City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. We're going to call this special meeting to order, the meeting of August 19th, 2026. City Clerk, would you mind taking roll?

Mayor Turner?

Here.

Council Members Vega? Here. Liebers? Iwanaga? Here. Martinez-Beltran? Here.

Very good. Thank you. And now we're going to declare the posting of the agenda.

Tonight's meeting agenda was duly noticed and posted in accordance with Government Code 54954.2.

Very good, thank you. We're gonna move to closed session and I'm gonna ask Elisa to now read the closed session into the record.

Yes, thank you, Mayor. The council will meet in closed session momentarily under government code section 54956.9D2 for one potential action involving significant exposure to litigation. Facts and circumstances are known to the city.

Very good, thank you. Now for public comment. Do we have any public comments on this item?

No, Mayor.

Very good. We will now adjourn to closed session.

Because, you know, they're like, oh, I'm going to use it right now. Don't pay attention. Talking about suicide, but yes. Okay. Well, yeah, that's great. And I think you'll love this one, Martha. Okay. I have a teacher at the top of 52. Yep.

Okay, we'll talk about it later.

All right, good evening, everyone. We're going to call the meeting to order, and we are now going to do a silent invocation, if you'll stand with us, and we'll do the Pledge of Allegiance after that. Amen. Now the pledge. 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. Thank you. The report out is at the city attorney's report, or do I do that now? Tell me.

I suppose we could go ahead and do that now. It's a little out of order, but... Okay, yeah.

We'll go ahead, and the report out on the closed session is... The council gave direction to outside special counsel. We'll now move back to the agenda here and where we're going to do a recognition of Carlos Perez. Carlos, come on up. Nicely dressed, by the way.

Come on up here.

We're going to give a proclamation. As many of you may know, Carlos Perez He's the owner of Royal Clothiers, who had been in town for nearly 30 years. And so we're giving him a proclamation. He has closed his doors, retired. Let's give him a round of applause. Carlos has been a great addition to our town and really an anchor for that many years. And anytime, if any of you had been in there, you know that he always greeted you with a smile. And when you left, you left with a word of encouragement. And so we are grateful to you, Carlos, for the many years that you served our community. And we just want to say that tonight, it's my pleasure to recognize Carlos Perez upon his retirement after nearly 30 years as the owner and operator of Royal Clothiers in downtown Morgan Hill. For generations of customers, Royal Clothiers has been a part of many of life's important occasions, from proms to weddings and other special milestones. Carlos was also known for his expertise as a tailor, exceptional personal service, and the warmth and friendship he extended to his customers. Carlos's dedication to his customers and longstanding presence in downtown Morgan Hill reflect his deep commitment to the community and have contributed to the character and vitality of our downtown. On behalf of the City Council and the City of Morgan Hill, thank you for your many years of service and commitment to our community. We congratulate you on your well-earned retirement and wish you all the best in this next chapter of life. It is my honor to present to you the Certificate of Recognition. And if you'd like to say a few words. Yes.

Please, thank you so much, Mr. Turner, for this honor. Thank you so much. This is a great honor to be here with a beautiful community. A long time ago, we came, and Morgan Hill opened the arms for my family. I'm really very grateful. There is the human being have to something, gratitude. So they will never forget gratitude to everything on the life. First of all, I say, thanks God for giving me the life. Thanks to my parents for giving me the skills to help a lot of people in the community. I can express my gratitude to many, many friends. Many friends. I have a thousand stories to say. But it's time for us, for the Perez family, to continue the journey, to enjoy the life. So yes, I want to say thank you, Morgan Hill and the beautiful community. We love it. God bless you.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you too.

And I... I think I can say on behalf of the Council and on behalf of the Community how much we've appreciated you and how much we will miss you in our downtown Thank you so very much. Okay we're now going to go to city reports and up this week is mayor pro tem leavers.

Good evening, everyone. We've been on furlough for, I think, six weeks. And believe it or not, we didn't stop working, us on the council. We all had our committee meetings and different things that we had to attend to. So I'm not going to name them all. I have quite a few. But it has been a busy six weeks. We weren't just on vacation the whole time. So we continue to work. And it's my honor to represent Morgan Hill on all the committees that I do serve on. So thank you.

Very good. Thank you for that report. We're now going to go to, if there's any other reports, anybody have a report to make? Council Member Martinez-Beltran.

Thank you. I had a number of meetings. I just had my SBC meeting last week. I see that we're on the consent agenda for the health and support that they've given to the CRC for our, in giving us a grant. And they have showed up many times to help us here in Morgan Hill. So really grateful for that. And we have a new facility that will be opening for Silicon Valley Clean Energy. They're moving to a new facility. It's really exciting. We're building out our chambers and everything like that. So there'll be a big ribbon for everybody to come to. I hope you all enjoyed the summer. My children are back in school now, and that is a wonderful thing. And so there was lots of work. It's a very, very busy time. Did a look at some of the ordinance and have been to many different meetings that I couldn't sum them up all here, but happy to be back and looking forward to getting back to it. Thank you.

Very good. Anyone else? Please. I mean, Council Member Vega.

Hi, good evening. Thank you for being here today. During this little break, I did a lot of our meetings and then I also volunteer for things that are really close to my heart. And I also wanted to tell everybody that I am no longer a commuter. I am here in town and I'm super excited about that. And I'm bragging about it because I am just overfilled with joy. So I'm happy that I'm back though.

Very good. Thank you. And I've got a report. I've attended a VTA board meeting, Cities Association meeting, and recently held a meeting with community members talking about a way of really making Morgan Hill a sports, a youth sports and recreation destination. So we'll have more to report on that as we go. I think that's it for our council reports on this. You got something?

I was going to stay quiet, but go right ahead.

Jump in.

Yeah, it's good to be back. And I also was busy over the summer, but particularly I was thinking of just the last few weeks. I had the pleasure of participating in the Ross Prado Foundation clothing giveaway. That was really nice to see all the families that were blessed with that organization. And again, they'll be doing the free backpack giveaway this Saturday, which I'll be participating in as well. And there's also a citywide event put on by Dory Prado, which, you know, encourages people to come out and see, you know, what people are doing in some of the local churches. But I think that'll be a nice event. So I am glad to be back. Nice to see all the faces out here.

Very good. Thank you. And now we'll go to the city manager's report. Great.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council, community members and my teammates that are here this evening. I have several reports for you. So I'm going to go through this list. The first is ZipTrips. ZipTrips was here on August the 7th. Hey TVU, Fox 2 brought its series to Morgan Hill, showcasing some of the people, places, and local flavor that make our community a special place to call home. A big thank you to the Zip Trips team for shining a spotlight on Morgan Hill, and to everyone in our community who came out, showed their support, and helped us give the Bay Area a warm Morgan Hill welcome. If you missed it, you can find the link on our Facebook page. wanted to announce that on October 10 we're going to have our 20th anniversary for the centennial recreation Center we're going to have a full day of activities, including a ceremony and a celebrity free throw on test at 10am. On July 22 at our aquatic Center not outdoor sports Center we hosted. the 20th annual CrossFit Games. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to disclose the event ahead of time as the location was kept secret right up through the event happening. Parks and Recreation has been partnering with the San Jose Sharks to host community ball hockey clinics in Morgan Hill at the Community and Cultural Center. The most recent one was hosted on July 17th, and we do have one coming up on Saturday, September the 12th. The next is an exciting update related to the flood control project. We took a step forward in completing the Upper Yagas flood protection project as Wright Avenue is now open for vehicle traffic. While Hale Avenue is still closed from Maine to Yagas, getting Wright open should help with the east-west traffic throughout town, and Hale Avenue is scheduled to be reopened in October. Looking forward to tomorrow, Thursday, August 20th, starting at 4.30. Families can enjoy at the Back to School Night Twilight Market from 4.30 to 7. Kids activities, giveaways, resource booths, and a chance to win prizes. Shop, dine, and support small business vendors in downtown on 3rd Street, which will be closed to traffic. Looking ahead to the ballot, election day is on November the 3rd, and Morgan Hill voters will have a measure on the ballot regarding our city treasurer position. And so the council decided to move forward with a measure to ask the community if this role of treasurer should remain elected or become appointed. To learn more about the ballot measure, there's information on our website to talk about that kind of explains what it would mean to go from elected to appointed. And our communications team are going to be at the Twilight Market tomorrow sharing information about the measure. So go and visit with them. Next, I wanted to announce that the city is launching the Elevate Morgan Hill Spanish Leadership Academy. This is a free 10-week program that's conducted entirely in Spanish to strengthen leadership skills, connect residents with community resources, and to encourage greater civic involvement. Accepted participants will attend an in-person retreat on August the 29th with classes beginning September 15th. And so more information is available on our website. And so far we have a lot of applications. So we're really, really excited about that. Wanted to make a really exciting announcement that we have a new company that has announced that they're coming to Morgan Hill, Huron Power. They announced a 100 plus million dollar investment to establish the Huron Factory One. It's taking a 286,000-square-foot distribution facility. It was formerly Young's Market, and that's on Jarvis. And they're going to use it as a high-tech manufacturing plant that's going to produce next-generation medium-voltage power conversion systems. We appreciate PG&E and the governor's office, GO-Biz, for their support to ensure the traction of this business to Morgan Hill. Next, I wanted to share that we were selected to present our economic mobility program known as Elevate Morgan Hill at the International City County Management Association, also known as ICMA, at the National Economic Mobility Conference in Washington, D.C. this week. And so we have three teammates, Edith, John, and Mary, that are there now presenting.

