But it's going to be key and I implore you all that you research Dr. Kia Puit's information. She has a bunch of different um platforms on which she studies this stuff in which she gets the word out to the people, but YouTube is the easiest platform because it reaches the most amount of people. Um, and she's been very active on there and she's been covering the fact that everything that I've just said is in play even during the government shutdowns, state by state, county by county, city by city, council by council. It's a trickle down effect. So, it's very key that we manage all of our affairs from here on out. We've already been doing a pretty good job as far as I can see, even myself included, but it's going to be huge, like I said.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Anyone else would like to speak, come forward. Good evening. Good evening,

honorable Mayor Council members and staff, my name is Blanch George, and I live in the downtown area. I wanted to say thank you very much to this mayor, this council, and the staff and chief. Um, what you did when you approved monies for the spay and neutering and for helping the animals has really paid off. the experience last week by having a sniff bus. Snip bus, not sniff bus. Um, by the snip bus, um, we were off on our own. We're grateful to the parks and rucks for allowing us the parking lot and and everybody that worked behind the scenes to get those individuals on the list to get it done. I just want to express to you some of one or two points. Uh people patiently waited in line. There was no fussing or or pushing or or I had to stand here for a long time. Everybody was grateful and everybody wanted to thank you guys for what you did. There were dogs there that had had two litters of pups previous and would accidentally get out and you know you know the birds and the bees would happen. It was stressful for the for the families and as well as the dog. Some of the dogs were already uh finished with their lactation to the puppies. So, we were able to go ahead and help them. The cats that had had civil litters had a their um uterus was expanded so much

cuz it had so many kittens. There was children there in line asking questions and learning about what we were doing. So all in all, you know, we were able to process to be able to make the freedom of families in our community and their animals to be able to walk walk outside for the first time um without being stressful that there was, you know, no shots, no rabies shots and everything. And it was because also you guys took on board to be able to push this, approve this through this and the police chief and Sergeant Ivan Menddees and the animal control individuals to be able to push this through. The last time we had did this, I had to transport from April to October twice a week for all those months. I had to transport to Hollister and with either 70 cats in the vans or um going back and forth, back and forth, always praying through the roundabout because they were family pets that I wasn't going to get into trouble if I got in an accident in the roundabout trying to get to that Hollister area. So, this it relieved a lot of of um things that we really didn't need to do because they came here. We went ahead and worked in the freezing cold, but we were taken care of. And I just wanted to let everybody know and how much we appreciate it. So, keep on your good works because truly it is really helping the families of the community and the pets of the community. Thank you very much for this. Thank you,

Chief. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Please come forward. Okay. I do not see or anyone hear anyone coming forward. So, Lucy, I know we have a letter that came in. If you could read that, please.

Good evening. I am writing to follow up on the decision made at the last city council meeting to dismiss option three, the purchase and rehabilitation of a local motel, specifically the L plaza in for use as a long-term shelter for unhoused individuals. After speaking directly with La Plaza in management, it is clear that the information presented at the last council meeting regarding this option was not fully accurate. management stated they are very willing to participate in this effort and confirmed that no one from the city has contacted them in over a year regarding potential use of the property. They further indicated that occupancy at the motel remains extremely low both for travelers and for stays exceeding 30 days. As a result, the property generates minimal transient occupancy tax revenue. While a CO era voucher program temporarily raised occupancy to approximately 50%, that program has long since ended. In the past year, only one or two families have been placed there using Merced County vouchers, and they typically leave once the voucher expires. On average, the motel operates at approximately 1 to 2% occupancy and is frequently at zero occupancy for both travelers and long-term residents. One of the stated reasons for rejecting this option was concern about displacing current residents. That concern was refuted by hotel management who confirmed that long-term occupancy is minimal and inconsistent. stays exceeding 30 days does not generate toot revenue. The only period they are closed to full is a month or two during harvest season. Concerns about potential loss of toot revenue is unsupported by current

conditions. The city is not forfeiting meaningful revenue. In contrast, converting this underutilized property into a stable, long-term shelter would provide substantial and lasting community benefit. by addressing urgent homelessness needs. With the ongoing conditions of the G Street encampment, I request the city council to reconsider this decision. Continuing to implement short-term temporary solutions rather than a viable already existing option fails to address the scale and urgency of the problem. Option three warrants a fact-based re-evaluation. Thank you, Julie Kraton.

Okay. Any other letters? That's all I received. So, Julie does make some good points. I'm going to talk a little bit about the decision making, what the council did during uh my comments at the end of the meeting. So, we will now close the public hearing. Appreciate everybody that spoke. We'll move to item seven, consideration, approval of consent agenda. And on the consent agenda this evening, Lucy,

items on the consent agenda are as follows. Warrant numbers 255135 through 255328 in the amount of 2,ion88,333.15. City council meeting minutes for November 19th, 2025. City council meeting minutes for December 3rd, 2025. City council resolution number 7033. accepting public improvement for Dove Hollow the Villages 5 phase 3 unit 3 and the items are to be approved as submitted.

Okay. Is there any council members that would like to discuss any of the items that on the consent agenda or pull them off for further consideration? Okay. If we could have a motion for approval then.

Yeah. I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as submitted. Second. Okay, we have a motion and second to adopt the the resolution. Actually, the consent agenda as as uh stated. Any further questions or comments by the council? All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed eyes have it. And that also included resolution 7033. Okay. Our next item is also 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 raise at a public hearing described herein or in written correspondence delivered to the city at or prior to the public hearing. Our first public hearing is to receive public comment and consideration of accepting the development impact fee report AB1600 report for fiscal year 2021 through 2025. And u before I open up the public hearing, I will turn it over to staff uh finance director Morano to uh to introduce this item. Good evening, mayor, council members, and members of the public. Tonight, I'll be presenting the development impact fee report, also known as AB600 report, covering fiscal years 2021 through 2025. This report summarizes how the city collects, manages, and uses development impact fees to support infrastructure and public facilities needs for the new development. State law, specifically California Government Code section 660006, sorry, um requires cities to publish an annual accounting of all development impact

fees. This includes the description of each fee, the amount collected, beginning and ending fund balances, interest earned, expenditures made during the fiscal year, and when applicable, the estimated timeline for construction of the improvements. Additionally, under government code section 660001D, every five years, the city must have specific findings for any funds that have unspent balances older than 5 years. This ensures transparency and demonstrates that the funds are being held for legitimate planned capital projects. The city collects several types of development fees, each tied to a specific cap category of public infrastructure. For instance, fire facilities developer impact fee or better known as diff supports construction and improvements of fire stations and related facilities. Police Facilities Diff funds law enforcement facilities, including a future substation, radio system upgrades, and new vehicles and equipment. Park and recreation diff supports new parks and improvements to existing recreational facilities. Water facilities diffs improvements to the city's water system, including wells, storage, and distribution. Sewer facility diff supports wastewater treatment collection system expansion and non-putoable water uh facilities. Storm drainage diff funds improvements to the storm water system. Traffic facilities diff supports roadways, intersections, and transportation system improvements. General government diffs capital projects for general fund buildings. and a 3% administration fee covers administrative costs associated with managing the DIFF program. The following slide provides the adopted

