City Council - Regular Meeting

actually, but I [music] still explored like other educational avenues. So, I went ended up going to college and playing sports. So, I think the team atmosphere and like the structure and like having brothers and sisters like outside of your family is just like a really good feeling to have. And being able to all like work hard [music] for like the same goal has always been something that I feel like I've needed throughout my life. People become police officers [music] to kind of give back to their community. Even if it's not the community you necessarily live in, there's always a good sense [music] of pride that comes with doing the right thing for people and helping people who can't help themselves. [music] The city of Corona is pretty unique in the fact that our community actually really likes us and they support us. Pretty much anywhere you go, you're going to have [music] somebody thanking you for your service. [music] Just that reassurance on a day-to-day basis is good motivation for [music] especially the negative times or the negative calls that you might come from. It just kind of lifts your spirits and keeps you motivated. Well, without us out here, I think it'd be dark. It'd be a dark place, literally. Um, my name is Francisco. Um, a lot of people know me as Poncho. I work in the street maintenance department, and I am the street light technician for the city of Corona. Um, I handle the maintenance and the repair of street lights in Corona. We have approximately around 12,000 street lights. And yeah, this is where I do my work. Um, the favorite part about my job, um, being able to see my work afterwards and knowing that I'm lighting up this city. I'm the one that maintaining them or repairing them and with the help of my my teams and my

co-workers, of course. Yeah. No, I enjoy I love working for the city of Corona because one, I've been here for so long already that it's kind of my second home. Of the res the residents are great. I can see how the city and the employees take pride in in what they do for the residents. Hold on, guys. Um, our seniors deal with a lot of problems physically, mentally. To me, it's very rewarding to be able to provide those services to them. All right. council meeting and we are going to start with an invitation from Elijah Kums from Grace Baptist Church. Elijah, come on up, bud.

How are you? You're welcome. Thank you for being here. Yes, sir.

All right, let's go ahead and pray. Dear heavenly father, we thank you so much for this day. God, I was just thinking of America today and the so many privileges and freedoms that we have that other countries wish they had. Lord, so many people have died for these freedoms. So many people have paid a price that others are unwilling to pay. I know that in each one of us, Lord, there's a patriot, someone willing to sacrifice something for the freedom of themselves, their family, or others. But God, as I remembered what our late President Reagan once said, Lord, if we forget that we're a nation under God, we'll be a nation gone under. And I pray that you'll help us never to be that, Lord. that we wouldn't forget you so much, but that we'd put you first in both our lives, in our families, in our churches, in our city, and in our state. I pray, God, that we'd continue to be a nation under God. Lord, I thank you so much for the freedom that you've given us as you paid the ultimate price in the cross. I pray that we'd accept that gift, Lord, and that anyone who might be in this room under the sound of my voice is unsaved would accept that gift of salvation. We praise you for your goodness and no matter what you do tonight in Jesus name. Amen.

Thank you sir. You're welcome. Good job. Okay. Please stay standing. We have Kyla Foster is going to be giving our pledge. Kyla. Hi honey. How are you? Come on up. Over there. Okay. [snorts] Ready? Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. Put your right hand over your heart. Begin. I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Kyla. What school do you go to? I go to Rainey.

Rainey. How old are you? 11. Well, thank you so much. I have a certificate for you.

Nights. Rainey. All right. The pledge of allegiance is a public declaration of our loyalty to our nation and commitment as a citizen of the United States of America. Kyla Foster demonstrated her commitment to public service by leading the pledge of allegiance at the city council meeting on November 5th, 2025. And it's signed by me. How about we get a quick picture? Does that sound good? All right. Here, you stand in front of the podium. You can hold it like that. Good job. Round of applause. [applause]

Okay. Thank you, Kyla. Okay. We're going to convene open session. At this time, I'd like to call the meeting to order. Miss Edwards, our city clerk, please read the special instructions. Individuals wishing to address the city council are requested to complete a speaker card and deliver it to city clerk staff prior to the item being heard by the city council. Please observe a threeminut limit for communications and once called upon to speak, please state your name and city of residence for the record. Mayor, there were revisions to the agenda. Item 6.2, the presentation was revised. Item 6.5, exhibit 2, was added. Item 6.16, the presentation was revised. and item 9.2, the presentation was also revised.

Thank you, Miss Edwards. Okay, we have two proclamation proclamations. Our first one's America Recycles Day. And I'd like to invite Glenda Chavez of Waste Management to the podium to receive the proclamation. [applause] How are you? Good to see you. Wow. Last time it was to see you, I feel so special. Everyone's here. Thank you.

All right. So, we have a proclamation here. America Recycles Day, November 15, 2025. Whereas, America Recycles Day was first announced on November 15th, 1994, and was created to educate and encourage individuals on how to be more mindful of what they consume, where and how to properly recycle, and to pledge to recycle more and recycle right in their everyday lives. And whereas the city of Corona recognizes the importance of reducing waste, conserving energy, and protecting and preserving our natural resources to make our community a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment. And whereas Corona businesses, schools, religious institutions, nonprofits, and residents can foster a culture of recycling and sustainability and demonstrate their commitment to a cleaner, safer environment by educating themselves and others on the positive impacts of recycling. And whereas the city of Corona encourages all residents, businesses, and organizations to practice more environmentally sustainable habits by reducing, reusing, and recycling and purchasing recycled goods when possible. Now, therefore, I mayor Jim Steiner on behalf of the Cronis City Council do hereby proclaim November 15, 2025 to be America Recycles Day, I encourage all residents, businesses, and organizations to educate themselves on recycling practices. You say it. I don't think I've ever heard the word recycle mentioned so many times. So, and you did and you did it so well. So, thank you very much. Um, once I want to thank um the city for recognizing November 15th as America's National um recycle day. Um, for us as waste management, obviously every day is recycle day, but I really wanted to highlight our partnership with the city. I mean, we've done some amazing things with your staff in making sure that the city is compliant with uh SP 1383 and it's a lot of work and I wanted to um commend the city staff for working with us handinhand and making sure that that

happens. In 2025, I do want to highlight um our company invested multi-million dollars in renovating um three of our recycling facilities. Um which you would imagine, why would we renovate recycling facilities? Well, we invested a lot of money in improving the technology with AI so that the screening could be done a lot quicker and the sorting. So, we're really excited about that. Also, our um Semi Valley landfill um just got converted into a RNG facility. So we are extracting landfill gas and putting it back into SoCal's um grid and we are soon to start next year and doing that here in Elsa Bronte. So, we're very excited about that. And um collectively um as a company, we collected 600 tons of organics and converted that into compost, which is something that is um not easy to do um especially with limited uh facilities. And we're proud to have extended that facility um portfolio that that we have. So, thank you so much for the residents, the city staff, and everyone who does their part in making sure that we are recycling right here in Corona. So, I just wanted to thank you for that. [applause] Okay, one more proclamation. I'd like to invite Victoria Steven and the Steven Center to the podium or with the Steven Center to the podium to receive the proclamation.

[applause] Welcome. Thank you. Come on up. Last time I saw you, we were cleaning up a park. Yeah, we do that a lot. All right.

Oops, wrong one. Oh, no. Yeah. All right. Children's grievance awareness month, November 2025. Whereas November is children Children's Grievance Awareness Month. A critical time for us to come together and address the pressing issue of childhood grief. And whereas children's grief awareness month encourages us to recognize the need for support for these children and their families. And whereas statistics show that one in 11 children in the United States will experience the lifealtering loss of a parent or sibling by age 18. Whereas children's grief awareness month prompts us to make our society more grief informed where compassion and understanding become the norm. And whereas the children's grief awareness month emphasizes the need for greater awareness and support for these those navigating the complexities of childhood grief. And the last whereas the Steven Center's goal in partnership with the city of Corona and local social services agencies strives to provide impactful programs, tools, and resources that empower individuals to offer comfort and support to children who are grieving. Therefore, I, Mayor Jim Steiner, on behalf of the Corona City Council, do hereby proclaim the month of November 2025 as children's grief awareness month. Our community is committed to supporting one another, working to raise awareness of children's grief, and ensuring that no child grieavves alone. So, here you go. Thank you. We'll get a quick picture, Caleb.

[snorts]

Thank you. Yes. Too many hands here. Yeah. Holding.

We would like to present the city with a show of appreciation because this is the third year that you've recognized November as National Children's Grief Awareness Month and you're the only city that I know of in the Inland Empire doing so. And so we're hoping by next year we'll have more cities doing this. Um, children are not supported in their grief. We do not understand their grief. were not trained in helping them with their grief. And that's what the Steven Center is committed to doing, providing those programs to children and families and also raising awareness and the need for more programs and for me more trained professionals and for family information and knowledge. Our children when they do not grieve and have the support appropriately end up having numerous mental health challenges including school dropout rates, including incarceration and drug addiction. So when we're able to support them in an appropriate manner, an appropriate timeline, then we eliminate those kind of crisis services that they end up needing. So thank you very much.

Thank you. All right, Miss Edwards, were there any speaker cards from the public regarding the two proclamations?

Mayor, we do not have any speaker cards for the proclamations. All right. Now, we have a presentation 2025 community survey. I'd like to invite Justin Tucker, assistant city manager, to the podium podium to provide a presentation.

Mayor and council, I am excited to be with you tonight to talk about the community survey. To me, this is uh one of the most enjoyable parts of my job is to help uh oversee this and then report out to you all what your residents think. So, the 2025 community survey is uh we do this annually. It's 25 questions from the four elements of our strategic plan. sound infrastructure, safe community, sense of place, and high performing government. And then in the report, which will be attached to the agenda at the end, we compare the results to the 24 2024 annual community survey. For your information, the survey is available in English and in Spanish. Give you a little bit of background on that survey. In 2022, we hired Pulco to conduct the National Community Survey for Corona, and they surveyed 714 of our residents. Starting in 2023 uh through this year uh we have conducted that survey internally using a scientific method that's described in the report and during that time we've surveyed 2860 total households and out of that um set of respondents only 62 households have taken the survey twice and none of them have taken three years in a row. So we've heard over from over 2800 of our households inside the city as we've compiled this data. So, um, just to give you a sense of what that looks like, the responses were, um, on that picture before, but this is sort of a density map of where those responses are from 2025 to give you an idea that, uh, where we've been sampling and, uh, that we're representing the interests of of the residents throughout the city. So, cutting to the chase, some here's some key highlights. This is great news that even though we're surveying different folks, we have consistently positive sentiment in the key areas that we're surveying about. Where there are changes this year, those changes are that exist beyond the margin of error. We have a 4% increase in

positive support for our efforts in the city to reduce homelessness, a 5% increase in the sense of community, and a 9% increase in the variety and frequency of community events. Uh it's to be noted that we had a 48% decrease in survey participation this year. Um but that's that number is still high. It's above 600 um which is what Polo was uses for their national benchmark survey. And we have some ideas that increasingly people are a little bit skeptical of getting emails, responding to paper surveys that ask their opinion. Um and the political climate has increased a little bit of distrust um in in um in government. So for the 2025 community survey, this is a random sample survey. We selected 8,000 households or 1,600 per district and asked them these questions. Uh this year we had to add an additional thousand households above that we did uh that we conducted in 2024. Um just because the sample response rate was low conducted during the same time period over the summer June through September. The way it's it works is the households get an email and then uh they get a a paper mailer and this year we added an incentive of $50 gift card to incentivize participation. 652 completed surveys which is an 8% response rate and about a 3.7% margin of error. Simultaneously we also launch open participation survey that's publicized on the city website and social media. We can we use boosted posts or some advertising to get some additional responses in there as well. And we had 900 surveys this year. The people who responded this year, we can compare over time from 2022 all the way through 25. Uh this year we had an increase in participation in the 18 to 34 year olds, which I think is really good news. Um but typically what people uh the age group and people who respond more often are in that uh above 55 group. And so we

had that happen again. Um we had a more balanced distribution between sex. Um typically females are more likely to respond to surveys. This year it was a little bit more balanced between males and females. And then there's a significant increase in people who've declined to state um their their gender preference. Across all of the districts, we report out the percentage of the respondents from each of those districts. districts. Uh there was a decline in response rate from district 1 and a pretty significant growth in uh response rate from district 5. Uh asking about Hispanic origins, pretty consistent across the board um in the percentage of people who identify as Hispanic. And then looking at housing type, we think this is important to to talk to all of our residents and hear from them. um the detached the people who live in detach detached housing are typically more likely to respond and we see that pattern here but we're still getting a good proportion of folks who uh live in attached housing or multif family housing. So here are the responses in terms of sound infrastructure. Very high response rate um very high ratings and good or excellent in talking about paths and walking trails, recreation facilities and bike lanes. But I want to point out that three out of four residents would rate our city parks as excellent or good. When it comes to safe community, um very high scores on public safety efforts, 71% said excellent or good. I think a great one is, do you feel safe in your neighborhood during the day? And 86% of our respondents said that they feel safe in their neighborhood during the day, which I think is stellar. The one increase that we saw that was outside the margin of error is that a 4% increase in the city's uh of respondents talking about having um the city's efforts to reduce homelessness as excellent or good. When we talk about sense of place, 84% of uh our respondents rated Corona as a

place to live as excellent or good, which I think is stellar. The same goes a similar number for Corona as a place to raise children. Uh sense of in of community was improved significantly by up by 5% this year at 64%. And 88% recommended would would say that they would recommend living corona to someone who asks, which I think is fantastic. down near the bottom uh openness and acceptance. Three out of four of our respondents or residents said that uh they felt like Corona was excellent or good at being an accepting an accepting place. And the other um significantly outside the margin of error was a change an increase a 9% increase in the variety and frequency of community events which I think is great. When it comes to high performing government, um we see it in the overall direction that that corona is taking a a very strong trend coming from 2022 up through 2025 um up to 61% 61% of the of the scientifically sampled respondents u believe that Cron is in a good good or excellent direction and then the quality of services provided by the city of Crona was very high as well at 67%. So if we were to look just broadly at the conclusions when we conduct a robust scientific process to hear from representative sample of residents about key issues over time um we are hearing consistently positive sentiment in those key areas. I think it's important to note that the open survey results we survey we received 900 responses from there were on average at least 11% more negative than the results from the random sample. Um to be noted that open survey response is a convenience sample. It's not scientific. It's not representative. And what we know about those there's significant research about that is that people who opt into surveys voluntarily tend to um have negative response bias. They they want to join in because they

have sort of extreme opinions. And additionally, because we put these on social media, there's a significant amount of research on on social media um that we know that social media uh amplifies extremism, division, and anger. And that's part of the tool of the algorithm. It tries to drive engagement. And so that sort of explains this uh this difference in the open survey results. So uh those that is my report and I'm happy to answer questions from you all.

Any of my colleagues have any questions? I just want to make note that like you're professionally trained in doing this kind of study. Um, and so did you enjoy the process of diving into data and actually did you actually do the study? Was it so I supervise the team who does that but we have a great uh communications team and I team who work very hard on making sure that the sample is um is representative. Yes. Got it. Great team.

It's a good team. Um I appreciate it. I'm not surprised um about the different sample sizes and how the open survey would garner uh more negative results. I do love though that people are noticing the different programming and uh because it takes a while and takes some practice. But um that was a direction we gave a few years ago to um have uh just larger events for the community because that's what we heard loud and clear and I'm I'm glad that people are noticing. So, thank you. Good. Okay, Miss Edwards, any speaker cards from the public for the presentation? Mayor, yes, I have two speaker cards for this item.

Okay, come on down. Welcome. Good evening. Good evening, Joe Morgan, 2063 ran. I I while I won't I won't question uh Mr. Tucker's ability to add up numbers. Um, everybody knows that the city doesn't ask a question unless they know the answer. So saying that there's a, you know, a survey, you you get the answers every, well, so he's a quant guy. I'm kind of more of a qual guy. And so the qual guy will easily say that the answers, the questions determine the answers. So you can get whatever answers you want. You can get whatever. That's why people aren't participating because they don't trust you. Thank you.

Thank you. Welcome.

Hello. My name is Robert. Uh good evening, city council. Um with regard to that last uh presentation, um I just had a question and something to say about the park situation that you did a survey on. um where he said that there was overall good sentiment about the city parks and what they might provide um and how people feel about them. But over the last couple meetings that I've been to, the sentiment that I got was that it wasn't something that people were excited to be happy about as far as the status or the condition of the city parks in general. Um, for instance, I I mean, I'll go walk in city parks sometimes and recently, you know, I went to Mountain Gate Park and they don't have the exercise equipment that they had 20 years ago. You know, some of that exercise equipment that they have or the stuff that they have set up is missing or deteriorated or needing to be updated. And so I I don't understand where how these um statistics that the last gentleman who spoke I mean the uh assistant city manager uh spoke about uh tends to create any kind of vision for you all to make a decision on anything or have an idea about anything having to do with this current status of these items that he spoke about. Hope that all makes sense. Um so that's basically what I wanted to say. On the other hand, um something else he said uh

uh or commented on was the uh sentiment about the conclusions about the government going in a good direction or a bad direction. Last time I was here, it didn't seem like there was good sentiment about the city government going in a good direction based upon those members of the public uh that came to speak about the city's plans to do certain improvements or developments here in the downtown area. So, I'm just trying to understand the objective of the community survey that was just presented to us all. I mean, it was presented to you, but I'm here and it was presented to me as well. So, uh, I don't get it, but if anyone could further try to help me to understand what the point of that was because it doesn't represent what I know.

Thank you, M. Edwards. Are there any other speakers? Mayor, yes. I have one more speaker card for this item. Welcome.

Good evening, everybody. My name is Don Fuller. I'm a local resident. Just to back up what Mr. Morgan said about writing questions to get the answer you want. I'm not speaking about this one particular, but I can tell you very specifically. I used to get paid good money to write surveys and I wrote survey questions specifically to get certain desired answers. So, I've been paid money to do that. So, it's entirely possible, maybe even likely. I'm just bringing that up to back up what Mr. Morgan said. Thank you very much for your time, everybody. Have a good night. Right. Okay. Nothing. No more. Miss Edwards. We do not have any more speaker cards there.

Okay. Let's move on to our consent calendar. All items listed on the consent calendar are considered to be routine matters, status reports, or documents covering previous city council action. The items listed on the consent calendar may be enacted in one motion. With the concurrence of the city council, a council member or any person in attendance may request that an item be removed for further considerations. Would my colleagues like to pull any items for discussion? 610 and 612. Uh 62, 65, and uh it's 612, but yeah, that's fine.

612, Miss Gasillas, and I had 6.5 as well. Miss [snorts] Edwards, are there any speakers from the public on this? Mayor, yes, we have two speaker cards for agenda item 6.5, one speaker card for 6.10, and one speaker card for 6.11. Okay. So, can I get a motion for all items except for 6.2, 6.5, 6.10, 6.11, and 6.12. So moved.

Second. Wes and Jackie, please vote. Okay, that passes 50. All right, first one is 6.2 from Wes. Yeah, I just wanted to get a report. We haven't had this report in a while, and I think there was some interesting things in the staff report that I'd love to to hear. Absolutely, Mayor. We'd be happy to have staff and uh our consultants on the line to present uh on this as well. Yeah, we have Ken Brown from our consultant from HDL Companies who's uh prepared to provide you with a presentation tonight. Thank you.

Good afternoon or good evening. It's great to be with you tonight again. It's been been a long time. So, good to see everybody. Um let me go ahead and share my screen here. Oh, you got the you got the report up there. Okay. Um, all right. So, the data I have to share with you today is for April through June, which is uh both what we call the second quarter of the calendar year, but it also happens to be the last quarter of fiscal year 2425. So, it's a pretty interesting quarter. If we could advance the slide. [snorts] All right. So in terms of second quarter results, uh corona was down 5.2% uh having an off quarter. Uh statewide results were down slightly to flattish to up slightly. Please advance to the next one. And then this slide here, typically I provide adjusted results. uh which adjusted is where we uh for example back out any payment aberrations, plug any delay payments or uh any state audit corrections. We adjust for that. In this case, I wanted because it's the end of the fiscal year. This is all of fiscal year 2425 that we just completed. I thought it would be best for me to tie out to uh the year- end reporting that you're going to see at the end of the fiscal year with the CAFER and other documents. And so, CA, this is actually cash results. I should have changed the caption there. You were up a half% for fiscal year 2425 uh compared to the prior fiscal year for all of the year. But cashwise, you were down 2% and I'll get into uh both the the difference there with the aberrations for uh the cash and the adjusted results are all at 2425 in just another slide or two here. Next slide, please. [clears throat]

All right. So this is 2Q25 just the last quarter April through June and this is the one we were down 5.2% this quarter uh for just that 3-month period. And I think the two uh biggest declines here uh were concentrated in both the building and construction sector and also business and industry. As you can see there, most of the other categories uh were fairly uh fairly flat in terms of the overall returns. Uh regarding building and construction, uh last year's number 2Q24 was really a remarkable quarter. It was very exceptionally uh strong. I think it was a record high for building construction returns. And so it was really a difficult comparison. So I attribute a lot of that decline to just being an extraordinary quarter a year ago. In terms of business and industrial results this quarter also in business and industrial you had a pretty strong quarter last year as well. So it was also a difficult comparison. It was one of your stronger quarters. I think there was maybe one other that was uh you know maybe just a bit stronger in recent uh last couple years but it was a it was a very uh high quarter but also I would add to that you did have a business and industrial vendor close in the last year and then furthermore you had a uh another uh another outlet uh opened up a competing outlet in a neighboring jurisdiction nearby jurisdiction which may have had a modest impact as Well, please turn to the next page. This is your cash results explaining that uh half a percent increase. And as you can see, most of it was up in business and industry. And there was

quite a [clears throat] few. So, you finished the year at about 60.5 million cash in 2425 compared to about 60.2 million the year before. Uh and uh as you can see, most of that was business and industrial. And there was quite a few audit recoveries and uh uh new like some recoveries for a new business in town where we were able to get some back quarters and some other payment corrections that comprise that $1.1 million. But backing out those aberrations you would have been down as I said previously on an adjusted basis uh about 2% with most of that being in the fuel sector as you can see that was the biggest uh uh category that was down uh with the price of fuel coming off over the last year. Next next slide please. Okay, so presenting the major industry groups. This is presented on an adjusted basis and you can see that there has been a flattening out for most of these categories. These are your largest and these are presented yearbyear and so fiscal year and it goes back 13 years and so it really gives you uh kind of an idea of uh the longer term perspective and it's also going to be interesting in just a minute we're going to see the comparisons with some other agencies. Let's take let's go to the next slide to see the the next couple here. And so this is the remaining four categories. And so uh most of these are you know flattish to down some are up a little bit but sort of a mixed picture over the last year or two after a lot of growth coming out of the pandemic. That's the key point. So let's go to the next slide. And so overall you can see here you can compare yourself with the county southern California in California. This is adjusted results and this is quarter by quarter and you can see the trends are pretty similar amongst all the different comparisons here in terms of

uh just the general trend. Next slide please. All right. So this is where we get into some comparisons with some other agencies. And I find this really interesting and useful. And I think the thing that I would point out is that uh pretty much every agency on this sheet is uh flattished to down over the last year or two uh coming out of the pandemic. Uh there is one exception there. Ontario is up. Let's go to the next slide. This is a couple other comparisons including Eastville, Norco, Harupa Valley. So you're going to see pretty much the same type of flattening out over the last year or two that we saw previously. And then the next slide. And then so over the last 13 years uh your uh growth of your Bradley burn sales tax has been about 89.8%. Next slide please. And then just real quick, we've got your Measure X monies came in uh pretty flat at about just about $43 million. Next slide, please. And that was year-over-year. And then in terms of the future, what are we seeing? Uh this is our updated forecast. And so we are looking, if you can turn to the next slide, that's our printed document that you can find on our website or we can get you a copy. I think it might be in the packet. But this is that information that's carried forward. And so this is essentially our latest update, our latest forecast. The numbers in gray there are actual statewide history. This is not specific to Corona. This is statewide history. And again, just to reiterate the point, uh look at that growth in fiscal year 2021, 2122. Tremendous growth uh coming out of the pandemic. Ever since then, we've been flattish to down a little bit. And so our outlook for next year is pretty conservative given the trends that we're seeing. And so we're looking for growth,

but it is pretty modest 1.2% and then growing a little bit in 2627. And I and I would just basically say this is uh our um we're balancing the different risks. The economy has a lot of strengths, but there's also certainly some vulnerabilities there. And so we're balancing those whis risks, weighing those things out. And so we're looking at given the trend of uh you know sub 1% growth over the last couple quarters statewide uh we're sort of playing into that trend and looking for about 1 to two to 3% growth over the next short term. Hopefully we can do better than that. Hopefully we can raise that but right now that's that's our outlook. And that concludes my presentation. I welcome any questions that you may have.

