City Council - Regular Meeting

I'm going to have to use my grandma my grandma yalet yelling voice. Good evening everyone. It's December 1st. Welcome to the to the regular meeting of the Kalama uh city council meeting. It's such a pleasure to see all these faces. Some I haven't seen in years. Oh my gosh, makes my heart warm. But uh welcome to to our meeting tonight. I'll call the meeting to order at 6 pm and we'll do roll call, please. Charlene, sorry. Council member Kundiff here. Council member Garcia here. Council member Manley here. Mayor Pro Tim Cervantes here. Mayor Molina

here. Thank you. And for the record, let us show that um city manager Kobo's here, city attorney Flower, city clerk Gertie, finance director Reid, planning director Lucia, public works director Shakir, city city engineer Thornton, fire battalion chief Merkitarian, and Sheriff Captain Northrup. If everyone will join me to to celebrate our flag and country, please. Ready? Begin.

I pledge allegiance to the flag the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. [clears throat]

So, this is a very special evening. If you read the agenda, you saw that it's the actual day of our 35th, the city's 35th anniversary. So, you'll see that everyone but me. Um I couldn't find my t-shirt from our state of the city uh special t-shirts to honor that. So we're proud to be associated with Calamea and we're proud that you're here to to join the meeting tonight. Um right tonight we have some special presentations. Can I speak from here up there? I think it would be appropriate to go up to the uh Okay, let's see how how well I can read and look up at the same time. Um, city of Kalamea recognition awards tonight. Good evening everyone and thank you for joining us on our city's birthday as we honor two extraordinary individuals whose lives shaped shaped the character spirit in heart of Calama. Most of you here know each other. That's so great. Earlier this year, the city of Calama established the community recognition awards program. Through this program, the city seeks to shine a light on those whose service, leadership, and commitment have made a meaningful impact on our community. These awards established and guided by our parks, trails, and community services commission allow us to recognize the contributions of residents, organizations, and youth who exemplify the values we share as a city. Service, enrichment, resilience, and compassion. Tonight we have the privilege of posthumously honoring two men whose legacies continue to benefit our community long after their lifetimes. Their stories remind us that while the city is built through infrastructure and planning, its heart is shaped by the

people who dedicate themselves quietly, consistently, and often without recognition to the well-being of others. It is with deep gratitude and respect that we celebrate the recipients of the Legacy of Service Award and the Community Enrichment Award. Our legacy of service award goes to uh Walt Pile who I think everybody here knows him. [applause] It is it is my honor to present the legacy of service award to Mr. Wall pile post posthumis post posthumis I can't say that word posimumously thank you thank you recognizing a lifetime spent uplifting connecting and inspiring our community while pile's story is one defined by service to youth to families to civic life and to the very fabric of calm kipa born in 1938 and raised during a trans transformative era in California history Walt came to this area as a teenager even then he demonstrated a passion for giving back umpiring pee-wee baseball games at just 15 years old. This early commitment to youth blossomed into a lifetime of public service. Over his 33year s career in recreation across the cities of Redlands, Reno Valley, Ukipa, and others, Walt championed programs that brought people together and created opportunities for children and families. His fingerprints are are on some of the region's most beloved community traditions. Yukipa Concerts in the Park, which he launched in 1990. Calamea's concerts on the green, which he founded in 2001. The Calamea Flower Program, The Rose, bringing beauty and civic pride to shared spaces. Dozens of free youth and family programs from track meets and hoop shoot competitions to movie nights and community golf events. Beyond his professional contributions, Walt volunteered in nearly every corner of community life, serving on the Calama Planning

Commission, organizing holiday events, officiating countless youth sports games, and honoring veterans through annual remembrance programs. His recognitions include being named citizen of the year in both Yokipa and Calamea, the Yukypa wall of fame, and the FA family values award, which speak to the breath and depth of his influence. But what makes Walt Pile especially deserving of the legacy of service award is not the quantity of what he accomplished. It is the heart behind it. Walt believed deeply. Everybody knows this. Walt believed deeply in community connection in giving without expecting recognition and ensuring that every child and family had a place to belong. His legacy lives on in our programs, our traditions, and in the many lives he touched through decades of selfless service. On on behalf of the city of Calama, we proudly and gratefully present the Legacy of Service Award to Walt Pile Pile. Say it right. How he's going to come and slap me. Um Walt Pile, honoring a life that will continue to inspire generations to come. [applause] He deserves that. He'd be the one saying, "Hey, come on." [applause] Okay. Uh honoring Colonel Joseph Pilla. Did I say that right? Pearola. Thank you. Thank you, Jim. It is also my great honor to present tonight to present the community enrichment award postumously. Thank you to Colonel Joseph Perilla, a man whose extraordinary life of service shaped not only the history of Kalamea, but the lives of countless young people across our region. Colonel Perilla was born in 198 in 1890 and lived a life defined by dedication to country, community, and youth. His 30-year military career spanned both World War I and World War II, earning him the respect of his peers and the gratitude of a nation. But when he retired from the army and settled on County Line Road

