City Council - Regular Meeting

January oh, I'm sorry. You can the 01/15/2026 regular meeting of the Sanger City Council is called to order at 6PM under Brown Act government code section five four nine five three c two. The legislative body of a local agency shall publicly report any actions taken and the vote or abstention on that action of each member present for the action. Item b, opening ceremonies. Invocation will be done by pastor Jessica Guerra. I'll leave the flag salute, then we'll have a roll call. Please stand.

Good evening. Please bow your head with me. Heavenly father, we come before you today asking for your guidance, wisdom, and support as we begin today's meeting. This year, Lord, we ask for your blessing over our community, over our leaders, over our first responders, and everybody in office, Lord. May we all lean on you for wisdom and strength. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray, and together we say, amen.

Ready? Pledge allegiance to the flag in The United States Of America

and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Nina Rokum.

Council member Melendez? Here. Council member Montelongo? Here. Council member Hurtado? Mayor Pro Tem Martinez? Here. Mayor Gonzalez?

Here. Item c, agenda approval addition and or deletions. We will be moving item h one to be continued for a future council meeting. You bet. Do I have a, motion to approve? Make a motion to approve.

I'll second, mister mayor.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed? Hearing none, that motion carries four to zero, one being absent. Item d, ceremonial matters. We have a fire chief. There were some new hires.

Good evening, mayor and council. It's my pleasure to introduce to you two of our newest employees here at the Sanger Fire Department. We're very, fortunate to have brought them on board tonight. First, come on up. First up is, is our one of our newest EMTs, Oscar Mendez. Oscar comes to us, in the Central Valley as a young adult, 13 years old, from North Hollywood, but, grew up in the Parlier area. After that, graduated from Parlier High School and attended EMT school, and now he's here, working as one of our newest single role EMTs starting out his career here, which we're really happy to have him here. Next and not least last, but, least least but not last, is, Aubrey Wilhelm. Aubrey is our newest fire inspector. She grew up in the Central Valley, graduated from Columbus West.

She has a lot of history in fire service, has attended the fire academy. She also is a volunteer for Shearer Lake Fire Department. She has a vast experience in fire prevention and investigations. She's worked for not only the private sector with CAL FIRE and with Selma FIRE, also in the private sector with Pye Barker and other agencies. And so she brings a lot of experience that we really needed here in the department with our prevention. As you know, the prevention office is the cornerstone of our department, and we're very fortunate to have her, and here, our new employees. So thank you. Appreciate that.

Great. Thank you. And, you know what? Thank you

too for both, choosing the city of Sanger. Believe me, you have the full weight of the council up here to back you guys. We're always looking to, you know, have our our our people the best trained,

the best equipped. So, you know, on

behalf of the council, welcome aboard. Thank you. Thank you, guys.

We'll move on to the item f, public forum. This portion of the meeting is reserved for members of the public who wish to address address the council on any matters not listed on the agenda and within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city council. Each speaker is limited to three minutes. Speakers shall address all comments to the mayor and the council as a body and not to any particular council member or member of the staff. Speakers are asked but not required to state their name and address. The council is prohibited by law from taking any actions on items not on this agenda. Is there anybody wishing to to speak? Please come to the, podium and

Your name here. Members of the council. Are you gonna cut me off at three minutes?

I won't be mean

about it.

Because I

I can get my view a little bit more.

Okay. So, this letter reflects my voice and that of my husband, but we represent the hearts of many others. We recently sent letters to superintendents and school officials involved, and tonight, I'd like to read it to you. The recent inconsistency and discussions surrounding the potential elimination of the military and public service academy at Sanger High School has caused significant concern among students enrolled in the program and their families. Students, particularly underclassmen, have expressed uncertainty about and worry about whether or not they'd be able to complete the program and participate in milestone activities such as ringing the bell during their senior year that recognizes commitment and achievement.

During the twenty twenty four, twenty five academic year, the public and military the Military and Public Service Academy was officially recognized as a four year pathway at Singer High School where the, graduating seniors, including my older son, graduated and proudly wore red, green, and black, boards at commencement to signify his accomplishment. In addition, under special coordination, the military there was a military signing day at Sanger High School for the class of 2025 that took place honoring 27 students who committed to, entering the military. This event was well attended by military personnel, local veterans, and members of the Central Valley Blue Star moms as well as family members, reflecting strong community support for both the program and its students. This demonstrates sustained interest and the need for the program on our campus. Currently, there are participants in the program who are younger siblings of former graduates, including our younger son.

This is also a testament to the pride, success, and impact of the program within families and the broader community school community. We would like our younger son to have the same, opportunities that are older than experienced during his four years at high school as a member of the honor guard of the Military and Public Service Academy at Sanger High. We are also concerned about the recent lack of communication between Sanger High School's military program and the community partners such as Sanger City cam Chamber of Commerce and the city of Sanger. This disconnect has been frustrating for everyone involved, for the staff, students, parents.

You know what? Since you're speaking for a lot of people, we'll give you more time.

