City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you for being so quiet. It's so cool. All right, so it's 5:00 and I'd like to call this meeting to order. It's a regular session of the city of India, city council, Indo water authority. And may we have roll call, please? Council member Miller present. Council member Wet Thron present. Council member Ortiz present. Mayor Proen Ferman present. And Mayor Holmes fantastic present and accounted for. All right. So the next item is the invocation. Pastor Williams.

Stand. [clears throat] Good evening, Kelsey.

Yeah, [laughter]

I'll take that. Good evening, council, and everyone that's here. Let us pray. Dear Lord, we just come before you this evening just thanking you for our lives, our health, and our strength. Lord, we thank you for this wonderful city that you've given us to steward. Lord, we ask for your protection. We ask for your provision. We ask for your wisdom governing the decisions that we make, Lord. And we ask that you just favor us in all that we do. Lord, let there be unity amongst us. And let everyone who is here be heard and be seen. And those who don't have a seat in the physical here, let them be represented well. Lord, we do appreciate and are grateful for all that you've done for our city, all that you continue to do, Lord. And we just thank you for everything. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Okay. Next is the invocation.

I'm sorry. The pledge of allegiance. I knew that. I knew that. And so the pledge of allegiance is going to be done by Victoria Nicolo. Welcome from Dr. Kerion Academy. Victoria Nicolo is an 11-year-old fifth grade students at Dr. Kerion Academy. She is an active member of her school's volleyball team and cheer squad. demonstrating both school spirit and dedication to teamwork. In her free time, Victoria enjoys baking with her mom, playing video games with her cousins, and sharing her wonderful sense [clears throat] of humor by telling jokes. When she grows up, Victoria hopes to become a teacher. She enjoys helping others uh learn and aspires to make a positive difference in the lives of her future students. Welcome and thank you. The floor is yours.

Place your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Amen.

Stay. Hang on. Stay right there. Keep calm and carry on. Well, here's um a City of India um swag bag for you. It's very cool. Yeah, it's got all kinds of goodies and stuff in here. You will love it. So, there you go. I tell you what, we'll do the whole picture thing. So, you can hold it there like that. And we're good.

Little more. It's got the whole center thing we got to do here. And cute. Be sure you get those really cute shoes. Love those shoes. Thank you very very much. [applause] Okay. City city attorney report on close session, please.

Thank you, mayor. There's no reportable action out of this evening's close session. Okay. Number five, youth advisory council. Hi, welcome. Hi.

Hello and good evening, council members. My name is Danica Rodriguez. Our youth advisory council members attended the youth town hall on March 3rd where we got to see Clayton who is a celebrated portrait artist and human rights storyteller capturing leaders, icons, and voices of change around the globe. This past Saturday, a couple YAK members attended the Women's Club of India annual fundraiser lunchon where we had the opportunity to have lunch with Council Member Gron and his wife Norma. We also enjoyed a fashion show featuring IPD officers. Thank you, Council Member Miller, for taking a picture with us and city manager Brian Montgomery for inviting us. Our youth advisory council will also be taking a trip to Running Springs on March 20th to attend the Riverside County Friday Night Live active youth conference along with other high school leadership groups throughout Riverside County. Thank you.

Thank you very very much for your support for all that you do. That was a great report. Again, thank you. Next item, city manager reports and information.

Thank you, mayor. I thought it might be appropriate to just thank the community for a considerable amount of patience as roads have been paved throughout the community. It's it's always a good thing to see that type of improve improvement, but we know it's also comes with some inconvenience. We have found in a few areas uh some uh opportunities to improve and our our communication reaching out uh ahead of time and providing that type of notice. Uh but the work is is just about complete and again we appreciate uh everyone's uh patience. Uh certainly a reminder of the the great events that continue to take place uh downtown. The weekly food truck Fridays uh every Friday evening, the Maro on Saturday mornings uh at Miles Avenue Park. Also downtown this Saturday is a pickle ball tournament that I'm sure some of you may speak to. Um next Thursday is our movie night and then next the following Saturday is our free concert. So both movie night free on Thursday of next week and then that Saturday, the second Saturday will be a free concert. So downtown continues to have a lot of fun things to do and invite residents to come join us. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you. Fantastic. Lots of good stuff going on. Okay, item number seven, city council conflict of interest disclosures. Anybody have any conflicts on this agenda? And I do not. Next one. Item eight, city council report on meetings attended per government code section 53232.3D. Council member Miller.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. One of my committees was uh active, which was Sunline Transit Agency. The highlights of that uh meeting was the taxi affairs. We do it every year to re-establish where the rates are going to be. They're going to be stable this year. we're going to use money from what's coming in and the fees they have plus savings from the budget to make sure that the fees don't go up because all of them are independent workers. And so that was great news to be able to keep the fees as they were in 2526. Uh we're also working on our board rules and operation uh guidelines that was uh approved by the board. Basically how the board works with interaction with the Sunline Transit Agency general manager and staff. And then lastly, a lot of construction going on. They're in the middle of doing a new education center there for hydrogen cell. They're going to build one so that they can u utilize it to teach people from all over the world to come in and learn about hydrogen cell fueling uh buses, how to work on them, and how hydrogen actually works. So, it's a it's a great opportunity not only for Sunline, but for the Coachella Valley hopefully to bring in more well-paying jobs. And this center is going to be state-of-the-art. It's about 20 $25 million is going to be spent on it to be able to do it. It comes with a new maintenance facility. Right now that this facility at Sunline is probably 25 years old and it's a steel building and and they're in swamp coolers even during the summer. So these guys are out there working under these bus. So part of it will be a state-of-the-art maintenance facility for the bus uh bus uh workers to be able to work on the the buses. So that's great. Um and I think we were all there for the ribbon cutings. A lot of great stuff going on in the city of Neil. Thank you to our staff and everyone and the business community for investing in it. I 10 Toyota moved to their new facility. I'm sure we'll all talk about it. Desert Retreat, the new PY home, Del Webbs up in North Indo, groundbreaking for the clubhouse. Their models are there are open now and getting finished up. The entryway is done. What a beautiful project that is going to be in addition to the city of Indo. And then

also uh the parenting education center over there off of uh Highway 111 uh that helps with education for women that are having pregnancies and how to be able to care for their babies and if any support they need so they're able to give them clothing, diapers, and other stuff. So it was a great addition. Uh want to thank Mr. Ferman again for being our representative on the fair board. They say it was a great year this year. Long lines and everything. The parade was actually very very well done once we got off and going. But thank you Wayman for doing that. I'm sure you're going to speak on that. And then the women's club. I'm a member of the women's club of India. This year was again usher at the event. Uh about 150 amazing ladies that were working together with a fashion show with our Indo Police Department were our models for the men and then a few others. And so uh they were out there strutting their stuff. And so it was very fun to watch them and actually see them out there out of their uniforms and in the business suits and that and so and uh you seen Victor he had a red looked like a Irish suit on so it was stylish but uh they raised some really good money for scholarships and programs here for the the city of India for the women here and that

and Mr. Good trauma is there with his wife and then um wanted to see when maybe the city manager can we're going to bring back the business that are closed. We were going to do a a situation. I've noticed a lot of the buildings especially after the rain now a lot of those abandoned buildings are looking pretty shabby and they're in some pretty strategic locations. Uh so if we can hopefully bring that back and start getting that in the process because it's not going to be simple to be able to get everybody out on that program to make sure they get their business license, get everything up because a lot of them are going to have to do that. So, if we could get that going, that would have be appreciated. And then lastly, somberly, unfortunately, uh, Battalion Chief John uh, Rios, uh, who was, uh, not only a battalion chief for Cal Fire and was original firefighter for the city of Coachella, uh, and he was on the Coachella Valley public cemetery district, passed on uh, quietly at his home. um he had had an accident where he had fell and was not in the best of health and uh sat down on the couch to watch TV and and uh faded off and so our our hearts out to him. Maybe we can close the meeting in his honor for him and his family.

That's it, Madame Mayor. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much, Council Member Gutron.