in 1947, he brought that same commitment to the community he he now called home. Colonel Pilla poured his heart into developing youth programs and building opportunities for young people. Long before youth sports and recreation were cornerstones of community life, he served as a scoutmaster and earned the silver beaver award for distinguished service to youth. He became active in the UK civil air patrol, encouraging civic responsibility and leadership. But perhaps his mo most enduring legacy lies in the world of youth sports. In 1954, he founded the very first youth sports baseball program in Yukipa and Calama. In 1958, he established the area's first chartered little league program, coaching and mentoring young athletes for more than a decade. He personally maintained the baseball fields, watering and dragging the field infields using his old student baker chalking and setting bases. Does anybody was anybody witnessed to that? I know so cool. And in a gesture emblem emblematic of his generosity, he built a batting cage at his home open to all children regardless of their team. His leadership extended beyond the field beyond beyond the field. As a member of the Little League board of directors, he helped shape youth sports in ways that still benefit children today. In 1963, the community recognized his extraordinary contributions with the first award ever given in his name. An award that continues to honor youth service to youth. Colonel Pilla passed away in 1979, but the programs he started, the fields he tended, and the values he imparted continue to enrich the lives of families in Calamuca. Tonight, we recognize not just the accomplishments of a remarkable man, but the lasting spirit of mentorship, fairness, and inclusion that he instilled in this community. On behalf of the city of Calame Mesa, we are proud to present the Community Enrichment Award to Colonel Joseph Perilla, honoring his profound contributions and

the generations of young people who benefited from his devotion to service. [applause] Will did you want to take pictures or at this time? Okay. Do we want to do it by award? Do or Walt pile versus Joseph? Do we want to just all get together? How how do we want to do? Okay. So, let's let's do Walt first. If you are here for Walt, um please where do you want where do you want everybody?

Okay. [laughter] Oh, thank you. Okay. Okay.

Yes.

[applause]

Daddy.

[snorts] [applause]

Thank you so Okay, that brings us tonight to our community um I'm sorry, our city employee presentations.

All right. Good evening, Madame Mayor, members of the council. Tonight, we we recogni I'm honored to recognize uh fire captain Matt Vega on his 5-year anniversary with the city of Cal Mesa. Matt joined our fire department on August 29th, 2020 as a firefighter EMT, right in the middle of some very challenging years for public safety. From day one, he brought energy, professionalism, and a deep sense of responsibility to this community. It didn't take long for his leadership to stand out. Just a year later, in August of 2021, he was promoted to fire captain where he continues to set the tone for his crews. Come under pressure, focused on training, and always putting the safety of our residents and his fellow firefighters first. Matt also serves as president of the Calamea Professional Firefighters Association, where he plays a key role in building a strong collaborative relationship between our firefighters and the city. Captain Vega, thank you for your service, your leadership, and your commitment to the city of Calama. Congratulations on five years and here's to many more. [applause]

Matt's family's here. [applause] Matt, bring your family with you. Oh, come on up. All of them. Thank you.

Take a picture with your family. One more with the extra family. photo bomb. I know. I know.

Yeah.

Uh oh. Call. [applause]

[applause] Thank you. We're very proud of our fire department. Okay, that brings us to our communications from the public tonight. We have uh I have one speaker sip. If there if anybody would like to speak tonight, uh just be sure to get us a card and and um give it to Darlene. Okay. Uh Donna Johnson.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Donna Johnson. I live in the California and I'm here with all the breath I have to give the fire department the biggest shout out I could possibly give. When I was in trouble last week, they were there so [snorts] quick and they took such good care of me and anything that I needed, they saw to it. They locked my door. They asked where my keys were. They made sure I had everything for to go in the ambulance. They and they were kind and supportive. I was terrified and they they were so wonderful. I just cannot tell you how much I appreciate them. The ambulance service, however, three of us have had trouble with and I am dealing with that myself. But the fire department just wonderful.

