City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, and welcome to our April 2026 council meeting. We will call the meeting to order at 06:30. Our invocation will be done by pastor John Wiegel from Sovereign Way Christian Church. Oh, thank you. And then council member Greg, will you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? Thank you, sir.

Good evening, everyone. Good evening, City Council. As I pray in my faith tradition, I invite you all to pray in light of yours. God, thank you for the opportunity to gather here tonight. Thank you for this community and for all the people who serve it. Local civil government is a reflection of our democratic republic. Our democratic republic is a reflection of our western heritage. Our western heritage is a reflection of humanity, and humanity is a reflection of you, God, as the source of everything in the universe, including human government. So God, I pray for each member of our city council that you've appointed. Our council members, Chris Ochilla, Alison Lee, Cameron Gregg, our mayor Pro Tem, Josh Pullen, and our mayor, Bridget Bennington.

I also pray for our city attorney, Pam Lee, alongside our city manager, Rachel Molina. Give them all the wisdom to discern every matter with common sense. Give them all a sense to judge with fairness. Give them all the strength to persevere during difficult times. Give them all the courage to do what's right. That way through their leadership in tonight's meeting and beyond, they'll contribute to the peace, stability, and well-being of our community. And I pray for all who are present here tonight that we would engage one another with respect and a shared desire for the common good. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thank you. Please join us in

the pledge by placing your right hand over your heart.

Thank you. Can we have a roll call, please?

Mayor Bennington? Here. Mayor Pillotin Poland?

Here.

Councilmember Greg?

Here.

Councilmember Lee? Here. Councilmember Ochoa?

Here.

Thank you. Are there any corrections or revisions to the agenda?

There are no corrections this evening.

Thank you. Do we have any closed session reports?

Thank you Madam Mayor and members of the City Council. We did meet in closed session to discuss the three items listed existing litigation in Sully Miller versus Hesperia, real property negotiations and labor negotiations and no reportable action was taken on any of the items.

Thank you. Moving on to announcements and presentations. We have two tonight if counsel will join me at the in front of the dais please.

Thank

you so much. What an honor to be part of our Pride Enhancement Program. Tonight's honoree is Paul Orlovsky. If you want to step up, Is he here? Oh, hi. Come on up. And anyone that helped you do this, we welcome you to come up. Tonight, we're recognizing the quarterly Neighborhood Pride Enhancement Program honoree Paul Orlovsky? Is that who he's? Olowski. Olowski. And your name is? Janet. Janet and Paul. Thank you.

The Neighborhood Pride Enhancement Program honors Hesperia residents who contribute to beauty and charm of our neighborhoods through exterior home improvements. These enhancements may include drought tolerant landscaping, rockscaping, fresh exterior paint, and other upgrades. Each quarter, the City Council Advisory Committee selects honorees who receive a thousand dollars in gift cards and a neighborhood pride enhancement yard sign to display in front of their homes. Paul Orloski Orloski, I'm sorry, I'm horrible with names, has enhanced his curves, his home curves appeal by transforming his front yard with rock landscaping by adding flowers, plants, and trees. Tonight, we're pleased to present you three gift cards, Ace Hardware, Harbor Freight, and affordable decorative rock, and Cal Herbals nursed you along with a yard sign in recognition to your contribution to the beauty of our city.

Would you like to say a few words?

Yes, I would add. Thank you.

Well, it's quite an honor to receive this. It's a joy to do what I do. And really the litmus test of my home is all the animals that come to my home. Just about everything in the desert stops by on a daily basis. It's taken twenty years to create what I have. It's a biolithic landscape. It's a living landscape. And it's doing very well in the wind right now at twenty, thirty, 40 miles an hour. All that holds up when the wind is done. If it can be an inspiration to others, that's great. I love it. It's a joy waking up every morning here in the High Desert. The people on the other side, they have no clue what we lived through up here. It's really beautiful, the sunsets and the sunrises. So, thank you very much.

Thank you. Appreciate that. It's beautiful. Are you for hire? Are you for hire?

I'd like to tackle a business story.

Oh, okay. Perfect. Yeah. Yes. Amen. Yeah. Anyways, and here's your gift cards. Thank you so much. Appreciate. Thank you.

That's beautiful. Let's give them another round of applause. Next recognition I better put my glasses back on. Our next recognition is to VVWRA subregional award, April 21. If, Darren, you wanna come up, please?

Yeah. You're all by yourself?

I am. Actually, the people who are gonna be here this evening are actually teaching the very first water and wastewater courses at Victor Valley College. Oh, awesome. If anybody's interested and wants to help promote our industry, I'm going to put a very nice silent plug in. So for the last three years, I've been working at the college to build curriculum for water and wastewater courses. There are no courses like that here in the High Desert or in the valley. If you want to take a course now, you need to go to San Bernardino Valley College or Mount Sack. Today, these courses are now offered at Victor Valley College. They're free to attend. The books are free. So if you have a young individual looking for a career that is rewarding and satisfying, please send them the information on these new courses. It's going to be a really great program.

Thank you. Would you like to read your

I'll read it if you would like, or you can read it. I wasn't expecting the award. I was hoping to give you.

Well, that's awesome. Tonight, the city council and I are honored to recognize an important achievement that highlights innovation and sustainability here in Hesperia. The Hesperia subregional facility operated by the Victor Valley Waste Water Reclamation Authority has been honored by California Water Environment Association as a statewide recycled water plant of the year. This 1,000,000 gallon per day scalping water reclamation plant located on the West Side of our city near Maple Avenue plays a crucial role in our community's water sustainability. Using advanced treatment, the facility produces high quality recycled water that is stored by the city and used to irrigate our local parks and landscapes.

On behalf of the city of Hesperia, we congratulate the Victor Valley Water Reclamation Authority and thank them for their work supporting our community. Please join me in recognizing this achievement. Would you like to say a few more words?

Absolutely. Oh, good.

All right. So, the California Water Environmental Association is the association that accredits our employees, gives them certification, provides training for our employees. On an annual basis, all of the wastewater treatment plants here in Southern California and there's about 1,500 of them as well as other communities such as yourselves, your collection system, your sewer system, people, staff belong to CWA as well. So we submit applications to recognize the efforts that we've put forth in our industry. And this is a pretty significant award, tertiary treatment.

