City Council - Regular Meeting

everyone good evening everyone and welcome to the regular meeting of the madera city council today is wednesday september 2nd 2026. i call this meeting order at p.m city clerk gonzalez

The city council meetings are open to the public. The meeting may also be viewed and accessed remote by selecting the link located on the agenda. Members of the public may provide comments on agenda items in person through zoom or by phone at 669, 900, 6833 using meeting ID 86195690501 followed by the pound key or by email at city council, public comment at dot Gov. To comment by phone press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute your mute when called upon. Written comments may also be submitted by mail to 205 West fourth Street Madeira, California 93637. A recording of the meeting will be posted on the city's YouTube channel following the conclusion of the meeting. We'd like to remind those in attendance wordly can be accessed by scanning the QR code for translation services.

Thank you for that roll call please.

Mayor guy goes here. Mayor pro, Tim Zachariah here. Council member Rodriguez here. Council member Montez here. Council member Evans here. Council member here and council member Vegas here.

I'd like to thank my colleagues for being here tonight. Um, if you could please stand for the invocation gift by pastor at your very tonight and remain standing for the pledge of allegiance by mayor pro, Tim Zachariah.

I want to say I'm honored to be here today. Thank you. Mrs. Mayor and mayor pro, Tim and also city council members. We thank God for our police department and also fire department and everybody that's here today. We're just gonna bow our heads today and just ask the presence of God to invite it here today. So we wanna invite God's presence. As we bow our heads, Heavenly Father, we just wanna thank you, God, for your goodness, your grace, and God, for your mercy. And Father, we are excited today, God, that literally that you're also in our city, God, and also in our hearts, God. We invite you, God, today in the mighty name of Jesus, God, that you give strength, God, to every one of our council members, God, wisdom, God, We only pray for our Mayor and our Mayor Pro Tem, God, and also our Police Department and the Fire Department. And also, God, just the chambers that's here today as well, and every entity, God, inside of Madera, Lord. We just pray for your blessing over them, God, that you help us, God. That everything tonight, God, that we do not only honors you, God, but upholds, God, Father, your righteousness as well, God. We pray for your very presence, God. We pray for our families, God. We lift up our nation, God, as well, Lord God. And we pray that you would keep it in the palm of your hands, God. We want to thank you, God, that we're able to come to you. And God, tonight, we invite you, God, You, the God of heaven, God, into this meeting today, God, into our lives, into our hearts, God, and into every decision that we make today, God. We just want to say thank you, Lord God, for allowing us to live. Thank you, Lord God, for this very night that we're here today, God. And I pray your blessing, God, over every single person here today, as well as every single person, God, in our city and our county, Lord. We thank you, and God, we love you, Lord. And in the name of Jesus, we pray.

Amen.

Thank you for that. Moving on to the approval of the agenda, I'll bring it to my colleagues for any questions or concerns.

City clerk Gonzales mayor, if I may, um, there are 2 items, um, under B6, there's a typo. There's a typo in the staff report how in the financial impact. However, the resolution amount is correct. And, um, the same would be for item D2, the staff report amount. Um, there's a typo. However, the resolution amount is. Okay.

And Mayor, we have one item for item B five, an updated final map has been provided to the City Council, and is also available for the public over there. And that will be the final map, the final final map that is requested for approval this evening as consent item B five. Thank you.

Okay, thank you for those comments. Colleagues have any other comments or concerns? If not, I will bring it back to my colleagues to entertain a motion in a second.

Thank you for this written.

motion I'll second thank you did you get who motion that okay all right all those in favor say aye aye those opposed motion passes unanimously thank you for that moving down to the next item please under presentations is a proclamation recognizing upstanders day Good evening, everyone. I do have some recipients here to accept this proclamation. If they could come forward, please. Thank you. And this proclamation is given from the mayor and city council, and it is a proclamation recognizing national standards day. And a lot of people are like, exactly what is this? So come on close ladies. Thank you. It's national standards days empowers the youth as we see today in our community to take a stand against bullying and launches national bullying prevention month with positive action. This day reinforces the message that everyone has a role to play, not just in recognizing bully, but in actively standing up against it. By recognizing this day, the City of Madera can set a powerful example for its residents in showing that every student is seen, valued, and supported by their local government. Therefore, I, Cece Gallegos, Mayor of the City of Madera, and behalf of the entire City Council tonight, we hereby proclaim Upstanders Day, September 26, 2026. And let me tell you, as a school teacher in Madera Unified for 33 years, I totally understand this and support this 100%. As an educator, our school teachers are behind you 110% and know that you can always reach out to them. Thank you ladies for being here today.

