City Council Meeting - Regular Meeting

I would like to call to order the meeting of Fontana City Council.

I've got a lot in front of me right now.

At this time, we'll do our roll call. I'll start with Mayor Pro Tem Garcia.

Present.

Council Member Cothran.

Present.

Council Member Sandoval.

Present.

And Council Member Roberts.

PRESIDENT.

CAN WE ALL PLEASE STAND FOR OUR INVOCATION GIVEN BY COUNCIL MEMBER ROBERTS AND THEN I'VE ASKED COUNCIL MEMBER COTHRAN TO DO OUR PLEDGE.

Let's bow our heads. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the many blessings you've bestowed on our city. We pray for your wisdom and guidance as we deliberate the matters before us this afternoon. Father, we'd ask for a special blessing on the Sandoval family during their time of bereavement. Comfort them and just bless them. Father, we'd ask for your blessings on our public safety people and our military service. and just keep all those people safe. We ask this in your name. Amen.

Please join me in facing the flag for the Pledge of Allegiance. Join me. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thanks, everyone. You can be seated now. At this time, we're going to have our ceremonial presentations. We're going to start with Corporal Dustin Mullins. Well, actually, we're going to ask Captain Brian Binks and Police Support Service Administrator Michelle Blank to please come up. I'm getting ready to name off all the names and mess up everything. Can you please join me, gentlemen, as we stand? Okay, we're going to take these all in front.

Thank you, Mayor. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Brian Binks. I'm the Field Operations Captain for the Fontana Police Department. It is my honor to award our May Employees of the Month for the sworn side of the house. So if I can have Corporal Dustin Mullins come up, along with Officers John Gerhart and Officers Nick Straka. So as these guys come to the stage, I'll just give a brief synopsis of what they were chosen for the employees of the month from our staff. In early April, these officers were dispatched to a residence in the city of Fontana, reference an unknown problem. The victim who was the homeowner of the residence was calling stating there was an unknown subject outside of their residence. banging on the door, trying to force entry into their residence, trying to kick in the door. They immediately called 911 and began watching the suspect on their ring camera. When they noticed that the suspect was armed with a handgun, they lost sight of the suspect, who went around the rear of their residence. Ultimately, the family then saw him banging on their back glass sliding door, trying to force entry in. These officers obviously tried to get to the location as quickly as possible. Prior to them being able to get there, the suspect was able to force entry through the back patio rear slider by breaking it. The family, in fear for their lives, retreated up to their bedroom, barricaded themselves in the bedroom upstairs, and stayed on the phone talking to our dispatchers. The officers arrived on scene quickly, heard screaming from upstairs from the family. Without any hesitation at all, the officers forced entry through the front door. responded inside the residence and contacted the suspect who was armed with a firearm at the top of the stairs. They used de-escalation techniques, were able to gain compliance from the subject who ultimately put down the firearm and the officers were able to safely detain him and take him to jail. There is no doubt they saved A FAMILY'S LIFE, PRESERVING LIFE IS OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY AS POLICE OFFICERS. THESE GUYS JUST DID AN EXCELLENT JOB. IT'S A SMALL EXAMPLE OF WHAT THEY DO ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS. SO FOR THEIR HEROIC EFFORTS AND THE GREAT JOB THEY DID, THEY WERE CHOSEN AS OUR EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH. CONGRATS, GUYS.

THANK YOU, CAPTAIN BINKS. I'M GOING TO GIVE THE MIC OVER TO COUNCILMEMBER ROBERTS. WE HAVE SOME CERTIFICATES FOR YOU.

Thank you, Mayor. First certificate goes to Police Corporal Dustin Mullins.

This next certificate goes to Officer Starks.

Trying to get these certificates.

And I have the pleasure of giving this certificate to Officer Gerhardt.

Okay, we're going to take a picture now. But on behalf of our community, we want to thank all of you officers for keeping us safe.

Okay.

Thanks, everyone, for bearing with me. We've got a lot of certificates here. Next, we're going to have our support service administrator, Michelle. Is she here?

Good afternoon. I'd like to introduce our professional staff employee of the month for April. And that's our property unit. And I'll call them up. We're going to start with Yvonne Jimenez. Gina Grantley. Roxanna Ramirez. And we have CSO David Martinez that's assigned there as well. Okay, so during the month of April, they worked as they normally do with their shifts, and they had several special projects that they worked on. So they had, they boxed and rehoused 562 firearms, and then they went ahead and they also did gun destruction of 460, I'm sorry, 442 firearms at a new off-site facility, so they had to work and get that all coordinated to be able to use a new facility. And then they also got tasked with what we called the stinky room at the department. And we had to identify what it was and had to work in that room. And they did so without complaining. They all wanted to make sure that we were able to walk down the hallways without smelling this. So they went through that task, got it all done, all while doing all their regular work and keeping everything all in line for property downstairs. And for that, we nominated them for our April Employee of the Month.

We have certificates for all of you, and we want to thank you for all your great service. So we're going to, I need a tour of Chief of the Stinky. We're going to start with Council Member Sandoval.

I'm sure it is.

This first is very close to the lead property technician, Jimenez.

THE NEXT CERTIFICATE GOES TO PROPERTY TECHNICIAN GINA GRANTLEY.

AND WE HAVE A CERTIFICATE HERE FOR COMMUNITY SERVICES OFFICER DAVID MARTINEZ.

NOW I HAVE THE HONOR OF PRESENTING THE CERTIFICATE TO ROXANA RAMIREZ.

Okay, can we, we're just gonna stay here, or does it work better the other way? You okay? All right, and one, two, big smiles.

One more.

And then we have our May Professional Staff Employee of the Month, Jocelyn Perez.

Jocelyn is one of our police dispatch call takers. And in the month of May, we were housing Rialto PD dispatch while they were transitioning locations. And a call came in on the Rialto lines that there was a 211 that had just occurred. And so they were relaying the information over Jocelyn. What is it, 211 for everyone that doesn't speak, please? I don't speak, please.

Oh, robbery. She was having a robbery. Sorry. I can tell you what it was. Sorry.

I was trying to remember.

My captain back there, she used to be my sergeant. She was judging me very critically right now. But I still remember what 211 was.

So it came across, and Jocelyn heard. They told her, you know, hey, there's a 211 that came across. So she started looking in all the in-house databases to see what information we might have had. She was able to pull up an address on Merrill. She relayed it to the corporal that was assigned from Rialto, and she gave them the information. They were able to kind of relay that to their officers. They went to the Merrill address the same time the suspect drove up, and they were able to apprehend him there.

On behalf of our great community, we want to thank you for your great service. And this is for you and all your great work. Thank you. We're going to take a picture. Next, we're going to have a presentation from our marketing specialist. Please. That was a lot. It woke you guys up, huh? Okay. Next, we'll have a presentation from our marketing specialist, Ashley Martin, on our Clean California presentation.

Good afternoon, Fontana Mayor, Council, and members of the public. My name is Ashley Martin. I am a marketing specialist for the City of Fontana, and today I have the honor of announcing that the City of Fontana has obtained the Clean California Community designation. Thank you. So a little bit about this. This is a statewide initiative that is led by Caltrans and in partnership with Keep California Beautiful, which is a nonprofit organization that also focuses on anti-litter efforts. So this designation is to recognize communities and organizations throughout the state who are making anti-litter and community beautification efforts to transform public spaces. This is a free designation with no expiration date. Not only did we obtain the designation, the city of Fontana is the first city in San Bernardino County to do so, followed by Apple Valley and the city of Chino Hills.

I'm sorry, we're proud of that.

