City Council - Regular Meeting

All right.

All right, we're back from our closed session.

and referred to our city attorney city attorney do we have any reportable action this evening there is reportable action on item number two of the agenda which is a conference with real property negotiators for the traffic signal at mccall avenue um it's a involved report so i would

defer that to my departmental report in the open session meeting if that's agreeable with council everybody good with with that deferring it okay great with that we will defer the city attorney's report until our regular meeting departmental reports and we are going to close out this special meeting and adjourn it and we will be back in a couple minutes for our six o'clock regular meeting

Maybe it won't be daylight.

You know that, don't you?

I mean, they have they have the ice. Say,

Yeah, Vince is getting done and we're getting the cross connection done over All right, ready?

All right, good evening, everybody. We're back for our regular meeting. It is 6.03 in our Selma City Council Chambers. It's at 1710 Tucker Street, Selma, California, 93662. Teleconference phone number is 301-715-8592. The date, by the way, is August 18th, 2026. The webinar ID is 891-6864-5005. When on the phone, if you wish to address the council during the public comment part of the agenda, press star nine to raise your hand and we will select you from the meeting queue. Press star six to unmute and mute yourself. Notice to meeting attendees, members of the audience shall not engage in disorderly or boisterous conduct, including the utterance of threatening or abusive language or other acts which disturb, disrupt, impede, or otherwise render the orderly conduct of a city council meeting infeasible. Tonight's invocation will be presented by Minister Leonela Robles. We have the minister here. Everyone, would you please bow your head for the blessing? Dear Lord, we pray that you watch over us tonight during this meeting, that we move our city forward. We do so equitably, and we do so with the love for everyone in our city, that we treat each other with kindness and respect, and remember that we are here above all for Selma and to do you glory. In Jesus's name, we pray. Amen.

Everybody stand up with the flag salute, please.

Would you call the roll, please?

Council Member Avalos?

Here.

Council Member Osegarra? Here. Council Member Trujillo? Here. Mayor Pretem Guerra? Here. Mayor Robertson?

Here. Potential conflicts of interest, any council member who has a potential conflict of interest may now identify the item and recuse themselves from discussing and voting on the matter. Agenda changes or deletions to better accommodate members of the public or inconvenience in the order of presentation items on the agenda may not be presented or acted on in the order listed. Additions to the agenda may be added only pursuant to California government code section 54954.2B. City Attorney, do we have any such changes or deletions this evening? Nothing to add or to delete, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, City Attorney. At this time, any member of the public may address the city council regarding any item on the regular meeting agenda over which the council has jurisdiction. No action or discussion will be taken on any item not on the agenda. Issues raised will be referred to the city manager for review. Members of the public are asked to limit their remarks to three minutes. Do we have any such oral communications at this time?

Hi, Teresa Salas. I have a traffic concern. A couple of years ago when we were redoing Barbara and McCall Avenue, I came forward and I asked the council about maybe making those three-way signals so that people could turn and be at a better advantage than waiting and trying to turn in front of someone else. First week of school and there's an accident there already. So I was just wondering if that might be something that staff, the council can consider making that a three-way signal where there's a turn, an arrow for people coming off of Barbara to be able to get away from the high school or get away from the junior high without waiting for that moment when the light turns yellow and you can maybe make a left turn. I think it would be safer for the kids too crossing the streets because they're doing the same thing that these left turns or they're waiting to try to get across and people are just not very courteous to pedestrians these days. Also, the signal at Thompson and Whitson, that is a three-way signal, but there's no arrows there to indicate that you can make a left turn when the light is green. So I don't know if that's something that can be remedied also. We do have it at Thompson and Dinuba Avenue, and it works perfectly. I love that signal, especially with bad weather coming, fog and stuff. It just makes more sense when you can turn with an arrow instead of trying to take a chance and turning in front of someone else.

Thank you for your comments. Anyone else with oral communications? Come on up. Make sure your microphone's on, sir. Okay.

I'm here on behalf of a group of us that are retired or residents of Selma. And we started this gathering twice a year in your city parks here in Selma. We had started like a club and all that, which we call the Brother United of Selma. And I'm going to read a statement on this. Brothers United of Selma is a community driven alliance committed to unity, mentorship and service. We bring together men of shared values and diverse experiences to support one another, strengthen our community, and create opportunities for future generations. Grounded in the respect of cultural pride and responsibility, we strive to lead by example of Lipsama through action, leadership, and brotherhood. We're here, I'm here. We, if anybody know Mr. Snagro, Ned Snagro? Chamber?

I know.

Well, growing up in Selma, he really provided, he headed the recreation department at Roosevelt Junior High, Westside of Selma and everything. And we were playing Sandlot and he would drive a truck full of equipment. If we didn't have gloves or equipment, he'd stop and give it to us. And one story I want to share with you guys, we were playing signing out baseball at Washington School with a hardball. He stopped and he said, you know, put those hardballs away. I'm going to give you a case of nine inch softballs. Why don't you break in the windows to the school? Playing baseball here, but we like to, where we gather at Brinkley Park on the shelter, the far north, we'd like to propose a plaque in his honor. Have any questions?

Thank you. Thank you for your request. Appreciate it. He's legendary in this community. Thank you for stepping up.

Good evening, Yolanda Torres. I wanted to come up here and request if it was possible to set up a debate for the candidates that are running in our city this year. I know everybody's on social media saying that they want to hear this side, that side. But I think if we have a debate, I think it'll kind of give people an opportunity to come together, ask questions or however you guys want to do it. Maybe the city manager and Jose can set something up at the art center. But I just think that's something that we need with all the negativity going on social media. I think it's a good idea. I'm not saying let's coordinate with everybody's schedule. I would say just set a schedule on a date and if people can make it, they can make it. If they don't, then I don't think they're really serious about what they want to do. So that's just something that I'm requesting. And maybe that's something you guys can discuss or put on a future agenda.

Great, thank you.

Thank you.

And we can talk to Chamber of Commerce about that as they typically set those up.

Hi, my name is Joe Hernandez, and I too am from Salomon. I just wanted to back up what Daniel here was talking about. This committee that we, or club that we're barely, we've got three years, four years going on four years, and We've gotten to know people that we hadn't seen for years and years. And I don't know if any of you men that went to school here in Selma are all invited to this program. But anyway, we had... a meeting and discussion. And we started talking about stuff that happened in Salma a long time ago. And almost everybody in this committee or this group knew something about Ned. We used to call him Uncle Ned. And like he said, you know, he went out of his way for the people that were, you know, a lot of us couldn't play Little League baseball, organized baseball, either money-wise or because maybe we weren't even good enough. but he started this program and they called it the Lou Gehrig League and everybody got to play no matter, you know, and we played baseball and we were all remembering that, you know, and we wanted to show some kind of appreciation for him doing that for us, because there is a lot of people that are what you call unsung heroes that, you know, just do things out of their own heart. And, you know, he used to, like he said, you know, well, after practice was over, some of us lived clear on the other side of town and he, put it back then, no seatbelt. We put about 10, 15 kids in the back and just ride all over town, just bringing us to and from the baseball field. So we want to show our appreciation by being able to put something there to remind other people that there is people that do good for the community.

We did the plaque on our building at 1948 when they had that mural. We did a commemorative plaque. He's on there. He's one of the names on there.

Great guy. Thank you so much. Thanks, Joe.

Anybody else?

Good evening, everyone. I'm the owner of Valero Gas Station on the Floral Street. And just, it's been four years, I've been bringing the same concern about the new median, which is on the floral Avenue. And that is, so basically, when customer traveling from a westbound, they cannot turn left into our businesses. And there's no nearby legal U-turn at the next signal or even the following intersection when we go from a westbound to all the way further. There have to be like three turn signals, which needs to be like you go past three turn signals to make a U-turn. So there's no U-turns. You can do it over there. So customer must drive in long distance just to turn around and many choose to go elsewhere instead of my business. And some drivers are making illegal U-turns to reach our business, creating a serious safety concern as well from a Starbucks point. And they just go around into my parking lot, like in my parking lot. And that's a really dangerous sometimes because they're going on from an on-way traffic. We have urgent care facility next door in emergency patients, the family members, even the have a difficulty accessing the property because there's no convenient U-turn. So this can delay emergency access and increases and unsafe turns, I believe that. At the same time, there's still a left turn pocket for the Starbucks while our property has no safe access for the westbound direction. So we're simply asking for the fair and safe access for our business and the urgent care. And we've been waiting for it for almost four years now. So I would just like if somebody can look into it more deeply.

Great. Thank you for coming out.

Good afternoon. My name is Mercedes Samora. And I don't know if this pertains right now. My motive is we're talking on the banners for the businesses that you can have banners or flyers. I don't know if we talk about it now or I don't know if I saw it on the agenda.

It's an agenda item. Yeah, we'll get there.

Okay. All right. Thank you.

Sure.

1057 Mill Street, Rose Roberts. And I wasn't going to speak on this sort of communication, but I will be speaking later. But these gentlemen right here inspired us. So the 1948 High Street building where Ed Snodgrove, Mr. Snodgrove's name's on there, is with not only myself, but my sister that's up there. Trabajamos en el field. We used to work in the field. And when it came to going back to school at Iroquois school, see this arm. Mr. Snoggrove saw that and he said, I'm going to teach you how to pitch. He taught me how to pitch and I was a pitcher ever since, only during the time for recreation with Mr. Snoggrove. Mr. Snoggrove used to come in his white jeans, his white polo, his white tennis shoes, and his baseball cap. And he brought a white van. It was a white van full of equipment. We were field workers, so we never had any money to buy equipment, but he brought plenty of equipment for all of us kids at Eric White School. We used to play after school with Mr. Snoggro. He taught everybody either how to pitch. I also played third base, and Mr. Snoggro is very close, not only to our heart, obviously your guys' heart and many other kids in Selma. We give back to our community because of Mr. Snodgrove. He is a huge inspiration to not only myself, but other kids and many families in Selma and many businesses here in Selma because of Mr. Snodgrove. And that's why his name is on our building. He's an amazing man. and I'm just very inspired, and I could feel him through you two tonight. So thank you for that nice speech. I really hope we are able to dedicate somewhere else in the park or somewhere. I agree with them. We should honor Mr. Snoggrove in other ways, in the recreation or some kind of park. Thank you.

Anybody else with a comment? Anybody in the chat with a comment?

Oh, we got someone coming up.

Children at different schools.

What's your name?

Amelita Davis. And I noticed all the curbs still aren't painted 20 feet off of the crosswalks. like by Jackson school, not all the schools are painted. And I just have a concern for these children. I just think we need to do better for our city, for our kids to make sure it's painted all the curbs where parents can't park, like right next to the crosswalks, because they're trying to cross the streets and the people can't see when the cross guards can't see them just to make it more visible for all the kids in our community. That was my concern.

Anybody with a comment online or on the phone?

Mayor, I see no hands raised at this time.

Okay. Now we're going to move on from oral communications at this time to our one and only special presentation tonight, which is a special presentation to Renee Garza, former commander for the Selma PD. Chief Alcarez.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Thank you for your time. Well, Renee, I'm going to have you step up here and embarrass you one more time before you... Well, you're already gone, but still. Mr. Mayor, members of the council, community members, tonight with me is Renee Garza, formerly Commander Renee Garza, now Police Chief Renee Garza with the City of Parlier. Renee is obviously a glutton for punishment. I tried to tell him about the demands of the position, and he just... I guess he just said he had to figure it out for himself, so... I'm just kidding. No, Rene's a great guy. Rene started with us in 2000 as a community service officer. And in 2026, 26 years later, he is now a police chief in the state of California. Currently, there are only 333 police chiefs in the state of California. So... I think less than 2% of personnel that get into the business ever achieve the title of police chief. So it is one that is, it's a very coveted position because you have to work extremely hard. You don't have to be the smartest person in the room, But you have to outwork everybody all the time, 24-7. You have to live a life that's unsullied, a life that is committed to public service. And that's difficult to do for most people, let alone do it for 26 years. So I've seen Rene grow from a community service officer. He used to be a trainee in my car. So obviously that's why he's the chief of police, right? I trained him well. I'm just kidding. But Rene has tremendous tenacity, a lot of energy, just a great charismatic person. I wish him all the best. He has absolutely left the city of Selma in a better position than he found it. And we're so happy and proud of him. And excited to see him start this new venture in his career, in his life. His wife Crystal's here, so it's very fitting that she's here because you don't do this alone. It takes someone special at home to stand by with you during those dark times when you're doubting yourself. You have to stay the course because it's your job to provide that guidance for an entire community. So, Renee, congratulations and thank you so much. We have something for Renee here. It just reads, Renee Garza, Commander, thank you for your 26 years of committed service to the City of Selma, 2000 to 2026. Everybody, Renee Garza. Thank you.

He's got a few words. I always have a few words. I didn't bring anything scripted, but I kind of wrote some things down because I don't want to forget. You know, oh, first of all, good evening, Mayor, City Council, City staff, and of course, the wonderful community of Selma. You know, I told my wife when I got home today that I was fine. But then I knew I was coming here, and then all of a sudden I said, oh, this is real. I am leaving to a different place, to a place that gave me opportunity. So I'm very, very humbled to be here tonight. So excuse me, I usually don't... Don't mumble or don't shed a tear, at least in public. But here we go. But, you know, like Chief Alcaraz said, I was hired on July 5th of 2000 by Chief Thomas Whiteside as a community service officer. And when I was hired, I'm gonna thank some people here in a little bit, just bear with me. When I was hired, I was living with my mom and dad. had two babies, my wife wasn't working, and I came here with $3 in my pocket. And when I came to work, a officer told me, hey, let's go to lunch. We're going to go to lunch. Well, I didn't know what that meant, if he was going to treat me or I have to just eat chips and salsa. But remember the Senor Nero's? That's where he took me. That's where he took me in. I only had $3 in my pocket. And I said, how am I going to pay for this? What am I going to do? And I didn't have to say a word. This officer paid for my lunch. And it was just a humble beginning. And I'll never forget that of how welcoming us employees, our city staff here is in Selma. And I just wanted to share that story. I have a lot of stories, Chief Alcarz will tell you, but I've had a wonderful journey, had some ups and downs, went through a lot, sweat and tears, but we got through it. And at the end of the day, we're here and we're here to do God's work. But speaking of God, that's who I would like to thank most sincerely, because if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here. He did give me a second chance. As you know, I did get COVID a few years ago. I went to the hospital. I was in the hospital for 55 days, intubated for 11. out of work for eight months. The doctors told me I would never come back to be a police officer. And guess what? We fooled them. God fooled them, right? And it was just, it's just been an amazing journey. And my parents were not here. My mom and dad came from Mexico, fourth and sixth grade education. And they actually, my dad first came to the city of Partier. how things go for a circle because now I'm the police chief in the city of Parlier. So I think that's pretty cool. And that's a pretty awesome moment. And I know my parents are not here with us anymore, but I know they're watching over me right now, just like they do every day. And then they're an amazing place. But the most important that's next to me is my wife of 26 years. We're actually high school sweethearts. We have two daughters, Brianna and Bailey. They're adults, went off to college. They're all doing their own thing. And we're empty nesters. So it's probably a good time to be empty nesters when you're a chief, right? But I also like to thank My brothers, I have eight brothers. With me, it's nine. My poor mom, no sisters. And six out of the nine brothers are police officers, so I'm pretty proud of that. And I know my parents are proud of that. And most importantly, the people that I want to thank are the men and women of the Selma Police Department. They are the foundation of the safety. And I have nothing but respect for the men and women because they put that uniform on every single day. And it's a self-sacrificing job. And we saw that on January 31st, 2023, we had a hero who's in heaven, who's watching over us today, Officer Gonzalo Carrasco. So I just wanted to make sure that we threw that shot out to him because he's important to us. His self-sacrifice is important to us. And also the men and women of this police department in this city are important. They sweat and they come to work and they do God's work. And I have nothing but respect for them. Last but not least, I'd like to thank Chief Rudy Alcarez. Yes, he was my training officer. And we worked patrol together. We worked detectives together. And we worked a lot of amazing events together. And I have nothing but respect for Chief Alcarez. And thank you for the mentorship, the coaching. And I strongly believe Selma PD is headed in the right direction. And it has been. And finally, to the community, I saw Joe. I first met Joe when I was a CSO. I love this community. Selma will always have a place in my heart, and I really, really, truly mean that. On my second day of work, going to Parlier, I almost came to Selma. And it's just what I'm used to. I'm going to miss it, but it was just a bittersweet moment. So I don't want to talk too much. Like I gave you a warning, right? I can talk. But once again, thank you. I'm humbled to be here and I'm honored and awesome to be here. And yes, I hear my buddy Anthony Revis in the back. And yes, the fire department, Also the men and women of the fire department, Donovan, we've worked side by side before on some pretty, pretty hectic, heavy calls. Anthony, you know, I don't have to explain, but nothing but respect for the fire department. They they're awesome. They're amazing. And chief Webster, I know I've only known you for three years, but you're doing great things and also to the city staff, but thank you.