Thank you. Under previous city of Sanger, chairman administration coordination, students regularly participated in community events, including commemorative services such as the Memorial Day service the ceremony at the Sanger Cemetery every year. One particular concerning example is the annual trek to the tree in Kings Canyon. This event has historically been significant for our community, and this year's hundredth year anniversary made it even more meaningful. The absence of the Sanger High School honor guard, despite their participation in previous years, was disheartening.

This event brings together the national service, the city of Sanger, and the broader community, and the lack of representation was noticeably felt. We strongly believe that continued involvement in these events is vital to student development and community engagement. As you consider the future leadership of this program, we respectfully ask that great care be taken in selecting a replacement to lead this program. This role requires far more than standard working hours. It demands a deep commitment to the students and a genuine investment in their personal growth, an individual who serves as a mentor and a true leader for the student body.

The impact of such dedication is evident when students openly express their respect and gratitude for an educator, relationships that endure long after graduation. Several members of the class of 2025 are currently serving in the U. S. Military and remain in contact with their family, frequently expressing appreciation and guidance, the mentorship that they previously received, often describing their leader as a father figure. The Military and Public Service Academy is especially important for students who may not be traditionally academically driven.

For many, it provides structure, purpose and a pathway to a better future. By way of example, our own son who entered the military right after graduation this past June had no intention of attending college and soon after, when he graduated basic training, he began expressing interest in pursuing higher education and becoming a teacher. Enrollment

in

the public and military public service academy at Sanger High School increased by 38 students from the twenty twenty four-twenty five to the twenty five-twenty twenty six school year, further demonstrating its positive impact and growing demand. We strongly support VROP programs, including the Military and Public Service Academy, and know many others who share this view. This program has a direct and lasting impact on our community, veterans who return home become integral parts of this community members of Sanger, such as health care professionals, business owners, educators, first responders, public servants, and community leaders. The Military and Public Service Academy at Sanger High School plays a key role in shaping these future contributors. We respectfully ask that the board give thoughtful and careful consideration to the future of the Military and Public Service Academy at Sanger High School main campus.

Its value to our students, families, and community is significant and enduring. You for your time and your consideration and willingness to hear our perspective.

Great. Thank you. And as a couple of veterans up here, you know, we really appreciate that program. And, you know, they've actually become a part of of what we do as as a city.

Yeah.

And, you know what? I'm behind you guys a 100%. I mean, if there's anything I can do, I don't know if you know how to get ahold of me, but, I'd be willing to, you know, go and speak to whoever I need to and let them know the importance of this program. Because I was, you know, personally shocked when they got rid of the NJ program. And then, you know, this awesome program popped up, and and I would hate to see that kinda go away too. I think that's a shame for our community.

Thank you. I appreciate that.

You bet.

Thank you.

Oh, and I do have that if it's, I actually wrote out letters. I can't leave them here for you guys.

You can't leave the clerk.

Okay. Thank you. Great.

Thank you. Is there anybody else from the public wishing to speak?

Kevin Carter. The other day, I went to the groundbreaking for the tractor supply. Afterwards, I drove down Central Avenue with a total embarrassment for the city. And if memory serves me right, and this was quite a while ago, maybe even a year or two ago, it was announced that the city and apparently, that road splits in the middle, half county, half city. And it was announced that there was an agreement between the city and county that together they were gonna redo the road.

Well, the county has redone their side of the road. The city side is so bad, in my opinion, need to put a barricade up at each end and just close it. The other day I saw on the Internet, whether this is true or not, I don't know, but I saw it. Several people complained about they'd fallen in a pothole out there and actually blown a tire out on their car. It's total embarrassment.

The other thing I have to say is we started this, commission to advance the status of women and girls in town, and I went through the agendas. Last year, they had one meeting in January. The only thing on the agenda, and I've got it here, was to determine whether they should continue with this or not. And I don't really see that there's a reason why this city needs to have this particular commission only for women and girls. I think it ought to be ended. Thank you. Thank you.

Hi. I just wanna kinda piggyback on what the mother representing the students that are here. When as previous or former presidency of the chamber of commerce and since they're all here right now, the students, I just wanna say how important that program was to every single event and every single thing that I did in partnership with the city of Sanger. And it was very, very sad to not see, especially some of the freshmen that had started with the program, to not see them at the trek to the tree. And I know how disheartening that was for them.

And considering that they were golden you know, they were winners of the golden of the golden seal, I said golden globes, and and to not let them be part of that honor and then seeing Clovis honor guard there. And then, you know, it was it was really it was disheartening to say the absolute least. And so just kinda wanted to just kinda let them know that it was missed, and and they were terribly, terribly missed.

Thank you.

Is there any other public comment? There being no other public comment, public comment is closed. We'll move on to item g, matters, consent calendars. Matters listed under the consent calendar are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion, one vote. There will be no separate discussion of these items. If discussion is desired, a member of the audience or a council member may request an item be removed from the consent calendar, and it will be considered separately. Council, is there any items we wish to pull from the consent calendar pay?

What do you want on the contracted out services for final for community development?

And

Is there any other items, counsel? Would the public like to pull any items from the consent calendar? Seeing none. So in regards to the consent calendar, with the exception of item g seven, do I have a motion to approve?

So moved, mister Mayor.