So in order to get this designation, we had to meet a minimum of 10 criteria. So I'm going to briefly go over the 10 that we did meet. So the first one is to sign the pledge. The second one is greening and beautification, which focuses on creating a vibrant community. We were able to do that by getting engaged community members submit their artwork, which we turned into utility box wraps throughout the city. They've also participated in various art in the park events where they got to paint on light bases throughout various parks. And then also our Healthy Fontana team hosts garden workshops where members get to learn best practices for gardening. We've also had cleanups and measuring the progress from the cleanups. That is hosted through our Public Works team. So Public Works has monthly cleanups at various parks throughout the city and also different areas of the PE Trail. From those various events, they've been able to collect over 750 pounds of trash and litter and over 200 pounds of bulky items. And for community education, it is about bringing awareness to available resources and services to encourage anti-littering behavior. So we've really focused on increased marketing on different services and resources that we have available to the community members. One example is just advertising more of our bulky item pickup services through Burtek. Some of the other criteria are infrastructure, which is about anti-littering systems that we have in place. So not only did our downtown area get new trash cans installed, but also we have Fontana 311, which is our customer service system that played an instrumental role in making sure that we were working with the community as they were submitting these tickets for trash, junk, and debris throughout the city. Our public works team would go out and address those areas. We also have street sweeping services throughout the city. For enforcement, that focuses on deterring littering and our code compliance team does weed and rubbish abatement semi-annually where they go out and inspect property all throughout the city to make sure that property owners are keeping their areas clean and free of trash and making sure that they're taking care of overgrown or dead vegetation. And for collection drives, we have our household hazardous waste events, which are held every Saturday. This allows residents to properly dispose of items such as batteries, paint, used oil, and making sure that they are disposed of properly and not being tossed away in a manner that's not acceptable. And for the last two, we have community input, which we opened up a survey that allowed residents to share their ideas with us on how we can make improvements and what they would like to see in terms of anti-littering and community beautification efforts. And then for the last one, we have litter assessment. Again, Fontana 311 was an instrumental role in throughout this whole process from the DATA THAT WAS SUBMITTED THROUGH THOSE CASES, OUR I.T. DEPARTMENT WAS ABLE TO PUT TOGETHER A PUBLIC DASHBOARD THAT OUTLINES AND HIGHLIGHTS ALL THE AREAS THROUGHOUT THE CITY THAT WERE REPORTED TO HAVE TRASH OR DEBRIS AND FROM THERE OUR PUBLIC WORKS TEAM WOULD GO AHEAD AND ADDRESS THOSE NEEDS. SO THAT PUBLIC DASHBOARD IS AVAILABLE ON DATA.FONTANACA.GOV. AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, I WANTED TO THANK PUBLIC WORKS, COMMUNITY SERVICE, CODE COMPLIANCE, ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE, IT, AND THE COMMUNITY OF FONTANA. WE COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, ASHLEY. THIS IS REALLY A BIG REWARD. YES, A REWARD FOR THE GREAT WORK THIS COMMUNITY HAS DONE. BUT THIS AWARD IS BIG. Everywhere I go, every town I see, I am going to brag. Excuse me, did you get this award yet? So, and keep in mind, we're the first city to get this award in San Bernardino County. So let's give our great staff and the community a big hand. Thank you. At this time, this concludes our presentations and it brings us to our public comment. Good afternoon and thank you again for attending this meeting of the City Council. The Brown Act provides that members of the public may offer comment on any item of interest within the subject matter jurisdiction of the City Council and on any action item, including items on the consent calendar. What this means is that the council welcomes and encourages your input on issues on city business and on action items on today's agenda. Issues of city business do not include personal attacks on city officials or city staff. While we acknowledge your right to comment on our actions or activities with respect to city issues and business, we will not tolerate purely personal comments not having to do with official performance of city duties. Please do not use profanity, name calling, or any other behavior that would disrupt the proceedings this afternoon. Speech or other activities such as yelling from the audience, that disrupts the orderly business of the council and will not be allowed. After a warning, continued behavior that disrupts the meeting may result in you being asked to leave the meeting. Thank you. At this time,

City Clerk, how many cards do you have to speak? Mayor, we have three requests to speak. Okay. Please call them up. First speaker is Teresa, followed by John Pedroza, followed by Derek Martinez.

Hello.

Whenever you're ready, go ahead.

Can you hear me? It'll start counting when you say it. Okay.

Hello. Hi, I'm here today. I have some concerns in the area that I live in. I live in a cul-de-sac and we have septic tank there. But in our property taxes, we are being charged for sewer. And I was wondering if there's any way possible that maybe engineering or someone can come and assess where we're at and maybe we put on city sewer since we're already paying for it. If that could be something possible, I don't know how to go about doing that. And I listened about the very prestigious award and about the cleanliness and beautification of Fontana. Maybe we could bring that area over to Laurel Street between Miller and Foothill. There's quite a bit of stuff going on over there. Many calls have been made to Code Enforcement, the 311, myself included, and the issues still stand. And they've been there for some for months. and I've actually had phone conversations with people in code enforcement. I can't remember, it was a gentleman, he was a supervisor I had conversations with as well. So there's like refrigerators, broken down cars, pieces of cars on front yards, another truck on the corner of Miller and Laurel where it's packed with broken appliances. It's a lot. It's a lot going on in that area. So maybe we could be part of that beautification that everybody's so proud of. And that's about it. Someone give me direction for the sewer issue.

I'd like you to speak with our deputy city manager right here. He's going to come over and talk to you. He's on his way to you. Perfect. All right. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome.

John Pedrosa.

Good afternoon, my name is John Pedroza and I'm here with the Justice for Diego campaign asking the city council to agendize the removing of Commissioner Benjamin Alba from the Fontana Parks Community and Human Services Commission immediately. It's now been 208 days since as a Claremont PD officer, Benjamin Alba responded to a mental health crisis call about Diego Rios on November 28th, 2025 that ended with Benjamin Alba killing Diego Rios. I'm here to remind the council that Benjamin Alba chose to escalate the level of violence he committed against Diego without any provocation from him and that Diego was compliant the entire time. When handed Diego to simply place a second handcuffed on him, Benjamin Alba instead cranked his arm unnecessarily to elicit a pain response. Benjamin Alba used that false pretense to place Diego in an illegal karate choke to throw him to the ground that he held onto for nine seconds. Benjamin Alba drew his taser and threatened to shoot Diego with it, even though Diego was not resisting his handcuffing at all. And after eventually handcuffing Diego, Benjamin Alba places his knee on Diego's back when he was in a prone position for nearly two minutes until he died from positional asphyxia in the exact same manner as George Floyd. The video of this encounter is publicly available for anyone to watch on the Claremont City website and the Police Youth Support subsection. After Diego was Benjamin Alba had every opportunity not to kill him the way that he did, and Benjamin Alba ignored California mandates, telling him that placing Diego in a karate chokehold for nine seconds and that putting a knee on his back for one minute and 55 seconds in a prone position is illegal. They were made illegal following the murder of George Floyd by police officers and the conviction of those officers for his murder. A homicide is defined as the action of one person directly causing the death of another. The LA County Medical Examiner has since ruled Diego's death to be a homicide because of Benjamin Alba's actions. It wasn't ruled as an accident, it wasn't ruled as being done in self-defense, and it wasn't ruled as undeterminable. It was ruled a homicide. Nothing will ever undo the fact that Benjamin Alba killed Diego Rios. THREE MONTHS LATER ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, BENJAMIN ALBA WAS PROMOTED TO COMMISSIONER ON THE FONTANA PARKS COMMUNITY AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION IN A PUBLIC CEREMONY WITH MAYOR WARREN. BENJAMIN ALBA KILLING DIEGO RIOS ON A ROUTINE MENTAL HEALTH CALL IS MORE THAN ENOUGH REASON TO DISMISS BENJAMIN ALBA FROM HIS POSITION AS COMMISSIONER OF THE PARKS COMMUNITY AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION IMMEDIATELY. He is not owed this job and he has demonstrated that he doesn't deserve it either by committing the senseless homicide of a defenseless man. Dismiss him immediately.

Derek Martinez.

Hello, Mayor and esteemed council members. My name is Derek Martinez, and I just wanted to come and give a brief introduction. I am the new district representative for Senator Reyes covering the city of Fontana. So I just wanted to come briefly stop by and introduce myself and hopefully continue a good and amazing partnership between our office and then the amazing city of Fontana. Thank you so much. And I look forward to an amazing relationship between the both of us. Thank you.

That concludes our speakers, Mayor.