I'm humbled. Thank you so much. Great. Why don't you come on up, Chief, and we've got a recognition for you. We'll get a picture with the city council.

Good luck, my friend.

All right, we'll move on from our special presentations to our consent calendar. All items listed under the consent calendar category are considered routine. The complete consent calendar will be enacted by one motion by roll call vote. For purposes of discussion, any council member may have an item removed from the consent calendar and made part of the regular agenda. The council can then approve the remainder of the consent calendar. Does council have an item or items they would like removed tonight?

Yes, I'd like to move 2-4. 2-4, okay.

All right. And I would like to take off item 2-6. Is there a motion to approve items 2-1 through 2-3, 2-5, and items 2-7 through 2-9? I'll make a motion.

I'll second it.

Call the roll, please.

Council Member Avalos?

Yes.

Council Member Osegarra?

Yes.

Council Member Trujillo?

Yes.

Mayor Partanguera? Yes. Mayor Robertson?

Yes. Item 2-4. Okay, Item 2-4. The reason why I pulled it off, this is for the Selma School District, for the two service officers that go on the campus for the high school and the elementary. When I look at the budget, It's only 50%. I like since the cost is everything is going up and as far as our wages and our fuel costs, I like to see it. I like to see an increase of 60%, you know, 10% more if the school is willing to make those adjustments because of what's happening in the economic situations.

So you want the school to pay for 60% or you want the city to pay for 60%.

Well, right now they're the school. Yeah. I want the school to pay 60%. They're only paying half right now. They're only paying 50% right now.

Okay.

So they can pay an agenda items.

Council have any input on the percentage that the city is paying as opposed to what the school is paying for the community service officers?

I have just a quick question in regards to the resource officers. My understanding is, is it still, am I correct, where if the resource officer, if there's an emergency in the city and they need the resource officer, is he still allowed to leave the campus?

Absolutely. Anytime we have any critical events, we can pull personnel. Ultimately, they're always our personnel, our personnel. And additionally, and I agree, I appreciate that gesture. I always want to bring in more money. However, it has been difficult to staff both of those personnel at that location because of staffing issues. So we try not to, but when we have to, we pull personnel from the school to meet patrol functions.

I mean, honestly, Chief, I'll be straight with you. I mean, I mean, I want them there. Don't get me wrong. I want the service officer on the campuses because it deters the crime stats. It's a proven fact. There's no doubt about it. It's just that there's a current cost, what is happening now, you know, between the fuel prices going up and the adjustments that we have to face as a council up here, you know, and I know that the school gets funded by the state, you know, allocated. for their students. So it's a different dynamics and economics there.

Councillor, I absolutely understand the economics. You know, this is a... an agreement that was in place when I got here. I was just merely continuing with that agreement as I felt that was the council's wishes. However, I can go back and speak with the superintendent, but then we'll have to pull this agreement and then go back to the negotiating table, if you will.

Yeah, because this is a contract involving two parties. We can't just say 60-40. They would have to agree.

Yeah, that's at the table. I agree. We have to go back. We'll see if my colleagues agree to this, okay?

Whatever the council wishes, I'll do whatever they like. I'd love to get 100%, but that's probably not in the card.

I can tell you when I started, when I first saw this SRO come back with the school, it was the city paid 100% and the school district paid zero. So we're doing a lot better than we were before with the 50-50. The question I have, clarification is, Do these officers, they don't work 12 months a year at the school. They work, what, about nine months?

They're about 10 months. About 10 months, sir. Because we try to cover their summer school session as well, or at least a portion of it. But then it's only down to one school. So we, yeah, it's about 10 months. And mind you, they're only paying 50% for those 10 months, not the entire 50% of their entire salary.

Yeah, I'd like to comment on that. Previously, we were paying 100%. We took them to the drawing table, but at the same time, you know, this community, the kids after 3 o'clock, prior to 3 o'clock, they're our kids, the safety of our kids. And we all know that in this nation, there's just... random shootings, there's things that go a rot. But at the same time, and we don't need to get into this, but I would think that... I think the police department will get more intel from these youngsters and with an officer in the school districts, finding out what goes on in our community versus it from the local community going on. But also at the same time, the safety. And I think that for me, the fact that we've rounded them up to 50% and we are creating a safety net for our kids and our community, And I think it's a good gesture. I think if you want to discuss about the contract, I think school started, I think that would put kind of a little bit things in a bad situation. So on my opinion, I think we're doing well, that they're getting 50%. If we want to go back and talk to them, maybe we can on a side note, talk to them and see if we can get it up a little more. But I think right now, putting them on notice and pulling them out, I think it would hurt the safety of our kids.

I'll be straight up, you guys. They're at baseball games. They show up at baseball games, all events. These officers, like Renee said earlier, they put their uniform every morning. And, you know, fire, fire and police every morning and they go out there, you know, patrolling, saving lives. But the issue is they're there. They're, you know, they're protecting the kids at the school events. They're there. baseball games or football games, they're there. Parades, any activities, big events that they have at the school, basketball games, they're there. So the question is, you know, at what price the district wants to keep their kids safe in the school and what, as parents, I mean, you know, as parents and their grandparent, Of course I want my officers there. Of course, because I feel the kids are safe. When the law enforcement there or, you know, they feel safe, they feel the parents and the grandparents feel at ease and the teachers. You know, events, things come about. There's new rules that teachers cannot do, but an officer can perform certain duties that a teacher cannot. can do when a student is out of control in certain situations. And at the same time, I mean, these resource officers, like Johnny said, but they're teaching the kids on campus, hey, you got to respect the law. But at the same time, the kids are learning about who these officers are on the streets. You know, if it's Mike, Joe, Uh, you know, uh, Mary, you know, it doesn't matter what, who their names are. It's just these kids know who they are and they're interacting with the students and that's the future guys. Really? But the question is at what price does school want to do this? That's all I got to say.

All right. This is a, now an agenda items, public having the input on this before we bring it back to council, anybody in the chat, any comments?

Mayor, I see no hands raised at this time.

We'll bring that back to the council. I'm looking at this and it's a two-year contract. Councilman Avalos, as we've heard tonight, it's a little late because the school year has started. What if we went with the 50% for this year and then revisited it next year for the renewal of percentage? Would that be amenable to the council? Okay. We have consensus on that? Yep. Okay. Do you have a motion?

I'll make a motion on that issue.

Okay. Is there a second? I'll second. Call the roll, please.

Council member Avalos.

Yes.

Council member Segarra. Yes. Council member Trujillo. Yes. Mayor Partangara. Yes. Mayor Robertson.

Yes. Okay. Item two, six. I pulled this off, um, tonight. We've got our, uh, replacement city engineer, Mohammed over there. I don't know if you're prepared to talk about this, but the reason I brought this, pulled this off was I just wanted the community to be aware of all the changes that's going to happen at second street, $3 million grant that the city's received. And it's coming just a couple of highlights, vehicular over crossings, non-vehicular pedestrians and bicycle over crossings and bridges and We've been hearing tonight about safe routes to school and about crossings. This will improve the safety in that area. We've got under crossings that will be revamped walls. landscaped areas screening we've got a gateway monument and a bear statue with a welcome to selma sign on a concrete wall including light fixtures we have a decorative sidewalk coming in and we have a flagpole with the united states flag our good old usa it's 250 years old this year We put that in. So everybody be ready for this infrastructure that's coming among many other infrastructure projects that are coming to our city. I'm really proud of it. I'm proud of what we're doing in our city. Just another question. I know we are at the point where the maintenance agreement, that's how this popped up tonight with Caltrans made this available to, to move forward to the next step. What's the timeline on going out to bid for this and to move forward?

The second street improvement is going to be added. The maintenance agreement includes second street improvements, but also all the other Caltrans facilities. So Caltrans is doing this throughout the whole state. It's not just our county or our city. It's throughout the whole state because of the improvements near Caltrans facilities. They are updating their freeway maintenance agreement with all the local agencies.

Everybody stay tuned. Second Street is going to look so much better and it's coming soon. Do we have any council comment or any public comment on this agenda item?

I'd love to comment on that. I think when you start talking about infrastructure projects, you talk about what this administration is doing, what we're doing. As an elected official, you realize that you can have... projects that are just bottom feeders that just occur from one week to another, or you can have projects that are actually well-groomed, well-established. And if you think about it, this project is something that was two, three years ago, right? Past administration brought this, applied for it, got it, but now we're going to bear the fruits. That's the way projects occur for municipal government. They do projects. They do research, they acknowledge what the cost and what we need, and we submit it. I'm very proud the fact that we're seeing this happen. This is a huge project, but this is not a project that was happened today. It happened in the past. Somebody applied, did the research, did their due diligence. I am very proud of this project. I'm proud that our community is gonna witness it. I can't wait to see what this administration does for the future of Selma, two, three years, four years from now, because of the fact that we should always be praising and helping and getting better projects for our community. So Mr. Mayor, I'm happy. We're gonna be able to cross that street. Many years ago we had passed and it was dead. Now that we got, we're gonna be able to see a bear there and a flag. I'm so proud of that. It's about our administration, what we do, what our administration does. Gather intel and apply. So I commend the people in the past that brought this project. I commend this staff that's carrying it on. And I tell the community, congratulations. This is what we're going to be able to observe and see and go through every day. So thank you.

I just like to say, kind of piggyback on that, when this first started, you know, it does, it takes years. I mean, it doesn't happen overnight. And because it is an exit, you know, people would say how ugly it looks, you know, and it's not just our exits. I mean, you can go off of Fowler's, Kingsford's, their exits are just as bad. You know, the weeds are as high as... three feet high sometimes. I mean, it looks really bad, trash everywhere. But with this improvement, this is gonna be amazing. You know, it's gonna look so beautiful. I mean, in the past, we saw the photos of how it's gonna look, and that's a huge improvement for our city. So, I mean, I'm proud. I'm proud that we're going to get to see that and it's going to be coming pretty soon. And not just myself, but this community, you know, people say, why in the West Side or why off? That's off to Second Street. That's how it was. we were able to get that grant because of that area. So we'd like to groom all our areas, but it takes time and some of the areas are not eligible. So that's kind of how it works. But I wanna say the same thing, we're happy, things are moving along, our city's moving along and we're all gonna get to see this. So thank you for all your work, staff.

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to mention really quick, We, the council, in the past couple of years, also, on Second Street, took the hard look, and we seen signs, and we had them removed. And we had people come and tell us, hey, you can't do this. But it was part of that picture. We had some dinosaur signs that were standing up. And when we would turn in, and we got yelled at, and we got told. there was a vision and the vision was to remove the old and bring in something new. So I credit the council decision-making and, and Stan and standing stern on what we have to see. And we have a vision. So for that, you know, it's really important to have a vision and stay put on that.

Yeah. You know, we just have to keep moving our city forward. and taking these opportunities where we have it. There are always going to be issues in terms of how you allocate resources. In this time, this was a grant, so it's more of an allocation of city time and professionals who went forward with this grant to execute it and made sure it went forward. But this is bearing fruit, and it's happening now, and it's really an exciting time in Selma for this to be happening now.

On another note, this new council is very, I want to say, very energetic and moving things forward very fast and forward. And the contacts and actually the grants are very important for every city, not just City of Selma. You know, police department, fire department, any building roads and infrastructure and all these, these are very important items, tax dollars that are coming back to your city, making these things happen. And you're seeing it happen now. We're seeing some things happen very quickly. Atwood Project, we have the Casita Project is moving along here pretty soon. We have another project, you know, moving as well, other areas. So it's really the moment is now. It's moving very fast. Even though it's difficult times right now in situations, but we are, as the city of Selma, we are moving very aggressively. and trying to put things together because we all know we want things very quickly and done very fast. Time is money, and it's true. The faster you get it done, it's more effective. And at the same time, we try to make our staff, the city staff here, everybody, I don't care, from janitor all the way down, all the way up, They're very important for the city because they're a part of the will. But the most important in our city, you out there, the people, you give the voice of opinion and tell us what it's about, where the trouble areas are at, where there's a problem at. You come to the council or call us and we address these issues. And I commend you for that. And that's all I got to say. Thank you. Thank you.

Is there a motion to approve this item?

I'll take it.

Call the roll, please. Oh, did we do public input?

No.

Oh, go ahead. Public comment. I thought we did it already.

The resolution is approving the freeway maintenance agreement with Caltrans. It's not talking about that project, it's talking about the maintenance agreement. And according to this, it's putting the maintenance, part of that maintenance onto the city of Selma. Can you tell me what the cost of that, is there an increased cost to the city? with this maintenance agreement? Before it was Caltrans would clean up and do that. How much are they putting back on the city now? And what is the cost of that going to be? Because from what I'm reading of this resolution, this is approving a freeway maintenance agreement with Caltrans.

So, you know, this is... the agreement that had to be signed before the grant could be implemented. So that is the nexus between the $3 million clean air grant and this agreement. So just spelling that out for you city manager in terms of the additional costs with Caltrans and the maintenance agreement. I know there's been, quite a bit of back and forth with Caltrans over this agreement and who maintains what as folks are in the city at this point.

So the previous maintenance agreement with Caltrans was done back in 1965, this new agreement, um, is primarily related to the improvements of the second street project um and so because we're doing those additional changes to that then you know it'd be our requirement to maintain them moving forward which will be will be utilizing city staff on their normal duties as assigned.

Will the city be paying cash, making cash payments to Caltrans that's part of this agenda that I missed? No. According to the speaker's question. Okay. So there's no cash that the city's going to be paying Caltrans to to take care of maintenance. This will be in line with this agreement.

Our staff is going to have to do in addition to their normal duties then.

Well, sit public works director.

Lou. Okay. So yes, there, there will be the added, uh, uh, duty of maintaining the new off ramps. Um, so it will be added to what we currently do, Mr. Mayor as our maintenance routines. Um, so anytime you have something new you have to maintain, there's going to be an incurred labor cost. So there is a cost. That's the cost for putting this project together. And to add to what you said, yes, this is kind of like conditioning a construction project with a developer. Caltrans conditions us. And part of that was the negotiation of this agreement. And we did go back and forth quite a bit with Mohammed working with us to get to where we're at now.

Got it. Thank you. It's a great partnership.

Anybody else with a comment?

Anybody in the chat on this?

Mayor, I see no hands raised at this time.

Come on up if you have a comment. What's your name? It is. Thank you. What was your name again? Just give us your name. Thank you for your comment. Yes. City's not billed for that. No. Okay. Call the roll, please.

Council Member Avalos.

Yes.

Council Member Segarra. Yes. Council Member Trujillo. Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Guerra. Yes. Mayor Robertson.

Yes. Okay. Moving on to departmental reports. This is city staff and contract employees present will be. recorded in the minutes after they make their report. City Manager.