Thank you. We like to hear that. Thank you so much. [applause] Okay. Um. Yeah. Yeah.

Hey, Red. T Rocky. I said hi. I didn't get a chance to talk to him. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Mayor before you take a vote on the consent calendar. Okay.

Okay. We can all squeeze in if you like. Spread out. [laughter] It makes us feel like there's more people here, right? Okay. So, um, now we're at the, uh, the part of our agenda or the approval of the agenda, consent calendar, and waiver of full readings of ordinances. Before we take a motion on that, um, does anyone want to pull anything from the consent calendar?

Um, I would just like to make there's no other, if there's nobody that would like to pull anything, um, I just wanted to make a note for the record [clears throat] on item number nine. Um, there was an inadvertent, um, error on one of the, um, exhibits. And so at the dis is a hot file memo describing that um that change. It was just uh I picked up a old range for one of the positions. And so this is the updated one. So when you you know when you vote to uh consider this item, it'll be it'll be the corrected item. Okay. So and then um uh the the attorney has a comment on item number four.

Yeah. Item number four is second reading by title only and adoption of ordinance number 418 an ordinance of the city of Calama adopting zone text amendment number 25-02 amending chapter 18.130 of the Calamea municipal code to establish an inclusion inclusionary housing in lui as an alternative means of compliance with the calama inclusionary housing ordinance and finding that zone text amendment 25-02 is exempt from the California environmental quality act pursuant to SQA guidelines section 15601B3. Thank you.

Okay, so that would mean items 1 through 3, items 5 through 8 are regular items. Um item nine is as corrected for whoever makes the motion. So moved. Thank you. Second. Jeff, was that you? Thank you. Anyone opposed? No, I'll I'll approve. That's 5-0. Thank you very much. Okay, that takes us now to uh Sheriff Captain uh Northrep's report.

Good evening.

Good evening, Mayor Council. Um, obviously we'll go over the part one crimes due to this being the first of the month. Um, or near the first of the month. Uh, these are going to be not uh full stats for the month of November, but partial stats and obviously subject to change. So for November, there were two aggravated assaults, two burglaries, one autotheft, and 11 larseny thefts. There were a total of 424 incidents for the month. A few notable incidents. On November 20th, the Cal Mesa deputy responded to a theft in progress at a business in the 1100 block of Cal Mesa Boulevard. The deputy located the suspect vehicle leaving the area uh conducted a traffic stop and ultimately arrested the the individual for uh the theft as well as some felony warrants. And then on November 16th, uh the Calam deputy responded to a single vehicle non-injury traffic collision at Roberts Road in Cherry Valley Boulevard. Uh that driver was arrested for suspicion of driving while under the influence of alcohol. And then on November 23rd, the Calamista deputy responded to the 1100 I'm sorry, the thousand block of Cherry Valley Boulevard reference a non-injury traffic collision. That driver was also arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. That said, it's the holiday season, right? We do see an increase in um DUIs, DUI related crashes. So, we just want to remind everybody, you know, designate a driver, use Uber, Lift, some sort of ride application to get home safely. Um, [snorts] with that, I'm happy to announce that the officer Office of Traffic Safety, OTS, awarded the city approximately $18,000 in grant money uh to pay for general traffic enforcement to include DUI, saturation, patrols, and distracted driver enforcement. The OTS National Winter Du DUI mobilization is a program that increases DUI patrols. Uh

the program will be running from December 12th through January 1st. So we'll have some extra DUI cars out um trying to identify those that are impaired and hopefully um we can prevent more crashes and and uh make sure everybody gets home safe. Any questions? Thank you for your report. Any questions? Good job as always. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we'll call up uh battalian chief merkitarian for the fire chief report.