Thank you. At this time, it brings us to our consent calendar. Did any of my colleagues want to pull any of the items? I just want to make a comment before we vote. We are going to be voting today on the, it's called the WDA, which is the waste that actually is at the landfill. JUST WANT TO ANNOUNCE IN OUR EFFORTS AND THE COUNTY'S EFFORTS TO CONTINUE TO TRY TO FIND WAYS TO MAKE THINGS MORE AFFORDABLE FOR OUR RESIDENTS IS GOING TO BE DROPPING .99 CENTS. THAT MAY NOT SEEM A LOT, BUT THAT'S A BIG DEAL WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE TONNAGE. SO THIS IS REALLY UNHEARD OF IN THE WASTE INDUSTRY. AND I WANT TO THANK ANTHONS FOR THE WORK THEY DID WITH THE COUNTY TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. AND ALSO ALL OF OUR COLLEAGUES THAT ARE ON THAT. SOLID WASTE BOARD. WE WERE ABLE TO ANNOUNCE AT OUR LAST MEETING THAT BERTEC WILL NOT BE GETTING THE CPI FOR THE RESIDENTIAL TRASH THIS YEAR. THINGS ARE REALLY HARD FOR OUR RESIDENTS RIGHT NOW. WE'RE TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO MAKE THINGS MORE AFFORDABLE WHERE WE CAN. SO THIS IS A BIG THANK YOU OUT TO ANTHENS AND THE COUNTY FOR GETTING THIS DONE. SO AT THIS TIME, IF I COULD HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE OUR CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS.

I'LL MAKE A MOTION FOR APPROVAL. SECOND.

I HAVE A MOTION AND SECOND. GENTLEMEN, PLEASE CATCH YOUR VOTES. WE'RE GOING TO DO IT VERBALLY. OKAY. THERE IT COMES.

OKAY.

Mayor Pro Tem Garcia, we need you. Five in favor, motion passes.

Thank you. Motion passed. That brings us to public hearing item A. APPEAL NUMBER 26-001, REQUEST TO OVERTURN THE PLANNING COMMISSION MARCH 17, 2026 DECISION ADOPTING A CATEGORIAL EXCEPTION FOR SECTION 15332, CLASS NUMBER 32, APPROVING TENTATIVE PARCEL MAP NUMBER 1800005, TPM number 19950 and design review number 18000010. A request to split one parcel into two and for site and architectural approval for the development of two industrial commerce center buildings of 41,218 square feet and 30,767 square feet with associated site improvements on 3.98 ACRES LOCATED NORTH OF HILTON DRIVE AND WEST OF HIMLOCK AVENUE AND IDENTIFIED AS ASSESSOR PARCEL NUMBERS 1110-151-03. THIS PUBLIC HEARING IS NOW OPEN. CITY CLERK KEY, DO YOU HAVE ANY WRITTEN CORRESPONDENTS ON THIS ITEM? MAYOR, WE DO NOT. OKAY. OUR ASSOCIATE PLANNER ALEXIS WILL PROVIDE THE STAFF REPORT.

Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council members. As mentioned, I'm presenting appeal number 26-0001, which is a request to appeal the Planning Commission's decision to approve tentative parcel map 18-005 and design review 18-010, along with the categorical exemption determination. FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION, THE PLANNING COMMISSION APPROVED THE PROJECT MARCH 17, 2026, AND THEN ON MARCH 25, 2026, THE CITY RECEIVED AN APPEAL FROM THE SUPPORTERS ALLIANCE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY, ALSO KNOWN AS SAFER, On May 11th, the city received a follow-up comment letter from SAFER. There was a city council hearing scheduled for May 12th. Therefore, we postponed the meeting to today. Since then, the consultant for the project has prepared a response to SAFER, as you can see on attachment number 6. And then here we have the project site located on Hilton Drive between Redwood and Hemlock Avenue. This slide presents the site plan and the elevations. You can see the appellant's comments and the consultant's responses in the staff report attachments number two through six. Two of the main comments are that the project should not be upheld because it does not qualify for a class 32 categorical exemption and that the city should conduct an initial study and prepare a mitigated negative declaration or an EIR. The response is based on the justification memo, consultant responses, and the supporting technical studies prepared for the project by the environmental consultant. The site complies with CEQA and its requirements for a class 32 categorical exemption. Staff recommends that the city council deny appeal 26-0001, thereby upholding the planning commission decision on March 17, 2026, approving pursuant to the categorical exemption, tentative parcel map number 18-005 and design review 18-010 for the development of the two industrial commerce center buildings totaling 71,985 square feet. This concludes my presentation. Staff and the applicant, as well as the environmental consultant, are available for any questions.

Does council have any questions of staff's report? Okay. At this time, city clerk, do you have any requests to speak? Is your mic on?

From Haley Uno.

Good afternoon. My name is Haley Uno. I am a law clerk from Lozo Drury LLP, here on behalf of Appellant Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility, or SAFER. SAFER respectfully requests that the City Council grant SAFER's appeal of the infill exemption for the Hilton Industrial Facility project, and instead require preparation of an MND or EIR. Substantial evidence shows that the project site is habitat for several special status species and that the project will adversely impact biological resources. Therefore, the project does not qualify for the exemption on its face and the unusual circumstances exception to the exemption applies. Expert wildlife ecologist Dr. Sean Smallwood concluded that the project will significantly impact biological resources. First, he found that the city failed to fully account for the diversity of species that use the project site as habitat, including at least four special status species. So because the site is habitat for a special set of species, the proposed exemption is improper under CEQA. Second, Dr. Smallwood found that the project will adversely impact wildlife through habitat loss, interference with wildlife movement, and mortality from collisions with project generated traffic. THE CITY'S ANALYSIS OF THE PROJECT'S CUMULATIVE IMPACTS ANALYSIS IS ALSO FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED BECAUSE THE CITY FAILED TO DISCUSS THE PROJECT'S INCREMENTAL IMPACTS IN RELATION WITH OTHER PAST, PRESENT OR FUTURE PROJECTS. THIRD, THE CITY HAS MITIGATED THE EXEMPTION BY IMPLEMENTING MITIGATION MEASURE BIO-3 FROM THE FONTANA GENERAL PLAN FINAL EIR AS A CONDITION OF APPROVAL TO REQUIRE THE PERFORMANCE OF PRECONSTRUCTION NESTING BIRD SURVEYS DURING CERTAIN MONTHS. HOWEVER, CEQA EXPRESSLY PROHIBITS MITIGATED CATACLYRICAL EXEMPTIONS. Dr. Smallwood instead suggested various other mitigation measures to reduce the project's adverse impacts, including compensatory habitat protection, donations to wildlife rehabilitation facilities and native plant landscaping. The city must prepare an MND or EIR to incorporate these additional measures. Furthermore, the project's significant adverse impacts on biological resources create an unusual circumstance, thereby precluding the city's reliance on the exemption. For the reasons discussed here and in Safer's written comments, we again ask that you grant Safer's appeal and require preparation of an MND or EIR. Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

That concludes our speakers, Mayor.

Thank you. At this time, I'm going to close the public hearing. may have a motion to approve staff's recommendation as provided in the staff report. Number one, deny appeal number 26-0001, thereby upholding the Planning Commission's decision on March 17th, 2026. If I can have a motion.

Move staff recommendation.

Is there a second? I'LL SECOND. I HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND. PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTE.

MAYOR, I JUST WANT TO CONFIRM A YES VOTE IS TO UPHOLD THE PLANNINGS COMMISSION DECISION.

THAT IS CORRECT.

OKAY. CAN WE GET THE SCREEN BACK, PLEASE?

WILL YOU ALSO VOICE YOUR VOTE? BECAUSE I THINK THE REST WENT THROUGH.

I VOTE YES.

Okay, thank you.

All right. Four in favor, one no from Councilman Sandoval. Motion is passed.

Okay. Four in favor, one vote against by Councilmember Sandoval. Motion passed. That brings us to public hearing item B, is quarterly inaction for delinquent sewer solid waste and weed abatement accounts. This public hearing is now open. City Clerk Key, do you have any written correspondence on this item?

None for this public hearing, Mayor.

Okay. We have our Deputy Finance Officer, Marlene, who will provide our staff report.

GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. THE ITEM BEFORE YOU FOR CONSIDERATION ARE THE CITY QUARTERLY'S LEAN ACTION FOR DELINQUENT SEWER SOLID WASTE AND WEED ABATEMENT ACCOUNTS. THESE QUARTERLY HEARINGS ARE PART OF OUR ONGOING ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS TO SAFEGUARD THE CITY'S REVENUES AND ENSURE THE FINANCIAL HEALTH OF THESE ESSENTIAL SERVICES. This is an administrative process and is designed to ensure that unpaid service charges remain recoverable over time. Property owners have received the required notifications, which include regular billing, mailed lien notices, and legal publications. For weed abatement, they also had the opportunity to appeal through an administrative hearing process. FOR THIS QUARTER, THE PROPOSED LEANS COVER 374 SEWER ACCOUNTS, 96 SOLID WASTE ACCOUNTS AND 67 WEED ABATEMENT ACCOUNTS, TOTALING APPROXIMATELY $221,000. THESE LEANS WILL BE RECORDED WITH THE SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY RECORDER'S OFFICE AND ANY UNPAID AMOUNTS AS OF JULY 1ST WILL BE ADDED TO THE ANNUAL PROPERTY TAX ROLL FOR COLLECTION. THE LEAN PROCESS PROTECTS CITY REVENUES AND PREVENTS THE COST OF DELINQUENT ACCOUNTS FROM BEING SHIFTED TO OTHER RATE PAYERS. SEWER AND SOLID WASTE LEANS ARE PROCESSED UNDER HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE SECTIONS 5473 AND WE DEBATEMENT LEANS FOLLOW GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 39560. STAFF'S RECOMMENDATION IS THAT THE CITY COUNCIL AUTHORIZE STAFF TO COMPLETE AND RECORD THE LEANS FOR ALL ELIGIBLE DELINQUENT ACCOUNTS. ADOPT THE RESOLUTIONS AUTHORIZING THE COLLECTIONS OF SEWER AND SOLID WASTE CHARGES ON THE COUNTY TAX ROW AND ADOPT THE RESOLUTION CONFIRMING THE WEED ABATEMENT LEAN REPORT. THIS IS A ROUTINE BUT IMPORTANT FISCAL MANAGEMENT ACTION AND I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.

THANK YOU, MARLENE.

ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FOR STAFF?

MS. MADAM MAYOR? HAS ANYONE ON THE LEANER LIST REACHED OUT TO YOU AT ALL?

So typically, we'll send it around. We send it around May, and they will come and make payments. So as of today at 5 PM, they can still come make a payment. And so they'll come and make a payment on their call, send their payment, and then we won't place a lien if they make the payment. So we do check the list before we actually place a lien on them. Fantastic. Thank you.

Thank you. Any more questions? Okay, with that said, I am now going to ask the city clerk, do you have any requests to speak?

We have none, Mayor.

Okay, I'm going to close the public hearing. May I have a motion to approve staff's recommendation as provided in the staff report?

Cothran, I'll make the motion for approval.

Second. I have a motion and a second. Please cast your vote. Mayor Pro Tem. Aye.

Five in favor, motion is passed.

Motion passed. That brings us to public hearing item C, is a public hearing to establish fiscal year 2026-27, assessment rates for landscape and lighting maintenance districts. Public hearing is now open. City Clerk Key, did you receive any written correspondence on this matter?

We did not, Mayor. Okay, we're going to have our county supervisor, Sam, will provide the staff report.

Good afternoon, Mayor and members of the council. The items before you will approve the annual levy of assessments for five landscape maintenance districts and one lighting and landscape maintenance district within the city. These districts were originally established between August 5th, 1980 and February 19, 1991, and continue to fund landscape and lighting maintenance services that benefit properties within each district. Approval of the annual levy will authorize the continued collection of assessments necessary to maintain these services during the upcoming fiscal year. The districts covered by the public hearing are LMD 1, Citywide, LMD 2, Village of Heritage, LMD 3, Hunter's Ridge, LMD 3-1, Empire Center, and LMD 3, Lighting District for Hunter's Ridge, and the annexations that make up LMD 1. An engineer's report for each of the districts has been completed and the rates for the coming year have been determined based on the formulas established when the districts were originally formed with the exception of LMD2 and LMD3. Due to the Proposition 218, the City of Fontana was required to obtain property owner approval before increasing assessments amounts beyond previously authorized limits. As a result, the city conducted assessment ballot proceedings for LMD 2 and LMD 3 to establish an annual inflationary adjustment. In 2004, property owners within LMD 3 approved an increase allowing the maximum annual assessment to be adjusted by the lesser of the consumer price index, CPI, or 2%. In 2007, property owners within LMD2 approved a measure authorizing annual adjustments of the lesser of CPI or 2%, thus affording the city the authority to raise them today. The residential rate for LMD 2 will increase by $11.09. The new rate will be $565.84 per unit. The residential rate for LMD 3 will increase by $60.50. The new rate will be $665.50 per unit. The rates for LMD 1, LMD 3-1, and LLMD 3 will remain unchanged from the prior year. It is projected that the proposed rates will not be sufficient to fund the estimated maintenance costs of each district, and each district currently has a structural deficit. LMD3 and LMD3-1 and LLMD3 have a structural deficit, however, are considered to be solvent, and will use their available fund balance to cover their annual operating costs for 10 years or more. LMD 1 has a structural deficit, but per the formation document, increases are not authorized. As such, the LMD will receive a subsidy of $908,000 from the general fund. LMD 2 has a structural deficit, thus a 2% increase is being recommended. Despite the increases, expenses exceed revenues and the LMD will receive a subsidy of $1.6 million from the general fund. Various operational options are being considered to mitigate the ongoing funding deficit for LMD 1 and LMD 2. That concludes my report and staff is available for further questions.

Thank you for that presentation. Are there any questions of staff?

Madam Mayor, if I may?

Go ahead.

So LMD 1 and LMD 2 are still operating at a deficit. When do we expect to have some sort of recommendation back to us as far as how we're going to fix this?

I believe that there's a five-year mitigation plan.

So we're not just gonna slap them with a double rate increase one year and be like, that's the solved solution to the problem?

No, there's a max cap that we're allowed to apply on an annual basis. We can't exceed that limit. However, we're approaching it systematically.

WE'LL PROBABLY END UP ADDRESSING THIS OR HAVING A CONVERSATION WHEN WE DO OUR GOAL SETTING. CLEARLY THAT'S A POLICY DIRECTION OF THE COUNCIL AS TO HOW MUCH WE WANT TO SUBSIDIZE THESE INDIVIDUAL LANDSCAPE AND LINING DISTRICTS, BUT WE'LL BRING THAT BACK DURING OUR GOAL SESSION.

I WANTED TO ALSO, WE ARE GOING TO PUT TOGETHER A PLAN WHERE WE ACTUALLY GO OUT TO THE PUBLIC AND TALK TO THEM ABOUT IT BECAUSE THEY NEED TO BE PART OF THAT DECISION. AND WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE SOME HARD DECISIONS, BUT WE'LL MAKE THEM TOGETHER.

Well, because a lot of these communities now have been established and they have a lot of beautiful green spaces that people come to know and love. But unfortunately, if we can't afford to maintain them, we've got to figure out ways of.

And there's so many factors, your water, your sewer, all the things that make that infrastructure strong.

We've got to make sure that we work with everybody on this. And then I think the state also has some measures that we have to start enforcing as well. So we've got to make changes. But I look forward to our workshop and figuring out how we're going to solve this in the next, hopefully next five years.

Any more inquiries?

Yeah, we'll discuss this within the next year.

Okay.

Do you have your? I have a question. So we're subsidizing some of these with the general fund?

Can you say that again?

Are we subsidizing money to some of these ? Yeah, that's correct. From the general fund?

Yes, LMD one is receiving a $908,000 subsidy and LMD two is receiving a 1.6.

What areas are those?

LMD one is a citywide LMD and LMD two is Village of Heritage.

So you're hoping to make up the money, the borrow money from the general fund, how?

It's not a borrow. THAT'S A POLICY DECISION FOR THE COUNCIL TO MAKE AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'LL DISCUSS DURING LIKE A WORKSHOP AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THERE'S SEVERAL OPTIONS EITHER IF THE RESIDENTS WANT TO CONTINUE TO ENJOY THE LANDSCAPING THE WAY IT IS THEY CAN CERTAINLY ENTERTAIN A WAY TO FINANCE THAT THE OTHER OPTION IS TO KIND OF REDESIGN SOME OF THESE AREAS AND DO SOME DIFFERENT LANDSCAPING THAT'S THAT'S LESS It takes less water, for example, in turf areas. The state is coming down and they're trying to eliminate a lot of these turf areas so we can actually go out and reduce our operating costs or the council can decide to continue to subsidize it. but we'll have that conversation at a future meeting. What's before you today is just simply those landscaping lighting districts that allow for an increase that we will adjust those landscaping lighting districts. But we do need to have a follow-up conversation at a workshop to discuss the policy direction that we want to take and include the community as part of that conversation.