Well, a lot of exciting things in the last two weeks. Obviously, the Dave Festival was something important. I'm not going to take the winds out of our representative uh mayor Phil Tim Wman Ferman, but I wanted to tell you just to get two small snapshots and being privileged to be in now on the new uh Riverside County Fair historical foundation and uh it just brings me an interest of how we bring the county to Endial all of Riverside County. So they have obviously their their FFA program and and whatnot, but we have to realize that it brought people from throughout the county for their livestock unit livestock sale. Uh they had over a hundred animals and they made $330,000 on their auction sale and and visiting with them the morning. Uh it was really interesting to see the different dynamics from our county and people coming to India because they weren't just coming to the fair and eating cinnamon rolls and my favorite the date wrap dates. Uh they were here to spend other time here in our city and seeing how great and the conversation that I would hear with them. Uh the young family was there enjoying it because they're a direct uh privilege of that. They had family in there but they also have our business here in the city of India. so they can see what's coming in which is great and I thought it was really interesting that in the date industry and India's a part of it um with the historical society of of our date festival and the the Coachella history museum having a date museum it creates [clears throat] a lot of notoriety and it t it puts India out there what most of the people that moved in India are accustomed to the concerts but you have to realize dates are 97% of the Coachella Valley's produce is in the east end of the So any chance that you eat a granola bar or cereal or anything, there's a good chance you're eating a date from here and which is really good

to know. 93.4 million economic impact in the local economy. 600 ongoing jobs and 31 million in wages. I think that's a big ticket item. A lot of those people are here from Indo and go all the way east. So I think it's important to be proud of that that we don't just make money on on on the tourism from that perspective, but we make money on what we produce. And I think it's we have a lot of bragging rights. Um I attended uh u on Monday, February 23rd. I had the privilege of attending a meeting at Indie Pops Country Club with their safety committee. Our police department was there uh doing their outreach and presentations and not just because of crime but being proactive. But the attitude of our residents, uh, there was about 350, which just only represents a quarter of what lives in Indian Palms because it was one one one square mile by one square mile. And it was nice to see the energy and the interaction and the questions. And obviously being there in a different capacity as elected official being felt welcome and not taking it for granted. They're really excited what's going on. Their golf course has changed. They're putting some money into it. not obviously the residence because it's separately owned along with the hotel and restaurant, but there's momentum that we have not seen a few years and there's still much to do. Our city code enforcement and city staff at city hall obviously working with them, but it's a slow process, but right now I can tell you is a little bit better than it was a year ago because the grass is green on their golf course and they're just delighted with that. Um, I had the privilege again of attending the 30 annual City of India anniversary um, appreciation and dinner put on obviously by city staff and it was it was an excellent event. But I walk away seeing that it was a full house. It was a full house and everybody looked like they had fun and uh, that it's all about take time to pay attention to our staff and appreciate them. And most important, nothing against our directors and nothing against our supervisors. It's the front

line. The people that are gaining up at 5:30 in the morning, making sure our streets are clean, making sure our facilities are moving along. Is without that workforce, we can have all the bosses in the world, but you need people to do the work. And not that bosses don't do the work because bosses became bosses because they were doing the work at one time and they know how to work with their people. So, that's what we expect. Um the um ribbon cutings I I spent the whole day with events. It it literally took which was cool. Um, it was really nice to talking to the Cumins family and talking to Michael and his father Cliff and their mom and um and how excited they are to open a third store in the I 10 auto mall and investing and turning a a vacant building from our former Volkswagen dealership and putting life back into it and labeling it, showing that they're doing business in India. And we're going to be seeing hopefully more license plate frames that say Unicars that say Fiesta Ford, that say Coachella Valley GMC, but it's another opportunity of bringing business in new and that's what we need more family businesses because they're touching a lot of families. So, and they were extremely delighted. And last but not least, um, at least from is Saturday, the Women's Club of the City of Indo, one of our largest groups of making a difference in our community, over a hundred years old, and they're still going strong. Obviously, because of accommodations, they had a deal in Palm Desert, which I rather see them come back to India. But those ladies put on a really good act. It It was really busy. It was nice to interact with our youth advisory council, the ladies. That was a good life experience to see what a lot of our professional women business owners and the professional what they do. There's a good example of what our community does and they're from India. So other than

that, that concludes my report. Quite a report. Thank you, council member. Um, Oscar Ortiz.

Thank you, mayor. Uh, recently I attended the employee appreciation banquet. I want to thank our partners at Fantasy Springs and our team here for throwing a great event for our staff members and congratulations to our members who completed some significant anniversaries up to 25 years working with our city. I also wanted to acknowledge the new military conflicts going on. I wanted to encourage us all to keep in mind that some of our families have an extra layer of concern these days. Uh some of our residents have family in danger in Iran and Israel and many also have family in the service who may be deploying or getting ready to deploy. which is just more reason to treat each other with respect and with the understanding that some of our staff and residents are going through a tough time. Uh we also need to be ready to provide the necessary services to our military members, veterans, and their families who may be impacted by this conflict. Um I recently received uh some calls over the past few weeks because our city has pushed for a legislative change that staff believes will help administer retirey health benefits. Uh from what I've seen, there seems to be some a bit of a lack of communication on the process, which has caused some concerns over retiree health benefits. We would like to make sure that we're on the same page regarding the changes these laws would make concerning current and future employees. And I do want to express that I and our city staff are open to meet with our unions to make sure we're moving forward in collaboration with our workers and hopefully get the changes we need to help our employees recover their retirement health benefits. I do have one request for counsel. You know, I recently was talking to a business owner and they were talking about like how much attention India is getting at the moment and why uh we've been growing so much with so much business and they attributed it to how accepting our community is of everyone. They say anybody can come to our city and feel right at home. Our businesses treat everybody like their family. After that, I attended a um a presentation from HARK where they were showing data, health

data from around the Coachella Valley and other data. And one of the thing numbers they highlighted was the high number of LGBTQ members of our community. And then so I also recently got some calls from a few members of our community who reached out asking for an event for our LGBTQ plus uh members to show them that they're also accepted in our community. And I don't believe we've ever had anything like that that I'm aware of. And so I would like to see if we can work with the center, which is a nonprofit that provides services specifically for the LGBTQ community. And what I would like to see is we currently don't have anyone scheduled for June, our second Saturday's concert. And so if we could maybe um hire a lineup of artists from the LGBTQ community in honor of Pride Month in June for our second Saturday's concert, I think that would be, you know, a next step to building that inclusive um accepting community that has provided us so much benefit here in India. Thanks.

Okay. Uh so I I'll let me put that out to the council and see if there's any consensus on um you know having that pride event at the second Saturday um particularly you know as it has to do with a a band um and giving staff the attention and the go-ahhead to do that. How does everybody feel about that? I'm okay with it. I mean I have no problem with it. Guys, I'm good. Okay, there you go. You bet. Thank you. Inclusive as always. Thank you. And thank you for bringing it up. No problem. That's it. That's it. Okay. Mayor Prom.

All right. Good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us. Um all of my abortion committees were dark um since our last meeting. However, I did attend um like much like everybody else heard some groundbreings and ribbon cutings. First of all, the groundbreaking at uh the Del Webb Desert Tree Clubhouse. another great development in our city that's going to help us with our um generate revenue for our community and bring some new people to our area as well. So um that's going to be another great development in that area. also will the Toyota expansion uh on I 10 autom um I think sometimes our community doesn't hear this but that is our biggest revenue driver in in the community that allows us to work on our roads infrastructures and work with our nonprofit partners and provide services to our communities. So anytime we see um an expansion or a new car dealership coming to the IT 10 auto mall um that's it's a great thing. So, uh, congratulations to IT 10 Toyota on their new, uh, facility. Um, I also had the opportunity to meet with some of the India High School students in their ASB leadership following the recent walkouts regarding ICE and immigration concerns. Um, we had some meaningful, respectful conversations about civic engagement, student voices, and how young people can participate in their community. Um I also emphasize that their voice matters and I encourage um constructive dialogue and also explain the democratic process and levels of government that perimeter parameters that we all have to work in. So I'll continue to work with some of the students um so they can understand um what's actually happening in the community and um with a lot of misinformation out there and there's a lot of things going on. So um it it's also it's always great to work with our our young folks and so I'll continue that working with them. Um, it was mentioned already that we just had our last weekend of the day festival. Um, there's been a lot of changes. Um, it's over now three weekends, so I I got to attend most of the time. Um, it was a great festival. Um, we had a lot of fun

like council member Catron mentioned. Um, the animals is always a big hit with the kids and the FFA and the 4 and the petting zoo. Um, you have the carnivals and you have some of the performances, the high school performances. So, I think that's great. And since I serve on the advisory board, I'm gonna be be bringing a few more ideas uh to the board. Um one in particular is getting the kids and youth involved more. Um possibly some student ambassadors to work alongside of the advisory board. So um we could get more folks involved, more kids involved. Um uh thank you to the uh Pickering family who [clears throat] uh are the operators and also the county for uh continuing to keep uh the Riverside County Fair National Day Festival in the city of India. It's a long tradition. A lot of us grew up in the fair and we want to keep providing it for generations to come. So uh and also you know there was hundreds of tickets given out to our youth. I personally gave out over 50 tickets to our youth. So, the opportunity is there. Um, we understand that um times could be difficult for some folks and financially, but however, we want everyone to feel like they're welcome at the at the fair. So, um looking forward to next year and uh the parade's always fun. So, I have fun at the parade every year. And so, um I also um attended a call to the desert event uh put on by uh President Val Martinez and uh Trustee Ron Odin. um in respects to uh black uh student recruitment and retention and uh very good meeting um with some of our um black community members how we can work on uh solutions and um efforts to encourage some of our black students to attend College of the Desert. So I'll continue to work with them as well. Another great meeting. [snorts] Um what else do I have here?