Wes, do you have a followup?

Yeah, just just uh thank you for that. I appreciate the the the narrative [clears throat] on the the difference or the the adjusted amount. I do find it fascinating though that that I mean not fascinating, it's sad that the numbers are down. Um we're up a little bit based on that adjusted amount, but those two areas that we've previously been very strong in to see that be a negative number. And I get the fact that in 2024 we had an abnormal year, but I guess um I'd be really interested to see what the next the next cycle looks like just because I think there's a a general um decrease in some of that spending. So I guess that that I mean I know this is three months or no four months behind now. Um so it'll be interesting to see how this plays forward. But yeah, no, I just just wanted to see that and then also point out the fact that that um the Measure X dollars are are very flat if not if not a little bit less and um just a good thing to watch. That's it. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Miss Edward. There are no speaker cards on 6.2, right? Correct. We do not have any speaker cards. Okay. Can I get a motion on 6.2 if there's nobody else? Second. W and Jackie, please vote. [snorts] Okay, that passes 50. Okay, the next item was 6.5. Uh, both Wes and myself and two members from the public. So, let's start with the public. 6.5. Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening. Um, I've [clears throat] spoken to a few of you about this and I don't want to keep coming up here about it, but I feel like I want to keep you guys honest on the guard rails. And to Mr. Tucker's point about social media and it being more extreme and the views being there, there's a reason for that. Okay. I I work very hard to try to build out for the public trust between council and what you're doing and what's going on online so people are informed. That's the whole reason that's the whole thing we do at Citizens for Corona is we're trying really hard to explain to them what's really happening so they don't go flying off in crazy directions. So 6.5 kind of gets to the heart of that because we're still talking about the downtown development and I have talked to every one of you about this and I know your hearts are in this and I know you want to do something that hasn't been done for 30 years and I really appreciate that. I absolutely do. Um, but there needs to be a level of trust built. And on this agenda item, there are some serious concerns. Not with you guys hiring an architect, but number one, you're spending enough on an architect that you're getting a full-blown out plan. That's cool. You could be doing a development with that or you could be getting a developer out there. If you guys are going to be a developer on this, I don't have a problem with that because I want to see it done right. But if you're going to do that, you guys need to be upfront about it. That's a lot of money to pay for an architect. Number two, and I don't Miss Edwards, can you bring up the first one, which is the um the the text?

Unfortunately, we can't because we just received the images.

That's cool. That's cool. So, um I'm going to read it. Please give me a little a little grace on the time here because it's really important. [snorts] All right. It specifically says in here in the report, North Mall was provided direction by the by the staff on July 2nd um talking about the square footage for the retail. And then it says with a hotel and approximately 250 to 400 residential units. That is not what you discussed. That is not what you discussed. It was 196 to 450. So we're already we've already got a creep there. And this is a staff accuracy issue. But what happens is that breaks the trust down. When the staff doesn't accurately report what you give them direction on, then there are a bunch of people on that line that are like, why are they lying to us? And then to Mr. Tucker's point, you get a bunch of people that are trying to be informed that are suddenly upset because they feel like they've been lied to. The same thing goes for in that same report in the same paragraph. It says a mix of for sale and four four rent residential units. You have never talked about those being rental units. You did not give direction on that being rental units. That is something else that was inserted by staff. Those two things are both not so much the 250, but the other part is a is Brown Act stuff. We need to hear about that in the public and we're not. If you're giving direction to an architect to do that, you have to have public comment about that. You have to let us talk about it. You have to let us know how you agreed to that.

We're going to be talking more about that, Chris. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you,

Joe Morgan, 2063. And let me talk about the the really shady part of this whole thing is one that this is on consent. If you read the description of consent, it's not for things like this. It's for routine matters, second readings, you know, just standard stuff, sales tax reports. That's what consent's for. This is not a consent item. But the fact that you're doing one, you're calling this an on call. This is an on call job. On call is to fix pipes, like broken pipes. On call is when you hire another arborist to uh to when there's a windstorm. Hey, the city crews are are full, so let's call the on call arborist to pick up the other branches. My friend's an architect. He's on on call list. They're consistently limited to 200 to $400,000. I view this as an end run around the city manager spending limit. This is definitely that. It's definitely an end run around it. So what happened was last year somebody put out an RFP for on call architecture services. Typically what that is is hey patio cover blew down in the wind. I want to do a minor remodel, move a bathroom, something like that. Maybe we're doing an auxiliary shed or something like that. Some other auxiliary structure. That's on call architecture services. But in this group of six architects now I saw the I saw the the the request to get into this on call group just generic look at that just some uh relocation uh you know compensation stuff just generic architecture stuff that any firm would do. But look at this. We would you look at that. We happen to have in this group a company that specializes in building mixeduse uh uh residential commercial development. Would you would you look at that? And so when you veer away from that public process and and then you hand it to a company that just happens to be in this

group, what happens in the RFP process? you put it out on planet bids then everybody knows what the deal is. Everybody's put out in public and if somebody bids then and they ask a question everybody knows the answers to the question. So everybody gets the same information. But when you take it upstairs to the third floor and you got this one this one little sleeper company in here who happens to happens to just he happened to get on our on call thing not for patio covers but for a mall development. Like, why would you have somebody who specializes in mall development? Why? Because you got a shady ass city manager who thinks he's on the side of God and doing the right thing. So, everything is fair game. You think you're so righteous about this. You think you're doing the right thing. So, you think it's fine to cut corners. It's not right. It's not It's not ethical. You want to know why people don't trust the city? This is why this isn't about Facebook. I just had to call somebody who does this for a living. You find out how shady it is.

Thank you. Okay. We also had myself and Wes wanted to talk about this. You can go first, Wes. Jack, you too. Okay. I I had uh just Okay.

Three things. Um first of all, I thank you, Mr. McCoy, for bringing this up. I I had an issue with that, too. I went back and I watched the meeting from July 2nd and there was three of us that agreed to option number two which was 196 units. There was two two members on this in this DS that agreed that they wanted to do option three. And that the way that worked was with or without the Harvath building, but the majority of the folks up here, three of us, it was Jackie and Tom and I all said option two, which was 196. I was I was disturbed to see that be 250 because it does look like we're not sure. I'll I'll chalk it up as to an honest mistake. However, when I looked at the contract that that was signed or was a proposal that was sent in by SVA, the architect, the they quoted back from the RFP that said that we chose option three. So, I'm a little bit confused. I want to I'm I'm not confused. I I want to make sure that that everybody hears, including the staff, hears that the three of us voted on July 2nd, that we wanted option two and and that there was a possibility for anything more that we wanted to that to be a negotiation later. That's that's the the first thing. So, I'll wait for Mr. Ellis if you want to comment there or you can wait until I'm finished. Up to you. Okay. And then second, um, [clears throat] so the looking at the RFP for or looking at the proposal for SVA, um, their actual cost for doing design work is $449,000. The rest is a planning contract and some civil engineering and all things that you would need to do this. That's fine. That seems like it's in the ballpark. The one thing I I I found very lacking is that I looked at their website. I looked at the the information that they provided. They do

not they do mixed use for sure. They don't do mixed use the way that we've talked about it. I haven't seen anything that shows that that these folks do any kind of historic recreations or retrodesign. I saw some, you know, there's architects that I think it's um AO architect that did the mark in Riverside. Great. They have some they have some wonderful things. There's probably about a half a dozen other companies that do similar work, but they're they're not on here. So, I I'm I'm feeling very not sure about having an architect that that clearly hasn't shown that they could do this kind of work to award this work to. I have no problem with the other scope. Okay. Yeah, you need to have planning. You need to have a, you know, the exemptions. And I thought that EPD is a good company. They do good work. um the civil guy I'd never heard of, but you know, we're just doing preliminary design to basically the idea is to provide the architect to provide a design that shows exactly what we all want, the look that we want, the feel that we want, but I don't see that on their website. I don't see it in the proposal. So, I'm I and I, you know, frankly, I I see some some differences there. So, I'm I'm inclined not to support this um just because I I think there are still some questions to be answered and I don't want this to come back, you know, when they finish and they spend their money and and the environmentals done and everything else that we get something that looks like everything else on their website or even the the the um projects that they they showed in their in their proposal. I was very unimpressed.

So, um I think we all have questions. So, what I'd like is Jacob, you could just take notes and uh we'll get to you at the end. We'll probably need Mr. Belding to chime in on some of this, too. Yeah, staff's ready to talk about it. Uh Tony, did you have anything on this? Tom?

Yeah, I'm u I I have a lot. Um I I I'm with Wes. I the If you don't know, the proposal was attached to the agenda, the AR SVA's proposal. Well, it's a 50-page document and I read it from start to finish and I I see a lot of modern architecture. I didn't see any historic elements and so I am I am worried that this firm is going to deliver decorative rectangles and I feel like they repeat the same project consistently whether it's in Orange County or LA or up north. So, I I do have concerns there. And then going forward, I I'm hoping that as they start to do some design work, and this [clears throat] is just a wish list and take it for what it's worth, but I do hope that there's some architectural elements that complement the Southside or pay tribute to the Southside Mall. I uh this is ticky tac, but I see this in multi-tenant use that no drier vents face the street view. Um, I'm hoping that it's not a repeat of Metro at Maine and it's not to slam Metro of Maine. It's just I'm not a fan of Metro at Maine and it's not the look that we're looking for in the downtown Metro. For the design, I think there should be historic elements such as murals, brick, citrus memor memorabilia, racing memorabilia, koopas, arches, covered walkways, and balconies. I think the hotel should pay homage to the original hotel Tescoll. I'm worried about a traffic study. Um, just over the years, I feel like developers will show up with traffic studies and it magically fits what they wanted to say. I'm I'm I would just like a realistic traffic study. Call it for what it's worth. Yes. No, whatever.

When excavation starts that any artifacts be turned over to the heritage room. I'm hoping that we can discover the original water well as uh these next two items as the downtown starts to go under design that there be many renderings and that there be many much transparency with the public. So let's let's let's show let's show what we're doing as we progress, right? Let's not just say, "Oh, by the way, here it is and like it or love it, but this is all you get." like let's let's come up with renderings and let's be transparent with the public. And then ultimate wish list is maybe to incorporate the original sun-kissed water tower whistle and the first bell that is in the first schoolhouse of Corona that's in storage. And that's it. Thank you, Mayor.

Vice Mayor.

Yes. Thank you. Um I um I I wanted to make a couple of comments about this item and um I I would like to know a couple I have a couple of questions as well. So I'll start with the questions. Um the first is I recognize that you know we're trying we're trying to go into the entitlement process specifically to have um uh more of a say on the finished product. And so I'd like to better understand um the necessity for the architect and like how that plays in this process. Um because someone who's not part or doesn't know this professionally, I always assume that an architect was at the end. Um and so I want to know the advantages of having and if it's the architect is part of the entitlement process and if it's necessary. Um, I love the idea of getting um getting as much down getting as much of these details kind of protected before we secure a partner. Um, and for those reasons, I would like to see um more of these things fleshed out. That being said, um I also want a better understanding of where in the process we are because my understanding is the conversations right now aren't to give us an understanding of exactly what we want, but to have a discussion more about uh density and like the locations of things. So, um I recognize that there's probably going to be some give and take down this road. And for that reason, I'm also really really wary of providing renderings. I think the public has seen several renderings across, you know, over the last 30 plus years. And what it does is

it it um it ends up putting a picture on a thing, an image in your head when we still don't know exactly what it's going to turn out to be. So I want to be careful about renderings unless we are we have built it in and it's a for sure thing. So I want a better understanding of the architect's role, a better understanding of what this process is. Um uh I want a better understanding of whether or not uh how we can um put in these specific details that um council member Richens is asking for um in in the entitlement process and if this is the time to do that and then comments um you know I I recognize I have been really adamant from the very beginning that that the residential units in the downtown should be for purchase. I think we need um we need we know we need more housing in the state of California. We also I mean local economists have noted that the the the thing missing is condos like that is a niche that is not being met and people aren't looking for um a lot of people are not looking for single family detached homes but they are looking to invest in their future and create some of that um generational wealth and condos is the is where it's at right now. Um and so I I really do not want to entertain um apartment rentals and if that's a necessity I want to know I want to know why. Um I am I we had a consensus on the number of units but I again I recognize that these are starting conversations and so if there is a public benefit to a a negotiation on the on the unit amount I want to know what it is and how it can serve the community. So yeah,

absolutely, absolutely. Here, um, and lastly, I just I I uh I want to express caution. I've I I I've seen sometimes with outside consulting firms that what is not explicitly stated early on then has to be said like on the second go round. And so, um, if we're all being really detail oriented and obsessive, it's because there's a lot, everyone is really invested in this and, um, and we want to get as close to good or great um, before, you know, going too far down the road. So, thank you.

Okay. Thank you. I want to talk a little bit more about the housing element of of this development. So it was around five years ago we had hired consultants um Cosmont and uh Storyland um just to learn more about what what it takes to revitalize a downtown and what should it look like and you know we talked a lot about you know we don't want too much housing but we understand that or they made it seem like we we definitely needed some sort of a housing element to have a successful downtown and and we talked about yeah that that's fine. We get that if that's true. Um, but we didn't want it to be too too housing heavy. We wanted it to be more retail, dining, entertainment heavy with some housing units to support that downtown. So, I still have some questions and I know some of this is is hard to answer, but I I got to ask them and I want you to do your best in responding. Um, first one, is some housing required by the state? If so, [snorts] how many units? If we can answer that, and Joel, this is probably you need to be taking notes on this. If not, is some housing suggested to ensure a built-in customer base that will help the new businesses be successful? And if true, how many units? Could the boutique hotel accomplish this in place of housing? Which we don't know that because we don't know 100% I think if the state's going to force us to do housing with the hotel. Could the hotel have a large banquet room? I know that we've talked about a banquet room at city park in the community center, but I think we could have another one. And could we have a nice big banquet room at that hotel? And when we were discussion discussing the options, uh yeah, I think there was three three that wanted two, two that

wanted three. Um but with a caveat, it was it was um portrayed as uh conceptual idea based on the acreage that we could own at some point. And that's if we owned the Horvath Horvath office building, which we don't. So maybe we will down the road, maybe we won't. I don't know. Um, if the housing units are built, can they all be for sale? Not for rent. I'm 100% with you on that. And again, if they can't all be for sale, why? And the last question that I had is how likely is it that a developer would want to build 100 to 140,000 square feet, which is our goal, of retail, which is your goal, that's what we talked about, of retail, dining, and entertainment without a housing element. So those are the questions from the public and from the council that I would like you to try to answer. And Mr. Ellis, you could start if you want with some of the direct questions towards you and then regarding the

Yeah, I think the team's prepared to answer I think most of those questions that have been raised. So Joel's got a presentation. We'll ask him to uh see if he can uh not miss any of the questions that were asked. I'll do my best. We'll probably remind you if you do.

Good evening, council. So, this is uh a a little bit of a restatement of what you saw in July and then some new information here to ideally address what we're doing here. So, really the the item before the council tonight is executing a contract to start the design process to take the conceptual sort of block designs you saw in July, advance that design to be have something that we can present to Joann's group in planning and development that ultimately goes to the planning commission. They put their mark on it. they ultimately will be asked to cons to approve it. That's the entitlement. That's the guaranteed right to build. So they approve just like every other private developer goes through that process to get to a seal of approval saying yes, you can build, but it has to fit within this box. So the architect that we're hiring today and that suite of subconsultants, the envir the traffic consultant, the uh civil design firm, the safety uh considerations that we'll need built in there too. that's that team is meant to advance that design to get a set of plans that goes to the planning commission and that goes to the city council ultimately for final approval just like you see for every private developer. So that's really the that's the motivating factor here is to get to that point where the city has a project to sell to a developer to bring in a developer to build and also to guarantee that we have the local control that the city council is seeking and the community is seeking. We dictate the design. you dictate to the design by hiring the architect controlling that entire process and getting to a finish point that's satisfactory to you and to the community and only at that point then do we hand the keys to the developer to say okay go build it now so that's really the that's the motivating force here that's the the driving philosophy here as to why we're doing this alternative would be we assemble the site we clear it and then we find a developer and we negotiate a deal with them a disposition a devel development agreement. We say it has to look like this. We turn it over to their design

team. They'll come back with their design, go through the entitlement process. It may end up through virtue of cost constraints or something they it may end up slightly different from what's dictated. And so for us taking that the lead, we have much more control over the entire process. And so, uh, to the point about architecture, uh, I'll speak to that in a little bit as to how we manage the consultant to make sure that they do new things because they're working in Orange County, they come to Corona, we ask them to do something different. How do we know that they can do that? So, we'll talk a little bit about that, too. So, to go back to the point of do we need housing in downtown or why do we want housing in downtown, this really goes back 20 years. So the redevelopment agency started uh once the new general plan was in place at that time and it designated downtown for mixeduse development. This is sort of the standard model for when you have an aging downtown and you want to do something new. Typically housing development happens for older cities in sort of the doughnut rings around the area. People forget about downtown and that's why downtown stagnate. That's why cities then need to step in and do something more. The free market's been operating that entire time. The free market has delivered all sorts of aged downtowns. And if cities are fine with the aged downtown, great. If the city wants to do more, then they step in and they do something to sort of prime the pump or to kick things off. When you have redevelopment agencies, they could go in there. They had lots of money, lots of ability to make things happen. So Corona is in a very good position of not having a redevelopment agency but having the tools, available funding and a clear direction to go still pursue the same type of revitalization efforts. So that and that's really for the last 20 years that's what's been happening here. So uh we bring in the lab in 2018 and

try and have some ideas but again the city's not in control. we've sort of handed the keys to the site to a developer and we've trusted and negotiated with them to get things done and for a variety of reasons they don't have the attention span or the funding to be able to pull that off. So then the city takes this back but in the meantime the general plan is updated again again reiterates mixeduse downtown is really what we're looking for. We have the downtown revitalization plan, which is really an extensive communitywide effort that the city goes through to say, are we really sure about this? Is what do you want to see? What what are the cre the key factors that you want to see in a new downtown? We collect that. There's thousands of participants in that. So, it's not just staff guessing. It's not city council guessing. We've asked the community and so we can better track our efforts to their overall vision for the downtown. Uh there's the downtown specific plan that's updated at the end of last year that again provides uh clearer direction for mixeduse development in the downtown. Not just the ability to build, but then that sort of form and feel and structure for mixeduse buildings when they do come in to try to balance that need for the the city to grow as a more urban area. It's not a small community anymore. It's a medium-sized city across the state of California. So building in the ability for growth to continue in the area, but then also balancing community preferences for keeping the buildings feeling low scale, keeping them sort of a the feel of a smaller downtown. And so that the new specific plan guidelines really point in that direction. So again, we're building off of that as sort of the starting point for the design efforts that we need to engage in if the city wants to continue with it taking the lead on entitlements. And then in March uh of 2024 also there's just continued direction to go continue pursuing acquisition of the North Mall. That's really the center point for all of this revitalization efforts and really will have the biggest impact once

we pull that off. And then we're here earlier this year with some preliminary concepts uh pitching the idea of the city entitling this and then presenting some design concepts in July that provide a range of very small scale development up to something that's very intensive but really shows what the maximum development potential is for that site under the the specific plan guidelines. So I just checked the minutes right before I came up here. the minutes that we have say uh council preference was between options two and three. So that's really the structure for the RFP. That's the information in the staff report. And certainly because the minutes are one sentence, there could be disagreement with that. I reviewed the video too. There seems to be some some degree of latitude as to not specific numbers but sort of the general philosophical approach of not too small and not too big. So that's how that RFP was structured. Joe, I hate to disagree with you, but that I went back and listen and watched it again. Tom started off with three. I was two. I think Tony went last. Jackie was two. Jim was three. And

the Horvath. We don't have the Horvath. So that's why I went to You were three. And when after Jackie spoke, Tom changed his mind and said he wanted two.

So I I'm respectfully disagreeing. And And I I read the minutes, too. Um but it was it was incorrect. And I and I get that that we talked about [clears throat] the Hard Bath building and and part of the point that Tony made was if we you know we say 450 it gives the the developer you know maybe a lure in more developers and my point was and I think Jackie's point was as well at the time that I would like to I'm okay with having you know this is okay this number is great a great place to start. And so, like I said, I'm going to respectfully disagree and and we also also said that we wanted four sale condos. There were several of us that said that as well.

Yeah. So, to to that point about the Horvath building being included or not, if the Horvath building is included, that number could go up. So the the planning effort that we'll go through, part of it is to plan our project on the city's ownership, but then also part of it is to understand what happens on that Horbath building to make sure we're not boxing them out of certain options so we're not building a fantastic project and then end up with a non-functional site. Let me ask you a question. Can we entitle property that we don't own? We can't. But we can. Could the staff be provided the opportunity to finish the presentation without interruption?