So this is just to get them through and then let them decide whether they want to continue or not?

Correct. We will need to have that conversation. Yes.

All right. Thanks.

Are there any more questions or comments? Okay. Thank you, Sam. At this time, I'm going to close the public hearing, but first I'm going to ask if you have any speaker cards.

We did not, Mayor.

Okay. So this public hearing is now closed. May I have a motion to approve staff's recommendation as provided in the staff report?

I'll make the motion for approval. I'll second.

THERE'S A MOTION AND A SECOND. PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTE.

5 IN FAVOR.

MOTION IS PASSED. MOTION PASSED.

PUBLIC HEARING ITEM D IS A PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES ADOPTING SEWER RATE ADJUSTMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2026-27. through 2030-31. Please note that a minor revision was made to the language in ordinance number 1993 after the agenda was posted. The revised copy has been posted and copies have been provided to the public and city council. I'd like to ask City Clerk Key to inform the council as to whether all valid legal objections have been presented to the council.

They have, Mayor.

ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU. MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION NUMBER 2026067, MAKING FINDINGS AND DETERMINATIONS REGARDING OBJECTIONS TO PROPOSED SEWER RATES. WE DID RECEIVE SOME NOTICES FROM LETTERS. 12. OKAY, 12. OKAY. MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION NUMBER 2026067, MAKING FINDINGS AND DETERMINATIONS REGARDING OBJECTIONS TO PROPOSED SEWER RATES. WE HAVE A MOTION? NEED A SECOND?

SECOND.

OKAY. BEFORE I OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING, I'D LIKE TO ASK OUR LEGAL COUNSEL TO EXPLAIN THE REQUIREMENTS OF PROP 218 GOVERNING THIS PUBLIC HEARING AND THE PROPOSED RATE ADOPTION.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. This public hearing was set in compliance with California's Proposition 218. The city mailed a notice of this public hearing to the record property owners subject to the imposition of the proposed sewer rates and tenants directly liable for the payment of such rates, that is, customers of record who are not property owners. The date and time of this public hearing is not less than 45 days after the City mailed the notices. The purpose of the public hearing is for the City Council to hear all oral testimony and consider all written protests concerning the proposed rate increases. It is also held to determine whether there is a majority protest to the proposed rates and whether to proceed with the adoption of the proposed rates. Property owners and tenants may submit a written protest up until the close of this public hearing. Property owners and tenants are not required to provide oral testimony at today's hearing. If you wish, you may simply submit a written protest directly to the city clerk or across from me, indicating your opposition to the proposed rate increases. However, oral testimony does not count as a protest. So if you want your protest to be counted, you must submit a written protest prior to the close of this public hearing. The public hearing will be closed after the city council has heard and considered all oral testimony on these items. In order to be counted, protests must be in writing, as I said, state that you are protesting the proposed sewer rate increases, include the name of the property owner or tenant, the assessor's parcel number or service address, and the signature of the person submitting the written protest. Any protest submitted by email or other electronic means will not be accepted as a formal written protest. All valid protests submitted to the city by mail or hand-delivered prior to today's public hearing being closed and received by the city clerk since the notice of public hearing was mailed will be counted. If written protests against the proposed rate increases are presented by the owners or tenants of a majority of the identified parcels upon which the proposed sewer rates are to be imposed, the City Council may not impose the rate increases. If there is no majority protest, the City Council may impose the rate increases. PURSUANT TO STATE LAW GOVERNING PROPOSITION 218, IN DETERMINING WHETHER A MAJORITY PROTEST EXISTS, ONLY ONE WRITTEN PROTEST PER PARCEL MAY BE COUNTED. THANK YOU, MADAM MAYOR.

THANK YOU, CITY ATTORNEY. WITH THAT SAID, THE PUBLIC HEARING IS NOW OPEN. WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A STAFF REPORT. YOU GUYS DON'T LOOK LIKE CITY ENGINEER GIA KIM. IS SHE OVER THERE ON THE OTHER SIDE? THERE YOU ARE. ARE YOU GOING TO COME UP? OKAY.

COME AND DO SOME INTRODUCTIONS.

OKAY. PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF, GENTLEMEN.

MADAM MAYOR AND COUNCIL, THANK YOU FOR HAVING US HERE TODAY. MY NAME IS JOHN WRIGHT, AND THIS IS MY COLLEAGUE NICK KENNEDY. WE WORK FOR THE RATE CONSULTING FIRM RAFTALIS, WHICH WAS HIRED BY THE CITY TO ASSIST WITH YOUR SEWER RATE STUDY.

OKAY. AT THIS TIME, WILL YOU PROVIDE THE STAFF REPORT?

Yes, ma'am. I think that we have our presentation hopefully on the screen. So what we would like to talk to you about today is the underlying rate study and the preparation of the financial plan and the determination of the amount of rate revenue we need to obtain from our customers and the cost of service analysis that we did in order to develop the proposed rates. And then finally provide you with a comparison to some adjacent utilities. So as it relates to our financial plan, what we're showing right now are the proposed overall rate revenue increases for each of the upcoming five fiscal years, starting with the fiscal year starting on July 1st, and what that would mean in terms of the monthly bill increase for sewer customers each year. Now, some of the key drivers of the need to have the rate increases that you just saw are number one, your proposed capital improvement program and staff and working with city's finance department and public works is proposing to pay for the $27.8 million of proposed capital improvement expenditures over the next five years. through cash financing from rates. And that means no external debt financing will be used. And so these expenditures that you're looking at each year were developed through a very detailed analysis by your staff. Another interesting thing about Fontana is that a critical part of your operations and maintenance expenditures for your sewer utility is what you pay the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and to a much lesser extent, the city of Rialto for wholesale wastewater treatment services. And wholesale treatment services are a very, very large chunk of your operations and maintenance expenditures. As you can see from this slide, over 80% of your projected O&M is wholesale treatment over the next five years. Now this slide shows a sort of abbreviated operating fund financial plan. And what you can see in the top line are the proposed percentage increases in rate revenues each year. And then as we move down this slide, the next key thing to look at is the projection of total rate revenues, followed by a projection of non-rate revenues, which results in total sewer enterprise fund rate revenues, and we subtract out our O&M expenses, and we subtract out transfers to other funds, and the other funds in question that are being addressed here are funds that are associated with making Expenditures for sewer replacement and renewal or expenditures for sewer capital improvement programs that will be financed through rates and then also some transfer to the general fund for the services that your general fund provides you. And when you compare rate revenues to projected total expenditures, you see that each year we have a negative net cash flow. And on its face, that negative net cash flow may look concerning, but often utilities run cash flow deficits each year. And whether or not that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on how much cash reserves the utility has. As part of the study, what we did was we modeled the sewer enterprise fund maintaining a cash reserve equivalent to 60 days of annual operations and maintenance expenses. When you look at our projected ending reserves and compare that to the target of 60 days, you can see the variance from our target, the very last line of this slide. And what happens is, is that we slowly draw down our cash reserves through 2031 and we end up in a position where in 2031 we are forecasting that our cash reserves will basically exactly equal our 60 days of annual O&M. So I think it's important to note that, at least from the perspective of my firm, this is not an extravagant financial plan with rate revenues that are going to be building up huge cash reserves. The cash reserves that we're forecasting end up very closely matching our 60-day target. Here's a look at the financial plan from a graphical perspective. I think the thing to note is that the bars here reflect our projected expenditures and what you can see is that current revenues which are specified by the solid black line are just not enough to cover our projected expenditures. The dashed line are our proposed revenues and basically our proposed revenues match our projected expenditures. Here's a look at our rate funded capital improvements. You saw a slide that showed the amounts year by year. Here's a way of showing it on a bar chart format. And then lastly, here's a look at our reserve balances and our target, of course, was 60 days, as I mentioned previously. And what you can see is that we are drawing down our reserve and eventually in 2031, we end up with projected reserves equal to 5.2 million, which matches our 60-day target. So having completed a financial plan that allows us to establish the amount of rate revenue we need to earn from our customers over each year of the five year planning horizon. And we then move into a cost of service analysis. And I think I want to emphasize again, and I've already done this to some degree, that The city of Fontana only operates a sewer collection and conveyance system. You collect the sewer discharges from your customers and then you convey those to a wholesale treatment provider, once again Inland Empire or the city of Rialto. And so the rates that we're seeking to have council adopt today are associated with Fontana's collection system. Sewer treatment, the yellow box on the right, once again, provided by third party entities. And IEUA and Rialto set their wholesale treatment rates based on their own financial planning and cost of service analysis. And the city of Fontana has no control over what those entities charge. A lot of words on this, so I will cut it down. Basically, Proposition 218 is a cost of service mandate. The ultimate intent of Proposition 218 is to make sure that the rates customers pay are proportional to the costs they impose on the utility system based on their unique demand characteristics. Well, in sewer rate studies, what separates the cost of serving one type of customer from another type of customer is the strength of their sewage discharges. And the strength of their sewage discharges drive the treatment costs that a utility experiences. Once again, Fontana does not provide wastewater treatment services. You merely collect and transport your customer sewage discharges to IEUA or Rialto. And there really is no difference in cost of moving those sewer discharges across your collection system regardless of their strength. And so there's really no need for Fontana to have unique rates by customer class. all customers, regardless of whether they're residential or commercial, will pay the same collection system rate regardless of their strength of their discharges. Here was the calculation of the proposed rate that would go into effect on July 1st. We calculated a revenue requirement of $11.4 million from the financial plan. We calculated the number of equivalent dwelling units on your system, which is something that the city keeps track of. And we were able to develop an annual amount that each equivalent dwelling unit should pay $174.59 on a monthly basis, that's $14.55. Currently, your inside city customers pay $12.63. So there's a $1.92 increase. which is equivalent to 15%, which was the amount of our financial plan increase. Here's a projection of the rates that all customers would be paying on your system from FY27 through FY31. And those proposed rates go up in lockstep with the revenue requirement financial plan increases. Finally, two comparisons to adjacent communities. The first comparison is to look at what adjacent communities charge their customers for collection services. And so these bills that we're showing here do not include treatment, merely collection. And you can see that currently Fontana is one of the three lowest bills out of this particular sample. And the proposed rates would increase for Fontana and you go up to 14.55. An important thing to note is that the bills that are shown for all of these other entities are what they currently have in effect. They are not bills that reflect increases in rates that each one of these other entities might be making as soon as July 1st. So it's Fontana proposed 1455 compared to currently effective rates for all of the other members of the sample. The second comparison is to include wastewater collection charges and wastewater treatment charges. And once again, the proposed Fontana bill or the bill that would be from the proposed rates we're seeking you to adopt is shown there as $44. And Nick, my belief is that's the 1455 for the new collection rate. And what Inland Empire has told us, they'll be charging Fontana for FY27. And you can see that that $44 is fourth from the highest. But once again, this does not reflect any rate increases these other members of the sample are going to be putting into effect, possibly as soon as this July 1st. Thank you for allowing us to make this presentation. We would be happy to address any questions you have.

