City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay.

Yeah, those vending machines at work, they always get me. Oh [ __ ] I got 20. I'm not worried about it. Okay, I'll pay you back. I know where you live. Okay, I'll pay you back. You want your dollar back again? No. Could you mean keep somebody on the way out? Darn it. I only had 20. Um, you know what I want to talk to you about? What's that? Um, whatever name is. Oh, she as soon as I see her, I'm just going to give you the number for

sure. senior housing. Let her talk to them. Did you know did you watch a meeting last week? She was here. Yeah. Yeah. Joe had to escort her away. Okay, let me put my glasses on.

I will call the January 27th, 2026 regular city. Nopes, I'm on the wrong page. Sorry about that. This one I will call the January 2727 2026 close session city council meeting to order. I will point out that this meeting is being hosted through a live stream on the city's website and via Zoom teleconference. Just a reminder to council to have their microphones turned on in position so the audience can hear. City clerk, can we have a roll call? Thank you, mayor. Council member Clark, present. Council member Lodge here. Council member Peterson here. Mayor Brit Males here. Mayor Koopa here.

All members are present. Okay. And we have a lot of feedback at this time. Members of the public may only comment on an item appearing on this agenda. Please adhere to the following when addressing the council. Comments will be limited to three minutes or less. Comments will be direct will be directed to the council as a whole and not directed to any individual council members. For those joining via Zoom, you will be asked to raise your hand if you would like to speak. City clerk, are there any registered speakers? Mayor, there are no registered speakers. Okay, we will now proceed to close session and come back here at six o'clock.

Okay. Hello Oh, darling. No.

for him to ramp up. Yeah, he'll have to go that way. We have a couple muscle guys. Henry,

no. Good boy. I think so.

Oh boy. Hey, cancel down there.

Okay. Good evening everyone. I will call the January 27, 2026 regular city council meeting to order. I would like to point out that this meeting is being hosted through live stream on the city's website and by Zoom teleconference. Remind the city council to have their microphones turned on and positioned so the audience can hear. City clerk, can we have a roll call? Thank you, Mayor. Council member Clark, present. Council member Lodge here. Council member Peterson here. Mayor Pat Miles here. Mayor Koopa here.

All members are present. Thank you very much. The invocation this evening will be by Pastor Bob Beckett. After that, Council Member Peterson will lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Would you all please stand? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for our city. We thank you for our counsel, their efforts, and their desire to lead us and direct us into the future. Give them wisdom and insight beyond their years and experience. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

I invite you to join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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. Amen. Okay, that's my exercise for the week. Okay. Uh we will now move to the city attorney's report. Thank you, mayor. Uh for item 5A, the city council gave settlement direction by consensus.

And with that we will move on to the presentations. First uh presentation is proclamation for national law enforcement appreciation day and it will be presented by council mayor vice mayor mayor prom uh males to the city of hemtt police department and to acting chief Mike Moat. You on? Yes.

Yes. You can all applaud. Gentlemen. Oh boy. We got them all. Wow. This is a real police force. No, I'm just kidding.

Just teasing. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. All right, here we go. That was a joke. Okay. City of Hemtt, California proclamation, National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. Whereas the health and safety of the citizens of the city of Hemtt is important to the happiness, prosperity, and well-being of our city's fam, our cities, families, and community. And whereas the city of Hammet is the proud home of dedicated police officers who put their lives on the line to keep our community safe. And whereas these officers stand as leaders educating the community about the importance of public safety. And whereas the city of Hemtt appreciates the extraordinary efforts and sacrifices made by officers and their family members on a daily basis in order to protect our schools, workplaces, roadways, and homes. And whereas National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day is an opportunity to show our support for law enforcement. Now therefore, Linda Krupa, mayor of Hemtt, along with the Hemet City Council, do hereby proclaim January 9th, 2026 as National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day and encourages the com uh the community to join in celebrating the men and women who serve the Hemtt Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. Presented January 27th, 2026. Sir, thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you for all you do for the city of EMTT and all your office.

Thank you, sir. Um, I'm just a humbled humbled leader. These guys are the real heroes out there working boots on the ground protecting the community every day. So, this goes for them. Our next our next proclamation will be honoring Joan Kovi for her exemplary service and community dedication presented by library manager Kathy Kanes and me. Joanne, would you come up, please?

I didn't know that. Surprise doing this. Surprise. Oh my goodness. Here we are. Yes. Okay. All right. I'm just

Okay. This is the city of Hemtt, California proclamation honoring Joanne Cvy for exemplary service and community dedication. Almost now I can read. Whereas Joanne Kovi has dedicated more than 30 years of dedicated service as a working member of the friends of the Hemtt public library demonstrating an unwavering commitment to literacy, education, and community enrichment. And whereas throughout her decades of service with the friends of the library, Joanne Kov has held numerous leadership roles including treasurer, vice president, president, providing strong finan strong fiscal stewardship and organizational leadership. Whereas Joan Kovi played a significant role in assisting with the development of the construction of the current Hemet Public Library facility and was instrumental in establishing and supporting the library bookshop, including stocking, processing, pricing materials to benefit library programs and services. And whereas Joanne Kovi has given over 30 years of service to the Hemtt Women's Club where she served as treasure and volunteered as an usher at the historic Ramona Bowl, further contributing to the cultural and civic life of the community. And I'm not done. Whereas Joanne Kovi served with distinction on the Hammet Public Library Board of Trustees from 2018 to 2025, providing thoughtful guidance and advocacy in support of library services and resources for residents of all ages. And whereas in recognition for her compassionate

service beyond civic organizations, Joanne was honored as volunteer of the year by the Hemtt Valley Health Center in 1995, reflecting her longstanding dedication to service and care for others. and Joanne Kovy's decades of volunteerism, leadership, and community involvement have left a lasting and positive impact on the city of Hemtt and in exemplify the highest ideals of public service. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the city council of Hemtt does hereby proclaim its sincere appreciation and recognition of Joan Kovi for her extraordinary contributions, selfless service, and enduring commitment to the Hemmet community and extends its deepest gratitude and best wishes for continued success and fulfillment. presented today, January 27th, 2006 by mayor and city mayor Kupa and your the her fellow council members. Thank you, Joanne. Yeah. Call up the women's

club.

Come on up. Come on. Cheers. There you go. You are welcome, Joan. pretty special.

She is special.

Okay, next up is the 2025 annual holiday decorating contest recap presentation given by our communications and events coordinator, Jennifer Cortez. Come on up, Jen.

Good afternoon, mayor and council members. Perfect. Okay, so I am here to present on the 2025 holiday annual decorating contest recap. So to give you guys a little bit of background, this is another one of our annual traditions here in the city of Hemet that really celebrates the holiday season and encourages both residents and businesses to get into the spirit to enter their properties um for a chance to receive citywide recognition. So they are voted by the community and um we choose a first place, second way, second place, and third place winner. This year the contest began in December 8th and interested participants were asked to submit two photos of their properties to our HeMT holidays um email and the period uh ran through December 29th for a total of 21 days where we had the contest open. Now community voting took place from December 30th through January 9th. And this was really truly an opportunity for the community to vote on visual appeal and to choose their favorites. So, HMT residents were able to vote through a survey link that we promoted on our socials, Instagram and Facebook, our city website, and so we left it up through that duration. And here today, we are going to recognize our three winners. So, we did only have in the 2025 year resident submissions. Unfortunately, no business, but um you guys are all hearing it today. So, if you do have a business you want to submit for next year, stay tuned for that. And so I will um we do have an a little visual here of one of our social media posts that we use to promote the contest. And I will now call up our three winners. But you can take a look at the first place winner. On the very left we have the Arent household. For second place we have the Carnis household. I hope I'm saying your your last name correctly. And for the third place we have the Romero household. So now we'll call them up and we can take your picture. So, for first place, the Arent

Household. Believe you're here today. Make your way up here. Where do you want me? You can go to the very front and I'll get your Yes. Go ahead. I'll take I'll take

There you go. Bear with me, guys. And for second place, if we could have the Arent House or sorry, the Cares household Dustin. And unfortunately our third place winner is out of town so we will have to send her her award separately. Uh but that concludes the presentation. Thank you.

Very good. Thank you very much. And that is a receive and file. At this time we are going to make some adjustments to our agenda because of some of the people that are here for our discussion and action items. So we are going to move on to number 18 discussion and action item 18A resolution of the city council city of HMT authorizing the city manager to execute a police dispatch services agreement with the city of Canyon Lake. And who is going to give the staff report? Acting Chief Noat.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor, Mayor Prom, Council members, and City Staff. I think you're going to have to talk a little louder. Oh, sorry. Not used to this microphone. There you go. Yeah. Good evening, uh, Mayor,

Mayor Prom, council members, and city staff. can't see up close without my glasses and I can't see far away with them. So, uh, we'll try to work this out. Not quite sure where to start with this one. Hey, so this is a So, we are looking to proposing to go into a dispatching contract with the city of Canyon Lake. Oh. So, this contract will be a five-year contract and it really won't cause much of a burden for the city of Hemet and our dispatching services, but it'll be pro provide a great opportunity to branch out and and help out our regional partners as we already do with Meny and Mya for SWAT our SWAT team as well as now we can branch out and and collaborate more within the county uh providing contract dispatch services for the city of Kenyon Lake. Just some quick numbers. Um, city of Hemtt is obviously quite a bit larger and busier than the city of Kenya Lakes. So, Hemtt currently this in 2025 we ran about 95,000 CAD calls for service and proactivity versus Kenyon Lakes 4,680. So, with this contract, we'll get two additional dispatchers, which will help our staffing levels and also try to meet our goal in um January 1st of 2027 um when we're have to decide if we're going to go live with EMD, emergency medical dispatcher. This will help get to go to get to our staffing goals in order to provide that services for our community. So with the increased staffing levels and the low call volume from the city of

Kenyon Lake, it will not affect our resources that we're providing to our citizens currently. And that being said, again, our staffing levels, we're currently have funding for 15 dispatchers. Uh with the Canyon Lake contract, it will bring us up to 17. And then that will give us enough dispatchers with an addition of we'll have to our goal is to hire two more dispatch supervisors which will give us our staffing that we need to roll out the uh emergency medical dispatching in January 1st of 2027. So gladly take any questions if you guys have any for me. Does council have any questions at this point? City clerk, do we have any public comments on this?