Let me give you a little background on that, okay? Tertiary treatment means that we do quite a bit more work to make sure that the water we produce meets a lot of higher requirements and it's very, very high quality. For example, the largest treatment plant wastewater treatment plant in California is located in Los Angeles. It's at the Hyperion Treatment Plant. They don't produce a tertiary level of water, but we do.

And we do it for the benefit of your community. And tonight, I really wanted to come in and just say a huge thank you to Jeremy and Cassandra and the other staff here at the City of Asperia, Rachel, your vision and for your thoughts on being a good steward of water and the fact that you own and operate the most comprehensive water recycle plant in the High Desert is a testament to your city's commitment to this. I'm very proud of what we're doing in the city and very thankful for your staff's help and this council staff in helping us put this together.

Thank you, Darren. Thank you very much and congratulations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Do you guys want to help me with this sign? Come on. I brought this. So we're gonna take a picture. Let's get the right picture.

Your efforts, and we appreciate you. Okay. Thank you, everyone. Moving on to general public comments. Oh, thank you.

Jessica, thank you.

Individuals wishing to speak during general public comments or on a particular number item are requested to submit a speaker slip to the city clerk with the agenda item noted. Speaker slip should be turned in prior to the public comment portion of the joint agenda or before an agenda item is discussed. Comments will be limited to three minutes for general public comments, consent calendar items, and new business items. Comments are limited to five minutes for public hearing items. In compliance with the Brown Act, the City Council may not discuss or take action on non agenda items or engage in question and answer sessions with the public. The City Council may ask brief questions for clarification, provide a reference to staff or other resources for factual information, and direct staff to add an item to a subsequent meeting.

Thank you. Starting with Dana Needles Nettles, please.

No.

Can we bring the microwave? Microwave. Who knows? Do you need a microwave? The microphone to Ms. Nettles, please? Thank you.

Okay. I'm Dana Nettles at 8728 Oakwood Avenue in Hisperia. My concern is the address 8698 Oakwood, The South of me. I believe we're not to have any big rigs on our property, but he has nine plus 15 trailers and now a water truck. I think he might be making a business there.

I I'm not sure. But my concerns are the value of my house will go down, the noise and the pollution, and mainly it's not allowed. I complained to code enforcement, and other people on the street have complained before I have. So it's been over a month we've been complaining about this. I don't see anything being done, and that's my concern. Thank you.

Thank you. Melinda, it was 8698 Oak Oakwood. Oakwood. Melinda, would you meet with miss Needles, please? Thank you. Thank you, Orlando. And they're recorded here. That's okay. Joy Lumbrun, please.

I have the same concern as Dana. I live directly across the street from these, trucks, and with I've counted up to 11 or 12 trucks, semis at this at this address and eight to 10 cars parked there. On February 12, I met the man that owns the property. I assumed he said he lived there, owned it, And I welcomed him to the neighborhood. I had no idea that he was going to move in all these trucks.

I thought, Oh, a new neighbor and this house had been vacant for a while, a new home. I told him that he shook my hand. I shook his hand. He was very interested in knowing what kind of neighborhood it was. I said it was so nice, quiet, friendly, and I thought he'd be very happy there. We've lived there almost thirty years. I asked when he would be moving in, and he told me he had had a big family and they've been moving in in about a week. As of this date, there's no family that's moved in. I've never seen a woman. There are children.

There are workers. Anyway, on March 11, four ugly orange storage containers were dropped in their front yard. I looked directly at these containers, and he said I told the man there a day or two after they had been there, I said, I was very concerned about the looks of those containers there. And he said, only temporary. They will be gone in two or three weeks.

He said, we are moving furniture into those containers while our family's moving into the house. That's never happened. I have photos here to show what they look like, but we feel that they've placed the containers in a situation where if you're driving down the street, you can't see what they're doing. And they're adding on to this house on the north Side and across the back. I understand that code enforcement has been out several times, but nothing has been done.

And they continue to build onto the House, and we have never seen a code enforcement or a city of Hesperia car at all while they're doing this building on. Thank you.

Thank you.

I have pictures of the containers.

If you wanna hand them to the city clerk, please. Paula Kolbowski, please.

Good evening. Yes. I am, as well as Joy and Dana, I live right a 100 yards down from this place. We are all concerned because of the the noise that it's gonna make with these trucks going up and down the street if they do. We live on a dirt road, which makes it even worse.

It'll tear up the road as it is. It's already in bad shape from all the rain. So but we just would like to see something happen. So right now, there's two twenty foot containers, those storage containers in the front and two forty foot storage containers. There's roughly around, I don't know, it it comes and goes, seven rigs to nine trailers.

They're all just lined up down the line. It's it's an eyesore for all of us. It does drop the value of our homes down and plus it's not allowed. It's not supposed to be allowed. There's no business license has been checked into.

Whether he did have a business license, there is no business license that he is he's applied for, and it wouldn't matter because you're not allowed to have all those trucks and trailers on those properties. So we were just hoping if someone could possibly look into this and get something done about it. The the as I as I understand, code enforcement has supposedly done gone out there a couple times, but nothing is progressing. In fact, it's gotten worse. So I that tells me they they don't they don't care. So something needs to be done.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Ramon Gutierrez, please.

Good evening, mayor Bennington and city council members. My name is Raymond Gutierrez, and I am here tonight with some fellow neighbors of mine. We are here to voice a complaint of a new neighbor that recently moved into a new build house on the block at 8698 Oakwood Avenue that are apparently running a trucking company from their residence. This would account for at least two major city code violations. The first being the fact that we, the neighboring residents, were never notified by the city of Hesperia that a business would be operating from this address, giving us an opportunity to disagree or agree.

I contacted the building and safety department, and they have no record of a city business license being issued at the said address. Secondly, they have approximately nine, of course, does change on a daily basis, commercial semi trucks and trailers parked on the property as well as two twenty foot and two forty foot Connex containers, which I understand also need to be permitted. According to the city website, no new residential truck parking permits were issued for any size lot as of 11/03/2021. This was a new build that just sold on 01/02/2026, so it would not be possible for them to have been grandfathered in. They did not start moving in until late February.