Hello, good evening everyone, and my name is Safaree Williams. Thank you to the City of Madera Council members and Mrs. Cece Guygos, the mayor, for this proclamation. United Upstanders Day is going to be on September 27th, and it's going to be on the, sorry, it's going to be at the Pan, the, sorry the Pan American Center from 1 to 3 p.m. and so we are so excited for you all to be here we look forward to everyone being here today because I really want to make a change and I believe that in our three pillars which is kindness leadership and unity and I really want to just Have everyone know that they can be an upstander always. And so I thank you for this proclamation and I cannot wait for this event on September 27th.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Roma Shaikh, and on September 27th, we will be celebrating what it truly means to be an Upstander. Upstander Day will include live entertainment, kindness projects, an art reveal, raffles and more. But this day is about more than simply talking about bullying. It's about creating the actions we can take to create safer, kinder and more supportive communities. As an artist behind the art reveal, it would mean so much to me if you could come out and celebrate this special day with us. Because this event is youth-led, your support and presence would mean a lot to the students who have worked hard to make it happen. We hope to see you there on September 27th. Thank you for supporting the youth and helping us make a difference.

Take some over here, some more over here.

A couple more on this side. Hey, look, it's me. I got a couple more on this side.

Sorry. Here, bye. Back here to Victor.

This way.

This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. This way. How's that? Hold it in. Ready?

One, two, three.

On three, one, two, three.

Thank you. Thank you. Hey, go for it, you're welcome.

just doesn't feel right when we leave our chairs like we play musical chairs every time we understand it's a school night so you're welcome to stay for this wonderful meeting but we understand if you have to exit now thank you for being here tonight next item city clerk gonzalez

Well, we might take item D. 1 project status update and reimbursement agreement.

Oh, no public comment.

Sorry you got it. No worries. The 1st, 15 minutes of the meeting are reserved for members of the public to address the council on items, which are within sub within the subject matter jurisdiction of the council speaker shall be limited to 3 minutes. Speakers will be asked, but are not required to identify themselves and state the subject of their comments. If the subject is an item on the agenda, the mayor has the option of asking the speaker to hold the comment until that item is called. Comments on items listed as public hearing on the agenda should be held until the hearing is opened. The council is prohibited by law from taking any action on matters discussed that are not on the agenda, and no adverse conclusions should be drawn if the council does not respond to public comment at this time.

Thank you for that. I'll open it up for public comment. Anyone in the chamber would like to speak? Come on up to the podium.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council Members, Mike Pistorasi, 2001 Howard Road. I've been a member of this community for 77 years now. And I've seen a lot of things, some good, some bad. But I'm here tonight to just express my hope that the Council will take up the issue of pay for the Code Enforcement Department. I've called code enforcement on many occasions when I observe code violations in the city, trying to be a good citizen. And I'm told the same story each time, which is we're doing the best we can. I understand that recently two of your members left to go to work for the county of Madera. So I asked, what's the pay scale? And apparently the pay scale, if I'm not mistaken, starts at $21 an hour. So I can certainly understand why When you can go to work at McDonald's for $20 an hour, why would you do enforcement for $21? I would certainly hope that the council would take this up in the future and potentially increase the pay for code enforcement members so that we can maybe recruit some members to get out in the community and clean up some of the problems that I see around. Thank you very much.

Thank you for your comment, Mr. Pistoresi. We appreciate it. Anyone else in the chamber, come on up.