fee schedule through the end of fiscal year 2025. The table above summarizes the financial activity for each DIP fund for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. There are some key highlights. Park and recreation, water and sewer funds have the highest revenue totals driven both by fee collection and strong interest earnings. Several funds have significant expenditures, particularly parks and recreation and police, reflecting the ongoing capital project activity that has been happening. Most funds end the year with positive net revenue increasing their fund balances. All fund balances remain restricted for their intended capital purposes. State law require us requires us to identify any diff funds holding deposits older than five years. Funds without deposits older than 5 years are the police department or the police diff, I'm sorry. Funds with deposits older than five years, all of which have planned projects identified. is fire planned EOCC station construction, parks and recreation improvements to Colorado Park, water well number 16, chromium 6 treatment and Mercy Springs distribution line, sewer treatment plant rehabilitation, lift station upgrades and 36 trunk line, 36 inch trunk line extension, storm water, a planned detention basin, traffic intersection improvements and pioneer er widening general government the renovation of the annex and city hall and then the 3% admin continued implementation of the Tyler ERP system. These findings confirm that all funds with older balances are properly committed to future capital projects.

The note section addresses statutory requirements under code section 666006b. One important note, all fees collected are earmarked for current or future capital projects necessary to maintain service levels and new development occurs. There are no fees requiring reimbursement under AB1600. We our recommendation is to open the public hearing, close the public hearing and then council formally accept the development impact fee report AB1600 report for fiscal year 2021 through 2025 as submitted and we can answer any questions you might have.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. Okay. At this time, I'd like to open up the public hearing to receive comment and consideration accepting the development impact fee report AB1600 report for the fiscal year 2021 through 2025. Anyone would like to speak on this subject, please come forward and to the podium and introduce yourself. Okay, I do not see or hear anyone coming forward. So, I'll go ahead and close the public hearing and then turn it over to city council for any questions of Director Moreno or or I'll take a motion if you have no questions. It's pretty straightforward.

Uh, mayor. Sure. Is there um I'm looking to see there's no resolution number to this, is there? Okay. Yeah. So, I'll make a motion to accept the report as uh read and submitted to council. Second. Okay. We have a motion and second to accept

uh Evan Evan sec seconded uh to receive a public comment of excuse me a report on the de development impact fee and if you want to uh see this this actually report you can go online to wwbanis.org and you can read this report if you're interested in it. So we have a motion and a second to accept the report as submitted. Any further questions or comments? Not hearing any. All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Eyes have it.

And motion. Report has been uh accepted. And next item is appoint of member to the following commission. And we had one unexpired term in district 1 um that expires in December 31st, 2028. And this is actually for uh the planning commission and this will give us a full commission. Right, Stacy? Do you have anything to say about this appointment? Nope. Okay. Well, so I'll just I want to just talk a little bit about the process. I don't know if we've ever actually really talked about it uh in public. It's so when I was mayor the first time around, it was basically before we had districts, the mayor selected all the commissioners. So after we came to after districts were formed, then it's the mayor and uh the one council member in that district selects a a commissioner or committee member to serve on that commission. this this uh planning commission for was was a appointment for district one which is Mitsy's district. So her and I and Sarah Beldon and I had we do it by Zoom. There's about six seven questions. Uh staff a ask the questions. Um and this is all by resolution through the city. Staff asks the questions. We do not ask the questions. we can follow up questions but I want to make it very clear that uh all the questions are asked each uh person applying exactly the same. So the one staff member asked these questions and then uh the council member and myself listened to their answers. Sometimes there's follow-up questions, sometimes there's not. And so we went

through, we had three applications for this one position and Mitzy and myself uh I guess it was about a week ago. We did the Zoom meetings and we listened. And these are difficult decisions because you hear us ask please submit applications to be on commissions. Please help the city out. Be on a commission. Be on a on a committee and do all this stuff. And then when you get one opening and you have three qualified people applying for it, you really you have to pick one and it's it's tough. And I we encourage everybody to please continue to apply for these commissions and these committees. And so um it's really important for the council to hear everybody's decision. Planning commission is a very important part of the city government. So with that, that's how we handle it. We've handled it since I've been on mayor for a year now. We've appointed a lot of people, each each council member, myself appointed people in their districts. Uh the mayor does myself, I do have I appoint everybody that's at large. Um because my my uh seat is at large. I'm not running in a district. So we do it that way. But believe me, everything is done exactly the same. We're all present and we're there to do it right. and it is a difficult decision. So with that, I'll turn it over to Miss Perez. You want to nominate your selection?

Um, so I decide I after speaking with the mayor, um, we did decide to nominate, uh, Shuer. Um, would you like to come up and say anything? I can introduce myself. Yes. First of all, thank you for being here and applying. We really appreciate it.

Good evening. Um, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Shu Martinez. I am a local realtor and I am also a community schools liaison here for our school district. I am excited to see where this takes us and what I can do to further serve our community. I have been in Laspanis for about 25 years now. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much. We really appreciate you. So, Mity, if you can make that motion to to uh appoint her to your position. Um, yes. I'd like to u motion to um have Shuer Martinez as um the planning commission for district 1.

Second the motion. Okay, we have a motion and a second as stated. Any further questions or comments? All in favor signify by saying I.

I opposed. Eyes have it. Congratulations. Okay. Next item. Next item is item 10. Consideration of adopting of the city council resolution 7034 adopting the 2025 city of Lasanis emergency operations planner revision and the 2025 emergency operation annexes and we'll turn it over to our fire chief twala chief. Good evening uh mayor council and city staff. I'm here tonight to help present the updated emergency operations plan. Uh it's been a long work in progress and we go a little bit of background into the emergency operations plan itself for the city. So part of the emergency operations plan is to help uh establish coordinated response efforts with our other local government partners uh and even our nonforprofits and our public private partnerships we may have is included in the plan. So it's to help protect life, property and the environment uh during uh major incidents. And then this plan also helps us maintain that uh continuity of government so that even though we're managing an emergency incident that we are still continuing the services that we provide every day without uh without disruption. So, and then this plan also helps align with uh our federal and state standards uh for reimbursement, which is a big key thing um and an alignment with the standardized uh emergency management system. Did I? Okay, there we go. Um so, we have updated the emergency operations plan. The last plan was updated uh while uh uh former chief Tim Harrison was here and uh the plans are typically updated about