Thank you for that presentation. Are there any questions?

Thank you much for the presentation. It's always fun when we get to talk about sewer because I get to sit on the IUA board as a representative for the city of Fontana. Out of the organizations that you did show, everyone except for the city of La Verne contracts with IUA for their wastewater treatment program. So I was looking through that. Yeah, they sit next to me every single month. I get to listen to them all talk about- I'm sorry. Wastewater, it's fun. There's other words for it, but we'll keep that one. The real question is, obviously, IUA is talking about their major expansion plan that they're doing. It's going to cause our rates to go up no matter what we do at this point because we're seeing a mass influx of people come to San Bernardino County and into our region that we share with everyone else. Is there anything that we need to be looking at now that can be maybe even a significant investment on our point, but could save us money 10, 15, 20 years down the road so this isn't a continual conversation of, okay, we got to take another 10%, we got to take another 10%, got to take 10%. My family alone, I mean, we just voted on landscape districts right now where it just increased costs on our residents. I don't like the constant cost of going back every single six months or every year with, oh, we'd have to take another rate adjustment here with the city. Oh, costing you more money out of your pocket here. Sure, it's pennies, but when you add it all up, I mean, that can make or break someone living in the city of Fontana. And so I'm just trying to think in my head, is there anything that we can do that can change all this? Now, obviously, that's the same conversation that's happening in Upland and Chino, Chino Hills, everything of that nature. But at some point, we have to figure a way to becoming creative with what we're spending our money on. Now, I understand IUA is going to increase their rates no matter what, because they have their own representative from the city of Fontana that's going to vote however she wants to vote. But on our side, is there anything that we could possibly be doing?

Well, at this point that we were working with the IUA and then see how we can reduce or minimize the increase as much as possible. But in short of having our own treatment plan within the city of Fontana, the wholesale waste treatment itself is in IUA. We're relying on them to treat it our sewer. So this one requires a probably long-term study on our side that how we want it to be more independent and be able to control our own cost.

Gotcha. When I look at all the cities that were on there, and I know their main cost is coming from IUA, and then the only one that was the outlier was La Verne. Correct. I'm curious on how La Verne's doing it. I know obviously they're a much smaller city than we are, but they figured out somehow to keep their rates low. Are they just subsidizing from their general fund that we just don't know about? Those are the kind of interesting facts that I'm more looking for.

I'LL CONTACT THE CITY OF ROBERN AND THEN SEE HOW THEIR FINANCIAL PROGRAM IS.

OKAY.

THANK YOU.

THAT'S ALL I HAVE, MADAM MAYOR.

I WAS GOING TO ADD, YOU GOT TO KEEP IN MIND THEY ARE IN L.A. COUNTY. CORRECT. SO THEY GOT A BIGGER POOL. THAT'S PART OF IT. AND THEIR SUBSIDIES ARE A LOT DIFFERENT. SO THAT MAY HAVE A LOT TO DO WITH IT. But what we do as a council and our great staff, we continually work with IUA. That's why we're very pleased with your representation on that committee because you're keeping us informed and working with our staff to make sure that the rates at one point before everyone really got involved with the process were going through the roof. So at least we kind of stopped GAP and started working collectively to make them better. And the majority of it is related to capital improvement projects. Because one of the things you never want is the sewer not to work. And we've seen construction costs in every area. I ANNOUNCED EARLIER ABOUT THE UTILITY WITH THE WASTE, AND WE'LL JUST CONTINUE TO WIDOW AGAINST THAT AND KEEP WORKING WITH EVERYBODY BECAUSE ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND WE HAVE TO GET THESE RATES DOWN. BUT I REALLY APPRECIATE THIS STUDY AND I APPRECIATE YOUR INFORMATION THAT YOU PROVIDED. AT THIS TIME, YOU HAVE A QUESTION? GO AHEAD.

All these cities that are on here, what's the population of each city?

I didn't check on the population of the cities.

Okay, that makes a big difference.

Which city? So the city of Chino is about 90,000. The city of Ontario is 150. The city of La Verne is about 35,000.

Without a doubt, we're the largest city.

I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW, WE WENT AND DID A MASTER PLAN, WHICH WE ALL ADOPTED. AND I WOULD SAY THAT THIS, WHAT'S ON THE TABLE AS FAR AS RATES, DOES NOT FULLY FUND THAT WHOLE PLAN. WE'RE TRYING TO BE SENSITIVE TO THE COST INCREASES. LAST TIME WE DID A 218 WAS IN 2021. IF WE DON'T KEEP UP WITH JUST REGULAR ROUTINE MAINTENANCE, WE WOULD HAVE TO SUPPLEMENT WITH THE GENERAL FUND. SO I JUST WANT TO CAUTION THAT. OR WE NEED TO CUT BACK ON CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS OR RESHUFFLE AND PRIORITIZE OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS. WHERE DO WE WANT TO PUT THE MONEY, WHETHER IT'S IN STREETS OR SEWER. ONE OF THE THINGS I DO WANT TO CALL OUT, EVEN THOUGH WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RANGE THAT RELATES TO RATES, I WILL TELL YOU THAT OUR FOLKS DO a phenomenal job as far as the maintenance of our system. We are out cleaning the system frequently. We're recording the lines. One thing that's unique in Fontana that you're not gonna see in a lot of the other cities is you maintain a portion of the lateral, which is up to the property line. I know in the city of Chino, we did not. Basically all we maintained was the main line. So I would argue or advocate that even though we're in the middle of the range, we're providing a greater service to our constituents. But certainly to get back to the fundamental question, we don't have to increase the rates, but we're gonna have to pay for it somewhere else. And the main thing is we want to keep up with this because this is an essential function of the city to maintain sewer.