Yes, thank you, Mayor and City Council. Since we last met, we completed our second interviews for the analyst deputy city clerk position. An offer was extended and accepted, and they are currently in the background process. The RFQ for grant writing services recently closed. We received 12 submissions from firms that And staff is currently reviewing in order to score and make a recommendation to council. So a lot of information in those. We are continuing to reach out to various outside agencies, developers, and partners regarding the Opportunity Zone 2.0 public comment period, which closes on the 28th. We have received several letters of support and have begun uploading them to the state. I also met with Council Member Trujillo and a resident to discuss items regarding awnings and setback requirements. I attended a Five Cities Centerpoint District Board and Executive Team Workshop hosted in Kingsburg with Council Member Osegarra. And finally, our new Community Development Director, Tawanda Matunga, started with us last week and we welcome him. I will allow him to talk more about himself during his upcoming staff report.

Right. Sounds good. And speaking of, Mr. Mantanga, very good to meet you. Are you ready to deliver your report?

Yes, I am. My name is Tawana Mutunga. I've been recently hired with the City of Selma to be the new Community Development Director. I'm extremely excited, extremely motivated to get going. I spent 19 and a half years in the Planning Department with the County of Fresno, and I am a Cal State Northridge grad. I am married with my beautiful wife, Jennifer Mutunga, and two beautiful girls, Aria and Kira Mutunga.

All right, Director. Glad to have you. Thank you very much for coming to Selma.

Welcome.

Yes, welcome. Okay. Community Services Director.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. I have a few updates for you guys today. We'll start over at the Arts Center. CKP's How to Train Your Dragon, the musical, opens in two weeks with over 90 participants across two casts. Visual Voices will be interpreting both shows on August 29th for the deaf and the hard of hearing community. The show runs Thursday, August 27th through Sunday, September 6th with tickets available at selmaartscenter.com slash youth. Rehearsals began last month for Selma Arts Center's production of the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, featuring two casts and 17 total actors. Performances run September 25th through October 17th at the Selma Arts Center. For recreation, the 2026 Adult Co-Ed Softball League wrapped up last Thursday. We just wanted to say a huge thank you to all of our teams that participated. It was a great year. NFL flag, cheer, and 5K color registrations are all currently open. available online through our Civic Rec website or in person at the Senior Center, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Going over to Animal Services, I have a spay and neuter voucher update for you guys. We still have 57 vouchers issued, 40 have been used. There's three appointments pending, $6,326 have been used so far, 6,174 still available. The vouchers do carry a 45 expiration date. Some of those are coming up right now. And so staff has been calling recipients to advise them of that time sensitive appointments. One thing that has kind of slowed these down is Dr. Peel from South County went on vacation for three months. And so cats, spay and neuters have slowed down. We've been directing them over to 24-7 vets. And then a microchip clinic will be held this Saturday, August 22nd, beginning at 10 a.m., where staff will give out 100 free microchips. It will be first come, first serve while supplies last. That'll take place at Pioneer Village.

And that's all for community services. Director, thank you. Just an item on the animal services. Went to McDonald's last week, and the cats are back. So it's probably, I know it's private property. I don't know if they've reached out to animal services, but it would probably be a good candidate for the TNR program, the spay and neuter program. I don't know if we reached out. Maybe if you could check with Armando, the manager, and just see what the plans are regarding that, because there are a lot of them there. Yeah, I can follow up with Armando.

I also have a comment on community services. September 4th, the Morenos and Ruben in La Nueva Onda at Lincoln Park. Bring your dancing suits. We got a big dance floor. We're paying a lot of money for it, so hopefully we'll get a permanent dance floor out there. Just saying, just saying.

September 4th, please come out to Selma Live. It'll be at Lincoln Park in front of the Selma Senior Center. We're going to have two performers and various activities, food booths. So please come out and enjoy and bring your dancing shoes.

Good times. All right. Police Chief Al Perez.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Just want to highlight a few events that we had. It was an absolute busy weekend at the Selma Police Department. Unfortunately, on Saturday morning, about 4.30 a.m., there was a disturbance at a residence at the area of Cypress and Logan Street in the city of Selma. Unfortunately, during that disturbance, someone was... shot and unfortunately passed away from those injuries. We want to make sure our prayers and thoughts are going out to the family of that deceased. It's an absolute unfortunate incident. However, I don't know if there's any bright or good news, but we did take a suspect into custody that same morning, served search warrants at the location, and we feel we have a very good, strong prosecutorial case. So a shout out to our officers and detectives for coming out and doing a phenomenal job. And because we had a lot of staff in town dealing with this homicide, we sent staff to the city of Parlier, where Parlier had an officer who was being shot at. Our officers responded out there. Their poise and professionalism, they were able to assist the sheriff's office and locate the suspect. Unfortunately, that suspect had some nefarious mindset and shot at our officers and was eventually taken into custody and is being treated at Fresno Regional Medical Center for his injuries. A suspect is in custody. One of our officers was injured trying to get out of the way of that gunfire. Luckily, he was okay, God willing, but I just want to speak to the poise and professionalism of our personnel to not just handle a homicide, but within four hours get called out to the city of Parlier, take a gunfire, and show restraint and professionalism to ensure that the safety of the public was a priority and that no one else was hurt, fortunately. So I just, I want to speak to their work, their commitment to not just the city of Selma, but to the profession and our community at large. So hopefully our officer will recover soon. He'll be back to work hopefully as soon as he's physically and mentally able. but things like that are a huge drain on the psyche of our personnel. So it's good that we have wellness programs to help support them through these moments. And on a brighter note, today we promoted Police Sergeant Caleb Garcia to the Police Commander position. Commander Garcia now has been with the Selma Police Department for 28 years. He's worked his ranks in task forces throughout the region. as a detective, as a sergeant, as a police officer. He was even a dispatcher at times. So it's phenomenal to have someone with that lens, experience, and passion for the job to help move the Selma Police Department forward into the future. You know, losing Renee created a vacancy, but it also created opportunity, growth, and to put people in different positions to let them show what they can do. So we're very excited at the Selma Police Department. We're going to have some movement coming with Commander Garcia going into that position. We'll be promoting a new sergeant. So a lot of exciting things at the Selma Police Department. And we appreciate the support of the council, the community support as we move Selma forward.

Thank you, Chief. Thank you for everything. The PD did that on a really grueling, dangerous, busy weekend. Thank you. Public Works Director Hahn.

Mr. Mayor, members of the council, good evening again. A couple of things real quick. Bike racks have been installed at Redlinger Park, Schaefer Park, Berry Park and Ringo Park. As we spoke about at the last meeting, that happened yesterday so those are completed um we're going we're finding a lot of sinkholes right now around town a lot of them over infrastructure so we're working hand in hand with skf cal water to identify the causes of those link sinkholes but we're going around working on remediating those areas and making sure that it's safe to the public um Today, my supervisor, Ulysses Montavia, ordered the carpet tiles for the city manager, city clerk, and the hallway area in the back of the building right over here. Those offices are being painted. We're going to continue painting that stuff. Hopefully the carpet comes in soon. We're trying to get all that stuff installed by the middle of September or sooner if we get the material soon enough. So that was a big step forward with what's happening in the city hall. If anybody noticed, there was a palm tree at Lincoln Park that was leaning really bad. We actually had the top of that tree broke off last Friday. We had our arborist out on, I'm sorry, broke off on Thursday. We had the arborist out on Friday, took a look at it. The arborist came yesterday and actually removed that palm tree. So if you're missing a palm tree in Lincoln Park, that's what happened to it. It's no longer. But it was creating a safety issue. Once it gets to the point where the top dies and breaks like that, you have to remove it. So that's that's taken care of. The last thing that I have is kind of exciting. We've been talking about the sidewalk council member Avalos in front of the senior center for quite some time now. We finally have wrapped up enough of our projects now that school's gone back, where we were doing thermoplast striping and installing crosswalk flashers, that that freed up some of the streets crew now, and we're actually working on that sidewalk area in front of Senior Center. We'll continue working on that until we remedy that entire sidewalk across the front, but they got a nice section of it taken out today. probably about 30 feet long, got it all dressed up and ready to go. So they're going to start forming that tomorrow. So any of the city properties, any of the right-of-way bordering the city properties, my city staff from public works will be going out there and actually working on those locations.

I have another question since you, you know, you know, I was, I had a phone call today, you know, regarding by church, the sidewalks, some of the sidewalks are lifted. and they need some assistance in shaving them. Can we find a way to assist them there in these areas?

So if somebody will either call Public Works and speak to Sylvia Luna, or you can get on the OpenGov portal, just like the contractors when they submit for a permit, you can actually put in a work request as a citizen and give the location and give a description of what the issue is. If, if it's less than, if it's an inch, inch and a half or less, we can go out and typically grind it with our diamond grinder. But if it's more than an inch, inch and a half, the, it just eats up the diamond barrels. And so those have to be removed and replaced. Um, so unfortunately I'm glad, I'm glad you brought this up. This brings up a good topic that needs to be discussed. Um, California State Highway Safety Code basically says that a property owner is responsible to maintain the right-of-way where it adjacents the property line. So anything adjacent to the property line, in the corner lots are the worst because you've got two sides. If there's issues with heaving of the sidewalk, trees in the parkway, that actually falls on the owner of the property to take care of those situations. The city is not funded in a way that allows us to go out and remove and replace concrete panels. Grinding, absolutely, Councilmember Avalos. We can get those work orders and we'll go out and we'll grind those down. The areas that are beyond grinding, unfortunately, it's going to get to a point where letters have started already going out to different property owners. explaining California Highway Safety Code and what the responsibility of the property owner is that's adjacent to our right-of-way. So I think that discussion is going to be discussed quite a bit more in the near future as these letters are going out and we're trying to remedy some of those areas. If they get on OpenGov and submit the work order, we will absolutely go out there. If it's grindable, we will grind that down, not a problem.

Okay. What if they want to come in and do the work order? Is it possible to do it that way?

If they want to come in and the owner perform the work, absolutely. They just have to go through the process of pulling the encroachment permit, getting that stuff all submitted through OpenGov as far as the permit, a traffic control plan. The contractor has to be a licensed contractor to pull the permit. And you have to have a business license for the city of Selma to do the work. As long as they follow that protocol, then yes, they can come in and apply for that permit and do the work.

But yes, for any complaints and stuff as well, they can either call us, email us online, walk in, and we'll take them.

I want to piggyback off of Director Hahn's comment, too, about the OpenGov. I created these hotlink buttons on the website now where you can report a pothole or a public works request. You can do your art sale permits. You can file a code complaint, and you can even apply for a business license. So this is on the homepage of the website. It's easily accessible.

I just saw a comment. The sidewalk over there where we had the bar last time at Lincoln Park, that area right there, I mean, is there any way to fix that? I know they ground it, but that didn't really help.

That entire sidewalk from the east side of the Veterans Plaza, basically all the way down to the end of that parking lot on McCall has to be removed and replaced. We are working with the city engineer. There are some CDBG funds that we're using for other parking lot areas. We're looking at opportunity to fix those locations. That location specifically is very bad. It's definitely on the top of the list for engineering and for public works. But we're looking at that. But we also did discuss moving Santa's house. And so there's a lot of other pieces that are playing in to that location. Because if we take parking stalls out of the parking lot to put a pad for the house, Santa house to go on, that would kind of coincide with that work for that sidewalk as well. So we are looking at it.

It's pretty bad when we had to put some barriers because, you know, it's lifted pretty bad now. I don't know if you've been there lately.

i've been there i'm the one that explained that we needed to have some kind of barriers there during the last event when the bar was set up or the beer booth over in that parking lot so we are looking at it but you have to look at the damage that those trees are doing so when we bring up the fact that we have to remove trees to fix these problems you have to understand that's what the problem is so that's

We do, and the council's never had a problem with that as long as those trees were replaced. We just have to follow through on that part.

It's just hard when they're big canopy, mature trees. People know they can park there and there's two or three spots with shade. You have to wait for gestation and trees to grow to get to that point. But as long as council's understanding and the citizens are understanding what goes into fixing those problems, then we're good.

Great. Good deal. Thank you. City Attorney, your report now.

Thank you, Mayor. As indicated prior to adjournment of your special meeting, the council did take action on item number two of the closed session agenda, which relates to the right-of-way acquisition for a planned traffic signal at McCall Avenue and Dinuba Street. In that closed session, the council unanimously authorized the service of a notice of intention to adopt a resolution of necessity on each of the five property owners that have failed to accept our previous multiple offers for acquisition of that property for the making of that necessary improvement. The resolution of necessity will be heard on a special meeting on September eight and that is the notice that will be given to the five property owners who have a right to be heard on your adoption of that resolution and necessity, the resolution of necessity. is simply the prelude to filing in court an action in eminent domain to acquire that property for the price which you offered to purchase it. And those notices will go out immediately so that the property owners all have at the minimum 15 days statutory notice to decide whether or not they wish to contest that. And that is the reportable action from your closed session.

Thank you, City Attorney. And this involves the stoplight installation, the four-way stoplight installation at Dinuba and McCall. Is that correct? McCall. You can't put the stoplight in until you acquire that land at the four-way intersection. Is that correct?

I have to have the four corners of the Intersection you have to own that property in order to put up the polls that will hold the stoplights and you'll have your your traffic light there.

Just as a matter of interest, I come in when I leave my house I come into the city of summer when I come here for that way I come in on mccall avenue usually in the morning. And it's just amazing to me how far the cars are stacked back that are coming up Dinuba. It's not too bad from where I'm coming in at, but those cars are stacked way back there. So this is a very much needed improvement.

Great to see we're making real progress on the installation of those stoplights. Another project started earlier. This started in 2020, and we're getting to the construction phase now. Thank you for that report. And with that, we're going to take our traditional five-minute break at this point, during which citizens have a chance to talk with the department heads, and then we'll be back for the rest of the city council meeting.

All right, we're going to get back in session.

Everybody take your seats.

Jim Avalos, please report to the dice.

Please. All right, everybody, we are back in session and going to move on.

To our public hearings, and we have none of those tonight, so we will move on to regular business. Our first item is an informational item. It's the presentation on the process and timeframe used in addressing municipal code violations and the intent into enforcing the municipal code standards with the city of Selma. Chief Alcaraz. Good evening, Mr. Members of the council.

Tonight with me, we have a code enforcement officer, Alexander Heredia and code enforcement officer, Sam. Oh, Sam. I got it right. Thank you. Today, they're going to talk to you all about the process in which we deal with code enforcement or musical code violations. They're going to give you the letter of the law. However, before we start that, I just want to kind of if you guys want to make your way to the podium, kind of the intent behind this. So when I came to the Selma Police Department in 2022, it's been quick. 2022, I drove around the city and was just looking at the conditions throughout the city. And I was kind of doing some research on code enforcement. And I felt that we could better utilize that program under the umbrella of the police department. So I asked for the code enforcement division to be reassigned under the police department's umbrella. Wow, I will tell you that it's been an absolute adventure and journey. However, what I will say is that we've used this program, this division to absolutely transform the aesthetics in the city of Selma. And before we get into how we do things, I wanna talk a little bit to the why. Why we use code enforcement, why we use these municipal code violations is to ensure that we are not just reducing crime, but we're also cleaning and aesthetically improving the the atmosphere of the city of selma so that when people are coming to visit for our special events when they're coming for our parades when they're coming to shop to visit um to you know work that the city is as aesthetically pleasing uh to them so that they'll be inclined to buy homes here uh to move here to shop here and they feel safe here um Back in, oh, I can't tell you, but Mayor Rudy Giuliani went into and became the mayor of the city of New York. And he used the broken window theory as the basis of how he cleaned up New York City. And he did that in a very short time by dealing with the small things. And the broken window theory really leads to the ideology that blight breeds crime. So knowing that, that's not a theory. It's a proven theory, rather. We use blight and address blight to help not just reduce crime, but also enhance the quality of life for the citizens of Selma. So that said, this is how that's why we use code enforcement. And right now, Sam is going to talk a little bit as to how we use code enforcement. So thank you, Mayor.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Potamon and Council. My name is G. Samra and I'm the city of Selma's certified code enforcement officer. Today, I will be going over the process for code enforcement. So we begin by once a complaint is received via open gov portal email or phone call we conduct inspection to determine the validity of the complaint. Another way code enforcement case can be opened is if a code enforcement officer sees a violation. Next line. If the complaint is valid we issue a courtesy notice to the property owner and or the occupant every Selma municipal code comes with a specific time frame. A follow-up inspection is performed, and if the violation has been remedied, the case is closed. Next slide. If the violation has not been remedied and contact has not been made with code enforcement regarding an extension, the first administrative citation is issued. A follow-up is done every two weeks up until the fourth citation. Administrative citation amounts are 100, 200, 500, and 500. after the fourth citation of the cases forwarded to the city attorney for review. Next slide. A request for approval is then sent to council, city manager, department head, or supervisor for the cost of the abatement. A notice will be posted for 30 days to allow compliance one last time before the city starts abatement procedures. Once abatement warrant is received the city may abate the nuisance and place a lien against the property for the full cost of abatement and then the case is closed. This is a flowchart of our process for code enforcement and thank you for your support.