Thank you, mayor. I have one public comment. registered speaker, uh, Jeremy Smith.

Welcome, Mayor.

Thank you, Madame Mayor, Mr. Mayor Pro Tim, city council members and staff. My name is Jeremy Smith. I'm the mayor of the city of Canyon Lake, and I'm here with my colleague, former mayor Mark Terry, council member as well, along with our chief of police, Chief Rails, and our city manager, Aaron Brown. Um, this one means a lot to me. We've been working on this for years now and without your partnership, we could not do this. Um, it's an exciting opportunity for me especially because I was born and raised in the city of HTT. So, it feels good to be home and you'll appreciate this, Madame Mayor. We made sure we bought dinner here and filled up our gas tanks here cuz that's the rule. Anytime we come into a city, we have to spend dollars um in here. So, that's exactly what we did. But, we're excited about this partnership. Um, you guys have an incredible staff here. Seriously, your city manager, unbelievable the work that he's been able to put in working with my city manager, your chief of police, the entire team. Uh we are beyond excited and we're hoping that you take on staff's recommendation tonight to approve this item. And we did one better. We did supply you with some brand new police department hats and I think we only have six in or six in production and you have them. So you own them. There are new police hats. Um, we're not trying to buy the vote here tonight, folks, but um, we are definitely trying to help and and we have we have our patches there, too. So, don't worry, swag will be coming, but like what was mentioned tonight, you guys already have an incredible police department, and we're going to do all we can to mirror what you already have here in the city of HTM. So, with that, I just want to say thank you, Madame Mayor, for letting me speak. Um, this item does mean a lot to the city of Canyon Lake, and we are beyond excited. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Any now any questions from anybody? Okay, then I would entertain a motion. I can make that motion. We have a motion and I haven't said a motion yet. A motion by I move to adopt a motion. Okay. Resolution authorizing the city manager to execute a police dispatch service uh services agreement with the city of Canyon Lake, including approval approval of the joint conflict of interest waiver as presented. And I'll second. I have a motion by Mayor Pretend Males, second by Council Member Lodge. We'll do a roll call. Council member Clark, yes. Council member Lodge, yes. Council member Peterson, yes. Mayor Pertim Males, yes.

Mayor Kat, yes. That motion passes 5 to zero. Thank you very much. Appreciate you guys. All righty. Moving on to 18BB. Resolution of the city council of the city of Hemmet approving an interim appointment of Cameron Phillips to the vacant position of fire chief and approval of employment contract agreement. We have a staff report.

Uh thank you mayor. Just a brief introduction. Um it's my honor and uh privilege to welcome back Cameron Phillips. He previously served as an interim HMT fire chief back in 2021. He is the retired fire chief out of Garden Grove. uh he uh enjoyed his time here. In fact, some of the engines that were ordered uh I think under his tenure will be delivered in a couple of weeks. So, it's coincidental that he's back just in time to receive those. Uh but uh we're looking forward to bringing on uh Chief Phillips. Uh we've had a vacancy in this position for several months. We waited through the holidays um to ensure a proper recruitment time uh the timing of a recruitment for our future chief and we're grateful for his services u to us over the forthcoming months and um if you have any questions I'm happy to to answer those for you.

Are there any public comments on this item? Mayor, there are no registered speakers. And do you have any questions from council? Can should we hear from Mr. Mr. Phillips. Sure, Mr. Phillips.

If you can just give us a brief synopsis of of your qualifications. Yes, Madam Mayor. That that microphone probably needs to be touched there, Madame Mayor.

Yes. Mayor Prom Mills and council, thank you for the opportunity. I was here for about seven or eight months back in 21 through a difficult COVID time. Uh I found it very lucky and fortunate for me to work with a great organization, not only the city staff but and city council at the time, but the fire department staff. Um I've been involved in a lot of different fire departments. I spent my 30 plus years in Garden Grove and then I embarked on a consulting endeavor for about six or seven years. I was in multiple cities working with different fire departments across the west uh finding ways to become efficient and such. But this group of firefighters, these men and women are are absolutely terrific. Uh hardworking in a difficult environment back then. middle of COVID, we had hospital um real hospital stoppages, we had ambulance problems, we had COVID, we had large fires in central California, but everybody here stepped up. So, I found it uh again fortunate to work with a bunch of great people, and I'm lucky to come back again. I was lucky that um Mark gave me a call to come back and help out some more. Um we're going to continue to move the department forward. Uh so we're uh we're excited to get started.

Thank you very much, Chief. I I won't say welcome aboard yet because we haven't voted. Okay. So with that, uh any questions, comments? Do I have a motion? I have no comments. I will make a motion to adopt a resolution of the city council of the city of Hammet approving an interim appointment of Cameron Phillips to the vacant position of fire chief and approval of of employment agreement. Do we have a second? I'll second. I'll second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. City clerk. Motion by Council Member Peterson. Second by Mayor Pat Mills. We'll do a roll call. Council member Clark. Yes. Council member Lodge. Yes. Council member Peterson. Yes. Mayor Pat Males, yes. Mayor Koopa,

yes. That motion passes 5 to zero. Congratulations. Welcome aboard, Chief. Okay, moving on to 18C, the 2526 midyear budget update. And who is giving this? This is going to be our administrative services director.

Come on up. This we go. Good evening, council. Tiffany Barnett, administrative services director. Uh tonight we are going to go over an overview of the fiscal year 2526 budget to see where we are. Um let's go ahead and There we go. Okay. So uh just to remind everybody, we did uh approve a budget uh for the 2526 fiscal year on June 10th, 2025. At that time, we had projected revenues at 30 or at $81.5 million with a use of one-time fund balance of 4 point almost about 4.8. Uh we did it um account for about $3 million of interest income that we antic anticipated to be above what we have budgeted. and then considered in another vacancy factor of about four positions for $527,000 which brings the revenue in about $89.8 million. Uh going against that, the general fund expenditures are projected at 93 or they're budgeted at 93.5. So that gave us a a budget deficit of $3.6 million at the time of adoption. Um on we did have the one-time investments of 4 point almost $4.8 million and uh that is the use of the

one-time uh fund balance usage. The general fund balance we took was three about 3.7. We're measure was about $1 million. And listed here you can see from high to low the investments that the city has been able to uh deploy. There is the $1.5 million for a liability premium. That was actually to help buy down the SIR um so that we could go back to about a $2 million uh SIR instead of the $6 million for the law law enforcement claims. And then the other large portion was about 1.5 million that is uh invested into the pension 115 trust. And this is actually an investment into uh the employees uh future cost of their pension. So we're trying to get ahead of the the game on that and that's actually driven by resolution. So that is how how we came to contribute that amount. And then also we had the kitchen grant program, the facade improvement program, the community enrichment grant, the library digital sign replacement vandalism relief program. We also are in the middle of a full comprehensive fee study, the city hall uh front door replacement and then additional contribution to him at beautiful and a beautifification uh project. And then for measure U, the large portion of that is $900,000 which is to rehab the structure at St. John's Place. Um and that will be the future home of the Arrow team. And then we also have about 120,000 going into fire station re uh fire station 3 rehab which is desperately needed and then $39,000 for a police radio program update. So these are the investments that we have budgeted for this fiscal year

for general fund revenues. As of December 31st, 2025, all general fund revenue collection was at 24.2% 2% compared to prior year at 31.5. Uh keep in mind the larger bulk of the general fund revenues are collected in the second half of the fiscal year. Um and that's due to sales tax being two months in a rears and property taxes are collected in December and April. In the analysis of the general fund revenues, both sales tax and property tax are trending steady. The sales tax revenue to date we have um sales tax revenue is collected is 10.87 87. That's the budget with measure measure U receiving 5.5 or 30% of the budgeted revenues. Um I'm sorry, this is the actual year to date for the sales tax. Uh the Bradley Burns and the MeasureU sales tax. Um and we actually did receive our addition additional um November payments came in today and they're actually slightly higher than they were last year. So, that's a good sign and it that we are doing we're doing where we thought we would be, but we're doing better than we were last year. Um, in aggregate, the sales tax revenue are trending slightly ahead. So, we're looking that we may have a surplus of about 400,000 more than what we have budgeted. So, it's better than not having enough. So, property tax revenue, uh, as of December 31st, we have collected thus far 3.2 2 million or approximately 30% of the budgeted revenues of 10 almost 10.8 million. Um with HDL forecast they are showing that the city of HIT has an approximate growth rate of 8.7%.