And in addition to that information, Prop 218 occurs every five years and the last two of the Prop 218 for last 10 years, city did not increase our administration portion of the fee. So this is a catching up of that the last 10 years, the fee did not increase.

So we can forego raids, but there's even gonna be larger numbers down the line. We're playing catch up.

And you know, I really, that's why I appreciate what you all are doing because those capital improvement projects, we question them. Do we need them now? Are they going to supplement or augment what is going on with the system? But you make a good point, Matt. I have, from my public works days in Upland, this city does phenomenal. maintenance of our lines. And if citizens call us because they have backups, they come out, they review the line with them, and advise them what their options are. Big difference. But it is based on population and use. And La Verne is way smaller.

So they're going to have a lower rate. Well, and I also know La Verne, they're working through their water rates, and those water rates went up by 35% and 25%. IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS. AND OUR CONSULTANT KIND OF HIT THE KNELL ON THE HEAD WHEN HE STATED THAT THESE ARE THEIR EXISTING RATES, BUT THEY'RE GOING THROUGH THE SAME PROCESS RIGHT NOW. SO WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO PROBABLY FALL DOWN IN THOSE RANKINGS BECAUSE THESE OTHER AGENCIES ARE ACTUALLY INCREASING.

ARE THERE ANY MORE QUESTIONS OF STAFF? OKAY. CITY CLERK KEY, DO YOU HAVE ANY REQUESTS TO SPEAK ON THIS ITEM?

MAYOR, WE DO NOT.

Okay, before I close the public hearing, I'd like to provide anyone who would like to submit or withdraw a written protest the opportunity to do so. Once the public hearing is closed, the City Council may no longer accept any written protests on the proposed rate increases. Okay, City Clerk Keyview, are there any remaining written protests?

Mayor, we have no remaining written protest.

Before you close the public hearing, I do want to perfect the record, if I might. You asked the city clerk before the adoption of the immediately proceeding resolution whether the council had been presented all protests and responses. And the clerk responded that you had received all legal objections. I did want to point out that you have also received all the responses that have been prepared and sent to anybody who objected prior to today's hearing. Thank you.

Thank you for pointing that out. So at this time, I'm going to close the public hearing. And at this time, I would like to ask City Clerk Key whether a recess will be needed to tabulate the results.

Mayor, we do not need a recess. The results have been tabulated.

Can you provide those results prior before that were valid written protests submitted prior to the close of the public hearing?

Yes, Mayor. Prior to the close of the public hearing, we received a total of 12 written protest letters regarding the rates for the sewer service charges. A majority of the owners of the identified parcels or tenants directly liable for such charges. For example, the number required to constitute a majority protest would equal 26,138. A majority protest does not exist to the proposed sewer rates.

Thank you. The city clerk has advised us that based on the number of valid written protests submitted prior to the close of the public hearing, a majority protest does not exist. We have a motion to approve staff's recommendation as provided in the staff report and one, adopt resolution number 2026 through 067. I'm going to repeat that resolution number and make sure it's correct in the record. Adopt resolution number 2026-067, adopting service charges, making CEQA findings, and taking certain actions relating thereto. Two, read by title only and wait for the reading of and introduce ordinance number 1993, an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Fontana, California, authorizing adoption of new or increased sewer service fees by resolution. AND TAKING CERTAIN OTHER ACTIONS RELATING THERETO. IF I COULD HAVE A MOTION.

I'LL MAKE THAT MOTION, MAYOR.

AND A SECOND.

I'LL MAKE THE SECOND.

CAST YOUR VOTES. MAYOR, WE'RE HAVING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, SO WE'LL NEED A VOICE VOTE. SURE.

COUNCILMEMBER SANDOVAL.

NAY.

COUNCILMEMBER ROBERTS.

AYE.

MAYOR PRO TEM GARCIA.

AYE.

COUNCILMEMBER COTHRAN.

AYE.

MAYOR, AYE. In favor, one nay, recorded by Councilmember Sandoval. Motion passed. Thank you for that presentation. We'll continue to work with IUA to get our points across and make sure that what our citizens are having to pay is valid. At this time, we'll have our city manager communications.

YES, THANK YOU, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. AS THE COUNCIL IS AWARE, WE ADOPTED THE CONSENT CALENDAR. ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR THERE'S A LOT OF ITEMS. SO I JUST KIND OF WANT TO HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE SIGNIFICANT ONES THAT WERE ON THE ACTION THAT THE COUNCIL HAS TAKEN SO THE PUBLIC IS AWARE. WE COMPLETED THE DEMOLITION OF TWO BUILDINGS ON ARROW AND THAT'S PART OF OUR DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION SO WE'RE PREPARING THE SITES SO THAT WE CAN DEVELOP THEM. WE APPROVED A MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENTS. WE AWARDED DESIGN WORK FOR THE ALASTA AND FIRE BIRD CIRCUITS IF YOU RECALL DURING THE WINDS SEASON LAST YEAR WE HAD RESIDENTS THAT WERE WITHOUT POWER UP TO ABOUT TEN DAYS. And so we've had conversations with Edison and part of that conversation is completing the circuit or undergrounding it so that the PSPS, the outages can be mitigated. So we're taking steps towards that. AND THEN AS THE MAYOR MENTIONED, THERE'S 15 CITIES IN THE COUNTY. WE ALL ENTERED INTO AGREEMENT WITH THE COUNTY REGARDING THE DISPOSAL OF ALL OF OUR WASTE IN THE COUNTY LANDFILLS AND THAT RESULTS IN A DISCOUNTED RATE WHICH IS PASSED TO THE RATE PAYERS. SO I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THOSE THINGS THAT WERE ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR AND THE GOOD WORK THAT OUR STAFF IS DOING. SECONDLY, WANT TO INVITE EVERYBODY OUT TO OUR 4TH OF JULY EVENT, WHICH IS THIS SATURDAY, JUNE 27TH. IT'S GOING TO BE HELD AT SUMMIT HIGH SCHOOL FROM 6 TO 9 P.M. SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE EVERYBODY TO COME OUT AND ENJOY THE EVENT THAT OUR STAFF IS PUTTING TOGETHER. AND THEN FINALLY, YOU MAY HAVE HEARD THERE ARE A LOT OF AGENCIES OUT THERE THAT HAVE ADOPTED A SOCIAL HOST ORDINANCE WHICH ALLOWS FOR THE ENFORCEMENT IF YOU HOST ILLEGAL FIREWORKS ON YOUR PROPERTY, YOU'RE PROBABLY GOING TO, YOU MAY GET A LETTER FROM THE CITY WHICH IS A FINE OF UP TO $1,000 THAT WILL BE MAILED TO YOU. SO I JUST WANT EVERYBODY IN THE COMMUNITY TO HAVE A SAFE uh holiday on the fourth i know we're celebrating our country's anniversary and uh but we want to be respectful of the illegal fireworks that are shut off we understand the safe and sane are permitted but those that leave the ground and fly up in the air are not permitted And again, you don't need to have an officer come up and knock on the door. It's essentially if there's evidence that you are shooting fireworks off on your property, whether you're there or not, you're responsible for your property. Folks need to be cognizant that they may get a fine in the mail or citation in the mail as a result of that. I HOPE EVERYBODY HAS A SAFE AND WONDERFUL 4TH OF JULY. THAT CONCLUDES MY REPORTS. THANKS, MAYOR.

BEFORE WE GO INTO OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS COMMUNICATION, I JUST WANT TO RECORD THAT WE WILL ADJOURN OUR MEETING IN MEMORY OF JOSE SANDOVAL, JR. AND COACH LANCE OSSER. WITH THAT SAID, I'LL START WITH OUR CITY CLERK. City Clerk Key.