Yes, I also attended the employee appreciation dinner. Um, you know what? Uh, thank you to our staff. Um, thank you to our city manager, Brian Montgomery, our police chief. Another great event, but the event was to recognize our staff. You know, this city doesn't run without without our staff and uh it's an honor to work with with folks. I was just in San Francisco recently and uh met with some folks who knew I was from India and they they were just bragging and bragging about our city. I didn't have to say nothing. And one of the things that that was brought up is our ambassador program and our quality of life program. And I noticed some of the same things going on in San Francisco. And I know San Francisco sometimes gets a bad rep, but if you are actually there on the ground, it's changed a whole lot. And it it kind of reminded me of our city in respects to working with unsheltered people um wraparound services, working with our nonprofit partners. And so it was refreshing to be that far away from home to hear some of the good things that are going on in our city. So uh that that was great too as well. So um just thank you to that. But I actually want to go back to the employee appreciation because there were some Coachella Valley High School Arabs with their jerseys and and and letterman jackets on. Well, myself, Council Member Gatron, and a couple staff members. We want our Rogers to know we had our jerseys on, too, in our Letterman jackets. So, um, it was a Roger House, you know, so I want to complete my report with that. So, that that's it, Madam Mayor.

All right. Thank you. That's a great I such great reports from everybody. Council member Gutron, I want you to tell the story of the thousand chicken because I will never forget that. Um, the thousand chicken, the chicken that sold for $1,000. Oh, yeah. At the uh at the auction there was a chicken that sold for nine grand. I I just Yeah, that kind of Yeah. going to put a lot of eggs on. Just Yeah. I'm telling you that kind of blew my mind. Golden eggs. I just Yes. The loose the goose that made laid the golden eggs. That was not going to be chicken soup.

I No, I that was that was that was good. Uh at any rate, let's see. A whole lot of things. Again, the fair um is the topic of conversation. Best I've ever seen this fair. the the parade went smoothly. But what was really neat, I went to the fair probably four or five times, is just to see everybody there. It was packed. It was kids. It was families. It was people having a good time. Everything was nice. Everything was clean. Um, kudos to the fair board and and to and to Chris Pickering. What an outstanding job he did. He had some new things like he had that Hawaiian stage there and the fire dancers. So, he introduced some new things. It really was really was great. And of course, the cinnamon rolls. I mean, come on. Let's get real here. Um, without cinnamon rolls, I'm not sure you know the strength of that fair, I tell you. So, anyways, thank you for that employee appreciation. Wow, we have an amazing group of employees here. Just extraordinary in and their care and and feeding of the city of India and their creativity and their energy and in everything they do. Thank you, city manager, for leading that. Thank you to every employee here at the city of India. We wouldn't be as we all talk about all the things going on in the city. We wouldn't be able to accomplish that without all of you and uh you've shown us that we can reach for the stars and not just reach for them but capture them. So thank you very very much for that. Uh I have to do well I'll just cover the same things. Toyota wonderful amazing and wonderful in terms of their expansion. You know first it was Honda now it's it's IT 10 Toyota great group. I remember um with the Cummings family cliff when they were remodeling their first place. I had just become a council member and I got a tour. I mean just how those what that whole process and what they were envisioning in the next step. And these auto dealers, you're right, are our bread and butter and they're just going to keep growing and growing and pretty soon that auto mall. My vision is that it's going to expand significantly in the not too distant future and uh we look forward to that. Uh let's see the health clinic. um very very successful health clinic here at the was that empire at the city of India

where people came and they could see doctors or eye doctors or you know otherwise folks that otherwise could not afford that kind of care. So um I really appreciate that and then a couple of fun things that I got to do. So I was asked to judge the Indo Rotary um it it at Indo High School, right? So, they took several high school kids and they asked them to give a speech anywhere from 8 to 10 minutes and incorporate the four-way test and it had to be something personal. Um, and so each of these students got up and there was several of us judges and audience and parents. And I am so impressed at at the uh articulate nature that these kids got up there and spoke. Just self- assured, confident, poised. Um, you could tell they were just so strong in their conviction. You know, it, you know, it was so difficult. Each of them incorporated the four-way test into their speeches, just excellent. And, uh, it was really kind of hard to to judge. I mean, they were all first place, honestly. So, they were there was first first through third uh, and then there were additional gifts, additional prizes beyond that. So, that was really an honor to be a part of that and just to to see these motivated uh, students. They just, it was fantastic. Another thing, probably one of my most favorite things to do, and I I didn't I wasn't aware of it until I became a council member. So, everybody knows it's read across America. And uh and so there's nothing more fun and more satisfying than reading to kids. Um you know, reading happens to be my favorite thing, but at the end of the day, being able to read just advances literacy. It helps us in every step of our lives, well beyond school, in our careers, and beyond. And it just teaches young minds to think and and you can do it in such an imaginative manner. So I started my morning. I ran into the um chief and assistant chief there at at Andrew Jackson Elementary. Um I did third grade, Mr. Rosales. We did a couple of books. The kids were fun and engaged and interesting and and uh

and we went through the book and of course it had to be well what about Indo and are we going to get this and what about the park and I want a skate park and and and what you know and so many were so perceptive. what about what about safety and and you're the mayor so you make sure our city's safe you know our city's safe for us to play in and so that was really wonderful and then from there I joined the city manager and went out there was a request from Palm Valley school and uh just again another group of I think it was second and third grade and a fifth grade class and uh and having that you know that interface with them and being able to read for with them and just seeing how they think um is just really really truly a pleasure and and uh something I love to do. So, congratulation to all these kids in these classes for being interested in reading and taking the next step. Uh talked about Desert Retreat, just another great housing. This is for um for their clubhouse. It's going to be fantastic. So, uh lots of really great things going on in the city every day, every week. Um and it's so wonderful to hear all of us have something wonderful to report at our council meetings. And so on that note, if there's there's no other comments, I'm going to move ahead um to item number nine, which is a consent calendar.

Madam Mayor, yes. I need to for the record excuse myself from item 9.6, the conflict of interest. My residence is within the scope of that project. Okay. Uh excluding 9 Well, um does anybody care to make a motion? I'll make a motion. I'll make a motion to accept a consent calendar 91 through 910 with the exclusion of Mr. Gutron on 9.6. I'll second it. And so I guess we need to do a roll call at this point or is the system working? System's working. Okay.

All right. Really promise. There we go. There we go. Okay. Um are we good? Does everybody vote? Yep. And I'll make a motion for uh 9.6. That's it. Okay. Motion by Mayor Prom and a second by Council Member Ortiz. Are we good? Are we good? No yet. We don't have the vote on here. Not yet.

Stephen, wouldn't my motion taken it all in? So, so I took your motion as approving all of them, but noting the recusal of council member Gatron on 96. So, I think we're good. That works. That Okay, terrific. For a consent calendar. Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Miller. Appreciate that. Okay. And the next item here and that I got the system down pat, this is just awesome and fantastic. And we have public hearings item number 10. And we'll start with the first one. 10.1 community development block grant annual action plan fiscal year 2026 2027 part one of two requesting guidance from city council of course [cough] David Razo. Mr. Razo

actually Mr. Razo is out today. So you're going to get myself Brian Halverson director of community development mayor mayor pro Tim. Good evening. Um I'm going to wait for just a couple slides to come up, but um of course this is a time every year for to discuss the community development block grant program. Um we have a consolidated plan that outlines the priorities for the funding uh that get we get from HUD every year. We can just move to the next slide. So that funding um there's priorities and so as an entitlement city we get that funding every year. We're expecting a similar amount um and this is just an opportunity to get feedback from the council, get feedback from the community if they would like to um speak this evening. Um we also are required by the HUD guidelines to do a community need survey. Uh the public hearings are part of that. We also are going to be doing two events to get feedback from the community. Myself, Mr. Razo, even though he's not here tonight. Uh, next week we're going to be reaching out by attending the swap meet. We'll have a booth there. We'll be handing out information. We'll be there to answer questions. Um, in addition, we will also be at the senior center. So, another good opportunity to public outreach. I really kind of pride myself in getting out there in the community. So, I will be there, Mr. Brazo to to speak about uh CDBG. Um so tonight is hearing number one uh to get um comments and feedback and I want to just emphasize that the anticipated allocation is $750,000. Last year some of the items that that funding went to was the Indo Sports Park. We all uh really love that project and seeing that unravel has been a joy. Also, also Martha's Martha's Vineyard and Kitchen. Um the Inland Fair Housing

and Mediation Board was another one. The senior center be there next week. And then the Safe Family Justice Centers was also uh funded uh with the allocation last year. Um so we're at a point where we need to uh do a 30-day public review. So that'll start tomorrow, March 5th to um April 5th. We have on our city website the application which is open from March 2nd to April 3rd 2026. And just to reemphasize uh tonight is to receive that feedback, get some input and then from there we'll be back again for the second hearing as required to do two public hearings. Uh we'll come back on April 15th um for the annual action plan approval. That concludes a very brief presentation by myself on CDBG. Uh if you have questions, I'm available or if you would like to open up for comments. Thank you.