every 5 years. Although as a city we will look at these every year to make sure that there's no uh needed changes whether they're legislative or we've identified new hazards. So as part of that emergency operations plan update, we'll look at outdated plans, make sure that we are addressing any of the risks that we have in our community. we may end up having new risks that we need to address and have a plan for that. Uh identifying any new hazards and then updating uh any legislative uh requirements that they may have in regards to emergency operations. So, and having this plan helps us be ready for any type of incident and then we're coordinating that uh that incident appropriately. So I'm not going to go through all the government codes but there are government code sections that uh talk about um when government has to update plans prepare emergency plans the compliance that we have to maintain which we are in compliance with and then the responsibilities of the of the local agencies in regards to emergency operations. A big key component uh of this emergency oper emergency operation plan is not only to have a plan when we have a major incident but also um having the ability to reimburse on some larger incidents where we may have federal or state reimbursement. So it's uh key that we have this plan up to date and that we're we're abiding by that. So uh I talked about this a little bit. uh it's required for state and federal funding eligibility and it gives a common operating structure. So if we happen to have an incident here in the city and we open up a department operations center and it kind of expands into the county our we'll have a the common same operating structure as the county would be if the county had to come in and help us with this. So, we're looking at the

same platform um just that each individual uh um city or county may have different hazards and we address those specific hazards within our plan. So, this does help us coordinate um with our state and federal partners during an emergency. So, uh I know that when we provided the packet and thank you Lucy and your staff for putting together this very large packet um because uh part of the merch operations plan are the appendixes that go along with this that cover quite a few things. So it covers hazard identification, the emergency response, uh communication and warning systems, evacuation and sheltering procedures that we have to have, continuity of operations, and then recovery and mitigation uh strategies, plans that are within that um within that document. So there's I know there's quite a bit to digest. Uh what was really nice about this preparation uh this time with this merge operation plan they had broken down the appendices a little bit better uh compared to the last plan. So um and I'll speak a little bit about that part of this process started back in 2023. Uh we started um to work with the county. The county had hired a consultant and used homeland security grants uh money uh that was available and every city including the county of Merrced participated in the emergency operation plan update. Uh I went to several meetings. Um we had some difficulties getting to all to every meeting. So our anko technologies which was the consultant for this project uh actually came out to Laspanos for two days and actually spoke with our staff and spent some time with our staff. Got to look at our facilities. got to look at some of the hazards we had within our own community, which was uh really nice to actually have them here on the ground. Um those experts were able to help us tailor our plan very specific to

Laspanos to make sure that we're addressing um some of those uh concerns. So, and everybody was involved in the process from HR to finance to uh community and economic development, parks and wreck um and um pretty much all of our all of our city staff actually were actually participated within those two days. So, it was really nice having them here. Um and then a county of uh Merrced Office of Emergency Services stayed in contact with us during the whole process to make sure that we were staying on task. Um, and to include uh not only talking with our city staff, but they also included some of our uh regional partners such as our non-forprofits like Red Cross and then identifying some of our uh private businesses that might be able to help us on that public private partnership. So again, benefits the adoption of of a new plan, strengthens our citywide preparedness um throughout uh helps us uh enhance our response efficiency, uh keeping things up to date, uh making sure we're in compliance, and then making us still eligible for any federal or uh disaster reimbursement, whether it be federal or state. So um once the plan's adopted, um we'll be working with the city manager. We've had quite a few discussions on uh working with council on um dealing with some things like our environmental hazards that we may have, weather hazards. Uh also updating the municipal code to uh be more in line with our emergency activation of um of of our EOC and DOC. And then right now we're actually working with the county because now that the countyy's completed the emergency operations plan updates that we're working on the hazard mitigation plan which is goes in align

with your emergency operations plan. So we're currently uh working on that. Had the first meeting last week and hope to have a final adoption and update um hazard plan for our community here uh adopted by early 2027. So, and this will also help us uh guide um some functional exercises that we're planning to have here in the city uh involving our staff so we can kind of test the plan to make sure that we are ready or be able to address any concerns that we may have or things that we may need to address to make sure that the our pendants appendix for a particular whether it's the resource uh appendix um or our alerting emergency alerting that we have those things updated as needed. Um, uh, recommendations just to have the city council adopt the updated emergency operations plan, which will help us support our readiness and and be in compliance with that and and more than willing to answer any questions that you may have.

Yes,

Mayor, before you go to city council, I mean, just as in addition to what Paul has discussed, this is a very comprehensive plans that has that's been due for an update for quite some time. And I think many of us still very much remember 2023. Um at the time I was here as well and you know about the rain event. We get 16 inches of rain in a matter of a week. Um the creek was coming up. Those are just some of the realistic um catastrophe that may happen to the city. Right. Even in preparation for this plan we hope that we never have to use it. But it's one of those things that we must have so that in the events that those things have to come in in place is that all your staff understand all the level of disaster and the uniqueness to each one of those disaster and then we can respond to them. The plan is to start and it cannot come in at a better time because we are working on design of our EOC that this is going to be integrated to a part of that so that way when there are disaster whether it's drought, earthquake, flood, levy failures or pandemic that your staffs um as well as the city council know how to communicate, how to implement because it's go above and beyond just the planning phase, the implementation, the search and rescue, the communications and then the back end of it. How do we recover some of that financial loss that may come with a disaster? So this is a very comprehensive plan. It will be a living document to where as we do tabletop exercise we get get our community involved that these plan continue to get updated as we move forward. Thank you. The plan is very complete. I good job chief. Uh I remember back I think it was 1996 when we had the that was another really bad flood here when the ones that have were in Lasis we had a burm going down or tigalita was a mess. But I remember, you know, staff did an excellent job, but there was the coordination between uh the public and communication. Luckily, we had just gone online with our with our TV and our council meetings and so we could do

updates daily. The staff could and council members could and that was really important. So, I'm glad we're following through on this and it's a good plan. Any other questions by council? Then if I'll entertain a motion. Yeah, I'd like to make a motion to adopt uh resolution 7034 as submitted. Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second for resolution 7034 as stated. Any further questions or comments? All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Eyes have it. Thanks, Chief. Item 11, consideration of adoption of the city council number 7035 authorizing city contributions to mayor and the city council members, city clerk, city treasurer, health and welfare benefits and reimbursement. So, uh, Lucy, I'm going to turn this over and you can explain what's going on with this.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and city council. This item is a resolution regarding city contributions for health and welfare benefits for the mayor, city council members, city clerk, and city treasurer, and an update to the cell phone reimbursement policy. The city of Lasanis has historically provided elected officials with health and welfare benefits that are similar to those provided to city employees. These benefits include medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, participation in section 125 cafeteria plan, retirey health savings contributions, social security, and Medicare, access to the employee assistance program, and reimbursement for official city business expenses. All of these benefits are already included in the adopted budget and this resolution simply continues those existing practices. State law allows the city to provide these benefits as long as they are consistent with employee benefits. The law also authorizes compensation and benefits for the city clerk and city treasurer and ensures that those benefits do not exceed what is provided to non-safety employees. Elected officials may also choose to participate in Kalpers for pension and health benefits if they elect to do so. This resolution continues the city's current practice of offering benefits through the cafeteria plan and the retirey health savings plan with the city contributing $75 per month to the retirey health savings plan for each participating elected official. Former elected officials may continue health coverage on a self-pay basis and