Good evening, mayor, city council members. My name is Chad Mkhitaryan uh BC with the fire department. Uh just some updated stats for you and uh for you guys to to brag about my department real quick. Um we have an ISO class 2 rating. That being said, uh our city proudly maintains an ISO public protection classification of class 2, placing the department among the top 4% of fire departments nationwide. This high rating reflects excellence in our staffing, training, equipment, water supply, emergency communications, and response readiness. Also, a class 2 rating directly reduces a homeowner's fire insurance premium, saving Calam Mesa residents and businesses hundreds of dollars per year. Maintaining this rating requires strong staffing, sustainable call volume management, adequate station coverage, and continued investment in apparatus and training. As the call volume rises and the city expands geographically, additional resources will be critical to preserving this class 2 standing. at 2025. Thus far, our emergency response activity is uh we have a 20.62 increase in total calls over the previous year from 2024. We're at 1661 medical aid responses, continuing a trend where EMS makes up the majority of the emergency incidences, excuse [clears throat] me, incidents. [snorts] We're at 93 public assist calls. Uh 48 related responses shows uh 620 mutual aid responses given to our surrounding areas and uh 62 received into the city of Calama. As you guys know, with uh our response times remains under 7 minutes despite the the rising call volume and long distance coverage within the city's 14.8 miles. So these metrics show strong performance during a year of significant excuse me significant operational pressure with a growing city is a

growing demand. So um those are the updated stats I have so far. A little uh toot on my own horn for my guys with the uh increased call volume and handling that obviously with your guys support. So thank you guys. We'd like to toot toot as well. All right. Okay. That brings us to our business item tonight. Item number 10, approval of purchase and sale agreement for the former Bank of America building located at 1055 Calamea Boulevard.

Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the council. It is my uh honor and privilege to to talk about this item, this historic item for our city. So, the proposed sale purchase and sale agreement for the property at 1055 Cal Mesa Boulevard, uh also formerly also known as the former Bank of America building as detailed in the written staff report. This transaction reflects a rare opportunity to meet a long-standing city need in a fiscally responsible way. For 35 years, the city has operated out of modular buildings that were never intended to serve as a permanent city hall. Our current administrative building is about 2,000 square ft with planning, building, and safe build and safety and code enforcement in a second modular building added in 2007. As Calam [clears throat] Mesa continues to grow, the lack of space has become one of the primary constraints on expanding staffing and reducing the city's reliance on on contract services. And I want to briefly touch on that point because it does come up from time to time. There has been some confusion in the community about whether the city can hire additional staff. The limitation has never been legality. It has always been cost and physical space. This acquisition directly addresses the space issue. A permanent administrative facility gives us the ability over time to internalize more functions and hire strategically when it makes financial sense. So in that way, this purchase is not only a facilities decision, it is also a long-term organizational capacity decision. As for the process itself, under the Brown Act, real estate negotiations are required to take place in close session. That is not unique to this item. This is how every city in California protects its taxpayers during negotiations. If we were to conduct those these discussions in open session, the seller would know our ceiling could leverage it and the public would ultimately pay more. So this the council gave negotiating

parameters to in closed session staff negotiated within those parameters and now that we have a tenative agreement the full terms are being presented publicly in open session for final approval by the city council exactly as the law requires. So let's now summarize the key elements of the transaction. Bank of America listed the property through a competitive bid process this summer with the support of Cosmot Real Estate Services. The city submitted a sealed bid and engaged in negotiations with the sellers representative Kushman and Wakefield. The resulting agreement proposes a purchase price of $1,985,000 for a building of approximately 8,65 square ft located centrally within our community. Staff completed extensive due diligence, including site inspections, an updated appraisal, which by the way exceeded the purchase price, a new alta survey, and updated title review. A phase one environmental assessment will be completed during the inspection period upon execution of the agreement. Importantly, this this acquisition is funded entirely through government general government facilities development impact fees. These are restricted dollars. By law, they can only be used for capital facilities like city hall. They cannot be used for salaries, programs, police staffing, parks, or any other operational needs. This purchase does not affect the general fund in any way. The agreement also includes a lease back of the existing ATMs, which remain in operation. This is a standard for bank properties and will generate modest revenue to offset a portion of the ongoing facility costs. Once staff relocates, the existing city hall site will remain in city ownership and can be repurposed to support public works operations, serve as a potential location for a new emergency operation center funded by a federal earmark secured last year, uh, or accommodate future community services needs. In