All right. Thank you so much. Council member Ortiz, you had a comment. Yeah, just a comment on the outreach. I know um since the immigration enforcement got a little heavier recently. We've seen numbers dipping at the swap meet. I'm wondering if it might be better to hold it at food truck Fridays or a different uh location. I I just know a couple of times recently it's been pretty dead out there at the swap. I don't know if anybody's heard the same.

Unfortunately, sorry to interrupt, but I we already noticed it um for that location. So, trying to switch it well will be difficult because we need a certain amount of time to notice it, but we can definitely council member Ortiz, we can take that in consideration maybe for next year, but right now it's kind of locked in because we have done the advertisement. Okay. Okay. Any uh council member Gutron comments? You're good. I have the same comments that Council Member Ortiz did and I think uh Brian, how long you been with us now? 14 months.

Yeah. And I know you have just a jug of water to drink within 10 minutes every day. But I think what you need to really understand is food truck Fridays, the super Walmart, Super Walmart, regardless of what's going on, people are going there. WCO, um, the Ralph Shopping Center. Those are key locations. And I hate to to pull you away because in my time, weekends and Saturdays, it didn't matter. You're you're going to have to be out there on a Saturday. You're going to have to go to the people to get the input. Um, and I think that those places are like right now, if you go the Ralphs, it's slammed. U, if you go to Walmart, it's slammed. If you go to Winko, it's slammed. So, you're going to get the data that you need. And the other thing I I think that's hampering you is David needs help. I see what he's been bringing in and uh I know there's a lot of examples of other agencies and I I think with with all respects to the city manager uh probably that should be directed to him, but if we're if housing is a priority for us, then we need to invest in doing it the right way. And there's excellent programs out there. And that's just my comment. Okay. So, I think you're doing a good job, but like everything else, um, if that's important to us, just as it is with our festivals and stuff, I think and we're looking I think the comment was during our strategic planning is we want to see other type of [clears throat] housing like town homes and stuff. I think Councilman Miller brought a lot of good examples, so I'll let him on that. But I think you can't do it with a oneb band ban. If we're going to be able to do it, then we need to invest in that. And I understand and I wanted to let you know that uh I have no problem doing weekends. So we'll definitely for for the future we can we can pinpoint you know different days of the week that doesn't bother me. So

thank you for that.

And and I think Brian I think my comments were all the same too. And is there a way that we can do a survey like online? Isn't there something that we can do where we could actually consider and a lot of these people would be able to do it, put their ideas and thoughts in it and put it up and get the survey done that way too because a lot of these individuals aren't going to go you're you're hitting a group of obviously Mr. Gutron hit a lot of good places but it's still it's a limited group of people from that area. you know, they might go WCO might be an exception to the rules because a lot of people go to it. Kind of like Costco, it comes from all over. But on a survey, any one of these individuals in here could jump online and actually do the survey and send it to you. I think you get a lot more input on things that they might think if you could do it in multiple ways besides just having them fill it out. Sometimes people are too busy, they don't want to do it, could be not from India. So, it gives you an opportunity to be able to do a couple more opportunities maybe of getting more people involved, especially the younger ones that maybe aren't going to the grocery store all the time like that. Maybe their parents are and have a different aspect and thoughts on it.

And then when will we get some ideas of what where the money is going to go actually, you know, how it's divided up?

Yeah. When it's going to be divided up, when we going to have some more insights on that? So, we're that's what we're um wanting to get input this evening from the council from the public um so we can ensure that we're reaching out. You know, the old way was hey, come to city hall, but the new way is you you do go out in the community as as you've brought up um here tonight. So, we are trying to kind of get into the community as opposed to hey, come to city hall or come to this area where city hall is. So, but yeah, we appreciate that input that there's other ways to do that, especially on different days. And it'll be in English and Spanish. Yep. Okay. And there will be a Spanish speaker there. Yes, there will.

Absolutely. And then usually they give us the idea of where the money is going to go. You you have no idea. I mean, obviously we want the nonprofits and that's only a certain percentage, but do you have an idea? I mean, the the sports park was a big big ticket item that we wanted to do. That's a a a spot for everyone to be honest with you. So, that money was well received and put in. Is there something out there that you're actually looking at in a major part of the grant to be able to do as a community neighborhood or something or or is that just all open right now?

It's open, but I I listed what we did last year to kind of, you know, lay out the groundwork as far as what we've used the funding in the past. But um you know from the slides that I showed tonight, you know, it could be economic development, it could be affordable housing, public services, um public improvements, um so sidewalks, ADA, it it could really be a variety of things. And then of course we're going to receive [clears throat] input um as I continue to say. So that will help as well to see, okay, what are some of the needs that people are bringing up in the community as opposed to just here only.

Sure. Thank you. Yeah, I think I'd like to see, you know, some of the um communities, what what do we need in some of the different, you know, the communities, the poor communities. Um it's important. I think we've always had a significant segment um that we've spent on our on our local community. So, it would be great to hear different ideas as to where we can put some of those dollars. That would be terrific. Mayor Potm.

Yeah, I I see what you have here. And um those are always concerns what's in our our study packet. Um the only other request I would have is when when we come back is to start at the beginning and explain what um this funding is for and how it's allocated to the community cuz sometimes we get grant funding or things like that and we have to work within a certain parameter and sometimes you know something like this you know they might say oh we we want to put something over here we want to build something it's like oh we really can't do that. I think the education portion of it is um important and I also agree with um doing some of the stuff online. It's actually probably a little easier as well. Um but you know, we're in a digital world and I think that that would help us and it also engage our our younger families who sometimes are working and also our youth who probably have a lot of in insight on some of the needs that we want. But, you know, I think, you know, the affordable housing programs, public services and working with nonprofits, um, I think are huge. We have some nonprofits that we continue to work with because they provide services that a city typically doesn't do. So, we partner with them. So, I think those are important. But, um, I think landed out to see where we're going to allocate that funding um, what would would be sort of like a working session with the council so we could see how much dollars that we have that we can allocate. two and that is a review of draft amendments [clears throat] to the unified development code relating to automotive service and repair fueling stations and a 60-day moratorum extension for fueling stations. Mr. Halverson.

Yes. Thank you very much. That one's mine as well. We can get the presentation up. We'll get going here. [sighs] So, there's a lot of history [clears throat and cough] with this item. I'm not going to go into all the details, but I'm going to give a brief overview of kind of where we have come from. So last year, the council remembers that there was a gas station, Maverick gas station, that the planning commission denied. Um there was an appeal and the city council ended up approving that Maverick gas station. So the conclusion of that matter was let's study gas stations. There was some sentiment that there were too many gas stations in the city. And so [clears throat] we went and did exactly what the council wanted us to do. We studied, we looked at different cities, we looked at different regulations, we looked at different standards for landscaping, we looked at EV chargers. We did a total of three or four meetings at the at the planning commission level. So, we're back with the draft ordinance. And I want to thank there's been a lot of people that have been working on this, the city attorney, myself, the planners, um, working with a variety of people to to just kind of gather information in order to come to where we are tonight. Um, [clears throat] we also determined as part of that research, our economic development director did a presentation back in July and the result of that presentation is there is still some unmet uh need when it comes to gas stations uh to the tune of $18 million. So, it's one of those things where we are going to see more gas stations in the city of India, but how many and where we see them, that's kind of the topic tonight. And then what standards do we apply? So in [clears throat] addition tonight we're going to be talking about a moratorum extension because u in order to kind of move forward we will need a little more time and so there there is a moratorum as part of this action item tonight. Um [clears throat] if if we do not approve anything uh for