Uh from fiscal year 25 2425 to 2526 which is a it's a nice steady growth. The largest share of the property tax is the current secure tax which is received in early December, late January, and late May. So that means that we're still about to receive another additional 70% of this revenue. So right now it does look like it's a little bit low, but we that's because we'll receive more of it towards the end of the fiscal year. the interest re revenue which uh the city has been very fortunate the last couple of years um and that's given us a tremendous um boost into what we can turn around and do investments with the city for um so ending fiscal year 2425 we earned about $7.4 million in interest alone citywide uh general fund got a historical high of that interest of about 3.6 6 million and then on top of that there was a Gazsby 31 fair market value adjustment of $1.1 million. So year to date uh we've received approximately $2.2 million in the interest re uh interest revenue. We did budget for about $5 million. So that's already above and beyond and we are looking to end this year at um excess of $7 million. Just another quick note on 500,000, right? Rather than five million,

you mentioned five million in terms of the budget for Sorry. I'm sorry. Yes. Just wanted to make sure we any alarm bells. Yes. Even if it was, we're still we're still trending to do better.

Okay. So the general fund expenditures right now as of December 31st we are about at 38.1% of the expenditures. Dollar-wise uh the general fund has currently uh expended about 38 or I'm sorry $35.8 million and measure U has expenditures of about 7.2 2 million. Since the budget adoption, we have had additional appropriations that were council approved. And uh this is just a recap to see what we have had approved that we're going to move forward with. Uh it's listed high to low with four arrow vehicles at 371,000. um an economic development director, fourleafly fire prevention services, uh additional Motorola radios for fire. There is a land acquisition. Um, new windows at the police station, Enterprise Fleet Master lease, which is providing additional vehicles for the police department, an associate civil engineer, Christmas decorations, police overtime for the USPS inspection services, and additional appropriations for on call abatement services. And that's about almost $1.4 4 million in the use of fund fund balance. So this is a projection uh and it it is just simply that a projection of the 2526 fund balance and this is a rough estimate at this stage and it assumes that we're going to receive all the revenue that's been budgeted and we're going to expend all of the expenditures that are budgeted as well. Um, so if we apply that methodology, you can see that

it it does run us into a deficit of $16.8 million. That deficit does break down with the continuing appropriations which are already have been allocated in prior years of $7 million. The use of onetime fund balance of 6.1 almost $6.2 million. And then uh so that is actually uh an overall operating deficit about 3.6 6 million. Now, taking that deficit and applying it to where we ended um the fiscal year 2425, we are looking at um and again this is just a a projection at 50 $50.4 million. Um this time last year when we gave the midyear report we had projected about $50.5 million in fund balance and as we closed the books as of June 30th 25 we did end at 67.3 million. So this is very um it's a very lit literal like interpretation of fund balance where we are either we're going to receive everything and expend everything and that usually is never the case. So, um, like I said, last year we were able to end our fund balance at $67.3 million. And pointing at that out, this is significantly above our 40% reserve. So, that puts us in a very solid financial position and it's it keeps that rainy day fund set aside. Um, and we want to do everything that we can do to protect that because as life goes on, there will be uh times where we may need to um deploy that fund bound that reserve. And um

and that concludes my presentation. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer. Do we have any questions from council? Do we have any public comment on this item? No, mayor. Okay. Is this an actual vote uh approval or receive and file?

This is a receive and file. And just maybe I could add one more thing. Uh we talked about the 40% reserve. I think importantly it's uh important to recognize that the council uh just a year ago raised that from 20% to 40%. And today that that number represents about $29.5 million. So, if we spent everything that you've all you've committed to future projects out of some of those one-time investments, uh if every dollar was spent, um we're projecting a $50 million surplus, which would represent a number that's more than $10 million above your 40% reserve uh moving into next year. Very good. Thank you very much. All righty, that is receive and file. Thank you, Tiffany.

Great job. Thanks. Okay, now we're going to jump back. I promise we will get to everybody tonight, but we have have to go back now to the public hearing. Where's the public hearing? Where's my public hearing? Oh, it's on. There you go. Dan Cortesi and we are going to take the public hearing along with item 18 D because they are related but we have to have the public hearing before we can do the discussion and action on the result of the public hearing if that makes sense.

Makes sense. Okay. So you are up on public hearing. This is the 15A pre. Can we pull up the public hearing report?

Okay. Good evening, mayor, council members, and city staff. The public works department is excited to share our vision for a new community garden here in Hemtt. Our goal is to establish a safe and accessible space where everyone can participate and benefit. This garden will support local food access and encourage self-sufficiency, giving residents the opportunity to grow their own produce. We also want to foster community involvement, bringing people together through shared gardening experiences and provide environmental education to all who visit, helping everyone learn about sustainable practices and the importance of caring for our local environment. Importantly, this project aligns with the downtown specific plan by activating an underutilized parcel, encouraging community oriented uses, and supporting a more walkable, vibrant, and sustainable downtown area. Selecting the right location was a critical step in ensuring this project truly supports the community. We prioritized a site with adequate adequate sunlight, ease access from surrounding neighborhoods, and a safe welcoming environment where residents can come together. The site selection processed a review by the planning commission and close collaboration with the green coalition of the Sanino Valley. I also want to take a quick moment to recognize and thank the Green Valley, our green coalition of the Sanino Valley for representing um and those who are representing their organization today. Uh their partnership and guidance uh were instrumental in getting us to this point. So I just want to thank you. Through this process, 143 South Wanita

was confirmed as the project location. This collaborative approach reflects the green coalition's mission to build a sustainable community. One where neighbors work together to balance environment uh economic and social needs. With the new site now finalized, preparation work will include grading, leveling the land, and improving drainage to ensure the space is safe, functional, and ready for planting. These improvements help create a clean, healthy, and accessible environment that will serve the community not just today, but for generations to come. As shown in this slide, this is the current condition of the selected site. The property is a vacant city-owned parcel with significant potential for redevelopment. This community garden will demonstrate how underutilized public spaces can be thoughtfully transformed for public benefit, converting an empty lot into a vibrant, productive community asset. The design of the garden will be both functional and inviting. It will include 26 garden boxes, two of which will be 88 tabletop tabletop style for accessibility. There will be a storage unit, a shaded area for learning and relaxation, and composting stations to promote sustainable gardening practices. Every element is designed to make the garden a welcoming place for all members of the community. To make this vision a reality, the public works department is requesting $99,781 in unspent CDBG funding. This is an allowable activity within the eligible area and the funding will directly support the buildout phase. Key improvements include perimeter rod iron fencing with access gates, a storage unit featuring an art feature on the on

the side, concrete work and ADA walkways, shaded structures for learning and relaxing, lighting for safety and usability, gardening boxes for planting, frontage and parking lot improvements, and a water connection and an irrigation system. In addition to this funding, we will be leveraging donated labor and materials through gift and kind programs to ensure maximum impact for the community. In closing, this community garden represents more than just a physical space. It reflects the city of HTM's commitment to sustainability, equity, and community well-being. By transforming a vacant city-owned property into a productive and inclusive garden, we are investing in local food access, environmental education, and stronger neighborhood connections. With the support of the unspent CDBG funding along with labor uh donated labor and community partnerships, this project allows us to maximize public benefit uh while being fiscally responsible. We respectfully request your support to move this project forward and look forward to creating a space that will serve him at residents for years to come. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Okay. Thank you. A question for legal. Do we have to have the staff report now on the CDBG funding amendment that we need to put in? So I I my understanding is this was the staff report for 15A as well as 18D. I have an additional uh presentation for 18D. So this was 15A. If you wanted to receive the 18D presentation as well and take them together as one item, that would make a lot of sense. Take them together. Do I need to open the public? Not yet. Hearing you wait for Let me know. All righty. Go ahead, Mr. Cartesi.

Okay. So, we got to wait till we load the next presentation. Okay. This item is a request for city council approval of a community garden license agreement for cityowned property located at 143 uh South Wanita Street. This agreement is with the green coalition of the Sanosino Valley and if approved would authorize the city manager to execute the agreement in final form subject to review and approval by the city attorney. The city of HMT owns the property at 143 South Jano which is currently underutilized. The city supports activating vacant and or underused properties for community serving purposes that promote uh healthy living, environmental education, and neighborhood engagement. Community gardens provide residents with opportunities to grow food, learn sustainable practices, and strengthen community connections. This proposal is consistent with the city's sustainability um and quality of life goals and was identified as a strategic plan action item uh during the fiscal year 2425. The proposed agreement is structured as a license not a leased and does not convey any property interest. The agreement term is from January 27th 2026 to January 27th 2036. The city retains the right to terminate the agreement at any time within 7 days notice. Use of the property is limited to non-commercial community-based gardening, composting, environmental education, and city approved public events. Under the agreement, the Green Coalition

of the Sandino Valley will be responsible for all aspects of operating and maintaining the community garden. This includes utilities, insurance, waste disposal, and ongoing site maintenance. Any structures, fencing, irrigation, or events associated with the garden will require prior written city approval. The city retains full access to the property and oversight authority at all times. All costs related to operations, utilities, insurance, and maintenance are the responsibility of the Lency and with the city retaining oversight to ensure compliance with applicable standards and requirements. The site is accepted in its existing condition with full assumption of risk indivication. I knew I was going to mess that one up. And insurance requirements imposed on the lency. The public works department has already requested an appropriation of $99,781 in unspent community development block grant funding to support site related improvements. This structure allows community use of the property while maintaining appropriate city oversight and minimizing ongoing financial and legal risk to the city. In conclusion, this agreement allows the city to activate an underutilized property in a way that benefits the community while preserving flexibility for future city needs. Staff res respectfully recommends that the city council adopt the resolution approving the community garden lease agreement or license agreement and authorize the city manager to execute the agreement in final form. In closing, this agreement provides a low-risk way to activate an underutilized city-owned property for community benefit. It supports healthy living and neighborhood engagement while fully protecting the city and preserving future flexibility. Staff respectfully recommends approval of the resolution.