closing, this acquisition represents a practical, cost-effective, and long-term solution to the city's administrative facility needs while also laying the groundwork for future staffing and service improvements. Staff recommends approval of the purchase and sale agreement. And that concludes my report and I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. I'll open it up for questions on the debt advice. I just would like to say that this makes me extremely happy. Uh the fact that this has finally come to this point and uh I think it's a smart move for us. I think it's a cost-effective move for us. Um and if you could answer in the best ballpark if we were to build one from scratch, uh what would we be looking at roughly based on a price if of similar size based on you know the going price of construction and acquisition? probably somewhere in the um $8 million range. 8 to9 million range. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh I think the presentation covered it well, but I just kind of wanted to highlight I think for really the community's benefit just the our thought process because this is a big it's a big deal for us. It's a big purchase, but what I was what I was looking at as as we've all the council talked about this in close session [snorts] many times, but one, we're we're already uh before I even got here many years ago, we're already looking for a new location for city hall. So, this is not a new a new topic. It was just how how can we do that feasibly? And uh in the past, we're looking at through through development, which was what was kind of planned. And we've seen some of the um the difficults with that if if if those uh development agreements um fall through which is our our current current situation. Um and also these uh these funds are are tied to those uh government facility development these impact fees. So like Will was saying those can't be used for for anything else. this is the reason this this these funds are are there and we can't use them for other types of uh other other things we might want to want to do around around the city. And then I think the most uh the most important thing for me was the cost effective aspect of it. So if we were going to um build something from the ground up, buy get a piece of land and then build that it's going to be significantly significantly more expensive and this is also a unique opportunity for us to take take advantage of that. So, in the long run, it's going to significantly lower the cost for us to to do what we were already planning to do. It was just timing wise, we had to kind of [snorts] um take advantage of this opportunity while it was there. But in my mind, as far as the numbers go, which is a a lot of times where my mind is is is is going, is this going to make sense longterm? Is this going to be a cost-effective thing? So, the answer to that is for this is is yes. And so that's what makes me most uh happy about the about the decision that we made.

Thank you. Thank you, Jeff.

Thank you, mayor. Yeah, I just echo what my my colleagues have said here. Underscore that this is a historic, I think, purchase for the city. Uh the right purchase for the city. I think uh this has been a long time coming. It's going to be a building that we could grow into as a city. We already have outgrown our current facilities and this is going to be something that's going to allow us to serve our community well for for decades to come and it's going to be a building that we can be proud of. Uh a place that we can uh conduct um our business in a in a space that is comfortable and conducive to to what we have to do. So um when when our city manager says that we did our due diligence, we did. uh they they did all that they could to look into this purchase, make sure it was financially a good decision, that this was uh the right location, that the building was ideal and suitable, and it checked all those boxes. Uh and I and I agree that it does, and we were included in the decision-m process throughout. And so, um I've got, uh no reservations about this. So, thanks to staff for making it happen, and really looking forward to the ribbon cutting, uh next week, right? No. [laughter] next year.

Add one year and maybe we're there. [laughter] Ed, did you want to make a comment?

I'm really excited about the new chapter for our city. Um, I want to thank the city staff um and the city manager and our city attorney as well too for all the hard work that's been happening u between them and then bringing all the information to us as as council members and you know it wasn't easy. There was a lot of tough uh questions to ask because um you know this is the tax dollars of our community and and based up of all the information all the data that was provided to us we made a decision to move forward with it and it was just good timing. It was good timing uh when Bank Vanguard America went up to the real estate market. I know development has been a um situation that they come in and um it hasn't followed through. So, this is a good opportunity that uh the city hall will be in downtown uh closer to our main um city. Even though I'm uh just completed my first year as a council member, I learned a lot and I'm very excited that the team and the staff is going to be growing within the facilities and it will be providing more services to our community as well and to provide support for our leadership within the city of Kalissa.

Thank you. My only comment is I'm very happy that it's in the historic part of our city because we were looking at some um with with new development um putting uh land for city hall somewhere in the new area um all the new construction like off Cherry Valley and such. So I think having it in the historic keeping the city hall uh in the historic part of town is going to upgrade um down the downtown area. It's going to bring a higher uh business value to the businesses that are there. It's going to change the look of Calama Boulevard. So, I'm very pleased that this happened in our on our reign and we have um we're very proud of it and we're um going to look be looking forward to bringing the this open to the community and and having a that that area of town being a vibrant area that it already is. So, at this point then we're looking um for um uh adoption of resolution 2025-60, a resolution of the city council to the city of Calama, California, approving a purchase and sale agreement with Bank of America National Association to purchase real estate loc [clears throat] excuse me located at 1055 Calamea Boulevard in Calamea, California. APN411-180-023 authorizing the mayor to execute the agreement and take related actions and amending the fiscical year 2526 budget to include a related adjustment in the administrative uh facilities fees fund. I'll entertain a motion please.

