City Council - Regular Meeting

of the public and some young ones as well. You're all welcome. Happy to happy you're all here. So, uh, if we can get roll call, please. Council member Kundiff here. Council member Garcia here. Council member Molina here. Mayor Pro Tim Manley here. Mayor Cervantes

here. And let's see that the record show that we have our city manager Cobalt here. Our city attorney Flower, we have our city clerk Gurtis, finance director, Reed her, our community development director, Lucia. Welcome. Our city engineer Thornton, our deputy fire chief, Shaw, and our sheriff, Captain Esabel. Welcome. Good to have you. And also welcome to Angelina from the newsmir. Thanks for being here. Uh I want to remind the members of the public if you would like to make a public comment, you can do so by filling out a speaker slip. Looks like this. You can find them over there and just uh include your name and what item you'd like to talk about. If it's just general, then you don't need to put that and hand it to our city clerk. And you'll have three minutes to speak. And we encourage you to do so if you'd like to. At this time, we will do our pledge of allegiance and our council member Kundiff, will you lead us in that, please?

Please stand, remove your covers, face the flag, place your right hand over your heart, repeat after me. I pledge allegiance to the flag, the United States of America, to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. Thank you, sir. We're going to have a swearing in ceremony for our citizen patrol member, Alec Inis. So, Alec, if you could meet me at the podium, we're going to do a swearing in. Oh, okay.

You right hand. Repeat after me. I do solemnly swear or affirm I s do do solemnly swear and confirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States that I will support and defend the defense the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies foreign and domestic against all enemies foreign and domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance that all Say that again. I will bear true faith. I will bear true service.

I will bear true faith and allegiance. I will I will bear true true faith and allegiance the Constitution of the United States to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California and the Constitution of the State of California. I take this obligation freely That I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation. without any mental reservation of evasion or purpose of evasion. I will well and faithfully and I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter. dis discharge the duties of at which I'm about to enter.

Thank you. Thank you. They all want to welcome team as well.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. partner. You're not You're not out of this. One, two, Thank you. All right. At this time, we're going to do our communications from the public. Just bear with me as I read this statement about our communications from the public. This is an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the council on any item on the agenda within the council's subject matter jurisdiction. This is also a time to speak on any item on the consent calendar. Council members are limited in

asking questions for clarification or making a a referral to staff or factual information to be reported to the council at a later meeting. So, uh please direct your comments to the council, not the staff or the audience. And please respect the threeminut time constraint. Do we have any other members uh communications from the public? These two. Okay. All right. The first one I'm going to call is our kids from Valley Elementary. Students, please come forward to the podium. Mayor Cvantes, members of the council, my name is Harper Butler and I am a member of Valley Elementary student lighthouse team. Good evening. My name is Alexa Tampa and I too am a member of the student lighthouse team and we've come to invite you to our annual leadership day at Valley. We are a leader in me school which is based on the book seven habits of highly effective people by Dr. Steven Covy. As we are the future leaders of the community, we want you to know and see what is happening at our amazing school. We're learning how to lead ourselves and our school. We set wildly important goals or wigs that help us keep on track with our learning and our behaviors. Leadership Day is a chance for our school to show the community and our families all that we are learning to become leaders. Friday, March 13th at 700 a.m. you'll be immersed in our leader and me waves from the Friday flags energy time to classroom tours, all led by students. We know that you are all busy, but this day is well worth your time.

Thanks for your time tonight, and we look forward to seeing you all there. Friday, March 13th at 7 a.m. I think they deserve some uh applause for that.

Well done. Sold me. I think I'll be there for that. That is a great book, too. Seven habits of uh by by uh Stephen CVY, right? Stephen CVY. Yeah. Timeless. That's a great book. All right. Next, we have Will Newton. Council, my name is Will Newton. I'm the pastor at Mountain View on Thirdel. We have an event coming up for the whole city for both Calama and Ukipa. That's uh April 25th at it's going to start at 8 a.m. We wanted to do a Love Calama and Ukipa event. Kind of bring both cities together and just be a blessing, a help to our communities. We're going to be meeting at the Ukipa Amphitheater Park at 8:00 a.m. and we're just wanting to recognize all of our elected officials, the fire department, the police as well and just have a time where people from the community, we have the principles of Ukipa and all the other some other schools coming as well. And then after that event, it's like 45 minutes after that, we're going to go out and do community outreach events. So, one of ours that we're that we've been working on, we're going to be overseeing the replanting of all of Fourth Street Park. So, we got about 40 volunteers already wanting to be part of that,

but we have events taking place at the at the Ukipa High School and uh several other um 55 plus communities. You can find any of those events or you can register at the for an event that you think needs to get done on lovecalamsa.com. And uh we just wanted to extend that invitation and you know I look forward to being for us to be a help to our community and for not just one person or just the city trying to do stuff but I know everybody here loves our community and we want to be able to be a blessing and show that love and be able to help it and beautify it and make it look better and just be a help. So I wanted to in extend that personal invite to to all of you guys to be there that morning. Thank you.

What's the date again please? that is April 25th at 8 a.m. we'll be meeting at the UKIPA amphitheater park and then just discharging everyone to we're all dispersing into those different uh outreach events uh different ways of helping. So we have some that are going to be at Yaps for the Four Street Park project is one that our our church really wanted to make sure we did since it's here in our community. So we wanted to be able to extend that. Anyone can come be part of any of it. Just sign up. We have a waiver for that. So at the for at at the outreach event, we'll have the waiver that for the city. So we'll have those on file so we can get those turned into the city, make sure everything's good to go. So thank you.

Thank you for that, Pastor Will. Appreciate that. All right. So we need to an approval of our agenda, consent calendar, and the uh waiver of the full reading of ordinances. Let me first ask staff, are there any changes to the agenda or items you would wish to pull from the consent calendar? Staff, any items we need to pull? Uh, no, mayor. No. Council, any items you'd like to pull?

No. So then at this point, I am looking for a motion. I'll make a motion that we approve items one through four on the consent calendar and wave the reading of of each of those uh as per presented. Okay. And I will move to second that. Okay. All in favor? I I I. That is 50. So we have our fire chief report, please.

Thank you, Mayor Council. Good evening. Uh if you would indulge me for one moment, we would like to interrupt you for a little ceremony that we do in the fire service and it's a badge pinning for our newly promoted fire app fire apparatus engineer Rod Abasi. And if I could just tell you a little bit about him, uh Rod began his service with the city of Cal Mesa in 2021 as reserve firefighter. Only after six months, he transitioned to a full-time position. And then in uh February, Rod became an acting engineer taking on additional operational leadership responsibilities and he successfully competed and then placed number one on our engineer test back in January. Uh Rod participates in in many uh fire service uh events including uh uniform committee, training committee and other things uh to forward his career. Uh Rod is engaged to his f fiance Samantha who's here and uh if Rod and Samantha you come up and we'll do a short batch pinning ceremony.

Sounds great. Got it. Good evening. I just wanted to say thank you guys so much. It's been a pleasure working with you guys. I look forward to my career and you guys are doing great. Thank you so much. Thank you to my shift behind me, uh my fire chief as well as my fiance. Can't do it without her. Uh the support's been awesome. So, thank you guys so much. I hope you guys have a good day.

Yeah, congratulations.

Thank you for that. Uh if we could transition uh I'll give you the quick uh fire department uh statistical data report uh and and I'll keep it brief. Total responses, total calls, uh medical aids, public assists are all trending upward from our last report back in February. Um our overall call volume increased by about 80% from that last report. Medical aid continued to be the primary driver of our workload and it more than doubled. uh mutual aid responses have increased substantially uh and predominantly into Yakypa with a with a small amount into Bowmont and it's about a if you're wondering we go there about 70% of the time they come over here about 30% of the time. Uh and our average response times increase slightly but are still with well within the industry standard. That's my report.

Thank you sir. Any questions from council? Okay. I know your team took off pretty quick, but I'm not sure if they wanted to take a picture with the whole team before they left. Please, please, if we're good. Too bad. Too late for that. Yeah, right. Ya got a picture. Yeah, she's going to try. They left you.