I'll second.

Motion and a second. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed? Hearing none, that motion carries unanimous. Item g seven.

I'll have I'll have Doc come up to answer any question may have, but what questions do you have on this item, council member?

Yeah. I I just wanna get an overall, update on the transition with our new, community development director, just to see what the status is, staffing levels, and then the actual services that we're contracting out, how that's gonna benefit, the department, and what are the next plans overall to be able to be fully staffed and operating, without contracting out necessarily. So wanna see what the vision is.

Certainly. So I haven't met you, which my name is doctor Joshua Goggins. I'm the new community development director here. So item g seven, the CSG consultant, contract, we have been going through a process of reviewing and auditing all current city contracts that we have. We work with a lot of different third party consultants, and, really, my aim was to see, the contracts that we have, the ones that are either need to be renewed, things that are outstanding, and just kind of what the kind of the general way that we operate here.

So this, contract in particular, there was a, during my audit process, I was able to see that this had a, a certain amount of spending that exceeded the city manager's, spending authority, so that's why it was brought before council tonight. I can say, we have a fully staffed department. We have a fully staffed planning division, fully staffed, building division, and code enforcement, is fully staffed. So, we our our planner just started this week. So it's his his first week. He actually asked if he wanted to come to council tonight, I said, no. That's okay. You're still kinda new. We're still we're still kinda getting know, we don't wanna scare them away. We wanna keep them.

So, really, my vision is to with all of these agreements, with all these contracts, is to just make sure that our money is being spent wisely and that we're not spending on things that we're not really using. We have all these different third party agreements, and my aim is to utilize and kind of consolidate these agreements. So instead of having, con having consultants do all these different variety of things, part of that audit process is we're gonna use this entity for this service, this entity for that service so that we can better, when we need to renew the agreement the next year, have a better, evaluation on what was our return on investment for those services rendered. I wanna make sure that we're good stewards with public money that we're not just writing checks to anybody and everybody. So, that is, what I have.

Did I answer your question?

Yes. Part of it, but I also wanna know, like, what specific services they have been providing in the last year or two and, see what the challenges are right now currently in the department and how they're gonna be able to

help, with current staffing levels.

Certainly. So CSG, they are able to assist us in building inspection services, building permit plan checks, and a lot of the different, building and planning aspects of it. We really utilize them because, honestly, it is much, more effective to, pay them to do certain aspects of just staff time and to have a person on payroll to do that. It's very infrequent. So what's great with them is that if we're a little bit, if we have a huge project or if, we it's very intermittent, the the kind of help that we need, they're a great service provider to be able to do, building inspection services, and, really, that's kinda what we utilize them for.

Most part, code enforcement, we really have our own division for that. Planning, now that we have a planner, we can kinda phase out them doing our planning review. But, really, we're gonna primarily use them for the building division and any assistance that they need. But because we're fully staffed, like I said, they're just there to kind of help with the overflow that is consistently inconsistent. You know, if we continue to grow and to, get busier on a more consistent basis, maybe we can talk about adding more staff, but I don't wanna add staff just to add staff. I wanna add staff to make sure that we can use them full time

all the time.

And then I did see that there's

a a fire inspector included in that, contract. Are we planning to utilize that? I just heard, we also just hired an inspector, so I'll see what if that's needed.

So it's part of the agreement. We're not really using it. We're we're not intending to because we already have that, staff, that's part of the city. My aim with the next agreement that we signed for the next year is to really consolidate so that there's not, hey. We can offer you all of these different things. Really like to consolidate what we're looking so we can really, like I said, evaluate to say, hey. We're only using you. We're only, you know, asking services for these three things, and can we really evaluate if you guys have been good for that? So we'll probably remove certain things because a lot of these, consultant firms, they say, hey. We can do all of these extra things for you.

But then, really, the city's only use, like, one or two things. And you're paying all this extra, and you're like, we're only using the two things. Maybe we can get a smaller price. So that's kinda my aim when we renew this summer, to just kind of make sure, like I said, that we're using, using the money and spending it wisely.

And I think Doctor. Gawken said, it should be said that I mean, this is the budget amendment for, you know, six figures, a little bit over a $100,000, but we're really only getting charged for the services that they render. It's not we won't we may or may not be going up to 6 figures. It's basically based on what we they bill us for the hours that they work for us.

Yes. And and, like I said, moving forward, part of this, part of the review will be, making sure that an amount because like I said, this this contract, we're kind of, inheriting it in a sense. What my aim is to do for following years to better budget the money is to not have an amount so high, to have something that's kind of more within what the city manager manager spending limit is so that we can budget on a lot more proper basis to say everything under because 115, that's that's a lot of money. You don't wanna make sure that you have any price. You don't wanna make sure that you drain a whole planning budget or or, building.

So what my aim is to, like I said, get that amount lower. Maybe maybe services are a little bit more targeted. And so that way, we can better budget year over year instead of, kind of hoping that the bill doesn't get that high. Yeah.

You know what? Any anything for streamlining these processes is a good thing because, you know, we're we're growing as a city, and we're growing at a pretty quick pace. And then you know what? That's the last thing is we need is busy developers to come here and and be stalled from, you know, all of these things. So thanks for, you know, kinda streamlining it, making that making that process a little more able to work. Do guys have anything?