My fellow neighbors and myself have filed a complaint with code enforcement more than a month ago and have not seen any attempt by the new resident in rectifying the violations. Whenever we try to obtain any updated information from code enforcement, they inform us that a citation has been left on the premises, not with the owner in person, and that the code enforcement officer will continue to follow-up approximately every two weeks to see if any attempt has been made by the owner to comply. We are hoping that the City Council can step in to help us resolve this issue in a timely manner. On one last note, I recently listed my property for sale, and having this eyesorer only two properties over within visual distance is not helping the sale of my property. I respectfully thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

Thank you. Melinda will she will talk to you regarding your concerns. Melinda hi, Melinda. Thank you. We appreciate you coming forward. Hesperian news and politics, please.

Okay. So I got a bone to pick with one of your council members. Allison, I got a question. So at one of the council meetings, you stated that you worked at a fleet manager or you worked as a fleet manager. This is what you said.

I am a fleet manager of about 200 pieces of equipment and trucks, and I know that my mechanics come in and a truck is sitting there, and they do a oil change on it.

So thing you know

When I went ahead and I looked at your form seven hundreds your form 700, filings disclosures of economic interest, you don't have your job listed on there. You don't have that listed on there. I was wondering if that you're still working there, and I was wondering why is that not listed on the form 700. That's all. Thank you.

Robert Davy, please.

First off, I apologize for reading my comments tonight, but they're heartfelt, and I wanna get the point across. Thank you for everyone for your prayers and concern of my wife, Donna. At the risk of leaving anyone out, I want to recognize a few by name, Bridget, Rachel, Jessica, Melinda Sayer, Gina and Susan Garcia. Your concern and caring will never be forgotten. My wife has always been my biggest supporter.

She was stood three, throughout our twenty sixth marriage, all of my dreams and endeavors. One of her biggest regrets, something she told me many times, was that she wishes she could be out campaigning, helping me get votes. She was a cheerleader in high school. She worked as a manicurist for many years, a cashier at Thrifty Payless, later as a merchandiser for Rite Aid, and she loved people, and people loved her. The outpouring of love and prayers for her during this time has truly been overwhelming.

She was touched so many lives. Just last week, I received messages on her phone from as far away as Scotland and The UK. I'm sorry many of you never had the chance to meet her. While her days left me here well, left with me here are very numbered, her impact and memory will never be forgotten. In closing, I'd like to say, yes, I am grieving, but also have a rekindled passion to make a difference for Hesperia.

Some of her last lucid moments were of encouragement to me to chase my dreams, go for my goals as she knows how much this is all meant to me. You have heard me talk many times about quality of life, improving quality of life as a central pillar of my platform as we head towards the November election. I have now an even deeper understanding of what quality of life means. Had made some very terrible decisions in the last month on her quality of life and when to pull it and when enough was enough. As we need to keep that in mind, making decisions that affect the residents of this great city. Thank you, and may God bless us, Beria.

Thank you. Kim Koons, please.

Good evening, everybody. It's been a minute since I've been here. I just want to give you guys a little bit to know about myself. So I work directly with rescue efforts involving high risk shelter dogs, specifically the herding breeds. So I partnered with a nonprofit rescue who I've paired up with Hisperia.

And I also we work with multiple shelters, including Hisperia, San Bernardino City, Dvorr Animal Shelter in Apple Valley. So as the person physically pulling many of these dogs and working directly with the shelter staff, I see firsthand how each shelter operates and where the differences are. There's one critical thing that Hispari is lacking, a certified animal behaviorist. So this is not a small gap, it's a life or death issue for these dogs. Herding breeds, border collies, border collies, Australian cattle dogs, Australian shepherds, they're not the typical shelter dog.

They're highly intelligent, highly sensitive, and bred to work. When you take a dog who's been catchpulled by animal control in a fearful state to begin with, and then you place them in a loud, chaotic shelter environment, they will react. They may pace, bark, shut down and become reactive, but this is not aggression, it's stress, it's over stimulation. This is a dog behaving exactly how it was bred to behave under those conditions. Yet here in Hesperia, those behaviors are repeatedly being labeled as aggressive or behavioral issues.

These dogs are marked as rescue only, often sealing their fate. At shelters like D'Vore, San Bernardino City and Apple Valley, they do not make those same mistakes. They understand the breed's specific behaviors. They assess accordingly. And because of that, those dogs are given a real chance. If they can do it, then so can Hisperia. Every herding dog that's been pulled from Hisperia has been labeled rescue only due to their behavior. And every single one of those dogs, once out of the shelter environment and into their foster, is not aggressive. They are stable, they're trainable, and they are thriving in homes today. And they're alive today, when they would have otherwise been euthanized.

That should tell us everything that we need to know. The problem is not the dogs, the problem is how they are being evaluated. And I have to ask, whatever happens to those dogs that I don't know about, the ones no one reached out about, the ones that never got a second chance, and the ones that were euthanized simply for being scared in an environment they were never meant to survive in. These are working dogs. Putting them in a four foot kennel in a loud, high stress environment, and then labeling their natural stress response as aggression is not a fair assessment.

It is a misinterpretation, and it's costing their lives. So I'm asking this council to make immediate action. Please hire or consult with a certified animal behaviorist. This is something that Hesperia direly needs, seriously needs. Implement breed informed behavioral assessments.

Thank you. Your time is up. Frank Mitchell, please.

Good evening. I'm Frank Mitchell, I'm an architectural designer and in fact, I have designed accessory dwelling unit and a separate two car garage for Mr. And Mrs. Santos Lopez at 88898 Avenue here in Hisperia. This is definitely a beautiful city and I'm partial to high desert living.

This place is just great. All of you representatives of the city are just like all the professionals I've dealt with, with City of Asperia Planning and Building Agency. You only want the best for the city. And anything that's going to be built in the city has to be A plus straight A four year college graduate good or it doesn't pass. You either want the best or go somewhere else.