Thank you mayor by just interject a little bit so looking at this process. Unfortunately, sometimes we have property owners that are either not compliant or not responsive. So typically when we send a citation out, we get a response. We've had instances where someone complains that they got a $500 citation for not fixing, let's say a fence. And at that time we will make, if the property owner will talk to us, we will say, listen, use that money to fix the fence. All we really want is compliance. The citation is really not our concern, but it's just something about when someone gets a citation and and is looking at monetary fines, then they're gonna pick up the phone and call. So the reason we use that process is to be able to get that compliance or at least get communication starting. Additionally, and through every bit of this process, if we have a property owner that is talking to us and in communication, Hey, we're going to fix it. We're on vacation. When we get back, we're going to get to it. We're going to work with that property owner. When we don't is when we have no communication. Otherwise, the longer that we suspend the process, the longer it takes to get that property remedied. And that's really the reason that we use this process. So even though it says, yeah, one day, two days, and again, there's different days based on the violation, right? It's not a hard set. It's got to be 72 hours. If someone's working, then we're gonna work with them. However, there are certain things where we can't wait 72 hours. I'll give you a great case in point. Two weeks ago, we had a severe fire on the freeway and our fire personnel needed to access a fire hydrant that was on our roadway near the fire and there was a vehicle parked in front of the hydrant, right? We're not gonna wait 72 hours for a vehicle parked in front of a hydrant. There's state law that says you cannot do that. So things like that, when our code enforcement is out, we try to catch everything, but we, you know, we miss things. They have things they're looking for, things that they're following up on. But that's kind of just to give you a kind of holistic idea of how we use code enforcement and why sometimes those days we can't wait, right, because of the public safety and things of that nature. But anytime there's a property owner that is willing to talk to us and we can work through that, we'll work through that, you know. Graffiti is another great example. When people, places get graffitied, I know our code enforcement works with the beautification committee to see if they can go out and help that property owner remedy that violation because we understand the strain on the property owner. But again, we've got, you know, we can't help if no one's communicating with us. You know, we knock on a door, but we can't wait there forever, unfortunately. So the citations and notifications are merely an attempt to get the property owner to respond to us so that we can have a conversation and work towards a resolve. So that's just to kind of thank you, Sam, so much. Thank you, sir.

Thanks very much for your reports. Council, I have comments at this time.

I have a couple of questions in response to that. The first one is, you know, finding that fine line between a building being blight versus, let's say there's a building being, has a for sale sign. And at the back of that building, there's all this trash and things like that, right? Do we still have the same, is there anything we can do about that or?

Yeah, absolutely. So like trash things of that nature could become a health and safety, um, problem for for the neighborhood you know trash gnats rats things of that nature those are things that create um health and safety codes so we we have ordinances i believe that can deal with that and we we do and again if we miss that please you know we would love for our community members to let us know about those violations again our people do the best job they can but we're not going to catch everything it's it's a big city there's always things going on uh I know code enforcement gets shifted over to help out with a lot of search warrants that we serve because we're going into houses where there's significant building code violations that are unsafe for occupants. And then once we're in the house, we know about those. Now we have to address that. And a lot of times a call like that could take four or five hours. So that takes them away from their other duties that they're doing. Then they're in the chief's office all the time talking about events that the chief needs help with and problems. because we are trying to clean up the city. So I hope that answered your question.

The other question is, so we have a lot of buildings. We have some buildings that have been getting or going through the prepare process for the last two, three years. And I like that saying that, you know, blight reduces crime. And I'm going to talk about that junior hire, that building right there on That building that might cross you from the park, you know there's in the back of that building the alley there's a lot of trash and stuff like that and and it's true trash. it brings people in. I don't know why, but it brings the people in there. Right. And in the alleys. Right. So I just, I, what do we do with businesses that I've been noticing this that have just a lot of trash in their alleys. I'm talking about the businesses.

Yeah. So we're going to deal with them as well. You know, I know like in the area you're talking about, and I'm not going to make excuses, but we have some transients that are kind of from Selma that aren't really, They have family and so maybe in that neighborhood and they frequently hang on that area because they can go and get meals from family members. And that creates it's it's it's those unique situations are going to be ongoing because they know what the law are. Because we explained in the law and then we try to work with that business owner, things like that, where you have a property that's abandoned. and it's either in foreclosure or it's bank-owned, that creates another adversity for us to help get a speedier resolve because the banks are not as responsive as, let's say, a property owner, right, where we can talk to them. A bank that's holding a note in Massachusetts is much more difficult to gain compliance than someone that has a property owner on Front Street but lives over on Hill Street or, you know, Dockery that we can go and talk to and knock on their door, right? So all those things, but we are always working towards resolution because it's, again, when I got here, the things I saw, And I love Selma, and I want to beautify Selma as best I can, not just reduce crime, because I believe those two things go hand in hand in creating the best quality of life. It's something that I really kind of took over and put at the forefront of our priority. Even though we have other things going on, blight is just as important to me as reducing violent crime. One's not more important than the other. So please, if you see those things, you can get a hold of Code Enforcement, get a hold of me, and I'll get it over to them. That happens pretty often.

And they're very good at getting and responding to that request that I receive from public or even council and everything. I'm able to get them to our Code Enforcement, and they've been very responsive on that. But then additionally, talking about the abatement side of it, when we get to that process, just last month we had an item before council where we had a lot of abatement that we had done throughout the year and then we assessed them and it goes on to the tax roll and that's kind of where the final motion is at is that we abate it then it goes on the tax roll if you know we can't collect

I'd like to get some clarification in regards to the RVs and boats that are on the driveways. Now, my understanding is I thought we were okay with that. Didn't we pass that two years ago where they weren't gonna be getting cited for having their boat or their RVs on their driveway. As long as it's on their driveway, they would be okay because we were getting a lot of complaints about that. And then we thought we took care of this. I just wanna clarify that. Are we citing individuals that have an RV or a boat that's on their driveway or towards their back or whatever, are we citing those individuals correctly?

Good evening, Mayor, council members and city staff and citizens. To answer your question, so we have not messed with anyone that has boats or RVs unless we get a complaint, a formal complaint through OpenGov, phone calls, emails, because those are still considered city ordinance violations. Our job is not to issue citations. We issue the courtesy notice to explain the violation that they're in. You are correct. Two years ago, we were advised to put a hold on it. But still, if we get complaints, we still have to address it.

So I just want to make sure I understand this. If I have a property and I have a pretty large driveway, Like I said, I can fit probably six to eight cars on my driveway. And I have a boat or an RV that's on my property. So someone, what would they complain about? I mean, what kind of complaints would you get in regards to that?

So it, Council Member, Mayor Pro Tem, Gary, I apologize. They would just complain that it's a violation of, and typically what happens is they've been issued a citation, or had a similar situation in which they had to remove that document. trailer unit from their property. And they're probably complaining because they see other people. And that happens a lot. When we start issuing notices, then people start driving around and say, well, what about this house? What about that house? And then we start getting a multitude of complaints about other properties within the city. So then we start addressing those as well. That's extremely common. In fact, it happens every day.

So how would we take care of that issue?

You would, as the council has the ability to change the ordinance, what I will say is, you know, and then I'll be frank, is if you allow that, then that's no problem. That is the council's objective and perspective. However, let's say you put the trailer on your property and you take it out every week and it's washed and it's clean and you take care of it. there's nothing that says that you don't have to wash it and clean it and take care of it. So then you have other property owners who buy trailers, put them on their property and they don't wash it. They don't clean it. They don't take care of it. The tires go flat. We'd start growing at it around it. And then you have, you know, foliage and things like that. And that's kind of the problem with a lot of, or not problem, but the issue why we have ordinances is because you can't just throw a blanket, you know, Hey, you can only put a trailer on here. If it, if it, You know, doesn't look good and you wash it every week. And those are, you know, I think unreasonable restrictions. So those become challenges. And that's why when we put these ordinances out and I'll speak to this a little bit about the banners and feather banner item that we're going to speak to next is. you know, there's not a one size fits all to these ordinances. So we do the best we can with our interpretation of the meaning behind that ordinance. But that is the problem with these, with trailers and boats and things like that. And I could drive around and probably show you three trailers that don't look, they just, I wouldn't want to live next to that. But, and then there's, I could take pictures, show you 15 trailers where they look great, right? That is, unfortunately, you throw out this blanket and everything gets caught and pulled in with it, if you will. So I would just... Again, council, it's your prerogative, however you would like to address that. But it is something to think of because we've made tremendous headway in cleaning up the city. And I'm hoping that property values are increasing. And that means that when property values increase, that parents can maybe take out money to send their kids to college and give them an opportunity You know, and that's that's the reason, you know, successful cities feel safe. And that is part of what I'm doing is to make the citizens of Selma feel safe, because if they feel safe, they'll spend more for their house. Property values go up. They'll spend more in our stores. They'll come and visit. And that's how cities will will be successful.

Yeah, and then that's the thing too. It's because, you know, the storage that we have here in Selma has been full for many years. And that was the biggest complaint that we've had is, I mean, you can call them, they'll tell you there's a two-year waiting list, you know, and it's unfortunate because the people of Selma that would like to probably pay to store, you know, put their RV or motor home or boat, what have you in a storage, they can't. Because it's they've been filled for many years. I know that's what we kind of addressed two years ago. And it's it's very unfortunate. But I'm just curious to see how how this if there's something that we have to change, or like you're saying, if it's just on a complaint, so let me ask you, okay, if it's on a complaint, how many complaints are you getting? Let's just say weekly.

Maybe it would be probably two to three. Um, most of them comply. And then also too, we help them understand the reason of the, the ordinance, you know, there's setback violations where maybe they can't see coming into a street. So it becomes a zoning issue. Then there's also the fire department issue where if an accident happens or incident happens, How is the fire going to get to the side of the property if there's not enough space for them to get through to the back? Same thing with just the property maintenance, the blight that it might create. What if someone's living in a trailer where it's prohibited in the city? So there's all kinds of things that the reason why they put this into ordinance, but I understand, like you said, where are they going to put it? So that's just a tough question that the decision is based on what you guys want to do moving forward, but also understanding what you're going to do Once that's done, it's how does it affect everything else when it comes to the setback and how can they see coming down from the street if they're trying to back out or if the fire needs to get through or if officers need to go through or someone's hiding behind one. So there's a lot of things that go into it than just to say you can't have it parked there. And I think that's why they had that put in place. But Moving forward, it's basically like Chief said, it's your call on how you guys want to move forward with it. There is a process to remedy and make sure you understand how you're going to put it in place with all that going through it too. Okay.

So out of the three complaints, let's just say during the week, I mean, is it fair to say that they... typically comply and you don't have to cite them or is there an issue that maybe like you're saying someone's living in it or someone's, you know, it looks pretty bad or it's broken down.

Yeah, after we send out the notice of violation, we get a call back just so that way we can help them understand the reasoning of the ordinance. Most of them do comply. We do get some that might want to go and try to protest and maybe say why they shouldn't or where they can't, why they can't have it there. Um, but no citations have been issued. It was just more of a, we'll just keep, um, educating.

Okay.

Okay.

I think, um, you, you guys run a really fine line because you don't want to be overbearing and yet you want to do your job too. And, you know, we, We get responses from citizens all the time. Probably the biggest ones I get are overgrown weeds, you know, in, in yards and in next to buildings, you know, what's going on there. One about a fence. We hear about that a lot. You know, it could be a public safety hazard and also about boarded up houses. So it's, there are not as many things are looking better in Selma. It is looking better. And you guys are responsible for a lot of that. And we appreciate it. Plus, you're accessible and you're easy to talk to. You really are. And I appreciate that. But, you know, we it's just like it never goes away. The blight never goes away. You've got to stay on top of it. And I think that's really important. That's what you're doing. But in terms of boarded up houses, when can the city go in? and demo those houses.

So it is a process, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. So trust me, where we had our homicide, there was a house next door that we'd been boarding up, I think several times and still having issues with it. It could take six months. It could be as fast as three months. It could take as long as six months. It could take longer. It just depends on the abatement process, but more importantly, how the communication goes out. A lot of times we have issues finding who the property owner is because we have to properly notify the legal responsible for that property. I know the house on Cypress, we had, it was, it took three to four months to figure out who was actually responsible for that property because the bank had turned over from this bank to that bank and And that creates its own issues for us. But once we can identify who the actual legal owner is, then we can properly notify them and then get it to the abatement process.

It's like that house on Rosen Thompson as well, boarded up. It's like an invitation for people to go in there and squat there.

Correct. That is on our radar. We have several houses on our radar. Yes, sir. we're going to start checking it daily on all those houses that are boarded up to ensure that they are boarded up um every day so that it's less likely that we have people trespassing on those properties uh so again it's again this goes into the the work uh that they can get done because all these things take time i know every morning they go out and they are um They're driving our main thoroughfares. We really concentrate our main thoroughfares to make sure that those main roadways coming in and out of our city are aesthetically pleasing. And then if not working towards getting resolve on that. So Alex and Sam work a lot with Caltrans. It sounds like they won't be working with them much more once we sign this maintenance agreement on ensuring that, you know, we're not having blight around our freeway exits and entrances.

Appreciate how, you know, you work with Caltrans as well. You know, they just beefed up their road teams as well. They went in and they cut that tree back right there. I mean, that really dangerous condition there on that floral lawn ramp. That was another invitation that would have ended in tragedy and really could have. And I know our code enforcement work closely with with Caltrans, with our police chief to make sure that that got abated and cut back and look at it. Nobody's been there since then. And it's not to be mean and it's not be cruel. It is to promote safety, public safety. You just can't have people living in there and going and hiding in those trees. So I think it's a you know, those are the. really the basics of code enforcement of, you know, making it, removing that blight, but there's a lot of variation in that. And so you guys understand that's what we get. You know, we get a lot of comments back and forth. And I think what I'm hearing is, you know, you need clarity, like in terms of the RVs and the boats, if there's clarity on that ordinance, I think that would make your job easier. And I think we can, we can provide a little, a little more clear roadmap on that basis for you as well. Anybody with public comment tonight on code enforcement in Selma?

My name is Jesse Crouch, 2172 East front street. And in regards to approachability, you know, this is going to go over to the banner one. Um, Sam really does work with the people. Um, we were one of the, but they're doing it too. Meaning like, uh, somebody had gotten written up or something. And then it really felt like they were going around and, and, um, We were on a list. Right. And so that's what spurred me to come here for the next part that we're going to talk about. But as far as code enforcement, they did a really good job of working with us, then reaching out to the property owner. And so the process is working. But in regards to this part and the RV, maybe if the city and city hall work together to word it to where it's safety first, then an aesthetic, you know, keep your, because if they don't keep their yard clean, you guys go cut the yard and you charge them. Same thing here. If they keep that RV and keep it up, keep it clean, maybe there could be some work around there. That's it.

Thank you. Anybody in the chat on this topic?