No. In

regards to item g seven, is there any public comment? So you know public comment? Item g seven, public comment is closed. Back to the council. And then with regards to item g seven, do

I have motion to approve? So moved, mister

mayor. Second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed? Hearing none, that motion carries unanimous. We we continued item h one to a future council meeting, so we'll move to item I, public hearing.

K. Again, that'll be, doctor Goggins coming up to present this, but this is for that 10 acre piece of property on North Avenue that I think is in Almonds right now. So this is this is that project moving forward.

Hi, everyone. So this before you tonight, we have a we are asking the council, to adopt, one resolution that encompasses a couple things. This, adopt a resolution to adopt the initial study and mitigated negative declaration as well as approval of a general plan amendment to adjust the land use designation for this track and then as well as introduce introduction of a zoning ordinance ordinance amendment to ensure zoning consistency with the proposed development. So with with this item before you tonight, the proposed general plan amendment changes the site's designation from me medium density residential to medium low density residential. While this does represent a reduction in plan density, it remains consistent with the goals of the city's 2035 general plan, which envision envisions a range of residential densities to support growth, neighborhood compatibility, and efficient delivery of public services.

More importantly, this amendment does not adversely affect the city's ability to meet its regional housing needs allocation as the housing element demonstrates adequate residential capacity across multiple sites and land use categories citywide. To implement this general plan change, this applicant is also requesting a zoning ordinance amendment to rezone the property from r one six to r one seven point five. The proposed zoning district is consistent with the medium low density residential designation and is appropriate for development with single family homes that are compatible with surrounding residential neighborhoods. Additionally, the planning commission also has reviewed both the general plan and the zoning amendments and is recommending approval for this item. From an environmental standpoint, the city has prepared an initial study and determined that a med a mitigated negative declaration is appropriate.

The this project is not located on any listed hazardous sites. It does not trigger any mandatory findings of significance under CEQA. And with the identified mitigation measures, there is no substantial evidence that the project would result in significant environmental impacts either individually or on a cumulative base. To just wrap things up in summary, the proposed actions before the council tonight, I believe, represent a reasonable site specific adjustment that allows for positive growth of the 48 single family homes while remaining consistent with the city's 2035 general plan, housing element and environmental regulations. That's, I think, the most important thing when I was going through the process of evaluating this was that the 2035 plan remains, something that we are adhering to as well as the housing element, and more importantly, the environmental regulations that often come back years after projects like these have been approved, come back later to really hurt cities through the different litigation effects that happen.

In my opinion, this project achieves compact resident compact residential development through a very efficient site design. As you can see in the packet, all the site layout, how they have it constructed with the infrastructure utilization. It doesn't compromise the city's housing obligations that we really envision to be at by that 2035 general plan. For these reasons and many others, I could be here all night talking about this, but I won't. Staff recommends the city council adopt this resolution approving the initial study and mitigated negative declaration, general plan amendment, And, yeah, staff is ready to answer any questions if they ask.

Alright. The public hearing is now open. Mayor Pro Tem, do you have any questions for for the good doctor?

Just more of a comment than a question regarding the ordinance. First, I I support the the change in the zoning designation. You know, the state and its all its wisdom kinda forces us to go to smaller lots. They want smaller houses, smaller, more houses per acre type of thing. So this is kinda going away from that, which is good for Sanger because we need a good mix. You know? We got some other housing developments in that area, with a higher density, so it's nice to see and refreshing to see a little bit, you know, more room between these homes. My question is regarding the ordinance itself, and it may just

be a

typo. Ordinance number two zero two six dash o one, it kinda gives the ordinance into the boundaries of the streets, but then it mentions 2431 Jensen Avenue. And I just wanna make sure that that's not gonna if that's correct or, b, if we need to fix anything on it. Try it on the top of page two zero five in the title of the ordinance.

Yes. Mayor Pro Tem, it it appears that you are indeed correct. That part of it is right, but that one appears to have slipped through. That's not a problem. If you guys are introducing the ordinance tonight, we will just make that correction when we come back. And so when you actually adopt it, we will get rid of the, extra address that's down there. It appears to be just a a rad amount thing.

Works for me. I hope we want high dense or low density housing on Jensen Avenue. Yeah. I don't wanna do that by mistake.

You you have a you have a keen eye, and maybe we should start having review staff reports. Oh, no.

I I read enough of this stuff at work.

I don't need it. I bet. Thank you.

Pretty impressive that he found it on page two zero five or six.

You go. Sounds good. Thank you.

So remember a month long ago.

Looking at some of the conditions, that we that you guys set forth for them, I'm always into the safety of our kids, the students that are crossing that area. Did we I couldn't find it. We inquired them to we were looking somewhere within that area to put a sidewalk that we were looking to get grants from, but that didn't happen.

Right.

And I don't I wanna see what we're gonna ask them if they would be able to do that, or we're not really gonna do that. Because I don't see it on the map, but I don't see it on any of the conditions. It is pretty much close to where their, their property is.