And if a professional can't do that work, don't cry about it. Just don't take the work and have the client get somebody else. Well, I have no problem with that because I've been designing room additions that have been approved for cities for thirty six years. The standards that you have here are very good. No problem on that whatsoever.

However, some laws are so strict and so harsh, they actually harm the homeowner. Those laws now become sounds good legislation. What I'm talking about here is the City of Superior's requirement that a grading plan be included with the design of any separate residence like an ADU on a property. Well, that sounds good legislation. And you absolutely need a grading plan if you're talking about building any type of a structure on a slope where the grade exceeds 5% or even at 5% or on a cliff or building a capital structure on a floodplain.

But on flat land where there have been residences and the lots are an acre or more flat land and it's a community that has existed for over sixty years with no problem and they have this particular law, it is harmful for the homeowner. I did design my very first grading plan out of all the work I've done and I have it with me and going to submit it to the city. But, it was like studying for six months at a four year college degree at civil engineering at Caltech or UCLA. Again, absolutely necessary and all of you professionals Thank

you. Mister Mitchell, your three Thank minutes is

you.

Okay. Just wanted to let you know about it. Anyway, I'm gonna submit it and

Thank

you. Just check it out.

Do we have any additional public comment cards?

No more speaker cards.

Thank you very much. Moving on to the joint consent calendar. Do I have a motion to move the consent calendar? I have a first by council member Cholla, a second by mayor Pro Tempolin. Can we have a vote, please?

Guess I should vote. Thank you. The the motion passes five zero. Moving on to item number nine, a public hearing. We are we have Leilani. Thank you.

It's the CDBG item. Number nine.

What? I'm sorry?

I'm sorry. We're at number nine, community development black grant annual action plan. Edie is presenting. CDBG Annual Action Plan?

Yes. Number nine. Yeah, I thought I said nine.

Good evening, Mayor, Councilmembers. My name is Edie Jimenez, Economic Development Supervisor, and I'm here to present the twenty twenty six-twenty twenty seven Community Development Block Grant Annual Action Plan. What is the annual action plan? The annual action plan is requested by the U. S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development each year. It serves as part of the city's five year consolidated plan and identifies how CDBG funding is allocated. The primary focus is to support low and moderate income residents in our community. For the twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven program year, the city is estimated to receive $946,000. Approximately, 122,000 will be allocated for projects and approximately 124,000 will be allocated for administration and fair housing services.

This ensures the majority of funds are directed toward community improvement projects. The city's funding priorities focus on two key areas. First, street improvements, enhancing infrastructure and ensuring safe, accessible roadways. And second, capital improvements, investing in public neighborhood projects. These priorities align with HUD's goals and support overall community development.

A key strategy is how we fund public services or social services, and social services are supported through the city's Community Assistance Program, also known as CAP. This allows CDBG funds to focus primarily on infrastructure projects supporting more sustainable long term improvements across the city. If the final HUD funding changes from our estimate, we have a clear adjustment plan in place. If additional funds are received, they will go towards street improvements. If funding is reduced, adjustments will be made to street improvements and administration.

The city followed a structured public process. The public review period began on March 18 and included a thirty day common period, which concludes today. Documents were available online and at city facilities such as our city clerk's office and our main lobby in the public library. And, all public comments are included in the final submission to HUD. This plan supports several city goals.

It promotes economic development, job creation, enhances public safety through improved services and invests in long term infrastructure that strains the community. At this time, staff is recommending that the city council conduct a public hearing, adopt resolution number twenty twenty Sixfourteen and approve the annual action plan and authorize submission to the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. At this time, this concludes my presentation and with that, I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Sorry, I called you Leilani.

Sorry. Worries. Was well, I've got it taken care

of. I

will open the public hearing at 07:14. Do we have any public comment cards on this?

No speaker cards for this item.

Thank you. Do then I will close the public comment card and open it up to any questions from counsel. Okay. Moving on. Do I have a motion? I have a motion from Mayor Pro Tempolin, a second by council member Chowa. Can we please have a vote? The item passes five zero. Moving on to item 10. Now we have Leilani.

Good evening mayor, council members, and tonight's meeting attendees. Tonight's item includes a conditional use permit to construct a 5,915 square foot convenience store with alcohol sales for off-site consumption, a fuel station with 10 pumps, and a nineteen sixty eight square foot automated drive through car wash. As seen here, the subject site is approximately 2.3 acres of vacant land located on the Northwest Corner Of Phelan Road and Highway 395. Direct adjacent properties are vacant as well, but multiple industrial developments are within close proximity, including the Amazon warehouse. As seen on the general plan land use map, the property is located in the neighborhood commercial zone of the Main Street and Freeway Corridor specific plan.

The zoning designation permits the development of a convenience store. However, a fuel station and car wash are only permittable upon the approval of a conditional use permit. This is the site plan that is proposed for the project. Access to the site will be granted from right in and right out driveway approaches onto Highway 395, which will be located at the northwest portion of the site. Another right in, right out driveway approach is proposed on Phelan Road at the southwest portion of the site.

The site plan also includes a proposed 5,915 square foot convenience store in the center of the site, a 4,080 square foot fueling station with 10 pumps along Highway 395, and a nineteen sixty eight square foot car wash, which is tucked away at the rear northwest corner of the property. These are the colored elevations of the convenience store. The exterior of the building incorporates a combination of stucco and tile in addition to a brick wainscope. The building also includes changes in wall and roof planes tower elements to highlight entry features. As you can see here, the exterior of the car wash includes similar features, creating a seamless appearance to the development.

Moving on, the project also includes the proposal for alcohol sales for off-site consumption. In October 2017, an ordinance was passed requiring city council approval for such applications when establishments are less than 12,000 square feet. On 03/26/2026, the planning commission unanimously forwarded tonight's item to the council with the recommendation for approval by a vote of five zero. Additionally, the applicant will file an application for a type 20 off sale beer and wine license with the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control. The site falls within census Track 100.09 which is authorized to have three off sale licenses.

Currently, the census map identifies four active licenses exceeding the limit and requiring that the city find a public convenience and necessity. The council may consider the broader service area when evaluating alcohol license concentrate concentration. Although four licenses do exist within the track, two are located outside of the city limits and over four miles away from the site. The other two primarily serve the 15 and are over a mile away. Because this project is located off of Highway 395 and serves a different corridor, it would be significantly it would not significantly increase local concentration and may be found to meet public convenience and necessity.