So moved. Thank you. Second. Thank you. All in favor? I that's 5. Thank you very much. Congratulations everybody. looking forward to this this milestone in our city. [applause] Good news. Okay, now to the confusing part of our agenda. I'd like to convene the joint city council and successor agency to the Calamea Redevelopment Agency meeting. Uh joint business items. Item number one, city council annual reorganization with the rotation of mayor and mayor prom. Darling will present.

Yes. Thank you, Madame Mayor. As you know, we annually make a change um in our mayor and mayor pro Tim. And when there's not a general municipal election, it's the first meeting of December. And here we are. On September 15th of this year though, we adopted resolution 202552, which established um a mayor and mayor proim rotation policy. The policy established the process for rotation of the mayor and mayor pro Tim in order to ensure fairness, transparency, and preparedness for council members serving in presiding officer roles. The mayor, Mayor Pro Tim shall serve a one-year term. No council member shall serve consecutive terms as mayor or mayor prom unless all other council members declined to serve. A council member is eligible for mayor after one year of service on the city council. The mayor, mayor prom shall rotate each year according to seniority of service. After serving as mayor, a council member moves to the end of the sequence and the mayor prom shall normally succeed the mayor in the following year. Selection of the mayor prom must be ratified by a majority vote which would be three votes and if a nominee fails to receive three votes, they are moved to the end of the sequence. A council member may decline to serve as mayor or mayor prom. In such case, the position passes to the next council member in sequence. So pursu pursuant to the list of rotational sequence, Mayor Pro Tim Cervantes will move to the office of mayor and mayor Molina moves to the end of the sequence. Council member Manley then moves to the office of mayor prom according to his seniority of service. So now I just need to have a confirmation of the rotation of Mayor Pro Tim Cervantes to mayor and council member Manley to mayor pro Tim with a required action um by the city council of three or more affirmative votes. So, we need a nomination to accept the

No, because of the motion and second to confirm the rotation. Yeah, you're just you're just you're just making a motion to ratify the rotation. Um, just call for the vote. So, I I'll make There's a motion and a second. I'll make a motion that we accept the rotation uh which would allow for council member uh mayor promote to be mayor and then uh council member Manley to be mayor prom. That is the action. Thank you. Second. Okay. All in favor? I I Okay, unanimous. Congratulations. Thank you. [applause] Do we swap now or do we wait until the end of this item we after we come back come back to

We're pretty much done with the meeting when we're done here other than your mayor and council comments. So, we can just switch at our next meeting. You know, they'll all switch at the next meeting. Okay. So, Okay. So, we just have to do the successor. Yeah. We still have JM2, right? You're technically still [clears throat] the chair of that. Okay. Okay. Actually, I think that's one of the confusing things. I believe uh Mayor or Mayor Cervantes is the chair of that was the chair of it last year that we we made that. Didn't we do that last year? We did. So technically, you're the chair of this anyway. So So I have to handle this order of business. Yes, sir.

All right. [snorts] So the the resolution did not um uh automatically do a rotation for the successor agency. So um you'll need to pick someone to be the the chair and the vice chair. However, we kind of um would rather it kind of Yeah. staff would recommend that the chair follows the mayorship and the vice chair follows the mayor pro 10. That would be our recommendation. Is that something we could clean up later? um uh language later so that it's automatic for the next

we could we could we could clean up the language. Um actually I think we could probably we probably don't need to change the rotation policy. What we probably just needed to change to tweak the the roles of the mayor and mayor prom to include chairing or vice chairing of any boards whether it's you know successor agency if there's a financing board or any type of other board that we would create um the the mayor would automatically be the chair of that as well. That would be our recommendation. And so we can we can look at that and bring that back. But for tonight but for tonight we still have to take the the formal action.