My last item today is a new teammate introduction.

I'm going to ask Kelly Wright, our new HR director, just to wave at the audience. Welcome to Kelly. I just want to share a little bit about her, and then you'll get to learn a little bit more about her when we do teammate introductions in a couple months. Kelly is a public sector HR leader with more than 25 years of progressive experience across all major HR disciplines, including recruitment and selection and benefits and payroll, employee and labor relations and workforce development. Most recently, she served the city of Fremont. And so let's join. Let's please join me in welcoming Kelly. And with that, Mayor, I conclude my remarks.

Thank you. I appreciate that. And now for our city attorney's report. Elisa?

Thank you, Mayor. I don't have a city attorney's report, and you reported out on closed session.

Very good. Thank you. And now we'll go to public comment, and I'm going to look to Michelle for a little bit of help on this. I know we have some folks here that want to talk about some different items. One, I think I want to make sure if you're speaking, I don't know how many folks are here to speak about the data center. That will be item 18. Do you mind if I ask how many are wanting to speak on that? Okay, so that would not be during normal public comment. That'll be, hold that for when we get to item 18. I think we have how many?

We have 16 speaker cards for public comment. So with that, we'd be at two minutes apiece.

Two minutes apiece, right. Okay, very good. Let's go to public comment.

And I'll ask if you are here to speak on general public comment, if you can get your speaker card in by the time the first speaker is done, if it's not already with me. Our first speaker is Daniel Flutier, who will be followed by Chris Rebell. Let me just make sure this...

Apparently it's working.

Yep. Yes. Okay.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council, members of the gallery. City Council, in the June 24th meeting, special session, you declined to take action in joining the amicus brief against the local ICE facility. The city manager reaffirmed Morgan Hill's commitment to being supportive and inclusive community. The only logical conclusions we can draw is that you support the ICE facility or you're either afraid of ICE. The Brown Act does not prevent you from providing an explanation to our community members. So please don't hide behind it. Please show transparency and openness to the people you work for, the people who hired you in this community. Thank you. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Chris Rebell, who will be followed by Kathy Jasper.

Good evening, council and members of the public. The Gilroy Garlic Festival Association raises money for important community causes, including nonprofits that help children at risk. The association provided vouchers for people that were volunteering at the Gilroy Garlic Festival to recognize their service. I've been told by a very reliable source that council member Yvonne Martinez Beltran volunteered to pour drinks at the festival starting Saturday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m. She received volunteer vouchers for parking, admission, food, drinks, and benefits for her and her husband worth approximately $300, yet she didn't actually do the volunteer work. she was seen at the festival instead wearing a campaign shirt is what I was told. So I'm not asking anyone to accept an allegation because I raise it. I'm asking for facts to be established. If she missed the volunteer shift, still using benefits designated for volunteers, that would raise legitimate questions about judgment, honesty, respect for a community organization whose mission is to help kids. If the allegation is false, the appropriate response is equally straightforward. Explain what happened. And this isn't the first time questions regarding the councilwoman's position of taking benefits from community organizations has been alleged. At the July 22nd circus meeting last year, where there were concerns she raised, somebody else raised a similar situation. So character matters, integrity matters. It matters for a private citizen, even more for a public official. And especially as we enter an election cycle, I think people look beyond slogans and policy disagreements. Can I trust this person? So I'm going to end with a simple question. If what I said is, I'm requesting this of Council Member Martinez-Beltran. If what I said is inaccurate, please correct the record. Did you accept volunteer benefits without performing the volunteer work? That's a simple question, and the public deserves a simple, truthful answer. And you could probably respond.

I just want to make clear that with public comment, the council does not respond to public comments. If it was something, if there was a question, we could refer that to you as the city manager or city attorney for a follow-up. But it doesn't keep her from responding at any other time outside the council chamber. So thank you very much.

Our next speaker is Kathy Jasper, who will be followed by Bruce Cooley.

was my big sign says here i'm asking you to protect our neighbors and keep our families together so. Like the first gentleman who spoke i'm asking you to take a stand on ice so as you know i'm. Santa Clara County and our Attorney General Rob Bonta has come out with a lawsuit against the ICE facility. 20 other government entities like Santa Cruz County, Monterey County, the city of San Jose, cities in the area have taken a stance Gilroy and Morgan Hill have not signed on to the amicus, however you say that, but at least Gilroy has come out with a resolution against the ICE facility. My understanding is you had a meeting, but the public doesn't know what the result is. So what I'm asking for you today, so it turns out that 36% of Morgan Hill is Hispanic, 40% is non-Hispanic white, 17 is Asian. So anyway, the majority of our community is not white. And I'm asking you to stand with our not white community because this facility intimidates our community. Just having the facility, even if you're a Hispanic citizen of Morgan Hill, just having the facility and getting stopped and harassed by ICE agents It's not a good thing for our community, for our students. I'm an educator. Both of my kids went to Sobrato. I ask you to do two things. At least come out with a stance resolution. Sign on to the amicus.

Time is up. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Bruce Cooley, who will be followed by Caitlin.

Not a big deal. Hi, my name is Bruce Cooley. I'm here to talk about the amicus brief. At the last council meeting, council considered in closed session whether Morgan Hill should join the Amicabreeze supporting the lawsuit brought by the state of California and Santa Clara County concerning proposed ICE detention facility in Gilroy. Afterwards, the public was only told no action taken. The council made two choices. One, to discuss this issue behind closed doors and two, to tell the public nothing beyond no action taken. I find the lack of transparency disappointing, particularly on an issue of such significant public interest. I ask the council to reconsider that decision and disclose why Morgan Hill did not join the amicus brief and how council members and the mayor voted on this issue. Thank you. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Caitlin, who will be followed by Linda Espierto.

Hi, I'm Caitlin, and I'm here to just express my disappointment with the members of this council who voted not to sign on to the amicus brief and join the legal battle against the ICE facility in Gilroy. This decision, ultimately made away from the eyes of the public in contrast with the purported transparency this council claims to value, demonstrates a complicity with the ongoing backsliding of civil rights in our country. These rights are protected to everyone. for everyone within the boundaries of this nation, not just for those with papers that label them as a U.S. citizen. We must ask ourselves what sort of people we are when we allow the erosion of human rights for those who are the most vulnerable among us. It is truly an embarrassment for me to live in a region that has decided to shrug its shoulders and allow hate to deepen its roots in our community. My trust in this council to make decisions that benefit the whole of this community is broken as a result of this decision. We are seeing ICE and this administration operate with dishonest and cruel methods. For example, ICE officers have been coercing detainees with valid green cards to sign a form I-407 without full transparency of what they're signing, telling them it will get them out of detention. What that form actually does is revokes a person's legal status and gives ICE the ability to deport them. This administration has also revoked the Refugee Status Act. The refugee status of half a million refugees to deport them back to countries where they face existential threats to their lives. These are people who went through the proper channels and did everything the right way, but still had their lives completely upended by the laws shifting to build a cage around them. Um, so I, you know, I request that the council please reconsider this decision. And if, uh, if possible to please sign up to the multi agency amicus brief to permanently block the holes cloth road ice facility, and if possible explore other legal options and also to place constraints on the ice field office office, that's on two 20 vineyard court. And to establish no state staging buffers and absolute non-cooperation policies to ensure that city resources are probably used to help this city and its constituents. Thank you.