We have another comment. 257 mill street. Um, we get a lot of complaints, um, of the PG and E building. Um, You know, it just like there's discussion all the time about, you know, the $3 million grant that is going to beautify second street. Then you got this, that's going to pass the railroad tracks, the other $300,000 grant that we spoke about yesterday at the bid and then a matching. So we got, hopefully 600,000 to beautify all of that off of Second Street. But then we got that PG&E building. So people, one thing people ask all the time, what is going on with that PG&E building? You know, we sometimes you hear, yeah, they've been informed. When is it the time when you guys actually go in there and actually, to be honest, when we go on Second Street to go get our, if we go on Starbucks or just passing through for whatever reason, you see, okay, maybe they tried. They went in there with scissors probably because it's obviously not done. the way it should be, being that it's a building right there that if you're gonna purchase it, at least keep it up until you're willing to come on in and do whatever you're gonna end up doing there as a business. But it's really gonna have a big effect off Second Street, especially with all this new beautification that's coming in. What are you able to do? with something like that because you don't want all this to be happening and yet that's still there. Thank you.

I can look up that and get the council report tomorrow. I'd like to just look at our history and what we've done and where we're at on the process with them.

Yeah, it looks like the process is complaint-driven. So if there's a complaint on it, it'd be interesting to see what that history is. It's the ex-PG&E. It's not PG&E anymore.

No, no, yeah, on 2nd Street, correct?

Yeah, someone out of town. And I don't think they've moved in. I don't think they've done a whole lot to it. And that's a good point. You know, the $3 million grant's going to spruce up 2nd Street. we don't need a property that's going to be absolutely other direction we'll uh we'll we'll like said it let me look at the history and where we're at on the process with that property and we'll I'll send that to the city manager for your information thanks very much appreciate that this is an informational item so we're going to move on from here to our next item however it is an informational item but if there is recommendation or council wanted us to look into something different

As this is agendized, you can do that right now, and so you wouldn't have to do it as a future agenda item.

Chair Merrilees, regarding the rbs like to change that agenda i'd like to change that ordinance put it on there to change that ordinance to approve rbs entry and campers in in driveways subject to public safety and aesthetic concerns, so we strike a balance there. Chair Merrilees, And do we have consensus.

Chair Merrilees, Good all right.

Item 5-2. This is another discussion item, and this is on the sign ordinance, feather flags, and banners.

Good evening, Mayor, members of Council, Tawana Mutunga with the Community Development Department. This item is back before your Council at Council's request following public comment received in July regarding the City's regulation for feather flags and banners. Under Title 11, Chapter 3 of the Selma Municipal Code, the city regulates signage to promote public safety, reduce traffic hazards, and maintain community aesthetics. Currently, pennants, banners, and flags, including feather flags, are generally prohibited unless authorized through a temporary sign permit or a special event permit. The code also prohibits other sign types, such as animated signs, portable signs, trailer mounted signs, roof signs, and signs located within the public right of way. Temporary signage may be permitted through the city's existing sign permit process. For example, grand openings and special events, banners, pennants, balloons, and similar displays may be approved at the discretion of the planning director, provided they are maintained in good condition, do not create a safety hazard, or public nuisance and are temporary in nature. The application also has to indicate how long they plan to have the signs there. If they're going to be temporary in nature, they can't be fixed to a building and they can't be permanently mounted into the grounds. As council discusses this topic, there are policy considerations on both sides. Businesses often view Feather Flags as an affordable advertising tool, while concerns commonly raised include visual clutter, maintenance, aesthetics, and potential driver distractions. This item is informational with no fiscal impact. I'm happy to answer any questions and the council direction at this time.

Thank you, director. Appreciate your report. Does council have any questions for the director or any topics they would like to raise before we get into this item?

Yeah, I have a question. You know, when you said grand openings, synthetics and stuff like that, was, okay, the question is, when grand openings take a place, everybody's got balloons, banners, and let's say the, I'll use a car dealership. Okay, this is the annual 25th thousand year celebration. We're going to put the banners on on these cars down the car lot. Now, how long can they keep them there? That's the question.

Yeah. And unfortunately, that's where the ordinance isn't really clear. We identify on the application that the application has to identify how long they plan to have the signage up and any other advertising material. Um, but that is something we can look into as doing as part of an amendment to text to update, to clearly state that, uh, to have the ordinance clearly state what temporary means in, in longevity and, and how long, you know, special events and businesses can have those temporary type of signs up.

But do we have it in, do we have it in play as far as a temporary, um,

No, it's, it's, yeah, it's enforced through the temporary use permit. And then, uh, the temporary use permit identifies how long they plan to have the signage.

Okay. Okay. Public comment.

Laura, and I belong to Oh, thanks. My business name is Rodolfos. And I got a violation letter from the regarding the banners. And I have a question on those banners. Okay, I have a sign that was drilled to my walls. But I have a question. What is the the rulings for to have any kind of print or advertising on your on your building? I want to know if, because the school next door has one, but it's made out of metal, supposedly. What's the difference between a metal and mine that was made professionally, because we do pay for that? What's the difference that she can keep hers on and I can't? I have to tear mine down.

Well, without knowing the full history, I'll let Chief Alcarez.

You know, it's hard to take a case-by-case. I'd have to go take a look. I don't have the information in front of me. We can send code enforcement out to meet with you tomorrow. One thing that we did talk about is, you know, we're always trying to evolve and adjust, but signage, it's in good shape. It's not torn, tattered. It's not sun-ridden. We're going to start working with businesses to... help keep that signage up. But again, those are things we're working with because we understand the strain that it puts on business owners. So I can send code enforcement to your location tomorrow to Rodolfo's.

Well, they can go look at it. Yes, ma'am. Well, it's better yet. My husband just tore it down today. Okay. Yeah, but it wasn't torn. It was professionally painted and I paid for it. And I have two for the people passing by, but not too many cars will pass by. And then I'm like a crash looking at my sign, like you said. But I wanted to know, can you put it on the windows?

So, you know, if you're selling alcohol location, there's- No, I don't have no alcohol whatsoever. Okay, again, I- There's got to be a certain percentage that has to allow visibility through the windows, so we can take a look at that. I don't want to get into a case-by-case, but we absolutely send someone out tomorrow and talk through.

Okay, you mentioned something about visibility. ACES has paper specials all through the whole front of the, what's the difference on that? So I don't know if they're... Well, that's what I'm saying. A bio could do that, but my saying is on the inside of my window. No, his is outside. I take it back. I said I want to put mine inside. What's the difference? Can I do that?

Again, what I'll say is I don't know every specific ordinance by heart. The penal code is 1,200 penal codes in the state of California. Our municipal code has probably got at least 500 to 600 municipal codes. I can tell you that I'll send Alex and Sam to meet with you and look at your specific property and see how we can work together to come to a remedy and resolve. And then we'll look at the location business you just mentioned to see if we may already be dealing with that business. I don't know. I know a lot of times when we get requests from the council or the city manager, a lot of the times we're already starting the process with that business. And it wouldn't be fair to me to discuss that business's process or your process. But in private, we can absolutely meet.

Yeah, but like I said, now the ACES has the whole front of his with paper advertisements for the items that they're selling.

Thank you, Ms. Mora. They'll come over tomorrow and meet with you. Are you going to be in tomorrow at Rodolfo's?

What time?

What time would you like to show up?

I get there at 9 o'clock.

Yep, they'll be there at 9. All right. They'll go over there and consult with you, okay? They'll be there at 9.

All right.

Thank you. Next public comment.

I also have a question regarding the signs. I think you, Sam and Alex, you both picked up and talked to me. My name is Amelita, and I have talked to both of you a couple times. And I'm just, is this not clear online?

Is your mic on?

Yes. What the laws are like, can you hang it on the fence? Can you hang it on the buildings? I took one banner down, but one is cemented. It's six feet from the sidewalk. And if they can check on that, just to let me know if that has to come down also, because it's going to affect our businesses. We have, we're small businesses in Selma. We're just trying to survive.

And I, again, we completely understand. That's why we've, change speed a little bit and how we deal with these. We're not trying to be, what I'll say is a large part of why we have, and I tell you, I get more calls about code enforcement than law enforcement issues, which is a good problem to have as a police chief. But that said, I truly feel that a lot of these violations and codes have gone unchecked for so long that now when we're starting to open these codes up and beautify the city and do the things we're trying to do, that now we're getting people that have never had to deal with these. People are just basically doing what they want to do. And now we have to try to rein it in a little bit. And kind of get some control of it so that it does look aesthetically pleasing so people do visit your business and things of that nature. So we'll work with you. If you've already met with Sam and Alex, you can leave your number with them and they'll get ahold. They can set up to meet with you tomorrow to talk about that. But we're going to like signs that are, you know, they're good. They're easy to read. They're not invited. They're not. obstructing traffic flow, things of that nature. We're going to start, we'll do our best to work with business owners.

Okay. You actually want to be, but I want to be a law abiding citizen. I don't know.

And again, if we're, if we're talking that that's, that's huge for us, right? We can, we can work through those things.

All right. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Sam and Alex, both for taking my Paul Smith multiple times. I'm there at six 30 in the morning.

I am Jesse Crouch at 2172 East front street. Um, I understand it's a blanket code, right? And again, I already commended them on their part. And it's just, I would love like city to work with business owners as well as the community and citizens. Because again, being a small business and in the downtown business district, we're hit with a little bit extra by being down here. And I just feel that one or two signs should be put in place. So if it's a feather flag, I can understand, like my neighbor put quite a few out there and I had one and I got a citation or a notice, right? But at least one. And then after that, Hey, by the way, if you want more, or you're going to have more than one, follow these rules, you know, the rules will be, you can only, and temporary should mean, Hey, if I, if I have an a frame and it's an open and not impeding sidewalks and other things like that, I bring it in at the close of business. Cause I mean, how many businesses have an open sign? Are we having to put that out there, you know, on this type of temporary sign, it's just another way of bringing in traffic. And again, I feel with our business licenses, the way they are to add on, I believe it's $150 per quarter extra for that signage or that temporary use is it's a bit much. So one, you know, comes with our license, especially downtown business district. The other part would be to revisit much like the RV ordinance to where we're, keeping it clear, keeping it traffic. You can see everything. Nothing's impeding handicapped or sidewalks. And that verbiage isn't in that code. And I don't know when it was written. But I do agree with the tattered and beautification. I mean, it's a nice city. But pointing fingers and saying you guys aren't doing that and this isn't going to get it done. So I appreciate you guys putting this on the agenda. I know I came... HAB-Jacques Juilland, A little over a month ago, and this is pretty fast for city work, not the city any any city, but HAB-Jacques Juilland, So I do commend that I do applaud please chief for for saying, hey, willing to sit on a case by case, you know, thing. HAB-Jacques Juilland, But really, that's just the here and there. We need better verbiage as far as the code itself is written. And so I'm hoping you guys get this in the agenda to where It is a team effort, right? This is a city and a community, and we all have a voice in it. Thank you.

Thank you, Jesse. And then since you are downtown, you're part of the Business Improvement District, you pay a little bit extra for that right now. It's the same as your business license fee. That will be coming back to council to kind of look at that because it's gone this way for a couple years. That might, you know, the council should review that in the future. We'll get there. That's not going to be this meeting. But That being said, as part of the business improvement district, you do have certain rights as well in that. And one of them, one of the benefits that you get from being part of the business improvement district is being eligible for that downtown storefront improvement program. It's gone through a lot of evolutions. It's gone from virtually impossible to be able to apply, you know, with a five page application to where we are now is it's a lot easier to apply for that online and city council will be looking at updating that ordinance so that the prevailing wage requirement will be much easier for businesses to comply with. Part of that, which is a way to say part of that improvement program is signage and promotion for your business. So I really would look at that, Jesse, in terms of being able to improve your signage and your building using that downtown storefront grant because you're part of the district. And I would highly encourage you to consider that. You know, the feather banners that you're using, yeah, it's expensive because they're the temporary permits. And I think the reason they are temporary permits is to discourage the use of feather banners because, you know, they do get tattered really quickly. Not saying yours do. You take yours out and you bring them back in. Never you. It's a, but you know, they can, they're just really susceptible to, to damage and they're not a good look for the city. So I would also consider taking advantage of being part of the, you know, the downtown business district and putting in some permanent signage to promote your business that, you know, you don't have to go and spend $150 a quarter for, and that would promote your business. Welcome. Anybody else with a comment? Anybody in the chat with a comment. I see no hands raised at this time. All right, this is another informational item. So we will move on from here to item five, three now. And this is the adoption. This is an action item tonight. Consideration of adoption of resolution 2026 85 giving authorization to proceed with procurement of a modular restroom facility at pioneer village park director hunt.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. The subject matter in front of you is, as you said, consideration of adoption of Resolution 2026-85, giving authorization to proceed with the procurement of a modular restroom facility at Pioneer Village Park via mobile modular through the Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Contract. Recommendation at this time, staff recommends that City Council adopt Resolution 2026-85, John Potter, authorizing the city manager designate to proceed with the procurement of a permanent Ada accessible modular restroom facility at pioneer village park. John Potter, Through mobile modular utilizing the source well cooperative purchasing contract ID number 12822 dash mm are and to execute all necessary associated documents. John Potter, The background on this, Mr Mayor members of the Council is quite extensive. We all know, including members of the public that we've discussed this item extensively over several months, maybe even a year at this point. City staff has gone through the exercise of expanding all of our resources, trying to find every option available for those facilities. I previously brought to council some mock-up drawings of a company that we were looking at that did engineering. and design of the facilities with us having to put out an RFP for construction of that facility. City Council's direction was to engage with Mobile Modular and look at those options for a mobile commercial, but yet permanent structure for those restrooms. Part of your package that you have included, I'm gonna go ahead and jump to this before I go further down the staff report is actually two quotes that we received from Mobile Modular These are two used units that they currently have in their yard in Livermore. One of them is a 12 by 40. The other one is a 12 by 44. The prices for those two units are in your packet on those quotes, and it is also attached to the staff report for financial burden or obligation for the project. The 12 by 40 trailer is $81,514.13. the 12 by 44 foot modular restroom is $85,063 and 62 cents. Um, The proposed facility will be standard modular restroom buildings designed to meet or exceed the requirements of the state of California. Key features of the proposed facility include ADA accessibility. The facility will be fully ADA accessible, providing equitable access for all park users, including seniors and individuals with disabilities. Permanent utility connections. The building will connect to the existing water supply and sewer utilities at the site, which we went out with SKF last week and verified that we are on city sewer collection system. We are not on any septic systems for any of the buildings at Pioneer Village. Good job. Good to know. I just want to be clear about that. Standard construction will consist of mobile modular utilizing standard building materials and installation methods. the building subject to finalized engineering and architectural details mobile modular will provide all permits necessary for the manufacturer and deliver the modules to the site the city will be responsible for all permits pertaining to building installation site work and occupancy typical for any of our city cip projects the warranty the buildings will be warranted for a period of one year from the date of substantial completion of mobile modular scope of work which I'll discuss real quick. So these are going to be a little different than the modulars that we're using currently for the EMS facility that's under construction. The EMS facility consisted of what is called a pit set. where there was actually a pit excavated that the trailers will sit over with a fabricated retaining wall and drainage system under those trailers. Quite a bit of work, a lot of dirt that has to be moved, compacted, and walls that need to be built. When Mobile Modular met with me and their rep Ryan met with me two weeks ago, we looked at the location, which I have some pictures in a PowerPoint we'll get to in just a second, where the existing restrooms are. and where the new modular buildings will set. We're kind of blessed with the fact that we have a very flat surface out there. There's no real grading work that needs to happen to set those modulars. And they will be set just kind of like a modular house unit. They have skirting that goes around them. They bring them in. They back them into the location where we want them. They unhook them from the trucks. They put jack stands under them to level them off and to secure them. and then they strap them down with earthquake strapping. Once that work's done, then we can hook up the sewer laterals to the two buildings to put us on to the sewer collection system and also run the water services to each one of the modulars. Now, real quick, I want to touch on the reason why I looked at two buildings. We've talked extensively and it's in the staff report under, I'm sorry, it's in the staff report under history background. The amount of people that events bring to Pioneer Village are thousands. And so looking at one single modular unit, each one of these units is partitioned. So each unit will have a women's restroom side and a men's restroom side. It didn't seem to be adequate for the amount of spaces that council has requested that we really need to serve those events out there. So because mobile modular had these two used units and the prices that we got on them for the sale with taxes, delivery and setup was well within our budget that's allocated currently of $320,000. To build the project, it was definitely something that the city manager agreed, like we need to move forward with this and see where council's at with it. So two restrooms are what we're looking at doing. If we could, I'll jump, I'll go through fiscal impact real quick. Fiscal impact, total project costs, including the modular building, delivery, installation, site work, utility connections is to be determined based on the final scope developed with mobile modular. Funding sources include the Selma Healthcare District's $50,000 grant. Thank you very much, Selma Healthcare. And $270,000 additional city funds as identified and appropriated by the city council. Staff will return to council with a complete fiscal impact analysis as soon as we get all of that information and get the green light to move forward with this project. We can bring that back as an update to what the actual final cost of that project is, again, I feel very comfortable with the cost of the modulars to be delivered and set up that we have plenty of money to complete that project. So I'm feeling very good about that. Total funding available is $320,000. Mobile modular used restrooms are $81,514.13 and $86,063.62. The total cost for mobile modular for the two rooms, buildings set up delivered completely done is 167 577.75 that leaves a remaining balance of 152 422.25 of the current allocated funds um the only other uh item that needs to be addressed when these trailers are set beside the sat besides the utility connections is The way that we're setting them, and I'll show you in the pictures in a minute, I don't have a CAD program, and I apologize, Council and Mr. Mayor, to where I could actually draw you like a mocked-up drawing of how it's going to look, but I can give you a good idea. The trailers will be placed approximately eight feet apart, so there'll be a breezeway between the two of them. The doors will be facing inward, and the ends of the trailers facing towards the existing restrooms. that are set to be demolished. Our intention is to build a very solid wood, professionally constructed ADA compliant breezeway that will be decking, that'll be between those two buildings. And there will be an ADA compliant ramp and stairs coming up the front where the current restrooms are going to be demolished. So entrance will be from the front and then you'll have that long breezeway that goes between those two structures for the entrances to the restroom. And we'll get into more detail on that as we move further into that project. If you could pull up the PowerPoint slide real quick. What's depicted in this picture, and I apologize, I am not a photographer. I do the best I can with my iPhone, and that's the best I got. So currently what we're looking at, we are standing on the park side or the north side of the existing restroom buildings and slab. That restroom building and that slab will be removed, completely demolished, and the red tough shed that you see in the background will be relocated in the park. Parks and Recs does use that for storing materials and stuff for different events that they have at Pioneer Village. So that will be relocated. If you look just to the right of the shed, you see a light pole. We've got LED lights up there. The light that's on the left side will actually be turned to the east. Exactly. Thank you, Jose. And that will be shining basically on the deck and the ramp leading up to the restroom. So there will be light on the front of the restroom building for the walkway and the ADA compliant ramp. Next slide. Okay, so... It's my coloring crayon job. So basically the area in the green that you see, I tried to put a red X through the existing restrooms. Hard to see, but that basically means that's going to be gone. the equipment that's sitting by the shed will be moved and the shed will be moved. The green area that's depicted in this picture is basically where those trailers will sit. They will be facing north and south with the rear end of the trailers towards the Home Depot property and the north end of the trailers facing directly towards the park. And then the breezeway will be basically right up the middle of those two trailers running from north to south, if that makes sense. I did that just to try to give you a visual of kind of where yeah trailers right both trailers side by side eight feet apart that'll be the breezeway in the middle walk into either one so you can walk into either side there'll be a men's and a women's and a men's and a women's uh and you can see in the handout that has the quotes they actually have the layout of both of those restrooms so I can just question for you though and yes we're going to be indelicate here but you've got um