Okay. And so the recommendation is that the board of directors of the successor agency to the Calamea Redevelopment Agency choose one of its members as chairperson and another of its members as vice chairperson. So would anyone like to make the motion to mirror? Yes. I'll make the motion that um we have uh Mayor Cvantes serve as the chair and Mayor Po Manley serve as a vice chair. Okay, we have a second. I'll second that. Thank you. Thank you. All in favor? I I 50. That passes. Congratulations on that. We will now adjourn the successor agency

um to the Calama Redevelopment Agency and reconvene city council. So, at this point, that brings us to mayor council member reporting uh county meetings. And Edgar, we'll start with you. [sighs] [clears throat]

got nothing to report besides uh thanking the city staff for all your amazing work and um the city lights as well too and the uh the public works department as well too. Uh thank you for putting up those uh stands between the schools that uh the community has been very happy about it. So thank you for for moving forward with that and um and controlling the traffic flow in that area. So besides that, um I do want to say big shout out to our sheriff's department too for um for supporting our community and our residents too as well with um with traffic control and um patrolling the schools as well too. So big shout out to our um our officers. Uh besides that um everyone see you guys uh at the end of December. I hope to see you guys next year because uh 2026 is just a few months away. A few weeks away. Thank you. Mayor,

thank you. Thank you. If I may, I have a few prepared remarks this time I'd like to share. So, I want to express my sincere appreciation for the vote of confidence. But my colleagues up here, thank you for the the confidence you've placed in me. Or maybe you're just following policy, but I'm okay with that, too. Either way, it's good with me. It's an honor to step into this role and to continue serving the community that we all care so much about. As I take on this responsibility, my focus is the same as it's always been, to work with all of you and our residents to make the most informed and reasonable decisions we can for our city. So, the way I see it is the council, our staff, our residents, we're all on the same team. [snorts] We may not always agree, but we share a common objective, doing what's best for Calam Mesa. So, as always, we have important work in front of us, and I'm confident that together we can continue moving Calamaz in the right direction. So, thank you again for this honor. [snorts] Um, to be the mayor. I'll do my best.

Thank you.

So, appreciate that. Um, also want to say a couple comments. Um, secondly about our staff and um I I just was thinking about it this time of year, Thanksgiving, Christmas, that it's appropriate to just uh say thank you how much we appreciate you all. Um I believe each and every person on the staff is a person of high character first of all and a strong work ethic. And I'm not just being naive. I I don't um I know this to be the case because I know many of them personally, but also they wouldn't be working here if they weren't people of high, you know, character and work ethic. [snorts] Um so I know that to be the case from all of our staff. Um so thank you. Uh much of the work that you do goes unnoticed most of the time, but it doesn't make it un not important. It's extremely important and it's always appreciated. So, uh, I know we all have the same goal. Our staff, council, you know, we're all just trying to make our city the best possible place that we can. [snorts] And so, I just wanted to say thank you. This this time of year, especially, it's welld deserved. Uh, this this city wouldn't be the place that it is without you. So, thank [snorts] you. Um, and with that, yeah, happy um happy uh holiday season. This is a good time of year. One of my favorite of the year. So enjoy it. That concludes my report.

Thank you, [snorts] Mayor Mayor Pimley. Thank you. It's I want to thank all the staff for the tree lighting event uh being out there. Um that was well attended. So I appreciate all the hard work as usual. And I just want to say thank you to uh council member now mayor Jeff Cervantes. So I it's a long time coming. So, I'm glad to see you there and it's it'll be an honor to back you up over this next year. So, anytime you need anything, I'll be right here right here in this chair waiting for you, man. [laughter]

And happy birthday, Calama. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you, man. Thank you. Uh, so first I'd like to say thank you uh for all the great work that you've done this last year and and serving that position with dignity and and just just doing a great job. So, thank you for that and congratulations to you. Um,

I know you're going to do just fine. You know, you're you're you're a great councilman and and you've taught me a lot already. So, uh, I know that you're going to do just great for us. Um, lastly, I don't have any meetings to report on, but there is some thoughts I'd like to share that I pinned down uh earlier. So, um, just bear with me as I read through this. So, um, I would like to take a moment and address some very unfortunate and what amounts to a gross misrepresentation of our city clerk Darlene Gertie's character. Recently, Darlene shared some thoughts during a podcast that were taken out of context, misrepresented uh, and placed in a local paper. And I would encourage everyone to go back and listen to that podcast and the conversation in its entirety so that they can hear for themselves the nature of that discussion and what was said. I've had the pleasure to know and work with Darlene now for over four years and have seen firsthand the type of considerate and dedicated person that she is. She gives 110% of herself to the city, its staff, and most importantly her duties as city clerk. other cities would be lucky to have someone like her and the integrity that she has. And I'm personally blessed to know her and the city is a better place because of her. Her commitment to public service, her position, and uh to our city is second to none. And I would like to thank you personally, Darlene, for all your hard work and what you do for the city and the amount of extra time that you could donate and give to us. Thank you. That's all I have.