We'll uh we'll make time if they come back. All right, we'll move on to our sheriff uh captain's report. And if they come back, we'll we'll do the photo. Uh good evening, Mayor, Mayor Prom, and members of the city council. Uh it's good to see everybody again. Uh Captain Northw doesn't hear. He gave me the the torch, the handoff, and here we are. So, uh, I'll provide you with some, uh, um, some part one crimes and those things, and then we have a couple of other announcements. So, uh, for the month of February 2026, um, there were no homicides, there were no robberies, no assaults, there was two burglaries, there was one vehicle theft, and there was 12 larseny thefts or thefts. Uh, and then there were no arson. Uh for the uh calls for service for the priority ones uh we were at about a little over seven uh uh seven minutes. Um but for the total year average it's about 5.81. So um with that said uh priority 2 is 13 minutes. Uh priority 3 is 35 and priority 4 is uh 24. for the month of uh fe uh February. We did have one well there was several different incidents notable but we can be here all night if we kind of go over that. So just uh one of one of our Calama patrol deputies did conduct a vehicle check here uh within the city. Subject was sleeping in inside their vehicle within the 700 block of County Line Road and the subject was in possession of drug paraphernalia and narcotics and he was ultimately arrested and booked into county jail. Uh with that said, um before we transition over to the new uh POP deputy, uh just like to um express uh gratitude uh to the city of Calama for their support uh regarding an application for congressional directed spending that we are looking at related to our real crime intelligence center. So most of you kind of refer to them as the real-time crime center. Uh we do have it up and going, but it is expanding and we all know that

technology is a huge is a huge component with uh within policing these days. So, with that said, um we we appreciate that. We are actually looking for spending to expand that. Uh it's going to provide us an opportunity to increase or decrease those response times uh to get to critical incidents a little bit faster and our real-time crime intelligence center is actually expanding uh due to uh Captain Vero and his team over at the dispatch center and um and you know with the collaboration of other cities uh we hope to obviously uh you know provide a better service for uh the citizens here in Calama. Um, any questions on that before I transition into uh um introduction to Deputy Torres? Council member Molina.

Yeah, I have an off-the- cuff kind of comment. Um, I I go to Vegas maybe once a month to take my great-granddaughter back and forth and I noticed that there are other police agencies on the freeway pulling people over and I had heard some time back that there was going to be a cooperation with police agencies to help each other out. And I was wondering if Riverside County is doing that with Highway Patrol.

Um, yeah. Oh, yes. So, Riverside County Sheriff's Office, obviously a very large large large organization. Yeah, we work collaboratively with all agencies. Um, uh, sometimes we respond to assist other departments if they have those things. Uh sometimes there are um times where maybe we have a speeder in a certain area. Maybe we have a what they call a hit or um we know that there's a stolen vehicle that's coming into our area of responsibility and we work collaboratively together with them to hopefully apprehend that suspect and and ultimately put him in handcuffs and and send him to jail. Um with that said, yes, uh we are we are we we do collaborate with other agencies frequently. Uh yeah, bear with me. I am learning a little bit about this area. So, it's going to take me a few months, but uh like the commander with uh the California Highway Patrol here within the Sanonio Pass and that um but we absolutely do uh do work with other agencies.

Thank you. Thank you. I don't have a question for you, Captain. I'm just more of a a statement generally. But, uh as far as the work that you guys are doing, I commend you. God bless you guys for doing the work that you do and being proactive and getting after those uh you know, unsavory types, you know, that uh could plague our citizens within our city. So, you know, being proactive and getting out there and doing the good stuff, you know, we we appreciate that. Uh, any work that you can get help from, uh, UKIPA, CHP, Bulmont, I'm sure you're on top of that. But, um, you know, to go back to that collaboration, uh, that's fantastic work you guys are doing. So, appreciate it.

And, and just to expand on that, just to give you an example, um, Yakypa commander, uh, know him from previous encount. And uh there was a case where they actually had a vandalism case in their city. They saw some of the same type of graffiti and we collaborated to make sure that that that suspect's held accountable in all jurisdictions and making sure that the DA gets that. So that's just one example of of many across the county that that do occur. Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Thank you. Uh so moving on to the good stuff, right? uh when it comes to uh I know deputy or uh deputy Hel now Corporal Hinkle I know you had the opportunity to kind of say goodbye to Captain Northrup and uh Corporal Hinkle. Um but we wanted to do an introduction to uh Deputy Torres who will be taking over the problem oriented policing uh position here within Calamea. So I'm not going to steal too much of his thunder. I'm going to have him come up introduce himself and maybe say a few words and if you have some questions I'm sure he'll be more than happy to answer them. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you sir. Good evening uh to the city uh board members. I'm familiar with some of you guys um over previous years and I have every intention on making myself well acquainted with all of you uh for the time being. Um I'm Rick Torres. I've been with the uh Cabazon Sheriff Station for the better part of five years. Um I have had some runins as far as having the city of Calabes Mesa be my area of responsibility. I'm moving over from the crime suppression unit. uh which is more responsibility in the county areas, but I have had some incidents uh that I did dip my finger in within the city of Calam Mesa. Um pardon me, I'm just uh getting over a flu. Um I have been in law enforcement for the last 18 years. However, for the last 12 years, I have been a a resident of the city of Bulmont, which means that I am a patron of the city of Cal Mesa, uh which means I do have a personal investment to the quality of life in the city as well. Um, so not that I'm going to be replacing Mike as much as I'm just going to strictly be a successor. You know, those are some big shoes to fill over the last several years. But again, like I said before, I do intend on making myself as available as I can uh to be your leaison for any type of issues. Uh you guys will be able to have my email, my phone number. Um whether it seems big or small, just reach out to me. We'll figure out the answer together. Uh does anybody have any uh questions, comments, concerns? Yeah, welcome aboard. Happy to have you. Got some big shoes to fill though. I ain't going over there.

Oh, I'm I'm well aware. Well aware. And I I'll forgive you guys if you guys mistake, you know, mistakenly call me Mike every once in a while. All right. Yeah. Yeah. Haven't called much worse. Thank you. Yeah. Welcome. Thank you.

Fire chief Shaw. Did you Did we want to do the photo? I thought I saw him. waiting in the I think I think they just ran off to a call.

Okay. Well, no photo today. No photo op. All right. We're going to business items. Business item five regarding our um opening of Mountain View Park and our city manager, Cobalt, will take this. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh this item is regarding whether to delay opening um the Mountain View Park phase 2 in its entirety until completion of the 120day weed treatment and turf establishment period or to partially open the pickle ball courts uh while keeping the turf field and uh de decomposed granite uh walking path closed. As noted in the staff report, the contractor initiated the weedkilled process on January 29th that began the 120day timeline which includes the treatment period followed by approximately 90 days of turf uh for turf establishment. So based on that starting date, um the turf establishment period is projected to conclude in late May 2026. We did have a have rain uh after the initial treatment which required follow-up application. However, staff has confirmed that this did not restart the full 30-day period. It may have extended the schedule slightly by maybe a week, but we're still uh generally um on track for late May. So, the council essentially has two options. Um option one is to keep the entire phase 2 area closed until late May and hold one clean full grand opening once the turf, walking path, and pickle ball courts are all available. This avoids fencing complications, preserves pedestrian connectivity between Fifth Street and the original park once opened, and provides a more cohesive launch. Option two would allow the pickle ball courts to open earlier while fencing off the turf and DG walking path. This would require temporary fencing and monitoring. Because the walking path would remain closed, pedestrian connectivity between Fifth Street entrance and the existing park would temporarily would be temporarily

eliminated or would just not open. um essentially creating two separate park areas. From a staff perspective, uh either option is operationally feasible, although a partial opening um does give us a bit of concern with securing um the the um the grass area. Um so the question for the council is whether to prioritize uh earlier access to the pickle ball court or a unified and complete grand opening once the full expansion is ready. So with that, um I'm happy to answer questions and receive direction. Thank you for that, city manager. I the way I see it, there's some good reasons for both these options. I'm interested to hear what the council has to say about this. And so I'm going to open it for discussion.

Sure. I'll I'll start off here. Just want to start off with I think this is a great project. It's been many years in the making, so I'm very excited. We're like almost almost there. So, as you can see, it already it looks great. Um, and I think it's going to be well received from the community and I think it's going to be utilized quite quite a bit. So, I'm looking forward to that. Uh, moving on to our options here. Um, I'm in favor of option two, which is going to be opening as soon as possible, allowing the community to get out there and use the be beautiful facilities uh, instead of kind of keeping those keeping those lock locked down for three to four additional months. So I think there's a few concerns that I just want to address. So one of them being the uh preventing access to the field, want the field to grow, right? And uh connectivity issues and then uh also the the grand the grand opening aspect. But first uh as far as preventing access to the field. So the the contractor has told us that he can fence that off. There's not additional costs associated with that. And there there might be multiple ways that we we could fence that off. Essentially, uh right now, if if it wasn't to open. Um if you look on the backside from the from the fourth fourth street, there's a 4ft fence all along that whole backside. So, as it is, it the park is kind of partially opened as it stands because that whole backside is access from the public and they're use, you know, using the park as they always have. but they run up against this 4ft fence on that backside. So that'll that would that would stay as it is. So there's still sort of easy access I guess to that that turf area as it as it sits if we did nothing just kept it locked. The front side would stay closed and now now it's the gates all the way

across the fifth the fifth street side. So, I guess the problem would be if we open that, they would come and use the pickle parts, pickle ball courts, the bathrooms, the parking lot, but then the uh contractor could then put that fence up there at at the uh turf. So, they wouldn't have access. So, you'd still have the a sixoot fence likely blocking it, which is essentially what we have now on on the fifth street side is one fence. So, you'd essentially just be moving that fence back. And then we could also either wrap the whole the whole area off or put a the second fence on the back side for the fourth street side. So you have a six foot five uh six foot fence on each side. So I think as far as protecting the field, I think there's there's multiple ways that we could to lock that down to where that's not an issue or it'll be almost the same. Um there's no perfect way either way. There's there's potential someone could jump over a fence and get to the get to the grass. Uh the connectivity connectivity um there is depending on how they wanted to construct the fence potential we could wrap the grass area and then you could still use the the path and walk between. I don't nec I don't think it's necessary. I think for this type for this park the way it's the way it's set up you kind of have two different groups. if they're going to play pickle ball, they're going to arrive at they each have their own bathrooms. They each have their own parking lot. So, I don't think it's a issue for it temporarily to be separated. They can people can continue to use the forest street side. People can park and use use the pickle ball courts. And so, not being able to go between the two, I don't think is is a big issue. Uh last I think the grand for the grand opening. Um it'd be nice to have the you know do the the ceremony and have it all

completed and open together and do something. Um I think from from the community's standpoint. I think they're probably more excited to get out there and start hitting pickle balls out there. I'm sure uh instead of locking locking it down. So I think it even though it'd be nice to do the grand ceremony, not that we couldn't, we still could do it uh you know awkwardly later, but I don't think it's justification to just keep it locked down for additional three four months just for that single purpose of the for the grand for the for having the ceremony. I think that covers it.