eligible retirees may access retirey health benefits through Kalpers. For those who participate in Kalpers, the city pays the required employer contribution. The city also pays the employer portion of social security and Medicare for elected officials as required under federal law. Currently, this is 6.25%. 25% for social security and 1.45% for Medicare. Elected officials also pay their employee share through payroll deductions. These contributions are provided in the same manner as they are for city employees and are not counted toward the statutory compensation limits. The resolution also updates the cell phone policy. Instead of a flat monthly allowance, elected officials would have the option to either be reimbursed for actual documented cell phone costs related to city business or be provided with a cityissued phone. Reimbursement for other official business expenses would continue with proper documentation. All benefits are optional and may be waved. If the city clerk or city treasurer also serves as a city employee, they would not receive duplicate benefits. This item aligns with re with the recent citywide updates to the policy and procedures manual approved by council in November and ensures consistency across city policies. There is no new fiscal impact as funding is already included in the adopted fiscal year 2526 budget and we recommend adoption of the resolution and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Okay. So basically like Lucy said we updated our employee documents. So we then have to update the city council and elected official documents. Really nothing has changed. some procedural things like trying to clean it up, you know, cell phone or you have to every month turn in your bill. It has to be justified and everything like that. But really nothing's has changed. Nothing's changing. We're just following the state regulations and making sure that our employees uh documents are the same as elected official document. So nothing really has changed in any of that. I don't know any questions by any of the council. Just trying to clean up the black and white stuff on this paper, I guess. Okay, then I will entertain a motion for resolution 7035. Yeah. Well, yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, I'll go ahead and open up public comment. Anybody wants to talk about this, tell us something, I'll give you three minutes public comment. you know, and then starting next year, and I've said this a couple times at the end of the meetings, uh, we're changing all there'll be public comment at every every item on the agenda and we'll be open to people speaking to us from home and and that's all changed that's coming through the state guidelines. So, that's coming. So, not seeing anyone coming forward. I'll go back and send it back to the city council to entertain a motion for resolution 7035. Mr.

Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution number 7035 as read by title. I'll second. Okay, we have a motion and second for resol resolution 7035 is stated. Any further comments or questions? I'd hear n. All in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Eyes have it. Thank you, Lucy. And we will move on to item 12, consideration of adoption of the city council resolution 7036, rejecting all bids received for the Canel Trail Solar Lighting Project. And we'll go to our public works director by

Okay. Good evening again, uh, mayor and council members. Um, this project, uh, the item here before you is a project for the solar lighting along the canal trail. Um it was initiated from public comments received during the parks master plan process and other public input opportunities uh to enhance the the canal trail. There was a grant was received by the Sanwaqen River Exchange Contractor's Water Authority for uh $125,000. And then the uh we uh there was uh $325,000 appropriated in fiscal year 2025 2026 for this project. And the intention is to light the full length of the trail from Pioneer Road to Ice Street. Uh uh that's a little background on the project. Uh bids bids were received um and the lowest bidder sub submitted a substitute light and poll that was substandard from what we were requesting. It it was below the specs in a number of areas including the the battery, the quantity uh and the warranty and then the remaining biders were all over budget. Um so the the recommendation here tonight is to reject this round of bids and um rebid the project with um a smaller amount of lights. And we'll focus those lights on the the more traveled areas where people congregate, maybe where the trail splits off and comes back together. Um, and then we can also add uh um another bid item um in there in case the bids come in lower and we have enough funding that we'll we'll add back in some of those lights so that we could get more of them done. An optional bid

item. But we there are other options that the city council can re can um consider. Um and some of those include reducing the the specifications for the lights which which we do not recommend. Um we can uh the pole we can uh lighting a portion of the trail instead of trying to light the entire trail and we can add additional funding to the project so that we can rebid it and um make sure that we get it done. Um, so we're we we're here to receive any direction that the council may want to provide, but our recommendation is to reject the bids and uh direct public works staff to rebid this project uh with a with a smaller scope. And I'm here for any questions you may have.

Questions? You think it's possible that we could do what you said? think it go through and and get it lit by another. Is there any other grants out there? I know this came through.

Um it's possible and and off the top of my head, I don't um I don't know what the um what the deadline is for for expanding the grant that we did receive. But the idea is to remove enough lights um we have enough bids so we can see really what the cost really should be um that we can scope it down far enough and still light up a majority of the trail. It just may be a little the lights may be a little bit further apart. And with the optional bid item, we can then include the if we sub if we subtract 10, we could have like an option for the other 10 so that if they do come in uh below budget that we can then then um exercise that option and add those 10 back. And one of the good things about this is they're all solar. So there's no there's no um electrical, there's no wiring, no conduit, no underground work that has to be done. So say say we cut 20 lights out next year or the following year if we have funding available, we can add those lights back and light up those areas where we removed them and we don't have to run any conduit or any pool boxes because it's just the light with the solar panel and a battery. myself. I I'd rather see that approach to do it right. The piece we're going to do, make sure it's right instead of trying to spread it out and have a lot of dark areas. I don't think is the answer. That's just my opinion on it. Any comments,

mayor? And I think that's what we kind of take a look at and that's why because the budget has already been approved as it is, it's $125,000 from the grant plus additional city discretionary fund that's already put into it. We didn't want to increase that because there is a deadline also that we have to get this grant expend. um and that we can do this project in phase and that's like for William say rather than making the entire project as the base bit we can reduce it to high use area for example the um the crossing the bridge u for the high school we know that that at times after games and whatnot children can be coming home so those would be the high use area that we would consider as a base bit with the amount of lighting frequency that we currently have in place so that that would get lit first second is like at Pacimon Park where there's a lot of congregation people enjoying the park we can continue to build those out yes there might a portions of it in the middle that may not be part of the base bit, but we're definitely going to be putting it back in there as a bit al alternative. So, in the event that, let's say, for example, next year the Sanwalkin River Exchange contractor have another round of grant that can provide another $125 to $150,000 worth of funding, we can go after those because we already have the bid numbers and stuff that we know um what a good accurate estimate is for that portion that we can go after again. But at least this will resolve some of the issue of you know kids going to school dark at night and then like William said because there is no electrical wire on the ground we can really deploy these on phases.

Okay I understand any comments? Yeah Bill so is there like a like uh what do you call lifespan for the batteries for solar and all that? Is there there is and and the one that was the lowest bidder was substandard. It didn't meet the specs that we were asking for. So, it wouldn't have lasted as long and the warranty wouldn't wasn't going to be as long for for those specific lights and poles, which is why we we want to reject the bids because we don't want to put it in and then have to go spend another $300,000 in 10 years to replace everything.