you know, one of the units with three urinals, eight toilets, seven sinks. Then you've got the other unit with three urinals, 10 toilets, seven sinks. Are those going to be modified for the ladies restroom?

This question was going to come up, Mr. Mayor, and we can modify these. Now keep in mind, these are existing used units. This is the layout that they currently have in those units. If you can look at the both of them, obviously both of them have different layouts. The women's and the one layout that I'm showing, it's got one ADA, one, two, three, four, five, six other stalls and four sinks. That's just one trailer. The second trailer actually has another women's ADA, four more regular ADA stall or regular stalls, toilet stalls and three sinks. The men's restroom has one ADA stall, two normal stalls and three urinals, four sinks in one unit. The second unit has one ADA stall, two regular stalls, three urinals, and three wash basins. So to answer your question, yes, we can go in and modify to how we see fit for occupancy for these buildings. But I have to tell you, I went down the road with mobile modular. These are used units. What does a brand new unit cost laid out the way that we want it? Like if I did one unit as a men's unit and one unit as a woman's unit. Those new units were $185,000 apiece before you customize them. So for $20,000 less than one new unit, I'm getting two used units. So we can absolutely go in there as time elapses and we get them set up and people come in and go to events, say, hey, we need to take a couple of these out and add more of these. We have the option to do that. This is just what we would be purchasing.

from mobile modular as is, as is correct. And then the same figure out how to modify it.

And it's just plumbing and fixtures. So, I mean, they're modular units. They're pretty easy to get into the wall panels, you know, Public works director, I'd like to say, I don't wanna modify them at all. I want them just sat and we're done with it, but absolutely they can be modified. So that is an option for us.

I have a quick question, director. So just that I'm clear, is one gonna be just all women's and one's gonna be just all men?

No, both buildings are partitioned. So these were commercial restrooms, probably used on a commercial job site somewhere, and maybe one building was all they had. So half of it's men's and half of it's women's. So both of these buildings are partitioned. So one building will be a women's and a men's, and the other building will also have a women's and a men's. Again, not saying something down the road, not that I want to do it, but it could be modified ultimately to be a women's building and a men's building. We just have to move forward and look through what that cost impact would be and all that. But this gets us the facilities that we're lacking that we've been hearing about for so long, especially on the women's side. And God bless you, women. I understand that. I've been in a lot of hortijons. They're disgusting. Even as a guy, they're gross. So this definitely resolves the problem immediately that we're having, and we can look to the future of how we possibly want to modify those and change those around a little bit. So that is an option. Next slide, please. is that the last slide no there's the last slide so that I was just drawing a picture around the shed to let everybody know the shed's gonna stay we're not demolishing the shed that's kind of that's all I got for pictures man that's all I I'm sorry I'm just not a photographer so I'll try harder next time but basically that's it in a nutshell um and I'm willing to take any questions from Council or the public at this time thank you any questions for a director hon or comments

Yeah. On that particular item, like the plumbing, would it be modernized as far as easy access cleaning and all that and flushing the lines out?

So these buildings are all up to current ADA and building standards. So they are current for California for what is required for fixtures and rod points, all those sorts of things. So they do meet requirement.

Okay. And the other, you know, like they have a plumbing problem, would it be easy access to those things?

It's actually, it's very easy access because they are not pit set. They have skirting around them like a mobile home would have. Okay. You just literally take the skirting off and all the plumbing hangs down below the brim of the trailer. Okay. So it's very easy access to that.

Okay.

All right. Thank you. I have a comment. All I can say is hallelujah. We've been fighting for this for how long? I've been here two years, and ever since I came in, I started with that. I also want to say thank you to the Community Services Commission, who also work hard to get this done. And I tell you what, this is going to be Something good for someone, because I tell you what, I go to a lot of the events at Pioneer. First thing they hit me up with when I walk in, you know, where's our restrooms? Because he said, I hate to say it, man, but we're just dirty. And women go in there and they look at it, open the door and they walk out. So thank you so much for making it happen. And hopefully we can get them done as soon as we can.

I appreciate that. My hat off to Liz as well, because Liz Fletcher did a lot of research on prefabricated units as I was just starting to get involved in this project. So hats off to Liz as well.

I have another question. Just on page 166, it shows like the two modulars. Are these the actual ones or is this just an example?

I'm not looking at your agenda right now, but I can tell you that you have two. These two quote?

No, no.

So those pictures, those pictures right there are pictures that basically I took off of Mobile Modular's website of a commercial restroom. Now that one has a Fabricated metal ramp and stairs in front of it. We're not doing that. The objective for me is to try to blend in with Pioneer Village and the aesthetics of Pioneer Village as closely as possible. That's why I said with the fiscal impact on this, I have $150,000 to build a really nice wood deck that's ADA accessible and compliant. And my hope is to even maybe have enough money to put a awning on between the two buildings so it's actually a covered breezeway so in the summertime when you're standing in line waiting to get into the restroom which hopefully there's not too long of a line that you will be in a shaded area so the deck comes first and then we'll see where we're at after that but these pictures are of an actual restroom on their website the pictures inside just give you kind of basic layout of what the inside of a commercial modular restroom looks like The actual quotes that are in your packet for $81,000 and $85,000, on the cover of those quotes, there are two different schematics that show layouts. Those are the actual layouts of these buildings that we're looking to purchase.

Okay. Then my last question is, are we going to have adequate lighting out there?

There will be plenty of lighting, and I'll tell you what, I've got this great company out of Idaho called Fon Roche that has solar lighting, and it's very reasonable lighting. to procure that. And we're looking at solar lighting all over. So the lighting that exists there currently that we're going to turn the head on facing the buildings come with external lights already built into the building that will be wired. So lighting will not be an issue. And if it is, we will remedy that extremely quickly. So safety will be a priority for that, especially with the ramp with the decks.

And they also come with air conditioning, right?

They are air conditioned. They are air conditioned.

This is such a move forward. I mean, this is what we're going for. It's exciting to staff too. Everybody has to be really excited about this.

Liz and everybody on this team have worked really hard to try to find a resolution for this problem. And we know that this problem has been severe. We've just been trying to get to here. So here we are.

Plus you incorporated the city council goal of going through a local business to provide this product as well. So that's, that's really important too, because the first schematics you brought us were potentially, you know, constructors from out of state, out of town, but you found one local.

Correct.

So thank you. Thank you for that. And, and you know what I'm going to ask next, what's our timeline on this?

So I reached out to Ryan yesterday and told him this staff report was coming to council tonight. Do not get rid of those restaurants until I call you. He's expecting a call at seven o'clock tomorrow morning for what direction the council went, because he does have other people that have looked at them. They haven't shown interest, but they have definitely looked at them. So I would say that if we get council's approval to move forward by direction from my city manager, We will pull the trigger on this. The funds are there. We can send all the information to Mobile Modular to get the contract from them, get all of that executed.

They'll transport them?

They transport them from Livermore. It's all built into the prices that you see here. They're transported. The hitches are set in place. They're jacked and leveled. They're unistrapped for earthquake retrofit, and the skirting is put on, and they even said they'll come back and do the skirting once we're done with all the plumbing work. So it is 100% the price in those quotes is delivered

set up and done so but 90 days no is that what i'm hearing what what am i hearing it turns once approved uh and he notifies the vendor tomorrow then we can get what their delivery schedule is and then uh fabricate that schedule and then provide to council and add a um as part of staff report another huge proponent of this program and this improvement is our community our

public information officer, our comms director, and I believe Diaz de los Muertos is coming up. When is that scheduled, director?

Day after Halloween, November 1st, Sunday.

So I can tell you, Mr. Mayor, that one thing that my staff and I have already been looking at is schedule to get this done because I knew this was going to, I just felt confident about tonight and bringing this to council where we were going to go with it. I can tell you the Tejano Festival is coming up. And we're looking at time to demo the existing facilities, get those trailers moved in, get a deck, a pretty extensive deck built. We're looking at the schedule for what events are already scheduled for Pioneer Village. And that's something I will be discussing with the city manager and that we can definitely update council as we're moving closer. Again, we're not the only ones doing this. We have Mobile Modular. We have SKF. We have Cal Water. There's PG&E. There's other stuff that's going into getting this done. So making sure that we're not interrupting an already scheduled event for out there is important. We've also talked internally and public works about the fact that like Tahano festival, we might have to rent like three more of those trailers that are air conditioned to bring out for that event, to provide the adequate facilities that are required until we can get this project done. I don't want to get into a project and have liability hanging out there on the city's part. having people run around where we have a active construction site. So until that, until we can work through timeframe with getting mobile modular here, getting SKF to get us hooked up, you know, blessed on the sewer lateral, getting Cal water, all those people in line, there's, there's moving parts there. So I'm, I, again, you know, I hate giving you timeframes anyway, but we, I will diligently move forward with this and can keep communication open with the city manager and as far as where we're at and have no problem giving department updates at council meetings as we move forward.

And Mike, I just want to tell you thank you for all the hard work you guys are doing. It's really important. You know, a couple of years ago, we brought probably about 6,000 people to this park. And it cost us a pretty penny to bring a stage and all the restrooms. And we did this a couple of times. And one of the main reasons why we haven't come back is because of that, the restrooms. And so I'm really, really happy because, you know, our community, we're Hispanic descent also. They want Mexican music too. And American country. So this is going to really help the community to come and have their festivals that they want. So this is really a community for all the hard work, and hopefully we can get this done.

Thank you. Public comment?

Alonda Torres, and I'm here also as part of the Park and Recreation Commissioners because we've been discussing this during our meetings. But I had a couple of questions. When you say that the units are used, how old are these units? Do we know?

That was not a question that I inquired about. I know that the units, even though that they're used whenever they come back to Mobile Modular's facility, and I can get that information. Whenever they come back as a rented unit or a previously used unit, mobile modular completely tears the trailer down. New flooring, they fix any fixtures, they fix siding on them. They basically have to put them out as a basically it's a used but a new used unit. So I can get the information on dates. Unfortunately, they didn't provide that with the quotes.

Okay. Yeah, if you can, that would be great. And I'm going to throw a couple more questions out there because if my time expires, I want the questions out there. Are these units capable of adding on to them? You know, inside also, will there be access to a baby changing table in the women's bathroom? Because when we have the kids event like the Easter egg hunt and other kid events, there's a lot of moms that take babies and they need to have a place to change their babies. So I'm just asking if there's an area for a baby changing table. And if any of the stalls in the women's bathroom will be wheelchair accessible.

So to answer those questions, Mr. Mayor and council members, the restrooms, like I said, can be modified as far as adding on, like extending the trailers, making them wider, that type of construction, I don't think would be cost effective on those units. But as far as changing fixtures, moving stalls, eventually moving it to where it's one women's building and one man, that's absolutely possible. I'm sorry.

Would it be possible to have a baby changing table in the units that are going to be installed?

So, so to the question previously that was brought up during council meeting and discussion on the restrooms to have a family room, which they call is where you have the changing table. by looking at the provided diagrams of what the facility consists of, it looks like there is absolutely wall space to put a baby changing table in both of those facilities. And the third question to answer it is yes, all, four partitioned areas because they're each building's partition into two. Men's and women's does have ADA accessible and ADA compliant stalls. That's mandatory in the state of California. I think it's federal at this point, actually.

Okay.

Yeah, that's good.

I'd like to see a picture of it, but maybe, well, I think every holiday. And holiday is about stopping and spending time and having a fun experience. We drive every year to Hanford. And this is something that we start a conversation about in October about what's a good day. When is everybody coming in? We get matching sweaters.

City council. So you said 300,000. Did you include law enforcement extra for pay for law enforcement coverage?

All city, all city funds were included in that 300. Yes.

And the fire department.

All city availability is included in that funds. Yeah.

Under in the 300,000.

Yes, ma'am. Okay. Investment. This is bringing our downtown back. Isn't this what we've been talking about the last couple of years? It's why I ran again. I wouldn't have bothered, but we got on, we got the right people on our council and we've been moving our city forward. And this is another step in that direction. Yes. It's not without risk, but it's a step we can't afford not to take. This is what's going to propel our city forward. It's a game changer. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work. But we tried. What do I hear when I talk to people? Hey, you know, what's going on in Selma? I mean, it's just nothing ever happens in Selma. Yes, it does. Look around you. Come downtown. Come to one of the seven Selma live events that we've had. Our downtown is alive again. And this will continue that progress. $300,000 is a lot of money. it's not about the money it's about the dream it's about moving our city forward now let me tell you how we can finance this a couple of years ago there was a piece of land bought out at nelson and mccall for a million and a half bucks with no purpose whatsoever it was just dirt it was just bought well we're selling that land Our city's selling that land. And after interference, after interference from various people, we had a number of buyers. Well, we're back on the market now. And it was listed at $1.7 million. So I'm going to tell you when that money comes in, and it will come in, I'm going to be looking out with my colleagues to ask my colleagues to allocate some of that towards our ice skating rink here. Now, that's putting our money to work for you. the people of Selma and think of what the kids think of the experience that they'll have with this first time ever getting on the ice. I mean, it's, it's something that will be so important to move our city forward. And I could see in the faces of most of you out there that you believe in us and you believe in our city. And I know I sure do too.