Thorough mayor pro Tim. Thank you. Thank you. Touched on a lot of points. Anyone else want to comment on this? My I can see both sides and um I'm really kind of whatever is best for staff to to manage and get the grass where it's supposed to be so that the kids can use it. I could go either way. Um people like you said John says people are going to jump the fence. They're going to jump the fence, but I'm happy either way. So, Council Member Kund.

Yeah. Thank you. Um thank you Mayor. Uh, I agree with everything uh, council member Mayor Pro Tim Manley said. Um, I think keeping the pickle ball courts locked down in my opinion would be uh, it's kind of a it would, you know, like Christmas morning, you know, you see something there and you can't have it yet, you know, and it's there and you want to be able to use it. So, I I would agree with that that we allow those to be opened up and and have that fencing installed by the contractor, you know, to keep uh, you know, people off the grass uh, area to allow it to, you know, to get better. And then I also agree with his his point of view of you know postponing the grand opening of it until it's completely open. Uh so it could be considered a soft opening at this point you know where people can utilize the pickle ball courts uh you know and the other side of the park as well and then once it's completely ready um then we have a grand opening for it. So I I agree with everything you said.

Thank you council member Garcia.

Yeah. Uh that's very good information from our colleagues. Um one of the things for me I think I'm more leaning towards uh one delaying the opening of the park just because of what's going to be uh put into the grass area. They're going to be spraying in uh with a 30-day we kill killer period. So, you know, for me, because I have little ones, I just want to make sure that um if well can probably go more into detail about that um of just the safety measures and then when it gets windy, of course, all that dust particles are going to be flying up, flying out. And for me, it's just kind of waiting until the park is fully operational. And um as well with the safety measures with the um if any if anybody's going to jump over the gate, they're going to jump over the gate. And then who's going to be responsible of actually uh doing their routes of securing that there's nobody over that area. Uh one of the things because you know we are short-handed with staff. So just the observation of just kind of monitoring the park if it's partial open then actually not open at all we have a little bit more control. Um I know our sheriff's department they're doing other more important calls and same thing with our team with our city staff. So I kind of look I look I look at it at that lens. The other for option two um if we do decide to move forward to fully isolate the other side of the north side of the of the park and just have the main entrance at the south side so we can just eliminate any foot traffic going from the north to the south. It would just be one entrance will be at the south area. Those are just my recommendations and um and my input. Thank you guys. Thank you, council member. Um, so me let me ask a couple questions too for for my own clarification. Are the courts currently in parking lot and bathrooms ready for use or when will they be ready

for use? The the pickle ball courts are um I think that the striping still needs to be done on the on the um this the u and actually forgot there. That's just a visual of the park. I don't know if we Yes, there's this this kind of an overview so you can kind of see. So, I think the only thing that is um still needs to be done is the um is the striping of the parking lot. Um everything else I think is ready to go. Um as as far as I know, um bathrooms are

body's not here tonight, so I can't answer that question specifically, but um and I did want to clarify now that I have a chance. I just want to clarify on on the fencing. Um we're our our position is is that this is your contractor's responsibility since so um so we're we we we are sensitive to you know the additional cost because if you try to do a perimeter fence all the way around the grass that's going to be look different costwise than trying to put partial fencing. I think that if we did want to keep connectivity, if we went off option two and wanted to keep connectivity between the two sections of the park, um I think that it might be easier to at least put fencing along the south side of the park of the of the grass area and the west side and fence it all the way to the to the property line so that you don't have any access. So, you wouldn't be able to use part of the the DG trail and then cut it off on the southeast corner. So you would just be able to still use the south side and then the west side up to where it inter it gets to the north to the edge of the pickle ball courts. So that might be an option to at least not have to completely fence off the DG piece of it and still keep some connectivity between the two sections of the park. Um, and you know, so I think either option I think also there's always going to be the, you know, the threat of people going in into the area that they're not supposed to be, whether it's partially closed or completely closed, right? So,

um, I think trying to trying to prevent that probably won't happen. I think the question is that needs we need to ask ourselves is is there would either option minimize that more or not? I c to be honest with you, I couldn't tell you what the answer would be either way, but um you know there are there are multiple ways to to do option two. It's not just cutting it off completely and having two different parks. We could there's there is a way to also probably partially open the DG path um so that we could still at least have some of that connectivity. Maybe not the full connectivity, but some of it.

Okay. So, do we have a a date of of of when the courts, the striping, the bathrooms would be ready? I'm just I'm trying to get a a ballpark of when we could do a potential if we were going to go with option two, which we'll see. Uh what what would be the tentative? I would probably if I were to guess it' probably be sometime in probably April, probably like maybe early to mid April. So, just to give us

month differential. Yeah, cuz and also if we want to give it opening, at least if we want to do partially open, we might want to do like a pickle ball demonstration, something like that, and schedule something like with that for at least the pickle ball ports because that's a new feature in the city. Um, and so we may want to give oursel a little a little time to to notify the public and let them know that's coming. Um, and and do it that way. We could if we just want to just go ahead and have do like a like for lack of a better term, a soft opening. um just kind of when they're ready to go, just open them and if people want to come use them, they can use them and then we can do a full grand opening later. Yeah, it's a little delayed, but you know, the the the pickle ball courts could be like a soft opening we could say. So that that's another option to consider as well.

So um there's no expense additional expense to the city with either option. No. So So that's a wash. Uh just real quick clarification on one of Edgar's points. Are there any chemical or safety concerns that you're aware of with

Not that I'm aware of. Um I think that that's one of the reasons you wanted you do want to keep people off. I'm not sure if wind dissipation of that will be a big concern at this point because I think we maybe past that that time frame especially when we had some rain that's going to kind of let it soak into the ground. So right now we're we're well into the turf establishment period because remember we treated in January 30 days. So now we're right in that period where these turf sandwiches is now beginning. So once we're in that I think the danger of dissipation's probably gone down.

Okay. So um I think what's left is to put it to a vote. I think um just to clarify the the options here. Option number one is that we're gonna fully delay the opening of the park until until it's it's a after end of May, early. Yeah. So, it'll be probably early June is probably when we would schedule that like Yeah. So, probably early June, something like that. So, we'll do the grand opening and the full opening of the park at the same time. Option one.

Correct. Option two, we are going to uh opt to do a soft opening as it were of the pickle ball courts only and then we will defer a grand opening is what I'm hearing if we do option two until the full park is open. So still maybe late May, early June for a grand opening, but pickle ball pickle ball ball courts sooner. If option two is the majority then um I do have some clarification questions about f we can maybe talk about the fencing issue and how fencing options. Yes. How we how about that? Yeah. If it's not if if we don't go with option two then no need to really talk about fencing. Right. Correct.

Okay. So at this point how many uh do how many in favor of option one? Item five option one. None. Okay. Uh item five, option two. How many in favor? Yay. I

I So that's 50. All right. So we're going to do a five. We're going to do a soft opening of the pickle ball courts. So now, uh let's talk about how we would best want to do the fencing. So, if we do a soft opening of the pickle ball courts only, we could do an option is we'll say we could put a um fencing around just the the turf area. Or another option, we could just put fencing on the the the trail right behind the pickle ball courts in between the field and the pickle ball court. So, just keeping that completely off distance, off uh out of bounds there, the trail and the the turf. and then perhaps put another fence fencing on the fourth street park side as well. So just completely cut off those options. So preferences.

I I like the idea of it being connected, but if our bigger concern is the turf, I think maybe just cutting it off um might be might be best. Yeah, I agree.