Lastly, approval of this development requires adoption of an initial study mitigated negative declaration, which I'm going to refer to as an ISMND for the rest of my presentation. Pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act, the ISMND prepared for the project concluded that the project will not have any significant negative impacts on the environment upon implementation of the recommended mitigation measures. The environmental document was released for public review earlier this year from January 20 to February 18. During the review period, five comment letters were received summarizing concerns with traffic impacts, biological resources, and local drainage. Pursuant to CEQA, responses to comments are not required for an ISMND.

However, staff did recognize the concerns and worked with the developer and consultant to address them by revising the CEQA document accordingly, as well as incorporating additional conditions of approval now requiring the approval of a traffic study along with Caltrans approval and required permits, compliance with Mojave Air Quality District's performance standards, and approval of a final hydrology report by not only the engineering division but by the Department of Water Resources. In summary, the project conforms to the policies of the city's general plan as well as meet standards of the development code and the main street and freeway corridor specific plan. Approval

of

the sale of beer and wine is appropriate and will provide public convenience and a necessity while meeting consumer demands. With that, I conclude my presentation, and I'm available for any questions or comments.

Thank you. This, too, is a public hearing item. Do we have any comment cards regarding this?

No comment cards on this item.

I guess I should open up the public hearing at 07:21. Hearing there are no public comment cards, I will close it at 07:22. Thank you. Do we have any comments from council, please? Alright. Council member Greg.

So I think all of us see this all the time, especially social media, and we hear it from our constituents. Another car wash is being built. I'm all for the gas station and all the other amenities and and the the alcohol sales off for off property and all that stuff, but I am opposed to a car wash. You have three other car washes within a mile range. Not to mention, I mean, if if you go a mile and a half, then you have an additional three.

So, I mean, six within a two mile range is kind of obnoxious. I know that we set a moratorium in place for some of these things. I'm kind of curious as to if that was discussed from from our members at our planning commission or not. I'm very surprised that there wasn't anybody from the public coming out to speak because if we approve this, that's gonna be the very first thing that people are gonna say.

When reviewing the items, staff did ensure that it did meet the distance requirements per the development code.

So Ryan, would you please explain the moratorium process and the development code that replaced that moratorium?

Yes. Thank you. So the city did implement a development moratorium for car washes a couple years back, and we essentially put a hold on the approval or review of any new car washes in the city. And during that time, we implemented new development standards. So we came back to the city council with a development code amendment.

As a part of that development code amendment, we required distance limitations between car washes. And we also define the different categories of car washes. So a primary car wash facility is something similar to a quick whack, which is a I think it's the formal definition is a quick serve car wash facility. That is where the site is singly devoted to a car wash. Those facilities have a 2,000 foot distance limitation between facilities.

A gas station with an ancillary car wash, meaning that the gas station is the primary use, the car wash is the kind of the secondary use in the back, those developments have a different distance limitation. They have a 1,000 foot distance limitation between the gas station and another car wash facility. There is not a distance limitation between a gas station car wash and a gas station car wash. In all three instances, this particular project meets those distance limitations for the nearest car wash. However, the car wash is a CUP tonight. It is up to to the city's council's discretion, but it does meet the city's development standards after that moratorium was implemented.

Thank you for that. So, again, is that I I know that I'm going to see outrage from the public of there goes this Berry Building, another car wash. So everything else I think is is great and and great job for putting this together. I think it looks like it'd be a great project. I mean with that I'm kind of curious to what my colleagues say on that and then I'd be prepared for a motion on that.

Council Member Lee?

Is this particular car wash and fuel station large enough for the semi trucks to get in and out of there?

No. This one would just accommodate passenger vehicles.

Okay. That was my question. Thank you.

Similar to the one by the Starbucks on Main, just east of the freeway. Is that that's a little mini car wash.

It would be similar. And the proposed tenant is Loop. I do believe they have a location in the Victor Valley area near Mariposa.

So you could grab coffee, get gas, and just go through a five minute car wash?

They have a few of those gas station car washes right there on the West End Of The The 15 as well.

They're kinda isolated on the other side of the freeway. Oh, it's a tough one.

Do you have the quick whack? Do you have that that there's three on the West Side Of The 15.

Yeah. I know that. Oh, no, I was West. Do we have any additional council comments?

I have? I want to interrupt. Is the applicant here and interested in speaking on their item?

I believe the applicant's representatives are here. Their engineering staff is here, the applicant is not here.

That's fine.

I have nothing else.

So here's a question that I have then. Is the car wash a make or break for this business coming to Hesperia, building a gas station with the other amenities there? Is it still is it still feasible project?

That would be a question for the applicant.

Yes? Okay.

Good evening. My name is Chet Van Horn. I work for Alliance. We're the civil engineer for the applicant. Yeah, you know, it's like any other project. We're interested in water quality, grading, ADA type criteria. The, functionality of the location is up to the applicant, and so we just kind of make it work per your codes and criteria with the planning department. But without the car wash, it would be functional, of course.

So thank you for answering that question. I appreciate it. And if we didn't already have so many car washes within the city, and that's an obvious concern with the residents of too many car washes already. Would be for it but with that being said it is a conditional use permit. It is up to this council to decide on that so either way the applicant knew going into proposing that that something like that could be denied. So with that I'll make the motion to approve the project minus the car wash aspect of this.

I have a motion. Do I have a second? A motion, second. Motion by Council Member Gregg, a second by Mayor Pro Tem Pullen. We have I a

would ask that if it does get approved, we would bring back a resolution with additional findings on the specific facts and evidence related to the car wash. So my recommendation is if it does get approved we will bring back the findings for the resolution for approval minus the car wash for that because that is in essence a denial of that part of the CUP.

So are we voting on this?

Can certainly vote on that. We will bring

Minus the car wash, but bring it back

you? You're voting on everything, but we will have to bring back resolution with the findings based on what you've talked about with the car wash, the moratorium, the issues related to that at the next meeting. That would be my recommendation.