Linda, you scared on a long time resident of Morgan Hill, and I'm here to speak in support of the amicus brief. I think we can all agree that immigration does need reform, but I believe ICE is not the way to do it. The cruelty and unjust tactics of this group are staying on our nation and on its history. The ICE agents remind me of the thugs and dictators of World War II. Sadly, our civil rights have also been grossly infringed upon. The private prisons, For profit prisons and the detention centers are profiting off the misery of others. So I say, please sign on to the amicus brief. And I say, ice out. I don't want these people anywhere near where I live. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Susan Betts, followed by Phil or Sally. Susan, you're up next. Susan Betz is next, will be followed by Phil Orselli.

City Council, fellow audience members, my name is Susan Betz. I live here in Morgan Hill. And I have to tell you that I was dumbfounded after the last City Council meeting when you decided not to act on the amicus brief. When I think about its impact on my surroundings, I have immigrant neighbors immediately to the left side of my house and the house on the right side. They are a large part of our county, 42%. I believe we need to protect them now while we have the ability to act on protections. It also affects me because of what happened in my hometown in September of last year. About 189 people were forced out of their apartments in the middle of the night after ICE masked armed individuals dropped from helicopters onto their apartment building and the surrounding area, as well as coming in off of the streets. What ICE is doing across our states, our country is just unbelievable. We must take every possible action we can now to slow that process down and to stop the horror of ICE.

Our next speaker is Phil, followed by Gerardo.

Good evening, City Council. My name is Phil Orselli, and I'm here representing the Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America. So... I'm going to go a little off script here, but I just wanted to start with being... I think we're getting a really good idea of where the temperature of this room lies. I think everybody can see that right now. I think you guys, everyone up there can see it right now. And I hope that when you are being... When the public is exclaiming to you in such a way, in such a unanimous way, what they want and why they want it and how it's hurting them, that you will listen appropriately. Otherwise, I don't see how we can trust you in your current position and why we should afford that trust given to you. So I just have a simple list of demands that I want to get through. So number one, as talked about by some of my other colleagues is to join the legal fight. I would love if you could sign the multi-agency amicus brief to permanently block the Holtzclaw Road ice facility. I want you to restrict local ice operations, investigating place strict municipal constraints on the ice field office located at 2020 Vineyard Court. Establish a no-staging policy. Ban ICE from using public parks, parking lots, or municipal buildings as staging grounds. Strengthen sanctuary protections. Formally prohibit local police, city officials, and city funds from assisting ICE. And finally... Yeah.

I hope you do the right thing. Your time is up. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Gerardo will be followed by Ashley.

Good evening City Council. My name is Gerardo and I'm also here with Silicon Valley DSA. I wish I had time to just echo everything that many of the people have already said, but I don't. So what I will say is I will start with your decision, your failure to sign on to the amicus brief when the option was right in front of you. You went into closed session and then you came out with a lack of transparency. We didn't get an explanation. We don't know why. We don't know what happened. This sends a mixed message. You said that you are committed to inclusivity in your community, but this does everything but that. This is everything but a commitment to inclusivity. When ICE treats people in brutal, dehumanizing way, when ICE kills people on the streets or in facilities, when they disappear people, when they tear them away from their families, that is dehumanizing and that is not inclusive. I grew up around here. And I got to say, as an immigrant, how else am I supposed to feel but less than if that type of behavior is acceptable for people who look like me? So I'm going to echo some of the demands. If it is still possible to join the Amethyst Brief, I will urge you to do so. And if not, then I urge you to explore other legal options. I ask that you restrict local ICE operations and place any constraints possible on the Vineyard Court office. That you establish a no staging policy that federal property is not used to help ICE dehumanize your community members. that you strengthen sanctuary protections and commit to that inclusivity and that you agendize the zoning issue so that people have a say.

I appreciate it. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Ashley, followed by Tricia.

Hi, everyone. My name is Ashley Antoniette Sarabia. I'm actually from Eastside San Jose, but I represent Bay of Resistance Silicon Valley. I'm here today to also echo the demands of everyone who's stood up so far. But I actually want to talk about why I'm against ICE. It's because I love the people who are being terrorized by them and the communities, too. I'm even here down in Morgan Hill and Gilroy supporting your communities while they deal with this. But what I want to talk about also is your lack of action and what it's done to your own city. On July 3rd, I went to go support the bantering crowd over Burnett Overpass, which is famously known for flying the Nazi flag, by the way, as you know. When I went there, when I arrived, I watched a man in a Humvee that said, look for the license plate, TWUK, ram at the people who were already there on the hill. rammed at them and he slammed his brakes short of hitting them. But we couldn't see that from the side. We ran out of our vehicle thinking someone had been injured. And the other side, his buddy was backing into them. I'm pissed because your sheriff was right there watching and calmly got out of his car and said, calm down, told him to go to the other side and park. We weren't allowed to park on the overpass, but he let them, he let them pull their flags out. He let them start intimidating the people who are on the overpass. And that's what you've allowed by not taking any action. You've allowed spread to hate and you should be ashamed. You should sign on to the Amicus Brave. You should be supporting the immigrants in your community. They shouldn't be allowed on your properties. As we all know, despite the disinformation out there, immigrants do pay taxes, undocumented and documented. They pay for that property as well. So bare minimum, do something, anything to send a message to the hate in your community so you can change the way it is here. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Trisha followed by Yoy.

My name is Trisha. I'm a member of the Tango Migrante South Bay or Defend Migrants Alliance, which is an alliance of organizations dedicated to protecting Filipinos facing attacks against ICE. I'm here because as an immigrant myself, I'm worried about the Filipino as well as the greater migrant community here in Morgan Hill. My family and I moved here due to issues of political corruption that are prevalent in the Philippines, and we were forced to move to another country in search for economic opportunity. And this is a reality that many other migrants in this community face. So it's a cruel irony that the country that many have been forced to migrate to and have worked hard to get here is now actively working to deport them. So as a concerned community member, it's important for the Morgan Hill City Council to hear from their community and understand that they have an incredible opportunity and responsibility to do their part in signing the amicus brief to block the ice facility in Gilroy. I hope that you listen to all of these people and all of these comments so far and make a decision that supports your constituents. And please know that your inaction is a stance on ice itself. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Roy followed by Heather.

So I just want to make sure you said Hui, right? Okay, thank you. Good evening, everybody. My name is Hui Tran, and I'm Executive Director at SIREN. At SIREN, we've been on the forefront of the efforts to protect our communities. Through local efforts like Rapid Response and the Ice Out Coalitions, we've connected with community members who must deal with the crushing pain of seeing loved ones detained and separated from their families. We hear from families who have children that have anxiety attacks when their parents leave home for work to do errands because they don't know if they'll ever see their parents again. Billions have been invested into expanding detention centers, and we have private companies like GEO Group and CoreCivic gleefully detaining these individuals, breaking families apart in inhumane conditions for massive profits. It is our clients, our communities, and our people who have endured the terrible conditions in these facilities. This is an industry that is built on heartbreak and pain. This is why we need to see this city do something. Our community has repeatedly mobilized over and over outside of Holes Claw. Our meeting has shown up to these meetings to demand action. Our community has lived this nightmare and acted, but this city council has not met the moment. You have an opportunity to show the courage that we see out of council member, Yvonne Martinez Beltran, who has been with us in community to demand accountability and to demand action. We have an opportunity here. You've already heard from the demands, but there's also one other opportunity, and that is to open up your zoning laws, look at it, and see what you will allow in this city and what you will not. Use the powers that are already inherent in your ability as elected officials to be able to determine what the values of the city are on where it spends its money and what it allows within its boundaries. I encourage you all to find that strength and find that courage because it is happening all around you, in these halls, in these chairs, and in front of you. And I believe and I hope that we can see the same from the council. Thank you.

Excuse me real quick. I just want to say one of the rules we have here is no clapping. I'm not going to try to shut that down, but banging on a wall or something else, I'm just going to ask you to, if you're going to applaud, that's fine, not a problem. But just let's keep it to that. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Heather, will be followed by Sean.