That's what I was favoring too. I think is just cutting it cutting it off. it does allow for less ingress egress points for that to happen. So I think to manage it it would be easier to do that. So you could do on the south side at the very south end of the pickle ball courts on the southeast corner of the pickle ball courts you see. Um there's a little bit of like there's planting there. So you probably would have to put a fence there just to so they make sure that people don't go through that little gap because you can get back there and then put a fence from the norththeast corner of the pickle ball court to the property line on the north. So that would basically then cut that completely off and then have the pickleball courts open and have the trail cut off and then we'd obviously put the fence right by the dog park. Council member,

if this may already be in the works if they put once they put the the fencing up, but some signage that kind of advises people why, you know. No, that's that's a that's a good idea. Yeah, we could we could have them do that as well. Do that. Yeah. That way, you know, people can understand what what the reasoning is for that, you know. Yeah. I I think in either either option, I think that was our plan to do put signage so that people know why because Yeah. that people would ask. So, perfect. Yeah. Council member Molina, I agree. I especially at for the fourth street park side. It's now Mountain View and I noticed the sign in front on fourth street. It's Mountain View. It is now. Yeah. So, it's it's changed over.

I love that park. Um but in the little glass box and it might be nice to have a an announcement there because a lot of people use the park. Um I I go almost daily. So, yeah. And we could maybe on the on the fourth street side also at the entrance have a sign stating if you want to access the pickle ball courts you'll have to go to fifth street. So we'll direct them to fifth street then too. So that also so they don't even if they go to the they don't even have to get out of their car and get all the way over there and go oh I can't go over there. So yeah,

I got a question just to looking at the picture just like um I recommended um for option two we cut off half of the half of the park um where the pickle ball is going to be at those are um those are tall gates right surrounding that area surrounding the pickle ball courts. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Okay. So, um, and then is are there at that building in the north side of that image, are there any entrances in the grass area?

I'm not sure of the answer of that. Um, if there are, then obviously we would have space to accommodate that. Um, because it looks like there is a way. It looks like the biblical I I think this is this image is pretty close to accurate. So, I think that there is a bit of a gap like if you were just to go straight from the the edge of that fence straight across. I think there's still some space there that would allow for people to access that building. And the reason why um I'm bringing it up because if we can probably just connect the gate where the south side where the where that tree is at from connecting that gate to the existing gate that the pickle ball is at and then connecting at the other end of the pickle ball and then connecting a gate to the corner of the building.

Oh, I see what you're saying. Connecting. Yeah, that we could look at that too. Yeah, if that if if we don't need access to that, then yeah, we could do that as well. And basically, you're kind of using that as part of your barrier, right? Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, that way. Okay. Um, so is that if that if that we want to get final consensus on that direction? It sounds like we have it. So, I feel like I have my direction. So, sounds like option two, everyone is okay with a soft opening of the pickle ball courts once they are completely o ready. Bathroom, striping, courts, signage, everything's ready to go, then we can do a soft opening of those courts. You'll let us know. Yep. But we will completely close off access to the turf and trail area. Yes. Okay.

Got it. Good. That's what we'll do.

All right. Okay. Item six on our community grant award program. Also our city manager. All right. Thank you again, Mr. Mayor. This item is for discussion and direction regarding the community grant award program and the one application received the cycle submitted by Calama youth baseball and softball. As council will recall in October 2025, the city adopted formal community grant guidelines and an application process to ensure funding requests are handled in a structured and transparent manner. Staff conducted extensive outreach during the open period, including direct contact, email, website postings, and social media, and received one completed application. The adopted fiscal year 2526 budget includes $15,000 for the community grant program, and program guidelines call for awards of up to $3,000 per application. Calamea youth base youth youth baseball and softball has requested funding to support launch and operation of its youth league. At the time the finance committee met in January, league signups were still underway and viability was not yet fully confirmed. Since that meeting, we received confirmation that the league has secured sufficient signups and is moving forward. This finance committee discussed the optics of awarding the full amount to a brand new nonprofit, the importance of maintaining a structured process, and the possibility of a tiered or milestone based funding. Uh, Mayor Svantes also reached out to assess viability prior to uh, bringing this forward to the president of the league, Howard uh, Reeves. Additionally, because only one application was received, there's been discussion about potentially moving to a rolling application period for the remainder of the fiscal year and encouraging future applicants to align requests with the annual budget cycle. So, staff intentionally kept this report high level so we could allow for uh, discussion and direction on this. So at this time I'd like to turn it over to our members of the finance committee was Mayor Cervantes and Mayor Pro Tim Manley

to share their thoughts and possible recommendation. So that concludes my report and I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. We also have the applicant president of Cal Mesa Youth Baseball and Softball Howard Ree in the audience should you have any questions for him. Essentially, the staff is looking for recommendation on the one applicant and the amount to award, whether to award um a grant and in the amount. So, looking for thoughts. Council member Manley, anything you want to say?

I can just give my general general thoughts on it. Um just real just real quick. um since we have our one applicant which we're all aware of and you know I support support his mission and and I think it's going to be you know a contribution to to the community he's met all all of our requirements done everything we've asked of him and so my recommendation would be just to award him uh that amount that we had set at $3,000 for that grant. So that that's be my recommendation. Thank you sir. Any other comments? Uh, I have questions, please.

So, I I noticed the initial startup cost um Mr. Reeves has got listed here is 35,000 and he's raised 5,800 and there's some outstanding or pending contributions it looks like and I I suspect and believe that he will most likely get those. Um, in the event that we give um monies towards this this well-deserved pro project, which I agree it's it's definitely a good thing. um if it does not become viable, what happens to that money um that we portion off?

My understanding is it just becomes a donation, right? And that's correct. Um and I think that in and I you know spoken several times to Mr. Reeves over over since the the application was filed. Um I think the startup costs were on the higher end because I was based on a certain number. So the starting costs are lower than that. Um and so and I think the the number of um contributions donations has gone up since the this this was as of the date of the contributions. So that gap has has closed significantly in our in our in our view. And I think the main thing was is that making sure that there was enough signups which there were um I believe over 200. Right. Right. Howard. So, um, you know, that's that I think makes it more viable in terms of and and a lot of it I I think was was aimed at startup costs because there's the the costs are going to be a lot higher this year than they're going to be in future years because a lot of one-time things to get things going. So, that's what I think the money is um is is expect to be focused on. So, I believe that, you know, with that, you know, that money could get spent. Yes, there's a possibility it it doesn't work out. Um, but you know, that's, you know, it's a it's a question. It's it's a it's a legitimate question and concern. Um, but at the end of the day, I think that that's the risk where we're anytime you give to nonprofits, they can they can flourish or they could they could fail, right? That that could be the case for any. Um, so

yeah, absolutely. I I just would like to know that we're supporting something that's that is potentially going to be viable as opposed to not. And I I believe that his will be. Yeah. Um, which is why my recommendation would be to give him since he's the only applicant $5,000 as opposed to three. That would be my recommendation is try to help him a little more get to that number that he needs and hopefully see some some help, you know, from the others that are pending still, you know, and that certainly is in within, you know, the the guidelines are are guidelines, right? in and the council there the council also has the authority to um yeah so that would be within your authority to to to do that uh pending your direction

council member Molina it's been a while since I all read all the details but um what you're mentioning about rolling out for the rest of the year um any opportunities for anyone else to apply

yeah we do actually uh we just spoke to another organization today um that has has shown own interest and um for a significantly smaller amount. Um we do anticipate bringing that forward for council consideration shortly and we're going to encourage anybody that else that comes forward uh for a request at this point we're going to also encourage them hey by the way can you also file an application for next year as well. So, you know, our our goal ultimately has been to make sure that this is part of the budget process. So, we have some more, you know, um predictability in terms of what we'd spend on the community grant program because right now we kind of just based it on historic numbers that we've done before. Um and so obviously with one application this year and possibly a second, we'll still be well below the number that we budgeted for. Um so having some predictability I think will be helpful. So, you know, it's a new program and so there's going to be hiccups and so these are the kind of things that we dial in over time. Um, you know, with this kind of thing.

Okay. So, so adding giving a little bit more wouldn't really hurt the program altogether. No, because you know we have the one application our budget's 15,000. So, we certainly have the budget cap from a budget capacity standpoint. We certainly have it. Okay. Thank you. Garcia.

Yeah. I just want to uh piggy back on that one. Um, for me, I see it and especially for from the city uh perspective with the staff and stuff. Um, you know, there's a reason why we put in this structure in place to uh limit how much we're going to be donating. Uh, for me, it's just more of the accountability behind it. We can't be flexible for one and then not be flexible for another one if somebody comes in and um applies for that grant. So for me is I see it more if we put a limit uh to respect that limit for every single individual even if there's only one applicant uh we should still respect that limit that we uh that we all agree with and not increase and not increase the limit just because there was one applicant. Uh for me it's just I'm I'm kind of forcing I know we only had one applicant this this time around but it's been a new structure a new system in place and um I don't want to kind of see in the future because this can get pretty it's pretty quick based on making some adjustments for one organization or the other uh they can come back and say well you uh increase their limit and you deny the other. Uh so I see I see it in that perspective and that vision and I'm pretty sure our city uh staff and leadership here uh saw it that way too and and that's the reason why we uh we agreed to move forward with this policy and procedure. So that's that's just my input on that one.