Thank you very much. Um I attended only one meeting. Uh that was on the 24th RCTC uh budget and finance meeting where they approved routine financial um um updates uh changes to the investment policy and uh legislative platform and the procurement policy manual. And so um I'd like to just add to my comments to to thank the staff. The staff is fantastic and does makes us look good. They do all the work. we report it and and make sure that it's proper, but it makes us look good. And I'd like to also commend the council members for their commitment this year to the county um um commitments that they were appointed to that brings um respect to our city by other cities. It's so important to network um to work with the the cities in the past. It's brought us success and I think we um also have a lot to offer. So, I'd like to thank you all for that meeting, that commitment and uh the staff. the staff is just a a a great fun group of people that um it's like a it's a family um atmosphere here. So, thank you Will for for putting together the podcast because that's really I have learned so much from those myself. Thank you for making it clear and it's a a a clear record for us to go back to when we want to refresh ourselves on someone on something. So, thank you for that. It it takes a lot of your time. I I I recognize that. So, we're so proud of you for that. Thank you. And so it's been an honor for me to to to lead this the city council this year. It's my first time ever and I enjoyed it tremendously and look forward to continuing all the good work that we're doing. We're we've reached milestones this year and we're continuing to bring prosperity to our our community and uh look forward to to serving under uh the new mayor and mayor prom. So thank you all. Have a happy season and I'll turn it now over to our city manager for city manager uh comments and report. I do

have a couple of uh of community events to to talk about. I will be brief though because I know I'm the only one standing between us and cupcakes. So, um this Saturday is the annual uh get your lights on Christmas parade um starting at 5:00 p.m. on Calama Boulevard from Avenue K to Myrtlewood. The city will also be hosting a Christmas market along the parade route at 1103 Calamea Boulevard just north of Myrtlewood. Um, and next Thursday, December 11th, at 6:00 p.m., we will be hosting a virtual town hall for the Cherry Valley Boulevard interchange um to give updates um on the current status of the project and what our f funding strategy is. So, one of the things that of the funding programs that we're looking at is they're looking at community outreach. And we've done several report we've done I've done several updates on the project with the podcast which we're going to use as part of our um grant application. But this one will also this will be considered the next podcast episode, but it'll also be something that'll be live so people can actually ask questions um in real time. So, um I'm going to work with Yaza to get that advertised. We're also going to um what I'd like to also do is reach out to the city of Bumont and have them also advertise it on their social media since they're probably the most impacted by that interchange. They use it. They're the biggest users of it. So, I think it's important for them to be involved as well because we're going to need their support um as we go for these grant programs going for forward both on the federal and state on the state side. So, um like I said, be on the lookout for that and when that information comes out, I will also share it with all the council so that you can share with the community as well. And that will conclude my report. And I'd like to just say uh I'd like to echo the council. Thank you to the staff. You guys are amazing. You're rock stars and I love working with all of you. Um, you make showing up for work every day

just amazingly rewarding and fun. And because this being a city manager, and I think you've seen it, we've seen it in in other cities, being a city manager is not an easy job. Um, but a big part of why we get success, actually the biggest reason that we have success is because of our staff. And so I just want to thank you for all that you do every day. And I also want to thank the council for your continuing and unwavering support. um that is also critical for organizational success because I've seen city councils that work well together and it's then makes the the organization successful and the community successful and I've also seen where bad council relationships and bad and and challenging council relationships also be detrimental to staff and to the community. So every single one of you, I thank you for the work that you do for the community and the support that you give us to allow us to serve the community the best that we can. So thank you.

Thank you. I neglected one person uh in my comments and that is I'd like to thank our attorney, Mr. Flower, because he makes sure that we do things on the up and up. We're transparent. He keeps us on the straight and narrow and we thank you for that. We if he doesn't speak, we're doing good. So [laughter] he g he provides wonderful direction and um we appreciate only speaking if the city attorney is talking too much the meeting is going in the wrong direction. [laughter]

Well just wanted to say that so we appreciate you. Okay so um I'd like to also thank Angelina for coming and and doing our meetings for us. It's nice to see you when we see you and we'll agend adjourn tonight's meeting at 6:52 for refreshment. So please join us. Thank you very much.