Thank you. Okay. Now, do we open the public hearing to go for speakers? Yes, mayor. Okay. I am now opening the public hearing on item 15A. And do we have any public speakers for or against? Thank you, mayor. I have one public speaker, Shaw Rosen Regger. We'll call them up to the podium. You have three minutes, sir.

Thank you. I'm here today with my gardening hat. Um I think u Dan Cortesi gave a excellent description of of the garden and what what to be expected. I just wanted to say that gardening is part of a local local food system meaning uh making fresh food accessible in the community especially to people who are on a tight budget and cannot always afford it. We are currently don't have this culture in our community yet. And I I'm thinking of this garden as the beginning um of bigger things that uh between the garden between um oh and the garden is also a play a rather small group of people will actually use the garden as a growing space but it will be open to visitors to classes to garden tours and will serve as an uh a point of uh learning and inspiration because when people see they they believe and they can go go home and try it themselves. So we're very excited about this and um um yeah between between gardens, local small farms and and markets. Uh we envision a future of Hammet as a a place where there's a lot of healthy fresh food available and uh thank you for considering it.

Thank you very much. Do we have any additional speakers for or against? Mayor, there are no register further registered speakers. Okay, with that I will close the public hearing and bring it up to councel. Do you have any questions or comments on 15A and what was the other one? 18D. 18D. Thank you. Absolutely. Go ahead. Turn your microphone on. Okay. Thank you. I have a couple questions. One's about liability, insurance liability. And who covers that? The city or the individuals?

So, uh, it is city property. So there there will always be some potential level of city liability whenever we have a license agreement with a third party. Uh however, they are required uh to have insurance that in favor of the city uh to protect the city from any uh incidents that occur on the property. Okay. But what I hear here is there there's going to be um different groups in there, different uh individuals signing up maybe to grow something in that area. Um are they aware that they would have to get insurance to cover them and whoever goes in?

Uh so the lency which is the green coalition they're required to have the insurance in favor of the city and any invitee of the green coalition would fall under that insurance policy. So they would have document or forms for them to fill out and the amount of the insurance that we're requesting is equal to or greater than our self-insured retention. Is it 2 million? 2 million. So, we don't anticipate there being a significant liability event against the city. And who's in charge of the green coalition? You

you two. And you have that insurance and the forums for people. Then my next question is also the um the food that's grown there then just goes to your homes or to the people that are growing it to their homes. So um the way it works is that in uh the garden plots which we talked about 26 or 28 of them will be leased to individual people or families or sometimes people go together uh like couple of households and that's their space and they do whatever they wish with the produce.

Okay. But they're not allowed to sell it though if they they can do whatever they want with it. So they can uh so it can be become a forprofit then um the size of a 10 by8 plot it does not usually allow for a lot of profit. It's too it's just too small. It's not likely. Um, if somebody exchanges a few tomatoes for cucumbers with their neighbors or makes some arrangement that's Yeah, that's pretty normal. So, what I've seen is you had the squares here. There was multiple probably about what 18 20. Uh,

so I can purchase three or or go not purchase but go and say I want three of them to grow my food. No. Uh we we will um make sure that uh the plots are go to individual household separate household. Yes. With with priority to the downtown area residents.

And did you um ever think about um Valley Community Pantry uh being a part of this? also maybe having three or four of them and maybe they can grow the food and give it to community something like that. This is definitely something we thought about. Um before we looked at this area, we had a different plot in mind and a different location, different city property that was bigger.

Mhm. And there we actually allotted a certain part of the garden to be used by uh a potential uh farmer that would uh donate the produce. This location and the size of the location doesn't really allow us to not to do that. All right. Yeah. Okay. Thank you.

Any other questions? I just have a comment. I think it's a great idea. Um I I want to I've always said I want to clean up our city more and we have a lot of empty lots in town and I think for you to come and take responsibility for an empty lot and give back to the community, it's very commendable. And I just I grew up on a farm. I had a big vegetable garden all my life. And even in San Diego, there's better climate where I came from. and I had a garden down there. It's a little hard to to um grow some things here, but I know you guys can teach them and do it well. So, thank you. And I think it's a great idea.

Okay. Any other questions or comments? I second what she just said. Absolutely. It's been a long time coming. It has. Okay. Then we are looking for a motion that includes both 15A and 18D. So whoever wants to tackle that, I move to adopt a resolution approving a community garden license agreement with the Green Coalition of the Santeno Valley for use of city-owned property at 143 South Wanita Street and authorizing the city manager to execute the agreement as approved by the city attorney. and the public hearing part portion.

Uh, mayor, you you could make a motion to approve one through five on 15A if you didn't want to read them all aloud. Add that. Uh, let me get to the other portion here. Do you have who has one through or you have one through five there? 1 through five. 15A 1 through 15 A1 through five. That's I respectfully recommend that this city counc. Yeah. Okay. So, we've covered everything on both 15A and on 18D. Do we have a second? A second. We have a motion and a second.

I have a motion by Mayor Pro Tim Mills, second by Council Member Clark. We'll do a roll call. Council member Clark, yes. Council member Lodge, yes. Council member Peterson, yes. Mayor Pim Mills, yes. Mayor Koopa, yes. That motion passes 5. Okay. And now we are going to go if I can find it to the receive and file for the warrant register.

That is 16A. 16A warrant registers for December 18, 22 and 24, 29, 30, 31 in 2025 and for January 5, January 8, 2026, and periodic payroll payments. Anybody have any questions on any of those warrants? I do not. No questions or comments. That is Somebody said I do. I No, I said I do not. Oh, I thought you said I do.

Okay. So, that is a receive and file. And now we are going to go into public comment from items not on the agenda but within jurisdictional matter of this body. Thank you, mayor. Uh we'll start with Alice Beers followed by Penny Heistand. Can you please approach the podium?

And you'll have three minutes. Good evening. My name's Alice Beers and I'm president of the California Shuffleboard Association and I feel so lucky to live here in Hammet where the great shuffleboard community and I'm here on behalf of the Hammet Municipal Shuffle board building. Did you know that shuffleboard has been in existence since the 15th century and was one of the first sports played in this country? He has a dedicated community once dubbed the shuffleboard capital of the world. Most of the courts are in multiple senior mobile home estates that are not open to the public. So the M Hemtt municipal shuffleboard building is home to those who have no other place to play. I would say that being dubbed the shuffleboard capital of the world is a very positive thing for the city. Shuffleboard is an international sport and Hammet was a host for this these international games in the year 2000. There were several venues to host this event and you can check out the old Hugh Hower interviews at Hammet West to see what those shuffleboard courts were like. What a boost for Hammet. And just maybe that could happen again with the municipal courts being one of the hosts. Our most recent international games were in Germany and the US had 46 players attend and five of our women were took the top 10 in international.

The um this year there's going to be a canam between the US and Canada uh game up in Canada this year. It's the inaugural game and the US will be sending 40 players to team to play uh against Canada in that tournament. The US hasn't been decided. The US host has not been decided yet for 2028. Who knows? Maybe Hammet could be the host of one of those tournaments. Our new national president plays here four to five times a year and we have many Palm Springs area players who come here often to play. Our national tournaments have drawn players from the east coast like Ohio, New York, Illinois, Florida. And of course, our largest draw is a Saboba Classic that is held every March and draws players from Palm Springs, Central California, Arizona, and our snowbirds from Canada. With this being said, you can see how shuffleboard brings in money for local businesses such as hotels and restaurants, as well as tourist taxes for the city. And the Hemet Municipal Court plays a major role in all of this. Our municipal courts have always been the hosts for the valleywide Olympic Shuffleboard event and we look forward to many more.

He is the California shuffleboard association. Your time's up. Oh, really? Yeah. Okay. Thank you for your time. Uh Penny Penny Heistam Penny. Yeah. My name is Hello. Uh, mayor, uh, Pro Tam and council members. My name is Perry Heistan. Can't hear me. Oh, Perry, she's on. The little green.

Okay, let me get a little closer. Okay. My name is Perry Heistand and I currently am serving as the Hemtt MUN president of the We have four teams playing there at the little building there. And uh I just wanted to kind of give you you've heard over the last couple council meetings people that have been playing for many many years and enjoy it. I kind of wanted to share my personal experience on it. I I retired about five years ago and I have a friend that is disabled from birth. I've seen him go from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane and as we got older he's moved out here to Hammet and so did I. We ended up out here and he found shuffleboard and I thought, "What the heck?" I kind of thought this might be a little boring, but you know what? I uh got into it. It's just amazing. You know, I've observed people in their 70s, 80s, 90s. The other day I played a guy that was four days away from being 97 years old playing shuffle board. It's really humbling when he beats you, you know? I mean, but uh so they're they're engaging. They're social activities. They're both accessible, affordable. Okay. She was just up here as president of the association of California. They charge us $7 a year. Okay. And then we have a small fine fee of $25 at Hemmet. But it that's just truly remarkable at the price of things to do. For $7, I can play 20 weeks uh of shuffle board. Okay. Um we serve as uh it is the only uh venue uh regardless of residency. Uh most of them are affiliated. You kind of went over that as the parks throughout Hemtt Santao. I actually live in Santa. There's not a place in Santa play shuffle board. So I come down here. Um and that was what one of my only choices. I just wanted you to hear from somebody on the other side. I've only

played four years. Enjoy it. I hope you don't take our little building away. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next up, we have Jenny Hess, followed by Bea Su. And Jenny Hess has donated time. Just going to verify. Do we have Clinton Hess in the room? Randy Butler. Perfect. Jenny Hess, you'll have nine minutes.