Yeah. So, and I'm thinking if we're doing it also in in in like you're saying in bits and pieces, we don't have to, you know, replace all those batteries at the same time if the project was done at once. If you do it in stages and you're replacing in stages, too. So, exact. Yep. All right. Thanks, Carol. I entertain a motion to to reject these bids. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution number 7035 as uh read by title 036. 36 736, I'm sorry. Second.

Okay. Motion for resolution 07036 as stated. Further questions or comments? All in favor signify by saying I. I. Eyes have it. Motion carried. Thank you, William. Thank you. And and may just to confirm um after the motions the the direction from council is to reduce the scope create a new base bit to where it's within the budget and then have those bid alternative in the event that we can't afford those other portions and phases right. Yes. I think that was part of the resolution. Okay. Sounds good. Okay. Thank you.

Okay. Hey, we'll go to city department reports and we'll start with our community and economic director, development director, Stacy Soua Elms. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and City Council. Um, so I just want to highlight some projects that were recently approved for the planning commission. Um, back on December 10th, last Wednesday, a redevelopment. So, it was a demolition and redevelopment of 1015 East Pacheo, which is right next to uh the Chevron off of 10th Street, um was approved and also Villages 6 subdivision, which was for 30 units. Um um which is just southwest of Walmart. Um and then we had a back-to-back meeting on Thursday. We had an adjourned meeting um for St. Lewis Estates subdivision which was approved for 96 units. Um of those three projects, villages six for 30 units will be coming um before the city council um for consideration of a final development plan and a development agreement. And then I also want to highlight uh to the council that our next scheduled regularly scheduled planning commission meeting would fall on December 24th. So that meeting will be cancelled. Our next planning commission meeting will be January 14th in the new year with our new planning commissioner. Thank you.

Great. Thank you, Stacy. And you know, our incredible finance director has been been forgotten a little bit lately and her name was off. I I introduced everybody at our open house that started around 4:30 this afternoon. And I missed introducing our finance director, Minnie Moreno. So, Minnie, it's all yours. I forgive you, mayor. Thank you. Okay.

So, for me, um I just want to remind customers again uh with high balances on their utility bills uh to make sure they're contacting um customer service, billing, uh customer service to make payment plans or make any arrangements. We're going to start shutting um water services off in the end of January. So, uh please give us a call and see how we can help and and getting those set up. I also want to thank the community for the work. Uh they've been supporting the campaign shop smart support local. I a lot of enthusiasm with our pins and our shirts and the banner and um as our banner says downtown um every dollar counts and so uh getting that word out and and having our community really um support the campaign has been really um nice to see uh out there. So, uh, we're also going to start, um, if you could believe it, midyear budget meetings, reviews with our departments. And so, we're going to have those mid January. And then we're going to be bringing to council um the mid-budget um mid-budget year um in February. Um, so be ready for that. And um, that's it for me. Thank you.

Thank you very much, our fire chief, Paul Twalla. Good evening again. Uh I only have a couple things. Uh we did have a swearing in ceremony this week. Was probably our largest swearing in ceremony where we uh we swore in our two new battalion chiefs. Thank you for those positions in this budget. Thank you many for making sure that that happened. So um so we that that was really uh well attended. So we appreciate the support on that. Uh Santa is out in the engine this this week. They're actually they were out tonight. They'll be out Friday, uh, Sunday, and then Monday night. Um, so we always look forward to that. And I've been working with, um, our our PD staff, uh, regards to the American Medical Response Transition. Uh, the board of soups approved yesterday for the transition to actually happen on on New Year's Eve at noon to help offset that midnight transition uh, on January 1. So, we're looking forward to that. that they're ready to go. Um, and they've really been very, uh, communicative with, uh, all of the local providers, uh, both first response agencies and law enforcement agencies throughout the county and the public safety answering points to make sure that everything's getting addressed for the transition. So, I'm excited for them to start. I'll be out there uh, making sure that uh, we are out there supporting them. And that's all I have. Thank you very much, Chief Human Resource Director, Lucy Melanie. Lucy, anything? Yes,

Mr. Mayor and City Council. Since our last council meeting, we've welcomed five new employees across several departments, and two employees have also received promotions. By year end, we expect at least three more new hires. And on January 1st, we're expecting to hire 10 more employees. So, um, we are proud to highlight several key milestones. We hired our first full-time city attorney. We hired our first full-time city engineer, and we welcomed a new city manager. Over the past year, we have posted 52 recruitments and onboarded 47 new employees across multiple departments um including public works um maintenance workers, utility maintenance, engineering techs, facilities manager, operations manager, custodians, um city engineer, public works director. In the police department, we hired police officers, police officer trainees, police sergeants, community services officers, public safety dispatchers, admin clerks. In the fire department, we hired firefighters, fire engineers, fire captains, and battalion chiefs. In the finance department, we hired Minnie Moreno, the finance director, um a finance manager, and account clerks. Um, in parks and wreck, we hired recreation coordinators, part-time wreck assistants, part-time maintenance workers. In community economic development, we hired a homeless outreach coordinator and an administrative coordinator. In admin, we hired an assistant city clerk, records coordinator, and HR technicians. Um, we are currently recruiting for several additional positions including community

services officer, lateral police officer, and administrative coordinators. And if you're interested in working for the city, it's a wonderful place to work. Please visit our website or contact HR at city hall at 827-2427. And I'd like to take a moment to recognize the awesome HR team that I work with whose hard work and dedication makes all this possible. Um, they are Sarah Blevens, the HR analyst, Vanna Lynn, the assistant city clerk records coordinator, Yada Del Riel, the HR technician who runs payroll, and Brenda Seahar, the other HR technician. Thanks to their efforts, over the past year, we have processed 4,990 payroll checks. We've processed at least 12 city council agenda packets, which included processing 170 resolutions and eight ordinances. Finally, I want to thank the mayor, city council members, city manager, and department heads for your continued support and leadership, which has helped us build a strong city team. And that's all I have. Thank you.

Well, before I move on, uh Lucy has this is her last city council meeting that she'll be human resource director. She's going to retire at the end of the year. She still will stay on as city clerk. Thank God. But I'm, you know, she's really, she's been 31 years with the city, has done an incredible job. She was here when I first got elected in '94. She had already been here a year or so. Um, those times were unbelievable. Now it's even better. And I, you know, I think about the process, especially this last year. I don't know if I think there's only be like two people in this room that's up here. Deborah, Stacy, the two chiefs that would be here if it wasn't for Lucy. The reason why I ran the reason why I ran for mayor, there were a lot of reasons, is because of that girl over there, cuz I, you know, she told me what was going on and and then convinced my wife and I to do it. So, I cannot thank her enough. This city cannot thank her enough for what she has done for this this city government and for the people of Lasanis. And we have more things coming down the road for her because she still will be at our meetings. You know,

yeah, I'm sorry to do it to you, but she's been unbelievable. So Lucy, we love you and we at least you'll be with our us at our our meeting. So thank you for staying on as city clerk, which is a very important part of her job. But she'll be retiring for our human resource director. And I'm not sure what we're going to do, but we'll try to find somebody to take your place. It'll be one more position. So on behalf of this, all the citizens of Lasanis, thank you very very much. Okay, now we will move on to let's see, Joe is park recreation uh director is on vacation.