Thank you sir. So I I also think I mean I think I'm going to echo some of my council member colleagues have said that this has kind of been a historic moment I think for Calam Mesa. This has been something that Mr. Ree has been working for forward toward for a long time. been a dream I think for some of our residents too to have something like this in in our community and the fact that we have someone stepping up in in in a leadership role to to do it it's important and I'd like to get behind it and support what he's doing for the for the youth of this community. So I would I would make a motion I'll throw a motion out here and see how it goes. I would I would make a motion to recommend that staff approve the the grant or the Calama Youth Baseball and Softball League in the amount of $5,000.

I second that. All in favor? I I Any No. Uh this is uh it was $3,000, right? motion is for 5,000 which was originally um well the there was no the the the the guideline show 3,000 there was no the the request was not was asking for as much the the amount of request was as much as possible so so there was no there's no specific request for money

if I may interrupt for just one second Mr. Mayor it. My reason for doing that is echoing what you had stated that this is for the children of our communities that Mr. Reeves has worked hard to do and he's not coming to us with a zero balance. He's actively

garnering support and has it sounds like a lot more support coming in. And to provide them an extra $2,000 for a total of five, I believe, would help him get to that um to that that number that they need to get this up and operational. And if if that means that we give them an extra couple of thousand dollars to help them get there, I'd rather be on that side of it as he is the only applicant at this point. Um those are my thoughts to that is why I suggested the 5,000.

And if I could, I'm sorry. I know we're in the middle of a motion, but I didn't really get to defend my position, but I just kind of I agree on just on on principle alone with Council Member Garcia because we we constructed these guidelines and I've been trying to stick to those even before we implemented those. That is uh the only reason why I wanted to stick to that three 30,000 is is because of fairness and you know I didn't really like being kind of all over the place with us handing out taxpayer money. It doesn't uh take anything away from his organization or I believe

uh in in his success and I I hope it is successful. It's just simply on principle and we're talking about taxpayer dollars that that's why I would vote uh against that amount. So let's make that point clear. should probably do a revote then just for clarification.

I wanted to and I just wanted to reiterate for why I voted the way I did. We don't have anything for our children here and and in in the past we've had issues about um our our the whole purpose of the policy setting was so we'd have standard uniformity, but in the past we've had applicants who come forward and don't have their their information together. They're they're they're not organized or whatever. This one was over the top, I think. And so for that reason, because it's for children and I and I'm I've been for that always. Um I I voted yes, even though it's higher than the amount and um yeah,

that's why that's why I'm voting against I have a principle, too. You know, we we don't we have to be good stewards of of of our taxpayers money, but I I hopefully wouldn't find anybody going against uh something for children.

Council Oh, sorry. Sorry. Well, um I'm going to I want to put my input on the district mindset of the educational portion because on any school district they apply for grants and there's always a limit of what grant you're going to be applying for. Um the state will never uh make any changes on the requirements of the grant itself. For example, if there's a five or $10,000 grant limit, uh the school district cannot request an additional 5,000 making it into a 15,000 grant. They will deny it and they will just uh accept the the requirements either the 5 or 10,000 and that's coming from the students perspective going into the school districts. So, um that's one of the reasons why we put in the structure in place of the city. We we all agreed as a team for $3,000 will be the accepted limit. Maybe we can come probably come back in the future and increase the limit to a higher um limit, but uh right now we from our prior discussion it was $3,000. So it just you know I know I know it's I know it's for our kids and stuff but there's a reason why we put in the structure in place to start off with.

Fair.

Thank you. Fair. Let me just clarify that as I remember it from the discussion and from our finance committee meeting as well, the $3,000 limit was set uh the spirit behind the $3,000 limit. I know if you're reading the letter of the law, it says $3,000, but the spirit behind it was so that we have enough money to go around per applicants so that no one organization takes more than a fair share of the $15,000 that we had allotted per that. So, the way that I was understanding it is that we want to set we wanted to cap it at 3,000 so that we we have more of the pie to go around, right, for more organizations. In this case, we only have one applicant. And um if even giving to $5,000 still leaves 10,000 that we could potentially help uh other organizations with. And um I know that there's are other applicants coming in, but um seems like we have a fair amount. And so that's the way that I was interpreting. That's why I voted the way that I did and also to support the the kids of this community who need something like this and and in our city as well. So if I may, I don't want to belabor this issue, but we are even with the 5,000, we are keeping with the grant program guidelines because additional funds in excess of the maximum amount may be considered and approved at the city council's discretion. So the 3,000 is the maximum what we're telling most folks that come. We may look at somebody that comes in and asks for 3,000 and decide they're only going to get a,000 because maybe they didn't bring up any money or or maybe they don't need 3,000. But I think as a general principle, the 3,000 was a fair number, which I agree to. But in this particular case, I've already outlined why I made the recommendation that I did. But just to say that we are keeping with the grant program guidelines, even though we do decide to go over that, we're still within our right to do that.

And I think that you two made some excellent points. So, um I think in general I agree with everything that you said and that is the way that we should we should do it. In this case, I happen to see this is an exception given um who the applicant was and the organization and what it's serving toward. So, let's do another vote just for clarification. I was going to recommend um let's I don't want to put Darly on the spot here, but given the the confusion Yeah. Let's do it by roll. Let's do a roll call. So, we had a motion by Mayor Cervantes, second by Council Member Kundiff, and um I would recommend doing a roll call. Okay. Council member Kundiff, yes. Council member Garcia, no. Council member Molina, yes.

Mayor Pro Manley, no. And Mayor Cervantes,

yes. That passes 32. Okay. So that moves on to business item number seven and this is award awarding of a contract for the design and installation of video surveillance system at Summerwind Park. Thank you again Mr. Mayor. Uh this item um so this is the design and installation of video surveillance system at Summerwood Park along with a related budget adjustment. This discussion um began during the May 2025 budgets uh workshop uh when public comment was received regarding the absence of cameras at Summerland Park while Fourth Street Park has an older system but still a system nonetheless. At that time, staff also noted that Summerland Park has experienced vandalism and minor incidents since opening with approximately $15,000 in repairs and cleanup costs to date. While funding was not included in the adopted budget, council directed staff to prepare and issue a request for proposals, excuse me, so that we could evaluate costs and feasibilities. The RFP was issued on October 28th. We received pre three proposals and two firms were shortlisted and interviewed. Interviews were conducted by the fair fire and sheriff's services ad hoc committee consisting of mayor prom John Manley and council member Eric Kundiff along with city staff and representatives from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. After evaluation interviews, WCC Technologies Group was determined to provide the most comprehensive and cost-effective proposal. The negotiated scope includes installation of five cameras uh including one panto tilt zoom uh camera, cloud-based storage, secure remote access, and cellular redundancy to ensure system reliability. The total project cost is $86,515.34 and staff is recommending that the project be funded from the Summerwind Community Facilities District uh fund. I

also want to briefly acknowledge that whenever surveillance technology is discussed, there are legitimate public questions about privacy, oversight, and appropriate use. Staff recognizes that technology alone is not sufficient. Uh it must be accompanied by clear policy direction from this council. So for that reason, staff is currently developing a surve surveillance camera use policy that will be brought forward to the city council for review and direction in the near future. Installation of the system would not proceed until the council has had the opportunity to consider and adopt that policy framework. So we're trying to work to get that as quickly as possible. Uh tonight's action would award the contract and adopt the budget adjustment so that the city is positioned to move forward once policy direction has been established and at least the vendor can then also get um equipment ordered and be ready to go um once we're ready to go. So the purpose of the system is deterrence and documentation to assist with investigations when incidents occur and to help reduce vandalism related cost associated at the park. So, that concludes my report and I'm happy to answer any questions and I'd also invite the fire and sheriff services ad hoc committee to share their thoughts as well.

Thank you, Will, and members of the fire ad hoc, would you like to make any comments first?