Yeah, let's let's have everybody present their case, then we can talk about it. So uh to to go back to the history, so the downtown revitalization plan that was adopted in 2022 after an extensive outreach campaign. Uh so a majority of the residents responded that new housing options were either ranged from either slightly important to extremely important. So again going to the fact that we're not building starter homes anymore. So people that want to get onto that equity path of having a 1,200 foot starter home uh to start their family to have private ownership and then grow uh and then or downsizing people that are looking to move from a 3,000 foot residence. The kids move out and they're looking still to stay in the area with an ownership option but just downsize to fit better their lifestyle. The downtown revitalization plan also speaks to housing as a growth driver. So the additional value in the site providing additional property taxes the people that live there and circulate amongst businesses also provide that direct support. And then also it identifies that retail really pure retail projects are not being built anymore. Sort of an outdated style. So that's why you see a lot of shopping malls converting by adding housing to help them stay in operation and then to help them adapt to the new realities. And also again to go back to this idea of the free market sort of doing its thing. The free market was operating when the North Mall was just a pure retail project. And so if the retail pure retail project worked for downtown, you wouldn't h be in this position of having to step in and intervene. There would have been enough continued renewed uh reinvestment to maintain and support and advance that project so that it never degraded. And then that final challenges to re revitalization. There's a whole list of challenges that the plan identifies. One of those key plans though is lack of entry- levelvel housing opportunities to support the local workforce, young families, empty nesters. So that's really why the the project is targeted to address these specific needs and

structured this way with retail to replace what is being torn down, but then additional housing to support the forward-looking revitalization plan. This is the context here. I everyone knows where this project is. We've got a major grocery store coming in. The hospital has some expansion plans. the hub is open and uh will continue to grow over time. And so this slide looks at the process. So we've gone through that process of determining what works best here through a variety of city efforts. The downtown specific plan, the revitalization plan, market studies. We have initial concepts that the council reviewed. We are now to the point of starting that entitlement process to guide the devel to take the development from rough concepts to specific a specific project that the planning commission review that the city council can review approve and then that matches up with the developer to be able to build that project. So again these this is the guiding design philosophy for this project. We have beautiful historic buildings that unfortunately have been lost time and redevelopment. We can pull from those though as references to be able to make sure that that new project brings back that Corona style. The Corona revival style is really sort of what we're calling it to be able to recognize that history, respect it, and then build upon that as really the it set the tone for everything else that's happening in the downtown area. This is an information that was provided to the architects in the competitive process that we had. All six architects took a look at that and so they understand where we need to end up through that process. And so again looking at simple building materials that reference that historic architectural style where we don't end up with Stuckco boxes that look generic that could be anywhere within the state. And again that mixeduse concept of groundf flooror retail so that visitors can have dining opportunities, shopping opportunities at that ground level. And then above that you could have a mix of uses and ultimately housing on top of

that tucked away supporting and then also providing housing for uh young people and older people that are circulating in the area. And again that activated street level is really the prime factor to make sure that the public as they circulate around the site either on car or on foot will have an active area and a lively environment to participate in. and then looking at good architecture and taking advantage of the elevations on that building to uh respect the terrific views that we have really 360 degrees around that site once you get up a couple levels and then ultimately creating an integrated urban project that still feels like it's belongs in Corona. So these are the two options that the council discussed at that July meeting. Uh looking at between options two and three and again those numbers 196 housing units up to 452 and that 452 included the Horvath building. And again as I started to reference part of the design work here is designing our project and then part of it is understanding what the impacts are and the development potential are for the Horvath building because at some point that building will probably go away. So we just want to understand through this process understand so we can sync up our driveways trash collection all the sort of the basic design elements that you need in the project to be able to get to a redevel a viable redevelopment site when the horses decide to do something different on that. So that extra units above 196 or above a uh 300 200 the additional units are really meant to cover the architect's design work for that portion too to make sure we have a cohesive single site that works together well. the retail I I don't think that's in there's any question there 100,000 100,000 uh to 143,000 and a hotel of c of a certain size will also be included in

that and again the downtown specific plan tells us how to build these things with stepped back upper levels to minimize the overall visual appearance covered walkways at the ground level to bring back that historic feel there's a preference for forale housing so the RFP was structured just to be flexible there's not really inherent design difference between for rent and for sale. And so if the direction and the direction that direction is really to the developer that we'll be selecting is if we want them to structure these as for sale units that'll be negotiated with them. The architect this architect process is a little bit agnostic as to what the ultimate disposition for these units are. And so the units won't look different. Uh but if the direction is and we can be very clear with this, if it's for sale as our first choice, we'll just design it that way. the architects will be told for sale. And for a lot of this, we're not getting into very specific floor plans because there's still a negotiated element with the developer. So, we're not picking the location for microwaves in there. We're not picking very fine details you would see in the actual construction drawings. This is really making sure that the exterior appearance is really locked in and highly controlled and that the unit mix is appropriate and that the scale of the buildings is appropriate for that location in downtown. So we presented this also in July about next steps. So we've gone through that process of acquiring moving tenants out. We've started phase one demolition that's been completed. We've refined the the design a little bit through that master planning process. [clears throat] So we're to the point of commencing the entitlement work. So we had originally talked about that in winter of next year. So we're moving a little bit faster just to be able to deliver that project and start its beneficial impacts sooner. Uh a development partner would come a little bit later in the process. We're starting phase two demolition work early next year and then we'd have a development agreement with a selected

developer and then they would begin constructing that project. So part of that entitlement process not at the the local level but at the state level because it's government land we're disposing of either through a long-term lease or the sale. There's the surplus lands act and this is sort of it's a ever evolving uh set of regulations that guide how cities get rid of uh public property. So the starting step would be the city would declare this surplus the property is surplus. We would notify potential developers out in the world that this is available. We give them 60 days to put together proposals. They would come back to us with proposals if they're interested. [clears throat] We would spend 90 days talking to them about those projects and negotiating. The surplus lands act has a preference for uh the most number of units and the deepest levels of affordability. So they're really looking at promoting affordable housing development. So this law is structured really to do the best it can the state can to deliver on these uh not necessarily in sync with local wishes though but it's still it's a process that that is established by the state and again it dictates the process it doesn't dictate the outcome but it mandates there you have 150 days to work with potential developers at the end of that there's a determination made by the city as to whether that's acceptable or not hcd the state gets to review that if they clear it that you've done you've gone through the proper process you've given fair consideration to these people if it doesn't work that's fine they can then clear it and then we could engage that developer so in preparation for this process uh we've been talking to the state to make sure that we understand their process the best that they understand our project and our uh ultimate design concept for this and then it was through those conversations that they identified an expedited way to get through this process where we

start engaging with developers a lot sooner than waiting 180 days. So what that process involves is if we have a development on 10 or less acres and that project includes 300 or more residential units and 75 of those units are designated as affordable 25% or 75 units. 25%.

Yes. uh then we can expedite that process to be able to uh bypass this and get an initial exemption from the surplus lands act. And so if the unit count is 300 or more, and that's partly what the council can consider tonight, there's an exemption process that gets us to the end point sooner by mandating a floor, a minimum number of units to be included in this. uh that you would provide direction to us to provide direction to the architect to be able to design it this way. We would then send that to the uh HCD and then they would uh provide that exemption process for us. So, one thing for you to consider. So, uh this is the revised timeline here. Uh like I said, the entitlement process is happening a little bit sooner instead of waiting until um early 2026. We're at the end of tail the end of 2025 here to be able to start that process if the council wants to move forward with that that design contract today. We would commence that SLA process. If the city council wants to proceed that exemption and uh dictate a 300 unit count, then we'll start that process. If the preference is to not, then we will adjust that also. And then ultimately the expedited process regardless of that if we start the design contract now we're looking at just advancing that schedule a little bit by with ultimately identifying a developer and ultimately starting that construction project. So to go back to the very first point the item before you tonight technically is that design contract for the entitlement process but obviously there's a lot of questions here. Uh, I'll begin to work through those and then uh please help me if I uh have missed anything.

Sure.

I'm going to jump in really quickly because um we've had lots of discussions about the surplus land act and I think it's very confusing for everyone. And so when I wanted to just add on to Joel, Joel's done an amazing amount of work on this. Um, but in our discussions here, uh, the city of Anaheim got into a very, very significant lawsuit. A violation of the Surplus Lands Act is 30% of the purchase price. In the first violation, if you, if you're found violating this process, in the second violation, it's 50% of the purchase price of the property. So, the state is taking this process very, very, very seriously. So when we engaged HCD, it's for it's for clarification on how they will evaluate our process. And we we inserted this slide today to show you basically because it's not as clear and easy to understand like how the timelines work, but also how the process works. So, if you look at the the the process, starting on day one, if you declare this as available, it takes 60 days. We have to acquire this 60-day notice. That notice goes to those who have those developers who have signed up as affordable housing developers only. During that time period of 60 days, they reach out to the city and working on our notice of availability, they provide the city some proposals. After those 60 days, we can go through those proposals. HCD will also look at those proposals, but they won't tell you which one to choose at the beginning. They will only tell you if you violated the process. So in that 90-day negotiation period, the criteria the HCD sets that's clear in the SLA guidelines is preference must be given to the largest number of housing units at the deepest level of affordability. In our city's recent experience, we've gone through this process on another property

is a small property less than two acres. The proposals that came in came in excess of 200 units on two acres. And um because there was another another um proposal that wasn't a housing developer, we were able to move forward with that. Otherwise, on HCD review, the city must justify why they did not select the developer with the largest number of units at the most affordable. That's the criteria from HCD.

So, you're saying that the state Sorry, because it is super confusing and I want to make sure I'm hearing you right. Um, so HCD can essentially say [snorts] you had to take all of these options before you. I'm not going to tell you which one I'm going to tell you which one I would pick, but if you mess up, I'm going to say you messed up and you you should have gone with option B and now I'm going to make you go with option B. That's correct.

And they they generally will review. It'll take more than 30 days to review. Uh, if it's a bigger case than much larger, if you had much more responses, that takes a longer period of time. But that happens often. Anaheim got in trouble because they didn't follow this process. But that'll often because cities move fast. They'll finish a deal and then wait for the HCD review. And so then they get punished. So we engaged HCD early to understand their process and they've clarified for us before we complete a deal that they would review our process to make sure that it was okay. So they're essentially saying, "Hey, if you build this many units and guarantee this many at affordable housing, I'm not going to play this game of making you

so go through this process."

Uh, sort of, but not exactly. So, when it's offered in that first notice of availability, the criteria are it goes only to low-income housing developers that have registered with the state and 25 of the unit 25% of the units must be affordable. And if you open up the notice of availability and you declare the property surplus, then it goes to all of those developers and all of them can apply. There is an exemption in the guidelines. So HCD enforces the SLA and they produced a set of guidelines that have changed over time. When we started early on in the South Mall, those were uh a limit of 5 years for leases and all property sales. The revised guidelines came out in late in 2024, August 2024, and cities were still wrestling with them. So that's why we called them. HCD has created an exemption, the specific one we cited. There are other exemptions, but this specific exemption applies to this property. And on our call with HCD, they notified us of that exemption that might fit our criteria. We showed them the the presentation that was presented to council and we said it was between two and three. They said, "Well, the property is less than 10 acres and the housing range is between that number. If the council were to approve a 300 unit, which by the way includes density bonuses, so you can't do 300 and then add another density bonus. three a minimum total of 300 units, you might qualify for this exemption. And what happens then, can you click the advance? What happens then is you avoid the notice of availability to all of the low-income housing developers. You omit the preference to the largest number of housing units with the deepest affordability. And you can immediately once HCD has reviewed that that exemption applies, you can begin not just entitling the project but also working with the developers on what can pencil out economically.

So to be clear, it's not necessarily the interest here is not a time-saving sensitivity. It's a making this project not available to potentially to developers that could potentially force our hand into a development that we do not want. And it's both actually it does save at least 150 days, but that is not a motivator time. I mean, we've been sitting on this 40 years, right? Absolutely. [laughter] But the benefit is both, but it's okay. Um, and now you said maybe. Is it can we get HCD to say for certain?

They they will only review an application that is made to them so they can give guidance upfront. And we have the written documentation. We have we've cited the section that it says um we would you know obviously council would need to say yes 300 is the right unit and there are lots of steps but if the council were to declare it exempt surplus HCD would then look at whether or not that property fits the criteria and they've they've basically assured us that they can review it within 30 days and and get a result back. But I I have confidence that those guidelines aren't going to change. it took over a year for them to craft and they pointed us to that specific exemption as a a very likely um possibility for this site.

Got it. And I just and I want to be clear for the general public who this this is not a thing we can avoid being part of the SLA. There's the cities involved. This is not a process that we can avoid altogether. We're just trying to find what what way to get to the end product where we have the most local control.

Yes. And and just frankly in the discussions with HCD, we said we're very concerned about the look and feel. The council was very specific about making this a downtown. And HCD just frankly said we don't we don't really care about the look and feel. What matters to us to us is the number of units that you comply with the SLA. So, um, the SLA also the the guidelines that were released in August of 2024 also specifically state that this that the site cannot be used for non-governmental sorry uh the site cannot be exempt from the SLA and a government use is not um a commercial use that we can't claim that we're using this property as commercial if we redevelop it for retail, commercial or entertainment. That's not acceptable. So,

those are also available for that. Go out of turn. I appreciate it. I'm happy to answer other SLA questions. Um otherwise, I'll turn the time back over to Joel.

Okay. Okay, Joel. Okay. So, Council Member Casillas, the your question as to why we need an architect. Now, if you'd like to expand on that, I'm happy to provide additional information. I hope I've answered your question as to Okay. Uh let's see the how do we control the design? So, council member speak. So you referenced the mark project. So the first iteration for that project, I was with the redevelopment agency overseeing downtown. I was the project manager for the first iteration of that project called Fox Plaza. So that the Stalder building, the historic adaptation where they kept the facade, they kept the building and then built on that but stepped back. I worked on developing the design principles that drew that. I oversaw the EI that actually cleared that project. So I I have some direct familiarity, direct local experience as to uh and I've worked with plenty of architects over the years to make sure that we're delivering on on our design. Uh I I that's partly why we communicated to the architects before they submitted proposals what we're hoping to achieve here. And then obviously this doesn't happen in a black box where the architects disappear, they do something and then we end up with something that's terrible. There's design iterations that we go through. There's regular check-ins. We'll have a city team that we've already pulled together for one our initial meeting to start talking just to how to structure this overall program. There's certainly opportunities for council check-in to make sure that we're headed in the right direction. But this isn't an uncontrolled process that'll get out of our hands. So we we understand how to work with architects to make sure that if we say it's brick, if we say it's arches, if we say it's and I really for historic architecture design, there's heavy math involved. You're probably familiar with this. If a building is so high, then the cornes stick out so much. There's the sort of

hidden geometry within buildings. Uh, I have an architectural manual that I was given as a very young planner that's written in the 20s that goes through that proportionality for good architecture to end up with a good project and that's really sort of been my driving principle for any buildings that I've been involved with in the design. So, I want to I will tell you that the exterior look because that's of such high importance for this project, that's the really the primary focus for this exercise. But then also there's plenty of opportunities as we go through this process to make sure that the council's very comfortable with the direction we're heading. And so that as we get into that process, we can demonstrate that more. But I have a high degree of confidence that the initial concepts we've communicated to the architect based on council direction that will deliver a project that that checks all those boxes. So, Mayor Steiner, to your questions about uh is some housing required. Yes. Uh because of the funding that's originally gone into the project, we had housing funding that housing funding that made uh portions of the acquisitions in that area. And then also, uh it's guiding principles that we have in the downtown specific plan and the downtown revitalization plan. There's a need for housing if you want to do more than what's there today. Can the hotel function as housing? Unfortunately, not because it's transient occupancy that doesn't qu check the box for what the state considers housing. Um, can the hotel be provided with convention space? That's actually one thing that we see as sorely lacking within the city, just big meeting rooms. And so, the hotels make perfect sense to be able to build that in as an option. That would be a great focal point for downtown to be able to bring in large groups, not convention size groups, but to have a large space that's programmable that can draw in people from both within the city and from the region. That's definitely something that we'll be building in there.

So, as to providing renderings to the community there, I'll leave it to the council to provide some direction on that as we get a little bit deeper into the process. how much we're communicating out, how much we're communicating to the council, that's to be defined. Uh, council member Richens, your uh, thoughts about referencing the hotel teascal. If any architects are architectural items or artifacts are found, there's definitely a way there's an appropriate way to handle those. Uh, if the heritage room is that ultimate destination for those, that's fully acceptable. We're more than happy to work on that. I love finding things. I've been involved when we tore up the Main Street Mall in Riverside. We unearthed all sorts of things. And so to be able to capture that history in situ and then be able to highlight that for the community to really tell that the sort of urban archaeology, that story, that's a wonderful thing to do. So if I've missed any questions, please let me know.

Yeah. To start with Tony. Tony, do you have anything? I don't have a question, but probably have some comments before this is over. I don't think right now is the right time though. I think Okay, I'd like to get through questions first. All right, questions. Wes, um I guess I'm still asking the Mr. Ellis. I'll start with that question. Um this council said 196 and 250 keeps showing up over and over again. Can you explain where that came from? Yeah, our understanding is that the direction that council gave was a hybrid sort of an option 2.5. That said,

whatever direction you give us is the direction that we'll follow. And so if we misreolcted that, regardless of what it was, we're happy to take the correction if if council wants us to go with a different direction on that.

Okay. Um and then could you go back to slide? I think it's 14 or sorry 13. 13's a better better slide. Uh, one more. Nope, you're going the wrong direction. Keep going. Where it shows option two and three. Okay, there there's a big difference in these two. Um, and I know we talked about developing in quadr in quadrants. So I'm assuming that we're going to go down, over, and up. So then the Horvath building and the other building would be in quadrant 4. Can we agree upon that?

Yes. So sure. Yeah. So if you look at the differences between these two pictures, they are very different. So, in option number two, I'm assuming that gray area is parking. And then and then option number three, that is retail and some housing, which I'm I'm assuming that's where the rest of the few hundred homes are going to come from that and around the around the edge of the building.

Um, so then my so I want to I want to point that out that they're they are different. Um, and I understand the trust me, I think I understand maybe other than than Miss Ketta, I think I understand the SLA pretty darn well. Maybe Mr. Tucker maybe know a little bit better than I do. But after sitting in the HCD committee and being the chair last year and and hearing every sort of combination and every single bill and I've spoke at this council of all the bills that have come forward and how much it changes on a daily I mean almost you know the basis is incredible that the amount of things that get thrown at us. So, I I I appreciate the the the the exception that that HDD is willing to at least communicate in some way because I'm frankly I don't think any other city's gotten anything like that. Um, so I I see some kind of sliver of hope. However, I see a little bit of a curveball here. So, if we entitle and I'll go back to my question about we can entitle someone else's property. We're entitling our our three quadrants for 300. That means there's 300 there and then I'm assuming just based on I'm doing some math in my head another 200 on quadrant 4. So we would end up at five something. So how do we prevent that?

Yeah. So the Horvath building is split between So there's a under this plan looking at option three that the lower gray section that occupies the Horvath site with the housing wrapped around it. That's two different ownerships. The city owns the entire parking lot around the Horvath building and then the Horvath family just owns the building footprint. So about 35,000 square feet. So anything that they would want to do with their site involves us from negotiation standpoint. So we could through that negotiation process of us either buying their building or us selling the parking lot to them or leasing that land to them something we could dictate that the ultimate development uh potential for that site.

So so and I'll go I'll rephrase my question then. So if we agree to if we agree to go forward with this exemption for for 300 for sale units what's to prevent this donut? Yes. and now understood that they need our our they'll need to work with us and we'll need to work with them. What's to prevent that? Yes, we we entitle the pieces that we own, which is everything, you know, including the the uh the parking lot on on on uh the fourth quadrant. What's to prevent them from twisting arm and say, "Look, it's just not enough for us." And um you know, we want you know, I think uh whoever we sell it to, they want to do another 200. What What What's our recourse? So the immediate control is you don't sell them the parking lot. They can't compel you to sell them that parking lot. They can't take it out of your hands. And so the city council would be asked to for this specific development, are you willing to contribute the parking lot to that in some form, a lease, a sale, something, a partnership. If the city council doesn't like that concept, they just say no.

Okay? And they say we're taking their property or they couldn't take our property. We could certainly there there are ways that

they I mean and I know a little bit about entitlement. We can't we can't uh we can't build around anybody. They have to have easements. So So Frank I mean I guess they could they could build straight up. I mean I and who knows what the housing laws are going to be next year because God knows what's going to come. And I know with SP79 that yes, we are excluded for now, but um CB CV rail gets built, the one more station gets built in in in me valley and we add a couple more trains. Guess what? We're we're all a sudden eligible within a half a mile of a Metroink station and we have a sevenstory building there.

So I'm I'm just I'm leery. I I I want us to go forward with something here. I'm okay with housing. I've been saying that from the beginning. I'd like it to be for sale. I'd like it to be a number that works. I also know how developers work. If we say 450, they're going to say we need 450 and that's the most we that's the the minimum amount, but we need really 900. And they're going to try and negotiate somewhere in the middle. I want to prevent something where we don't come back to this council in three years or five years or 20 years and go, "Oh, we missed that." I want this to be right. Which is another reason. and and and and I know you did a wonderful job on the stuff at Riverside. Uh the mark and the work at the Fox is beautiful, but this is the only this piece that we have and and and frankly the the proposal and SBA they you know they they look they do really nice work, but I don't see anything representative of what we're asking for. And I get it that design is design is design, but I think as Tom said, the stuff looked a lot the same. I'd love to see something that representative of of what they could do. I'm not I'm not telling to go build some project somewhere else, but at least give us some idea that they could do this. And and no offense, I I I want to trust you.

Um but I only have one of these

and I want it to be right. And I and I want I want to be able to stand in front of this the public for the rest of my life and not have to I sat in this room and listen to a person that that was trying to defend urban renewal and you know listen to him get yelled at, you know, by by somebody that, you know, saw these buildings go down and and I don't want to be that guy on either side of that. I want to make sure that we have this right. So I'm I'm very concerned about that and I want to make sure. So my my motion I guess I guess I'll wait for I think the public is going to speak too, right? So, um, on the other side, I and I appreciate the the additional attention to, yes, the center of town is where we started, where the historic part is, but I will tell you, I don't think anybody read this proposal. The the environmental portion says there are no cultural resources here. They're going to do some property evaluations for the for the historic buildings, but they're not going to they're assuming there are no architectural there are no archaeological

features. They are assuming none. And so for us to have that as an expectation and not be in the proposal makes me think we have a miss. Um so I I know there's some other questions or comments, but um Tom, did you have any more questions or comments? Jackie, I know you did.

Yeah, I have more more questions. Um, so, um, so I want to build off of a question that, um, Council Member Speak had because I I see it similarly, but maybe in a different way. And maybe that's, um, anyway, I'm just going to say it. Um, so we don't have the Harvath building. I think it's wise to have a design that prepares for a future where we could have the Horvath building. I also see the wisdom in uh preserving and actually strengthening our local control um with this HCD um um circumvention, right? Because it's actually, you know, being able to circumvent some of these developers that could be forced on us uh is a considerable community benefit. Um, I wonder because we don't have that Horvath building and we can't entitle something that is not ours. Um, can can we have plans that have a max 300 with the future Horvath building and that will count for HCD? They will not accept that. It has to be what you can actually build now. Okay, I see. Then there's a discrepancy there, I think, because I see where council member Speak is going, which is if this deal requires us to have 300 on what we currently own, then we can't future proof this for what Horvath can become. And again, [clears throat] I we use their name, but I'm not talking about them, right? I'm like just identifying a building. Um and and and that's a problem because it's right at the corner and uh there's residential homes right across and so um that's a problem. Um I have another

question. The affordable housing requirement is that because redevelopment dollars were used or is that because that's the current SLA standard, right? Like this is the current state standard. So even if by some like if we chose to like use uh general fund dollars to pay back that money, we would still be required to to create affordable and require a a a chunk to be affordable housing. Correct. Okay. [snorts] And then um my last question is there is there a way to have these presentations have are talking about density. we're moving into this next step of the process where we're hiring the the the um architect and they're going to provide designs. Is there a way to see a design with these um elements, the setbacks, the um what we actually own, what 200 and 300 would look like, or is that essentially creating like a second contract? No, there's a couple of design studies that are built into this because they are taking our block designs and then they're going to work with us to figure out what does this really mean? How does this work from a practical standpoint? And so there are there's the ability to do more refined design studies before we commit to a particular one and move forward with it. So yes,

got it. So then again, I think it is a considerable community benefit to not have to go out to notification for developers that could force our hand. Um, but I but I I really want I I really want to commit to developing an intentional downtown that isn't a behemoth. So, I I would be interested in in continuing to see what that difference looks like um and getting more input. So, thank you. All right. Clear as mud, huh?

Okay, Tony, you said you have some comments.