Mayor, I have a I have a quick update.

Oh, you do? Okay, that'd be great. Thanks. Um, so Joe wanted me to uh announce first of all, he didn't tell he didn't ask me to announce this, but I think it was an excellent breakfast with Santa event uh last Saturday. Um, and that's Joe putting that all together. The first year it has grown since the first year year Joe was here has just grown exponentially. Every year it just gets bigger and bigger and better. Um, so that was a successful event. the Christmas parade. He had a lot to do with that with setting up the tree at the end and all that. So, uh I think those were both successful events. And Joe wanted me to announce that Shaughnessy Park is now open. Um there's going to be a big grand opening sometime in the spring when the weather gets a little better. Al although today would have been a nice day for it this afternoon anyways. Um but I told Joe that I would make that announcement for

Great. Thank you, William. Thank you for doing that. So, we'll move on to our police chief Ray Rea. Chief.

Good evening, Mayor Councel. Uh, a few items. Um, I wanted to take a moment to thank the Laspanos community. Uh, this month we concluded our 12th annual canned food drive. And so, this canned food drive, uh, is something that we put together for the Losanos community. Um, and this year we were able to raise again over 10,000 lbs of food that went to the uh to our two largest um um locations in town that assist um local residents. So, we dropped off a bunch of food to the Salvation Army, Bethl Community Church, and uh all of this went to help um our lob community. So, thank you to those who assisted and to the school district that really came through this year. Um December, there's there are a lot of events that we um that we put together for the community. So, uh thank you uh for those who came out to our hot cocoa event. Uh it was cold, but it was fantastic. This year's Cops for Kids was well organized. Um, we gave away about 4 500 bags of toys to local children and families, uh, many of, uh, whom we got to hang out with at the police department, take pictures with. Um, and this is put together by, um, police activities league officer Miriam Rivas. And the same evening, uh, we did our annual shop with a cop event. And, uh, we took 53 local children. Uh we got the names from the school district. These are the the kids that needed it the most. And we took them to a local store. We took them on a shopping spree. Um and we took them and we bought them socks and shoes and toothbrushes and toys and jackets and sweaters and all kinds of good things that they needed. So uh was a real

blessing for them and us as well. Um this month uh I want to w uh congratulate officer Will Maris who was honored as the VFW officer of the year. So um they invited him to the their event. They had selected him. Very well-deserving good public servant right there. Good hire. Um we talked about the snip bus. I think we did what 76 or so. Uh, and this is all in our ongoing efforts uh to reduce the number of unwanted animals that constantly come into our shelter and we got to figure out what we're going to do with them. Um, there's a lot of effort that goes into that. So, thank you to the council for putting that money in the budget for us. A reminder tomorrow, um, our lateral police officer, Zack Zuspin, will be sworn in at the police department at 9:30. Hope to see you all there. Um, and is it was a very busy week, very busy weekend for our staff, for uh for the police department. U so I want to thank um the council for giving us the tools that we need, the staffing, the equipment. Um it really uh really makes a difference. So uh we want to thank you. I want to also thank the staff this year. It was a busy year, but everyone came together um police um sworn and nonsworn. And so I want to thank my staff. They really uh do care. They really do a fantastic job. It is my honor to be their chief. And then finally, uh I hope everyone has a merry Christmas, a safe one, and on behalf of the LBPD and my family, uh I hope you guys all have a great Christmas. Thank you.

Thank you, Chief, very much. And our public works director, William B. William,

thank you. Uh uh first first off uh the contractor that's working on the the basin project on the east side of town uh mobilized on Monday. So they've they've moved some equipment out there. They started doing a little bit of clearing and grubbing. So that project has has taken off. It's might get a little delayed. We got some rain on the way uh starting I think on Sunday all through Christmas even. Uh so it may be a little bit delayed but at least they're out there and working. Um, the next next thing I wanted to mention is uh leaf season. I know I mentioned this earlier, but with the cooler temperatures that we've had and then this rain coming, that's going to knock a lot of those leaves off and hopefully all of them so we could make another trip through town and be done with it. Um, but um Mark Kegy, which which this is why he's employee of the year, he assured me that leaves leaves will be picked up except on Christmas and New Year's. So, the regular days, um, he'll have staff out there picking those leaves up. So, uh, they'll try to stay on top of that. And then lastly, I'd like to congratulate Lucy on her retirement and thank her for all of the work that she's done. And I don't know how many people she has helped me hire just in the last two months that I've been here, but uh, multiple multiple positions have been filled. So, thank you, Lucy. That's all I have. Great.

Thank you, William. City Manager You're on Thamp.

Well, mayor, this is my seventh week uh with the city. It has been moving very very fast. I can't believe that um we're this is our last council meeting for the calendar year. Um to echoes a lot of the stuff that our staff is talking about. I just want to thank you all for all that you do. Um for continue to show up to works and do the hard stuff and also think about the futures, what this city could look like and provide those technical inputs to our council, to our commissioner and stay open to the public. You know, be respectful. um and they continue to gather all of those and provide those technical feedback back to us so that decision can be made on a lot of those long-term uh solutions um for our community. Things like the Chromium 6, things like you know intersections like Vineyards and Dove, although it sounds small, it's just you know a couple words, it takes years to deliver and thank you for having the perseverance to really push that project along and staying on top of it. Um, additionally, thank you for continue to build partnership with our other jurisdictions. I know in the past that has been a challenge uh for our city. Um, in the last uh two months I have witnessed all of you reaching out to all of our partner agency work with each one of them and actually come to find solutions so that our community can continue to grow and improve uh on every aspect of life. Um, everything's from public safety to our long-term planning, public works and park and recreations. Every initiative takes a lot of time. We might only see it at a council meeting, you know, for a discussion that is only 20 30 minute, but that takes months and sometime years um for it to come to fruition. Example tonight, the EOP plan, it took us 15 minutes to present that, to discuss that plan, but it actually took over two years um to develop those to analyze and making sure that all of us can go home safe and in the event that you have a disaster and you need someone that the city will be there for you. So that is the initiative that we continue to have and we look forwards to the resident to continue to provide input on a lot of those new planning because coming January 2026 we'll be

doing a lot of master planning updates and we'll need all of the feedback from the community to build um what's the next 20 year of our city will look like. Um otherwise um I want to echo our staff also. Thank you Lucy for everything that you do um for the last couple year that I've been working with you for being providing me guidance as well as being a mentors on a lot of different subject that I'm not a subject matter expert off. Thank you for all your service and I I look forward to our continue uh friendships um as well beyond your um directorship. So thank you Lucy. Um that's include my update mayor. Thank you. Thank you Nerra. So we'll start with uh council member mayor prom Deborah Lewis district 4. Deborah

thank you mayor. Um well we had a very fruitful month with events uh in in uh December and the latter part of November. Um I had the opportunity to attend the grand opening for Uno Hawaiian Barbecue as well as some of our other staff and council members on December 5th. And I think it's going to be a very successful uh restaurant here in Los Banos. The food was a absolutely excellent. Um also um I want to congratulate James. I can't remember his last name. The new Russell Kak.