Good evening, city council and city staff. uh Jenny Hus unincorporated Riverside County. I intended to come here tonight to ask about the annexation committee you voted to create in December, especially given the aggressive timeline that you established. However, plot twist. There are some government agencies that do their job. Last week, LAFCO voted six to zero to adopt policy B4, establishing common sense guidance for annexations. It was evident they listened to the entire community, did their research, and identified a problem which was a gap in policy and then developed a solution, policy B4. Stay with me because here's the crazy part. They deliberated the whole group. They engaged in transparent, meaningful, and responsible dialogue. No outside influence involved or mattered. Everything one would hope to see exercised under local control. The unanimous adoption of this policy nullified the Hemet United petition. And they have to start over and do things the right and fair and reasonable way, which was our very simple request from the beginning. Let me recap that for everyone. LFCco did their job expeditiously. Witnessing this process of due diligence, I felt exhilarated, encouraged, grateful. I felt validated. I'm not crazy. We're all not crazy. Today, I reviewed the county's draft fiscal impact analysis of the annexation, showing a negative impact to the city of Hemet to the tune of $19 million. Your $3 million surplus reported in March is really a $19 million deficit. And this city would have gone broke if the annexation was pushed through. And pushing it through

was the goal as evidenced by records. One of which, and I quote, established that the annexation was good for the personal and professional benefit end quote of a few people. Truly astounding, reprehensible, and reckless. Over the course of the day, my feeling of validation has turned to anger and disgust as I reflected on the past t 10 months filled with accusations and attacks directed at me and my friends simply because we stood up and asked a question. Because we requested transparency and used tools like public information requests to vet the blatant misinformation that we were hearing because we stood up for our community. We were labeled negative Nellies, naysayers. We were slandered on podcasts and had our personal information projected on the big screen of the Hemet Theater. On that particular day, my right to speak out was questioned because I wasn't from here. I was new. But my current tax bill is paid to Riverside County. And someone wants to annex my home into this city, which is precisely why I had a say. Whether I've been here one day or one century, that's how it works. But this applicant group wanted to send a different message that if you're not part of the elite echelon of the Hemet Valley, you'd better mind your plate. Well, this is my plate. It's everyone's plate in the city and throughout the sphere of influence. It doesn't matter how many boards you sit on or how exceptional you believe yourself to be or even what's your IQ is. It doesn't matter if you wear pink on Wednesdays or every day. If you pay taxes here, you get a say. If you make your home here, you get a say. If you grow up here, moved away, still love this place, it's in your heart, you get a say. If you stop in and buy some gas and a meal to support us, you get a say. Any message contrary to that is irresponsible, and you did nothing about that message. We've attended every single council

meeting between the few of us. I rarely see the applicant here. We've spent countless hours factf finding, attending information forums we're invited to, providing awareness to the community in the actual public domain, emailing you, pleading for town halls. You never put this on the agenda except in December where you reversed course. In spite of what the applicants lawyer friends said up here a couple months ago about your inability to address the public under the Brown Act, that is unequivocally false. And you all proved that yourself last last month when a gentleman got up here, complained about a a pothole, and good for him, and got immediate action, um was directed to talk to the city clerk, I believe, for a fix. But for 10 months and hundreds of hours of discussion and awareness and efforts and emailing you, you never found that important enough to add annexation onto your agenda. We have families, jobs, lives, and we've sacrificed time, energy, privacy, and even our reputation when we were repeatedly slandered. Peeling back the layers of this onion has been painful and disturbing. Each layer more rotten than the last. It's been physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting. Our families and friends have paid for it, too. You're complicit in all of it, and silence is complicity. And how dare you? All of that and taxpayer money could have been saved if you had made more responsible choices in the beginning. So, we're the bad guys. We've met hundreds of people who would strongly disagree with you. But I do believe in silver linings and in this whirlwind of waste that has been discovering an extraordinary community, one full of grit, camaraderie, and integrity. I encourage you to raise the bar in how you represent, respond to, and engage with the people you currently serve or might one day serve or who contribute to your city. I encourage you to fix real blight instead of attacking

a small business owner's mural, a piece of art. To revise your 1979 rent control or I'm sorry, rent ordinance to protect your seniors. Keep the shuffle boards. Educate yourselves on the real cost of warehouses. Less bargain and discount signs. more world jobs. You have accomplished a lot. You have so much more to focus on besides an annexation. I am relieved that for now I will not have the right to vote in the city. But thanks to this experience, I've learned something. I can influence thousands of votes. While I plan to find new things to do with my second and fourth Tuesdays, I know this is not goodbye, but rather I'll see you later. And I genuinely hope that when we do, the circumstances and the process will be significantly improved. Thank you.

Thank you. Beul followed by Charles Vineyard followed by Ernesto Alvarado. Basul will have nine minutes. And is Marcy Murphy in the room? And Kimmy Conrad. Okay, nine minutes. All right. Good evening, Mayor Mayor. Get closer to the microphone so we can hear you. Can you hear me now? A little bit a little bit more. Green. Green button on. Yeah. Um, I just want to say Yeah. Good evening, mayor, mayor promp, council members. You have to be real close to the microphone. I'm gonna say good evening.

I'm just gonna keep it at that. Um, I thank you, Jenny, for everything that was said. I probably don't have much to say and I'm not going to probably take up the nine minutes. I do want to acknowledge um thank you to the clerk for communicating with me on emails in the past few weeks since the last meeting. I generally appreciate that. I think there's a lot more work that needs to be done on my request, but that'll come in time. Um I want to say in April of 2025, I went to the LAFCO meeting and I spoke up after hearing everything that was here. I went to LAFCO and I expressed my concerns with the annexation. I expressed my concerns with the petition. We knew back then there was a loophole and at that same time I knew that there were people that were going to milk that loophole in any which way. I have to say and give a huge gratitude to Lavco for following through, looking into this situation and creating a policy that protects all residents of Riverside County. and hopefully one day the state because this has been a bloody nightmare. I have learned more about city council, more about government entities than I probably ever cared to know in my lifetime. So, I'm just going to take a moment just to kind of put 10 months of our lives and the information that we have learned. ISO, brown acts, annexation, ducks, that's the disadvantaged unincorporated communities. SOI, sphere of influences, fiscal analysis, plans of services, petition versus an application, court knocks, um, Hinsburg Act, um, city council, planning commissions, development commissions, city managers, staff report, staff agendas, ordinances versus resolutions, supervisors, county supervisors, APNs, MAC committees, um, understanding warrants, trying to figure

out and pay attention to um, more in depth. And I encourage all city residents to pay attention to what is put into the depths of those warrants. General funds, county general funds, demographics, nonprofits. I now know more than I care to ever know about the nonprofits in this valley, how they're run and how they're intertwined within every higherup, so to speak, within within the city. Bylaws. Some bylaws I'm still waiting on from the Hemet Theater. Yep. Still waiting on those. Um, tax reforms, 990s, property taxes. You guys might want to check into some of those for some nonprofits around here. Um, LLC's, articles of incorporation, board members, public records requests, property taxes, um, analysis, city gave reports, financial last 10 months, all of this terminology, crash courses, and understanding this. Our time could have better been used in many ways if there was accountability, if there was an acknowledgement from yourself, city manager. I saw the fiscal report analysis today. 19 million. You're a smart man. You've known this from the get-go. 10 months of sitting here or sitting at home because there was concerns for my safety. Paid attention to the numbers. How city of Hemtt has been, you know, surpluses. You know your numbers. You know where the city was at and if this was realistic or not. This was strung along for someone's pet project for 10 months. I'm a city resident. Pay taxes here. I have my business here. City permit. Business permit that I pay for. Those are my tax dollars. You have strung us along in that in that humiliated name called.

Please address intimidated ma'am. Please address the council. Okay. My apologies, but

this could have been prevented and it was not prevented. And with that being said, local control. The county of Riverside has demonstrated when we were being tool for 10 months now, local control, local control, local control. The county of Riverside has stepped in and protected the residents. And I hope that tonight this is the end. I really, really hope that tonight is the end. And in these 10 months, community has stepped up. The city's paying attention. I'm now paying attention. um again more than I probably care to in my life, but I'm paying attention and I've been paying attention and with the city council that I see before. There's and I've been paying attention to other city councils and I see and and Jenny spoke, you know, very eloquently on it involvement. Ask the questions. Ask the questions. Males, I see you ask questions. Follow it up. Go deeper. Go deeper. You're on the right path. Please ask questions. Don't let us sit back here and wondering what is our city council doing for us. Ask the hard questions. This past 10 months, the decision-m has been passed off to everybody else. But right here, the county again stepped in and made a decision. I want to see from my council members making hard decisions. And I appreciate those who have stood up. Please make the hard decisions so that this city can continue to grow in the direction that I know that you have been putting the effort into. I think that's all. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Charles Vineyard followed by Ernesto Alvarado. Charles,

you have three minutes.