Thank you, mayor. All right. Thank you for that report, Will. Uh, Council Member Kiff and I have been working on this for a number of of ad hoc meetings. Um, so we we took a deep dive into this. I'll just kind of go go through real real quick. Uh, our goal really is to kind of build a foundation, one vet all this technology and then if possible kind of build a foundation going forward for the city and leveraging technology to to better serve the community. Uh, what kind of brought us here uh was we've been experiencing vandalism. We have issues within the parks. Um and then also residents uh wanted this technology with within that park or within that community where that that park's located. So that kind of what brought us there. And then also some of my some of my personal concerns I know of uh the all the issues within the parks or I think the biggest issue for me personally is kind of the misuse of parks. So in this city in the region across the state it's a common problem for us. So the park being used for unintended purposes and the crime that's associated with those misuses of the park. And so I think we have an obligation to protect one our property from vandalism. We also have to we have an obligation to protect the communities that that's using our facilities and from all this associated crime with this open free space. So that's the mindset going into it and what we want to look at and see if if it's going to make sense as far as cost goes. Uh there's really three different things we were we were looking at. Um one is the system going to be integrated with the sheriff's department. So is it going to be an effective effective and useful system? Also as I mentioned the technological standards. So building that foundation something that we can build on and add to and then also the cost. Uh so first with the integrated

the integrated system. So this this system uh it's a it's a great system the the the technology behind it very useful very easy to use. It integrates into what the sheriff's department is doing and also uh with other cameras uh for our licenseing cameras that the city already operates when the city. So all that information still u operates in the same way as far as the sheriff department is concerned. they have access in that that same way as they they use it now. So it's not an extra burden for them. U plus on top of that it has actual actual live video so they can access that. Um no one has to live monitor this information. It's just available to them uh live if they're responding to calls and want to access this data or for investigative purposes or uh historically when they're looking through this. It's very easy to use. uh and sufficient efficient way of for them to invest in investigate crime and and keep our parks a little bit safer. And the as far as technological standard goes, I think this is a this is a great foundation for us because we can add if the council so chooses any other facilities want to add cameras to or any other parks coming online, we have a variety of options. So, it's not just cameras, but also automatic locks to to bathrooms and things to eliminate staff having to manually unlock and lock bathrooms twice a day. So, there's a lot other technology that can be utilized if the city so chooses that'll integrate into uh this same stuff and we you can get it complicated or add as many cameras or don't add any more cameras to it as as we choose. Uh for costwise, we scaled this uh council kind of and I scaled this down a little bit from from the proposals after we kind of vetted out some of these these companies. So we

tried to find that sweet spot to where it was effective enough to do its intended purpose, enough coverage for the area, but keeping the cost down as as minimal as we could. So the goal being to for that being the summer one park for that community for the the CFD for the community facilities district we're able to utilize those funds and with bringing that cost down they're going to be able to sustain the cost of that equipment. So the biggest cost being the upfront 86,000 being the cameras for the uh the installation that's the big cost and there's some licensing uh that go along with that but after that five years so this is for a for a fiveyear fiveyear contract when we uh renew option to renew. So you say you do that for another uh five years, the cameras have approximately like a 10 year lifespan. So that's you know the extra cost savings will kick in because it's be very very minimal um as far as extending that leasing um going forward for another five years. You don't have all all those upfront costs or won't won't be there. So the CFD essentially will be able to u fund that for for the long term which is one of our objectives. So, it's not going to come out of the budget. And then if we added to anything else going forward, then we can we can evaluate as far as what that cost is going to be, where that money is going to come from. But this itself won't affect u the budget bill to to work it into to that community that it that it serves. I think that completes my report. Council member has anything to add there?

Yeah, thank you, Mayor Pro Tim. uh as we are on the ad hoc for the rest of the council and and mayor. Um the systems that we looked at, the staff worked diligently on to get them here and and have us uh view the demonstrations were very impressive and and for everything that Mayor Portm just outlined as far as the pricing, the just type of equipment, the connectivity between the sheriff's department, the capabilities with that, uh with his background in law enforcement, my background in law enforcement, that's one of the key things that we wanted to be able to to utilize or have our sheriff's department utilize if it was needed. needed. Um I I I couldn't have been more happier to have access to a system like that when I was doing that job. So um I'm completely satisfied and happy with um staff's recommendation on this. The other key component that Mayor Prom touched on was the possibilities of expansion. Um, we do have this other park that we're talking about this uh this evening and um eventually if things work out well with this it might be something that we might be able to transition to cover all the parks and then have the system integrate with itself throughout the city. Um so that's a very good possibility and one of the biggest selling points that this company offered to us um was the ability and the the ease in which it seemed that they'd be able to do that. Um, so I couldn't say anything more to that, you know, but he he uh, Mayor Prom covered a great deal of why we felt that this was the best and and agree with staff's recommendation. So, thank you.

Thank you so much to our public safety ad hoc for your work on this. Sounds like you did quite a bit of work and getting us to this point and thank you so much for that and um, for sharing that information with us this evening. I want to invite other members of the council for comments. Yeah.

Yeah. I um we have three parks and each park is different in how it's used and so I know there with Mountain View Park, it's a fenced park and there are issues with, you know, staff opening it and closing it and so I think the gates stay open all all the time now. But my question is uh with the new technology and the new surveillance, I think that's a great a great way to protect our assets and also protect the people who use our parks. Um, are all three going to have fencing? Is that going to be something in the future that's going to be removed? Um, I was just curious about that. So, I think you're referring to Creekide. Yes.

Yeah. So, Creek Side Park is fenced currently. That was fenced. Maybe Darlene can maybe um, you know, fill in my my gap of knowledge here, but

it's my understanding that that was fenced after CO or was before that? During CO. Yeah. So, it was fenced to keep it closed off during COVID and so that's why the the fence was put there. Um, but yeah, we have um we were for a while um just closing it completely during the weekends um because there was and I I believe we still are or we did we just keep it open. I'm not I'm not entirely certain. Um but I think because of um some of the issues we've had at that park, we did at least at some point close it during the weekends and we weren't getting a lot of feedback in terms of the closure. So um we don't it's not a it's it's our least utilized park of the three. Um certainly if the if we continue to operate that park, this would be a prime uh place to use it. both the locks um as well as you know we could install a gate a rolling gate that would open and close at certain intervals um and as a matter of fact we're also thinking about doing that for Summerwind Park as well because Mountain View Park does have that they do the gates open and close um on a on a predetermined schedule and this system can also be tied into that as well. Um, so we would we would definitely want to do that because we we've struggled with some of that and I think we're also um also already contemplating doing that with Summerwind Park as well.

I just have one other comment. So So we're we're going to be putting a policy together um for uniformity is and so I'm I'm thinking the policy is going to help the our the sheriff's department enforce our um whatever security issues that we have for the parks. So is is that something that is that a main reason for the policy? the policy is is just to make sure that it's utilized that city there's city policy to make sure it's utilized for the in the correct way. Um because there are public concerns when it comes to cameras specifically. So the the policy is more to make sure that we're setting it we're setting a precedent saying this is how it will be utilized. This is how we're going to scale it and um if it's you know done outside of that policy there are consequences for that. So, it's more for us to make sure that the the the systems used for the for the right ways and there are consequences if you don't use them for the right ways.

Okay. Good. And I know Council Member Garcia had some comments. So, yeah.

All right. Yes. So, uh so before we move uh move the item to action, um I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the work behind this item. Uh when I first joined the council last year, I had conversations with Will, our city manager, about the future of technology and how we could uh thoughtfully expand camera uh and structure uh throughout the city to extra public safety. Uh it's encouraging to see that effort continuing to move forward tonight. I want to sincerely thank our staff for for the research coordination, vendor uh evaluation and budgeting work that went into bringing this recommendation forward. Um I also want to thank my fellow council members for their ongoing collaboration and shared commitments to proactively uh safety measures. I appreciate the sheriff's department as well too for their partnership and for the recommendations they provided as part of this process. their input helps ensure that what we implement is effective and in line with real public safety needs across our community. Uh, one of the biggest uh, things that when I actually was talking to Will uh, last year was that Ashley mentioned the um, the same camera system that we're going to be moving forward tonight. uh the technology behind it is going to literally support the sheriff's department or anyone um uh reviewing uh the camera footages. It's to the point that it's AI technology and you can put it into a search engine when you're typing looking for let's say in the mindset of the sheriff's department that if they're looking for a specific individual wearing a back a wreck backpack you can literally put in looking for a person with a wreck backpack and it will extract all the video footage in the uh in the description of a person wearing a backpack or you can go into much more detail putting in looking for an individual with white shoes, khaki pants, wreck backpack and a hoodie and we'll definitely extract that

information to minimize the reviewing of the time of the process for me is working hard uh working smarter not harder and this technologies bringing it into the future of of the smart city for our city because we can implement this not only within our city but expanding it through our citywide um systems as well too with our new city hall uh this city uh with our signalizer as well too. They actually do have uh license place readers as well too. So you can even put it to the description that if you guys are looking for a specific vehicle, you can put in the type of vehicle, the color, and you can actually extract a certain license plates that will literally extract where those where the car was actually located. It does a whole imprint of where that person or that vehicle or whatever items you're looking for. it it does a time stamp of where the camera was actually uh detecting that person or that vehicle. So, just wanted to uh thank everybody for the hard work and implementing this as well too. Thank you.

Thank you, council member. So, at this point looking for a recommendation. I'll make a motion that the city council award a contract to WCC Technologies Group for the design installation of video surveillance system park in the amount of 86515 and 34 cents and authorize the city manager to execute the professional service agreement and any nonsubstantive amendments consistent with the council's direction. And number two, adopt resolution 2026-04, a resolution of the city council of the city of Calama, California, amending the fiscal year 2025-26 budget to appropriate funds for the design and installation of video surveillance system at Summerwind Park. Second.

All in favor? I I that's 5. Thanks again to our public safety ad hoc for all your work on that and to council for your comments and support of that as well. So, this brings us to our final business item, item number eight. And I believe this is also our Oh, sorry. I apologize. I forgot to put that on there. Okay. So, be quick and painless. Yeah.