Good evening, City Council. My name is Heather, and I'm here to ask you to agendize a discussion on zoning. Allowing community members to give input on zoning provisions is very timely at this moment when our community members are being terrorized by ICE. We're all painfully aware of the recent attempt to build an ICE detention center in Gilroy, as we're also painfully aware of this body's continued decision not to stand up for our most vulnerable community members. As people are being denied their civil rights, being kidnapped, brutalized, and even murdered by ICE on a regular basis, This body's failed to make even the most basic symbolic gesture to show its immigrant community that it's got its fat. Morgan Hill is one of the only two cities in Santa Clara County not to join the amicus brief against the ICE detention center. Absolutely shameful. I mean, at this very meeting, your mayor's smirking while community members are pouring their hearts out and absolutely shameful. It's hard for me to fathom why you would fail to stand up for your residents and neighbors, but I'm here to say it's not too late to start doing the right thing. In addition to agendizing a discussion on zoning, please join the amicus brief if you can still do it. Please take measures to restrict local ice operations, investigate and place strict municipal constraints on the ice field office at 220 Vineyard Court, establish a no staging policy on city land, and strengthen sanctuary protections, formally prohibit city employees, including police, from cooperating with ICE and prohibit city funds from assisting ICE. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Sean will be followed by Julianne.

Hi, my name is Sean Baker. I work with a bunch of local coalitions, including Bay Resistance, Silicon Valley, as well as the Rapid Response Network. And we've been dealing with a lot of stuff involving ice all around the South Valley and the South Bay because that's where I live and that's where I operate. I've been down to Morgan Hill many times. It's a beautiful area and I love it. Eating down here, you know, spending time down here, but I absolutely hate the way you guys are treated how you're dealing with ice. And I really hope that you don't let them stage here. Don't let them work with our local officials here, because I want to come down here as much as I can as much as possible. And it really hurts when I have to think about that when I'm down here, because I have friends, family. and lots of people that i've met through the immigrant community and it really hurts it really upsets me and my friends and i get if you're scared to sign on the amicus brief but the people who are being harassed by ice or like know that ice could be around at any moment who are immigrants and are being targeted they're a lot more scared than that and uh I do would like to see you guys put zoning on the agenda because, like I said, this is a beautiful place, and I hope that we keep it that way, and we make good decisions in the future that's all I have to say thanks. Thank you.

Next. Our next speaker is Julian and then we'll move to zoom.

Good evening, my name is Julian signs i'm a 19 and 19 years old and i'm here as a resident of Morgan hill and representation of goddess. I stand today in front of you to express my utter disappointment in the city council members before me. The message you've chosen to represent this town by declining to join the amicus brief against the upcoming ice facility in Gilroy is truly unacceptable. With effort, All of you could have taken time to give yourselves proper education on the negative impacts of ICE facilities on local Latino communities, local agriculture, and the trauma they create. Despite the facility being in Gilroy, the impact it will have here is undeniable. It was reported that 2025 resulted in the most deaths of immigrants in ICE custody in over 20 years. When will we wait for this to be prevented? Will it take your own undocumented Latino residents becoming the numbers and the death statistics for you guys to decide that their humanity, lives, and safety matters? How many deaths will have to come from this new facility for you guys to decide that this matter is important enough to be on the agenda? Latinos make up 35.9% of our Morgan Hill community. Isn't that enough for you to care? Shame on you for tolerating the current ICE office in town. Shame on you for not making us feel safe. Shame on you for ignoring our voices. Shame on you for ignoring the future racism that is inevitably going to follow with the finalization of this Gilroy facility. Do better. I urge you to sign the multi-agency and make us brief. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Kevin Park on Zoom.

Yes. Hello. My name is Kevin Park from the city of Santa Clara. Speaking for myself, people often call on elected officials to show political will. And it's usually for relatively trivial things like housing projects. And those are easy. We find the issues with housing projects and we approve them if we can fix them and we bring them back if we can't. But when we talk about representation for constituents, safety for the immigrants that make up our communities, our families, we are often quiet, as I see here. We say that we cannot change state or federal laws. We cannot set foreign policy or affect policies in regions half a world away. But we as elected officials can 100% defend and protect the people in our communities, the people that those policies endanger. We can support immigrants of all races, religions, statuses that make up our cities. Detention facilities are often approved because of the revenue to the city, and this is money we should leave on the table. That is the literal cost of freedom. If the elected officials who manage our communities cannot protect the most vulnerable members of our society, what faith can anyone else have enough? If we cannot even make statements in support of our constituents, what less can we do? We can support the statements of people who are supporting our constituents. And at some point, listen to the people that you serve. We are civil servants. We are not the kings and queens of this society. We are not the kings and queens of the cities, and we need to represent, not replace the people's voice with our own.

Thank you.

I have no more speakers, Mayor.

Very good. Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you said one more.

Sorry, no more.

Okay, very good. All right. We'll close the public comment and we will now move on to the adoption of the agenda. I'll look for a motion to approve the agenda. Got a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? There being none, that passes unanimously. Before we get to the consent calendar, we'll just take a five-minute break here and we'll be right back. Call the meeting back to order. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. I'm sorry for item what? Item 13. Okay.

Excuse me, everyone.

Meeting is called back to order. Is there anyone else looking to pull an item?

Christine, I apologize. I know that you responded to my request about item six, but I'd still like to pull it because I think it'd be beneficial for the public.

Item six. And we have a comment for which item? 13. 13.

Yes, Mayor.

Okay. Then we will pull item six, and then I'll look for a motion to approve the consent calendar minus item six.

So moved.

I've got a motion.

Second.

And a second. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? There being none and one absent. So that is approved. And I will go to item six. Can we get a brief report?

Yes, yes. Item six is to approve and impact the freeze agreement with Regency Centers for 55,314 square foot retail development. This is on 7.82 acres and the parcel APN is on the staff report. And so basically what's coming before the council is an impact fee freeze agreement. Council has previously approved the impact fee freeze program, but this is of the size that we bring it forward to the council for consideration. And so what you have before you is a request to freeze fees to a base year of 25-26, so that's fiscal year 25-26. The total impact fee estimate for that year is $2.4 million. What this agreement does, it provides the developer a sense of certainty as to how much the impact fees are going to be. If they develop later than that fiscal year, then their fees are frozen at that $2.4 million. The staff report provides what those fees would be in 27, 28, 29, compares the amount that they would have been compared to the frozen amount. That amount is potential savings to the developer. That does have to be covered by the general fund. Now, why would the city offer up an impact fee freeze agreement? Well, it's an economic development incentive, knowing that this project will bring sales and property tax revenue to the city. And so the city will more than be made whole for the amount that's being frozen. With that, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

No, thanks for that report, Christina. I just wanted to make sure that, because I was unclear when I first read the report, like, holy smokes, are we giving them $96,000 and whatnot? I think the other question that was in the back of my head, if the developers say they get their plans, they say they're going to move forward, but there's a delay, Right. Is there a penalty after a certain amount of time? Does that change the impact fee freeze?

Yeah. So what this impact free fee freeze does is it freezes the fees at that twenty five, twenty six fiscal year. And then they have three years at which that those fees are frozen after that. So if we get to twenty thirty. It no longer applies. Now, the staff report does point out that there's a potential chance that the developer is not going to need this fee freeze agreement because time is of the essence in building this project for the developer. They also have to address inflation and rising costs, construction costs and so forth. So there's a chance that the agreement won't be needed. Thank you for that.

That helped me a lot.

Very good. Any other questions on that item?

Yes. Can they reapply after those three years? I believe so. I believe so. So if they haven't been able to meet the terms of the contract...

They would have to come back like we're coming back now. But it does allow them to... Well, just like any developer. So say if they didn't build and fast forward, it's 2030, they would have to come forward to the city, put in a new application, request an impact fee freeze agreement. We would have to bring it to the council, assuming that the council still has the program in place. Okay. So there's a lot of what ifs.

It's not like an extension then. It would be a whole new... Correct. That is correct. Okay. All right. Great. And is there... The maximum amount that the fees, I mean, they're set for the three years and so they freeze at that rate. But let's say they do come back, they reapply. Are they, do they get grandfathered in at the first rate?

No.

Okay.

Okay. Thank you.

Very good. Any other questions? That being done, we'll go to public comment. Do we have any comments on this item?

No, Mayor.

We'll close the public comment. There's no further council discussion. I'll entertain a motion to approve item 6. We've got a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? There being none, that passes unanimously. Now we have a comment on item 13. Rocky?

Okay.

Thank you Mister mayor City Council number one where the owners of some sweet we'd like to thank not only City Council planning Commission and staff for working with us over the years and this is just part of it this was way back in the construction time so thank you we love some sweet.

Very good thank you rocky. That being the case when I move on to other business items 16 Christina s.