I do. Um I'm surprisingly very okay with all of this, and I'm going to tell you why. We have spent years and years and years developing design standards. We have spent a considerable amount of time figuring out what we want the downtown to look like generally. I want to speak to a couple of things. You you I'd looked at SA SVA's website as well. And you're right, there isn't a whole lot on there that that talks about what we're going for. And quite frankly, I don't want their ideas. We have a book probably as thick as anything out there with our design guidelines that we are going to give them and say, "I don't care what your idea is. These are our ideas of what we want it to look like." And they have to figure out how to design that. That's not our job to design it. It's their job to design it with our design standards. We spent a lot of time going over all of that. That's what we did for our whole downtown revitalization. That's what we did with the design guidelines. That is everything. We protected our future by establishing those design guidelines. Right now, of course, council member Richens and probably council member speak want very specific things. I guarantee it. The whistle, the bell, whatever. They will take all they will take that and they will try to work that in. Right. I'm I'm sure that they will and we will have different versions that we could start defining what we really want kind of giving them more nuance more more definitive design more standards but they have to start somewhere. Even these designs that are up here on the screen this isn't going to look anything what comes out of it isn't going to look

anything like this at all. This is just simply for people to understand scale. This is we're not going to have, you know, there there may not even be this arched curve building. There may not be these wraparound things. It's just an idea for people to start to understand scale. Ask any architect. I'm not an architect. Ask your wife. She's going to tell you the same thing. It's just for people to understand scale. And the part that I absolutely love about this project is the entitlement. We are going to come up with a whole book, a whole project, and we are gonna we're gonna send that book out, that whole project to anybody that wants to have an option to buy this. And we are going to say, "We've designed it. This is what it must look like. If you want it, great. If you don't, see you later." And that's what they have to build. We are ensuring that that's what they have to build. Correct me if I'm wrong. That's exactly what we're doing.

Yes.

Right. So, by the time any developer, one, two, three, four, 15 of them have an opportunity to buy this project, everything will be done. And that's part of the attractiveness of this project is that they don't have to think about it. They just have to have their bean counters figure out if it pencils out for them to be profitable on our design. And if they say, "You know what? This is really cool, but we want to make these changes." Nope. Sorry. You're contractually obligated to build what we want. That's how we are defending our downtown. And that is the most important critical part of all of this is that we are defending what gets built wholeheartedly. Now, I'm very comfortable with this design process and the entitlement process. And I understand we cannot entitle land that we do not own, but we can design land that we do not own as part of a phase 2, phase three, phase 4 should we get ownership of that building at some point, and I hope we do. Um or uh because and again very smart and I have to tip my hat to you know past councils and past city management for owning the the parking because that helps us defend everything that they do because we own the parking. So, we have done a fantastic job and hats off to staff for going through the murky waters of um the the surplus land act and trying to figure that out. But I will say this and I want to be a little critical because some of the members of the of the public pointed a few things out. Words matter sometimes and we can't put a a a a presentation together that that even gives the hint that something nefarious is going on. So

Mr. Ellis, ultimately you own the you own the agenda, so you need to take the blame on this one. We don't want to we don't want to give any um indication that we're doing something incorrectly. We want this to be done in the light of day. So, I agree there are some words in here that I wouldn't have cho I wouldn't have chosen and I want to acknowledge that we want to fix these things. We do. Mr. Ellis, I have every confident that that you will. Um, I also want to be very specific. Just because we're asking for a design between 250 and 400 homes doesn't mean that that's where it's going to end up. We have to we have to understand if that's going to pencil out for the for the developer. But I like the idea of making sure that we that we are always talking about from this point forward, this is for sale, not for rent. It's for sale. I understand it's not going to change the design, but I want to make sure that everything is for sale and I'm I am cautious about the bypass method for uh the surplus land act because I don't want 300 homes. I get it. It's 300 homes, 75 of which will be low income. There's definitely a need for that, but I still think that that's too many. So, I would like us to slow this process down because at the end of the day, like council members speak and everybody else up here, I don't want a terrible project and I don't want to see this end up, you know, being 500 homes somehow. So, I'd like to see if there's a way that we could keep it at that 200 home mark for sale. And if that means that we have to go slow through the SLA process, then I'm okay with that. I I see the value in the bypass, but I want to keep it at 200 homes until we are at the point where it just will not pencil out. And we don't know that yet. Right now, they're kind of dangling that carrot. They're saying,

"Hey, uh, our process is murky. It's really tough and nobody understands it, including us. So, if you just bypass everything and go to 300 homes, we we're not guaranteeing you it's going to pass. What we think it'll pass, doesn't mean that it's going to and I'd like to see if we could stay at 200 homes for sale. Can I can I ask you a couple questions just based on what you said? Yeah.

So, I I everything up and I would say everything after the architect, I 100% agree with you except for the fact I think that SLA is we can't get around it. Yeah. It's going to take it'll take four more months, but we're going to still going to end up with an offer that somebody and granted the one that was less than two acres, one of the reasons it didn't go forward because they wanted a bunch of money from us to build it. So, if you have nine acres, there's people that are going to come up with money to build something that'll be a monstrosity that we'll have no no control over. And we will literally once you throw that lever, there is no walking back. So I I I want to I want to have some guarantees or at least at least there's some sort of a guarantee going forward. So I understand that. Two, we cannot design someone else's property and and by the parcel map law, you can't box somebody out. They own that. we would have to provide them a driveway to go to their parcel which they could build whatever they wanted because God knows the the housing laws are right now that somebody could come and say, "Well, it's mixed and we could do this and we want a 330 bonus and next thing you know we have two or 300 more." So, I I I see the issue there and I think all your insistence upon marching forward with with um you know telling them this this is the design that we want thousand% agree with you that that we have written all these guidelines. We have these designs and we have all these things, but there's nothing that says is this is not the only company in town. I would like somebody that that can show that they can design something like this. I don't want to force someone. It's like if I want to hire um my plumber to cut, you know, to to trim my my topiary, you know, I I'm not going to Yeah, I could force him to do it. I can tell him I want it done this way, but he may not be able to do it. I'd rather have somebody either they can show that they can do this or have somebody that knows how to

do that they've done this before and and if we we're having to force somebody I would rather not have somebody that we're having to force other than somebody bring us really cool ideas something really neat and I'm not as concerned with controlling every brick and everything. I I have a a look the what we provided what we provided in the July the July July presentation I'm assuming that they got

and they offered none nothing nothing that nothing that referenced that in any way shape or form nothing. So I I'm concerned from that point that standpoint. So, I'm not and I get that you're saying, "Yeah, you're okay with everything going forward, but you want to slow down." To me, I want to slow down on this part just to make sure. And just a can we get something back from them that that shows that they can do this or they've done this before. I'm fine with it, but I I'm not intent upon making this choice right now. I want to make sure that we get it right. and the fact that that whoever owns that parcel at some point can't come back after we've agreed to this 300 and you know and we've all had that decision taken out of our hands sitting up here for various projects across town where we just said we don't have a choice at least this way we have somewhat of a choice but I I want to know more to ensure that that we're not coming forward with some you know crap in a hole. Yeah, I I don't know if there was a question in there, but I just do I do want to say

No, my my question is basically is that there's nothing that says we have to use this company. I mean, force them to do it. Real quick, Mr. Ellis, if we were to go out to bid for another architect, what does that look like? Uh, we could certainly do that. It's it's just time probably six, nine months, something in that uh range to to do that. Okay. Thank you. My my motion would be to I mean I guess I don't know we have to hear from the public first, right? Can I public already spoke?

I wanted to say one what because council member Dario you said you know words matter and and they absolutely do especially when we're talking about something that's um highly sensitive and all this stuff. So I think there words where we're we've been very specific about what's going to be built and that's what they have to build. But the nuance is exactly what council member speak said, which is we can't circumvent the SLA process and it can be forced upon us. And so just because we're doing we're being very careful, we're being very intentional. But if this goes out to bid and HCD says yes, that's the winner right there. It's going to get us the most um affordable units in in the density. So you guys have to say yes to them. Then then we that that's that's terrifying, right? then our local control all this work is for not and that's not something that I mean again look at Anaheim look at these cities that did circumvent it or had in you know and and you pay that back and then some and you lose the project. So, um, so I I want to be really clear with the public that just because we say the SLA process is a thing every city has to go through in the state of California. And this is what we're navigating, this like unclear um oversight, unclear imposition. And we're try, we want to be smart, we want to be intentional, but we also want to maintain as much local control as possible. So that's why I'm curious to see um and I would I would I think six more months. What's six more months in a four-year process?

Motion if we can go to the second. Go ahead. Are you finished? I was just going to say what's six more months in a in a 40-year downtown. Do you know what I'm saying? Like if we want to get it right, what's six more months?

I don't I don't disagree. Can we go to the the last slide that shows what the what the the direction that you're asking for because I think there may be so so first here's my motion first is that I I don't want to approve the the agreement. Um but however I would like to give them a chance to come back and and maybe prepare something that shows what they could do so we don't have to start over. Um and if we're not happy with it then we can ask to start over. Um, so that means that we would not execute B um or [snorts] or the third bullet. Yeah. So that's that's basically it. Um and we would and I would like to get answers back for you know some of the things that we've talked about. I mean I I want to make sure I'm clear. Um the thing you've made very clear, the exemptions very clear. Uh, I would like to hear some options on how we could protect ourselves from a a change um to that that parcel that we don't we do not own. Um, and then whether or not there's anything that we could do that would, you know, allow us to have some kind of, you know, not a design over, but um, that's what I'd like to hear to come back and then let but I I would make the motion to basically to uh to table this until until staff, you know, got us some additional answers. How soon could uh the architect could we get those answers from the architect?

So, we could certainly if if the council's direction is to have them just sort of demonstrate their expertise in this type of architecture, we can see if they would be willing to do that for free understanding that they're sort of in first position for a contract. If they can prove their skills, we can certainly reach out to them and have that discussion with them and see. See, if not, then we'll just put it out the bid and they'll they'll they'll spend all that money preparing again. and we're going to ask on the RFP for them to demonstrate their their ability.

So that that's there's probably a high likelihood that we could get that pretty quickly to be able to show at least one of the corners, pick a quadrant and do some some exterior design work to be able to demonstrate that they understand fully our vision for that site and can execute on that. Certainly. Uh as to protections for the Horvath building, um there could be some zoning mechanisms that we use to dictate a certain density. The downtown specific plan doesn't set a density cap right now. It really looks at how much building you can build. There could it's difficult to single out a single parcel.

Yeah. To be able to spot zone answer these sorts of things. But that's certainly something we could look at to make sure because it's split ownership that gives us a lot of say and we have the majority of that ownership because we control the entire perimeter, the entire parking area around that building. That's certainly something we can evaluate to figure out how do we understand and that's to go back to your point about we can't entitle their property, but we can certainly plan on it. And part of this whole design exercise is understanding if we do this on our site, what happens next door? And so where we dictate where our driveways go for parking structures, that will then dictate certain things they can and can't do on their site, if we ever if they give that site to us and we have close to two acres to work with, we'll have an understanding going into that what the development options are or if they end up talking to the city council and the city council donates the parking that we own to them. Then we again have that same understanding about what that parcel can do in the future and then work with them or work with our internal structure to make sure that we can prevent a project that's out of control that's inconsistent with the overall design either for our project or for the neighborhood that's across the street. So that's certainly something we can evaluate. Okay.

I like that proposal. Sorry, one just one more thing. So, and I'm I want to be purposely to go back the on option two for that fourth quadrant much different than option three. And I [clears throat] realize that we were planning just in case. However,

option two is is what we were we were looking at. So, when we come back, if we can devote some additional time to what the differences are there, that would be great. So, council member speaks, your motion is um to not to to not approve this, but to require um SVA architects to return to council with a demonstration of um what a historical design could look like on like pick a corner. Right. Right. Can I amend and add to your um motion to also include um this uh an updated service agreement that explicitly says that the residential units are be for sale. I don't think it matters in their architect, right? But

I want it to be in writing. Sure. We're happy to con convey that message really from the beginning and that's really because we haven't started design work yet. This is all open for discussion. Okay. And so certainly just to convey that message from the very beginning of this process for sales the preference. Absolutely. Yes. Okay. So that's the amended motion. And just one more piece then to make sure that they add in the cultural resources. Yes. If we're going to say it out loud, we should let's say that should be in the should be in the scope. That's always the challenge with the layers of different development. It's right. As we get into this, we'll learn more about the site [clears throat] and so but definitely. Yeah. Okay. I want to call those two things out. Then I second that. Another amended motion.

No, no, no. But he just said I added to it. I accept with amendments. That is your amendment. So it's your motion and and I have seconded that amendment. Yes. Okay. So we are voting. Are we? Let me get back to Are we voting? Are we just giving um I think we need to That's a motion. Mo, that's a motion. Yeah. So, we are voting on Wes's motion. So, please vote. A nay from Councilman Speak. It's your mo. Wait, it's your motion. Hey, no, I didn't. Oh, is it? Oh.

Oh, it's Oh, it's offset. Okay, mayor, thank you for the direction. That's helpful for us. We'll we're more information. That was so fun. Okay, let's uh let's move on to Oh, yeah. We still have some items that were pulled from the public. Give me a second, please. Okay, 6.5 is done. Now we are going to 6.10 which was a member from the public and council member Dario. So let's start with the public. 28 the kids Tony. Hi Miss Maddie. I like playgrounds.

Believe I have the right number. Um u this is regarding the parks the renderings of the parks. Correct. Let's see. It's been a while that I've been looking and keeping up with this purchase of playground equipment. Yeah, the playground equipment.

Um I just want to say I looked at all the renderings and they look absolutely wonderful. No complaints whatsoever, but I have a recommendation or a suggestion having um been at se well Mangular Park. I lived above that for 18 years and drove by it at least several times a week. The one thing that I see is missing from our parks, um, if you ever have to sit there when your kids play, I would love to see the benches that the parents and sit over, if there's an overhang to kind of shade it out because you sit there for a while and you roast. um the kids can play and don't have a problem, but I would like to see something incorporated in the city parks that over the benches we have some awning or something just to take the shade away or incorporate some shade. That's it.

More shade the better in this town. Huh. Right. Just at the park at all parks. Um that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. No other speakers there. Uh Tony, you had some comments. Yeah, I all I not really comments. I just But now I do because of what Mattie said. We we learned our lesson with under shading. So I think that we've done a pretty good job of adding shade. But I just really wanted to let everybody that perhaps didn't read the staff report know what parks are getting what we're order what parks are we're ordering uh playground equipment for is is really what I wanted to just highlight. And that's uh Brentwood Park, uh Butterfield Park, Mangular Park, and uh River Road Park. These are the four parks that that if you are listening and you live close to, these are the parks that we are ordering playground equipment and shade structures for and probably will get done in the next couple of years, one to two years, I'm hoping.

And I will ask Mr. Ellis is the shade structure over a bench something that we can incorporate into it. We certainly look at shade structures um and we want them throughout the parks. It's a little bit more complicated than just putting a shade structure over a bench because depending on the time of day that shade structure will provide no protection if it's a small little just covering. It might help you from the rain, but that's why we try to incorporate uh sails over the playgrounds and then trees surrounding that so that you get maximum coverage. So, uh it's something that can be looked at. But I don't know that that that a small awning over a bench would really give a lot of protection. Point. Yeah. But if we put in plenty of goodsized trees all around it, that would serve that purpose.

Yes. And that is a stated um direction from council to staff to add more shade throughout our parks. Both a combination of shade sales as well as trees. Yeah, that's a good point. Okay. Um Okay, Tony, did you want to make that motion? I will. I'll make the motion. I'll move. I'll second. Tony and Tom too late punishment for having

Okay, that passes 50. Moving on to 6 point 6.11, which was one person from the public pulled it. Welcome back, Mr. Fuller. You may find your friendly welcome to be slightly premature. Um, not with you, Don.

What brought my attention to this was the word tariffs in the title. So, I actually read the attachments and uh this is 35,000 bucks more or less. The city has to pay extra for some transformers uh because there was a change order on some transformers that were purchased. The deal was worked out last summer. Uh the purchase order was done in January and then lo and behold, we get tariffs and these transformers are made in India, so they're subject to a tariff, an increase in price. As it turns out, my best buddy through school from the second grade through high school, he was a smart kid. I was a screw off. he became a history professor at a major university on the east coast and the subject of his doctoral dissertation was a history of tariffs and he we were talking about it one time because we still talk to each other and he [clears throat] said I'm going to take my entire dissertation and put it into one sentence the one sentence is tariffs are attacks on consumers in this particular case uh it's a tax on us the citizens of Corona maybe only 35,000 bucks but that tariff exists exist very specifically because of the convicted felon who currently occupies our White House. Without that, these tariffs would not exist and we wouldn't have to spend that 35 grand for those transformers. So, uh there isn't much I can do about that part of the situation, but it's my feeling that everybody who voted for him ought to step up to the plate and chip in to pay the extra 35 grand because that's why we're having to do it. So, uh, that's my take, uh, on these transformers. They have to be bought. Uh, but we're going to be paying more of this money in the future. It just won't all be included into an extra into an extra change order. It'll be hidden just in the price of the stuff. So, how much money uh, the convicted felon is going to cost us in the next three or so years

to come, I don't know, but it's going to be something. So, uh, that's all. Thank you very much for your time. Yeah, you're always good, huh, brother? All right, I'll move to approve.

All right, myself and Miss Vice May Casillas.

All right, passes 50. Last item that was pulled was 6.12 by Tony.

Thank you, mayor. Um, you know, we gosh, it's probably been two years, three, four years. It's been a while. We, um, we moved our dispatch out of our fire dispatch out of Corona into the city of Ontario. And it was, uh, something that I was pretty critical on just because I didn't understand it. And you know, one of the things that I'm always keen on doing, especially seeing as we're re-uping our agreement with them, is to ask our fire chief how it's going and to make sure that before we continue to do business with the dispatch system in the city of Ontario. It's worth it. So, I was hoping the chief could give us an update on how it's doing. Mayor, Chief Brown Young would be happy to do that. [snorts]

Uh, thanks for bringing the question, Council Member Dario. Uh it's actually exceeded our expectations. We've knocked off uh just under a minute on call processing time. And one of the nice benefits of this initially was, you know, we were concerned about uh the relationships, the impacts with our our law enforcement partners. But after a recent command staff meeting uh with Chief Newman and his command staff as well as ours, uh we realized it was mutually beneficial um because their ability to train their dispatchers um because of the altered processing um has been significantly faster and they've been able to onboard them and retain them at a much better basis. Um, one of the added things that has transpired since we initially went with the first contract is within the next six months, we'll be starting a second evolution of low acuity call processing which involves nurse navigation. So in addition to the fire centric dispatchers, there'll also be a component where if it's low acuity, they'll utilize a nurse to triage it. So we may not even be responding, thus making unit availability uh much higher to respond more quickly to calls. So, um, it's been very very well executed. Uh, and the new CAD should go live, uh, right after the first of the year. Uh, which once again, that'll be a very fire centric CAD, which will be incredibly beneficial to our overall operations. Happy to answer any questions if there's additional.

Did he answer your question, Tony? He did, but he threw a wrinkle into it. Um, and not a wrinkle, Chief. I I I just want to understand because I you know when you when you start talking about low acuity and you know we have our squad trucks that I I think that have been working out pretty well. I see them all over the city. But you're saying put it so that I could understand it. You know I'm not smart. I'm pretty. Could you could you put it in terms that I could understand? So essentially I have an emergency. I call 911. Correct.

And the dispatcher says what's your emergency? And I think it's a big deal cuz I'm a drama queen. and I say, "Well, I hurt I stubbed my toe." And they're going to say, "Let me put you on with a nurse who's going to tell you what to do instead of sending out a fire truck, a squad, all that type of stuff."

So, it' actually be a tertiary process with a third a third order, if you would. So, right now, one of the big reasons that we moved over to Ontario was a more effective emergency medical dispatching. And that's where you have the ability to tear your medical call based on the symptomology that's provided by the caller. So that's how we determine if we send the full large fire engine with four four firefighters on it to give the highest level ALS or advanced life support care or if we determine to send the twoerson low acuity squad because they don't need that highest level of care. Now with this added component of nurse navigation, we can go either one more level and not even send a squad at all because they don't need to go to the hospital. They basically need to either go to an urgent care in a ride share or even receive a call transfer from a medical doctor that will write a prescription that's delivered to their home. So there's an overall systemwide impact to lower the need to go to the hospital, clog up our hospitals with patients that don't even need to be there. So it's really an evolution of emergency medical service uh provision for communities. So, it's adding adding that third step of we don't even need to send any of our vehicles.

You need a band-aid and a ride to the to the emergency care or to the urgent care or something along those lines. And maybe a good analogy would be it's it's kind of like our version of a drone as a first responder, right? They don't want to send the a patrol officer, so they send a drone out to see if it's necessary. This is another way that we can better utilize our resources as call volumes continue to rise. It allows us to manage the true need where they need to go. I like that. So, we're actually sending our our personnel where they're needed most and we're helping out folks that don't need personnel, but they need something that would be like a ride or something along those lines. Absolutely. I like it, Chief. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Good job. Councilman Speak, you also pulled that one.

Yeah. No, no question. Just wanted to comment. I had um a [clears throat] resident that was in that lives in El Certo that uh she called for service before and [clears throat] had some trouble uh and she called for service I think just uh just a couple of months ago and she said it was ridiculously smooth that there wasn't a million questions and uh she got great service from the folks at station 7. So I just wanted to say that it helped with with her. actually cut a lot of response time down where there wasn't a lot of back and forth questions and it was insanely smooth. She had no idea that I mean she did because she's been following this. Um but she purposely reached out just just to make sure that that I I had mentioned um how well it works. So good job.

Great. Okay, we have a member from the public like to speak. [snorts]

Good evening. Joe Morgan, 2063 Ren. On the uh subject of credibility, there should always be an asterisk uh around the remarks that the chief makes because he's lied in this room and lied to the council repeatedly. Um he's filed he's signed and false uh caloes and FEMA documents knowingly false, provably false. Uh he lied about firefighter overtime to the council in a meeting publicly. And he also lied about doing response time modeling when he wanted to move we wanted to close station two and move it across the street here. So he lied about that. So that didn't happen. So everything that he says should be taken with a grain of salt. So and to that end, I've heard very different things from PD where they talk about calls getting bounced back and forth that when somebody's bleeding, they may be bleeding because they fell down or they may be bleeding because they got stabbed. And so when the calls go back and forth between the two, there is a delay when on complicated calls. So it's not as rosy as as you know, understandably since he enacted this program, he's going to say everything is going great, but it's not quite as rosy as what it's made out to be. Thank you very much.

All right, moving on to communications from the public. Persons wishing to address the city council are requested to state their name and city of residence for the record. Mayor. Mayor. Yes. Sorry, we need a we need a vote for the item. Oh, shoot. I'm sorry. I'm I'm gonna move on this motion. Okay.

Sorry, Sylvia. I'm getting tired. All right. Please vote. All right. Passes 5-0. All right. Persons wishing to address the city council requested to state their name and city of residence for the record. The portion of the agenda is intended for general public comment only, which means it is limited to items within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city council that are not listed on the agenda. Please note that state law prohibits the city council from discussing or taking action on items not listed on the agenda. The city council will appreciate your cooperation and keeping your comments brief. Please observe a three-minute limit for your communication. Miss Edwards, are there any speaker cards for the public?

Mayor, yes, we have 11 speaker cards. Okay. So, Daley, you want to go first? I wasn't planning on coming here tonight. Good to see you, buddy. Thank you. Or I wouldn't have dressed like this. Dressed up for us.