I'd like to make a comment. I just wanna make a comment of what Ms. Chapa just mentioned in regards to the profit. Two years ago, when my husband and I first attended this ice ring, we talked to the organizer and he told us his first year, they made profit. They paid it off in their first year and they took a chance. Now look at the profit she just mentioned. They're profitable every year, every year they're making money. And it is an amazing, beautiful experience. And like just what Ms. Escalera stated, it gets foggy, it does. I wouldn't like to just always drive, but it's the memories that we're making with our children, our grandchildren that they love. When we see families from Selma that are attending there, they're asking us, they're asking me, why can't we do this in Selma? And guess what? Here we are two years later. Why can't we? Yeah, we can. And we're going to try. And I'll tell you, Selma is centralized. We can get all these cities around Parlier, Fowler, Kingsburg, Layton, even Fresno, because there's people that travel from Fresno to Hanford. So if we can do the same thing, guess what? They'll come here. People from Reedley, they're going to come here. So I think it's a win-win. This is a win-win and it's not only gonna bring, it's gonna bring profit and it's gonna bring people here that we can showcase our city because we have homes going up. We have people that say, I love Selma that come from other towns. They tell me this all the time. Selma is a beautiful community. It is, it is a beautiful community. We have a lot of lighting. We have go to other cities. They don't have the lighting that we do. It's dark. It's dark. But we do what we do because we care. We care for our citizens and we have a beautiful community. And we want to continue moving this city in the right direction. And I think that's what we're doing. We've been doing it and let's keep moving. But it is, we got to take a chance. And if we don't take a chance, we're never going to know. But I guarantee that we're going to be profitable. I know it. Thank you.

Mayor and council, if I may real quick, I just want to give you guys the full scope just so I can kind of, before you guys vote, you guys have a full kind of understanding. So there's been a lot of talk of Hanford's their first year. They made exactly their money back. They didn't make a profit, but they also run an extra, they run two months long and the rink is twice the size of ours. So we won't be able to facilitate as many people as they do in our, in our two weeks span. So we do have to temper our expectations of revenue a little bit there because they do run our, there's significantly longer and they can hold more people at one time. So our rink is going to be a little bit smaller. So I just want that to have that information out there for you guys, just so you're aware.

But this is the largest rink we can get with Ice America, is that correct? This is the larger one?

This is their larger one compared to the other ones, yes. But I'm sure they have larger ones. They're very custom, like they can do custom sizing as well.

On that, how many on the staff training, how many would you need?

We would need four full-time and four part-time.

Okay. That'd be on the staff training. And also when it's closed down at night, you'll need, that'll include the staffing at night as well?

No, sir. The security, either way, we have to go out and get.

Security we have to get up. Okay. All right. So on that note, how many security people you think you need? Two?

I would have to see what the security contract, it would probably be just one, but it would be just on a rotating schedule because it has to be 24-7.

And it's next to a police station, you know. You know, that's what I'm asking. Okay, so you really need, okay, staffing-wise, okay. Will there be volunteer staffing? Let me ask that question.

I would strongly advise to go away from volunteer staffing for a first-year event, especially if we're going to be staffing it, we'll have to get the general and special event liability. So I would shy away for a first-year event. And from through my research, a lot of the insurance is going to be extra expensive because of all the blades and risk that's involved with ice skating.

Director Tiger, do you recognize the name on the screen? Is that a representative from Ice America? Would you counsel allow me to open that mic? Okay. Please do that. Jacob, I'm going to open up your mic shortly.

I just wanted to chime in on just a few quick things that you guys touched base if that was okay. Sure. Just really quick. So the recommended skate, yes. We don't want the skating rink to be overcrowded. We can do any custom size. With the city not having the power that is required to operate a chiller for a real ice skating rink, and it's going to be on a generator that runs 24-7, we recommend keeping this size as it keeps a smaller chiller. A chiller is like a large air conditioner unit. So keeping it this size will help on the generator cost for the first year. We can explore as the years go on the demand and everything for the rink and then tailor it. For example, the city of Fresno was on a generator the first year. They saw the demand. They installed the power. That helps a lot of the cost. So yes, we can do any size rink, but this rink will accommodate 70 skaters at a time for a session, which a session is usually an hour to hour and a half. So you could see, like I said, in the projections, 300 to 400 skaters depending on your size. demand. So there's that. I wanted to touch base on the ADA friendliness. We have skating aids. They're called Bobby and Tommy. They are exclusive to Ice America and they are ADA friendly. So ADA, they can be placed on the bobbies and pushed around the rinks. We have ways of allowing wheelchairs on the rinks for special sessions. So we do that with a lot of cities for ADA. Um, lot of other ways to generate revenue over time and just ice America. We don't just want us to come in and simply install it and walk away. That's not the type of business model that we operate. So we like to partner with cities and help grow the program year after year. Um, the other cities, yes, they have larger and they're open up longer. So their revenues are a little bit higher. So you may not make all the money back first year, um, truthfully, but it takes some time to build the event and then you can slowly, uh, remove scope of work and we're there to teach you we're not just there to make a profit we can slowly teach staff to where then eventually you guys can run this on your own so we've done it with the city of Temecula for over 15 years that's we started with this model doing a turnkey and then over time we show them and they actually ended up buying all their equipment over time as well so there's other options I just wanted to put it out there thank you for calling in Jacob absolutely any other comments

Are you done? Do you want to speak?

Yeah, $300,000 is a lot of money, but you got to remember, we have partnerships with different organizations that we're going to reach out to as far as making donations. I won't name them, you know, because we all know who they are. But as soon as we approve it, we're going to start going after those donations to help with the cost of this event.

Councilman trio did you have a comment.

So we're doing this for 2 weeks right correct.

Yeah, that is that is the scope of the 2 weeks.

And will be every day we can close a couple of days.

So that's what I would have to talk with Jacob about. If this progresses, we, me and director Moreno have talked about maybe closing a Monday or Tuesday and opening it longer on the weekends. I'm kind of playing around with those, but ultimately we'll have to see what ice America is able to do as well.

Good. You know, so let me, you know, I'll get the elephant out of the room. Um, I understand that, um, different councils, different seasons come and the majority of the council wants this. So it's going to happen, right? The only, the only question I have is that in two weeks we're looking at, he just said 70, 70 people you're saying, are we going to do eight hours, 10 hours?

That's for four hours a day for seven days a week is what these numbers are, are quoting.

Four hours a day. I thought it was eight hours a day.

No, sir. Four hours a day of operation.

Because at eight hours a day for eight hour days of 70, that would be 560 people times 20. We charge that's $11,200 a day at 14 would be 156,000. So, and, and, and I agree with the majority of the council saying that it's not the volume of the cost, right. If you're going to enter something and, and, and, um, you know, uh, be aggressive and want to turn and change the community. I'm a full, full believer in, in things that for the kids and the investment, right. That's one part of me and, and recognizing that the majority of this council wants it and is going to just going to do it. The concerns that I have, and I'll speak them out loud is the fact that we approve a budget with $300 left. And we tell our, we tell our department heads that they have to scale back, not hire people. They're short staffed and they're not fully funded. They're not fully, they don't have their full staff. I'm not downing this. I'm going to agree with it because it's a match of two. Our kids are important. It's true. Free time is bad time. So I look at it as two weeks, but you're telling me it's four hours, not eight hours. So that's actually half of the money, right? So we're looking at about $86,000 in two weeks that we'll make.

So the figures in the staff report are accurate for revenue estimates for four hours a day for the two-week operation. It has the hour breakdown in there as well.

What do you have? What's your average? What's your two-week average for four hours a day? Your total revenue?

If we're full, I have it for $84,000.

That's what I was saying. Okay, so 84,000. And for me, and I speak for my district, my representation, who I see, right? And I'm not bashing it because I'm going to prove it, but my concern, again, goes back to this. We just told our staff, you can't hire, you can't bring people in. You've got to go back. And, yeah, okay. We're going to use our money that we sell this property that we had no clue what we're going to use. But we did have, we did. That's what municipal governments do. They buy purchased land and they build. They think of future. They think of what's better for the future. I'm not speaking to you directly. I'm just speaking out loud. Just because I say this doesn't mean I'm not going to approve this. I just say this with very, very, very, very lots of concern. And everybody can criticize what I'm doing, what I'm saying, who I vote for, what I do, but I'm a kid's guy. I donate money, but I don't say it. I don't do it. I just go and do it. But my concern more is how we're budgeting our community's finances. I'm going to prove this because we're going to prove it anyway. And I think it's a great idea. I think a CIP would be the best thing. I think if we had a management, I think if our administration would come with a plan of a CIP project for the next two to three years and have it bought and built, that would be the best thing. But to rush and just say we're going to take $300,000 out of our reserves. Someone has said we lost $8 million. Okay, that's fine. But I want you guys to know something. This is a good project. I just think that it's expensive and it's going to cost the city. But I'm willing to go for it. But I want everybody that works for the city. You were told to not hire anybody. And some of our department heads, hey, they're doing well. They're good. But some of our departments are running short. And I want, I just want everyone to know, and you know, I'll get a lot of criticism and I'll get, you know, feedback. I'm going to vote for this because it's good for the kids. I just think that we, there's a different method we should have gone.

City Manager, I have a quick question because I know I bring this up every budget, but I'd like to get confirmation because I, like I said, I've asked this, but when I asked about department heads and their staffing. When you guys brought that to us, there was not one person that said they were understaffed. Everybody kept saying that they were fully staffed. So is that accurate or is that not accurate?

I believe that there's like PD always has positions that are open and stuff like that. But the We didn't add any additional positions into this budget. There were requests from PD at one point for the additional unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, to be able to augment the existing police force. But within current levels, they are essentially staffed or at the point where they're actively seeking ones for vacancies that they have open.

Yeah. Okay. Because that's exactly, like I said, I bring this up every year and I ask department heads and I ask, where are we in staffing? Are we down? Are we fully staffed? Are we shorthanded what's going on? And from my understanding, Police Chief Alcariz clearly stated that they were fully staffed in the police station. Now, granted, maybe just a few months ago, we probably maybe lost somebody and didn't, maybe someone lost one person. It happens. But am I correct by stating that when we brought this to budget, no department was understaffed?

If I might add, Air Pro Tem, on a quarterly basis, I'm now bringing you staffing items. So in the last budget go around, we did take cuts. So our public works division, in order to balance, they removed two positions. And our police department also removed a couple of sworn positions to get to a balanced budget. So they are there. They do have some vacancies, but that is that's ongoing. We do ongoing recruitments for them, and so they continually will always turn positions. And so that's very normal. So but on a quarterly basis, I do bring you a staffing report that you're able to see what our vacancies are.

So let me ask you a question. Deputy city manager, HR director. How many layoffs have we had? How many layoffs has the city made for this budget? How many layoffs?

We made no layoffs.

Okay. How many people got lower salaries? How many people got salary cuts in our city? How many people got salary cuts?

None. We've made no salary.

So we've not laid off anybody and everybody's making what they made before or more. In our city, in our society, it's really tough right now. And people are not making a lot of money. People are out there in the private sector without the pensions and without a lot of benefits.

And between cities, counties, and other taxing entities. So it's, again, never a guarantee, but it would be, we think, a goal to try to achieve a partnership like that, if it's possible. And then I'm sorry to go so long. Just one minor additional benefit is you get better scoring on grants for cities and counties that do these districts. So that's sort of a secondary benefit. Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there questions on this? Anybody in the public with a question on these EIFDs? We'll bring that back to anybody in the chat question. Mayor, I see no hands raised. Okay. Then we'll bring it back to council.

I'll make a motion. Can I say something really quick? I want to say that, you know, we don't, we really don't, um, I guess I don't want to use the word understand this, but if you look at it and I say this, I say this very freely that this is the step in the right direction for future growth and for thinking of master sewer plan, master street plan, master. This right here actually guides us and is actually putting us in the right direction. So I'm really happy we're doing this.

Me too. Great. This is definitely helping us, giving us another tool in the box to develop Selma and move forward with these projects. There is a motion. I already have a second. Call the roll, please.

Council Member Avalos?

Yes.

Council Member Oseguera? Yes. Council Member Trujillo? Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Guerra?

Yes.

Mayor Robertson?

Yes. Item passes. Moving on to item 5-6, which is an overview of thrift and resale store regulations in the city of Selma.

All right. Good evening, once again, Mayor and members of Council, Tawana Matunga with the Community Development Department. This is another informational item regarding the city's historical and current regulations for thrift and resale stores. Historically, the city's zoning code allowed thrift stores only if they were operated by nonprofit organizations and approved through a conditional use permit. In 2020, staff identified several existing thrift stores operating without CUPs, highlighting inconsistencies with the city's regulations and enforcement. In response, the city council adopted a temporary urgency ordinance that removed the nonprofit requirement and allowed thrift and other used goods businesses in commercial zones, while establishing temporary operational standards, including donation requirements, spacing requirements, and limits on the number of stores in commercial zones. Then in August 2024, the city adopted a comprehensive zoning ordinance update and established the current permanent regulations. Under the current code, thrift and resale stores require approval through a conditional use permit in commercial zone districts. The code no longer includes nonprofit ownership requirements, separation distances, and numerical caps on the number of stores. Instead, each proposal is reviewed individually through a CUP, through the CUP process. Again, this item is an informational item only, and there is no fiscal impact. I'm happy to answer any questions the council might have at this time.

Thank you for your report. Any questions for the community development director at this time? I have a question.

Do thrift stores pay sales tax? I know the answer. They do, yes. And why do I ask that? Because we've had an influx in thrift stores. And I'd like to, I mean, if we're going to maintain and we're going to bring these thrift stores, I'd like to know what their impact in our city. I'd like to know if they're really following the guidelines. And I state this because many years ago, we had an issue here in Selma where restaurants the sales tax was down and we brought in an individual that brought in a card processing machine. And that ability gave the restaurants the ability to pay their sales tax on a daily basis versus a quarterly basis, which is a lot easier. So it's less impact. And one of the key resources for us as a municipal government is to increase our sales tax because that's where we get our general, our revenue, right? So when we talk about businesses and thrift stores have to be one of them of a discussion because there's a lot of them in our town. So I'm just speaking this way because as we generate and we see that we have a higher volume of businesses in thrift stores, that question, of course, also as an accountant, I feel that it's an important one because of the fact that we want to get our revenue as a city and make sure that we're capitalizing on sales tax leakage. So I start this conversation that way because that's the number one goal that we should be having if we're having a business that's actually saly. I understand if we say that they're a nonprofit, I don't know about that stuff. But one of the biggest concerns I have is we have multiple more thrift stores, and I'd just like to know how we're reining in their sales tax.

Thank you. Any other comments?

Yeah, I have some comments here. I'm just a little bit confused in regards to how they changed the rezoning. You're indicating down here, and I'm just... I wanted to see if this is correct and nothing on you director, because I know this is new, you weren't here, but this goes back here on this like High Street Boutique. It says no CUP record located, business license was issued 2021. Then the one next to it, Bison Exchange, again, no CUP record located, business license issued 2025. And then Extending Hands Drift Store, again, this one, no CEP, business license issued 2016. So my question is, who's responsible for this, for not collecting the CEP? I mean, why is this not, because as a business owner, if I didn't pay my business license, you guys would come knocking at my door. So they're a business. Why didn't they pay it?

Yes.

I mean, and I know all fairness to you, you, you haven't been here. So.