Okay, so this next item relates to the Cal cities upcoming annual conference and what we're bringing forward is appointing the vote voting delegates and then providing a recommendation to approve city support of a resolution. And so I'll ask city clerk Bigelow to provide the report.

Good evening, Mayor and Council, City Clerk Michelle Bigelow. As you are aware, and for the audience's benefit, each year the CalCities holds its annual conference, in which case they also review resolutions before the league. And so they ask for a delegate and up to two alternates to vote on any resolutions that are presented before the CalCities board. Traditionally, our practice is to have the mayor be the primary voting delegate and the mayor pro tem be an alternate, assuming they're all attending. At this point, all five mayor and council are attending the conference. There is one resolution that will be voted on, and it's having to do with housing. That concludes my report.

Very good. Thank you. Any questions by council members? There being none, we'll open it to public comment. Any public comment on this item? No, I mean, I will close the public comment, bring it back. If there's no further council discussion, then we will go with the promotion move to approve. We've got a second.

All in favor.

Any opposed being none very good. That pass unanimously now to item seventeen.

This next item is the monthly budget update and it also includes the preliminary fiscal year 2526 financial investment reports as well as the city manager authority report and coming to present this evening is that when finance director.

It really makes America's members to me tonight. All right. Thank you. My name is that wing fancy director. The item for you tonight is the budget update. And more specifically, present to you the preliminary year end of last fiscal year 2526 numbers. And we begin with working working. General fund budget. The primary fiscal year, we just ended June 30, 2026 revenue. We are expecting about half a million dollars higher than the last forecast. We presented you the budget by annual budget development. And on the expansion side, including conferences, we also expect about a little bit over half a million dollars lower than or less expensive than the prior forecast. So overall, we anticipate, of course, subject to the closing of the book and the audit adjustments, if there's any overall improvement from the last forecast, about $1.1 million. So this is a bit of good news. For the development service fund, revenue came in about $8.4 million, more than $7.7 million that last we projected back in early June of this year. Experiences came in about $6.7 million, also slightly better than the $7 million we had forecasted. The strong performance of this fund really allowed the Fund 206 to repay the half of the $1 million That general fund loaned to them this fund a couple of years ago. For the enterprise funds, revenues came in a little bit, about $1.1 million than the budget, but due to the conservative spending and lower expenditures, the net impact is zero compared to budget. And while the operating fund transfer to capital projects, about $4.5 million, consistent with what we had budgeted for the wastewater, The revenue came in about $2.8 million. That's really provide additional funding to the capital projects. So at the end of this last fiscal year, 26, the wastewater operating funds transfer approximately $7.6 million versus $4.6 million budget. So basically about $3 million more than we budgeted. And this chart reflects the latest projected preliminary year-end 26 number for general fund. The red line 50% is basically the minimum council adopted minimum reserve that the city should retain. And the orange line at 25% is the long-term goal. And the dark blue line, thick blue line, is what we forecast as of now. And the line just underneath it is what we forecast back in June. So you can see there's a slight improvement based on performance of the fiscal year 26, slight improvement from what we had forecasted back in early June of this year. So any bit of good news is good for the general fund. And that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer the question that you may have.

Very good. Thank you, Dad. Any questions for Dad? Council Member Martinez-Beltran?

Hi, Dad. Hope you had a great summer. I wanted to ask you about this agricultural fund that we used, and I don't remember which one. I think it was for the subsidy, CAL FIRE on item number... Three, is it? Two. We accepted a grant from CAL FIRE for 798, thank you, CAL FIRE, to help us with our fire protection projects. And within that, the Agricultural Preservation and Open Space Fund contributed 200,000 of the total that was needed. So I understand that we paid 998 total $798,000 granted to us from CAL FIRE to help us do that and that we pulled $200,000 out of the Agriculture Preservation Open Space Fund. Is that correct?

That's correct.

Okay. And so I'm trying to figure out how, I guess, what does that mean? How is that fund going to be replenished? The Agriculture Preservation Open Space Fund, number one. Number two, do we regularly pull from funds when we're trying to do wildfires? proactive. I'm not sure what we call it, but help me out, Cal Fire. Clearing the brush and all that hardening.

Okay, so basically, just to answer the first part of the question, the The Fund 306 of Agricultural Open Space Funds is the basic remnants. The original funds exist from, we collect from the developers under RDCS or residential control system. That program is no longer existing. So basically what we've been doing is kind of spending out what remains in funds. I believe right now, as of last fiscal year, we have about a little bit over a million dollars remaining in our funds. So usually that fund for this purpose is what this fund is supposed to be for.

Okay. But see, that's where my concern lies is because they are residential funds. I served on the planning commission when we had the RBCS and we would get, you know, funds from there, which we're no longer able to do. However, those funds work for agricultural preservation and opening space. areas. And I would like to see them used in that way. Not that, you know, doing the hardening for Cal Fire is not important, which it is, but I think it should be allocated as such so that we know that that is really part of our public safety rather than we need to be doing both at the same time. And so I'm worried that we're, you said, spending down these residual funds. And I want to make sure that we're actually conserving those residual funds, that we can use them for open space and agriculture.

And if I can jump in. So the grant is from CAL FIRE. So the work is going to be done to protect the land that's there, right? Because there's so much open space. And so the funds are residual funds, as DAP mentioned, from the Residential Development Control System. Those funds over time will be depleted, but we're recommending that they be used to help protect that area from wildfire. And so we're leveraging the amount of funds that we're going to get from CAL FIRE, almost $800,000, seeing in the city portion, in order to do the work out there to make sure that those community members, all the residents that are over there are protected from wildfire. Let's go back several years and that was a threatened area. We actually had evacuations for much of that space. And so we want to do what we can to protect that land over there. And so that use of those funds that's being recommended is certainly an allowed use of those funds.

When you say that space over there, I understood that it was along the August, that that was one area. Yeah, it was another area in Jackson Oaks, but we also have the alternative. Many people have asked to have an alternative for the evacuation route from Holiday Lakes and Jackson Oaks. So I also wondered why we didn't use it for that. But I guess what I'm getting at is we do have a public safety need with CAL FIRE, right? This 200,000 that we pulled out of agricultural and open space, which could be used for parks, which are open space, bathrooms, things like that. And so I'm wondering, I wanna make sure that we are allocating it correctly to public safety because that's something that we're going to be looking at going forward as well. So yeah.

Yeah. And I would just caution us. I mean, Cal Fire is the granting agency, right? Yes. So it's not as though the money's going to Cal Fire to do Cal Fire things. No, this is for protecting our open space, right?

I have no issue with the work we're doing. I have no issue. I'm very grateful for all that Cal Fire is doing for us. I'm just wondering, is there a better space to pull that 200,000 from or call it so that we know it really is going to help us with public safety? That's one of my concerns. I want to make sure that...

Yes, this is the fund that we're recommending because otherwise it's the general fund. And as you know, we don't recommend that.

We don't have anything for public safety. In that case, then perhaps we need one is what I'm getting at. We need perhaps we need a fund that we could use.

That would be and that would be that that would be the general fund.

Basically.

I mean, at the end of the day, we call it something different, but it would be general fund and the source of the funds would be taxes.

I think it gives a little bit more transparency of where the money is being pulled from, allocated to, and all of these things. As we move into discussions about tax revenue measure and all of these things, I think it's a good, it just might be a smart way for us to look at things.

Thank you. Very good. Any other questions? There being none, we'll go to public comment. Do we have any public comment on this item? Being done, we'll close the public comment. And if there's no further council discussion, of course, we're just receiving this. So there's no action to be taken. So we do receive the report. Thank you, Dad. And now item 18.

All right. The last item before you this evening is related to future agenda items. And so we have two for the council to consider this evening. And so just by way of reminder for the council, as well as the community members that are here, if a council member wants to have an item brought forward on the agenda, Council member request the item during a meeting. And so these two have been requested. And so the first is to review and update the regulatory framework for utility scale and specialized high impact land uses. This was requested by council member Yvonne Martinez Beltran. Attached to the staff report is the write-up that was provided by the councilwoman. And so we'll, I assume, take these one at a time. And so we'll turn it over to you, Mr. Mayor. Yes. And turn it over to the councilwoman to further explain this item. And if the council votes as a majority to have this item be considered in the future, then it would come back to the council.