I had a boss tell me once, reality is one thing, but somebody's perception, that's their reality. If you see something and you see something happening that becomes your reality. Your perception becomes the reality. We've heard a lot of discussions regarding transparency. And when we come to these meetings towards the end of the meetings, we start over here on this side and we talk about Wes going to RCTC and he shares. Everybody shares. You've been to a city meeting, you've been to a county meeting, you've done this, this, and this. That's [clears throat] transparency. But what I've noticed is Jacob Ellis, who works here 40 hours a week, plus probably, he never has anything to share. What does that do? That gives a perception that he's not willing to be transparent. I'm sure he's got some things going, good things going on during the week. and why he wouldn't say to the city council, "Hey, we had this thing, we did this, and we doesn't have to be for a half an hour, but three or four or five minutes of disclosure on some of the things that you've seen that are attractive to the city might send a different message to the community that you are transparent." Because the message today is that you're not. When you're asked, "How do we get from 200 homes up to so and so?" You didn't address it. You sent it to somebody else. How do we get from retail or excuse me, sales of homes to rentals?

You should have been able to answer that. But you don't. You refer it to somebody. So, it's like you just you sit there. You don't have anything to say. You're very mum. And I think you'd do yourself and the city council meetings a favor by coming across just a little more participatory because what we see sitting out here, our perception becomes our [clears throat] reality. And that's that you're not participating with the group. I'm sorry, but that's that's my perception. You guys all might have great working relationships with them, but there it needs to come across as more sharing. There's there just has to be something during the week that you could share at the end of the meetings, but you never have anything to share. Thanks, De. [applause] Maddie Paxton, longtime resident of Corona. I want to lighten this up a little bit, so kind of bear with me on the first one. Um, and I've got approval for this. Um, today's the anniversary of one of the longest service members of this city. And, um, again, bear with me. I've had some conversation. Um, our K9 officer of Raider began his service on 115205. It's his 8-year anniversary. And if you want to talk about it in dog math, eight years equals one human year. So, he's basically worked for the city for 56 years. So, I just wanted to acknowledge our raider for that one. Okay. So, so to lighten it up. Then moving on, November's gratitude month. So, I wanted to thank um Fazy Rizzy and Yousef Belani for the people um for the for the people task force food drive the

other Saturday. A lot of food was distributed and I really want to give a shout out to them and there should be details soon about an upcoming drive. Um second thing is I want to give a big thank you to all those that have been the council members um who voted to move the RSO effort forward. I also want to thank the city manager's office, the city attorney's office, the city clerk's office, um Marbel Nunes has been working Nunes has been working behind the scene behind the scenes and especially Karen Roer and her department. Um I also want to give a thank you to our um city for the involvement for kids and family regarding hollow weekend. I know for combat cancer walk we had Corona fire department and I know for the all the community out um out outreach for um CPD. Having said all of that, I have a recommendation for the city manager. A lot of acronyms get used around here and that's my pet peeve. I don't have a clue and there's no way to look them up. When I worked with the Air Force, a friend and I kept a listing of all the acronyms and hundreds. So, what I would like to make a policy with within the city is anytime you're dealing with written communication outside of the internal city, please make sure at least one time to spell out the acronyms. Last year at the state of the city, there was an acronym CIP and I went up to somebody who was responsible for putting it together and I said, "What is that?" And even he didn't know. So, again, I would like that suggestion that for those of us that don't have a clue what's going on, please just spell out the acronyms. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mayor. Yeah. Could I just say something really quick? Maddie, you are 100% correct. That was probably the biggest delta that I've had to learn and I still don't know all of them. They There's so many acronyms, but you are 100% correct. I love your suggestion. Look them up. You look them up on the internet. You have the clue. All right. Who's next? Welcome.

Hello, I'm Victoria Hibbert. Um, I did bring a Google Docs presentation today. Um, this is regarding the ICE raid that happened on September 29th. Um, and this was made by one of our volunteers, Zoe. So, thank you to Zoe, who could not be here today. But um on Monday, September 29th, there was a very violent dash and go where they quickly grabbed folks. Um and this happened at the Home Depot off of Ontario Avenue. What we've learned recently is that not only were six day laborers taken, a few have already been deported. Um also one customer. So officially now in Corona, you can get picked up for shopping at Home Depot and being brown. This man was literally torn out of his own car and taken after shopping with his boss. This is actually some footage from the raid right now. Is there any sound? Well,

and this is what they do. This is actually not the most violent video. Um, there have been others which we didn't get to put on the presentation where people were being chased. um through the Sam's Club parking lot as well and people also, you know, calling out for help, calling out for God, that kind of thing. Um and then this happened about 100 p.m. after the raid. Um a drone flew around about five different times. Um so that is something that we are also concerned about because we don't know if the surveillance is done by ICE afterwards or if it involves other law enforcement. We are not too sure. Um, but one thing that we do want to bring to the city council, especially after what happened recently, um, with Riverside City Council, is to hopefully pass a face covering ban for law enforcement in the city of Corona. We do know that one has been passed for the state of California, but we want to make sure that if you know, Riverside can do something similar, then we should be able to as well as a city and protect our citizens because like I said, we we just have somebody who was racially profiled and taken, you know, not just as day laborers, but as a customer as well. Thank you.

Thank you. [applause] Welcome,

welcome. Good evening, council. Thank you for your patience on this late night. My name is Brianna Wilcox. I'm a resident of Corona. Um, I wanted to also offer kind of my lived experiences with this. I'm a grassroots community member doing rapid response. I also do cyber uh support in terms of collating our data that we get from reports informally. We are not funded. We do not have any support. This is out of our own money. This is our own time. Um, [sighs] it's just really hard to talk about. I'm glad we have a survey that's scientifically done. I have a degree in psychology, neuroscience, and education from Princeton University. So, I do appreciate a well organized experiment and well done surveys. However, that is leaving out the lived experiences of um the Brown residents of your city who are being actively kidnapped. I myself have to offer to volunteer to do grocery store runs because these families are terrified to leave the house or to visit the doctor or to go to the courthouse. Um that's actually a favorite hunting ground for um ICE agents we don't know. They don't identify themselves. Um our volunteers are have been threatened with arrest for lawful recording of these interactions. We have had guns pulled on us, pulled on us because we asked for name, badge number, warrant, things that are legally required. Um, as as law enforcement agents, we would hope that they would follow the law. Um, we also are doing citizens grassroots tracking of license plates. What looks weird? Why do all these cars do not have license plates or why are they switch license plates? We look them up on faxvven.com. It does not match the car. Now I hear that um the chief of police for Corona is very kindly interested in supporting uh which is wonderful. Um you can start by keeping track of the cars with incorrect license plates or missing

license plates. I am not paid to do that and I do not have financial support car gas time money to do that. It would be really great if um the PD could do that. That's kind of under their jurisdiction. Yes. Um, we are also asking for support in terms of requiring them to not be masked for non-medical reasons and to actually identify themselves. We are getting people who are um detained by ICE and then they're getting called hours later with ransom requests because these are uh private sector criminals abducting people. We are getting people murdered. People are dying in detention. We don't know who's breaking into our houses without warrants. is just oh police, oh ICE, FBI, DHA. You want to talk about acronyms? Let's talk about law enforcement acronyms who are stealing our people, our breadwinners for families just as SNAP benefits have been lost. They're taking the cars. They're not even using towing companies anymore. They're just driving off with the cars and we can't get them back to the families. We have no idea where they went. They're not reported. They're not given back. These are I don't know if your household can lo can afford to lose a bread winner and their car and the child in the back seat in that car on the same day, but that's what's happening.

Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. We are asking for your support. Your hearts are in the right place. We need you. Thank you. [applause] Welcome.

Hello. My name is Carolina Beller. Um, I am a candidate for governor of California. I don't know if you remember me from August. Um, I do want to say thank you to the chief for being so kind and talking to the community out in the hallway that day. I really that meant a lot to me. I just want you to know that. And I could tell that this is a really good person that wants to be always wants to become a better person. Um, and so, you know, just with everything that's happening and what the people who are affected are requesting, it's it's not that difficult to do. So, I hope that you do um accept what they're requesting, which is the resolution that um federal agents cannot be wearing masks, which is federal policy, but it would be good for it to be um policy here in Corona because that helps the chief do his job better. So, it's like supporting um [snorts] them you as well. Um but I also would like to say something else. With law enforcement comes um discretion. And the most ultimate form of discretion is mercy. And mercy is having the power and the strength to um treat people with compassion and especially if they are the most vulnerable. So, I know we spent a lot of time talking about building downtown. I understand there's a whole history to that, but I hope that you can spend the same amount of time trying to figure out a way to protect those that are the most vulnerable right now. And that's what I'm calling for because this moment in history and in this area is calling for all of us, everyone here to see each other as family, brothers, sisters, cousins, because we're all part of the same community. And it's called humanity.

And so this is a time for us to really work together and take meaning um take meaningful action. I'm sorry for like breaking up, but like this is very emotional for me. I've been in LA and it can get very very ugly. Um these people have lost their souls. They have no mercy and I'm asking you to show your mercy. Thank you.

Thank you. Good evening again. It's it's it's interesting to hear people worried about what ICE does to brown people, but nobody really seems to talk about what the city does to brown people. Um like notice the only people that get picked on and are having their businesses taken away and being forced out or burned out happen to be brown. You guys aren't you guys are definitely not effing around with Calvert and Horvath. You're not doing the same things to them. But you have no problems jacking with the Cor Cortezes, basically burning them and flooding them out. You have no problems taking taking the Padilla family's property and jacking with them for years. It's going on more than a half a decade now. you have no problems jacking around with all the families that live around city park and building your new little civic center project down there and in contravention to the actual stated plan. So, you know, I I I I don't like the indiscriminate raids, but I also don't like what what the city does. And it's funny, you know, we have the historians and one in particular and we lose historic buildings and we have Miss Casillas who rolls every possible R who doesn't seem to give a crap about the people around the park. So, and you want to know why people don't trust the city? Because they lie. They lie. Mr. Ellis lied to me the first time I met him. He lied to me the first time. Mr. Tucker lied about doing a traffic survey on Sixth Street. lied to my face in the back of the room back there. Said he did it and didn't do it because a couple months later when everything went to the traffic department had to back into making one because they never did one. So tell me all about the credibility and and Mr. Ellis used to have a qualified staff. Now he only hires acolytes and it's really clear he doesn't like any

kind of disscent because the only time he ever speaks up to Mr. to to uh [laughter] to Dale's point is when he tells Wes to shut up. That's it. That's the only two times I've ever seen you speak up at a meeting is to tell him to shut up. It's disrespectful. You work for him. If he wants to sit here and run around naked in here, you need to shut your pie hole. And the fact that you've got such a weak council that nobody really seems to say anything about it doesn't say anything great about you, it says more about the rest of council doesn't say anything. You know, it it's it's a really it's a really lousy leader that assues dissent that doesn't like dissenting voices that doesn't like to hear from the public. I know who you are. I see what a weasel you are. I see how you conduct yourself. I see how you talk to people. I see how you talk to staff. There's staff that have left this city because of the kinds of things you did right here in this room tonight to Mr. Speak. They've left this city because of your rude behavior. You need to be gone. If I get on the council, you will be gone.

Thank you. Anybody else? Welcome back.

Thank you. Thank you. Um, so I'm here for just two things today. Um, number one, I'm going to ask you to discuss um, one of you to take up putting into an agenda item sometime in the future and one of the 9.1s, 9.2s, whatever. Um, adding an ordinance uh, for our zoning regarding methodone clinics. And I think you're all aware of what happened. I actually didn't even know that clinic was there. I just saw an increase in folks at the bus stop and I thought that somehow that was becoming a way point for them. But the whole idea that we have a methodone clinic that you guys didn't know about either. Is that on there already? Okay, great. Well, then I I'm done talking out my butt. Um, [laughter] the other thing I'd like to talk about is the fire that happened uh regarding honeys. And my concern is that we're going to continue to see this next Friday. Not this Friday coming up, but the Friday after we're going to have rain and cold weather again. I would appreciate it if we had somebody down there that's going to be keeping an eye on the place, whether it's a security guard or you have a PD unit down there or something, because we're going to have this same problem again. And there are still businesses down there and there are still people down there and there are still right across the street there are still residences. A stray spark there um something spreading um it could it could be disastrous. It could really harm somebody down there. So I'm going to ask you guys to please work with PD and fire and and plus I fire does a great job but you know this is like the third fire I think they've had the knockdown down there. We know when it gets cold the homeless are going to try to break in. they're going to start fires. It's just common sense that we make sure that we have um that we have somebody down there to kind of make sure that they're not breaking in and doing this cuz these these fires are a huge

resource waste. It's it's bad for our guys. It's dangerous for them. We don't want them down there unless they have to be. Um and we have a hope team that can go down there and maybe help get these folks into a um into a real shelter. Um, we're we're definitely going to have a problem with that as it starts to rain and get cold, which is coming up here in about eight days. We're going to get a big storm in and I guarantee you we're going to have another fire. So, thank you. All right. Thank you.

Couple more speakers, it looks like. Go ahead, ma'am. Welcome.

Good evening. You guys still have a stepping stool? Okay. Sorry, I'm a little short. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, my name is Jenny. I uh reside here in Corona, California. I wanted to be present today so that you may be able to put a face to the emails that have been exchanged between your homeless solutions team, Visa Dorado, Property Management, Code Enforcement, and our UHS in reference to the ongoing inhumane living conditions in your permanent supportive housing facility. Vista Dorado. As it is no secret that the residents living there have cognitive and physical disabilities which prevent them from being able to advocate for themselves, especially when property management or their manager Kia McIntyre tends to retaliate against those who do. In my emails, I have provided documentation for a resident home losser that is experiencing illnesses due to due to the uninhabitable living environment that has been present in the building since May 2025. Tonight, I wanted to discuss the accountability or lack of it and the role that all parties take in resolving this matter before more residents and future residents are affected. Um, I did bring some pictures of some of our friends that um and some of the messes also and the inh home remedies that these residents had to take. Um, I've also brought some of the friends that I have seen on my hour visit yesterday. Um, from what Miss Karen Roer has shared with me, this property is managed by Abode Communities, whom I have been in contact with and are not treating the building as a whole, despite their president and CEO, Holly Benson, stating that their mission is to address the critical and immediate needs of people experiencing homelessness. However, as a public partnership and advocate for the

program success, this matter is in your hands as well, 60%. That is what the city boasts about in reduction of the homelessness because of this project. But what is behind that 60% when they are diverted to live amongst rodents and amongst mold? Millions have been invested including 12 million to purchase the property and not $1 to ensure property living conditions can be met. Um, unfortunately, Miss Roer is not here, but I have seen a picture of her smiling and excited for this journey as they stand in the courtyard of Visa Dorado. Her team is the one responsible for referrals, as she has stated in, and they're also the ones that celebrate and advocate for this institution. Yet, your hands are tied due to it being broadcasted as a joint collaborative partnership between the property, the city, and the county. I must ask you if this is what success looks like to you. Is this something to celebrate? Your mission states the road to home, but is this what home looks like? It doesn't, right? So why would it look like that to 52 disabled residents that you helped house there?

Thank you, ma'am. All right. Are there any other speakers? One more. Hello uh council again. Uh good evening. So your name for the record, sir. My name is Robert. Thank you. So um I figure this is an opportunity to speak about whatever I'd like to speak about. Is that correct? Yes, sir. As long as it's not on the agenda. Okay. Yeah. has to do with the city of C.

Okay. Well, I I believe uh public comment is for things that are of concern to the person speaking and maybe to the public as well. Uh you know, one of the last times I was here, maybe one or two of the last times I was here, I had made specific complaints about uh the conduct of Mr. Ellis and his um his conduct being reprehensible in some way. I don't know how else to uh explain it, but for someone for him to say to me uh that he was upset for me coming here to the city council to complain about his management style or his management responsibilities not being taken care of in reprimanding one of his subordinates being the finance manager. uh who decided to be directly involved in trying to assert that I was trespassing at city halls for somehow by asking why I'm being charged a uh renewal fee for a business license fee. So I know this is kind of get complicated if I try to explain it all but in essence uh Mr. Ellis uh had told me after that meeting that he would not allow me to come back to any of these meetings and that he would use his authority over the police department for the police to come after me if I ever did come back to city hall or this meeting or these meetings. I think

that's inappropriate. I think that's a reason for his removal. I I think that is um a concern that you all should take into serious consideration. Um I did not know that there was a process that I will take but there is a process and um for reference to the things that other people talked about. I know that the police do pull over people without license plate. I don't know why they can't pull over these other people that are with ICE without license plates. They pulled me over when I didn't have license plates, but I did display a temporary permit. So, I don't understand what that reasoning is.

All right. Thank you, sir. [applause]

Evening again. Uh I want to uh start by uh commending the police department, Chief Newman and the police for an event that took place on October the 18th. It was uh the No Kings protest taking place in Corona. That's a picture of me right up there. I look pretty good. If you can't read my sign, it says, "Yo, Trump, go to hell. Take MAGA with you." Um and the police that day uh conducted themselves uh with exemplary behavior. They were vigilant. uh they were aware of what's going on and we kept our protest uh peaceful and nonviolent and it worked out to be a very very good day. I want to give a little bit of background on those organized protests. The first one started in April. It was under the theme of hands off. Uh there were uh about over a thousand different protest locations around the country that day and it was estimated that the total turnout was around 3 million. Uh there was not one in Crona that day. I went to the one in Riverside. Uh then on June the 14th, there was the first of the No Kings protest. It was started uh when the convicted felon threw himself the $45 million birthday party by marching the military through the streets of Washington. On that particular day, there were over 1,800 protests around the country. The total turnout was estimated to be around 5 million people. Uh and there was one in Crona and there was one in Riverside. I went to both of those. And then on October 18th, there were again no Kings protests again in Crona and in Riverside. I went to both of those. Uh the national uh uh uh number of protests was considered to be over 2700 and the number of people showing up was estimated to be around 7 million. The numbers keep going up. Not only that, but October the 18th was a college football Saturday. So millions of people were already in the stadium someplace. it. I think it's reasonable to assume

that if it had not have been a college football day, the crowd would have been more than 7 million. So, there's definitely a trend line going upward. And when these protests first started, they were a bunch of old people like me. Uh but they have since grown and now we have young people, teenagers, we have families pushing their kids in strollers, all of us united, and all of us determined. Uh the group that's the old folks say that we're in this for our grandkids. That's why I'm doing it. I'm in it for my grandkids. We're all trying to save democracy for our grandkids. And if you doubt the trend of the upward growing number of people showing up at the protest, then think about the election results from last night, which were overwhelmingly uh in favor of a particular side. So, we are determined and we are noisy and we will be there and we will also keep it nonviolent and we will keep it peaceful. And again, I want to thank the police department for their uh vigilance and their cooperation in this matter. Thank you everybody. Everybody get home safe. Bye-bye. Thank you.

All right. Is that the last speaker? It looks like it. All right. We are moving on to public hearings. Your general plan amendment 2025-00002 to update the wildfire hazard severity zone map in the public safety element to be consistent with the fire hazard severity zones map issued by the office of the state fire marshal city corona fire department. Does any member council member want a staff report on this item? No. Okay. Miss Edwards has the city clerk's office received correspondence or speaker cards from the public regarding this item. Mayor, just a second. [snorts]

Say, while we're waiting, I'd like to make sure that we acknowledge our fire marshall's 25th anniversary with the city. Hey, congrats, Cindy. 25. Mayor, we do have a speaker card for this item. Okay. If Yeah, Robert, if you're the speaker, come on up. [snorts]

Hello again, city council. Uh, I just had a quick question about um this adoption or update of the hazard severity zone map. Um, will any of these uh updates or maps require anyone to any new own any owners to be able to mitigate fire hazards in the city? And uh does the city plan to adopt any grants or things like that to help owners to be able to mitigate against fires or fire hazards? um or or or I'm trying to figure out what is the city's plan to uh try to deal with potential fires in the future so that things like those uh immense wildfires that have happened over the years are not likely to continue to occur in our homes in areas where our homes are. [clears throat]

That's all. Thank you. All right. Thanks. Okay. Seeing no other speakers. All right. The public hearing is now closed. Do I have any questions or comments for my colleagues? All right. Seeing none, do I have a motion?

Second. Okay, that passes 50. Administrative reports. Item 9.1, request by C council member speak to discuss establishing the time limits for temporary fencing and boarded windows for unoccupied developed properties. Joanne Kleta, our planning and development director, will present this item.

Thank you and good evening. So, we do have an ask this evening. We would like to have the city council provide us direction on whether you would like us to proceed with exploring an amendment that would put some temporary time limits on temporary fencing and boarded up windows, especially for unoccupied developed properties. This was first introduced to the council in March of this year by council member Speak. And at that time, the council did want to have further discussion on that. So that is why I'm bringing this back to you this evening. According to the request that was submitted, this was prompted by some unoccupied buildings. One being on West Sixth Street. Most of you known that as the Wells Fargo building and then the majority of a commercial center that was mostly unoccupied for many years at the northeast corner of Main Street and Parkridge Avenue. Uh both of those buildings are now demolished. They were just demolished this year. So, I do want to give the council just some information on how our city approaches this, especially when it comes to our code compliance department. Um, when it comes to enforcing maintenance of unoccupied properties, we really go into an education mode with the property owners. And one of that is to really educate them on securing their property. And the common um action that we ask them to take is to use temporary fencing because it does deter a lot of illegal activity or unlawful activity on the property and that is probably the most reasonable way for them to do that. We also educate them on maintaining the property to some degree especially if windows are broken and if they continue to get broken or if doors continue to get busted we actually encourage them to use some type of boarding. Um, we also encourage them to remove dead vegetation because usually when an area is unoccupied, um, usually the water is turned off. So, we actually want them to

go out there and still go out and clean debris. And it's also important to note that when our police department does get calls for service, especially when they're dealing with uh, theft and vandalism and when buildings have been breached, we then go to the property owner and ask them to also do additional boarding so that does not continue to happen in the future. and everything that code compliance does. It is in alliance with our property maintenance regulation ordinance within our municipal code. And one of the things that that ordinance states is that we do want to have property owners lock and secure their property. However, there is no limit uh placed on that. So, it doesn't say that they have to be up for a certain limited time. We actually do not have a restriction on that. And further we in our fencing ordinance we do allow temporary fencing to be used for vacant lots in any agricultural area or any other type of security. Additionally under property maintenance we want property owners to clean uh graffiti as well as trash. So I just want to highlight just a couple of um concerns that we have when you're having this discussion. um without being able to use a continuous uh reasonable security method uh for unoccupied properties, it can expose them to nuisances. Most importantly, I'm going to tell you, we have an issue with the illegal dumping. Um people just love to illegal dump all the time and it happens on the weekends and it happens late in the evening. We also will have homeless camps. We will have continuous loitering and graffiti and intrusions into buildings. we will also get more calls for service. So that is why we really push them to do some type of security on the property in order to minimize that activity. Also, we are trying to balance code enforcement with the property owner when we are encouraging them to secure the property. We also don't want to be counterproductive by saying well here

are your limitations when it comes to securing the property. So, this is a discussion that we really want to have because at the end of the day, we are really trying to deter unlawful activity on that property until we figure out what it's going to be used for. Uh we do not require a building permit for any temporary fencing that uses panel stands. That means it goes up there and then it's actually bridged together by clasps in order to control it or for boarded windows. So, if we actually wanted to monitor the timeline on that, we would have to come up with some permit process so we're able to know how long a temporary fence or the windows have been boarded up. We would also need to then discuss is this is going to be a one-time permit or is it something that needs to be done annually? And if so, then how many days within a calendar year are they going to be allowed to do that? And also with market constraints or any circumstances associated with the property that we may be unaware of even by us limiting some security measures it may not you know force them to occupy the property because we do not control that property. We have no idea what's going on with respect to leases or the buying and selling of the property. So we just wanted to pose some questions for the council for consideration tonight. And again, you are more than welcome to address other questions as well. This is for your discussion, but we're just really looking for some clear direction on this this evening. If the council wants to continue to allow fencing as a security measure, um does the council want to limit the amount of time fencing can be used as well as boarding up windows? And if yes to those, then we need to understand how this permit process is going to work for us if that is the direction you would like us to do. And if fencing is not an option, is there any other security options you would like us to take a look at? And then also um do you want us to start looking at a permit process as well? So again, the ask is that oh sorry I jumped ahead. And finally, if you want

us to continue to go and look at researching other cities and seeing what they're doing, we just wanted to show you about the timeline that that would take us to do. So, we're looking about a total of 30 hours overall to do that research and to report back to the council with some options for yourself. [snorts] And then again, we're just asking for direction on this this evening. And with that, I'll go ahead and turn it over to the council for discussion. Okay. Thank you, Miss Kleta. I'll start with the speaker cards from the public first. Miss Edwards. Mayor. Yes, we have three speaker cards for this item.