Um, this is the annual time of the year when SCAG does their um general assembly out in Palm Desert. It'll be on May 7th and 8th. and um they asked us to appoint an alter or excuse me a voting delegate and an alternate voting delegate um to make some decisions um at that SCAG conference. So um at this point I know that council member uh Molina and council member Kundiff um will be attending um so it's just up now to the council of who they would like to appoint. Are there any reservations about appointing Council Member Molina as our you you'd be our voting delegate and then Council Member Kundiff would be the alternate.

Well, we're both okay. So, we're both uh attending the conference. I'm on a policy committee, so I have different work there, but um the it's it's for this for SKAG, they just want to know from the city who the delegate is going to be. And so, it doesn't matter who it is. And so I would I would um for future information on on maybe getting more involved in SKAG, I'll let uh Councilman Kundiff u be the delegate and I'll be there anyway if that's okay with you. Okay. So we're going to appoint or I guess the motion is or the recommendation is to appoint Council Member Kundiff as our delegate and then you're also being I'll be his alter. Can I get a Can I get a motion to that effect? So moved.

Second. Anyone? I'll second that. All right. All in favor? I. That's 50. Is that what you need? That's what I need. Okay. Excellent. All right. So, next it's mayor and council members reporting on county regional meetings, conferences, slash comments. We'll start with council member Garcia.

Uh I haven't attended any meetings. I know um I was put in for one of the committees and probably welcome uh clarify that just for the for the record keeping um I actually attended uh the transportation for the uh we met at the Bulmont uh city hall location for that meeting. Uh we talked about transportation and the grants that got approved. Uh, one of the biggest things too that I do want to um hopefully if uh Eric and Linda can uh advocate for our city, I actually did put some um uh something in their heads to see if they can support us with transportation within our city. I actually brought up as well too for the uh for the city of Bulmont for our students for them to be uh picked up at certain hours during minimum days just to provide that transportation for pickup and drop off at the nearest routes at their schools. Currently right now uh minimum days are on Wednesdays. Kids come out of school a little bit earlier but the bus routes are fixed at a certain time and which exposes the kids to be uh not making good decisions. they technically kind of hang out at the Starbucks areas that uh by uh um by the high school. So, one of the things that I did make some recommendations was that we can probably make some uh arrangements on Wednesdays on their schedules that we can change some routes. uh one of the council members at Bulmont was going to follow up to to see if there's anything in their policies because it is a federal uh law to have certain times of the day because it's it has to be current for it to have a fixed time on the routes but they are going to look into it. Another thing too from the RTA system as well too. I was advocating as well too that um there is data showing here in the city of Kamesa of the GIS

system from the uh that there is a need here for our seniors for transportation. So I advocated that for our for our city and RTA was very impressed. They are going to be uh looking into it as well too. They're they're going to be going into phase two. the phase one they were getting information and data from the neighboring cities. So on phase two I actually uh mentioned that if they can please look into it too. So um moving forward because I um unfortunately I cannot be at those meetings only as a um as a visitor. I know I got appointed but because you guys are the main chairs of that committee that oversees the other committees. Um that is the reason why I uh I want to make some recommendations. if you can please continue with uh advocating and supporting what I mentioned to the RTA and the transit so they can move forward with providing those services to our community and as well with uh free services for the RTA transits and well can follow up with the rest of the stuff that there was a miscommunication.

Yeah, I was I I thank you for that because I was going to say um I do I do apologize for that. That's something that staff was not aware of um at the time um when when mayor and I discussed appointments that we couldn't have a separate delegate for team now. It has to be the RTA. The RTA member designated member is also automatically the designated member of T now. I was we were not aware of that. So we apologize for that for that m that misunderstanding.

Apologize for that council member Garcia. I was not aware of that and we we all learned something in the process. I'll accept apology however with apology if you guys can move forward with the plans for transportation because you guys are the main persons. Uh and they're very uh they're looking forward for providing the services over here uh if you can just continue advocating advocating for our residents here for Kinesa so they can move forward with uh providing transportation here. I I just have some clarification um on what you're talking about as far as the buses. Are you talking about Bulmont bus system and the students that ride the Bulmont buses because we don't have a bus system? Well, I I'm just a little confused about that.

So, the meeting um that I attended, it's all about public transit. So, Bulmont Transportation was there, RTA was there as well too.

Yeah. So, uh one of the things was that um if we can work as um as a team and they are willing to support as well too. So for me it's just you know if we can work from city to city transportation at the end of the day is providing services to our community and to our kids because they all uh even though even though we're in Kamesa we are in a very unique situation where we are providing services to the Chukipa Unified School District and then Bulma Unified School District. Fortunately um we are Kamesa/Jucipa Unified. So we do have students residing on both districts. So, um, it's just more organizing and restructuring the bus routes and bringing in the RTA transportation in in in our side because we don't have public transportation in our region, but Bulma Unifi does have routes that will connect to the Bowmont High School and our border lines.

Okay. So, Okay. And then RTA, were you talking about microtransit? Is that the program that you're talking about for RTA? Um, microtransit and public transportation as a whole. Um I was talking to their main um um the rain team about bringing in the public transportation as a whole. Okay. I've been working on that for 10 years. So yes, we all do work well and I think at the mayor mayor city manager meetings that issue comes up because you know we don't have public transportation here and it's all it's you know based on rooftops I think is what in the past was something that didn't work out. people really didn't want to take public transit and so that's always been an issue but yeah no we we need we we do need that

the ch the challenge I think was and this is again you know before my time though and the challenge was is that writership wasn't there we did try to contract with Bulmont transit and so the challenge we have in the past area in general with with public transportation is is that both the cities of Bulmont banning have their own transit so they're not utilizing RTA and so because they're not using utilizing RTA if RTA was serving those cities cities then it would be a lot easier to serve the region what you know cohesively but because of our geographic isolation from the rest of the county and RCA RTA's service area it's hard for them to to for them to service us so then we have to look at Bulmont they tried it and they just weren't you know the fairbox revenue was just wasn't there because I think it has to be at least 10% of the total and we were we were pretty far under that um but again you know I think that's something we always have in our mind as we grow as a city um how that will change and and evaluating how that sh how that's going to change. So, I think that's something that we're we we do need to keep an eye on continuously.

I I I might just add one more thing because I've been involved with transportation as long as I've lived here and uh I mean they even offer the bus services um offered free rides and no one took them up. So, um I think we should maybe in the future um advocate for transportation. We're in the service area of RTA, but we're just like like you said, we're in a weird pocket. So, yeah, anything we can do to to get um best service here, I I fully recommend and support. Yeah. And I think right now it's a great time because they are doing their research and they're collecting their data. So, they are implementing interfaces right now. So, this is a good time to advocate for our CD, Eric, and Linda. So, um appreciate that.

Right. Thank you. Thank you all. I'm going to excuse me call a timeout from council member uh reports so that we can get our photo with our fire department who have returned. Thank you for your patience, gentlemen. Yeah. Thanks to our fire fire department for returning. That was great. We're going to continue with our council member reports. And now, council member Molina.

Yes. I only attended two meetings. Um I attended um on February 23rd um RCTC budget and implementation committee where they basically just did um um audit audit audit results for um for their services. And so not much going on there. Everything was approved. RTA also had uh routine business um doing the same thing. Um and I know one of the items which is um something I guess that comes up often is on city manager approval of contracts. And so with RTA they had um they're increasing the um the authority for the CEO and the request was to have reports on the on the variances. How many contracts in the variance area I think is $100,000. So that was interesting. conversation that was approved as well. That that's all that I have.

Thank you, council member. Now, Council Mund.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um I've got a little bit of stuff to talk about this evening. U first off to Council Member Garcia's point as far as us working diligently with RTA and T now. Um just be aware that the microtransit is something that I inquired about um previously with them and and we are trying to look into options for that. So, um, we're we're doing as best as we can for that. And of course, thank you, Council Member Molina, for all your hard work on, um, RTA and for I know that transportation is one of those things that's dear to your heart. So, you know, thank you for all that. Um, I did attend the, um, WRCOG meeting today and I will have a complete report um, to have sent out to you guys at a later time, but I did want to touch on a couple of things that were discussed today. Uh, the meeting was there was a lot of information there. So, um, one of the things that will really be concerning to staff, um, mostly is, uh, they're going to RTA or WRCOG's going to look to implement, um, this build what you can study. Um, they're going to put this forward and they're going to be evaluating, um, all the different transportation projects within the pass area as well as the, um, a pilot study for the southwest tones. And uh so that has to deal with a lot with AB 2307 um which is a traffic study zones that they're looking to do within the region of the River Riverside County. Um that's going to deal with signal lights aligning altogether. Um not necessarily going to affect us at this point, but uh they're looking at those type of measures to mitigate uh traffic from the freeway onto main corridors. So if the traffic signals all align, you know, as you're like locally, if we're on outer highway, for instance, you know, we had a bunch of traffic signals, they'd all be dialed in so that they're all green, so you weren't having to stop every so many blocks. So that's that's what that study is going to be about. Um there there was