Right. And that's what I want to help the audience understand is that this process is first step is an introduction by a council member. Second step is where we're at tonight. And the council member gets an opportunity to talk to the council and the public. about why this should be considered to go to step three, which is where that step three is where we'd have a full-blown staff report and discussion and comments about policy. And there might be some back and forth there. Tonight is just whether or not we go to step three. Obviously council member Martinez Beltran is on what I think this is a good discussion. I think it's a good step to take moving it to item three or to step three. I get a sense everyone is okay with this kind of a conversation because it is important to our community that we have their policy and understanding about how this affects our community. So I'm gonna turn it over to council member. I appreciate that.

Yes, so in looking at what has been going on lately within I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH COUNTY AND OTHER CITIES THROUGHOUT THE REGION AND THE STATE HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT DATA CENTERS COMING AND LOOKING TO LOCATE THERE. WE HAD THE BATTERY SOURAGE FACILITY THAT CAME JUST OUTSIDE OF THE CHARTER LOOKING THERE. AND WE REALLY DON'T KNOW LOOKING AT THE ORDINANCES. THEY'RE OUTDATED AND THERE'S SOME GAPS THERE. AND SO IT REALLY SOUNDS LIKE IT'S has to for us to look at a land ordinance like this and have some guidelines and regulations that are updated, we just aren't able to foresee everything that is happening. You know, years ago, I mean, AI, it was not what it is today. And so we, of course, you have facilities that support that. And so if we're If there is going to be something like that here, I think it's really important that we look at, as many people are aware, there's lots of water that is used with this, looking at how that water will, one, be replenished, and not just for today, but into the future. Who is paying for that water to be housed? Who is paying for the treatment of that water? Who is paying for the maintenance of that infrastructure? With our power grid, we all know that we, you know, we see lots of interruption with that as well. And so what does that mean when we're having power pools for that? And it's a balance. I don't think it's necessarily a straight away. No, I think it is. We need to look and understand by doing some research and having the staff look and understand what are the demands that these are putting on communities so that our community is protected. And so that's why I brought this forward. There's just trends that we just can't get in front of. And I think when you have utility scale infrastructures like data centers, battery energy storage systems, And I'm all for clean energy, but there still has to be a responsibility in how that is done. So this would be to try and close that gap. There's lots of questions about, you know, who would be the deciding, I guess, body to look at that. Is that the planning commission? Is that the city council? What types of developments would be permitted? What wouldn't? Where would we want that? We have lots of agriculture here. And we have lots of what they call green fields. There's no infrastructure development there. Those really require looking at things through a different lens. And I think it's important if we're going to focus on agriculture, if we're going to focus, which is one of our priorities here, we want to have agribusiness, we want to have outdoor recreation. If we want those to truly be part of our Economic development plan, then we need to act like it is. And this, I think, is the opportunity for us to do that. So that is why I haven't brought it forward. I have a number of items that I pointed to in the framework here. If you had a chance to read through that. I've worked on some policy and that will come forward too, but I think this is definitely. we're behind schedule on this. So I hope that we'll get support to move this forward and have a discussion.

My guess is you will. In fact, this is where I'd want to have a conversation with the council.

I think it's just really, aren't we just saying we're voting on this or not?

Yeah, we're going to have it. they can ask you questions or they can make comments about this item as to how we would go forward. And I think there's, as I said, I think there's strong support for moving this to step three. And I would, if there's some thoughts or again, we're not going to get into deep conversations or details about it. If you, so I'm opening it for comments or some questions you may have. Go ahead.

So, no, I think this is a good thing for us to look at. And it's a nice change from about a year ago when there was sentiment pro the data center. So I think over the last year, we've learned a lot, especially with what's going on in Gilroy. So I'm for this moving forward and taking a deeper look. I'd also like for us to maybe consider, you know, how is county going to be involved with this? Because some of it that's proposed is sometimes on county land. So what does that do for us when we move forward with this?

But again, that comment there, and we'll have that as part of the conversation when we come back with a staff report. Yeah.

Thank you, Yvonne. I think this is really important for our city. I do want to know or think, share, I don't know what the word is, but I think this is more than a conversation we can have at Council. I'd like to see a special day, half day, to really dig into this and get everybody's input, review what you've already reviewed. So I'd like to propose that we agendize this at a further date, close as possible, or either a half day or full day just on this one subject.

I think that's a great idea. I do think we should, you know, we could do chew gum and walk at the same time. So that would probably be a great thing we could do at the workshop that's coming up. That's good opportunity next Wednesday. And it's timely. And then we could have staff dig in and look at some of these different importances that are out there. And there's all kinds of good stuff.

One of the things I think I look at is, is a week enough time for you to do? And I don't think it is either. So I don't know that we can necessarily, I think it, again, there's other ways we can do it in bringing this back for conversations. And we can do a workshop as well. Yeah. Any comments?

I was just going to say, I'm pretty sure the agenda for next week is already set, but let's not let this slip between the cracks. Let's get this on the agenda. Okay.

Thank you. Yes, I agree. It's going to take more than a meeting or 30 minutes for us to go deep into. And I think the staff, to be fair, should have plenty of time to bring us solutions, questions and more information, not just for us, but also for our citizens. So, yes, I agree.

The staff will bring this forward, I imagine, in a future agenda item separate from the workshop.

Mayor Mrakas, yeah yeah and I am in total agreement, I think this is time to have a conversation about what is the impact on something like this in our Community proximity to neighborhoods that sort of a thing so. Mayor Mrakas, it's very clear, we want to move forward, we certainly now at this point, though, do you want to bring it open for public comment, you want to do both items here before you.

Mayor Mrakas, Let's.

Mayor Mrakas, Let's do one at a time yeah.

City Council Chambers, So if anybody on zoom wishes to give public comment on item 18 please raise your hand.

Let me just reset the timer, Mayor.

We have 10 speakers, Mayor, 11, so that'll put us at two minutes a piece.

Two minutes each, yeah. Very good.

Our first speaker is Dan Cloutier, followed by Bruce Cooley.

Good evening again, City Councilmembers. Yes, please proceed with this discussion. I think it's extremely important to our community. So data centers, as you're aware, were approved at Gilroy under old zoning regulations with only one signature. Council members weren't even involved. Can you please ensure in your research and your working group it does not happen here? Don't let it slip below the radar. Data centers create few permanent jobs, maybe tens of dozens. They consume vast amounts of water and electricity, stress the power grid, cause higher utility bills for all in the community. Backup generators pollute the air and are noisy. This is something we all know anyway. Data centers are not really good neighbors. Many cities have been complicit partners with secret deals, shell companies, non-disclosure agreements, and tax giveaways. So yes, indeed, let's have an open, robust public discussion here in Morgan Hill on this topic. Until then, I really recommend you put a moratorium on data centers until we've done our due diligence and we are really fully up to speed on what's going on here.

Please protect our city's future.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker.

If we could just hold the applause and let's get through our comments.

We'll be followed by Linda Izquierda.

Hi, I'm Bruce Cooley, and I urge the council to place this issue on a future agenda for public discussion. It sounds like you more or less agree to do that, so I won't belabor the point. I look forward to the discussion. Thank you.

Linda will be followed by Susan.

Hi, I'm Linda Izquierdo, and I just also want to support a thorough examination and discussion before, if a data center should be built here. We want to be prepared for that eventuality and have a really extensive discussion and study of the issue. Thank you. Thank you.

Susan will be followed by Greg.

I think you ended up where I wanted you to end up today.

So that's it.

Thank you.

Greg will be followed by Caitlin.

Thanks so much for opening up your eyes to what you can do. And this way, we don't have to try to convince you of having this. It sounds like you're prepared to do the discussion. That's great. This is what we came to ask you for, and you're going to do it. You know what's really neat is, I don't know if you're For those of you who haven't seen, you got a number of public comments on this issue, on item 18 tonight. And thankfully, they put, this is from the public, they put the comments on paper. So if any of you want to see what other people were saying about this issue, right there, right down the table, a number of public comments. This is really cool that you opened it up. This is what we want to see, transparency. That's what we were going to be asking for. And thank you for that transparency. We look forward to hearing more. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Caitlin will be followed by Gerardo.

No, I'll just put your name on this. Hello, and Council, I'm not going to belabor the point because I think you are all in this decision to move forward with putting this item on the agenda for a future Council meeting. But yeah, I just encourage the Council to be transparent and to also include the community in this topic on this high-impact land use. Thank you.

Thank you. Gerardo will be followed by George Panos.

