City Council - Regular Meeting

[Music] I am calling the afternoon meeting into session and Mr. City Attorney, will you read out?

Uh, thank you, mayor. We did meet in close session. The council was able to address three items on the agenda. Uh the public employee appointment item and the conference with labor negotiator which were a combined item. There was no reportable action on that. Uh you also had item D which was a conference with legal counsel with regard to one item of anticipated litigation. You gave direction to the city attorney's office on that matter but there was no reportable action. We still have item C, which is one item of existing litigation. That item will be held over until the end of our regular meeting tonight, then we'll pick it up then. Thank you.

Thank you so very much. In honor of this August 13th meeting, uh, Raymond Gregory will lead us in the pledge of allegiance. I 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 very much. And if you would remain standing. I'm in a blank here.

Heavenly Father, we come to you today asking you for your guidance and wisdom as we this meeting. Help us engage in a meaningful discussion and allow us to grow closer as a community. It is in your precious name that we pray. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. City clerk. May we have roll call. Council member Carnivali here. Council member Lamb. Council member Gutierrez here. Mayor Tim Pro Mayor Mayor Pro Tim Gregory here. Mayor Ross here.

Please let let the record show council member Lamb is absent. Do I have a motion to excuse her absent? Second. A motion by Mayor Proim Gregory and a second by Council Member Gutierrez. We'll do a roll call. Council member Carnivali. Yes. Council member Gutierrez. Yes. Mayor Proim Gregory. Mayor Ross. Yes. Motion carries. All eyes. Our first item tonight is a special presentation August 2025 month to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first recorded map in the city. Mr. City Manager Cynthia Schultz from our planning department who is also the project manager on the zoning code update is going to present this item for you.

It's kind of an interesting thing. So C. Good. I'm glad you find it interesting. Good evening. Good evening

Mayor Mayor Prom City Council. I do have a presentation for you and I'm actually going to narrate the presentation. Um, but it got uh great reviews this morning. So, I hope that you enjoy it and I hope our members of the public enjoy this as well. So, August 2025 marks the centennial of the city's first recorded subdivision. It draws a line in the sand and establishes the city as a desert destination. Come along to 1925. Before the streets, before the sunscreen, and before air conditioning, [Music] before the streets and houses appeared, Highway 111 traced a ribbon through the desert, curling along the foot of the mountains. When two real estate developers from Los Angeles met up with local investors, they stitched together a team to build the start of a city at the mouth of Cathedral Canyon. [Music] August 1925, the four men hired a surveyor to map out a desert subdivision. And in the process, they left their mark. Today, their names Allen, Grove, Plumbley, and Van Fleet, still crisscross the downtown as the original town sites as the streets that we travel every day. George Allen and Glenn Plumbley opened a real estate office even before there was a downtown. Allen's office stood at the corner of Broadway and Cathedral Canyon Drive where Taco Bell stands today. Together, they marketed desert lots for prices starting at $300. Now, that's affordable California real estate.

Wow. Quick trivia. You've probably already heard this, but no, the city was not named for a church, a cathedral, or any man-made structure. It was the inspirational namesake when Colonel Henry Washington surveyed the valley, noting that the canyon walls reminded him of a cathedral. The intrigue of the city's name was noted in Ripley's Believe It or Not This issue from 1939. The city grew and by the 1930s the city had a volunteer fire department and a town hall. The city even had a fire truck that doubled as a pickup that delivered water. This is desert ingenuity to the rescue. Thanks to local efforts and fundraising, they were able to purchase this modern fire and rescue equipment. [Music] The growing city attracted tourists, artists, gold miners, and outsiders seeking solace, affordability, sunshine, and a sense of freedom. [Music] The city experienced some heyday when the unincorporated area became a setting where certain activities such as gambling halls and other unregulated ventures became operated more freely here than they did in other neighboring cities. That was until statewide crackdowns, including those that were led by then Attorney General Earl Earlworn, brought them to a close. Yet, even as those shadowy chapters faded, the artistic community flourished, especially in the cove, where many artists made their homes and contributed to the cultural fabric of the city for generations. [Music] This dual identity as a haven for

creativity and a place of reinvention defined Cathedral City long before it became a municipality. [Music] Today, the city is a bustling hub, home to several businesses, restaurants, studios, and residents. [Music] Thank you for coming along on a journey of Cathedral City's first 100red years. Let's usher in the next hundred years of great places, great events in colorful Cathedral City. And I want to give a shout out to the Cathedral City Historical Society for the use of their photographs. I know that I noted that on there, but it's that's a terrific haven for resources for our community. So, there's a proclamation in your packet this evening. We wish to commemorate the city's 100th anniversary or centennial of the first recording of a map uh long before the city as I mentioned became an official municipality. Um very proud of it and uh hope that you are as well.