Good evening everybody. Hello. Okay. Um, Charles Winger, 240 Linda Lane. I'm here today because last week I observed an officer which I believe was going to work driving um at excessive speed for no reason at all. Um, when I went to the Hemtt Police Department to explain or to find out why he was driving excessively and dangerously to work in a Hemtt police car coming down, I'm believe Cherry Valley. The sergeant I talked to was Chavez. When I asked him when I told him about it, he says, "Well, he's probably on a call." I go, "Okay." I go, "Can we look at his body cam?" cuz when he gets a call, he has to turn on his body cam. No, you don't have that right. I go, "Can I see the video camera? We can see that and we can see what his speed was doing as he was passing all these cars." "No, you're not allowed to." I asked for the paperwork to get the information that you have to go to court for. So, here we are. I think with measure U, we need to hire 10 to 15 people from the city of HMT, regular citizens, that when there is a complaint for a police officer from HMT, they look at that and make sure the people have no ties with the police department or with any city officials because it's just not being done. Now, I did notice that you have $90,000 for new radios for the police officers that you're trying to get for him. I'm a little confused on that because when I asked uh Sergeant Chavez about the body cam, he goes, "Well, they don't turn them on half the time. They don't have to have them on." I thought that's what the body cam was for is to protect the city when

police officers are out driving around and so that way also to protect the police officers when they're accused of stuff, they have proof of whether they were or were not doing that. But a police officer doesn't have to turn their body cam on unless they feel so. So what Sergeant Chave Chavez said to me, I did talk to another ex police officer and come to find out that's not true. that when an officer is um asked to go to a call when they're in a car, they're supposed to turn on their body cam and to be recording. My other thing also, so I don't think I think we need to resolve this and we need an independent people to find out because we're letting the police police the police and I don't think that they're policing them correctly. The other thing is we just gave a hundred thousand $100,000 for a community garden which is just for the community to go watch how to garden when I would rather as a HMT citizen for over 15 years $100,000 even though they left for shuffle board. These people have given their life to HMT. They're the one that deserves the money for your time is up.

Thank you very much. Have a wonderful evening and be safe. Thank you,

Ernesto Alvarado, followed by Andrea Kotyuk and Debbie Green. What's going on in this country? This administration is reckless and out of control. Our own government killing our own people and ICE agents are acting like domestic terrorists. A few years ago, I dropped off a complaint at the DA's office, and the nature of the complaint was domestic terrorism being carried out by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Riverside County Fire, and others. This started back in 2022 while I was working for UNFI. I filed a complaint against a supervisor, and my next day of work, there was a massive fire at a warehouse the next street over. A year to the day, a neighbor's house went up in flames on the next street over. I filed a complaint against the manager, fired the next day, and they sent the police to my house under the guise of a welfare check. But at the time, I wasn't told who sent the police to my house. So October that year, I received a letter from UNFI that was intercepted by March Air Reserve Base. Now, UNFI is a multi-billion dollar corporation. Later that month, I filed a complaint against the Sanosinto Police Department in part because I felt that they were working with UNFI. That night there was an evacuation in the city between Huitt and Evans and that complaint was destroyed. Now the manager I had complained against at work, his name was Evan. Last name begins with Smith with I just said his name. Last name begins with S. Coincidence. Then in December, I made it clear that I intended to sue Sheriff Chad Biano. A week later, a sheriff is murdered on the job. first time in over a decade. Two weeks later, another one, Friday the

13th. I believe this was done as a means for Chad Biano to maintain control of his department and as a warning for anyone that would try to speak out against him. Now, I don't know if he was behind it, but what I do know is that Chad Bianca didn't think twice about destroying an innocent man's life by falsely accusing him live on international news of attempting attempting to assassinate Trump. As a result, that man's elderly parents were raided by the feds. June 3rd, 2024, I started writing up my lawsuit against the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and others and got as far as writing about Officer Zapada. Within hours, there was a shooting in the area. Two people shot and one died. The wife of the man who died, her last name, Sapeda. The police department was also closed that morning as they investigated the shooting. We are living in a controlled environment and fear is their weapon of choice. Now, a year ago, I came in here and I told you about how firefighters were stalking me. They are not perfect and we got a grim reminder of this last week that they are still just regular people. Thank you.

Thank you, Andrew. And Andrew Kotyak and Debbie Green. just kicked her. It's hard on the shins.

Hi, I'm Debbie Green. Good to see you guys tonight. I attended a meeting last night in Tmacula Historical Museum regarding the Juan Batista Dansza Trail and I believe it's important that we protect our history. There's a project that has been under consideration in the county for the last two and a half years known as the Citrus Grove project. And that trail goes through a portion of the acreage being considered for very high density. This year marks the 250th anniversary of Juan Batista Danza's final expedition, a journey that helped shape California's future and directly connects to our valley. In the 1700s, Spain was struggling to supply California by sea due to strong currents and dangerous coastal travel. To resolve this, Spain needed a land route. Juan Batista Deansza led expeditions in 1774 and then again at the end of 75 and spring of 76 to establish that route. His final journey brought more than 240 settlers, including families and livestock, overland to California. This made it possible to strengthen Spain's claim and to establish permanent settlements, including San Francisco. What's especially important for us is that this historic corridor passes through East Hammet and the Santino Valley. That means East Hemtt is part of a nationally recognized historic route traveled 250 years ago. Nearby, the Dansza expedition stopped at the Pochea, I don't say Pochia, Indian village site in Hemet, now a California historical landmark, showing the important role that the native communities played along that route. The village was located on the land that we call the Ramona Bowl. Even where there's no large trail signs

today, East Hammet remains part of a national story that helped shape California. Recognizing that this connects our lo local community to a much larger chapter of American history, my hope is that the city of HMT leadership will support our concerns of protecting this piece of history that is even older than our constitution. Thank you. So the reason we wanted to come is uh we recognize and definitely appreciate your uh cultural assets map that you have put together as a city and a valley and you have leadership for that. The Juan Patisa Diana trail is on that um if you probably know this already but the National Park Service has recognized this trail um under the US Department of the Interior and identifies going right through this valley. It's along the San riverbed and then it follows the Batista Creek through the Batista Canyon that we have. Um, this is a big part of our history and who we are in this community and preserving that is ultimately key. Um, you're familiar with Dansza Elementary in Santa C that's named after it and you're familiar with Pata Creek Elementary and Hemtt that's named after it. Watisa Dansza is a big part of our community, our history and our culture and something we're looking to preserve. Uh the Riverside County Planning Department does not recognize the Watisa Danza Trail as a historically significant item and looking at some of these developments coming forward and their historical studies that they're providing. It does not identify that. Um, we're developing a resolution and much like the 79, we're going to be asking many groups and organizations and municipalities to recognize this as nationally significant and significant to our valley to retain in hopes that the county then recognizes it, identifies it, preserves, and keeps that history as development occurs through our valley. So, we just wanted to bring you aware of that some of the work we're doing. We're looking forward to bringing this resolution forward um with all the federal information as well that recognizes that. So, thank you tonight

for um one recognizing the cultural asset map and uh continuing to improve and hearing all the great things you're doing in the city. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other Are there any other speakers? That concludes public comment for general comments, Mayor.

All right. Thank you very much for all of that. We will now move to the consent calendar for those of you who are still awake. The uh the consent calendar will be approved by a single motion unless there is an item pulled by a council member, a staff member, or anyone in the audience. So, does staff have any items to pull? Nope. Council members, what items would you like to pull? I am good. I don't have anything.

I don't have anything at this moment. Oh my I'm the only one. Oh, you knew you couldn't get off without having this. You know that. I would like to pull 17. E, G, H, and I. Holy cow. E G E G HI

Yes. Let me make sure that those are the ones I really want. I cannot separate this. Yes, those are the ones. So, I would entertain a motion to approve the other items excluding these. I make a motion to approve the remaining items. I'll second. Could we have a roll call, please? I'll let Joe. I have a motion by Council Member Peterson, second by Mayor Prom Mails to approve the consent calendar with the removal of items EG and I for separate consideration. Coun, we'll do a roll call. Council member Clark, yes. Council member Lodge, yes.

Council member Peterson, yes. Mayor Pert Mes, yes. Mayor Kupa, yes. That motion passes 5 to zero. Moving on to E. Okay. Uh on item 17E, which is uh dealing with the second amendment to the agreement with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. Um city manager, are you the one doing this? Oh, what? Christian's doing it. Depends on the question, actually.

Oh, depends on the question. Well, it I really appreciate the thing. Do have we reached out to the community of Kaiser enrolles in the valley to that they can come and is that the reason why we are expanding wanting to expand to another day? Yes, we made a a big deal the last time they moved to two days um on a on a consistent basis and so this would be another opportunity to kind of release to the public that they're there three times a week now.

So there I take it they're in in full agreement that this is definitely a service. So we could probably hope for in the future that maybe something more than a mobile unit would become to our valley. We can only hope for sure. We can only hope. Okay. That those are the answers I wanted to get out to the public. Okay. All right. Thank you. If there aren't any question further questions, I will make a motion to approve 17E. I'll second it. I have a motion by Mayor Koopa, seconded by Council Member Peterson. We'll do a roll call. Council member Clark, yes. Council member Lodge, yes. Council member Peterson, yes. Mayor Pretend Males? Yes. Mayor Koopa? Yes.

That motion passes 5 to zero. Moving on to 17G. And moving on to 17G. And mayor, we do have a registered speaker. Yes, we do.

Uh, come up to the podium. Shenuel, you'll have three minutes to address the council. I'm Pamela Flynn Shanuel. I'm representing the HMT Art Association. He Valley Art Association. get real close to the microphone.

This is my dog, Frankie. The two of us are both um on the the board of directors for the Hammet Valley um Art Association. She's honorary. Um I'm only here to ask you to support 17G in in our favor. And I understand that um that's that's important to all of us because there's like 150 of us who are members and just say thank you for your support basically. Thank you very much. Anyone have any questions on this? No. Okay. I'll make a motion to approve 17G. I'll second it. I have a motion by Mayor Koopa, a second by Council Member Lodge. We'll do a roll call. Council member Clark, yes. Council member Lodge, yes.