Thank you, Mayor. First, I'd like to extend my sincere condolences to Councilman Sandoval and your entire family. I just want to say I'm looking forward to Saturday. I waited a whole year for these fireworks to reoccur. I was talking earlier, and I'm going to say this, call out my good friend Elaine Jones and tell her that I will not be talking when the fireworks are going on. I waited a whole year to see them, and they are amazing, so I can't wait. LASTLY, CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN TO ALL OF OUR PD STAFF WHO RECEIVED AWARDS EARLIER IN THE MEETING. YOU GUYS ARE GREAT. EVERYBODY HAVE A GOOD AND SAFE FOURTH.

THANK YOU. CITY TREASURER COLER BROOKS. THANK YOU, MAYOR. I'D FIRST OF ALL LIKE TO WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY FOURTH AND HAVE A VERY SAFE HOLIDAY. AND I WANT TO SEND THE CONDOLENCES TO THE SANDOVAL FAMILY FOR what you're going through, and I thank you. And I want to wish a happy birthday to Councilman Roberts. I think he celebrated one day ago, maybe. But we want to say happy, happy birthday. Thank you.

Before we go any further, at our last meeting, we also had Mayor Pro Tem Garcia's birthday, but we didn't want to do that without everyone here. And so now that we're all here, why don't we sing happy birthday to Mayor Pro Tem Peter Garcia and to Councilmember John Roberts. So John, you're the sound leader, and so I won't make you start us off because it's your birthday. Unfortunately, you guys are going to have to hear me start it off. So when we get the three, please help me. One, two, three.

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Peter and John. Happy birthday to you.

Thanks everyone in the audience. You were amazing. Next, that takes us to our council members' comments. We're going to start with the birthday people. Let's start with Mayor Pro Tem Garcia.

Thank you, Mayor. So last week we attended, the mayor and I, Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps event, and that was at A.B. Miller High School, and listened to some great band music there. Pacific Crest is the way they described it. It's the travel ball of marching bands. So they're a band that has been together for several years and, you know, high-quality student musicians. And it was a great event over there. But the other thing I wanted to mention in regards to music is that our Stage Red Youth Music Foundation will be presenting a check to Fontana Unified School District this Wednesday to help out with some of their intermediate school marches. created some marching bands for their intermediate schools. You know, they have them for their high schools, but they wanted to get some of the younger students involved, so they created some marching bands as a training ground for their intermediate schools. And our music foundation is going to be providing them with a check for $15,000 to purchase uniforms for their marching bands. So we're going to be there. I think the mayor hopefully will be there to present the check. The mayor's on the board, along with some of my other colleagues, our city manager, Matt Ballantine, Ray Ebert, and Phil Burrum, our other deputy city manager. So thank you to my colleagues for voting to provide that opportunity, to provide that money for those marching bands. And I think it'll be well-deserved and it'll help promote music in our intermediate schools.

um other than that i just want to wish everyone a good evening thank you next council member roberts thank you mayor well first of all i i do want to wish my deepest condolences to the sandoval family on the loss of jesse's brother and also to the family of coach lance on a brighter note uh I had a great birthday yesterday, and a lot of people wished me a happy birthday, so it was a great event. And I also want to wish everybody a great Fourth of July weekend, and stay safe out there. Thanks, Mayor.

Thank you, John. At this time, Councilmember Sandoval.

I'd like to just thank everybody for their condolences, and that's all I have for you.

All right. Council Member Cothran. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Condolences as well, Mr. Sandoval. Couldn't imagine losing my brother at this point. So I can't imagine what you're going through at this time. So our thoughts and prayers are with you, though. Happy birthday to both my colleagues. I was not here at the last council meeting. So happy birthday to you. She was just saving the singing for me to be back. So my beautiful voice for all of you. I was happy that I was able to meet this last week with Assemblymember Ramos' office. We had some bills that he is working on, some Narcan training for our school police officers and some funding availability to them. A lot of the time you get mandates that require you to do training, but not the mandates that provide the funding. So I was happy to learn that the funding actually was there for that one. Also, they were also working on a restraining order for victims, that if their perpetrator comes out of prison, that it automatically extends that restraining order for two years. Another wonderful bill protecting our residents. And then the last one was mental health additional resources for our youth. Besides that, Mayor, I look forward to seeing everyone this Saturday at the 4th of July celebration.

Thank you, Council Member Cothran. I'd like to report out that I got a chance to attend last Saturday the Living Ways of Card Show. It was outstanding. This church does this every year, but this year they had more resource information, but it was great food, great music, but they've extended the car show to motorcycles. So it was very exciting, and there was families there, and everyone had a good time. So I want to really thank Pastor David Samora. He has really invested in our youth in this community, and that church is on the move. So I want to congratulate them. THANK YOU SO MUCH TO OUR COLLEAGUES FOR APPROVING THAT CHECK FOR FONTANA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT. WE ALL KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO INVEST IN OUR YOUTH AND WE GET THOSE MIDDLE SCHOOLS WITH THEIR UNIFORMS, THEY'LL BE IN OUR HIGH SCHOOLS AND THEN THE REST WILL BE HISTORY AS THEY GO ON IN THEIR CAREERS. SO THANK YOU. ALSO HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO TO ONTARIO AIRPORT AND BRAG AGAIN BECAUSE CM MOTORS WHICH IS in the city of Fontana, providing jobs to Fontana residents. They are the ones that build the electric trucks. They delivered the first electric truck to the Ontario airport. And I understand they're buying several more. So I got to tell the Ontario council over there, they're welcome. We'll continue to provide services to the airport.

That went over well, by the way.

So congratulations to CM Motors. It's so important that we really honor and support our business community because I love when we go to the businesses and we run into our neighbors that are working there. And that's what it's always been about with this council. We didn't want people on the freeway. We wanted people to have quality time with their families. Driving two hours to San Diego, L.A. County, Orange County, and in some cases, Arizona and Nevada. Not maybe on a daily basis, but for the week and then coming home on the weekends. That's unacceptable. So that's why we say live, play at the 58 parks, and work in Fontana. It's so important. Next, I had the opportunity to participate in the congressional leaders, Norma Torres and Judy Chu. They had a round table at National Core on housing availability, supporting housing for everyone, all types of housing. And I want to extend thanks to both of those congressional leaders and their caucus for putting that together. There was great information. And of course, they made reference to the great job Fontana's been doing. We have several projects in the hopper where we're supporting developers to bring housing in all forms to help all the residents that live here. So stay tuned. Our housing development has not stopped despite the market. We still see people coming to the table to work on these projects. Then I want to give a special thanks to the Empire Strikers and all the partners that participated with them. They were here for two days. Today was the last day where they did soccer camp for our kids. And I went over there yesterday, and it was amazing. But there was one group there that really stood out, our special needs group, and they support and work closely with Cedar House. The kids were amazing. They enjoyed. I got a chance to go on video with them, and they were showing me how they know how to tumble and do their cartwheels, in addition to little soccer. But bringing our children outside in the sun with their families and letting them have activity is right along with what we do at Healthy Fontana. So I'm just really thankful because not only do the Empire Strikers come out, the team members are the teachers. They're the coaches. So these young people get an opportunity to be exposed to the right techniques, how to play soccer. And of course, is that our fabulous South Fontana Park. where if you have not gone, you need to go look at what has been created for you. That park is phenomenal. So that was just really wonderful to see. But as I look on the audience, I see Captain Binks. Can you come forward and talk about Coach Lance real quick for us? I don't want to put you on the spot, but I think you best describe him.

Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, last month, Coach Lance Ogier passed away. He was a longtime Fontana resident. He played on the 1989 Fontana National Championship football team for Coach Berwick. He played cornerback. And then later when Brooke retired, he actually took over the program at Fontana High School, was the head coach for five years. Left Fontana, went down to Kaiser High School, coached with Billy Cardosi and John Arcazu, a lot of my good close personal friends who I grew up with, and won a CIF championship there. So he's just an absolute wonderful human being, did a lot for the youth of this community, changed a lot of the young men in our community. And so we wanted to honor him today. Thanks, Mayor.

Thanks so much, Captain. You know what? Let's give Coach a hand. So tonight's meeting is adjourned in memory of Jose Sandoval Jr., who is the brother of our council member, Jesse Sandoval, and we honor his military service and dedication to our nation. And then, of course, we're going to also honor Coach Lance. So if you'll join me in a moment of silence, understanding when we adjourn tonight, our regular city council meeting will be again on July 14th at 2 p.m. here at Stillworkers. Please stand and join me for a moment of silence. Montana City Council meeting is adjourned.