Thank you so very much. How fun is that? We weren't just scallywags. We were actually getting things done. Yes, indeed. Well, maybe we're a little scallywaggy. Maybe you can have both. That's just great. Okay.

Yeah. I'll just make a quick comment. I I was fortunate enough to remember downtown Cathedral City. You know, at Casey's Code 7 where it was a famous uh breakfast house that eventually turned into Michael's Cafe that was very popular. It's a uh the gas station, standard gas station downtown, Sun Air, believe it was Sun Air uh drive-in uh movie theater. And there was restaurants. It was a cool little town. And even where uh the casino was now, there was so many little homes and little businesses in there. So, it it really brought back some memories because we spent a lot of time in Cathedral City being so close to Palm Springs at that time. But great job that uh that's really moving. Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you. Well, seeing the first uh plot map and the streets, I remember as a realtor, I've been practicing real estate for a long time and actually I did sell quite a few homes in the ABC streets and the Grove and as a matter of fact, um some of my friends lived on Grove Street and I still have friends that live just behind Napa who have lived here forever. So, it brought me back a lot of memories way back in the day. I moved down here in 1981, so I've been here for a long time. And I got to see, like Council Member Carneali mentioned, I remember the old driving theater and uh many other businesses and also the painting of a fire truck right here on Cathedral Canyon and um and Highway 11 or Palm Canyon and Cathedral Canyon. Yeah, great job. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Pro, please.

Thank you. So yeah, thank you so much for the presentation and for uh commemorating this this time um the hundredy year um the 100redy year um of anniversary of the uh at least the the map naming of the of the area as Cathedral City. Um I haven't been here as long although I feel like I've been here a long time since well since 97 I've lived here but um I used to visit off and on in the '9s. Um, so some of the businesses that were mentioned were here before and of course many of them when I think back even since I moved here with the were the post office in Elgato and all those other little um the Red tomato and all those other little restaurants that were here right on this side and then uh back in the early 90s I actually there were some on the other side at the time. Most of those were torn down by the time I got here, but uh as a permanent resident, but uh sometimes we feel like we don't have a long history here in Cathedral City as our incorporation is still fairly short and what we're 43 years old, but uh as an incorporated city. So, I thank you and others that have um dug in and reminded us that although the incorporated history may not be that long, we have a long history and a lot to be proud of here in Cathedral City. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so very much. And thank you for making the connection with the historic society. It hasn't always been easy. Sometimes the stuff was in somebody's garage and you know they didn't really know whose garage. It it's it's been difficult. Do you now help with possession of all of those? We don't have possession. Although in communications with the historical society, they're interested in figuring out a way to archive those materials so that they can be made more public and be more accessible to folks because I think what we've seen today um and I I presented this to staff today and it the response has blown me away at how excited people have been just to be able to see the pictures and kind of understand the story. And if we can be able to tell that to our public and to even to our visitors, what a valuable asset we have for the city. So we we we really would like to be able to do that. I I I remember my first trip down here. We hadn't even bought a house yet. And I took my husband to Elgato. He kind of thought it was going to be like a famous steakhouse, you know. I was like, "Oh, no, no, that would be like El Gauchos in Portland. That's that's not quite the same." And I remember being so thrilled and him being so perplexed that I was so thrilled over this building, but it was it was just so genuine and it just it felt good and it was part of the reason that we moved here. So those important pieces, I was so sad to see it go and those important pieces mean so much to our future and so thank you so much. If there's anything we can do, you shout out.

Absolutely. We're kind of archivists. We could figure it out.

Thank you. And I'm really glad that you brought up um the pictures and some of the other history because at the end of this month, you may or may not be aware um on the 30th there will be uh an actual commemoration celebration of the Mary Pickford Theater just across the street from us. We'll be hosting a movie. The movie is free and we're um the city is picking up the tab for that. Um but all are welcome. Uh we will be showing the movie weekend in Palm Springs. I know it says Palm Springs, but most of the movie was filmed filmed here in Cathedral City, so it has a local connection. It's a really fun movie. Um, it was actually recommended to me by one of our planning commissioners. I won't name any names in case people don't like the movie, but um it's been a great uh adventure. We're looking forward to that. So, that movie will start that movie will start uh at 11:00 on Saturday morning. Again, it's free of charge. um city really wants to get get the awareness out there, make people aware of what we have done in the lastund hundred uh years. And no, we haven't just been scallywags, although scallywag sounds fun, too. Um and there was one other Oh, we'll also be doing a little introductory video that's a little bit like this, but it'll have it'll be eight or 10 minutes long, so it'll have a little more history in it.