All right. Come on down. Good evening. I I'd like to start off. I want to I want to acknowledge that I believe this is Miss Galetta's last meeting here or um she and I we we've we've had some history in this room. Uh we've agreed, we've disagreed. Um, I've never thought for one second that she was ever uh, you know, I've never had anything but respect for her as far as her professionalism, her knowledge, and I'm really going to miss her around here. And I I you know, I consider you to be a friend. You know, whether she's always thought of me as a friend, I've always thought of her as a friend, and I've had a lot of respect for her. I'm I'm going to miss you. So, um, that said, are you guys going to be subject to the same rules and laws? Yeah, because I mean you guys have you guys are the worst slum lords in the city. The having what's gone on down at at Corona Mall is shameful. It's disgusting. You guys know what's going on down there and you just let it burn because it works. You know, you let people live down there and the buildings burn and it's everything always seems to work in your favor when it comes to these buildings burning, too. antique lady doesn't really want to leave. Guess what? Fire the sushi restaurant. Not saying you guys contracted with the homeless, but it seems to kind of actually have worked out. When I said that this was mafia-esque behavior, this is exactly in the MMO of the city. You just sort of look the other way and what happens happens. So, it's the same sort of a thing, you know. So to act like, you know, oh look at that the restaurant across the you know the former restaurant the office building whatever main and you know that that that's the blight. You guys have built blight at

Corona Mall deliberately and it and and you guys have been responsible for it. You guys let that place go and the council before let it go. You never put any effort into it. You never put anything into enforcement or maintenance, you know, and it looks like hell now. It looked like hell for a long time, even before it was boarded up and burned down. Thank you very much. All right, Chris,

so a couple of things to add to this. I am um and I and I am going to be a little bit selfish on this. I have lived at 9inth and Howard for going on 20 years now. And there is a property at 8 and Victoria that has been vacant for 20 years. And it has had a fence around it for 20 years. And every once in a while, whoever owns it will come in and they will park their car there for a week and then they will take their car out. Every once in a while, it'll get cleared out, but it stays that way. It's been 20 years. It's been a hazard to the neighborhood. So, I don't know what the time limits are on these things. Um, but I would really prefer that we at least have some type of a time limit on this where we we just don't have blight sitting in a neighborhood or in a business district or anywhere for an extended period of time. As far as doing a permit or finding some other means of enforcement, I mean, we do have cclick fix. If folks become aware, if the public becomes aware that something is a temporary fence has been up and it's been there for 6 months or a year and they see click fix it, um that starts a ticket system for um I think I don't know Joanne, do you run that team? Do you run that? You don't run code enforcement, right? You do. Okay. Yeah. So I mean it would come up that way and and it would be something that you know would get enforced and there would be a time tick when it starts and when it ends and um that might be another way of doing it. But I just I would ask you to also not just do this for businesses but to also look at residential properties as well. Um, I it's it's insane that we have two or three properties within the circle that have had a fence up for literally two decades. And it's it's a place for kids to play where there are

bad things like nails and pipes and things sticking out of the ground that really shouldn't be sticking out of the ground. So anyway, that's all that's all I have on that. And Joanne, uh, you will be missed. Appreciate it. you you're an integral part of the city. So, thank you. Thank you. Was there one more speaker? [snorts]

Good evening again, city council. Um, I noticed this as a on the agenda and I just had a question for it. Um, when when you guys talk about or when staff talks about uh putting time limits on on vacant property, unoccupied property, I mean, are you guys going to try to make all the properties that are residential properties or commercial properties not vacant? I mean, how how are you going to be able to do that? um doesn't make any sense to me and I don't understand how anybody would be fined for that. Um not being able to lease a property, not being able to sell a property or having to uh fix a property within a specific time period to make it habitable and put someone in there. uh all of these things have to be taken into consideration when if before you consider something like putting time limits on on the vacancy of a property. Um otherwise you're you're kind of subjecting the community members to things that are not supposed to be burdened upon them. Of course, if there's a way that you can suggest that the property could be otherwise developed in some way or otherwise uh not m not be maintained as a nuisance in some way. Maybe that might

be a a route that you can take. But to put a time limit on on something like that or to put fines in that way, that doesn't quite make any sense to me. And if you guys have any comments on that, I'd be glad to hear about it. Thank you. Yep. Thank you.

Hi again, Miss Ketta. I did not know until just now that you are leaving. I don't know how they're going to replace you. You know everything. You are the definition of a walking talking encyclopedia and I wish you the very very very best. Thank you for your service to city. All right. [applause] Any other speakers? All right. Any questions or comments from my colleagues? Wes, this was your item. Do you want to lead it off?

Yeah. I I don't want to answer any of these questions. I'd rather find out what other cities are doing just because the fact that we've been waiting for four years and I'm glad that that the the old um building was knocked down is really great, but I'd like to find out what other cities are doing to to to stop this because or to limit it or I I don't know what the answer is. I'm I'm I'm not the smartest guy in the room that knows this stuff. So, I'd like to know what other cities are doing to try and to try and limit that. Um, and I, you know, seeing a a a temporary fence up for 20 years, I think it becomes not temporary anymore. Um, and frankly, that that attracts the the blight. And so I'd like to see what our options are. What are other cities do to to move these projects along? Um, I know with, you know, Wells Fargo, they didn't have to sell. They weren't, you know, it's probably had a million other things that they were doing. and and what they're going to do with the city. Corona is probably going to be low on their list, which is I think why it took four years from when it burned down. But I think our residents deserve better and I'd like to know what the options are.

So I guess the real question is what can be done if anything to speed up somebody's private development, right? And that's that seems like that would be pretty challenging if it's could be. But I guess we we should look around and find out and see what other people do. And then your your thoughts on the the fencing, just make them renew it, renew their permit just to stir it up a little bit. That's what you're thinking. Not willing to to make a decision any like to know what other folks are doing just just so we're not reinventing the wheel. Okay. Tony, do you have any comments on that?

I'm just trying to make sure I understand this. West. This is just because the the the the property that used to be the old Wells Fargo building in Lincoln and six was just boarded up forever. There was nothing going on. Um, is it the fencing that was the problem or just that the building was in a state of burned out damage? I I'm just trying to understand. Yes. Yes. All the above. Okay. So, what we want to do is figure out a way that properties don't just sit there with temporary fencing and and been boarded up looking like crap for four years.

Is it? But it has to have the temporary fencing. And I I asked that because because [clears throat] Park Ridge in Maine was blighted for decades as well. It didn't I don't think they had temporary fencing. It was I don't think they just maybe around the old uh fire state fire. They were still at businesses working. Yeah. No, that that's what I'm saying is is like we're we're what we're trying to do here is when a building is damaged and the temporary goes up temporary fence goes up for safety reasons obviously it just doesn't get to sit there forever. That's I'd like to know what are what what options are there and and maybe it's it's a permit process. I I don't know. I'd like to know what other folks do.

Yeah. I I I I like the I I think that we all can agree that that's a problem and that it doesn't look good for the city or it doesn't make the city look good. And I think that probably if we could if we could understand if if this can't be we can't be the only city that faces this. So I think that seeing what other cities are doing to successfully combat this is a good start before we start answering any of these questions. Um, real quickly, I'm on board with researching what other cities are.

I I want to research as well. I I mean, if it wasn't council member Speak who puts it on the agenda, I would have um I I had the same question about the Wells Fargo building and I believe that um anything that stays up for I mean there it's supposed to be temporary. So, I'd like to learn more. Okay. Mr. Elsie has your you have your direction. Okay. Um 9.2 historic civic center operations plan update. Donna Finch, community services director, will present this item.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, Mayor and Council. I'm here today with an update on the historic civic center operations plan. And our ask of the council tonight is that you provide direction on the optimization of the historic civic center. So, I'm going to start with a little bit of background. Um, as you know, this item is being brought to you because it is a objective in the city of Corona strategic plan. The strategic plan was adopted by the council back in 2020. Um it includes a goal to improve the sense of place in the community by increasing access to arts, culture, and recreational activities. Um one of the objectives that we have in order to help achieve this goal is to renovate the historic civic center or the as what we call the HCC to become the city's premier performing and visual arts center and to designate the HCC as Corona's center for the arts and relocate all of the non-arts leases. So, in summary, we really are just trying to make the HCC a thriving center for the arts in Corona. So, I just want to quickly touch back on the HCC history. Um, as you know, the building was, um, constructed and opened back in 19 I'm sorry, yeah, 1923. So, um, it's over a hundred years old. We've had it, uh, as a variety of uses over that time frame. Um it was originally Corona's second high school and then um we had some expansion that was done back in 1931 and then back in 1962 the building became the uh city hall for Corona. It stayed that way for just over 40 years. And then when we built the new city hall in 2005, it became the historic civic center where we added um the building to the national registry and then we um provided it as a space for nonprofits and arts tenants to be able to operate their services there. In 2021, as I mentioned, the strategic plan was adopted with the goal to make it the center of the arts. Um we were working for some time to create some options and considerations on how we could make that center uh the center for the arts and we

presented a draft operations plan to city council back in April of 2025. So to recap that meeting, uh, April 16th of 2025, when we presented the draft HCC operations plan, we included some proposed programming improvements um for the facility, as well as some proposed repairs and maintenance and a implementation plan. At that time, the city council directed staff to move forward with the um improvements to the HCC building and campus, which estimated at the time about $7.7 million, and that included a variety of recommended campus repairs, building repairs, theater and technology improvements, and furniture and equipment. The council also directed staff to work with the arts partners, and collect feedback on how to integrate them into the plan. So this slide just shows an overview of all of the current HCC lease holders that are in the building. We currently have nine tenants that are leasing space in the HCC. Um five of those tenants are defined as arts partners and the definition for arts partners that we are using is a nonprofit group or organization that directly provides visual performing or culinary arts programs, classes, classes or lessons to the community. So the arts partners are listed on this slide um in bold with an asterisk next to them and then the other four tenants are do not meet the definition of arts partners. Um staff has met with them uh specifically our economic development department over the last few months and has provided some um assistance for relocation. We have a few of those arts partners that have already started to I'm sorry, non-arts partners that have started to um identify alternative space and um there are two that have submitted requests to the city council to be reconsidered for being able to stay in that space. So this slide just shows an overview of where the tenants currently lie in the facility. Um going from right to left, we have the Christian Arts Theater in

suites um 105 through 110. We have the Steven Center in suite 130. The Corona Symphony utilizes suites 140 and 190. The Corona Art Association is in suite 145. Inspire Life Skills is in suite 160. OBC Theater is in 170. And the Corona Historic Preservation Society is in suite 185. And this is on the first floor. On the second floor, we have the United Way in suites 200 and 205. Um the YMCA Fender music program operates out of suite 210 and 230. And then we have the YMCA administrative um site which is in 220. Um that has been recently vacated. So that space currently right now is sitting empty. So over the last few months um since we met with the council back in April, our staff has been doing some outreach with the arts tenants. We've held several meetings with them over um the last six months just to identify better what their programming needs are and um what they would like to see happen in this space. So I'll start with a recap um in alphabetical order. We'll start with the Christian Arts Theater. They are currently occupying just over 4,000 square feet of space and they provide a variety of arts programs mainly performing arts classes, singing lessons, dance lessons, homeschool classes. Um they do stage, makeup and costume design and a variety variety of theatrical performances in the theater. Um currently right now they are really utilizing this space to its maximum capability. Um they have classes and private lessons that are offered throughout the week Monday through Friday. They do rehearsals when they have performances scheduled three days a week and they do about four to six productions in the HCC theater per year. staff met with them back in July and in September of 2025 and the feedback that we received from CAT is that they are overall just happy with their current location and their lease arrangement. Um they would desire some additional

rehearsal and studio space to expand programming if that was available at the site and they would like to see some improvements mainly in the theater and some um minor improvements to their suites. They are also open to sharing space on weekdays and Saturday mornings when their programs are not in operation. The Corona Arts Association is the next arts tenant um that we met with. They occupy just under 1,200 square feet of space in the HCC and they provide a variety of arts classes. They do community arts and culture, adaptive art. They have their art gallery there in their space as well and they do art shows um in their space. Their schedule right now varies. Um it's it's not necessarily a set schedule. It does vary from week to week, but just some overall blocks of time that we noted where um Monday through Friday they have classes from 12 to 6. On the weekends they do classes primarily in the late morning and throughout the afternoon. They open their art gallery uh Thursdays through Sundays from 12:30 to 4. They have art shows every other month over over the weekend, Friday through Sunday, and they hold their member and board meetings the first and second Tuesday of the month. staff met with them back in July and September of 2025 as well. Um, again, very similar feedback that we received from CAT. They are happy with their current location and lease arrangement. Um, if there were to be changes made, their needs include a large classroom space and a gallery space to maintain their current operations. They also desire having a secure space to display their art and um, store their supplies. They prefer to be on the first floor and they prefer to have their own space, but they may be open to sharing space if other needs are met. The Corona Symphony Orchestra and Conservatory is the next tenant that we met with. Um, right now, as mentioned, they operate out of suites 140 and 190, which is just over 1,600 square feet of space. Um, they do string music education programs mainly for youth, um,

small group lessons, and beginning, intermediate, and advanced orchestra. Their schedules right now um just operate out of the facility on Wednesdays only from 3:30 to 7:30m. We met with them back in July and September as well. Again, similar feedback. They are happy with their current location and lease arrangement. If any changes were to be made, they would need to maintain 10 small classroom spaces to operate their current programming. They would like to have secure storage space. Um, it's necessary for them to be able to store their art, I'm sorry, their large instruments and equipment. They prefer to be on the first floor for easier transport of their large instruments. Um, they would like to see some improvements on the building, mainly acoustic improvements just to help with the music lessons that are going on simultaneously and again prefer their own space, but they may be open to sharing space if other needs are met. Um, OBC Theater is the other tenant we met with. Uh they operate out of suite 170 occupying just over 200 square feet of space. They primarily do theatrical productions um out of the theater. They do two to three productions per year. They also do set design there. They offer private lessons um including voice and piano. And they are a big supporter of our special events. Um that is something that I do want to note. OBC has been a great partner. They help make our events um just to the next level. They provide a variety of stage support, um, props, and are really a great partner for us for our special events team. We met with them back in May and September of this year. Feedback that we received is that their office space is needed mainly for their storage, green room, and staging area. Um, they desire rehearsal space or a blackbox theater at at the HCC. They felt like that could be helpful for them for some additional um, rehearsal that they could be doing there. They would like to see improvements on the building, specifically in the theater. Um, they do have aspirations to add more shows and

classes, and they have a potential interest in teaching contract classes if those opportunities became available. The last arts tenant is the YMCA Music School. Um, again, they have 3600 square feet of classroom space in 210 and 230 and then, um, just under 2,000 square feet of admin space in 220. Their programming includes music classes, um, intro to advanced drums, guitar, piano, ukulele. They do vocal lessons. They also have a recording studio in this space. They operate out of this space primarily Monday through Wednesday from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. And they do some makeup classes occasionally um during the week. Meetings were held with them back in June and October of this year. Similar feedback. They're happy with their current location and lease arrangement. Um, if any changes were to occur, they would need three classrooms and would like to maintain their recording studio for programming. They are interested in expanding and growing their programs. They would like to see sweet improvements to the suites. Um, they are not open to sharing space, but they may be open to running music programs for the city and sharing revenue similar to what we do with our contract class models. So, just in summary, the arts tenant feedback that we received is that all of the tenants like their current setup and their lease arrangement at the HCC and do not desire any change. Um, most of the tenants expressed some openness to sharing space if their needs and certain conditions were met and several suggestions were offered for improvements to the building and suites. So, now I'm going to get into some options for facility optimization. Um before I do that, I just wanted to show this slide that gives kind of an overview snapshot of how this the HCC is currently being utilized by the um current HCC arts tenants. As you can see, Christian Arts Theater is maximizing their space. They operate programs um pretty much seven days a week, including rehearsals and um shows in the theater. The Art Association does have some type of programming. Um,

again, it varies week to week, but some type of programming is occurring throughout the week, primarily in the afternoon hours. The Corona Symphony right now is only operating on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 7:30. OBC Theater um mainly uses the theater on the weekends when they have their productions um underway, but they do use that space for drop in or office hours during the week. It's not a consistent programming schedule, so we don't have it displayed here, but it is used for drop in use for them. And then the YMCA music school does their programming um Monday through Wednesday from 3:00 to 8:00. So option one for the city council's consideration is just minimal change. Um staying true to what is in the strategic plan, relocating all the non-arts tenants, completing the renovations on the vacant suites. Um once those suites are vacated, we would start to transition our current cityrun arts programs over to those vacant suites and then we would defer any improvements on the arts tenants suites until facility optimization could occur. So this slide just shows where those vacancies would be available um once the non-arts tenants are relocated. I have those spaces um circled in green. Um, once those suites are vacated, again, we would start to do some improvements to those spaces, including new flooring, paint, um, I'm sorry, updating the flooring, new paint, ceilings, um, updating the lighting, doing some acoustical improvements, adding sinks to some of those spaces, especially the arts areas where we're doing actual arts and crafts projects, um, additional storage and AV improvements, and then some programs that we'd like to see starting to occupy those space. New programs include textile arts, which includes sewing, quilting, um jewelry making, expanding our existing kids arts programs that we have right now at the CCC. Um expanding some of that classroom space to do additional arts programming, and adding a dedicated space for staff with an admin office. The proposed hours of operation in those

available spaces would be Monday through Thursday from 10:00 to 9:00 p.m. 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Friday from 10:00 to 5:00, Saturday from 10:00 to 2, closed on Sundays. However, we would offer facility rentals and um productions in the theater Monday through Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. So, in order to implement option one, the staffing needs include a additional supervisor. Um this is to accommodate growth that we're seeing. um both in our recreation areas with the upcoming uh planning for city park, we have some some additional programs that we are going to be proposing and adding there. So, we do propose adding a supervisor that would be 50% dedicated to the HCC and then 50% to our other recreation program needs. We also are proposing a dedicated coordinator, program coordinator for that space that would really focus on um bringing in some of that that arts programming there and expanding on it and also providing a full curated season for the theater, including performances that we receive from our partners with OBC and CAT. Um an assistant recreation coordinator would also be needed to help support the programming there. and then uh three community services leaders to assist with facility setups and guided activities in the space. Um contract instructors would be brought in. We uh typically use a 60/40 split when we have contract classes in our facilities. They would be providing a lot of the instruction for um the arts programs. Uh we'd also have a theater technician um that would provide AV production support that would be available through a contract service that we would um pass through to users of the theater when they have a need for that that specific use. And then a variety of volunteers could also help support operations there. And the estimated staffing cost for this option is $285,000 annually. The uh proposed optimization timeline for implementing option one um includes planning and design to start uh this

year after we get direction from the council in FY26. Then in FY27 we would uh wrap up that process and then move into starting with some of the building repairs, technology upgrades, furniture and equipment program enhancements and staffing that would continue in fiscal year 28 and then um start to wrap up with FY29. um seeing the end of those building improvements and campus improvements. The next option for consideration, option two, is a phase in approach for optimization. So this is the same as option one, but it would also include evaluating the demand for cityrun programs. So as we start to um bring in our new programs and expanding our programs um into those vacated spaces, we would start to see how the demand for those programs are doing. And then once the programs start to take off and become more successful, then we would phase in facil additional facility optimization based on need. Um what we would start to make additional improvements on the remaining suites as space becomes available um and existing tenants can accommodate renovations within their program schedules. Option three is the full facility optimization. So same as option one, but we would conduct improvements on the full building and campus. Um, we would transition our cityrun arts programs to this HCC space and expand on our programming in all of the available spaces. We would fully implement the facility ops optimizations to maximize arts programming and HCC usage. And um, what this looks like here includes an update to all of the suites. So, reooking at some of the layouts that we have here. Again, updating flooring, paint, ceilings, lighting, acoustical improvements. We would expand our city arts programs to maximize the facility usage. Now, um reposition [clears throat] some arts tenants to group them together by like uses. So, um moving some of those those um tenants that provide similar types of services

to adjacent spaces and providing opportunities for them to potentially share space um based around their programming needs. So, for each specific arts tenant, we provided kind of an overview of what this would look like for them. And going down the line in alphabetical order for the Corona Art Association, uh the recommendation would be to move them to the second floor into a new fine arts area. Um we would provide space on the first floor uh in a dedicated art gallery for them to be able to display their art. This space would be able to be secured in the um off hours or evening hours. Um, it is a dedicated room and space, so we would be able to lock that, but it would put it out more in the open where that art can be um, easily visible and on display for the public to see. We would also provide opportunities to share space when the art association programs are not operating. This primarily would be weekday mornings and in the early afternoons. Um, Christian Arts Theater is next or the recommendation here is to keep all of the arts classes and programs in their current location. Um we would maintain their existing theater performances and the space that they have um in there and then provide opportunities to expand if they are available and then look at opportunities to share space when CAP programs are not operating. Again, this would be weekday mornings and on Sundays for the OBC theater. Uh this would look like a move to the new office and meeting area which we have circled here on the um overview layout. We would provide rehearsal space in a new blackbox uh rehearsal area, offer access to classroom space for lessons and programs, and then maintain their theater performances in the theater with opportunities for them to expand. For the Corona Symphony, um all of their classes would be kept in their current location on the first floor in the west wing. Um we would maintain their rehearsal space in the community room or

provide access for them to do rehearsals in the um the new rehearsal area or blackbox theater. Um and then provide opportunities for them to share space with the YMCA and other music programs when the Corona Symphony is not operating. Um and again they operate right now only on Wednesdays. So that would be Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. And then um lastly the other music program which is the YMCA. those classes would be relocated down to that first floor area in the music studio. Um we would potentially look at relocating their music studio to the second floor on the west side just above the um the area right now where the symphony currently operates out of and where the YMCA music programs currently are and then have them share space with the symphony and other music programs when the YMCA is not operating which is Wednesdays and Saturdays. So the full facility optimization um can accommodate as many as four 40 daily activities. This would be dependent on resident interests, market trends, and instructor availability. Um what this would look like is in the mornings we would have primarily um our younger users, so tiny tots. We would look at some active adult opportunities and seniors and adaptive programming there. In the afternoons, we would focus more on our school age um youth and do programs for them as along with teens. evenings would be geared more towards working adults and families. Um and then research of other cities have really found that these these types of facilities have higher usage during the week. So Monday through Thursdays um program interest generally starts to wne on the weekends, but that's when we start to see more activation of rentals and theater use. So we would really focus on optimizing those uses on the weekends. So, um, some of the programs that we would be proposing to bring into this space once it's fully optimized is really based off of some, um, programming priorities that we have identified through surveys that we've