Yeah, as long as it doesn't change this because if we if my motion is to approve this without the car wash but if this comes back and then can be flipped at the subset the next meeting based on a resolution then I would just table this until that time then at that point.

You've already closed the public hearing so in that sense there wouldn't be any further discussion but there's always the option of changing your mind until the actual resolution approval is made. So you can certainly continue it and we will bring back the resolution or you can vote on it now, but we still have to bring back the resolution with the revisions.

Does continuing this hold up the development of this project any for our next meeting versus approving it and then coming back with a resolution? That's what I'm I'm just cautious of that because that that CUP is built into this, and that's the one part that I'm saying no to. So if we are voting as this as it reads, it it that doesn't make very much sense to me. We would probably be better off continuing it, but I'm curious as to know if it does hold up any process up there, project.

So we would bring back the resolution in two weeks at the next city council meeting. To my knowledge, I don't believe the applicant has grading plans or building plans that they are ready to submit tomorrow. Okay.

Right. Well, this is just approving the project. Do we want to withdraw your motion to and then postpone it?

Whatever whatever Pam.

It would

be a direction to you could continue it but with direction to staff to revise the resolution and the findings consistent with your determination for the approval of everything minus the car wash.

I like that. So that sounds a little bit nicer. Thanks, Pam.

So You're

welcome. So that'll be my motion then.

Hit a motion, please. First by council member Greg, a second by mayor Potempolin. Can we have a vote, please? That proves as approved, five-zero. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. Great report. Thank you for answering our questions. Moving on to Item No. 10.

Number 11. It's number 11. 11, Bridget. First item of new business, number 11.

Yeah. We're we're on a

Yes.

New business.

I need to flip my pages. New business. My apologies.

Good evening, madam mayor and council members. My name is Dina Alkayaga, assistant project manager. I come before you guys this evening to present staff's recommendation to award the construction contract for the Maple Avenue Street improvement project. This project is going to improve approximately three miles of Maple Avenue from Ranchero Road to Main Street. The proposed improvements consist of pavement rehabilitation, signing and striping, pedestrian push button upgrades and ADA curb ramp reconstruction.

The pavement rehabilitation and reconstruction include the following methods, full removal and reconstruction, grind and overlay, and crack seal and slurry. The sacred of roadway is in a deteriorating condition and experiences a high volume of traffic. Rehabilitation and reconstruction will extend the pavement life cycle and improve drivability. Formal solicitation was advertised for bid on 01/21/2026 via public purchase or online bidding platform. Bids were accepted, publicly opened and read on 02/27/2026 and we received a total of seven bids.

The lowest responsive and responsible bidder was based on the total base bid amount. After a detailed review and evaluation, staff has determined that LCR Earthwork and Engineering Corporation is the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. Included in the bid was an additive alternate bid item, which consists of conduit to be ran on the south side of Maple Avenue and Main Street intersection for additional electrical and communication cable capacity for the signal. It will also include two junction boxes to be installed, one on each side of the street. This is an additional cost of 22,000.

The project was approved by city council in June '6 CIP budget and funding has been programmed in the amount of 6,200,000. 2,000,000 of it is in community project grant funding, congressionally directed spending, 2,000,000 in gas tax RMRA and 2,200,000 in Measure I funding. The available project budget determined that the following may be awarded for a total bid amount of 5,589,053. This includes a base bid amount, the additive alternate bid item and a 14% contingency. 14% contingency is a little higher than most of our projects but it was required by Caltrans.

It is recommended that city council authorize the city manager to award a construction contract for the Maple Avenue Street improvement project to the lowest responsive responsible bidder, LCR Earthwork and Engineering Corporation. Also to approve the additional 14% contingency and authorize the city manager or designee to execute the contract and any documents related thereto. That concludes my presentation and we are available for questions.

Thank you. And I see we have a couple public comment cards. Robert Davy, please.

Good evening again. I wasn't sure we'd ever get to this day. Maple Avenue is originally what brought me to City Council many years ago. My first speech here was Maple Avenue is deplorable. I do have some concerns. You know me, I'm always going to have some concerns. Is this a stripped down version of what we were originally promised? The original promise, in my opinion, was overkill. It was going to be bike lanes, aqueduct widening, on and on. But I was told by the city that what we're gonna get is in kind.

And I questioned what does in kind mean? It means if there's no curb and gutter there, then this new project is going to be no curb and gutter. If there's no berms, there's not going be no berms. To me, that's not acceptable. Are we going to tear this completely out and redo it in layman's terms? You just need your engineering like Oakwood was. And Oakwood was a mess in the beginning. They pretty much fixed it now. There's still a choke point at Riverside, which I'd really like to see fixed. I come down Oakwood about three times a week at night, and I don't hug the middle lane because I've been in a serious head on crash in my lifetime.

It almost killed me. So I'm more to the right, and my right hand tire has almost caught that, that comes out on Riverside, and it's not reflectorized, it's not painted. I've seen some of those on I Avenue. So why can't we do that on Oakwood? But back to Maple, so I'm concerned.

And I'm always going to come up here and say I'm concerned that we're always awarding the lowest bidder. I don't know anything about this the contractor that you're awarding it to. I trust that the city has vetted them, but is it still the best company for the job? I'm not trying to spend more of the city's money, but when I worked for a major corporation, we had at our corporate headquarters in Tennessee, we had DIRTFT, do it right the first time. So quite often, we had we give I was in charge of awarding some contracts.

You take the cheapest bidder, and then you end up just have to redo it So be careful of that. I'm excited about Maple, but let's do it right. And I think we've this sounds like a stripped down version of what we originally promised. Representative Obernoldi got us $2,000,000 It was in the 2021 newspaper. So that's five years. It's been a long time coming. But I live by Maple. I've torn up my cards on Maple. I'm excited to get it redone. I just hope it's redone right and not just a repay, but, you know, stripped out to dirt and re redone how it should be. So that's basically my comments. Thank you.

Chuck Wolfe, please.