Kak. Thank you. Our new city engineer. Um welcome aboard. I know he's gone already, but uh we all look forward to working with him. and to Jolene for her promotion. Um, welld deserved. And to our fire chief, all of the the new promotions that you had and uh, one new employee uh, coming in from the LA area is going to be a great asset to our, uh, fire department and our community. Um, also, um, on December on December the 3, um, we had our annual, uh, uh, movie night at Fire Station 1. The movie was Home Alone, which is one of my favorite during Christmas time, one of the three favorites. And, uh, they also had popcorn and, uh, hot cocoa. And the cocoa was really good, Chief. It was really good. So, the the attendance was really nice. Uh, as as always, the children come out with their families and they have their pajamas on and just have a really good time uh watching the movie. And then, uh, some gifts were given away at the end. So, thank you, Chief, for that that annual event. Uh, December the 13th, uh, I think Mr. Vai already indicated was, uh, Breakfast with Santa. That was my 13th year being able to work that event and I really enjoy working with the guys who uh work in that kitchen. They're outstanding. They're great cooks. Uh they know exactly how to put this together and they keep it going and my job is to yell out hot cakes cuz we we we've run out of hot cakes in that pan and it's time for them to bring more over. So, it's really been a great time working with uh the staff from Park and Recreations on that breakfast with Santa.

Well, um and also Chief um your Cocoa with the Popo. Uh I was there but not long cuz it was cold. I was freezing from head to toe. But you guys stuck it out and gave out some really nice gifts and it was well attended. So, thank you. I think that's your third annual one. Is it the third annual Cocoa with the Popo? So, uh, we look forward to it next year and hopefully it won't be as cold as it was this year. It will be. I'm going to put Lucy on the spot again. So, if you need some more tissue, I'll be happy to pass my box over to the chief to hand it to her. But um Lucy has uh for me been very helpful uh to guide me and rules about being a council member uh keeping me a breast to things that I don't understand in regards to personnel for council people. Um when I have a tendency to forget, she's been there to remind me. when I have to travel out of town for city business or uh for other committees that I sat on, she's made sure that I have a vehicle available so that I can get there. Um during the rough times, she was there for me. She was a good companion and I hope I was there for her. Um so I'm going to miss her. I'm going to miss going in her office to say hello because not only is she an employee, but she's been a good friend to me as well. And I do wish her well. Um I I hope that uh she's she's definitely got her hands full, you know, walking out of this job, but find some time for you to just enjoy

life and relax. uh because that's important and do something that's going to keep your mind stimulated. Uh otherwise it'll end up being like mine and uh it'll freeze up on you at times. But uh job well done for 31 years. Um she was there when I was on the planning commission and um I've just enjoyed working with her these 13 years uh on city council. So, Lucy, enjoy your life and um job well done. That's all I'm going to say. Job well done. Uh, our open house was well attended tonight. Was happy to see everyone come out and enjoy the the festive time and to be able to talk to the people that were here. Um, and I want to wish our staff a very merry Christmas, a very safe Christmas, not only to our staff, but to our commissions, to our volunteers, and to all the residents of Los Banos. Uh, have a very merry Christmas and, uh, we'll see you in the new year. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Now, we're up, council member, District 1, Nancy Press. Thank you. Um I just want to thank all staff um for all the work they do. Um this month, you know, was absolutely amazing with all the events. Um you know, the hot cocoa event. I was very uh happy to be part of the breakfast with Santa. My first time joining Deborah there. Um it was a lot of fun and you know just seeing everyone there very happy to um you know play um mini golf and enjoy some pancakes. It was amazing being there. So thank you for inviting me. Um I just also want to thank everyone and specifically Lucy for helping me out. U I know I just joined and you were so helpful when I first joined the council. So congratulations on your retirement. Um, and I want to wish everyone here, all staff and all the residents a very merry Christmas. And I hope everyone has a joyful and relaxing time with their families and just happy holidays.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Let's see. Evan Sanders, District 2. Evan,

so congratulations to Mark on employee of the year. And I was going to Well, congratulations to James, but it sounds like we have a bunch of people that we've hired recently. So, congratulations to everyone who's joined the staff. Um, and to Jillian on her promotion and, uh, to the chief and all of your new people and great that we're filling out that department. Um, overall, it's been it's been really cool to be part of this this year. I feel like I'm still finding my feet. Um, every time I every time I get a new agenda, I'm like, "Oh, okay. I need to look into that." But it's taken a year before I kind of start feel like I'm I'm sort of know what I'm doing up here a little bit. Um, and and that's really thanks to staff and the job that you guys all do with making sure that we're well prepared and and that everything is just tight. I look into things and I ask questions of people and and there's always answers that make sense and there's history and background. It's just I really appreciate it. And Lucy is the person that if I don't know who to go to, I always go to Lucy and she's she's amazing. I I've only been here for a year, so it's such a small fraction of your career, but I can see why you're so well loved around around here. I can only assume that Joe Heim's going to do a great job filling your shoes in room.

So, yeah, I think we've made a lot of progress with the city this year. I'm really happy how much how much we've gotten done. I think a a big change from one year ago. Um, we've got the homeless are in a much better situation. Not ideal, but way better than it was a year ago. Um, and yeah, it's just been really educational and fun. Uh, I did only event this year I've managed to get to in the holiday season is the hot cocoa with Popo. I can confirm the cocoa was hot and the weather was cold. Uh, but it was a nice event. I wish I could have stayed longer, but it was cold and I didn't bring any gloves. So, uh, that's all for me. Happy Christmas to all to all. Good night.

Thank you, Evan. We'll go to district three, Marcus Chavez.

Well, a lot of a lot of everything's already been said. Um, you know, uh, definitely the chief, thanks to you and the staff as far as Coco and the Popo. Yeah, it was freezing. U, I do want to say thanks to Chutna though for the, uh, Coco. She kept me going though, so, you know, that was good. So, hopefully she knows. And thank you again, uh, Chief Tua, you know, for the parade, Christmas parade. Thank you for the truck and Juan for driving us around and Buddy Buddy the elf when you know you got promoted too. So we were there for the for all the promotions uh you know along with our finance director Mini Moreno was there at the at the firehouse you know when that happened. Thank you for coming. Finance director Mini Moreno um what's what's her name? Huh?

What's her name? Uh finance director director director. That's Mini Marino. Yes. Okay. Thank you.