Yeah. That was not written in as a condition of this of this project. And part of that mid mid block, crossway was both for the future, but a temporary solution to help alleviate some of the the crossings over there on Greenwood and Bethel before we get the the proper lighting and controls over there. So as of right now, no. It's not part of a condition.

Other than that, I just don't know if we wanna do that or not. I didn't know the staff was inquiring about that because I know we talked about having the grant, and then, and, you know, we end up getting the money to go on Jensen Avenue for the, the bridge. But I'm still wanna make sure that the safety of the students that live in that all those neighborhoods now are are gonna have a safe way to go to school. And I know for the future, when the Lennar development comes in, there's a lot that they're gonna be doing to make this happen. And I know we're gonna have a four way stop, it looks like, pretty soon on the Greenwood and, North Avenue.

And then the lights that are gonna go on Bethel and North. Mhmm. But I know that's gonna take time. But I'm just wondering if that was the case, and I'm don't wanna hinder this at all. I think this is a great this is another great subdivision that's coming in. It's, actually gonna make it look nice because it's kinda weird to have a development, nondevelopment, and then a development again. And what I'm hoping for is the corner. Well, something will happen there in the near future because we still have that same issue too. But that was it. I'd I I like, what D. R. Horton is doing. I know they're still finishing up on their other area. I just wanna make sure that, no matter what, that we're looking out for

Mhmm.

The kids, the students for that live in that area when they have to go to school. Because it's gonna it'll be it's gonna be a lot. There's a lot of, houses out in that direction. But other than that, I I I love that. It's in my district, and I dearly approve this, this development. It's gonna look nice.

Thank you. Council member Melendez? No question. Move to, the public. Is there any public comment in regards to item I one?

Good evening, mister mayor, members of the council. My name is Alex Dewiggins. I'm a civil engineer with the firm of QK. Our firm represents the developer, D. R. Horton. With me tonight is, I guess, Aman Narwal. She is a representative of D. R. Horton if you have any specific questions for the developer.

I'd first like to thank staff for has a very thorough presentation that he had. We agree with all the findings and recommendations that he presented to you. I will be being that he did a good job, I will be brief. As staff stated, the, you know, the amendments are consistent with the goals of your general plan, consistency of the neighborhoods and orderly growth. And as council member stated, this is you can probably call this infill.

It does connect to we have north, south, east, and west, either under development or developed. And, also, as your staff had mentioned, the planning commission did hear this and, adopt the same resolution as you're seeing tonight, and they also entitled the project. There were no objections. And as of right now, we have development plans into your city engineer for review. So we're hoping to get the project under construction fairly soon.

I'm here to answer any questions if you might have them. And if not, I ask that you vote yes and adopt the package that your staff presented to you. Thank you.

Thank you.

You guys have any questions?

Good to see you, Nathan.

Okay.

Yeah.

Everybody's everybody good. Thank you. Everybody's good. Thank you. Is there any other public comment?

Seeing no other public comment. This public comment is closed back to the council. Is there any other further discussion you guys have? No? Okay. In regards to item I one, do I have motion to approve the ordinance to include, items b and c?

And and mayor, can I just, because we had that catch on the ordinance, so the motion would be if I can read the ordinance to you if that's Okay? Go ahead. To adopt an ordinance to the city council, the city council to adopt an ordinance to the city council, the city of Sanger adopting zoning ordinance amendment number twenty twenty five zero two amending the official zone map real property from the R 61 Dash 6 single family residential district to the R Dash one Dash 7.5 single family residential district for the property generally bounded by the North Avenue to the North, Bethnal Level Bethel Avenue to the West, and Greenwood Avenue to the East, APN 3 32DashO90DashO3, containing approximately 9.97 acres, and adopt the resolution that includes the general plan and the mitigated negative declaration. Thank you. You're welcome.

What do you say? I'll make a motion. You have a motion? Okay. We have a motion.

I'll second.

We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed? Hearing none, that motion carries unanimous. We'll go ahead and move on to item j, city manager.

Good evening again, mayor and council members. So first up tonight to give an update will be, chief Reynolds.

Good evening, mister mayor, members of council. John Reynolds, chief of police. Just wanted to give an update and address a couple of things that, were brought up in the past, specifically a concern, ma'am, from council member Hurtado on towing towing practices probably and probably get some clarification as well as provide some answers because I don't know if we really dug in deep to your initial concern regarding the towing that takes place and maybe tow companies and how they work into our how they incorporate or integrate with the Sanger Police Department. So if I may, and if you have follow-up questions, you obviously can ask. But, the, Sanger Police Department aligns with policy with the California Highway Patrol and their tow service agreement.

So they have an updated tow service agreement with their rotational tur tow service, that's updated every year. And all of the law enforcement agencies in the valley, align their policies with that tow service agreement. So we don't, have our own companies that we call, and bring on board when we store a vehicle for any reason. What this does for us, it it it upholds the highest standards because it is the gold standard, statewide. It regulates rates.