Thank you so very much. It was really fun. Great. I can see why they loved it earlier today. Thank you. City clerk, will you please read the statement of participation? Mayor, I just want to ask the public if anyone wants to comment on that special presentation. That's a great idea. And I see none. So, I'll read the statement now.

Okay. Public comment is the opportunity for members of the public to comment on items that are within city council's jurisdiction but not on the agenda. Because of restrictions contained in California law, the city council may not discuss or act on any item not on the agenda, but may briefly respond to statements made or ask a question for clarification. The mayor may also request a brief response from staff to questions raised during public comment or request that a matter be agendaized for a future meeting. Public comment will be limited to three minutes. If you are a member of the public and you wish to address the city council, please complete a request to speak form available at the entrance and submit it to the city clerk. You will be called upon at the appropriate time. If you have materials or other items to present to the members of the city council, please do not approach them. All materials shall be presented to the city clerk for distribution. And we do have a member of the public. Our first speaker is Bob McKnney.

Good evening, Mr. Mcknne.

It's good to see you all. I haven't been here in a while. And to hear this presentation about the hundred years, I'm astonished. It's wonderful. So anyway, we're back at it with the Cathedral City Peace Initiative. We're having our annual event that coincides with the United Nations International Peace Day. It's seep September 21st, 2 p.m. It's a Sunday, and it's at the Cathedral City Library. And Karen Riley has outdone herself uh with two exhibits. One is about the it's a photographic exhibit, the children of Gaza and the children of Cathedral City. They're next to each other. And the other is it's 80 years since Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And so it's a photographic exhibit of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And then the third thing of course is u art from the children and the people of Cathedral City. So I think you'll just really love it and so we I think we've gone to the next level. We also have a wonderful speaker. I heard her speak at another meeting a few weeks ago and I can assure you this woman is really uh fabulous as a speech speaker. Her name is Nancy Ross.

So thank you very much. appreciate. I hear she gets around. I don't know. I hope to see you all. Thanks so much, Bob. You take care. Thanks. Are there any other members of the public that wish to comment on items that are not on the agenda? I see none, mayor. Thanks so much. So, we're going to start with council reports. Um I think I'm just going to go with the same route. Let's start with you. Okay. Thank you, uh, mayor.

Of course. Uh I met with uh Charlie and Anne for the agenda review and although it hasn't been a real active month for me, you know, I do continue to read up followup going on in the city and I was really pleased to uh to read the report that uh the cannabis odor has been decreased almost 90%. And that's uh really really big. And only one in five on patrol checks. And uh it's always it's been a little bit of a problem here, but it it's good to know that you know the city's working on it and correcting it. And for those thousands and thousands of people that are watching here today in Cina City, uh if you'd like to read the ordinance, the new ordinance is available on uh public viewing. And then after some uh delays, a m a major milestone, our regulatory improvement process, Cathedral City has launched a pilot program for the reporting and monitoring of cannabis order. And thanks to Ryan, he put this out there. It could be reached on my Cathedral City app. And it's really easy to use. So if you smell something, say something, I guess, instead of see something, but uh it's there for us to to monitor this. And then uh just last week I was uh at AMP and I saw a couple homeless uh gentlemen there really really in bad shape and it kind of like took me back. I went, "Oh, I never seen these two before in town." And uh so I just happened to run into officer Novi and I I brought it to his attention and I was just so impressed. Uh he knew their names. He's he's out reached to them many many times. they just won't uh uh qualify due to their own reasons why they don't want to be placed in housing. But uh I also followed through on the reports that what he's doing and the H homeless liaison or is doing out there and they're doing fabulous work. He's I think in today's uh report uh he closed some encampments down. They're out in the middle of the desert. So, it's not only for, you know, the safety of these

individuals, but he's keeping the homeless, uh, doing what he's supposed to be doing, getting out there. And, uh, it's just so fun. Not funny, is when, uh, uh, Robert uh, came in today to speak, he's been out on the streets, and Officer Novi actually mentioned his first name and and his last name and said he's been trying to get him placed. And I'm just so aggravated, you know, that we have all these uh uh options for the homeless with seabag and uh housing first and then here's a gentleman they can't h house. And so I'm going to look into it a little bit more and find out why this man's still on the streets. It's it's not fair to him. It's not fair to any homeless or veteran for that matter. So uh I just uh wanted to I I just think officer Nobi should have should really be mentioned for the great works he's doing out there. It's not easy work by no means, you know, uh you don't know what he gets into out there, but uh doing very very And it was something else he said very classy after I told him what a great job he was doing. He actually praised Dwayne Hajj who was like one of the first uh homeless leaison and Powers and Brooks. So he did take all the credit. He passed it on to the uh officers ahead of him. So I was really impressed with that. So Chief, if you wanted to pass that on to him, I'd appreciate it. And thank you, Madame Mayor.