the moratorum if we do not extend it would expire on April 18th 2026. So we need a little more time but not not a lot. So I know it's kind of small. We've seen this graphic. We've seen this map before, but there's 31 stations um right now. That includes uh some that are approved, but they haven't been built. That includes one pending on Jackson, but for the most part, 31 stations in all. You can see how they are spread out throughout the city. So tonight, what we're going to do is review a draft that's in your packet of a draft ordinance that would amend [clears throat] the unified development code to include some of these new regulations. So some of those are location standards uh as far as where you can and cannot uh locate a gas station or a fueling station. Um there's been um a desire to have better landscaping. So, I'll be talking about that this evening as well as amenities, design standards. I think one council member mentioned how gas stations should be more of an asset. I like that and we are going to address that tonight. And then, of course, an exception process. Um, clear council level is better landscaping. So, we're going to uh increase the landscape coverage. If a gas station application comes in, right now it's a roughly 10%, we're going to beep that up to 20%. also a tree canopy requirements, a regional tree pallet that we looked at uh the local regional planning agency CAG that has a region adopted regional tree uh pallet that will help with uh greenhouse gases uh carbon sequestration and also a landscape maintenance plan would be required as well. Now that landscape maintenance plan would would be recorded against the property as well. Other things that are part of this

ordinance is a convenience store amenities and design standards. There was quite a bit talked about fresh food and maybe I shouldn't necessarily talk about any particular station but I will. I think Tower Market is one of those where you walk in and you see like a fresh food section. So there is a provision in here 5% of the the gross retail area would be fresh food. There's a maximum floor size or store size as well 4,000 but with the CUP you could go larger. There's transparency and architectural requirements. So, there's uh a certain uh amount of the building face that would need to be windows and also architectural treatment uh as far as stone veneer um different types of stucco and things like that that we would want those uh stations to we want to lift the bar. also u additional public amenities maint a maintenance plan that also would need to be um part of the landscape review. Now as part of this ordinance we don't have it required to be um recorded against the property but if the council would like to see that we can have that just like the landscape plan would be recorded. There's also operational standards as well. We want these gas stations to be clean. we want um you know them to keep up and that's part of the maintenance plan. And then EV charger right now the EV charger uh unless there's a certain number of parking stalls required the green code doesn't kick in. It's around 24 spaces. So any application that would come in would have regardless of the number of parking spaces would have to put at least one EV charger in if this is the ordinance the council likes. Um I talked about the exception uh process. The planning commission may grant grant an exception to the corridor area restrictions with required findings including a CUP. Now those exceptions would not u include intersection

limitations which is two the minimum spacing from the uh sensitive receptors. And you'll see in your ordinance there's several required findings that I already mentioned earlier, but part of those required findings are a market analysis. So other other requirements are quantified fuel demand based on current traffic counts. Um uh they would have to demonstrate the vehicle miles traveled in that area. Uh comprehensive analysis analysis of existing fuel station capacity. uh service levels. So, it goes on and on and on regarding some of the findings. So, if they did that, they could bypass um and still do a service station in those restricted areas, including general plan consistency. Um lastly, um the extension, as I mentioned at the beginning of my presentation, we're asking for an additional 60 days. So, what that will do is allow to get the input from the council tonight. If you like the ordinance, it would go back to planning commission and then come back to you again for actual formal adoption. But uh if the extension is impro approved, then that would get us to June 18th. So that allows us to get the feedback, take it to planning commission, and then bring it back with still having enough time. Um there is a section that I wasn't going to go into a lot of detail um but there is a section at the end of your draft talking about um nonconforming fueling stations. So this would just be new fueling stations. The other ones would um become non nonconforming. But if they do certain major remodels they would have to comply. So that is laid out in here as far as what that would be. But if you're doing routine maintenance, this ordinance would not not apply. Um, painting, replacement of

fuel uh, dispensers, interior remodeling, putting in EV chargers. So, there's a there's a list of those items that they would not have to comply, but if they start doing major remodels, um, then this is going to they're going to have to comply if this is the ordinance that the council ends up adopting. So tonight our recommendations are twofold. First it's to provide our staff input on those new standards that I explained. We would be simply adding to title 17 chapter 4.05. Um and then of course secondly is approve that extension as part part of ordinance 1831 for a 60-day interim moratorum extension on the establishment or expansion of uh fueling stations. And lastly, I since I didn't include this as part of my presentation, the Highway 101 specific plan would need an amendment as well because right now you can do gas stations on Highway 111. So, I'll go in there and make some changes to the Highway 111 uh specific plan as well. So, that does conclude my presentation for this item and I'm available for questions.

Thank you. Well, I'm going to jump in one qu quick quick quickly on that specific plan amendment for Highway 111. I think it needs a broader a broader brush. Thank you for that for bringing that up. I'm going to open it to my fellow council people and see if you have any comments on Thank you for the presentation. A very good presentation.

Thank you, Brian. Great great work on the first part of it. I got a couple questions on it. um on the time you have the um restrictions, you know, you talked about certain things they can and cannot do and the operational plans on the landscape, but unless we follow up on on doing it, like either when they get their business permit, we go back and make sure, which we should do with most of our businesses anyways, a lot of them don't have trees. I mean, even some of the like Home Depot, it's always kind of an oxymoron to me because they always have the worst landscape and it's a home improvement station, you know, service and that. But their trees are always dead in their parking lot. But that's a different story. But if we're going to put these restrictions in there, then it has to be [clears throat] tied to something where somebody's going to go back, make sure the landscape's right, signs right, proper right, and do the other stuff because if not, you know, trying to have uh code enforcement or somebody else go out and enforce it as they get complaints would probably not be the best way. So, since we have 31 gas stations here now without any new ones coming in, uh, once they're all built, there should be a mechanism maybe for that actual designation to be able to have go out, make sure things are right inside before we go ahead and approve everything on their license or whatever else. So, that's something to look into. Uh, on the exception themselves, um, you said it goes to the planning commission. after it goes to the planning commission. I don't think there's something that the planning commission on this especially as important as this is to the city council or we wouldn't be looking at uh making different changes to it. It should if they make an exception, it should automatically have to go back to the city council so that we have it so that they're not making a decision on a gas station on Highway 111 without it coming back to us. If they're making an exception to this plan, it should then go back to us to make sure we agree with it because there's been times where city council has said like the Maverick gas stations is one. They said no, we said yes. So we might decide we don't want it. So if they're going to make that big of an exception, I think it should come back to council after the planning commission if they agree to it. So we don't have anything because as you know any any any council member can ask for it to be brought back after the planning

commission doesn't challenge it. So there's the thing and then uh the last one is on I was looking at it too is the taxes. Can we get a breakdown? I mean I don't think people realize how much money gas stations actually bring into the city of India. I mean, all of them from gas taxes to the taxes from the convenience store. Can we get a breakdown of actually how much money that really is to the city? I I I I know that they're an inconvenience sometimes and they're an eyesore. A lot of it has to do with what comes around it because either the landscape's not taken care of. You have homeless entities. It's not clean. There's stigmatisms to it. But you've seen other ones. I'm not going to name them, but you've seen other ones that have been great assets to it. Some of the ones through here are always clean, always neat. They have things that are always stocked in the store. The restrooms are done. So, it can be done. It just depends on who's running it. So, I think if once you see how much money that really is, it really is a large funding source for the city of India for our roads and also our general fund. So, that's it, Madame Mayor. Thank you. It

goes back to that economic um study that we need to do that says, you know, this is this is what it means. These are what these gas stations mean uh to the city of India financially. that doesn't mean that we we we have an oversaturation and um and I agree there needs to be some mechanism that allows us you know when to to to have some bite when it comes to taking care of that landscaping and taking care of their properties because whether it's a gas station or anything else frankly for that matter it um um you know just having things that appear blighted are are challenge for us in this city. So, mayor, yes. C

can I can I address that concern? So, it does sound like the council has some concerns about existing gas stations and their operations as well. So, these operational standards that you see in section E5, those are applicable to newly established gas stations going forward. I can work with the director when we bring this to planning commission then back to the council to make those operational requirements on litter removal, graffiti removal, landscaping applicable to existing operations as well if that's the direction of the council. Thank you. I I encourage I'm good with it. Yeah, I'd be good with that. You guys as well. Yeah, definitely be uniform.

Yes, it needs to be uniform. I agree. Right. because that's the basis for which we're all sort of thinking about all of this. Any other comments, council member Ortiz? Well, when it comes to like landscaping improvements, because that can be a pretty big ticket item. Is that is there any issue there with

So, I I was looking at just the operational standards in E5. So, you're correct. It would probably be a significant burden to impose a new tree standard on an already existing gas station. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the the maintenance. So, uh, maintaining your landscaping, keeping it alive, clearing the trash and debris, clearing the graffiti, keeping your pavement, uh, in in good condition, those sort of ongoing maintenance issues for your existing improvements. Uh, I I would not recommend requiring additional improvements be constructed, unless, of course, they're rehabilitating or expanding the station.