Yeah. Um, Just a real quick point of clarification. All the existing thrift stores have received business licenses. What they haven't received is the land use entitlement process through a conditional use permit application. So my understanding is if they did submit a business license, they'll pay whatever appropriate taxes they need to pay through the business license process. Where we would have lost out on... on any potential revenue would have been through the land use entitlement application fees um for the conditional use permit application um but these the three existing thrift stores do have their business licenses that they received through the city and regarding the cup on on those um

and not being here at this time for several of us all we can assume was that there was maybe some process breakdown at the time as to why that didn't reach it to the planning commission for approval of the cup but also that's what we're doing here now is is reviewing those and that's what Tawanda is doing is reviewing that process and making sure that that process is equally applied to everything, especially moving forward related to these.

Okay. Then my next question is, is my understanding is I thought we were only supposed to have so many in the city of Selma not opening. And the thing I'm asking is because A shop that opened up on second street my understanding was supposed to be a new a new boutique shop where they sell new clothes, but when you go in there, they have used stuff it's like another thrift store so. I'm wondering is on the application that they complete or they fill out, is there a disclaimer on the application that States, you know, all the information you provided is truthful. And if it's not, does the city have a right to go in and, check that and make sure that business is running as they applied for. I mean, the information, because that's just what was brought to my attention. And I'm just wondering if that's, how does the city go about Okay, if they didn't apply or put on their application true statements, does the city have the right to go in and say, we could shut you down for not putting this information accurately?

I would have to look into that and get back to you on that, but I believe that would be a code enforcement and Bonita may have a better answer.

It would actually depend on the materiality of the misrepresentation. Okay. Would have to treat every case differently. And you would have to look at how the city was misled by something that's incorrect on the application or whatever it is they filed with our community development department.

But I remember we approved some too.

We had somebody that came in and appealed for waiving the CUP, and then we had someone else that came in and appealed for waiving the CUP. And one of their claims of fame was they don't sell much used. Like a lot of the one was we don't sell a lot of used, a lot of it's new, and a lot of it's unique and gently used. And the other one was a similar argument. But I think, did you have a comment, Pony?

Yeah, I was just gonna provide some clarification. I know one of the things that we've talked about internally in terms of process is establishing just a really simple zone clearance process for new businesses. So before they get their business license, they have to get approval through zoning, and they have to clearly identify the proposed use. And then, yes, that ties them to this is what they're proposing. So staff can flag it and say, hey, you have used materials. This classifies as a thrift store, so a CUP is required. So then they would now be elevated to requiring a conditional use permit. So that will help catch some of these that kind of have gotten business licenses without getting the CUP. But yes, if there is a use that's operating that requires a CUP and they have not gotten a CUP, then that is a potential code enforcement violation. And they could be asked to you know, submit a conditional use permit application to continue operating.

How about some of these that are operating without CUPs right now? What's the statute on that? Can code enforcement go in and say, looks like you're selling more than half of your items are resale. You need a CUP.

I think the best next step would be to reach out to them and ask for an operational statement, telling us what they're doing and then make a determination on whether or not they, they need a CUP. So I'd say rather than taking action, just reaching out and it maybe it would be that courtesy notice process that was discussed, but just ask them as a first step to give us the details of their operation. And we, Staff could determine whether or not a CUP would be required.

You know, here we are talking about how we're moving our city forward. We want to bring people downtown. And thrift and resale shops don't necessarily discourage people from being downtown. But too many of them is not a goal that the city has had or any city council, in my opinion. And we go down Van Ness and look at all those thrift shops on Van Ness and the city of Fresno. It just contributes to the blight. of an area. And I don't think, you know, having one, two, three, four, five, six thrift and resales shops is something that is particularly planned in a town of 25,000. And especially in a central business district, like, like we have, I think of those six, I, I think five of them were in the central business district zone. So I think what, why we have this on there tonight is to figure out a way to identify resale stores before they get a business license as part of the process. And it seems like they've been kind of just getting through and we want to stop that. So staff, what is your recommendation to make sure that they don't get through, you know, with a, with a application, whether it's understated or misstated, because it's going to be really hard to do this after they get in business.

Yeah, so my recommendation would be to look at setting up a very clear zone clearance process and working with other departments to make sure before a business license is issued that planning and zoning has signed off, that the use is either permitted, permitted by your right, nothing more needed, or permitted permanently. with a conditional use permit conditional use permit is required before they move forward with their before they can get a business license so and then also potentially looking at a text Amendment to add back in some additional so all of the restrictions related to number and just spacing have been removed so if that's something that Council wants to consider again that would require a text Amendment and that would have to come go through Planning Commission and then back to City Council for approval

If it was a future agenda item, we could ask for that to go to Planning Commission as a text amendment to change that distance and number requirement. Obviously, the ones that are in are grandfathered in, but for any new thrift shops or a draconian measure of no more thrift resale moratorium until we reduce the numbers. I think that's for the council to decide. But tonight, I think we can move. We're paying attention. I think we can move it forward.

But once they renew their license, we can catch what they did. Can we catch it once they renew their license?

Yeah, I would have to defer to you, Neil, on that.

I don't think you can use your business license ordinance in that manner. Your business license ordinance is simply a tax. That's all it is. It's not authorization to do business. You do that in a different way. You do that by reviewing their operational plans and determining whether or not this particular business requires some additional review, requires a CUP, requires that sort of thing. if it doesn't and you want to target a type of business for gradual elimination, let's say, as opposed to coming down on them and closing them out right after they're already there. because before you had the CUP requirement, which is just a thing that was enacted in 2024, you had a very different ordinance. That ordinance limited the number of thrift shops all around. And we've of course had some people come in here and misrepresent themselves and get waivers of the CUP requirement that exists in the 2024 ordinance. That's something you can deal with directly with respect to that business. But you don't want to use your business license ordinance in that way because it's simply and only a tax. If you were to try to enact that tax today, you couldn't do it without a vote of the people. Your business ordinance is probably 60 years old, thereabouts. It was enacted before Proposition 218. And you don't wanna do anything to your business license ordinance that affects the ordinance itself because that will make the entire thing invalid.

So I think what we're trying to do here is just address the increase in the number of thrift and resale businesses, and we want to make sure that that's looked at in the future. And we want to have a proper vetting process for that so they can't get through.

So that just requires a text amendment to the existing ordinance. Okay.

So we'll do it in the future. Can we do that here? Do we have consensus to add that?

Add that for the text amendment on that. And then the pre-zoning review.

And look at the number of. and look at the space apart, the distance apart, potentially bringing that back. I know it's gotta go through Planning Commission and all that. Do we have public comment on this?

Just looking at the information that was provided in the staff report, there's five, like you said, five thrift stores just on 2nd and High Street. And you're trying to build up your downtown We don't have anything that's attracting anybody to our downtown. We have a restaurant that closed. We have a hardware store, a drug store, and a lot of thrift stores. And it's not giving... the atmosphere that we want. You're putting new trees and you want music and you want lights, but there's nothing to attract them, the people to the downtown area. I like a good thrift store and a yard sale as much as anybody else, but too many is just, you're not leaving room for anything else. I think having, I don't know if a moratorium or going back to, previous where it had to be a nonprofit organization who had the thrift stores, just something that would limit the number that we have now.

Just FYI, the restaurant will be opening soon.

I remember being here where the CUP, everything went through you folks allowing two of them. Now there's more. There's more. They got in here somehow. Somebody let them in. Somebody let them in. It wasn't council. I mean, people are trying to refer like this was council. It wasn't council. It was somebody in the city. They were comfortable enough to go open a secondhand store in Somebody wrote up something for them. You guys need to go back. Administration needs to go back and see who allowed that. Because whoever did that, they allowed a lot more to do so. and almost privately, and now they're in there. So, or somebody needs to go talk to them and say, who allowed you guys in here? Who gave you the authority and who gave you the okay to just come in here and open a secondhand, you know, thrift store? So that's the concern. So hopefully someone's going to do that, whether it's code enforcement or whatever you guys are following through with. And like everybody else, they have to go through planning commission. Like everybody else, they got to follow the rules. So if somebody's getting through somehow, we need to find out who's doing that. Thank you.

Anybody online or on the phone with comment? Mayor, I see no hands raised. Okay. Bringing the matter back to council. So did we get consensus to add that as a text amendment?

Okay, good.

All right. With that, we will move on to... Our next item, which is future agenda items. This is council requests for future agenda items not subject to public comment. Items require a consensus. Councilman Avalos, you're up already.

Okay, I'd like to bring back, this is a very serious item here, is the emergency action plan for fire and police in our city in case of a national disaster. How do, the power's out, no water, how do you stabilize the city? And how many, you know, fire and police, how will they communicate, keep the city intact? And that will be cooperation with Cal Water and probably SKF as well. I need the water and the sewer operation up and running.

Thank you. I'm good with that. Everybody good with that? That's my trio.

Yeah, I'm good with it.

Do you have items? Do you have any items? Future agenda items? Do you have any future agenda items? Any future agenda items?

Okay.

I'll go. Okay. I'd like to, I think we already talked about changing the text in the ordinance on the thrift and resale. I'd like to follow through on that ordinance, changing the downtown storefront program. I think we still have it in the form where it's $10,000, but you got to get somebody and they have to be prevailing wage. I'd like to put something in the ordinance that says, and the city will provide a list of potential contractors, not necessarily the contractors themselves, but the city will, because I think that's what we're working on right now. Approved list of contractors who do prevailing wage. That's the sticking point. I'd also like to see bid fees come back, business improvement district fees. And a question for Neil, I know it's late. The 218 process, 218, you go to all the members of the bid, you send them out, your bid, your membership fee's gonna change to a flat fee of X dollars. Are you good with that? If 51% or more come back and say, no, we're not good with that, then it stays the same. business license. No, this would be the business improvement district. That's their business license. Right? Well, I mean, you got a wild disparity between these right now. You're a lawyer. You must be a lawyer. Okay.

So I can bring her up to your next meeting.

You know, I'd like the bid. They provided some really good discussion last night at their meeting, and they came back to, well, if we got to put it on the ballot, it's going to be, you know, all this, it's going to cost thousands to put it on the ballot, then forget it, let's not mess with it. If not, then, yeah, I mean, it seemed like the flat fee was... Director Moreno, you led the meeting last night. What was your sense of where the bid went with the fees?

So the direction was to put it on the next bid agenda item to develop what a flat fee rate would look like and then present it to council as a recommendation. Great. Why don't we wait for that?

And we've been doing that analysis, too, on what that impact is on changing it this or that way based upon... Where it's set.

What would be appropriate would be to send it back to the bid board and have them tell us what is the flat fee amount you want to charge for everybody in the business district.

They're the ones with the expertise on this. Let them set the fee. All you got to do is approve the fee they've set by adopting a resolution that

Your ordinance doesn't change at all. It'll still appear in your ordinance as double the amount of the business license tax or whatever it is right now.

But just by it says right in there, you can change it by resolution.

City Council. It'll still say one times the business fee or. whatever the resolution says by the city council, will it have an or in there or how will you know?

The city council can adjust this fee by resolution says so right in the ordinance.

That's all you need to leave in there.

okay so you don't you don't touch you don't even need to touch the ordinance you just adopt a resolution that says from now on the bid amount's going to be x after the next bid whatever whatever they said they'll decide and then they'll send it over to city council to review so i don't think we need it as a future agenda item i think it's we're working working through that so that's good uh let's see okay um i'd also like to um I may have mentioned this or it's been a long night. Change that ordinance or look at that ordinance regarding boats and RVs and driveways. Okay. All right.

Did you come up with anything?

We'll move on then. All right. On to council reports.

No. No. Okay. No.

Unfortunately, I attended a funeral. One of Sarah's mothers and one of the members of the family, the Galero family, a funeral. It's sad when you have your colleagues up here and their family passes away, their mom, especially their mother. Jason was there. It's sad when your mother passes away because She's the one that gave you life and taught you things in life, you know, what not to do. But all I can say when they pass, they're at the gates waiting for you, so you better be good. If not, the gate ain't going to be open. That's all I got to say. But also, I attended SKF, updating SKF. The Clark Station, they should have it up and running waiting for that part. special part for the upstation and also uh kent's uh an update on uh they're gonna update their system as a case of a cyber attack and also uh also an emergency operation case uh powers goes down and everything have the operation up and running uh for all the three cities okay so they'll have an action plan in place and in fact i'll be having that in my next meeting They should have all the, what company they're going to provide the service as far as the emergency cyber attack.

Thank you for coming back with that. Councilman Trio.

Yeah, first I'd like to thank our city manager for helping me and assisting me with the church that I brought with you. Thank you for that. and be talking to you in the future to make sure we complete with that. The other one is you can get a lot of calls. It's interesting, you know, just to give everybody the information. I've gotten at least 10 calls from 10 different restaurants in Fresno, Visalia, and here. So I'm really happy that people are wanting to come to Selma and bring restaurants here. So just to give you guys a heads up, I'm happy about that. That's it. That's mine.

I also attended the funeral, and the food after was wonderful. Thank you guys for inviting me. You know, if there's food, I'm going to tend to, just so you know. What a story and I had a I attended a center point meeting along with city manager. We actually had a meeting with our board and their executive team. So it was kind of exciting to see how the other side things too, you know, like they say we're in charge and we say you're in charge. So I don't know. We couldn't get that one situated, but I was it was nice to be there.

I gave blood.

And then I went to the business improvement district meeting, which was very good background for tonight's meeting, but that will move on to our last oral communications. Anybody have a comment at this time?

Just really quickly. Thank you for that. That's very nice for you guys to say that all those kind words, you know, I'm just being on the bed and I'm just, being here tonight and experiencing somebody like Mercedes to come over here and how they, you know, went to her and told her, you know, gave her our citation. I don't know what they gave her, but to, you know, go over there and tell her something like that about her restaurant here, you know, they're talking about our empty restaurants and, You know, we shouldn't be doing that to people like that. You know, I just was there Sunday eating huevos rancheros con papas. They're the best, right after mass. Why aren't we not rolling our carpets out to people? They've been here for a long time. A great Mexican restaurant. And you hear that tonight? When we know people are saying we got empty buildings here, we got secondhand stores just coming in freely and there's no code enforcement checking on that. You know, city manager, I don't know if you have time or not tomorrow to go with those code enforcement guys and maybe treat her like royalty and see what you guys can do to help. I mean, we need to treat our business people better than that. Let's help our business people. people that have been here a long time, we all walk over there to eat. We don't even have to get in our cars to go eat somewhere. So hopefully, you know, you have the time to go with them and, you know, just what can we do to help you? This is why we're here. I'm on the bid. I'm a bid board member and I will walk over there And I do go see some of these business people and talk to them and see how everybody's doing. What are they looking at the city for? Right now, they're happy with the lights and the music, everything we're doing. But to really get someone hurt like Mercedes to come here is kind of a really disappointment, a big disappointment. So hopefully, you know, we could go out of our way to cater to her and help her out. That would be great. Thank you. Thank you.

Um, I remember I just wanted to had a quick question that we were going to follow up on the library still questions out there and it's going to open. And we got an opening date.

No opening dates as of yet.

Okay. Well, just thank you for a great meeting. Thank you for trying to keep it positive. I know sometimes it can get a little, you know, on a hand, but you know what, it's going to happen, you know, but I'm just glad the ice rink passed. You know, you are going to get those naysayers, but it's okay because at the end of the day, it's for the community. And, you know, they are going to be out there. Whether they were forward or not, I know they're going to be out there checking it out. You know, because, again, it's all about the community. It's all about giving back. And it's all about, you know, the kids. And thank you for agreeing with me. Thank you.

Stella Ramirez, some resident. I just want to say thank you to all of you for doing a great job. This is a long meeting, but it was a productive meeting. And again, I want to piggyback off of what they just said right now about the ice ring. I know that it's something positive for our town. I spoke yesterday at the meeting and I told them that we do have children that sometimes are kids that go to the, you know, they head the wrong direction because they're bored at home. There's nothing to do and they get into something negative. This is something definitely positive. that's going to bring you know a lot to selma a lot of revenue and um you know i think it's going to be very successful and i'm very happy that you guys voted yes on it and again thank you to everyone for working together and making our town you know move forward so just thank you so much thanks to everybody who came out tonight anybody in the chat for a comment mayor i see no hands raised in the chat great all right with that we're adjourned thank