So you know on Hawaiian hey they was great. That was fantastic. Uh Mark again, you know, uh congratulations for, you know, the employee of the year. Uh you know, as well as, uh the new hires, and there's a lot of them. Uh you know, Lucy, don't worry. I'm not going to make you cry. You're not going anywhere. You're still going to be around, you know. So, I'm glad you're still going to be around and uh you know, everything Miss Lewis said, but thank you very much for everything. And you you'll still be here. You'll still be here. Um, you know, and everybody, uh, you know, the community, thanks for coming out for the parade. There's a lot of people out there. That was pretty cool. Uh, it was cold, but uh, it was cool. Uh, and also, you know, merry Christmas to, uh, everyone. Happy New Year to everyone. Uh, this was definitely an interesting year for me along with Evan. on the ride with him uh starting uh with this uh journey and and thanks to the staff for sure because uh I keep I probably keep asking the same questions and some dumb questions and coming back but you know they always line me out and say hey you know this that and the other and it makes sense like Evan said and uh you know thank the entire staff and everything that's uh you guys do uh the city couldn't get all this stuff done without everything that you guys are doing. So thank you again. Also want to say thanks to uh you know Neuron. Thank you very much. You know you've uh stepped in. You've been here for like seven weeks and uh uh you know it doesn't feel like we've missed a beat. You had big shoes to fill with Gary and we've been moving so you know really good and Mary as well. You know thank you. There's a lot of change going on here and uh but I think we're moving in the in the right direction. I know we're not perfect. At least I know I'm not. But uh you know we try our best. We really are trying to improve the city. We are trying to, you know, I know we don't make everybody happy all the time, but best intentions are are always what we're trying to do here. So, merry Christmas and thank you to everyone.

Mayor, thank you, Marcus. And uh I want our next city council meeting, we have to add city attorney as a department to because now we have actually a department instead of a someone that is on the outside. You know, we've had a lot of questions about the homeless community encampment and we had a letter at and I want to explain why the city did these options, what our thinking was up here and I do appreciate Julie Kraton's letter that was read at the public forum. Uh she's she was well thought out, her comments are well thought out and she makes some very good points. First, our long-term goal is that we will nei not need bridge housing in the future. That's my long-term goal. The One Tree Village is intended to be our permanent solution. That said, we still have to meet the state's current requirements and the decision was about choosing the most practical and responsible path. The choice really came down to two options. is purchasing an existing motel or using state approved pallet homes that are available at a discount to the city. I have a lot of experience in this area. I served as chair of the designated local authority for 12 years which took over the old redevelopment agency and we were responsible for buying, selling and rehabilitating many properties about $165 million of property that were located in Merced and Lasanis. Here's how here is how buying an older property typically works. And I have this experience. A seller will come to the city asking way over top dollar. Why? Because the city has money. Then the city goes out and gets an appraisal which usually

comes in 50 40 50 60% of the asking price of the seller and the negotiation starts and then and that takes time. Many sellers assume that the government of course has deep profits and can pay any asking price. But we are bounded by state regulations and rules and that we have to play by. And at this point, the city has to convince the seller to accept our offer or we can consider eminent domain, which this council will never do. So, we're not into any of that stuff. But we have to reach a purchase price. And if we do reach the purchase price, that's just the beginning. The building then has to come up to code. We had through the DLA, we had one building that was worth about $200,000 that needed a million dollars to bring it up to code. That's the kind of experience I had in my 12 years with the DLA. Of course, it requires engineering and engineers like to overengineer so they can protect their license and that's understandable. This adds time and cost the process. Then the project goes out to bid, which adds more time, increases the cost at least another 30%. Because we pay prevailing wages. Realistically, the process to buy a hotel or motel that's in this town, rehab it, go through all those processes that I just talked about, I would guess be a minimum of two years, if not three. The pallet homes avoid many of those issues. They have already been pre-approved by the state, including the engineering, the design, and the company that will install them. That alone saves us at least a year. There are fewer surprises and once infrastructure is in place, the units can be installed efficiently. That gives us a lot of time

saving and we can move on to our next step in uh dealing with the situation of the encampment on G Street. Another very important part is the flexibility. If we reach a point where bridge housing is no longer needed, which I hope is comes one day, we are not left with an aging structure that then the city now owns. And then we have to configure what we're going to repurpose it or we have to sell it. The city sells property has to first be offered to all the taxing agencies in the in our area, the county, the school district, the mosquito baitment district. It's crazy stuff. The one tree village is designed to ultimately address the needs of our unhoused residents and approach and align with that goal. Finally, I want to be clear that this is not the end of this conversation with the council and our staff. One of the things I intend to bring forward to this council next year includes a work program for able-bodied unemployed individuals who are using city facilities. Help should come with responsibility. Nothing in life is free and our pro our approach should reflect that balance. So, I appreciate Julie Kraton's letter that that's why we made the decisions we made. Now, lastly, as we come into our last city council meeting of the year, I want to start by saying thank you to everybody. Thank you to our department heads and the many dedicated employees that serve our city, keep it running every single day. Your commitment, professionalism, and willingness to step up during a year of major change has made a real difference for Los Bandis and the residents we serve. I can say without hesitation that this past year has brought more change to local government than at any other time in

this city's history. Change is not always easy, but it's often a necessity. This council understood that we have to make decisions to give our staff the tools they need to get the job done right. Because of that commitment, we have hired more, like Lucy said earlier, 30 new employees, including key department heads, including many, we included many on that to ensure the city runs efficiency, responsible, and with the future in mind. Just giving you a bad time, Minnie. I also want to thank my fellow council members for your support on all these matters. You backed the hard decisions. You supported rebuilding this organization and you stayed focused on what's best for Lasanis and for our future. A big part of future is our growth of our city. I want to be clear that this council's goal is not to have unchecked growth. Our goal is controlled growth that benefits our existing residents. That growth will include more affordable firsttime home buyer housing. Growth that makes sense. When you think like a business, and that's my 40 years as a business person, that's how I think. You have to have adequate inventory to meet your demands. This also helps the pricing of the homes and housing is no different. Where there are 100 approved homes or a thousand approved homes, what matters what matters is that we control the pace through a growth management system. That is how we protect infrastructure, maintain the quality of life, and still meet state requirements. I know many residents want more choices. We want more businesses. We want more restaurants. And we need good paying jobs to come to our town. And this city

council wants the exact same thing. Just last week at the opening of Ono Hawaiian Barbecue, the regional manager asked me one simple question. Is Lost Bannis going to grow? That is the reality we live in today. Yes, I wish it was Lasanis 1985, but this is California 2025. We don't get to ignore growth, but we do get to manage it wisely. If we follow this formula, Los can become more self-sufficient, self- sustaining while controlling what happens here locally. We have seen what happens when a city does not follow this plan. Just recently, the state of California sued the city of Clovis for not complying with the state growth requirements. We are determined to do the right thing the right way for our residents and for our future. Finally, I want to say thank you to the citizens of Lasis. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your engagement and thank you for your support. This city is moving forward and is moving forward because of you. I am very proud to be your mayor, your mayor. Merry Christmas. May God bless our community. This meeting's adjourned.