Hello again. I appreciate your receptiveness to agendizing this item. I also don't want to beat a dead horse, but I do want to make a few comments. A recent poll showed that seven out of 10 people are in opposition to AI data centers, and that opposition is bipartisan. So I just want that to be in your heads when you're considering this issue. I also call for more transparency and whatnot. When you have such bipartisan opposition to something like this, it becomes an issue of democracy as well as the environment. So I think a review of zoning around high impact facilities is called for, whether that impact is environmental Uh, in nature, like the data center, or moral and naturally guys facility. Thank you.

Thank you George will be followed by Camila.

Yes, take it to step 3. I look forward to an open discussion, and I would also encourage you not only to agendize it, but to do a full-fledged workshop, because this will create the framework for discussing some other items that are coming down the pipe. But this is a very important topic, especially, as you say, in the paperwork here on a high-impact land use. So I look forward to hearing the results of some knee-deep discussion for future discussions here at these meetings. Thank you.

Thank you.

Camila will be followed by Dolores.

Hello, my name is Camilla. I am a resident of Gilroy, and it's very good that all of you seem very open to continuing to step three. Yes, that is what we all want to see. But I just want to make sure all of you know that it's very important because as we've seen in Gilroy, things can just kind of get pushed through old outdated codes. And we need to make sure that there is community involvement in these decisions that will be impacting everyone. Thank you.

Dolores will be our last in-person speaker, and then we'll move to Zoom.

Thank you very much. And good evening, City Council, Mayor Turner. Thank you for allowing us to speak. And I want to start out by thanking Council Member Martinez for bringing this up. Very important issue. And we're delighted to see those smiles that you all had when she was talking and when you all agreed to a study. What I heard earlier today was specifically from you, Mayor Turner, is that you want to do or that you said something like it's a good thing for our community, we need to do this for our community, but why don't we make that a regular sentence before we end. Let's do good for our community. Let's keep people out of ICE detention centers, et cetera, et cetera. It's not that difficult. And it's very Christian thing to do, to take care of our people. And most importantly, honestly, the role of government is to take care of the residents and constituents. That's why you are here. So thank you for agreeing to this and whatever I can do to assist in the planning of this event or any logistics or translation, etc. Please let me know. My name is Dolores Alvarado. I'm a resident here since 1994. So thank you.

Very good. Thank you.

Thank you, Yvonne.

Our next speaker is Sharon Luna.

Good evening, Mayor Turner and council members. Thank you very much Yvonne for bringing this to the attention of the public and the council. I also like to say thank you for your involvement with the county. I am a resident of San Martin. I am very pleased as far as with what has transpired with Gilroy. It's opened up the doors for public outreach and to discuss not only data centers, but also other big projects and get policies updated. There's no reason that we should be operating under a 1981 policy as in Gilroy and a 1995 policy as is in the county. I have also made public comments to the county supervisors. And it may be a good thing that all of us work together, county, Morgan Hill, and Gilroy, and have dialogue. It is important that doing it right the first time is good public policy and more cost effective. Thank you very much for your leadership.

Thank you. Our last speaker is Kevin Park.

Yes. Thank you very much. My name is Kevin Park. I'm from the city of Santa Clara, but speaking for myself. And I'm really glad that you will talk about this at a future meeting. But I want to put a few things into perspective. Northern California has just under 200 data centers and 60 of them. A third of all the data centers in Northern California are in one city, Santa Clara. which is a tenth the size of the city of San Jose. And it's likely because of our electrical utility, Silicon Valley Power. We source 750 megawatts of power. Of that, the entire residential population uses less than 6%. Less than 40 megawatts of that 750 megawatts is used for residential power. And that's about 40 megawatts is about the same amount as a medium-sized data center. And I want to put this another way, which is if we closed a single medium-sized data center in our city, we could double the population of our city without having to generate a single watt of additional power. And rates for residents are going up because of maintenance, that's true, but also projects necessary to support our industrial users who use over 90%. We are looking to double the amount of power that our city sources because of the data center projects that we've approved that are still pending, that are coming to us. You talked about wildfires earlier, and I remember the Camp Fire, Dixie Fire, Grizzly Fire, Palisades, Altadena, likely caused by transmission lines. And we have lawsuits with PG&E in the north. We've got lawsuits with Southern California, Edison in the south. We really need to look at what this demand, what our resource demand will do to our environment. And before data centers are approved, there should be strong climate action plan definitions. You need to define how water is used and recycled. There must be requirements for this, not sometime in the future. You must define how clean energy requirements drive development. If someone's lighting cigarettes with a $100 bill, that's bad. I mean, I say, first of all, you shouldn't be smoking.

Your time is up. Thank you very much.

That was the last speaker, Mayor.

Very good. Thank you.

That was the last speaker. Sorry.

Again, I thought you said there's one more. I'm waiting. I'm waiting. Okay.

Keep going.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Okay. So I think it doesn't require a formal vote, but a thumbs up if we're all good to go. Council Member Martinez-Beltran.

I have some questions. So I wanted to ask Christina, do we have any data centers that are talking with us now? Any interest in data center?

I'm looking at my team and the answer is no, we do not.

Okay, great. And if that's the case, then I would be interested in looking at a moratorium until we get this completed and done so that we don't have one sneak into, you know, without any kind of maybe guidelines. So, I would like for us to look at doing that. We're talking about a workshop we're talking about. I think it's going to take a little bit of time for SAP to. Again, I mean, I have an audience that I would share that has, you know. Been looked at by many that are doing that now, and we've been working together on that. So. But I'm sure that staff will want to get into that. So, in the meantime. I think it is important for the moratorium come up a few times that we should look and consider doing that until we can get everything organized. I also, that's it for my questions. I do want to thank Charter School and the efforts that they've done. Their advocacy on the battery storage has been very successful there if you haven't heard. And so that's not gonna be more moving forward. So thank you to you Charter and all your advocacy. Thank you to all of you for your public comments and encouraging us, Council, to really move in the right direction. Appreciate that accountability. And I hope that you will return. Today is just a yes or no, but the real sausage making will come. And when we have discussion and we're exchanging different ideas and hashing out what the guidelines will be to follow or not in the workshop, I think that's really where we'll need that dialogue to take place. So having said that.

I've got some questions as well. Should someone come forward and say, we want to do a data center in Morgan Hill? What is the current process?

Ms. Carmen, could you come forward, please? So Jennifer Carman, Development Services Director, is going to come forward and kind of explain the process. And typically when somebody's interested in a business, they would come to us and just sort of float the idea. And then the next big step is to actually file an application. But Jennifer, why don't you share a few more of the details?

And because, again, I want to make sure that it could not be approved without coming to the council.

Okay.

Our current response to any use that is not currently in our zoning code, if it's not listed, it's not allowed. That goes for data centers, battery storage, and any other use that might not already exist in our zoning ordinance. It even applied to a cat cafe.

Yeah, the data center would not be allowed.

It would not be allowed. However, having rules that address it and define it

always bolster that. And I'm all for that. Yeah, that's not the problem. I'm just, I don't necessarily want to put a moratorium in place if we know we aren't going to let a, within this period of time, unless we say, if we're going to go with a moratorium, that moratorium is for a 90-day period. We're not going to put a, I don't want to see a moratorium out there that then we then have to go back and then try to remove. Because I think the thing we have to think about in the future, if we put a moratorium on this forever, we don't know that technology five to 10 years from now could change. So, we get policy in place that doesn't allow something to come in without public input conversation at the dais. Then we're protected, so I'd be okay if we do if we do a moratorium, but it's like a 90 day. Type thing, or based on the fact that what you just told us. A data center cannot come in.

I would say that a moratorium actually gives us some protection.

Okay.

And it's extend, you extend it out. So it's not permanent.

It's a temporary moratorium. Would you recommend, what would you, is it a 90 day to start with and then push it?

And then see where we are for as an extension. Yeah. Okay. And I would also include battery storage in that as well, because we have been approached by battery storage for years. And I have regularly told them to

um that weren't it's not allowed here um but there is that day when they could challenge that no one has but we want to make sure that the city's protected so even with a moratorium so if we had a moratorium they cannot challenge it i would defer to elisa they can always challenge that i guess right and elisa while you're at that i my understanding is that we can't have a forever moratorium

I don't know about that. It is within this council's authority and purview to set policy. And if a temporary moratorium is the way this council wants to go, I'd feel confident that that'd be defensible.