Thank you very much. Council member Gutierrez.

Thank you, Mayor. Well, good evening everyone. It's nice to be back once again and I know that, you know, it's been pretty hot out there and staying cool. It's it's not just uh a means of uh surviving, but also your bills, your electric bills are going up. And I just want to uh give you a little bit of information regarding Southern California Edison. Southern California Edison has different programs in which they can help assist residents who qualify get either for instance they have one program that is called the the energy assistance fund. The energy assistance fund if you have any financial hardships a problem they can actually discount a a particular bill up to $200 every year once a year. And then they have other programs which one of them is called the care program which is California alternative rate for energy. In that particular program a household can save up to 32.5% of their bill the electric bill if you qualify. And Cathedral City not being the most affluent uh city many of our residents actually might qualify and save a ton of money and energy. And there's another program called the Farah. That program is the family electric rate assistance. And that particular program, many residents can actually lower the monthly bill by up to 18%. All of these is simple to qualify. You just call Southern California Edison. Their number is 1-800798-5723. Or you can go on www.sce sc.com and they have an online application or you can do it over the phone or they can even email you an application. You can do it that way if you like. And they

also have other programs in which your electric bill might be going up and it's not just because it's hot, it's because your unit is too old and it's inefficient. So they have different programs in which they can actually replace your air conditioning unit entirely. the condenser and the furnace as well. And you all you have to do is pay $500 for this particular program. You don't have to own the home. You can be the tenant and they will replace it as long as the owner of the property agrees to it. The owner doesn't have to qualify. The people living in the property are the only ones that have to qualify. And norm normally the owner pays $500 and they'll get a brand new AC unit, brand new efficient AC unit. Also, Edison at the same token, they can go out there and do an inspection on your property. The inspection consists of either uh insulation, they can replace your water heater to make it more efficient and replace it with a an electric water heater. They can replace uh light bulbs to be more efficient. They can replace water uh spets to make it more efficient. There's many ways that they can actually help you assist assist you in saving money. So reach out to Southern California Edison and their program that they work with the company they work with under is called Synergy. But reach out to Edison and they will guide you from there. And other things that I've done is um I attended free movies at Mary Pic for theater for kids, local residents and their families. And it was it's such a great event. I've done it twice. And uh Antonio Vuch here. He does such an amazing job along with Aaron Highly and also Highland and also Mario Jimenez. You guys do an incredible job for our

residents. is so cute just to stand there and hand out I thought it was the greatest job hand out popcorn and and waters to kids and just to offer them a couple of free books kids books is amazing they don't know which one to pick so you guys were kind enough to offer them whether they wanted one two or three so that was really interesting kids from all ages some were teenagers come in for just either to stay cool or just to enjoy the movie. One of the coolest things that the second time I learned from the first time is that before the movie starts, uh Antonio took me to the stage or to see the to see the actual setting and um they have somebody actually reading a kids a kids book to the kids before the movie starts. I thought that was pretty cool. And all the kids, all the families and the parents were all engaged into watching this person up on stage reading a book. And you can actually see uh in the screen some of the uh pages from the book and which that we're reading. It was the coolest thing. I wish I was a kid around that time. Yeah. But that was really neat. So thank you for what you do, Antonio. And thank you for uh the p the um the parks and reccks committee. You guys do a great job out there. And um I also participated in assisting the fire department uh conduct an interview for a battalion chief. And that was along with our assistant city manager and our deputy chief uh Rick Sanchez here. We did a great job. We did a great u we had a great team. We interviewed I believe it was eight candidates. It took all day but it was nice to see the difference of all the candidates once you start asking questions and you see their their education, their personality and their

intelligence. We were amazed uh and it was very interesting that how three individuals here after you hear eight interviewers go through the process how you can actually come to almost the same conclusion which ones are ready to step into that position. So, it was very interesting and it was uh great sitting with two these two people uh that that just did a great job. And I also attended the back to school backpack giveaway put on by the police department, the police association and uh also in which the uh DR uh came up and they installed water slides and this event was amazing. Uh it was it was it was the first time I attended. They had different booths and not only did they give back to school uh giveaway backpacks and other things, but they had books, they had utensils, they they give away um uh motor uh bicycle helmets and many other things. And they also had water, they had gatorades. It was it was a beautiful event and well attended. And uh the water slides were a big hit. Kids were just lined up for miles to get into those lights. And it was interesting to watch. And um I also as I was still handling quite a few phone calls even though like Council Member Carnival mentioned, it's a little slow for us. We're taking a little bit of time off, but we still handle calls from residents and luckily they're not most of them uh we can handle them ourselves. We don't have to pass it on to staff. And that concludes my report. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you so very much, Mayor Prom, please.