Hello. My name is Hortensia Mata-Klein. I didn't know I was going to come up here, but I'm glad he brought that up because I'm here for the same reason. I live in the area of Alpha School, and I live in a small perimeter, Gary, Allman, Monterey, and Stadium. And I walk around the neighborhood, and I walk my dogs every day. So I go down Gary Lane. You can't even walk the sidewalk because trees and everything are all over the place. They go and spray stuff to dry up the bushes and everything instead. I've called code enforcement numerous times. I'm talking about years. And they tell me the same thing. We're short-staffed. And I'm like, I get it. I'm short-staffed. I work at the women's prison, okay? I'm short-staffed. So at the end of the day, my work has to get done, you know? But that's not what I want to propose, that I feel that what would help all these things in my – the whole city because I'm glad you're start, you guys are starting to beautify and even downtown. Okay. Um, I follow that and I see that. And so I'm trying to keep my neighborhood cause I pay taxes. I pay a lot of stuff, you know, but, um, When the sweeper comes down, if there is a car, trash, boat, RVs, anything, they should get a ticket. I lived down south about last year for like a whole year. And every week, everybody had to remove their cars off the street, which brought a big revenue into the city for money for the city to be used for the city. So I am wondering why that can't be done. And, and then I feel that that would be a big help. Yeah. Would mean hiring more people for sure, but that would bring money to maybe able to do it, you know? So with that, I that's what I'm proposing. And, um, hopefully if I need to come here for every council meeting and bring some more people, then maybe that'll help. But I was glad with your story. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. City Clerk Gonzalez, anyone online or on Zoom? Thank you for that. I close public comment at this time and move on to the next item.

No items under workshop. Now, move to petitions, bids, resolutions, ordinances and agreements item D, 1 project status update calendar.

I'm sorry consent calendar.

My goodness. It's okay. What's going on?

Some of those more evenings. It's okay.

matters listed under the consent calendar are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion and one there will be no separate discussion of these items if discussion is desired a member of the public or a member of the council may request an item to be removed from the consent calendar and it will be considered separately thank you for that at this time i bring it to my colleagues for any comments or concerns i see none i open it up for public comment anyone in the chamber anyone online or on zoom We have none, Mayor.

Thank you. I bring it back to my colleagues. We do have some amendments that were spoken at the beginning of our agenda. So I need a motion and a second.

Make a motion.

I second. Okay. Is that good for that? City Attorney, thank you. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you for that.

Moving on to the... Can we go to D1 now?

We're there. City Clerk Gonzalez.

D1, project status update and reimbursement agreement with Union Pacific Railroad Company for the rail corridor improvement study.

Thank you. And that will be presented by our very own Administrative Analyst Say. Thank you for being here tonight.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Thank you.

Let's wait for my...

Okay, so we are here for a project status update and also to approve a reimbursement agreement between the city and the Union Pacific railroad. 1st, just a little background on June 17th of this year council approved the rail corridor improvement study with our consultant ancient TV corporation. 1.7Million dollars. The study will examine 7 grade crossings along the Union Pacific railroad quarter. It's funded with 1.6Million dollars in railroad crossing elimination grant funding with a local match of 200,000, or excuse me, 400,000 dollars from city, uh, local transportation funds for a total of 2Million dollars. The city obtained letters of support from Union Pacific Railroad and Caltrans for this grant funding. This is just a overview of the area of study, the yellow dots. Um. Exception of the 1 at yes, I'll be the old dots are the areas where the improvements are being studied. Uh, Cleveland and Yosemite are being studied specifically for the potential for a great separation. The rest are being studied for potential safety enhancements. Once completed, the study will provide up to 2 build alternatives for great separations at the Cleveland Avenue and Yosemite Avenue grade crossings and safety improvements or enhancements for the 5 remaining crossings. it's important to know this project is only for the study and preparation of conceptual engineering plans and safety recommendations any construction or implementation for this project would occur at a future date and would be dependent on the availability of finding any funding for it just to kind of go over what a great separation is essentially it's an infrastructure solution that separates the road from the train by either having the train go the railroad go beneath the road or having the road go under or over the railroad tracks. So it's basically physically separating one from the other. These are just some examples of some grade separations in the upper left hand corner. This looks to be this is Shaw Avenue. If anyone's been at Shaw and Clovis and Fresno, this was done probably about 25, 30 years ago, maybe. I'm not certain where the one on the bottom right is, but you can see that is pedestrian looks like a sidewalk and then the street behind it going over the railroad just some project progress update on where we are right now staff has met several times internally to discuss potential conceptual designs and then refine our list of future development components that are critical for any eventual inclusion in any final conceptual engineering plans Once the conceptual designs are agreed upon and selected, we will bring it back to Council to present to you for feedback. It's worth noting that Union Pacific holds the approval authority for any construction that affects the right of way. But we have brought them into the process already as a stakeholder. We've met with them once as a preliminary meeting. And Caltrans will also be consulted due to the proximity of State Route 99. Uh, Union Pacific's participation, uh, part of the process to have them involved with this is they require a reimbursement agreement for their investment of time and resources. Currently, they have this, uh. Estimated to be 50,000 dollars for their cost to for them to participate. The final cost will ultimately depend on the extent of their involvement. Additionally, we will be gaining, uh, some preliminary public outreach soon. Um. in tandem with developing the design concepts we're going to be doing public outreach potentially at the old timers parade and the pomegranate festival we've been told by the consultant that they do have applications out so we'll be subject to availability but they have been in contact no designs will be shared with the public at this time we will be giving a general map of the project area where they can point to any issues or concerns any of the seven crossings that they feel would be uh worthy of you know important to include in any discussion we have going forward. And then any suggestions and concerns submitted by residents will be logged and implemented when feasible into future designs or safety improvement suggestions. Looking ahead, after the conceptual plans are presented to Council, there will be additional public meetings to receive public input, which depending on the feedback may inform future design revisions. And concurrently, the city's consultant H&TB Corporation will be working on an alternatives and safety analysis report, which will be brought back to Council for approval before it's submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration. So with that, tonight's recommendation would be to adopt a resolution approving an agreement with the Union Pacific Railroad Company, which is paid for via the project grants. And with that, I will be happy to answer any questions.