It regulates tow storage fees. It caps those fees. Operators can't exceed certain limits with this. There's prohibited practices with associated with overcharging or manipulating the rotation itself. And, really, what it comes down to is if there is a tow practice that somebody believes they are being victimized in some way, then they do need to come to the Singer Police Department, and our traffic unit will go investigate and report findings of anything that appears to be less than desirable, and we report that to the California Highway Patrol.

And the the risk of that particular tow company would be being removed from that rotation as well as any other civil penalties criminal if if that applies. I don't know if that was the total of your concern, but I I did some other research just in case just to kind of give you a general reference idea. We don't actually tow a lot of vehicles at the police department monthly. We average probably, over the last three months, 17 total vehicles stored. And this is not like a car accident where it's a owner's request tow type of thing, but it's where we have actually taken action to tow a vehicle and store it.

So it's less than six per month. California law does allow vehicles to be towed when a driver's arrested, and that is common where we will not find a responsible person to take control of a vehicle. We don't wanna necessarily leave a vehicle where it's gonna be broken into or stolen later, so we will store a vehicle for that reason oftentimes. And then along with that, unlicensed drivers. Unlicensed drivers are people driving with a suspended license.

It's not a punitive. It's conditional. It's based on what's going on at the time. And a lot of our vehicles that we have towed do involve unlicensed drivers. And the data with the office of traffic safety support, and show that serious and fatal car crashes involve 1.6 to 3.5 times more likely an unlicensed driver than a valid license holder.

And that probably has to do or correlates with you're not educated on rules of the road. You haven't been behind the wheel to test proficiency and demonstrate that proficiency. And oftentimes, while we have the ability to turn a vehicle over to a licensed driver in the vehicle, we do not typically make a practice of just allowing somebody to drive away and and allow them to potentially put other residents or city, citizens at risk. So, I don't know. I've just kinda hit it from a couple different angles.

Yeah. Thank you, chief, for that update. I I really appreciate you getting back. And, I think first and foremost, like, I think you started off really good. I think that a few residents have, come up and complained, and I've heard as well. And I think you said it, you know, perfectly. I think you couldn't have said it any better. The fact that, you know, if there's anything that they feel like they're being, you know, unfairly charged or there's issues going on with the towing company, I think you gave, like, clear indication of that they should go and do a report with the police department and that you guys are willing to, you know, to investigate that if they do feel like they're being, mistreated or you know?

Taken advantage of.

Advantage of. Yeah. Yeah.

We we do just to clarify, we do get complaints from registered owners of vehicles and where they have allowed maybe a family member to drive unlicensed, and that vehicle has in turn gotten stored. And and and somebody, like a family member, wants to go get belongings from it, but they're not the registered owner. So it brings frustration on because the tow companies, they're they're governed as well, and they can't just release property to somebody that's not the registered owner. So that creates a bit of tension, and we often play a middleman trying to arrange and explain the why. But Yeah. Few and far between.

Okay. My follow-up questions to what you presented on, is there kind of, like, a, like, a standard fee for the tote for the amount that they can charge per day, for example, or is there, like, a cap that you guys have?

There's a standard that they charge per day. We have release fees at the police department that are, like, onetime set fee. That's it. It doesn't go up. And I don't have the tow company daily storage fee. I just know it has a cap on it.

And I'm I'm assuming it varies probably by company, or is it just one

I I believe it's gonna be standardized across if you're a part of the CHP tow program.

Okay. Yes. Does the city at all have any, like, authority over what that cap looks like or any other jurisdiction?

Not at all. If we broke away from the CHP policy and had our own, then that would be a a whole different ballgame and probably a monster that we wouldn't wanna create.

Yeah. Yeah.

K. Thank you.

The any other questions on that? So, the other the other thing that I wanted to just bring up was kind of a a test program, and it is in, my monthly report, but is the community immersion training that we, launched, with the help of very a lot of help by, Karen Pearson on this. But we created a concept for our new officers and launched this on December 4. And, Mayor, yeah, you were there for this. It turned out to be a pretty successful endeavor for us.

We have a lot of officers at our department, and a large overwhelming majority are not even indoctrinated or even part of. They don't live in Sanger. They never were from Sanger. It's a first place that offered them a job. They took it.

And to them, they come in with a population of just under 30,000 people, and everybody's a bad guy. You know? They they deal with the bad, and then they leave. And they don't see the good, and and that's quite often the fact. So we we kinda created this concept on paper at first and of indoctrinating and taking an eight hour day, taking these new employees, putting them in a room, with, two chiefs, fire chief and myself, giving them our expectations, a little bit of what we know, and then bringing in the mayor in this case to give a little expectations from the city.

Then we took these in, these new officers over, to the, Sanger depot, and they got a history lesson on the city and the origins and the roots of the city. So that was kind of taking them down to bare bone the roots. We took them to a business as well, and they got to know five generations worth of knowledge about the ag and business roots of the city of Sanger. We were able to go out to see this the military and public safety program, which was incredible for our officers to see what was occurring there. We also were able to go to Tom Flores Stadium and meet with staff from Singer High School, coaches from way back who gave us really the in-depth history and the importance of that stadium as it is as well as Tom Flores and then the hall of fame.