Howdy. I want to thank you folks for a lot to listen to me for just a few moments because I'm going make this short and sweet because I got to get out of here, okay? First of all, I'd to recommend you take this project back to committee and examine its viability because I think there are other roads in Hispuria that could actually do better by having them repaired. One starts at an intersection of Main Street and Hispuria Road, and it goes all the way back to Ranchero. Another one would be Main Street and 11th going all the way back south to Ranchero Road.

Another one would be Main Street and 7th Street going back to Ranchero Road. And another one would probably be Main Street and Cottonwood going back to Ranchero Road. Another question I have on this whole thing, you said you 10,000 you put this out to 10,000 contractors and this is the only one that came back that was okay? I don't know. Because quite frankly, think you guys could have done better on trying to make a better deal on this. You got $6,000,000. That's a lot of money. A lot of money. So anyhow, referring it back to committee is my recommendation, and I encourage a no vote on the road improvements for Maple To Hismeria Road. Excuse me, Maple To Ranchero Road. Thank you.

Do I have a motion, please?

I have a motion, but before we do that, I kind of want to touch

base I'm sorry, Killington Member comment, yes.

I wanna touch base on some of those comments that are there. Is $6,000,000 is a lot. There's no argument there. That is the going rate. There were seven other other people that, returned bids.

This was the lowest responsive bidder. We've seen a lot of projects in the city of Hesperia that haven't been up to a standard that any of us would accept. But with this, I know that Cassie's gonna take good care of this and make sure that the requirements that are within the contract are gonna be met, or the council won't won't approve it to be paid out at the end of the day. So there is there is some silver lining into that. As far as going, you know, some of those other roads, that money was allocated for Maple specifically that we did receive from the con the the congressional appropriations from Obernolte's office and them, so we have to use it for that.

So many other other roads, streets, avenues, whatever you wanna say within the city, are in bad shape. We're trying our best to get to them as we can. This is a target of opportunity that's been a long time coming. I'm I'm thankful that at least we're doing something there, and Maple is definitely in need of that. So thank you for putting this on and and great work for that. I hope that addresses some of those public comments that were spoken about and know that we're trying our best to work with what we have. So with that, I'll I'll make the motion to approve.

Do we have any additional council comments? We have a first by council member Greg, a second by council member Lee. Can we have a vote, please? The item passes five zero. Thank you.

Moving on to item number 12.

Hello, again. Again, my name is Edie Jimenez, economic development supervisor. And today, I'll be presenting on the concept for a Hesperia merchandise store program. This idea came from council's direction last year. At its core, this is about creating a simple way for residents to connect and represent Hesperia while also supporting local programs.

Staff is proposing a merchandise program with items like shirts, hats, mugs, and stickers, but the focus is not just on the items, it's about creating something that reflects Hispere's identity and heritage. Part of this program will be a collaboration with local artists to help us design some of the merchandise items and have rotating seasonal drops such as summertime and holiday season. The artwork would draw from Hesperia's outdoor heritage including Route 66, Joshua Trees, and other local landmarks. The goal is to create something that feels authentic and community driven. The program will be simple to operate.

We will use an online storefront with print on demand vendors, which means no inventory, no storage and minimal staff involvement, which is great for us. Customers could order online or scan a QR code at City Hall. We anticipate to have a potential kiosk in where they can scan and it will directly ship to the customer. This program helps build community pride and creates an opportunity to give back. Proceeds could support the Hispere Animal Shelter while also supporting local artists.

Part of the partnership with the animal shelter will help us fund daily animal care, nutrition, medical supplies, vet visits, ongoing facility improvements and maintenance, and help support community adoption programs. This is a low cost program. Startup is estimated around $5,000 for design and setup with a minimal ongoing cost and no inventory risk. At this time, staff seeks City Council's direction to proceed with the Hisperia merchandise program. This concludes my presentation. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

Well, I just want to say, Edith, thank you.

We have

a speaker. Have a regarding this item. We do. The Speria News and Politics, please.

Okay. So real quick, I wanna say I think this is a great idea. I'm really when I saw this on the agenda, it actually brought a smile to my face because I know we've all been hearing people make their comments about the animal shelter. With that being said, I just had one question. How are we going to guarantee that this money goes to the animal shelter? I know that's gonna be a big worry down the line. We wanna make sure this money is always going to the animal shelter and it doesn't go to anything else unless that is the plan. So that's all I had to ask. And thank you whoever came up with this idea. Thank you. You are awesome. That's all.

Council member Greg.

Alright. So to address that that, concern with the money being diverted, Casey and our finance department, by far, the most transparent. You can find all that information a few clicks online and see where that money is going, where it came from, and all that. And I don't think that, our staff would have any problem with answering that question and showing you how to get there if you did ask. I know that we would help guide you in that direction too if you wanted to see where those funds were going because transparency is top of the list with making sure money is going where we say it's going.

It's a great question. Yeah. And this is a really Chris, I'm you know, it's not too often we'll agree on things, but this is one thing I I will definitely agree with you on 100%. Good job, thanks for bringing this to us. And seeing that there's no real cost associated with this is amazing. So hopefully, Chris will chip in the first $5, and then it'll be a net neutral from the start.

Well, I just want to say thank you to the staff. Just some of the images, exactly what I had envisioned. Wonderful, wonderful job. Tip my hat to the staff. It looks like we're going to have a really amazing program that's going to benefit our furry friends that we I know we get criticized a lot for falling short on, but I think that finding additional revenue streams to support our animals and the shelter, this is a plus for our community, our artists, local artists and our residents that want to represent Hisperia wherever they go, and they're going to have official merchandise to do that. How did you get this shirt on the cat? That's my question.

I'll just

leave it there.

Canva. Canva. All right.

There you go. Thank you.

So we're providing direction to staff. I'm going to say move

forward.

Allison, did you have something?

I just wanna say I think it's a great idea. Thank you, Chris, for coming up with that. And I think that we should put some shelter animals on there. Maybe. We'll see. But I think it's great. I think it's great. I love the Roadrunner. That was wonderful, and I can't wait for this to to to turn out. I wanna order some stuff. Yes.