Council member Peterson, yes. Mayor Pton Moses, yes. Mayor Krupa, yes. That motion passes 5 to zero. Moving on to 178. Congratulations. You can have your next meeting over in the senior center. Thank you. You're welcome. uh 17H I understand I mean I know what it is the staff report kind of said what it was does it's not a large dollar amount but I'd really like further amplification on exactly what this is going to do

Sure so this is a a I I really appreciate you actually pulling this off and asking this question because this is just a a wonderful opportunity for our community um this is uh a essentially a digital platform form, but think of it as a digital calendar. Many communities across the country and the world have digital calendars where instead of having to look in 15 or 20 different locations for an event to attend, it's all centrally organized into one calendar. That's this platform. We are recommending approval of this item to build on a on a platform used by several other communities across the country a shared environment for the publication of community events. And so there's um this is going to be a free platform for any organization whether it's a church, a service club, youth activities, uh you name it. Anyone is welcome to participate on this. they can literally um enter their event into the website and it will become published. Uh there is a review process so there is screening but from the user end um imagine you're a parent that's looking for some things to do. You can sort by day, you can sort by weekend, you can sort by event type, whether it's cultural, free, music, uh art, you name it. So this is a platform that's going to be called hemmet.com. hemtt365.com. The whole idea is uh it's short and sweet, easy to remember. Um there are events 365 days a year. So the challenge for us um if approved is to over the next couple of months as we deploy, we expect this will be about a three-month process. uh we're going to need to bring the community together and have a conversation about and show them how do you upload events and to then advertise hemtt365.com so that people begin to think of that when they uh when they wonder where they

want to go uh for an evening or a day uh uh we want them to think about visiting that website now when we go live it's really important that there are events there right if someone visits that website uh when it's when we launch and it's not public it doesn't include a lot of events, it's going to uh be harder to launch uh and and encourage return visits. So, it's going to be a challenge for us to make sure that everyone uh that plans events is using that platform. We hope they will. Uh we we will be having uh an in-person training opportunity where we'll invite um organizations and people that plan events in town and we'll also do that online. So, there'll be a couple of different opportunities and if we don't have enough participation, we'll keep going until we do. um because we need uh everyone's participation to make this successful. But we're hopeful that uh for a fairly modest fee uh this platform can be um valuable for the entire value.

All right. Thank you very much. Any questions or comments? No. Anyone in the audience want to comment on this? Okay. Uh with that, I will uh make a motion to approve 17 I no 17 H. I'm sorry. I'll second it. I heard a second by Council Member Lodge. First, we'll do uh motion by Mayor Krupa. We'll do a roll call. Council member Clark, yes. Council member Lodge, yes. Council member Peterson, yes. Mayor Pretend Males, yes. Mayor Koopa, yes. That motion passes 5 to zero.

Thank you very much. And 17 I just have one question. I thought it was very thorough staff report. What happens if the independent uh review evidentiary hearing comes back with the recommendation to what so what do we do next to

yeah thank you mayor uh so you know these hearings could be held by the city council but in order to ensure impartiality and and due process our recommendation is to send it to the city's administrative hearing officer uh who and hold the evidentiary hearing. And what they're going to be doing is making written summary of the evidence as well as a written recommendation to the council uh to take action on that business license. Uh ultimately, it's going to be up to the council whether to adopt that recommendation as presented uh amend it or modify it or to go into a different direction. Uh I I don't want to make um any prejudgment on the outcome of that hearing. Um, but the allegations uh made by uh the city's external auditors on this show a pretty significant discrepancy between the reported income uh and their own internal records uh just for 2024 alone. uh the income they reported to uh the city for ta for tax purposes was only $44,000, but their own internal financial records according to the audit uh showed almost $400,000 um in in revenue. Uh they were reporting only about 12% of their revenue to the city for for tax purposes uh according to that audit. Um and so you know we can get that over to the hearing officer. He'll summarize all of that uh and send the city council recommendation on whether to suspend the license or not. In addition to the TOT findings, uh we'll be getting presentations by the police department uh by code enforcement and by building and safety uh because there are other concerns with the operation of that business beyond uh the TOT, but the TOT was the most objective and and clear-cut basis for sending that to the hearing officer.

Okay. Thank you very much for that. Questions, comments? No. Okay. Okay, with that I will make a motion to approve 17 I. I'll second it. I have a motion by Mayor Krupa, second by Council Member Peterson. We'll do a roll call. Council member Clark, yes. Council member Lodge, yes. Council member Peterson, yes. Mayor Pretend Males, yes. Mayor Koopa, yes. That motion passes five to zero. Okay, we are now down to council reports. We cleared everything off the agenda even though we were going back and forth on this. Yes. Okay, very good. Now we're down to council reports. Uh, Council Member Clark.

Okay, I missed last meeting. I had a death of a very, very dear friend that morning and it was a little hard to sit. Um, and what I wanted to really share then was in in November I watched this the South Coast Air Quality Environmental Justice Advisory Board. If you don't know about it, you can see these meetings on YouTube. Um, and everything that we're having trouble with here, other cities are too, but it's compounding here because we're landlocked with the uh, mountains. So they talked about warehouses, they talked about air quality, they talked about um the need to get good quality um efficient and non uh emitting vehicles. Um it was kind of interesting because it was the same thing that we have discussed here. Um, so I encourage everybody to go out and seek these different advisory groups and see what our air quality has been days. I know we've been under a couple of days this past couple weeks of um air alerts. January 9th, I was at WR COG strategic planning session. Um, we have a clear path coming along, but I joined the general assembly ad hoc committee and on January 16th we had a meeting uh uh Tony Hawk who is a skateboarder. Maybe we'll have something that we can do for silent auction. Maybe

a couple of skateboards, that sort of thing. that's coming up for our general assembly. Um, and finally, I won't take a too much time. I am having for my district, District 1, a meeting and it is open to the public for all businesses and all residents of District 1. It's going to be at Batista Creek Elementary this coming Thursday, uh, January 29th from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. I was appointed here. My district is really quiet. They don't come and they don't make comments. So, I don't know what they want and I do want to hear what they want. We'll have the city manager there. We're going to have department heads, police chief, um, fire chief, uh, Mon'nique, I believe, is going to be there for community development. Planning Commission Dana White, he represents that area so that we can hear, we'll do we'll answer questions and do um, due diligence with the um, citizens. I went to a couple of schools yesterday, gave a handout. I c talked to a couple of um people right there around um Alessandro and um Jacob Wines. Anyways, I encourage everybody to come out because I need to hear, do you want these things? Because I know you're working. I know you're got kids. You got to get them to to school. you got to get them to bed by a certain time. And so these meetings aren't

necessarily on your radar. And I would like it to be so um 6 to 8:00 p.m. this Thursday, the 29th at Batista Creek. And that's it. Thank you.

Okay. Very good, Council Member Lodge. I would like to uh put before the city staff for the next meeting in two weeks that uh we explore the possibilities of going down to four districts and having an atlarge mayor for this coming June ballot. There somebody on staff I can So you want staff to bring back feasibility? Yeah, the feasibility study that was done a couple years ago and um update it.

Is that possible? The um March 6, well actually February 28th, our last meeting in February is going to be the last time that we could vote for it and get it on the June ballot. So, if that's feasible, I'd like staff to bring us the paperwork on that. Do we have consensus with council? Yes. I would agree to it. Would you agree to it? There's three. So, to be clear, this would be a directly elected mayor. Um, the June election timing, things like that. Yes. Okay. We can bring that back to you. Okay.

Thank you. Just just so the council knows, I'm I'm currently working on an election matter for another agency um for the June election. The timelines are incredibly fast. Uh the arguments looking at the 88 days out from the election. I have not looked at uh Riverside County ROV's uh deadlines, but um arguments need to be in for Sanino County by February 17th. Um rebuttals by the 24th. And so basically our next meeting would be the last meeting to um move on this for the June election if that timeline is holding. Uh so I just want to make sure that we're getting the direction clearly from the council. Um it's not your intent that we bring a discussion item. It's your intent that we bring forward the full-blown package of calling an election for that purpose. Um because otherwise I don't think you'll have I don't think you'll have enough meetings uh to meet the ROV's deadlines.

Do we have this the staff available to do this in in a timely fashion or I don't want to speak for the city manager but uh this conversation came up once before and uh got all the paperwork laying around. So, uh, I I think on the legal side, I I think I probably have the items we need. I don't know about the staff side or the city clerk side. I do know the city clerk's office staffing is going to be challenged for the next few weeks and, you know, calling an election is a tough call, but I'll stop talking so the city manager can.

Well, and the reality is the city attorney will be preparing that particular portion of the document. So, I think we have some obviously some work that we've done in the past that can make it a little easier. Um, I was I hadn't thought about the question, so apologize that we're essentially on the on the final meeting to actually accomplish uh placing an item on the agenda. Uh, if the was that a Riverside County agency?

Uh, so that was the Sanino County Register of Voters timeline, but they're going based on the elections code. So, it should be the same uh for Riverside ROV. Um, so I'm just making sure the council knows. You're not going to get a discussion item that says discuss this. What I'm going to prepare is the resolution calling the election with all the necessary paperwork that you need. So that if you do as a council decide that you want to proceed, you have that ability to proceed. Unless of course the council after hearing that changes its mind. There's

no my my question would be the cost of the election, the cost of the redistricting, and the timeline for all of that, and what type of a timeline crunch would we be under? Um, in terms of the cost, I'll I'll leave that to staff, but in terms of the legal requirements, we are talking about a city-wide election. So the calling uh the question for the uh voters on whether or not to go to four districts and an atlarge mayor is a question that would go to the entire city, right? Um so uh I know that we had we I don't think we were planning on having an election in June. We were planning on having districts up in November. November.