And then we brought those officers back for an engagement with community members. And I'm sorry. I misspoke because we actually did two meetings with Lunch with community members and then brought back business leaders, into this, chamber here, for some conversation and then conversation with some old older I don't I gotta be careful what I say. Older retired officers to give a little historical of police from the past as well. And it's it's been something that, usually, you have new officers that are just eager to hit the streets, and this is their orientation program.

And they debriefed us on it. And they were they they just wanted more of it. And they'd never seen anything like that before, and, they recommended it obviously to other officers. And we now have other officers that have been here three years that are like, what about us? We didn't get that.

And, it's it's something that we have, we're working with the fire department on. They're gonna be involved in this too. So we're hoping and I don't know if it's back here or not, but we're hoping for February to do another one of these and probably do six of these, eight hour days as new employees come in. It's just, for me personally, I didn't get that when I came here, so this was my opportunity to jump on board with them. And I wanna keep doing it myself because you just keep getting more information.

And the way we have it set up is they're not gonna always meet with the same community leaders, business owners, and citizens. So one group will come through, and then another group will come through. And then when they compare notes in conversation, they're gonna get a little bit of cross reference and more information. So we hope to continue. I think the cost of it all altogether is everybody volunteered for it and with exception of a lunch the cost of a lunch. And I I just it's I think it's a good thing, and I just wanted to

Great. Thank you, chief. I think it's a good thing too. You know? Coming from military background, we we move the duty station practically every three to four years. And when we got to our new station, they were like, okay. Go to work. And that was it. You don't know a soul, but, you know, but this way, you know, at least they they can get, like you said, the nuts and bolts of, of the community. And and, I think it's a great program, chief.

They're invested. That's that's the the bottom line. It's not just come into town and leave. It's like they feel like they're actually part of

the community now. So. Gotcha. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Thanks, chief. K. Couple things going on out of the parks and rec department. So on 03/07, the Blossom Trail Run is well underway for planning. As of yesterday, there were 660 people signed up for the run already, and there's still more coming in. There will be the Zumba going on and the the pet show and those things going on that same day, so that's on 03/07. And then on 03/14 is the Blossom Trail car show. Again, huge success last year. I was actually in awe of the the event that was put on in the cars that showed up, and I was in Fresno that night having dinner, and people were up talking about our the car show that Sanger put on. So, again, mark your calendars for 03/14.

It's definitely worth coming down. We're we are planning a council retreat for March. There's some save the dates on here to go over our strategic goals and planning for fiscal year twenty six, twenty seven. Currently in finance, there's still some fiscal year twenty three audits going on. The measure c audit is underway, the TDA audit, and measure s audits for, '23 starts on 01/26.

And then for fiscal year twenty four, they're finalizing and currently working on capital assets, cost allocation, and grant increase. So, we still have the '24 audit coming and then, the '25. So we're getting we're getting caught up on the audits. Things are looking good there. Additionally, on Central Avenue, was brought up. The there was a conversation with engineering about this last week. The update we got from the county is they're two years out from doing the joint project with us, but the staff was out last week filling potholes on that road. But, fortunately unfortunately, we use cold mix. It's not the greatest. It it's a temporary patch, but the rain, it'll it'll come out.

So now they're looking at a hot mix or some other alternatives to get out there, but we did do some potholes out there last week. And then, the master fee schedules, the final draft came over. Staff went over it. We would, at staff meeting yesterday. They're making a few final tweaks to it to send back, so we should be bringing that to council in February for adoption.

And then the development impact fees, the vendor said the final draft would be back to me in two weeks, so we'll do the same. We'll get that. We'll make one last pass at, on it with staff, make sure we're buttoned up, and then we should be bringing that to you in February, March probably at the latest to get those new fees implemented. And, that's it. Wish everybody a happy happy New Year, and let's have a good twenty sixth here in the city of Sanger. Thank you.

Thank you. Item k reports and, matters initiated by city council. This portion of the meeting is reserved for the mayor and the council members to make brief reports on boards, committees, and other public agencies and at public events to initiate new matters and to request updates and to initiate new items. Under this section, the council may also take action on any items specifically agendized and which meet other requirements for action. Mayor Pro Tem.

Alright. Well, yeah, happy New Year to everyone. This is our first meeting of of 2026. I just wanna thank everyone who took part in the ribbon cutting, or the groundbreaking ceremony actually for the Tractor Supply. That was a really great event early in the morning. I know a lot of people, put a lot of hard work into it to get that set up, and it was a nice event. And it was great to have the representatives of the, developer there, to participate in that ceremony. So a lot of good things are happening and looking forward to a lot more groundbreaking ceremonies in 2026. As far as any updates, for the boards or anything, it's been pretty quiet since it's a holiday season, so, I'll just go ahead and leave it at that. Thanks.

Great. Thank you. Council member Hurtado.

Yes. Happy New Year, everyone. I'm looking also forward to a great 2026. I have a few updates, or, concerns that I've noticed, throughout District 1. The first one would be the, right here, right across the street, Kings River, High School.