done over the years. Um, our park and recreck master plan had a very robust survey process. We surveyed over 900 residents where the number one desired new program activity that they asked to see is cooking classes. Over 46% of them um, displayed interest in seeing that program there. um are brought to the city and the HCC would be a great place to do that. Uh expanding on arts and crafts was another po uh popular one at 42% as well as bringing in new cultural arts programs at 25%. We also looked at some market trends um through Statista. So just overall the most popular hobbies and activities in the US um that are arts related. Uh number one was cooking and baking. 41% of respondents um or information that was found through statist said that that was a growing trend. Uh arts and crafts again continuing to be very popular. Photography, writing, music making these are all programs that we could provide in this space. Uh these next few slides just shows kind of an overview of some of the various visual performing and um different types of arts programs that we can do here. Um we based these program options um again off of the surveys and the data that we received through our research as well as some of the um outreach that we did with local communities. We visited actually five arts centers as we were doing our research for this and some of the most popular programs that we saw there include culinary arts. Um Irvine has a very robust culinary program that they run out of their fine arts center. Uh ceramics was another very very popular one. in Irvine and Yorbalinda both have popular ceramic programs. Um as well as uh kids art. That's always a a big one. Every facility that we went to had a had a heart huge demand for kids art programs. Um performing arts again uh Victoria Gardens Cultural Center was one site that we visited. They have a very um active blackbox theater. Yorbalinda

had a great blackbox theater. Um, we think that that could be a very good use here at the HCC to provide smaller types of uh entertainment and theatrical programming as well as doing larger programs in the main theater. And then just some general programming and usage. We would continue to activate the the community room as a banquet space. Um, we would be able to provide direct front counter staff support. We would have an art gallery um open for the public to be able to to view that art and then continue to do programming on the HCC lawn. This slide just shows kind of a comparison of the existing facility optimization with our current schedule. So the top chart just shows right now how the facility is currently activated for these different spaces um with our partner usage. The chart on the bottom shows a sample schedule of what the facility could be. So again you can see very robust programming in all of the program areas that we identified on the previous slides. Hours of operation would be similar to what we stated in option one except it would be the entire campus not just limited to the spaces that were identified. And then proposed staffing needs um we would build on what is provided for option one. So again, recreation supervisor providing 50% support, dedicated coordinator. We would have two assistant recreation coordinators, an dedicated office assistant to help support registration and box office support, and then additional community services leaders to help with additional facility setup and guided activities throughout the entire space. Here's the proposed timeline for that implementation. Um it mirrors what we have with option one except it is extended further. So, um, because there's more activity for doing the upgrades to the facility, we do propose to extend that out, um, beyond fiscal year 29. Some of those improvements would take a little bit longer moving

into fiscal year 30 and 31. So, in summary, um, again, we've got three options for the council to consider. One being minimal change, option two being a phase in a facility optimization, and option three being a full facility optimization. We have a variety of cost recovery um schedules associated with each of those options listed below. Option um three has the lower cost recovery but that is because additional staff would be required to operate that space and we also would be doing additional improvements on the building. So the initial cost recovery will be lower, but we do feel confident that as that space becomes more um recognized by the community and more popular, we will start to see that cost recovery increase as additional um demand grows for for programming there. And then this is just a summary of the pros and cons for each option. So with the minimal change option, pros are that we would have no changes to the arts tenants setup and use of the facility, lower initial capital improvement, higher cost recovery. Cons are that we would have limited limited arts programming growth. The HCC would continue to be underutilized and we would have limited building and campus improvements. And then as we start to move into some of the other options, those pros um you see some of the same pros continue for option two. Um, we also have providing additional time for tenants to plan for future improvements. So, it would it would allow us to phase in those optimizations based on need. Um, and then provide the city with additional time to grow programs and gain momentum at the sites. Um, and then option three, the pros for that is that it would just maximize the HCC facility usage and optimization. Um, right from the beginning, we would be able to move full force into the goals of the strategic plan, expand the art program offerings quickly, ensure that all of the need needed improvements to the HCC are done and take place sooner rather than later. Um, but the cons for that option include impacts to the arts tenants current facility arrangement,

higher immediate capital improvement costs, and lower cost recovery. So, next steps really are based off the council's direction tonight. Um, step one would be to relocate all of the non-arts tenants. Once the building improvements are ready to proceed, we would then move forward with the building facility improvements based on the desired facility optimization of the council and then implement optimization in accordance with the desired direction. And this is again the ask of the council. I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Miss Fch. Miss Edwards, are there any speaker cards from the public? Mayor, yes, we have three speaker cards for this item. All right, come on down.

You can go ahead and make it four. Um, so I was at the first meeting, so this is much more comprehensive and seemed like they actually talked to people, which is good. Um it kicking out uh was it non-arts, you know, whatever whatever the definition that you, you know, used for arts. Um, you know, and you had community groups in there that at some level were deemed worthy and deemed uh significant contributors to our city that they could have that they could, you know, have a somewhat subsidized uh helpful arrangement because they did something that was consistent with the city's goals. uh historic or the historic preservation society, Inspire, you know, Stevens Group, all these groups, YMCA, United Way, um they all had a purpose and they all were, you know, part of the part of the Corona family. And now you say, well, hey, and all the non-arts out foster youth, yeah, screw you guys. You're out. Historic historic preservation society, you're [snorts] on the road. you know what happened? Are they not significant anymore? Are they not valuable? Are they not part of the community? Do they not contribute to the city? Do they are they not are their goals not consistent with the strategic plan? Are they just are they they all of a sudden suck now? They just, you know, they don't do the thing that they're supposed to be doing. You just toss them out to the wolves, you know, and uh that's not right. If they were if they were worthy before, they're worthy now. Unless you want to say that they're not. And and it's ridiculous to me to to to draw the line somewhere and say the Historic Preservation Society is not arts related, you know, like it's all

about architecture and visual uh you know, visual and historic uh uh like appreciation. If that's not arts, I'm not sure what is. But, you know, if you want to go ahead and, you know, you want to draw the line wherever you wherever you draw it, you know, okay, so you're just going to have a policy that, you know, certain groups just are not worthy of assistance or they're not valuable. You know, it's pretty messed up. Mayor and City Council Richard Wyn with the Historic Preservation Society. I'm not happy to be here tonight and I'm sure you're not happy that I'm here making you stay a little longer. But before I say anything, I would like to congratulate uh Joanne Kleta. We haven't always agreed on lots of things, but she's been a very effective leader in this community. However, I'm here to talk about two things. One is it appears to me that the word preservation has been removed from the city's dictionary except where it says so in the municipal code. And the reason I say that is I have a staff report that I was able to get finally Monday night. the detailed the uh issues associated with this particular thing and it caused me a little bit of grief. A lot of grief actually. I spent 40 years in safety, health, environmental affairs. And I just about got sick to my stomach

when I read that final environmental analysis. Those are important in staff reports, environmental analysis, but it's usually attributed to somebody who has some environmental chops, if you know what I mean. If this would have said based on an industrial hygiene survey done of the facility, the action is uh exempt pursuant to whatever section of the code. But I'll cancel my comments if the city attorney can assure me that we have a copy of an industrial hygiene report on that building that declares that there no longer is any asbestous in that building. When we first got our office there 20 years ago, we were told we couldn't go certain places because there was asbestous in the building. And I don't recall an asbesus abatement program being committed to the building that would have excluded us. But if we have asbestous in the building, we have no business having youth and young people in there. Uh if it's been encapsulated and they're going to be drilling holes in walls and things, then it's going to become airborne. We have a serious problem. [clears throat] And the one other thing that I would like to conclude with is in the third paragraph on page two, I think, where it says, "During the meeting, the city council directed staff to proceed with plans to improve the HCC building and campus." And then it goes on, but it leaves out a paragraph, I mean a sentence. It says while

preserving its historic elements. I have absolutely no confidence that the recreational services department is skilled or qualified or even committed to preserving. Thank you, Rich. [clears throat]

Good evening. I'm a former member board member for the Corona Historic Preservation Society. Um I I don't understand how they can be thrown out of the building that they helped get the grants for to keep restored. I don't understand that. I don't think staff has any idea of the history of them and the preservation of the very building that they're using now for the arts. And I think that that's really sad and I think that's reprehensible. I think both Rich and Mary have done so much to bring attention to the architecture which is art in this city, the history of this city and the architecture and if is is integral to what our town is. And if you don't believe me, I'm going to bring you back to in the circle those horrible tin boxes that they built up on I think 10th 11th. They're on 11th that managed to slip through plan check and get built and they look like crap. They're not art. They're nothing. The whole reason we're putting a historic board in is because of the winds. The whole reason why we're trying to preserve what's in the circle is because it's important and it's beautiful and it's important that we keep CHPS housed, for lack of a better word. And that's their home and they were there before anybody else was. When that building was a mess, they were there. And I think it's reprehensible that we're asking them to leave. And I have I have been committed to historic preservation in this city since the day I moved in. I bought my house because it's a historic house. I live it and breathe it. I've had to learn all kinds of little bits of architecture so I could DIY my own stuff and talk to contractors that know what they're

doing. A lot of that I learned from Rich. A lot of that I learned from the preservation society. It cannot be stated enough that taking that considering them to not be part of the arts and not be a part of the city and not be a part of that center is reprehensible. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you.

Hi, Don. Good evening and um mayor and city council. Um uh it's kind of a late night, but this is an important subject for all of us, those that have already spoken. I understand. um but also for those of us that are impacted that currently have leases there and um yeah so we've got a school of music and [snorts]

um I think uh when I first uh um met and talked or heard the presentation um I was a little dismayed and then we realized that um communication's a wonderful thing and once we started communicating and h having a few conversations s it became clear that um we can make this work. Um I'm not a hardline this is the way it is and I don't want to change. I'm I'm always good with change. I embrace change and um I can see the direction you want to go and um and I agree for the most part on on that direction. If the Corona Symphony Conservatory needs to adjust where they're currently at, as in not using suite 140, I'm good with that. Um, I'm also good with going upstairs with our older students, our high school students, our middle school students that can actually, you know, negotiate going up and downstairs with instruments, expensive instruments, backpacks, and everything else they carry. That's all doable. Uh and this has been discussed with the staff uh with the director of the school which who is Lori Bonner. She she does the the hard work. She runs the school. Um I teach spring bass for the school. That's my only you know input with the school. I run the Corona Symphony Orchestra. That's the mothership of uh the Corona Symphony Conservatory and Symphony. But um anyway, the that's that's my take on it. Um sharing space is uh something else that's going to take a real deep dive with every organization if that's the direction we're going to go. Uh we've seen this movie before. Sharing space. When we first moved to the historic civic center, uh we shared

space with Christian Arts and Theater for about a year and a half. And uh I was a sublet of um Christian Arts and Theat's lease with approval from the city by the way. Um and that and oddly enough um I was on uh Christian Arts and Theat's board and so I knew everybody there and even with those those relationships that was tough. That was really tough to share space with Christian Arts and Theater. they had one day a week that they were not using and that's the day we did and even then um it created a lot of issues. So I've learned a lot doing that. So anyway, uh we're only one day a week by the way because we only teach four instruments and they're all different and I don't have teachers that can teach all of them. So, we found that putting it all on one day and having all our eggs in one basket, if I had call out, if I had teachers that called out or were sick, I would have

Thank you, Don. Appreciate you sticking out.

Hey, Amanda.

Hi. Good evening, Council Mayor Steiner. Um, I am Amanda Calcganis with OBC Theater. You all know who I am. Um, I'd like to ask our council to move slowly and ask as many questions as possible before you decide on anything. Um, there are opportunities here that I think are being overlooked and I'm concerned the city is trying to implement a program that's been tried and failed in many other cities before and ours. Um, if I had to support one of those options, I'd support one because it's the most least detrimental to our other arts organizations. two and three look awesome and shiny and exciting for me. Um, we can make it work. It's going to be rough, but we can make it work. But, um, I think that there's an option four that's being ignored, and I want to put that out there. It looks a lot like two and three, but it's a different order of things. Uh, the theat's refurbishment, bathroom expansions, equipment, stage upgrades, lobby, office improvements has been deferred for over a decade. um and is now being pushed out even further in any of these plans. Uh these upgrades should come first before any new programs are launched. The city has tried over the past two years through the community services department to have special events in the theater. Community events that I know is on the survey that we need and we want. Um that theater is not remotely ready to have any of those events. We've lost awesome acts because we don't have any of the equipment that they need. Um I'm called constantly to come up and help fix things, which I happily do. Um, but there is not the ability to host anything. We can't even have people in those bathrooms for these summer concerts. We have to have outouses. So, we don't have the ability to have what we're looking for in this building. Um, and we're not even close. Why build a program if we don't have adequate space for what we currently have. Um, I'm not opposed to change. I welcome growth that truly strengthens our communities. And, um, but I just think that we've done this in other communities. Ranch of Kukamonga did this and they ended $11 million in debt when they finished their

program when they closed it. Uh Riverside did it and ended it silently and didn't tell the taxpayers how much money was wasted. Tmacula and Brea do this successfully by using the organizations that are currently you like we have the symphony cat us to build up those programs and using them for those contract classes a lot more um or actually supporting their performances supporting their um organizations and that's what I think the city should move towards we have a foundation already set in all of these organizations that are in the building and I think using those first building up the building um making it usable, making it more um usable for the public, and then transitioning into the two and the three options. Um I hope I'm wrong, and I hope this is wildly successful. I want to trust Donna. I want to trust you, Jacob. I want to trust the management team. Um but it's also scary because I can trust Donna all day and then she's will be gone. So, we only can go on what we're being told is in the the thing. So, I just think that we're going about this in a very kind of cart before the horse way. Thank you. Thank you, Amanda.

Rich, you already had your chance, brother. I know, but I got to add one thing. Got to be quick. Why don't we build the cotton picking west wing? Thank you, Rich.

Thank you, Rich. Welcome. I can either stand on tippy toe or raise this down. Mr. Mayor, city council. I'm with Corona Art Association. I think many of you guys have dropped by the art gallery. We have Lori Aleron who is our current president. Why are we here? Okay, so 60 Corona Art Association is a 63year-old nonprofit organization. We provide free classes to local teenagers who otherwise may not other be able to take an art class. We provide lowcost art classes to seniors in our community and they come in on Monday afternoons. This has been an ongoing class for a number of years. We also have uh art classes, if you will, and meetups at the gallery with local community members who come in just to either create art, to learn something new, or just to sit and be with friends. One of the things that we've learned in the last couple of years is that art is a lifelong gift. And you can do the research. Look it up on Google or whatever browser you want to search on. But most of the research shows that art provides stress release and is also provides emotional well-being. It is so cold in here. Okay. [laughter] So, we're not here to complain about the changes. We understand change is something that's constant. It's the one thing that's constant in life. What we'd like to do is thank you for your support over the last 63 years in this community and you've helped us provide free and low ca lowcost programming to this community and again change is constant and in many cases change is a challenge and CA has been around for 63 years. We're not going to go anywhere. Whether

we continue to operate in the HCC somehow as a nonprofit with the current plan that you have or if we move on and operate somewhere else, we will continue to serve this community. So, thank you. Thank you. Okay. All right. [applause] That all our speakers. Okay. Any questions or comments from my colleagues? Tony, anything?

Thank you, mayor. Um, you know, one of the things that I thought was a little shocking to me was the underutilization of the of the facility and um there are some some um tenants that are currently using it quite a bit. Uh Christian Art Theater on a regular basis. And you know, I I I think I look at uh I think it was slide 40. If you can go to slide 40 for me really quick. Yep. No, that was it. [clears throat] It's 40 on this page. Go back. There you go. Right there.

Um, this was a little shocking for me to see because, you know, we have this beautiful building and it's underutilized. And I think to myself, you know, we have these these tenants that and I don't want to pick on Mr. Kindred because I think that their organization is great, but they're using it for 4 hours a week and then the rest of the time they're storing equipment there. And I think to myself, you know, how many other types of programs could we offer for our community to take advantage of if we're activating this space? And it it makes a lot of sense to me to want to shoot for the stars on this and really come up with an active vibrant space for the arts and to our arts and culture. And I I think that this is absolutely a a great plan. And I'm all for it. I'm all for us doing the things that our community is asking us for, giving, providing them with the opportunities that they are asking us for for different types of art related items. Um, there was a slide in there that talks about some of the things that that our community is asking for. Culinary arts, no surprise, it's something very close to my heart. But, you know, we have no way to to provide that type of class right now. And there's an opportunity for us to build out an arts and cultural center that we already have to [clears throat] allow for much more utilization. And and so for me, I I think that that this is absolutely awesome. And if you look at the the buildout schedule, you know, we're we're talking about doing some of the things that Miss Calcan has asked for. You know, updating the the facilities,

updating the technology in the theater. Is it going to be, you know, Broadway caliber? I I I don't think so, but I think it'll be pretty dang nice. I I just think that, you know, this is such a a beautiful space, such a big space that's being underutilized by tenants that quite frankly, you know, would be better served if they were, you know, CHPS would be better served at the library for them to meet once a month or however often that they're in their facility. It seems like they would be better served at the library amongst historical things. Um, I'm all for option three. I think that this is this is absolutely great. Um my caveat is that we look at the placement of things like as an example YMCA has a studio on the second floor and we you know this proposal we we talked about moving it to the other side of the west side of the building. I don't think we should I think we should leave it where it's at. That way we're not liable for building out a new music studio. I would look at this and say, how can we efficiently build this out and make some wise choices? But other than that, I'm all for option three. I think our community deserves it. I think our community deserves to have more people activated in this beautiful resource that we have that right now is blocked off from most of the community.

Councilman Speak. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I um had a couple qu actually a lot of questions but um so I had asked when we had our one-on-one meeting to go over this this set here. Um [clears throat and cough] right now the facility pays for itself. Is that correct? It pays for the day-to-day operations. So it it keeps the lights on, but there aren't any additional funds available to do the upgrades that are needed for the space.

Right. So, so that like as it sits right now, the the building pays for itself. Um, so the for option one, this the slow rule, it's $285,000 a year additional cost to us. Does that include all per calers and all of our other is that all-in costs? Yes, it is.

Okay. Um I I don't know if if you know how close everybody looked at the at the uh the update that we got or that that was in the staff report under I think it was 615 or 620 or whatever that where our Kalpers bill is back up to 97 and 97.8 million again. So, you know, I I I look at this and I asked the question, I think when when we met that [cough] [clears throat] some of these folks right now are being housed here in this building. So, I'm I'm concerned or question, well, are we we're hiring more people because there's more things for people to do. Um, and I and I get that part and I think [clears throat] it's it's right size for the way that that that we've designed things here. And I'm glad to hear from the the folks that are there. I agree with the with Miss Kananis. I think that that we should be doing the the things that we need to do right now. Bathrooms, she's absolutely right. They've been needed to be done for a while. Those bathrooms are going to need to be done regardless of what happens in the building. So, I think those should be we should do some prioritization of of how we do things. Um, but I I you know, when this came up last time, I wouldn't start a business without doing market research. And a poll is not market research. Um, we've done no demand study to support this need other than asking, "Oh, what do you want?" That's not a that's not a whether or not people would pay. Um, are people doing that now in town and being paid? Uh, or are they paying for that to happen? Um, we have some financial models that talk about how much it's going to cost us to run the facility, but do we have revenue models that demonstrate the viability of these programs? So, I'm, you know, do we have inspected enrollment numbers? Do we have a pricing structure? Is is that how we got to that recovery model?

Yes. So we did the cost recovery model is based off of a 75% enrollment in the classes and we based that off of our current pricing right now for our arts classes. So that was that was the model that we used in order to come up with those figures. Okay. And in our current arts classes, how much of an increase in classes would this facility be when you know when and if the CCC goes away? Is it double? Is it the same? It depends on which option the council chooses. So if we're looking at option three, it would be a significant increase. Right now we we only offer minimal arts programs right now at the CCC and and those facil and those classes are right now at 75%.

Okay. So we so we we're and I get that we don't have anybody that's that's pushing that information or pushing those classes right now, but we're at 60% right now. we're going to in if we go opt option three, we're going to have even more classes. And so I'm worried about us see what the demand is because we really don't know. Yeah, it depends on the classes. Some of our classes are at 100%. It really just depends. It it kind of varies depending on which which classes being offered. And I know that we went to other cities and we you know toured. Did we ask what their KPIs were and how they determined how many classes and what classes they did?

They base it off of demand and enrollment. So the classes that are obviously the most successful are the ones that they continue to offer and grow and then they reevaluate and the ones that aren't as successful they tend to weed those things out. So they just they you you throw something on the wall and see what happens and Okay, got it. Uh we got the cost. Um so are we going to use that enrollment target at 75% as being is that is that going to be what we consider success or 60% being break even? Do we have what a break even would be? I mean, I guess it's not 75% is our metric for success initially. That's our that's our initial target for the first one to three years.

Okay. And then um what are our contingency plans if you know things don't you know if we we try all the you know we go around the wheel of classes and and we you know we don't get takers or we don't get the that 75% number. What's the contingency plan? Is it go back out to leases? Is it? So the goal is to continue to program that space and we will be doing constant evaluation of which programs are successful, bringing in new programs based off of market demand and needs and then you know weeding out programs that are unsuccessful. Okay. So I mean at what point do we do we cut our losses if if we can't get things going there? Is it after a year, two years, three years?

That would be based on council direction.

All right. Um, and because I I I went back and I, you know, I'd asked about this I remember having the conversation about this having this this this arts facility and and I, if I remember right, it came from a discussion with um, with Miss Cortez about or uh, with the Horrenia uh, Mariachi Academy and they were lamenting that there was no place for them to practice and that they had to rent a place that was over off of River Road and it really wasn't fair because there wasn't room for them and and I remember that conversation pretty, you know, pretty plainly in my head. It was I think it might even before I was on council and I was like thinking about it. Yeah, that that's true. And part of it was these folks, you know, were able to get in. The the arts association was at the mall and then came over to to the HCC which they've done a great job and they've given back certainly to the to the community um and to the to the city and you know all and everybody else there does a great job. Really happy with what they do. Um, but I I I think about if [clears throat] we're covering our costs or we're getting and I know we're talking about also increasing the rent as well. Is that something that was in here or was that in the presentation that you gave me? I think I saw that that we were going to increase the increase the rent.

It's going to be evaluated I think every year when we do the lease when we do the leases.