Go ahead. And I I agree with you Oscar, but there's there's an exception to that, I think, because a lot of these gas stations had plants, had DG and just because we're we're, you know, ask them to put it in, it should be something that's natural to do. And they also have the opportunity to come back to the India Water Authority and ask for a drought tolerant grant to be able to take out it if they don't want some landscape and we can re rellandscape with that. Yeah, but I know what you're talking about. Some of the other ones and I think Stephen mentioned or Brian mentioned there's already that requirement on the 10% that they're supposed to be meeting beating already, right, from the old contract. So getting them up to where they were supposed to be in the first place, right? Get back to that level and then like I said, if they don't like what the landscape is, they go to a drought tolerant, they can get a grant from the India water authority to redo some of their landscaping.

Yep. Sounds good. It becomes a function of making sure that h you know, not us making sure that happens, but make sure they comply. I mean, that's been our biggest challenge. Council member Vron,

the other thing that depending on areas where it's surrounded by other businesses or near residential is also the hours of operation. We seen a lot of success lately with some of them that we've approved that they're still doing extremely well, but they're not open 247. And it also helps with those neighborhood facilities where they're not dealing with the truck deliveries and all that other stuff that's going on. It's working in our city and I think we also need to consider that. Also, the security factor. We've really have some really good models where it's helped us making them safer besides cleaner. And clean does depict safety. um if it's not kept up and it looks like a wrecking yard, then you're it's not going to be presumed to be safe, which is part of the broken window theory. And so I think we it our community, if we're going to have a business needs to be kept clean. The other good thing that our city attorney is working on, if those facilities become unoccupied or they close down, we're going to have a policy that's going to take care of the landscaping and upkeep because we're going to hold the property owners accountable. And there's no turning back on that one because we're moving forward on it. So again, it's to maintain the quality of life that all our residents of the city of India deserve.

Great comments. Okay, I'm going to open up the public hearing. I'm so sorry. Um, let's close. Go right ahead. [laughter]

Yeah, I I uh I agree with the tax breakdown because I keep hearing 18 million and uh what what does that number mean? Is that 18 million over a year, two years, 5 years? it and what is that source, right? So, a tax breakdown would help us better, you know, look at revenue that's generated. Also, um, one of my concerns is, uh, traffic in some of our neighborhoods. Um, I I really want to go back to the community and talk about some of these areas where it's it's proven where gas stations are still allowed. um because I think there's um a possibility for higher value development in some of those areas. You know, um I'll just take North India for for a uh uh example. You know, Jackson Bridge is years away. Um we've had a 7-Eleven in that area that's failed. Um we've had a lot of blight locations in the city with gas stations that used to be there, right? So then we look at where gas is going now. Um I go to a neighboring city paying 20 cents less than what I'm paying here. So you know it's we got to look at that as well. And I know we talk about leakage but um you know it is what it is how what the prices are and also council member Kron brought this up about quality of life with 24-hour gas stations you know in some of these areas. So, um, you know, I I I appreciate the work that's being done and but I I I want to go back to the community, uh, independently and also give them an opportunity for that input because, um, I I think this is important, um, being that we do have, uh, 31, uh, gas stations um, already approved or in the queue,

but um, I appreciate the improvements and and the policy that's in in front of us. I think we we made a lot of leeway. I still have some concerns moving forward, but um we'll address that uh moving forward as well. So, thank you.

Okay, now I will open up the public hearing. There we go. And I have some requests to speak. And the first one is Jackie Lopez. Okay. Good evening, mayor and council members. Uh thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight and thank you to uh staff for the work that has gone into evaluating this issue. Um filling stations are important part of the city's commercial infrastructure, but they are also a high activity commercial use that requires thoughtful planning about where they're located. Indo has a significant number of gas stations throughout the city particularly uh along major commercial corridors with more than 30 stations already 31 stations already yeah 30 stations operating in the city several corridors already have high concentration of filling stations because of that it is important that long-term policy carefully considers oversaturation and how these uses are distributed across the community. One key one key piece of information still appears to be missing from the analysis presented tonight. After applying proposed rules, including corridor restrictions, buffers, and sensitive sensitive issues and intersection limits, it is not clear how many parcels in the city would still be eligible for a new fueling station. Without that analysis, it is difficult to determine whether the proposed ordinance actually limits additional stations or allows new stations to be developed in multiple locations. As the city continues to refining continues refining this policy, several tools could uh strengthen this ordinance. Spacing standards between fueling stations are commonly used by cities to prevent clustering. Many jurisdictions roughly require 1,00 to,500 ft between stations along major major corridors. These standards help prevent excessive concentrations while

still providing clear expectations for property owners. Traffic circulation and safety should be considered. Gas stations uh generate generate frequent turning movements along busy corridors near intersections. When several stations are located close together, it could increase congestion and driver conflicts. The ordinance should also um allow existing stations to modernize their properties, including safeguards, upgrades, site improvements, and EV charging infrastructure. Business already serving the the community should also be able to reinvest their properties without unnecessary regulatory barriers. Many of these stations are operated by local small business owners, including immigrant entrepreneurs who have invested in India for many years. Preventing oversaturation helps ensure these existing operators can continue serving residents without unnecessary concentrations of stations in the same areas. Fueling stations among these uh permanent commercials uh uses a uses a city approves once built. They often remain in a place for decades and land use made today are very difficult to reverse later. For this reason, I respectfully urge council to approve the extension of the moratorium tonight and continue refraining um the ordinance refining the ordinance what it truly limits oversaturation while protecting existing operators and maintaining uh thoughtful planning along's commercial corridors. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Um, next request to speak, Jonathan Basera.

Good evening, Mor City Council. I appreciate the time for this public hearing. Um, just some more background. I appreciate the report from staff. Um, I was one of the organizers there at the planning commission meeting. Um, it was I think it's notable to say, um, the organizers and the corporations were on the same page that day and I think that's worth in your consideration for the extension of this moratorum. I do believe in it. Um just some notes as I was hearing you guys. I think the bridging of like more services in these gas stations is prudent to this resident of India. I would offer some maybe direction. When I was living in the city of New York, Bodega systems have these really ways of just accessible resources to the neighborhoods around. There's probably some ways to get some inspiration. We have lost a lot of ourarmacies where we get shampoos and stuff like that. I personally had to cross a bridge. Maybe there's a way to incorporate kind of access to those little things we can't get anymore more easily um in this process as we kind of redefine what more we can add in these gas station areas. Um one other thing is I think health impact to our residents should be more thoroughly investigated and researched in this. I don't know how to do that. I just think it's not a word I'm hearing in our conversation right now. Not to say there's anything meaning behind that. I think it's something worth pointing out. Appreciate you guys time on this. really support the extension of the moratorum. Thank you for your time today.

Thank you for your comments, Jonathan. Next one, Steven Figurra.

Good afternoon. Steve Figero with the Inland Empire Latino Coalition. I'm also an advocate for children disabilities. One of the things I didn't hear in this ordinance or the review is the safety. You know, when I say 31 gas stations, the oversaturation, that's 31 liquor stores. Let's face it, nobody said, "How many of these are going to be selling alcohol?" There's nothing more disturbing than having somebody hurt somebody who just bought alcohol from the gas station and filled up their car. It It's so nobody's even looked at that. And it's not just alcohol. You heard the gentleman talk about it's getting hard to get stuff. all the illegal supplemental items they sell there where kids get high off these little drugs, off the off the excessive um uh caffeine drinks and all that. All that needs to be considered because when you're you're creating problems in your own community by not properly doing the study. So I would hope that you extend this moratorum not for two, three months, but for for at least six months or a year for the purposes of say, you know what, are they going to be selling illicit products in there that kids are going to be misusing? Are they going to be selling excessive alcohol in there? Because I guarantee if you said no alcohol in there, they're not going to put a gas station. It's that it's that simple. They're not going to do it because that's the real money maker at these gas stations. You walk in there and there's rows and rows of alcohol, but there's only one row of of water. and and you know and so that's something you really really need to consider but not just that that when you go into these gas stations you tell them I got to go to the restroom they're always broken so mandate that they got to have restrooms working 24/7 or or even air my good friends when she was alive Senator Sodto said you got to have air YOU WE'RE PAYING $5 TO GET AIR AT THESE GAS stations they're milking us if they're going to do all this money what money are they putting back into the community they're you said yeah great tax revenue, but they're taking a lot of money out of people's pockets. What are they putting

back to the nonprofits? You did CDGB. How many of them are committed to say, "We want a good community reinvestment act for these gas stations. How much are they putting back into the nonprofits? All the things that they're taking out of the community so they're not, you know, they make sure that they live here, right? And that their employees live here so that you're you're creating employees from your own cities. You're not hiring somebody from Orange County, right, to come build their gas stations here and make a lot of money off you. You know, you got to say, "Hey, well, what are you giving back to our community?" This needs to be studied further, a lot more. And you you what you don't want is to say, "Hey, we got 18 million uh million dollars more, but guess what? We've had 20 new deaths from alcohol. We got kids oding with the stuff they're buying at these gas station." This is what the study didn't include that needs to include. So I'm saying extended six months to a year and do a study that considers the kids. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you for your time. All right. Anybody else wish to speak? Okay. To that end, I'm going to close the public hearing. What is the pleasure of the council? Can I speak on some of the comments? Okay.