an RFP already issued for that and it's been released for that. So um they look to have that concluded by 2028. So once I get the rest of the printouts from that, I will make sure that everyone gets that. Um, additionally, I would like to thank um, Mr. uh, Chris Rexad was here this evening. He left, but he was the one that was here with the Valley Elementary students. And I've had the privilege to be at a couple of the events at his school, um, Valley Elementary. And I just have to commend him and his staff for the great work that they're doing with our young kids. Um, the leadership that those kids displayed every time that I've been there, uh, has been impeccable, second to none, um, in our region. I have not seen any group of kids um operate as professionally as those kids do from all grades and all levels. So, I want to just publicly say thank you to him and to his staff uh for the great work that they're doing with our kids and my children both went to that school. So, that's why it's a little more close to my heart on that one. Uh that was as far as my reporting on on the meeting that I had uh attended. And there's just a couple of things that I'd like to bring up that are not on the agenda, but I'd like to ask staff um for direction, you know, to look into. Um one of them being, you may have read uh in the news mirror, the uh city of Ukipa, the city of Kypa is putting together a challenge um for the state housing authority and the Ukipa city council voted unanimously for that. And what that's going to do is um possibly get the attention of Sacramento um as they try to force these different resolutions on us um for some type of relief. So, what I'd like to have is uh staff look into that and see how we can effectively bond together with the cities in our region um to basically have our voice

heard on this particular issue because it's not a one-sizefits-all when it comes to housing or infrastructure. Um our needs are far different than the needs of Redlands or far different than the needs of Marino Valley or or any other city. So, um I think it would be appropriate to to request that of staff. Um the second thing that I would ask staff to look into um is I was kind of appalled when I came across a an article um that mentioned of a sex registrant um a 290 registrant running for city council somewhere in the state of California. And I thought to myself that this was kind of an interesting thing that's happening in this time that we're living in, right? And where before I would never think that somebody would ever have a chance to run for city council, city government or any elected position, but I would ask that staff u along with our city attorney look at um possible um municipal codes or uh some way to implement um some sort of structure to prevent that from happening in our city. uh our children are the most viable, you know, assets that we have for the future. And we have uh great people, you know, like Howard Reeves over there doing good things for these kids, trying to put them together, you know, on a on a baseball thing and and uh you know, Mr. Rexad working with his kids and all that. And I' I'd hate to see uh somebody come in, run for election, uh who was a 290 register in a sex uh you know, sex crimes against children run and win. And uh I could just It's just a bad thing all the way around. So, I I would ask staff to look at that and put something together uh bring it to council for us to discuss and and and have a vote on that.

Okay. We'll work with the city I'll work with the city attorney on that. Perfect. Thank you very much. And the last thing that I have is just to again thank city staff. Uh they they work tirelessly for us. All the work that they've done. Uh Celeste with the reports and and um just all of them. They do a great job and know we tell them that every time we have a meeting, but we really do appreciate all the hard work that staff does, our firemen, u just everybody. So, thank you guys for all you do and that's that's all I have. Thank you. Council member, did you have a comment?

Yeah, I want to piggyback on that one, Eric, because you do make a good point on the on those running council members when they have any case behind them. uh if we can al actually include I because I didn't realize that when you're running for for city council I thought you you know you do a a a background check and stuff um if we can include if they have any any any negative background checks or it pops up during those console uh elections if they even with uh rape cases and and stuff like that that they can be automatically disqualified for for running um including with any cases with with adults as well too. You know, the the leadership that comes within within council, it it kind of comes down to the city staff and stuff and we don't want any type of individuals like that running our our city and communicating with our with our leaders as well too, you know. Um I I I take those things very seriously of heart as well too, you know. So um so even with if they have any anything with kids but with adults as well too you know we don't want to create a hostile work environment when when you have individuals like that. Um that was new for me too that I thought that there or were automatically disqualified but apparently that's not that's not happening. So just want to piggyback on that one Eric. So thank you for bringing that up. Thank you uh Mayor Prom.

Thank you, Mayor. I did not attend any regional meetings and that will conclude my report. Thank you, sir.

Mayor, may I may I add one thing kind of to piggyback? Everybody's piggybacking on air tonight. Um Mesa View also had a leadership day. They didn't invite any of us to attend. I was I found out about it from someone um who um lives in Ukipa and said, "Why don't you come down?" they um but and so so what I'm my point is we I if for the future if it would be if there's some way of us connecting more with the school district on the school activities like the girls um the girls soccer team they were they I don't know if they won or not. Um somebody mentioned to me that they were like two and 0 on I don't know. So, I would like to our council to support our our our school youth in their accomplishments, their their uh sports activities. And so I'm I don't know if if in the future we could build some kind of relationship with the schools as far as maybe inviting the the um site school council or the leadership at the both both the middle schools because they those are that's our future and and we should applaud all the accomplishments of the students whether it be sports or academia and so I'd like us to get more involved in however that manifest but I just think it's important for us to support our youth and um be behind them and show them that their city council um appreciates and and encourages them and nurtures them in in their endeavors.

Okay, we can look into that. Thank you. All right, so I so I was going to say can't read my writing here. So RCA today was cancelled due to lack of substantive issues. So that was um what I was going to say there. But also I want to say thank you as well to Howard Ree for your work with the youth and what you're doing with the with the baseball program. Uh really mean it. This is historic moment. So I appreciate your work for the kids. They need someone like you and they need these these outlets, positive outlets. So thank you for filling that void and that gap for for this community and you always have. So um I know that money is going to go to good use. You mentioned needing it for equipment, umpires, all kinds of things. So, uh, look forward to hearing more about it.

And that concludes my report. And now, uh, city manager comments and report.

Thank you, mayor. I'll make this quick because we still have close session to get to. So, um, just wanted to give a quick update. We were talking about Summerwind Park, um, earlier, um, with the with the with the baseball league actually. So, um, on on Friday, uh, Mr. Reeves uh reached out to me uh with some concerns about um leagues, you know, other teams using the field from a neighboring um league. And so I reached out to um the Bulmont Cherry Valley Parks District to discuss it and they put a message out saying that they would um they would tell their coaches, hey, Cal has their own league. They want to use their park for for that purpose. And so we appreciate them doing that. The other action that we are taking at this point as a short-term fix is we're going to put a sign on the field saying that the park that the that it's restricted or at least uh priority use for uh the Cal Mesa Youth Baseball and Softball League as well as Summerwind School because Summerwind School also utilizes the the park for inter mutual play. So we're I've asked Mr. Reeves just kind of work with them um you know if there's any scheduling conflicts there. Um and that's so that's going to be like a short-term fix. Our long-term fix will be uh to implement a scheduling system. Um so we're already looking into that. Um we're going to get a demo of that soon and get that implemented and that way people will be able to go online and book the field um on their own. So we'll be able to open it back up to other leagues or other you know travel ball or whatever. Um but have a way to actually you know organize it. And I, you know, we obviously if if you know, the direction will be uh if we have direction to u prioritize um the Calama Youth Baseball and Softball League, we certainly can do that. Um so we can kind of work with them, block out their scheduling for for field use, for practices, and then say, "Okay, whatever spots are not available, anybody else can go in and use it." So that might be something that we're going to look at as well. So I just wanted to let the council know um that we're we're on top of it and we're we're we're addressing

the issue. So on that and then the last thing is um um Captain Esel had mentioned the community project funding um or congressionally directed spending u program. Um we are also doing a request and so I just wanted to give the council a heads up on that. We're asking for support letters. We're doing an economic development initiative um that will target Kal Mesa Boulevard re revitalization. It'll include a number of things including um up you know updating the paving um doing so doing paving work, streetscape design, uh additional lighting because it's especially if you do the parade you know that we do have a absence of lighting on that on that stretch. Um surveillance cameras is another possibility because that is because it's a commercial corridor. We do get um more crime in that area. So, we feel that would would help uh at least deter some of the crime and help our sheriff's department um target do targeted enforcement there. So, there's a number of different things that we're going to request. It'll be request for $4 million. That's the maximum amount. The nice thing about that particular program is there is no match required. However, I think that um staff is still going to work on ways to be able to bring some funding to the table to make our uh our ask a little stronger. So, um, just wanted to pass that along cuz those are going to be the act the requests themselves are actually due um, this week. Um, I believe. So, I have to I No, they're due Monday. So, essentially this week. So, we will get that in there. Um, we're already gathering letters of support. We've already several from uh, Senator Bo, Assembly Member Wallace, and other organizations. So, we're all on our way out to do that. But, I just wanted to give that update. And that's that concludes my report.

Thank you, sir. And we do have two close session items. So I'll hand it over to our city attorney to announce those. There are two sorry there are two items on the council's close session agenda. First item is conference with labor negotiators, the city negotiators, the city manager and the deputy city manager represented employees or the uh city's professional firefighters association. Second item is conference with legal counsel regarding the assisting litigation. The name of the case is Maline Fox versus County Riverside at all. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. And that now adjourns our meeting at 7:45. We'll adjourn to our next regular city council meeting. We're not adjourn. We have to journ after close session. We're we're recessing session. The uh business items will journ after close session. Just just Yeah, good good call.