Perfect. Thank you. I bring it back to my colleagues for any questions or concerns. Council Member Rodriguez.

Yes, thank you, Nicole. So out of the projects that you identified, Obviously money is a big, I mean, obviously that's your biggest factor.

Correct.

Which of those require, which of those grade separation would you say is a priority for our city?

Out of the two, Cleveland is our number one priority. And then obviously they'd put Yosemite at second. And then the safety improvements are going to vary depending on what they find. But the top priority would be the Cleveland separation.

Well, good. I'm glad to hear that the grants were available from the FRA also. But more importantly, I'm glad to hear that Union Pacific is also being a collaborator. And hopefully, I mean, this design, who knows when we would have the matching funds or funds to ever get to that point. But having that would certainly give us an alternative to look at this design. So thank you. Appreciate your time. Appreciate the presentation.

Thank you. Thank you for your comment. At this time, I open it for public comment in the chamber. I see none. Anyone on Zoom or online?

We have none, Mayor.

Thank you. I close public comment at this time and bring it back to my colleagues for a motion and a second to adopt this resolution.

Motion to approve is written.

Thank you. Oh, I have a motion and a second. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you for that.

Thank you.

Moving on to next item item D, 2 central Valley, salinity coalition agreement for participation in the prioritization and optimization study for the alternative salinity permitting approach.

Thank you. And presented by our very own. Uh, director Gandhi, thank you for being here again tonight.

Thank you Madam Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members. I wanted to apologize. There's an error in the report. The financial impact says in the report as 5000 budgeted, but it's an error. It's actually $12,000. So just for records, just wanted to mention. So this is basically an agreement for the salinity prioritization and optimization study with CV salt. Just to give you a background, in 2018, the Central Valley Water Board adopted a region-wide salt control program. It applies to the surface and groundwater discharge of salt in the Sacramento-St. Joaquin River and Tulare Lake Basin. City received a notice to comply on January 5, 2021, under the CV Salt ID number 2672. On August 8, 2022, the City notice of intent reflected its election to participate in the prioritization and optimization study. The compliance path was permitted discharge of salt must comply through one of the two pathways, conservative salinity permit approach or alternative salinity approach. City elected to participate in the PON study for its 2022 notice of intent and order R5-2022-0074. The fee structure is charged is to formally implement the participation, the city first has to enter into an agreement with CVSalt, which calculates the fees based on through an online payment portal key to CVSalt ID, facility category, and number of bonds. Portal generates separate charges for the PON study fees, surveillance and monitoring program fees, sampling fees, and base data administration fees. The appropriations for the CVSOL contribution are included in the financial budget for 26-27 in the amount of $12,000. It's to be noted that the published report noted in the budget was $5,000. This was an error. The correct figure is $12,000. This is based on our previous year's calculation, which was $11,778.99, so around $11,800. So that's what we calculated as $12,000. The fees will be paid by Seward Enterprise Fund. Uh, we recommend recommend to adopt a resolution, approving entry into the agreement for permitting, selecting participation and the study for alternative salinity permitting approach with a central valley salinity coalition. That's all I'm here for any questions.