Um so this would be it would be an additional expense in this fiscal year's budget to have that citywide election. They uh staff may have an estimate on that. Um and then we would need to go through the redistricting process. Uh I think we can rely upon the data sets that we already had. Um but we would need to go through that process. There would likely be some additional staff and consultant charges uh for that because we did use a con a demographer an outside consultant to prepare those districts so that they met all the requirements of state law and were defensible

of work. So, one question I'm going to need to follow up on is you the city attorney referenced San Bernardino County. Each county has different dates u potentially, not necessarily, but potentially. And often they're trying to u finish their work before the state deadline. So, we don't know what those dates are until we ask the question of the register voters. In terms of budget, the city clerk u indicates that uh we haven't budgeted money for an election this year. So we expect the cost would be upwards of a you could be $150,000 based on some past election citywide elections. That's just for the election. That would be there would be separate money involved in consulting related to uh boundaries for updated council districts and for items like this. I would typically this is where the city attorney sort of alluded to. I would it would be difficult for us to put together information about you know what cities have this format what cities have that format what's you know what cities have found advantageous or you know about different forms if you were interested in that type of information that's something that we won't be able to probably produce in between today and we would be publishing that agenda next Wednesday next Wednesday or Thursday is the date that's how quickly we have to turn it around for publication for the next meeting So we would we would simply work with the city attorney and the and understand the dates from the county.

Yeah. So so what I would say is just expect that there may be some gaps in the information that we have. We may not have a locked down estimate of the cost. Um and but we'll certainly work on getting the dates and everything together so that the council wants to proceed you have the information to proceed. Thank you. Okay. All right. Moving on to Council Member Peterson.

Okay. I I'm on the HMT stock farm ad hoc and when I first got on council, one of my main things was I wanted to clean up the city. And one of the first complaints I had was the darn fence around the stock farm. And today I went by and since we've gotten a new owner of that and we want to develop it, they are fixing the fence today and they're mowing the grass. And I was like, "Praise the Lord." I'm like, I've been trying to do that for like three years to clean up that that historical piece that we have in our city. So, I was so happy that they're working on that. And just so you know that the old Kegler nursery, there's a lot of activity around that now. So, they're getting that ready and um that'll be a new asset that we have in uh coming months, too. So, that'll be great. Um I'm not going to say everything I attended, but um I do want to put in a plug for the the Valley Community Pantry. They had a um chili cookoff on the 18th and it was out at Golden Era Golf Course and Golden Era really gives back to the community. Um and this was a wonderful afternoon for the people that attended there. It was so relaxing. They they had a lot of participants that um entered their chili and then they had the empty bowl fundraisers. So they it was in conjunction with the uh high school arts and they make these beautiful ceramic bowls that you can get. I mean we had we tasted all kinds of chili, they had cornbread, they had desserts. I mean, for $15 and you get a beautiful bowl. So, it was and and it was just such a nice atmosphere and everything. So, they're doing more social media now and um they put a little survey out afterwards and they said they want to do this more often and they were asking like what what would you like to see and overwhelmingly

mac and cheese throwdown was was the next one that people wanted to uh probably participate in. So, you know, I always encourage helping the pantry because they do so much good in our valley. Um, and I like to help out the chamber. So, I'm on the business ad hoc. And I just want to say that um, tomorrow evening is the mixer and it is at Golden Era. And that's open to anybody. That's open to the public. So any business, any nonprofit, um any elected official, any citizen can go out there and just have a good evening and uh mingle and uh do some networking and support our chamber. Um city manager might mention this, but just in case he doesn't, um I'm going to steal his thunder again. Um, again with cleaning up things, February 7th is our bulky drop off and we highly encourage people, you know, if you can hang on to your stuff for another week or so and you want to get rid of it, please use this day. It's free if you're a Hemtt citizen and you can drop off all kinds of things and um also uh you can get free compost from public works and they would love to give away some of their free compost. So, it's a good good event. Um I have a few things on Ramona Bowl. They had the uh president's gayla up here last Saturday and it was a wonderful event. Um a lot of support from the community and um really a nice evening and we had a meeting last evening and the uh Ramona Market that used to be Bertling Ranch. It's going to the next one's going to be on Saturday, February 21st and we're going to have like um a Ramona concert series this year and it

starts on Saturday, March 7th and you can buy a season ticket or you can buy individual tickets. So, we're really trying to get people educated on what the Ramona Bowl has to offer and what a wonderful venue it is up there. So, and of course the Ramona play is the last two weekends in April and the first weekend in May. And the um the wonderful documentary that premiered in Palm Springs a couple weekends ago. It's going to be shown at Idle Wild also and they have a um international festival of cinema and our Ramona and the ballot of Juan Diego will be shown on Tuesday, March 3rd at 11 a.m. So if you people can uh sneak away for that. It's a wonderful documentary. Go up there, you know, enjoy enjoy the scenery and make a day of it if you'd like. But it's it's really a worthwhile um history documentary that's very well done. Um along with the cleanup and everything um we are having a new event chaired by Christian Tikas here and it's um I love hemmet kickoff and that's on this Saturday and there's a place on our website that you can register for that and the kickoff is at 9:30 on Saturday. So we encourage everybody to come out. We have Hemtt Beautiful. There's also a fall cleanup, but we want to do more in this city. We wanna we want to have this ongoing, you know, and and hopefully it'll spread and and people will have a little more respect and um take care of our city better. So, um I think that's all I have. Thank you very much.

I have a question on the I love HMT. Can we suggest areas that need to be loved or is it Yes. Yes. Okay. We have a list. My front yard. Really? I was going to say my backyard. There's no cap to the number of people that can volunteer. So, we'll happily put together different teams and target different areas and we're looking forward to uh the community's participation in this effort. Fantastic. Thank you very much. Okay. Mayor Prom Males. Well, I'm going to bypass everything that she mentioned. And um See, that's the good thing about being last.

Yeah, definitely. But the only thing that hasn't been mentioned, we all of us except I believe you're excluded on this, Tom. We we all took off to Sacramento for training with California League uh for the League of California Cities and uh it was a mayors and council members training. Uh these sess sessions are critical. This is where we stay ahead of state uh legislation, learn best practices from other cities, and push back when Sacramento policies negatively impact local communities like ours. And then I love Hammet. I'll see you Saturday. I used to do that a couple years ago. Carly and I used to go. So that was great. Next.

Okay. Well, you just you just did that one. I can cross that off my list, too. U two updates. Um one announcement actually. RTA is observing Rosa Parks Transit Equity Day on Wednesday, February 4th, and everyone rides free on regular routes and on Go Micro. So that's Wednesday, February 4th, Rosa Parks Transit Equity Day. Also, yesterday um we had uh RCTC Western Projects and Programs um committee meeting. One of the things we approved that uh we'll we will send on to the full commission is to start the initial work on the I10 SR79 intersection uh interchange in Bmont. the first segment of it which is re kind of like a feasibility study as to if we did this where would it possibly go they're going to have a lot of issues in finding that but that first step which then leads into the environmental work on it is $1.3 million. That's just to say okay what route could we choose? It has nothing to do with design. It has nothing to do with actual construction. Uh questions were asked on how far out is this going to go. If we approve this today, how how soon will we get a report back? And it was like well maybe in a year and a half to two years we'll get the report back and then we go on to the you know to the next phase which just shows that I mean the expense of all of this but also how difficult it is to improve different interchanges and

different streets and roads because of all of the growth that has gone on in all of the communities and looking at the interchange up there is it's going to be tough. Um, other than that, just on uh at another group that's most of us go to every month as a lunch and an information item, we took a tour of Hemet Unified School District's nutrition center and it's where they prepare all of the food for the students in Hemtt Unified. And I believe it was like 27,000 meals every day.

Yeah. that they prepare and send not only to the schools in the valley or in the valley but to Idle Wild Cottonwood uh and Hamilton down in Anza. It was a remarkable remarkable uh tour that we went on. Jackie and I are both we born and raised in North Dakota so we understand cold weather and they allowed us to go into their freezer. It was about a 3se secondond trip for me and said this is too cold but it was like seven degrees. And then you think about the people in another part of the country now who are usually nice weather and they are expect they are experiencing weather snow ice sleet and singledigit temperatures. So if you want to experience cold cold weather without going anywhere go over to Hemet Unified Nutritional Center and ask if you can walk into their freezer. And with that I have nothing else. So city manager.

Thank you mayor. Uh this is the week where we publish our bi-weekly uh city update. It's a newsletter that you can email you can provide your email for on our city website.gov. Um just looking at our last edition. Uh we are advertising and this is this coming Thursday just such an interesting topic. We have a business connect meeting that's really intended to connect the the city of Hemet our staff to the business community. This this week we have the Inland Empire Film Services uh Commissioner Dan Taylor. Um so that's going to be Thursday, January 29th at 8 a.m. You can find the QR code for the Zoom meeting on this city update that was published um our last publication date. Secondly, uh we are continuing our planning commission recruitment. We have a a vacancy. The deadline for submitt is January 30th and you can apply at the city hall or uh on find the link on the city newsletter. So happy to answer answer any additional questions on that to anyone interested.

Any questions or comments for the city manager. Okay. And hearing or seeing that there's no further business, this meeting is adjourned to the next regular city council meeting on February 10th. Thank you for joining us tonight and we appreciate the fact that you're all here. Thank you. We are adjourned.