I love the idea. I think it's cute and funny. I saw a Roadrunner. I haven't seen a Roadrunner in many, many years, and I saw a roadrunner. We were heading to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, and there was a roadrunner runner that ran across the street. So there used to be a a lot of roadrunners out here. So I love I love the design, and thank you so much. So, I have a first by Councilmember Cholla, second by Councilmember Greg. Can we have a vote, please? The item passes five-zero. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Moving on to Council Committee reports and comments. Can you start us off? Council Member Ochoa.

I was about to make a motion. To speak. To nominate myself to speak. I just want to say, I don't have a lot to report, which is rare, but I just want to say how grateful I am to be on this council, to be doing good work and doing cool projects such as the one we just spoke about. I want to definitely make sure that we're recognizing Mrs. Davies, and our prayers go out to you and your family. Thank you.

Council member Lee.

I had a VVTA meeting yesterday, and, that went very well. I do want to remind people that on April 22, which I believe is Thursday, is Earth Day, and you can ride a VVTA bus for free. So, and they're also gonna be doing that on Cinco de Mayo. They will have free bus rides for that as well. I attended the Monday municipal mile. Did I get that right?

Yes.

The last one for the spring season. I did have a lot of the people that were there yesterday made comments and wishing that it would still continue, before September 21. But, you know, last year, it was got very warm, and it was it was really rough. So that is our staff's decision on that. I wanna thank staff for all the hard work in the agenda and answering all my questions on the agenda that I had for this one. I had lots. And thanks for the guys in the back. I appreciate all you guys do, and that's about all I've got. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilmember Greg?

Alright. Thank you. I had VVWRA, and it was so so nice to have Darren out here representing the VVWRA family over there. And this is a true testament to the collaborative work that goes into running that complete organization. Big kudos to to our folks over in the Asperia side for getting the award for the sub subregional. Couldn't have done it without you. So thank you for that. It's definitely appreciated. And keep moving forward, and we'll keep getting those awards for years to come. Other than that, I had no other meetings.

I do want to talk about the 87 let's see. 8698 I know that staff's probably looking into that heavily. One thing I did notice, though, is how often do we see neighbors come out. So this is kind of that silver lining in that half half the people of the city don't even talk to their neighbors anymore. I know that I do, but that's a little bit of silver lining in that.

And I know our staff will get that dialed in. It does take time. Our code enforcement is well overworked with the stuff that they have already going to, but the fact that those calls have been answered, will happen. Mister Davies, our our thoughts and prayers are with you. And if you need anything from me, reach out to me, and I'm sure I can speak on behalf of all of us.

Reach out to us if you need anything. Regarding the certified animal animal behavioral aspect of that, I think that is something that is well needed down there. If we can get a report, maybe if if if that's something that we can do down there at the shelter and how we can support that from this dais. If there if it's a funding issue, if is it training that we can offer staff at a minimal cost, then then great. But I I think that that did bring some light to that situation over there.

So if we can get that moving. I'd also like to bring back an item in the next month. I'm curious what we can do. We're getting into the crazy season with elections coming up. I do have concerns.

I've heard some some things within the community of people trying to move into new districts and things like that last minute. So I wanna see if we can implement any stop gaps in that, whether it's a one year requirement living within the district, something like that. We dealt with this years ago. I know mayor Bennington was the unfortunate recipient of this whenever we had to deal with the Jeremiah Brokowski thing. So if we can Pam, I think this would fall on you of what we can do legally to try to help mitigate some of those things.

We will provide a memo to the council about residency requirements and certain limitations on that. Absolutely.

I don't want just a memo. I want it brought back though.

Yeah. We'll include

that. That. Awesome. We'll Thank you, Pam for that. I think that's all I have for now other than folks slow down. Get to where you're going safely. Don't do dumb things. Folks in the back, great work as always. I wish people would make your lives easier, but here we are in in this crazy world. We had tax day. I hope everybody paid their taxes for

I did.

The good old greedy state of California to squander it somehow. We're trying to do our best with the city here, so thanks for that.

We'll say you're welcome. Mayor Pro Tempoland, please.

Thank you, madam mayor. As with Chris, I don't have much to report. I had my standard SBCTA meetings. Mister Davies, my thoughts and prayers are also with you and your wife. If you need anything, as Cameron said, please reach out to any of us. Thank you.

Thank you. My heart goes out to you, mister Davie. You know that. So you guys are in my prayers. I attended desert mountain division meeting with Cal Cities in the city of Needles. They have a really cute little city, so it was fun. I made a weekend out of it. Yeah. He was in Kingman, Arizona, and it was windy and crummy. So I said, might as well come home and be windy and crummy.

So but, Needles has a lot of really cool parks and their history. So it it was fun. It was a very productive meeting. Topics of concern were ebikes. We're getting ebikes that are getting sneaky ebikes, and I know they're getting hard to patrol by our police department.

The Western Joshua Tree, it's nice to know that we finally have support by Cal Cities, and it is with the help of all our surrounding cities on the Western Joshua Tree because it has been a problem for our developers and for us to have our developers build housing. I attended the SBCTA Metro Valley meeting last Thursday, and then last night at Sultana High School, that's why I didn't walk, they had their Early College Academy, and it is a program offered to the tenth grade students where they have the opportunity to take college classes. BBC is their partner. They bring the college professors in, so they're actual live their live classes. Some of them did have to be online to due to some personal reason reasons by the professors.

But some of these kids that there was, I believe, 60 seniors, and many of them have their associate's degree along with their high school diploma. So it was just a really cool program. These kids are amazing, and I was very proud and humbled to be able to speak to them. And then I just want to say, oh, on Monday, I have the MDA QMD meeting. I haven't gone due to conflicts for a couple months, so I'm looking forward to that.

And I would like to thank Jennifer Stringfellow. Tomorrow's Administrative Professional Day, and I know how hard that girl works for me, so I just wanna wish her a happy day. Hopefully, she's served some snacks and some yeah. She so she's she's amazing. But I do want to thank our police and fire. I know you guys have been a been busy. Our staff and Rachel and the city manager staff, the agenda is always perfect. And this, again, is a pleasure to serve with my colleagues on this council. And I have nothing further. Do we have any city manager or city attorney comments?

Thank you very much. Thank you for the those that attended, and we'll adjourn at 08:00.