Yeah, and I like it. Yeah, and then pushing that out as we go, if it takes longer... for us to come up with the policy. And again, I would look to the public to be patient with us as we go through this process and have these multiple conversations. We're going to get it right. It may take some time to get there, but I think we're all committed to seeing that happen. So I'd be okay with that. I'd be okay with a temporary moratorium of some sort.

That's exactly what the public is asking for, is for a moratorium so we can get our vets in a row.

Yeah, again, what I'm defining is a temporary moratorium. Sarita? Yes, I could. Well, actually, I was the one speaking. Okay. I thought you were done. No, no, no. But I was speaking, and now it is right, and we'll come back to you.

And can I actually jump in?

Sure, sure. We'll let you go ahead.

So because this item wasn't agendized as introducing a moratorium, it would not be appropriate to adopt this evening.

Would you bring that back in the staff report? Yes. Very good. Yes. Okay.

But my request is that because this is of the time is of the essence and we don't want one to sneak in, that we look at having that come up very soon. We have our workshop next week again. We can simply talk about putting that in there. We don't want to wait. on moratorium and then we'll have something come in. I just don't think we're going to... The other question I want to... Yeah, just real quick.

This is a discussion. This is a discussion, so we can go back and forth. I just don't think we're going to get a month or two.

If we do have... She said that we don't allow them now, but that wouldn't preclude if somebody asked about a data center that staff could perhaps come to council and say, we've been asked if they could do a data center council, would we allow this?

I'm not aware of anything that would preclude staff from doing that.

So they could, it could be brought to the council, even though it's not allowed, it could be brought to the council. And so that's another reason why I think it's important for us to have a moratorium.

It would be brought to the council as a code amendment. It would not just be brought for a decision. So if you recall the cat cafe, we went through the full process with planning commission and council. And that does take time. It's 30 days. Once the ordinance is approved, it takes 30 days to go into effect. So there's a long... a runway to get to that final point. If we did a temporary moratorium, it could be done through an urgency ordinance. It would be immediate and it would give us a pause for us to have time to move forward. But that is something we can discuss when we come back.

That is really just the concern that I'm getting to. Rather than have a project come forward and then we have the developer who's itching and saying, well, I have my project and can you look at this and counsel what you think? We are now being We're being a little bit rushed through the process. I would rather us have the moratorium as the residents have asked so that we can stop things. We can get the ordinance in order. We can look at all of the things we need to consider. Meanwhile, we don't have our builder's remedy or anything else going on, right? We stop the clock. We get things right. And then when we have that ready. We're ready to do business. That's all I'm saying. I think would be the best way.

And I'll ask you, when do you see this coming back as an item?

You know, I'm going to need to talk with Jennifer and with Edith and Elisa and determine that. I mean, at earliest, of course, would be next Wednesday, but it might be in September.

Yeah, I would, I would, I'm on board with the, let's, let's put that into the staff report when it comes back. I think we're, I think we're safe. I think you already know if someone comes to you, you're gonna have to bring it to us anyway.

So can I ask a question? So Jennifer, you made a comment that you said somebody, you typically say no to these people that have asked about the, I think it was battery that you referred to, but you said they could challenge. How can they challenge?

It would be a developer coming with an attorney challenging our interpretation of our ordinance that if a use is not listed, it's not allowed in the city. And it would depend on how successful they are at that challenge.

Do you feel that that is a legitimate threat?

We have not had any inquiries about battery storage. I have had no one push back on my, well, data centers, excuse me. I've had no entity push back on my interpretation of battery storage. But given our experience with housing, you know, as we've seen, attorneys have pushed back on our interpretations of the code and our interpretations of state law. So I don't want to say there couldn't be an instance. And since our role is about protection of the city, we just want to make sure that we do that. Okay. Thanks.

Okay. So you'll come back with that. Very good.

Thank you, counsel.

The second part of it.

Yes, exactly. Yeah.

All right. So so that was the first part. So we did have an additional request for an item. And that is related to funding for the Morgan Hill Gateway Vintage Sign Project. And so this was brought forward by Mayor Turner. And so included as part of the staff report is a write up from Mayor Turner. The council consider this item and potentially looking at the public art fund is one of the funding mechanisms. And so with that, Mr. Mayor, turn it over to you.

Very good. Thank you. I've been working with the Historical Society and our Library, Culture and Arts Committee about a vintage sign project that we would have at the Gateway coming into Morgan Hill headed south. I think some of you are somewhat familiar with that. And what I'm looking at is private funding. Nothing would come out of the general fund, but private donors to help make this happen as a sort of a historic art project at our Gateway. I'm asking to have a conversation, a further conversation and having the council discuss and vote on in the future, the possibility of using some money that would come out of our public part fund that we approved some time ago. Whatever percentage it might be, $20,000 could be less, just to kind of help us get that project across the finish line. But most of this funding is going to be sought for private sponsorships. Questions? And to Member Martinez-Bell, please.

Thank you. So I want to make sure I'm clear when you say Gateway Vintage Fine.

Yeah.

Is that the one in downtown that's over me? Okay, so what are...

This is more going, what I'm looking forward to doing and what we're working with the Historical Society is some of our old businesses from yesteryear that are no longer in business. There might be some that may be in business but have an old sign. There's places throughout the country that do this sort of a thing. It becomes sort of a historic sort of, it might be Capri, a Capri sign.

What ALCAC is doing, their project, where they're going and asking for the old signs. Correct. Okay. Correct.

Okay. Yep. Yep. That's the deal. And there's maybe in that period or that stretch, maybe seven to 10 signs that we could install. Some might have some neon, some might just be lit up.

So there are signs like the old Snow White.

Correct. Right.

The Dairy Delight would have been a good one.

Yep.

Some of those that LCAC or Library and Arts Cultural Commission has put together this project and they're working on to preserve different signs.

Correct.

I'm sorry.

No, you actually probably said it better than we did.

Okay, great. And what are you, I guess, what are you looking, how much are you looking to use from this public art fine how much are you.

I would say probably up to about $20,000 that's the estimate yeah exactly right okay and the I understand this is that monitor on Monterey correct okay Monterey heading South would be on the area between the streets and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks there okay yeah.

And then. The other question I have was for the public art fund. This is funded by the in lieu fees from commercial and residential development.

Correct.

Can you tell me, somebody tell me what has gone in from commercial development versus what has gone in from residential development?

I don't think we have anything in the fund at this point.

Yeah, I don't have any numbers.

Dad says no.

Chris has something Chris raised his hand. What do you got Chris? Zero. So at this point, yeah, I mean, at this point we could end up with, well, you know, so, and again, we'll just keep, we'll just keep working private donors to, to make it happen.

Okay. And then, which leads into my last question is what is the timeline for us?

Working it now, we've got several signs that have been donated to us already, but we want to put it out to the public. And I think there'll be some treasure hunting as people begin to look for signs as where they might find them. So we'll want to try to collect them. Some we'll have to restore, some we might have to just refurbish or rebuild. So it's going to be, I can't say, well, it's going to be, you know, 18 months.

No, I think much longer.

But it's going to be, it'll probably be, I'd love to see it done in a year, but it's probably a year to two years of time.

Okay.

Well, that's helpful. Yeah. Thank you.

I think, I mean, I loved the idea when they talked to me about it. They, you know, we're talking about kind of giving a little reminiscent feel of kind of what more in Hill used to be in certain areas. So I think if it's, I think it would need to be big enough that it's noticeable rather than just a few, you know, exactly right.

Yeah. Yeah.

But I mean, it could be a cool thing. Okay.

Thank you. Anyone else?

I'd love to chat about it.

Anyone else?

We need to get some money into the fund.

Yeah, I know we got to get some money in the fund, but let's not do it with more housing, right? Let's do it through commercial. So with that, is everybody okay with putting, having, I'm sorry, we'll go to public comment. Yeah.

I do not have any public comment.

Okay. We'll close the public comment. And if everyone's good, we'll have staff do their report. Very good. Thank you very much. And now we'll move on to future council initiated agenda items.

I had, which was only on the moratorium. They think we, I want to be clear that we'll be seeing that come back within the next 30 days.

And let me ask you, if it's just the moratorium, could that come back next week for us to talk about and vote on? Would that be enough time just to bring that item back? I think so. So why don't we shoot for that?

Yeah.

Okay.

Barring any sort of legal or otherwise issues.

Yep. Okay. So we'll shoot for that then. very good thank you if there are no other future agenda items ladies and gentlemen thank you for being here the meeting is adjourned