I I think you know the a couple of the comments that I did hear is something that I do want to include especially in the maintenance plans. I don't know if we're including the working restrooms. I think that should be, you know, part of that part there. The illegal supplements. Uh we've already had some some discussion uh with staff and looking at some of those rules. We're looking at different city policies right now uh to look at how we can limit the sale of certain illicit products um both that are used for um dangerous drugs and then also some of these other substances that are not well regulated that can be pretty dangerous for our community as well. Uh so we'll follow up on on that side on our side. Um the air I think that's that's a good public benefit too, right? Having those air for people who get flat tires or whatever, just having those available. I think that would be a good service to provide as well.

The the air I you know I I I think it's kind of misleading with the air and I'll tell you why. Um instead of California, air is supposed to be free and they have signs of where you supposed to and I know cuz I drive a lot. So maybe it's something that we write in here that um I I don't know uh city attorney, but maybe you shouldn't be asking for because you have to actually go in and ask for air, but they have the things out there to pay for it, right? So I don't know where we

can we can certainly look at prohibiting misleading signage that might make someone believe that they have to pay. Maybe we can require that they inform them that if you go inside, you can get it turned on for free. We can look at that issue. I've encountered the same problem. So, I know exactly what you're talking about. I have a I have a question. I have an issue after Council Member Gutron speaks. I was just gonna uh piggy back on Mayor Pro Tim. Um some of them do and some of them don't. Since we have 31, I can tell you maybe our staff can go do an audit and start knocking on some doors. That one's easy. I I

the biggest problem they have is some of our new businesses have been extremely creative in how they provide that service is the tampering and damaging of them. They take the they've been stealing and so forth, but I think our newest gas stations, uh they've done a fairly good job with some of them to detour. That's why we've asked for keeping them clean, adding a security camera system, uh securing the areas, keep them in areas where they're visible instead of way in the back where they're not seen. Uh because it does, some of them have been designed where they can actually not only just service the vehicle, but like a member of the audience came up and said, areas where they can go get food and other items. Some of them have actually designed a a kind of a temporary picnic stop and then there's where the filling is with some of it. So, it's all about the environmental design of doing it. So, [clears throat] I think that the staff's capable of doing that with those requests that came up th those are easy. And I think some of the thing that council member Ortiz mentioned, yes, we had our whole youth advisory council do a study on vapes and the prohibition of vapes and the use of those opportunities. Our our whole student body took a part in doing that. we adopted it. So if these facilities are doing that, I don't think it's a problem. I think there all these questions are very reasonable. It can be addressed.

Yeah. I before mayor goes, I I think possibly maybe someone uh from the police department staff could also chime in on this and have a public safety section where some of those concerns could be addressed. Um, you know, I know we talked about lighting and things like that and so, um, you know, I I live north of the freeway and without saying any names, I know we're going to have another gas station in that area, but I know some of the illegal activities that go on there because I drive through there at 11:00 at night. And so, when you have these 24-hour gas stations or that are open are just a gas station, it does attract uh uh certain activities. So, I think having a public safety uh portion and as well as uh environmental justice or health portion is important as well.

Thank you. And and this whole air thing, you know, I think because of all the the vandalism, the challenges with the air because, right, I'm always driving through, you know, alleys and whatnot as I drive through the city and I'm always getting nails in my tires and I'm always looking for a place to put air. One day I went to four stations to try to put air in my tires and that was a lesson in futility. Um, and a lot [clears throat] of it had to do with some of the vandalism that occurs. And so then what happens is then you you get a contractor in and once you get the contractor and to provide the air and to service the air, then then there's a cost. So I know there's an answer to that and I'm have every confidence that staff can help us figure out what that is. And so great comments, great conversation. Does anybody wish to um make a motion to extend the mortorium?

So move. So moved. I'll second. I have a motion by council member Gutron, a second by Mayor Potm to extend the moratorum. Do you need us to read it? No, we're good. Yeah. One more. Okay, we're good. All right. Thank you. Uh, next item number 11, public comments for items not on the agenda. Let's see. You have a few of them here. Miguel Navaro. [clears throat]

I didn't know I was going to be first, but here I am. Um, good evening, Madame Mayor, council members. My name is Miguel Navaro, and I am an LGBTQ resident of the Coachella Valley, and I'm also the director of East Valley Programs for the LGBTQ Community Center. And I want to start by saying thank you for your vote earlier for um going forward with the event that some of the community members want to have in June. And I just want to give some comments on emphasizing how important that vote was and moving forward how important your support will be as we plan and envision what we want the city of Indo to be and to have to be inclusive, safe, and to be open to our LGBT community residents. Throughout my work organizing and hosting LGBTQ events and programs here in the East Valley for the past 10 years, I've had the chance to meet many of the people who make up the residents of the city of India. I'm here tonight to express my full support for the LGBTQ residents of the city and for the community members who are needing more and more spaces where we can gather safely, connect, be visible and also feel the support of the cities like the city of Indo. Over the years, we have hosted multiple events and programs locally. Sometimes they're in Mecca, sometimes they're in Coachella, and sometimes they're in India. And they regularly bring out anywhere between 40 to 60 people. And I just want to say that 65 to 70% of those participants are residents of the city of India. And those events show something important. There is already a real and active LGBTQ community here. These are residents who live here, who work here, support local businesses, and contribute to the life of the city every single day. The ability to gather openly to celebrate our community, and to feel that we belong in a place where we call home start with events like in June. And so, a small pride event in June, again, thank you for voting yes on it, um is a positive step toward that goal. Events

like these create connection, they build community and they send a clear message that LGBTQ people are welcome here in the city of India. The city of India has the spaces, they have the infrastructure and I could guarantee you they have the thriving community to uh attend these events. For example, every May we host what's called um International Day against homophobia, bifphobia, and transphobia here in India. For those folks that don't know, it's open to the public. Indo COD campus has hosted us every single May. And I just want to give a special shout out to them because they have made it really easy for us to uh make space, dialogue, communication, education, and knowledge to the community. And we'll continue to have that space there. But hopefully we could see other events and other spaces like the one our community members are advocating for in June. And I just want to say strong communities are built when local leadership recognizes that people who make up that community and creates spaces for them to be seen, respected, and included. and supporting a pride event and encouraging inclusive community spaces spaces is meaningful is a meaningful step forward. So again, our community is already part of the city. Supporting us simply means recognizing the people who have been here for a long time and thank you for your time and I look forward to engaging with each and every single one of you in the near future and getting to know more about you and ways that you could support our community. So thank you.

Thank you very much. Appreciate your comments. See that was painless, right? Okay, next. Next one. And just a reminder for everyone, uh there's three minutes, please. Uh Ernesto Guerero, is that the correct pronouncement? Guerrero. Ernesto.

Madame Mayor and Council, we wanted to ask um if [clears throat] our member can go first and Mundo Salas and then Ernesto. Good evening, Madame Mayor, city council. My name is Edmundo Salasar. I'm a proud SEIU 721 member and also I'm a building inspector with the city of India. I am here representing our union brothers and sisters today to express our concern. We learned that city management uh recently bypassed ourou in an attempt to lower its standards to our retirement and medical benefits through legislation. The city of India is a great place to work and we are happy to provide excellent service to our residents. [clears throat] We're asking our city council to preserve and not to lower the standard of benefits that recruit and retain quality staff to provide great services to our city residents and their families. We are here today on behalf of our union brothers and sisters with this petition asking for support from this council to respect ourou and to preserve the standards already negotiated. Our petition is asking city council to direct city management to do what was previously agreed upon during our last negotiation which is to go back to the the negotiating table. Thank you for your time. I yield back

for your comments. Okay. And so the next request to speak on this subject is Ernesto Guerrero. So there you are. Thank you. Fantastic.