Yeah. Well, I remember that in the I I didn't see it in this presentation, but the presentation that that I got had had a a number in there that there was going to be some half of the market rent. So, market rent was 225 or 230. So, it would be half of that. Um, and I and I, you know, I didn't make it in here, so I'm assuming that these folks don't don't know that or, you know, haven't evaluated that either. So, I'm curious about how how we would do that. And then um so I I'm just thinking yeah I I agree with Tony that that yeah there should be you know more use of the space and I think that there's options and it sounds like the the tenants are open to that but I would urge that we go slow. I don't want to incur $465,000 a year to try to make something happen unless we do some you know some market study some some viability. Is this viable? Other than, you know, we're going to try ring making one day and then we'll try necklace making the next the next week or the next month and and then meanwhile every year that goes by we're losing money and it's not being and it's still not being utilized that we're running a class for, you know, two people or whatever. So, I I want us to go as slow as possible. I'm I want them the spaces to be used. you know, if if um uh you know, we're going down this what we what we've decided what the what the arts are, what staff has decided what the arts are. Um so I I think that you know that lack of market data um that we don't have a demand analysis. We that's really financially uncertain. I I see a lot of question marks that we're we're trying and I've pointed out now a bunch of times when there's a recession and there's anything that happens to the economy and sales tax and we're already see it going down. The first thing that gets cut is parks, parks and recreation every single time. Every single time that that's what gets cut. So I So we're going to have a facility that costs us

money and we're going to end up having to cut staff and then so I I'd like us to go in slow to this find, you know, if we're going to, you know, exit out the folks that we have now in there that are that are paying rent and, you know, we're going to wing in a prayer to to see how we can, you know, push this forward. I wanted to be invited. I'm going to be pretty, you know, I think I I made my point u very uh directly about City Park that I I'm I'm concerned about how we're going to program that and I'm just as concerned about how we're going to program this and I think this is going to be a black hole for us and moneywise and um there's no clear metrics of success. I get it. We have a utilization rate but you know staff doesn't hear that. I I've never heard a report about utilization rates and I don't think that parks and recreation has got a a that they get utilization rates from how we're using. I know we count how many people come in the library and how many books that we do but we don't measure success in that way because I get the fact that we're offering a service but but we could also offer a service to other folks like you know the academy or or the March Academy or other folks that frankly have asked you know me over the years oh is there any space for us? Um, so I'd like that to be an option as well as we slow roll. I think that that we will, you know, I'm really looking at at option number one just for that because I want to go as slow as possible and have that number be as slow as as low as possible. Um I I have a question about you used the word optimization in in option one pretty early in the in the the uh presentation and then at the end of the presentation it didn't have optimization. So is there optimization in in option one besides getting rid of the the non-arts um users? the optimization would be bringing our arts programs over to that facility and occupying that in the space when the

non-arts tenants

Okay. So, it wouldn't be forcing the these folks to to make changes they didn't want to make or it wouldn't be that later on it's going to come back and you're and you're you know we're going to tell them, oh, by the way, we're going to combine the you you two in this facility because the the that's council direction. I hate that that and I want to be as clear as possible. I do not want to force people into things. I'd like us to work together and find paths forward, do things the right way, but at the same time, I would like to see some of these spaces used more, and I would like us to look at more leases, look at people that can use these leases instead of like, you know, gambling on our own folks and and that being, you know, we haven't proved a success there yet as far as I'm concerned. And so I'm I'm cautious about going anywhere near option three because I don't think we could do it. Um and frankly we're hiring a bunch of staff. And um option two um I I I I don't I see that there are some issues there going going even slower and I'd rather like to stay with option one and see how that goes and and see if there's other discussions because that's what's part of option one is and uh because I I just don't feel like you know gambling a half a million dollars a year on something we don't know is going to be successful and we're really just basing it on um on uh uh what people checked on a on um on a a poll. That's my comments.

Thank you, Tom. Thank you, Mayor. I'm uh I'm excited for all of this. I'm hoping that lunchtime lessons teaches pasta concepts. So, I'm all for that. The uh the California, sorry, the the [snorts] art association, they uh they're going to need a sink in their new space. Is that can that be accommodated? Yes, I can. Thanks, Donna. And then the uh the Stevens group, they there was the possibility of looking into the Victoria building to relocate them. Has that been looked into yet?

That is an option. If the council would like to direct us to do that, we can we can look at that. Okay. Thank you. I um I've always liked the phrase form follows function. I'm very impressed with the the programming as you've laid it out. I I I feel like it's very functional. It's it delivers a full variety of of services and classes and arts and I'm way on board with all of this and I'm option three. Thank you, Mayor. All right. Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Yes. Thank you. Um first I want to thank everyone for attending. It's it's past 10:00 and it's been a long meeting and I just thank you very much for sticking with [clears throat] us. Um, and thank you for uh pulling a card and sharing your comments. Um, you know, I I see the evolution of this conversation happening maybe a little differently from um what's been shared. I remember even before I was on CA on council hearing from um arts and and and and uh performing arts leaders in our community about uh this vision to convert the historic civic center into a performing arts center, an arts like having a centralized location in our community that um that supported performing arts and supporting supported the arts. And then I remember, you know, the conversation evolving into a um wanting to get a better understanding about um you know, the demand for performing arts in the city and we committed um to studying um whether or not that was feasible. Um and we we explored it. We um you know secured a consultant. uh we compared to cities and recognized that um it's it's it's a little bit bigger than than where we're at now, but that we have this asset that we could uh really invest into and uh support the current um uh arts and support our current nonprofits. So, um I see this as really getting to this place of how do we create um uh an environment where the arts can can thrive in our

community and a at a capacity where um you know our community can sustain it. So, um I wanted to share that for a little for some context as as someone who's not in the arts and not involved with these organizations. um how how I've seen it evolve. Um I have a few questions. Um I was wondering um will the current groups be able to offer uh and and participate as contractors in future programming if one of them if it was you know some examples were shared of other cities where where um groups are tapped to provide that kind of programming. Yes, that's something that we did discuss with um all of the arts tenants as we were meeting with them and that is definitely an option that's available if they're interested in assisting us. We're always looking for new contract class providers to help provide instruction and they do what they do very well. So, we would love to partner with them to expand on that.

Thank you. Um can we also speak a little bit to like the order of operations in options two and three? Um would programming happen before um improvements to the building or is there a way to do improvements to the building before programming? So the improvements would occur first um with option one and option two and three we would once those spaces become available we would make the improvements to the spaces and then we would start to activate that space with programming once those improvements were made. um the theater and and common areas would occur simultaneously to that. So the improvements are definitely something that we would be starting from the very beginning. As soon as we get direction from council tonight, we'll begin the planning and design process for that and then we would we would move on those those up updates as soon as that that plan is done. Is there a way that we could um ensure can we um ensure that the the improvements to the theater and the restroom and you know that com that shared space get done first. It really depends on how long that that design process takes. So those are the largest spaces. Um if we can get that design done quickly, we would absolutely move forward on that. But we we don't want to rush it. We want to make sure that we're doing it right. Um the improvements to the suites can be done a little bit quicker because we would have our enhanced maintenance team to be able to do a lot of that work. Um but we would definitely prioritize getting that plan and design done for the theater and the restrooms and try and move forward on that as soon as that uh information is ready.

I understand now. Um and that makes sense. So then I guess the specific question and the specific commitment would be can we begin that process first?

Yes, we can. As soon as we get direction from council, we'll start that process. Wonderful. Um and then it sounds like uh staff has had meetings with groups um to think about alternative locations and it sounds like um there's also some I mean I've heard from others that there are some organizations that had already been contemplating moving and we're thinking about you know um you know taking on leases in other parts or trying to grow into other buildings. is can you share a little bit more about what conversations have been had and what um possible solutions there are for any of these nonprofits? I understand I understand also if it's like not a thing we can talk about yet, but if it is, I think that's valuable in the conversation.

Yeah. So, we've certainly as in the my contacts with the non-arts tenants that would be uh potentially relocating, we've talked about providing that assistance to them. We're not on the we're not obligated to provide financial assistance, but definitely all our uh site selection services that we can have uh that we have available, we've offered and will offer more depending on uh council's direction today.

Got it. But um but we have said in this space that you know Victoria Park has been uh is is could potentially be a solution. We've also talked about um the heritage room at the library which we've invested a lot of money into as being a possible solution for other groups. Um so it's not these conversations are happening and um there's creative thinking and even though there isn't necessarily an obligation there is a really good intention and goodwill to try and find a place so that we can have um uh so that folks can find new homes right um okay um I you know [sighs] Wes I I council member speak I understand um I understand some of the hesitations but I you know are you still president of the historic preservation society?

I am. You are. I think that's something that folks should know you know when you're talking about this topic that um [clears throat] that that people need to know that. Well, I didn't advocate for No, but I think it's it's I think it's reasonable for folks to know that. That's it, Mr. Okay.

Okay. Um, so a comment was made that um the folks that are no longer going to be there are no longer worthy. Do we feel that they are no longer worth? Of course not. They're they're awesome. Inspire Life Skills is my favorite nonprofit. And I think that um the dozens and dozens of nonprofits who aren't at the HCC are still super important and they're just not getting a subsidized rate. We can't give that to everybody. Um I I want to make this our arts district, period. And we got to make some tough decisions on on who can be there and who can't. And I'm willing to make that. And I I eventually want to get to option three, but I do think um we need to slow it down a bit and go with option two, the phase in uh approach and see if our community services is right when it comes to programming and and we can see where we go from there. But I I definitely want to go towards option three. It's just how quickly we can get there. So, um, I'm option two for now with the goal of becoming option three. So, I don't

I didn't say I'm option two as well. You're okay. So, you got two option twos and two option threes and a one. Oh, I'll go to two. Okay. Okay. I just just want to make it really clear that I've voted for option one, which still includes no non arts. you. So, I'm not advocating for myself. So, I just want to make sure that's Well, you do you do a great job at CHPS. Okay. Um, got your direction. Yes. All right. Mayor, thank you very much.

All right. Let's move on to 10.1. Legislative matters. Ordinance amending various chapters within title 15 of the Cronin Municipal Code and adopting by reference the 2025 California Building Standards Code, California Code of Regulations, Title 24. Does any council member want to staff report on this item? Seeing none, Miss Edwards, are there speaker cards from the public? Mayor, we do not have any speaker cards for this item. Any questions or comments from my colleagues? Can you get a motion, please? Motion needs to be read. A motion. Want to read it?

Yeah. Introduced by title only and wave full reading for consideration of ordinance number 3421, first reading of an ordinance amending chapters 15.02 2 15.04 15.05 1507 15.08 15.09 15.10 15.11 12 20 28 All of 15s and adding chapter 15.25 25 to title 15 of the Corona Municipal Code adopting by reference the 2025 edition of the California Building Codes Standards Code, California Code of Regulations Title 24, including the 2025 California Building Code, the 2025 California Green Building Standards Code, the 2025 California [snorts] Residential Code, oh good grief, the 2025 California Mechanical Code, the 2025 California Energy Code, the 2025 California Historical Building Code, and the 2025 California Existing Building Code, the 2025 California Fire Code, the 2025 California Plumbing Code, the 2025 California Wildland Urban Interface Code, and the 2025 California Electrical Code, together with certain additions, insert insertions, deletions, and changes there, too. That was a lot. Wait, which which code did you say?

Yeah, just joking. Didn't you get second? Please vote. Acronyms would have been good there, Maddie. Uh,

all right, that passes 50. Moving on to library board of trustees, none. Planning reports from boards and commissions, planning commission, none. Parks and rec, none. regional meetings. One's from me from my RTA meeting, board meeting on October 23rd. I'm just going to share one item. In honor of those who have served our country, RTA will give free rides to veterans on Veterans Day, November 11th on all local commuter link go micro and dialerite services. That completes my report. Update from council member west speak on the state route 91 S9 SS91 advisory meeting on October 30th. Wes.

Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. I I it was a pretty uneventful meeting. I think it it took me longer to drive to Orange than it did for the meeting. Um, but we did get some financial news that the uh the new cheating system is working really well. They're actually catching a ton of cheaters that are driving through um uh so far they have issued $75,000 worth of fines for people that have have driven through and that's $5 a piece. So, you do the math uh just over the last couple of months. Um and they've seen an increase in uh in toll rates or in toll revenue um because of that. Uh we got a little update in the 91241 that it's been approved by the CTC and that will start uh sometime in the next year and a half.

Is that the is that the um the heat the the infrared infrared? It's No, [clears throat] it's actually just really good cameras. They have a ton of cameras and and they've only had I think it's less than less than 2% of the people that that uh that can test it. Um they can show them on tape that there was there's no other person in the car. So they've um they've caught a ton. I mean it was 24% of the people that were using the toll lanes were going through the three plus 24%. And that went down to I think 18%. All right. Thank you. City attorney reports and comments. Mr. Derlith.

Thank you, Mayor, members, Mr. Council. We do have a reportable action tonight on item 1.1. I'd like to report that we had a unanimous approval to ratify a settlement with um McKinley Medical Clinic or Dr. Patel in the amount of $675,000 related to the McKinley grade separation project. Thank you, Mr. Dur. The city manager reports and comments. Mr. Ellis,

thank you, Mayor. Uh, two just two quick comments. Uh, first, Dale, [clears throat] thanks for speaking up tonight. It's not very often that someone wants to hear me talk more. I'll I'll take that and uh take that to heart. I appreciate it. Um second, um mayor, council, tonight, as you heard, is the last council meeting for an irreplaceable member of our team.

Joanne, try not to smile too much while we talk about this. Uh and that's Joanne Klet, our planning development director. So, just a couple of fun facts. Joanne has been uh with the city of Corona for just about 31 years. She started as an intern here. She spent uh more than the last 17 years as the department director. That's an incredible run. Um as all of you know uh this business has its ups and downs and it can be a little bumpy sometimes and uh through thick and thin Joanne has uh been a consmate professional. She's a wealth of knowledge and just an exceptional leader. So beyond all of that, Joanne's just a fantastic person and uh we are so grateful for for her service to our community and we are going to miss her. So Joanne, thank you. [applause]

All right, [sighs and gasps] Mayor, we have a speaker card for the city manager report.

Okay. I I appreciate that you said something nice about Miss Galleta, but it must be really difficult to say that about an actual female. Um cuz you know, you know how things are going around here. So, I I don't think I've ever seen anybody with such a thin resume with exactly so much hubris as the city manager. Um, now for those of you who don't know, he's never been a city manager or even assistant city manager before his entire career sitting in the big boy chairs in this room. So, he was a department head in Gilbert. He wasn't an assistant town manager. Every department head has the title assistant town manager in Gilbert, Arizona. So, nobody bothered to look at the org chart. you know, I guess apparently the consultant said, "Oh, this is the guy." Um, so the the hubris, the the just the arrogance that just exudes from your per from your persona, it is just it's wildly out of scope for your experience. And and if it's possible, you're even almost more hated in this building than the previous city manager. You know, it's like it's like you're a more devious or it's like you're a little smarter than Talbert was, but you know, and you don't use your power for good, you use it for evil, you know, you're rude to people. you're pushy, you know, and and you really do only like people that go along like in an obsequious sort of a sense with your edicts, you know, and you're not doing a good job running community services cuz

you're the one doing it. It's an open secret that you're the one running the department. It's not it's not hard to figure out what's going on. Miss Finch is a lovely person. She's she's just seems like a really nice person, but she's not qualified to run it. And apparently you're not either because all these debacles all lead right up to you. You're the one running the department. You're We really do need a new city manager. We need an experienced one. We're going to undertake big projects and we have somebody who's not good at things. Thank you very much. All right, Mayor.

Mayor, can I make a comment? I'd like to apologize to the city manager because I gave bad advice to the city clerk earlier that we can have public comments on what is simply a comment from the city manager, not a report from the city manager. I made a mistake earlier and gave that and so that was a an unfortunate tongue lashing that was undeserved and uh I apologize. All right. Thank you. All right. Well, that was just another super fun meeting and um but keep it positive here. I'm gonna uh close this meeting in honor of what? Do you want to say something?

Go ahead.

I did. I I you know I wanted to thank um Dale too. I you know I don't often use uh the ending comments as well. I mean the the night the meetings are so long people want to get home. I also think that there's just better ways for folks to see what I'm up to rather than me giving like an attendance sheet, you know what I mean? But, um, but I'm going to internalize those comments and maybe use them. And I'll be I'll be honest, I see other cities and their city managers talk and think that, you know, and I prefer [laughter] city manager not to talk, but maybe, you know, there's there's a good balance there. Um, because we know we're the elected officials. We're the ones that, you know, um um that the public holds accountable. Um and everybody else, you know, we've got we've got two employees, sure, but um although we're sitting on this dis, right? Like these are the folks that should be doing the talking. So anyway, those are my thoughts and I want to share, but I did want to thank you for um for sharing your thoughts. So, gives me a little bit to to think about and how to use these comment times in the future. Thanks, Dale.

Tony,

I'll be very brief. Um, Miss Kleta, congratulations on your retirement, making it out alive. I hope that you have plenty of restful days ahead of you. You've been a wonderful addition to this community and thank you for your service. Um, just a quick shout out to Tom Moody. Had a resident reach out to me um regarding what ultimately was their mistake. uh about their billing address and not getting their water bill. Um 15 minutes after I sent the email pretty late at night, I got a call back from that resident saying that they just got off the phone with Tom Moody, who helped him work through the problem and politely informed them that it sounds like that their problem was of their own doing. So, uh want to thank thank you to uh to Mr. Moody who, you know, reached out above and beyond and and got that taken care of. I think that they were mostly surprised that they got almost immediate service. So, thank you very much, Mr. Moody. Really quick, um this weekend I've been for the last two weekends I've been been hosting a talks with Tony event at different parks. This weekend I'll be at Border Park um between 9:30 and 11:30. And then next weekend, I will be concluding this series at before the the holidays at Butterfield Dog Park where I'm going to attempt to bring my dog at the dog park and hope that she is somewhat well behaved, but don't think that she's going to be. So, it's going to be interesting. Thank you,

Wes. Just uh just a couple things. One, Joanne um tremendous. [snorts] I it's it I no secret I work in the same kind of same circles and and when I tell people that I serve in at this at this city people come out of the woodwork to tell me what a great you know great job you do and and how they're envious of your career that you've been here so long and and that you've had an opportunity to to serve for so long. So I just want to say thank you and I hope you don't go too far. So I know that somebody's going to be asking you questions at some point for sure. Um and uh and then lastly or two more things. So windown want to say thank you for they're having investing in Corona. They uh they're starting to do some more active social media and getting stuff out there and hopefully you know folks show up. I drove by and saw lots of folks there. And then um I did have a I did ask for a briefing from the transportation department about uh the Ontario widening project. That's basically through the county portion. Um uh they were really great at uh all staff from uh Riverside County Transportation Department. They're uh they completed their envir environmental document in June. Their final design is at 85%. That's expected to be in April 2026. Uh they're going to do rightway acquisition in that time through the end of July. And then they're um thinking that the construction will start sometime in September 2026. So after 101 years um uh Ontario will go from one one lane to two lanes. That's when Tomezco Canyon between uh the 15 freeway and Tom Barnes uh was first paved was in 1925. So that's it. Thanks.

Thank you, mayor. I'd also like to say thank you to Joanne. You you'll always be a legend here and I think everybody in the room just agrees with that. I know it's hard for some of you in the back to uh to see this far forward. So, if you had to pick of the five council members, the two most fit, it would obviously be me and Dario. [laughter] And you laughed. And with uh with that in mind, I have officially challenged Council Member Dario to the 5K race uh coming this March. Um, he's trying to practice and uh, I'm way ahead of him and I got my number and just come and support the race and root for me and not Dario. Thank you, mayor. [snorts] All right. Well, I got a little ahead of myself with the excitement of knowing I could leave here in a minute, but um, we have a item 15 future agenda items and all of them are Wes, which which made me even sadder. Um, so we got to remember when we do future agenda items, the majority of the council needs to agree to add to a future agenda. So the first one um is providing the use of city facilities to other government agencies free of charge. Wes, would you like to uh introduce your

Yeah, this this came out because um the 91 commission they 91 committee they meet here once a year, twice a year, and right now the way our current policy runs is they're not able to do that without paying. And so I think the fact that that I I think that those facilities should be um should be free for other government agencies as long as there's a nexus for the city of Corona. So what was the agency you referred to? I'm sorry. Um the 91 cooperation, it's OCTC and or OCTA and and RCTC. Um and if the city there's a nexus for the city I sit on the committee that they should be able to use the space that I have to pay for it. That's it.

Thoughts guys? I'm in favor of me too. Okay, study that. Next one's um provide the number of housing units approved by the city of Corona since 2019. What's what's that all about? Wes,

this basically people have asked me how many units we have um we've approved since 2019. And frankly, I could have done a public records request and asked for the the agendas, but I I thought it would be easier than that. But apparently I'm being asked to do a public records request. And then the second part of that was I wanted to know how many units are currently approved but not being built. That's one of the things that I get asked all the time too is how many how many units that we have um that are that are approved and and not able to uh or that haven't moved forward yet. So I thought those are two two good numbers that would be useful um to the five of us for sure. That doesn't sound like a heavy lift, does it?

It's just a It's a manual process to go through. It's just more than an hour's worth of work. So, uh, we wanted to get direction from council. It will take a number of hours for staff to go through that and and gather that. It's not contained in a single record. Wes, what was the reason that you wanted those numbers? Uh, one I I would like to know um how many that we've approved just because because I'm people have asked me just out of curiosity. I I mean I've I've had residents that asked me and said, "Well, how many how many housing units have you approved?" And I said, "I don't know, cuz it's not a lot in the grand scheme of things." I I don't think so either. Um Yeah. And then the other one is I' I'd like to know how many housing units are currently approved and not built.

So, if he's going to do a public records request anyways, it's going to just take up staff's time anyways, right? Uh well, we would provide records, but it wouldn't necessarily tabulate it. So the request I think is for staff to go through and come up with that number by going through a lot of records rather than a public records request which would simply provide a a large number of records in which case council member speak would have to do that work. Okay. Well, what are my thoughts on my colleagues? I I think that this is probably a metric that we should know. Frankly, I'm surprised that we don't already and I I guess I would almost amend it and say we should keep this as a running list. So I I want to know this information as I guess if it was a running list, it'd be easy to add to. Yeah. Yeah. What about you, Tom? I'm okay.

All right. [sighs and gasps] Thank you. Um and then I'll ask for speakers after I finish this last one. Okay, Sylvia. All right. So, the last one is um explore the legalities of requiring cups for outpatient drug add or I'm sorry, cups. Cups. Yeah. It's also spelled cups. This spell cover for outpatient drug addiction. We're not talking about a baseball team. All right. Outpatient drug addiction treatment clinic. So, explore the legalities of requiring Cups for outpatient drug addiction treatment clinics. Wes.

Okay. So, I I was surprised to to find out about the the methodone clinic that and this isn't just about them. Um and I I know the owner of the building. They had remained empty for a while. They've signed a lease. um and and they're, you know, looking at uh you know, when their lease is up, not renewing or or looking into it. So, I I did I did ask and said, "Hey, low, this is located here. It's pretty close to the library. Is there um is there anything that we can do? It is a medical use. There's probably some fun legal thing legal um hoops to jump through. And I'm just curious about whether or not that that um we can do some restrictive zoning or I put CUP just because I didn't know another term to put um for um outpatient addiction uh treatment clinics just because of the the um I realize it's a good thing that that people can I've had family members that that have used um use methadone and it helped them help them um you know combat their addiction. However, location is important.

I agree with you 100%. Okay, good. You got your three there. All right, that is that. So, I just wanted to remind everybody of Mayor Steiner, I do have a speaker card for this item. Any speakers from the public? Everybody good? I'm good.

Thanks, Chris. I owe you a beer. [laughter] All right. State of the city is November 20th, 6 pm at the HCC. Uh, please come. We'd love to have you there. And as I was going to earlier, we are going to close our meeting in honor of Joanne Kleta for her 31 years of service to the citizens of Peron. [applause] So, thank you, Joanne. We will uh be back on November 19th at 6 PM. This meeting is adjourned. for us as well. And you guys have made yourself [music] very available to us. Again, we actually engage with the city on a few occasions to [music] really help us navigate because there's always some new regulation that comes up. Um, and definitely having someone that's uh wellversed in those rules and regulations has really helped us uh smooth the process out a bit for us.

So, by by taking the pledge, uh we actually got a lot [music] of other resources, right, that came in with that partnership. They help us with remarketing, [music] right?