Thank you for that. Bring it back to my colleagues for any questions or concerns. I see now I open up for public comment. I see no one in the chamber online or on zoom city clerk Gonzalez.

We have none mayor.

Thank you. I close public comment and I bring it back to my colleagues for an adoption of this resolution to approve. Okay, have a motion in second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed motion passes unanimously. Thank you for that report. Director. Moving on to the next item.

Item one select recipient for the proclamation recognizing old timers day annual parade.

All right, presented by our very own city clerk, Gonzalez. Give her a minute to pull that up.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Alicia Gonzalez, City Clerk. This evening I bring before you the item to select a recipient for proclamation recognizing the Old Timers Day annual parade. For some background, Council adopted a policy governing ceremonial documents in August of 2023. And late last year, Council approved the 2026 annual list of proclamations. Council also discussed and approved certain proclamations would be labeled as recipient at the discretion of Council. So tonight, per Council's direction, staff is requesting that Council select a recipient for this proclamation. I will now turn it back over to you, Council.

Thank you. So I will bring this back to my colleagues for any nominations to receive this proclamation. I have a nomination. I know last year we appointed the King and Queen because they were not able to attend. They had received COVID on a trip. Is it possible for this year if my colleagues would like to entertain the Grand Marshal to come? I don't know if it's, I know it's been given in social media who's receiving it, but at the time, right now, I can't think of who that person is, but whoever the Grand Marshal is.

Oh, Dennis Smith, yes, GBS, that's it.

If he would like to accept that proclamation, I think that would be a good nomination. I'll second. Okay.

That's a nomination I'll accept.

Thank you. I'll open it for public comment first. In the chamber? Online or on Zoom?

We have none, Mayor.

All right. I will close public comment at this time. I know it's just a recommendation. We're just going to go through the formalities. We have a motion.

Yeah, I'll move to have Dennis Smith become the recipient for the ultimatum. Second.

Second. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you for that.

Thank you, Council.

Moving on to the next item.

is council member reports announcements future agenda items this portion of the meeting is reserved for the mayor and council members to make brief reports on boards committees and other public agencies and at public events to request updates to initiate future agenda items and to take action on matters initiated under this section of the agenda under this section the council may take action only on items specifically agendized and which meet other requirements for action thank you for that i will start to my right councilwoman evans nothing to report oh

Okay, Mayor Pro Tem Zachariah.

Nothing to report tonight.

Wow. Council Member Montes.

Got to report something. Nothing to report.

Thank you. Councilwoman Mejia. Nothing to report. Council Member Rodriguez.

You know I'm going to have something. Actually, I just wanted to request to see if the council would entertain. I'd like to know what the City and Madera Unified collaborate in. I know that we collaborate in a lot of programs. I don't know what those are. I know that... We certainly have, uh, some activities through John. Well, summer programs and what have you. But I, I would really like to explore, um, how the city and the dare unified can can develop some collaboration or partnership and piloting maybe 1 school and keeping that school open throughout the, uh, when students are not at, um. at school. And what I mean by that is there's a lot of park space, a lot of green space in schools. And unfortunately, I know they had some type of partnership in the past, tennis courts, what have you, you know, it's been very difficult for some parents after school to access Madera Unified. So I'm not sure what partnerships we have. But this wouldn't be something that would encompass all city, this would be something just small and possibly entertaining a pilot if possible. So

my colleagues agree I'd like to know what partnerships we have and if that would be something we can explore okay that's all seven okay is that it thank you for that report council member Villegas nothing to report thank you and I have nothing to report other than our city chiefs are back with us so we are glad to have you safe and sound here back in the city of Madera and I guess chief with us or captain Chief not sure title. Thank you for that. I will be turning it over to my city attorney for closed session Thank You mayor.

We have one item for closed session this evening. It is g1 threat to public services Action five four nine five seven eight consolation with city manager city attorney.

Thank you Thank you open it up for public comment in the chamber. I see none online or on zoom.

We have none mayor. I

Okay, I will close public comment on this time and we will move to closed session. If you are not here when we return, Safe Travels Home will be right back. Thank you.

Okay.

And we're back, and I will turn this over to our city attorney.

Thank you, Mayor. There was no reportable action taken in closed session.

All right. At this time, I will adjourn our meeting at 646, and we'll see you back Wednesday, September 16, 2026. Good night, everyone.