Good evening, madame mayor, city council members, SAU71 members and members of the community. My name is Ernesto Guerrero. I am the regional director for SAU71 here in the inland region. and I'm here on behalf of over 100,000 members who are driving and uh really uh elevating the standards for working families in in the state. Um as we hear from Edmundo uh there's a process and the process is going to the bar negot uh as in good faith. Um, I'm not going to go into what happens or not, but uh it is important uh for uh city officials and the leadership of this city to make sure that the uh uh specifics from the MOU are respected during the time and if there's any any issue that arises uh to address it uh correctly. I know there was attempts to uh modify the MOU or to uh modify language on the MOU [clears throat] which we address on a timely manner. Uh uh and the main thing here is when uh we need to find what is the direction we need to go. It's very simple. We ask our members our members wants to change something in their yes or no. The answer is no. And that's what we going to be behind. We always gonna be behind our members and behind maintaining the standards uh for quality jobs uh for any member that we represent because that not only benefit our members but also preserve the quality services that the community uh of the members of the different communities we represent uh deserve. Um, so, uh, that's why we're here asking for your support on that and we know there's going to be, uh, bargaining again next year and we're ready to to go back to the table when when it's time to go back to the table

and that's pretty much, uh, why we're here today. Uh, as you probably know, uh, Assembly Member Jeff Gonzalez already pulled the bill in Sacramento because this is not the time to go behind, uh, the backs of our members and try to change and modify any benefits. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your time. Okay, next request to speak. Daryl Bellowos. All right. So, I'm here tonight uh to address the lip service that we've heard lately from this council and Indo police regarding immigration enforcement. In the past six weeks, you've all said just enough to keep your political careers intact and mitigate resident backlash. A closer look at resolution 10548 reveals a contradiction in your messaging. You've all sworn solidarity with our 68% Hispanic Latino population while unanimously voting to allow Chief Tully to work alongside HSI at his discretion. Section one states, "The foundation of our municipal governance is the protection of the human dignity, safety, and constitutional rights of every individual within our jurisdiction." However, section 5 states nothing in this resolution prohibits city law enforcement from cooperating with federal authorities in matters involving serious or violent felonies, criminal investigations, task forces, or threats to public safety. On February 4th, council members Miller, Gatron, Ferman, and Holmes waxed poetic about protecting IPD officers from federal charges at all costs. and on February 18th stood behind Chief Tully's promise to continue IPD's federal complicity. Meanwhile, DHS continues to publish detainee names and mug shots on the front page of their website and labels them as gang members, pedophiles, drug traffickers, and murderers. Now that IPD's cooperation with HSI has been codified, to what extent will Chief Tully and this council perceive these accusations as grounds to assist federal detainments moving forward? I want to close with a question that Councilman Ortiz refused to answer in an Instagram conversation 17 days ago. How much additional

protection do INDO police officers, the most armed and legally shielded.1% of our city population, really need? Thank you. Okay, the next request to speak, Paulina Angel. Welcome.

I'm sorry. Aloha, mayor, city council, everybody. Uh my name is Paulina Angel. I am a born and raised India resident, a board member for Palm Springs Pride, founding member of East Coach Valley Pride and possibly the first queer uh student member of the Indo Youth Advisory Council class of 2001. Um I just want to say thank you so much for uh going forward and voting in for confidence of a uh pride event in June. It really means so much to hear you all totally for it and stuff. Um I always think about the city of India being well we're all known as city of festivals you know so we celebrate food, music, arts, culture, diversity and the natural progression for India is to do a pride event here and I'm so happy that you all are moving forward to this. It's something that I've always hoped in my lifetime that I will see my beautiful hometown do this for our community. We our this community has like so much ties to activism in the LGBTQ um history. I know I've done like a lot of amazing stuff. You know, I was like the probably the first ever queer resident of Coachella Valley to actually go out to Sacramento. Worked alongside Governor Brown and Governor Nuome on implementing ways to make our educational institutions a safe place for career students uh throughout California. And it's all because of all the amazing things I've learned here, especially my during my time as a member of the Indo Youth Advisory Council as well. well as being part of the Indo Youth Task Force that we had back in uh IPD and stuff. So, uh thank you so much for doing this. I'm looking forward to um seeing it happen in June. I'll be

here and if you guys do a proclamation in June, I will be happy to supply you all your own progressive pride flag to wave uh here at city hall for it. And um also also like to say uh since I have a few time I'm also part of an amazing program at the Coachella music and music and arts festival called everyone. We're like a mental health initiative. We even do things for queer people and stuff like that. But we do like a lot of uh uh harm reduction um service and stuff like that at um at Coachella. So if you ever find yourselves at Coachella this year, look for our tent. We're basically right across from the main stage. come see us, see what we're all about. And um thank you all and have a beautiful night.

Thank you for your comments. And last is looks like Jamie Lopez. Jackie. Jackie Lopez. [laughter] There you go. Okay.

Thank you, Madame Mayor and Council members. Um yeah, I I I uh my my my talk today is about uh school. I'm going to wear my nana hat, but I just wanted to say thank you so much for supporting Miguel Navaro and the rest on for the LGBT center to do the first uh parade here. Um I just want to thank Miguel for coming out to India, which is the largest city and we have a largest GSA uh which is our gay student alliance uh here in our district. And it's I think what's about time we um hopefully you guys will open a center here pretty soon for our kids out here. But um I come to you today humbly and I just want to thank uh uh Mayor Prom uh Wayman Ferman and Chief Tully and your police officers. Um I'm coming to you as as a as Josiah's Nana. Um today uh we went to go pick him up at school today and it's he goes to Van Beerren Elementary School and I cannot tell you how many cars speed through that. And you know, the poor crosswalk lady is, you know, she's putting her life on the line every single day to make sure that our parents, our grandparents, our kids get to and from uh across the street while they pick up their their children, but um I don't know what else can be done. I mean, today and I've seen other times where it's a very close, uh case where someone's going to get hit. Um and so I want to thank the officers that came out to telly that really made a difference. had really slowed down that week, but we're still continuing to have high-speed racers. Like today was a white Tacoma truck that almost hit me, my mom today. So, um, again, I don't know if there's anything that the city can do, whether it be a traffic study, uh, or taking a look at, um, maybe putting a sign out in the front, but again, I I just hope the days that nothing bad ever happens there. But, you know, we have our poor crosswalk lady that puts her life on the line every single day to make sure our kids get to and from across to the street to their

to their families. So, that's all I have to say. And again, thank you, uh, Chief Telly. Thank you. Thank you for caring about our kids and our people. Okay, I have one last request to speak. Jonathan Bisera.

Uh good evening, Madame Mayor and city council. Um what a day it is. I I Yeah. Um I am a member of the it's I'm a resident of the city of Indo. I'm the first openly gay elected um by the residents of India. I am also a fellow youth advisor fellow youth advisory council queer member. Um, and I think that's all an example of that what we're meeting is the moment. We're meeting people's humanity, and I applaud that. I want to specifically, um, extend some flowers to our mayor. Um, I think you have done a lot of work to reach out to the humanity of the career community in the works and conversations we had and I applaud that. I think that work has been very important to what tonight is bringing and just what the future holds. And also to members Ferman and Ortiz. I appreciate you guys conversation and the matters and understanding the community and just that we are all part of India. Um I think um using the music and arts is the most logical example to just express what is the universal connection in all of us. I think the city of festivals is the perfect place to start that. um having it in downtown [laughter and gasps] it feels like I can breathe uh is whether I'll best say I am a human being but um when you exist so much in one box and you just everything in your another part of your humanity is just tabled aside for not a particular reason not because it is something that tightens in you and I only feel it when it just I see it expressed and that today was like that uh this tension of just my humanity just being allowed to express itself to see the place I grow up down the street from and that I know that this tune I get to go and be me and my families and that's the one thing I want to say too it's not just me as an individual or myself as a queer person my family I know my mom like cares and is worried about our safety since I was a kid I know met many other families um when I was on the board of Desert Recreation

District one of the first moves I did was bring um youth safe spaces for queer individuals in their families. And we did hikes and I remember going on one um at the tram and just talking to one of these mothers and just her just like seeing her kid exist in true happiness and authenticity with other kids and just seeing her breathe a sigh of relief in those moments. I'm telling you, this goes beyond just one group of people. It goes to the humanity of all of us and we will see benefits and I applaud you guys for this and thank you.

Okay. Thank you for speaking and for your comments. And on that note, there being no more request to speak, I'd like to um it is, let's see, what is it? Uh 6:39, I'm going to close the meeting in memory of John Rios. If we'd like to all have a moment of silence to honor John Rios. Thank you everyone. Be safe, sir. All right. Have a good evening. We'll see you next time.