The crosswalks, if we can repaint the actual, crosswalks because they're, faded. So I wanna see if we can get that done. It's between, Webster, and DeWitt, I believe, and Rawson, the whole block. And then with that, I have noticed an increase in, graffiti throughout, the downtown area and surrounding neighborhoods. So I just wanted to see if staff can, you know, can take a look and also, clean up those, different parts or areas that have graffiti.

That I've noticed between mainly, between 7th And N 9th Street from Academy to P Street. Like, that just seems to be a target right there. And talking about downtown, I wanted to see I know there's been previous discussion on street lighting and limited opportunities too. So I wanted to see if staff can take a look at what opportunities we do have to help fund some additional lighting there in downtown adjacent neighborhoods. And then, also, I've noticed that Mhmm.

There's been a lot of issues with outside investors coming in and buying vacant property. So I wanted to see if there was any type of ordinance that maybe we can look into to help, you know, make sure that affordable how house affordable housing development is within reach and, you know, prices are not going up due to, you know, outside investors coming in and and buying up property. So I wanna see if there's any opportunity there. I will be doing my own research, and I'm sure there's a lot of ordinances already on there. But maybe the city city attorney might have more information on that as well.

I think that's about it. The last thing is in terms of the actual potholes, do we have a dedicated team going out to fill the potholes and and sidewalk repair doing the sidewalk repairs, or is that, external?

No. We do it in house.

In house?

Yes. We do it in house. And, again, people to remind them if you have potholes or concerns like that, you can go to the city's website. Right on the home page, it'll say ask Sanger. You can go in there and fill out graffitis in there as well. And then, if you fill it out and put your email in there, you'll get an update that it was received, when it was taken care of, corrective actions. But, yeah, that that that's in house with you, the potholes.

Okay. Perfect. And that's all I had. Thank you.

Thank you. What's the member want to long ago?

A lot of the stuff that, last couple of weeks, the city manager helped me and took over, helped me with a lot of the issues. And I wanna thank, our city manager for going out with me to several of the businesses that are might be having just a little bit of issues in marketing and so forth. And so we met with some of them. They reached out to me, and, I asked, the city manager to come along with me and, to let them know that, you know, the city is available to to help them in any way we can and so on. They are using some areas of market.

I see I saw Moses here. They've, his name came up a couple of times of, him reaching out to them, and I do appreciate that for working with some of those businesses as well. And it's starting to work for them, but they just wanna see what us as the city of Sanger has to offer. So we we had a chance to meet with some of them. So I do appreciate doing all that as well. Just wanted to add about the pothos, in case none of the council if you do go to the website because he was telling me the same thing, and I asked the same question a while back. So I actually created a, my own account with our program. It's awesome. So instead of calling the city manager, I'm actually impeding it, and it's coming back to me to my city email letting me know when they repaired it. And so graffiti, everything, pothos, you name it.

So I I wanna thank the staff for that because it's pretty fast how it goes. So during the rainy season, I saw some. I waited, took some pictures, sent it out, worked great. So, that and I let people know too that you it's easier than trying to call us and trying to get things done. But, again, just thank you. I really have nothing. Thanks to the police and fire department continue to make our city safe, and our rec and our parks and our put works are doing a great job as well. It's exciting to see that we're starting to build our team in the city of Sanger and the city manager's building this team, and I think pretty soon we're gonna get a director for a rec. And so that because I think that completes it. That's pretty cool. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you. Council member Melendez.

Don't really have any update. Nathan has been updating me on everything I've needed. I just wanna wish everybody a happy New Year, and hope we do better this year than last year.

Thank you. I just have a couple of things real quick. And and for counsel, let your constituents know if they see something, they need to say something because we don't know there's a pothole on J Street, you know, unless somebody turns it in. But that's very important for us to get that word out. You know, when you're talking to to, you know, people in your districts, I tell them all the time.

You know? I just go on this website. It I it I use it all the time myself, and and it it works pretty good. The, tractor supply, yeah, that was a good ribbon cutting. I did talk to the developer there, and he said that that is, like, his, I think, seventh one that that he's gonna be building. So, you know, he anticipates it going pretty quick. So, hopefully, by the summertime, he said that they should be, they should be completed. But you never know, so don't hold me there. Mhmm. And all the events happening coming up for the Blossom Trail, you know what?

Everybody get out there. It's a lot it's a lot of fun, and just, you know, it's something that that we as a city and the chamber, you know, get together and and put on these really, really nice events, and a great job for catching up on the audits. I know that was kind of a thorn in our side for the last couple of years, but you know what? We've, already turned that corner, and I think we're we're looking pretty doggone good. I just wanna say thank you to all the staff, and, you know, happy New Year.

I did I did come back with some, some pamphlets when I went to the National League of City, one for splash pads. Yep. And I I I got the a couple of programs I went to. One one is apprenticeships for for youth and, you know, for for us to to, you know, go back and and make an investment in our youth. And this might be something that we could we could pass on to the to the youth council and see if it it might be something they want to adopt.

I'm not I'm not really sure. You know? But it it's given give them something to look at. And then also there was a education and workforce for success initiatives and resources that, I went to one of their breakout sessions also. So you know what? I'll hand these out to the, city manager, and you can go ahead and take a look at these. And, with there being no further action, this meeting is adjourned at, 07:00PM.