So, yes, five weeks. We've been gone five weeks here in the summer. Very nice um to be able to take some time off. Um I did do a few things. I know I I did attend on Saturday, July 12th. There's a new business in town called My Desert Dogs. They had an open house here on Perez Road. Um, I wasn't there at the very beginning because I had another meeting, but um, I I I got there, they were I think the open house lasted till 1:00. I think I got there about noon. So, they've got quite a facility over on Perez where they they you can do dog doggy daycare, dog washing, dog overnight. Um, they have dog exercise areas. So, if you have a dog and you haven't checked out my desert dogs, um, please look it up and and check them out. And then later that week there was a dinner with Paty that was at Tony's Burgers. Um um and it was benefiting the Cathedral City Boys and Girls Club. So I was happy to attend there and of course I always see representatives from our police and fire departments from our and from city staff, city management in particular. So um there were things going on in July and then I kind of got out of here. I spent some time in San Diego and then I actually spent some time overseas. And you would think going overseas, you're completely removed from contact with Cathedral City. And what do you know, the same small ship cruise that I was on, there were two couples there from Cathedral City. So, and and neither one that I knew very well. So, I got to talk and uh I spent a little time with some people from Cathedral City. And we're talking about a group that was maybe about 120 people. So, with us, there were six from Cathedral City. And so what are the chances? But but you never know. So and then since I've been back um just earlier this week um I the mayor and I did participate with city management in a 2 by two with the college of the desert. So we met with their superintendent uh Dr. Martinez Garcia and one of their board members,

board member Meyer. uh talk a lot about of course Roadrunner Motors um how that's coming along but then also other ways in which uh uh the city can help um mostly with communication um and uh promotion with College of the Desert and way college of the desert is willing to help us in customizing programs and trying to meet our needs as a city. So that was a very good meeting. Um I think we should continue of course to have more of those meetings because as government agencies we're all working towards serving the public. So, and earlier today I did go to Riverside and spent the morning um at the Riverside County Transportation Commission meeting. Um couple of nothing in direct directly affecting Cathedral City. They did approve some project rankings that will now go to the Southern California Association of Governments for some federally funded programs. They did a little shout out there. They did mention that uh they got great help with their rankings. They had somebody staff member from RCTC. They had um um somebody from the Coachella Valley Association of Governments and they they had the the head of their technical advisory commissioner commission, this public works director named John Carella helped them with their rankings. So it was very nice. They gave him a by name shout out there in in Riverside and uh and I know they appreciate the help and it's just one of the many things that you probably don't know but John Carelli is the chair of their technical advisory committee and he is doing a lot of good work uh making sure that projects uh go forward here all over the county and and uh in particularly watching out for the Coachella Valley and Cathedral City and um so that was that's that's been it for the work. I did want to mention, of course, if you haven't noticed, that school kids are back here. The public or the Palm Springs Unified School District is back in session. So, make sure that you're being a little extra patient with your time as especially as the kids and their parents get adjusted to the drop offs and pickups. And I'm sure the

police department is doing a little bit of extra enforcement to try to remind people and and um maybe issue a few citations if necessary around the school. So, um um please make sure that you watch out for our kids. And um as much as we enjoyed this this little vacation we had, we're going to have another one here coming up. So, this is our only meeting this month. So, we will back to be back to see you um the week after a full week after uh Labor Day weekend. And so, mark your calendar. We'll be back on September 10th. That's all I have. Mayor, thank you.

Thank you so very much. And as they have mentioned, we've had some of that scheduled time off, but we didn't quit working. I participated in Manny Perez's birthday party. That was a hoot and attended the Greater Coachella Valley animal. It's not animal going to my bra. You talk about animals. I meant their annual installation actually with um Eric. That's real, but I don't see him here. I was part of the update meeting with the Riverside County Animal Services. Attended the celebration for the new ambulance and oath of office for the fire personnel. On the 27th of June, I attended the greater vis great visit greater Palm Springs meeting and their breakfast. Uh on the 30th, I attended the general assembly evening meeting. I had fun with a video shoot done with our events department for Ethalina Con. That was that was really fun. I had brunch with dinner uh with Paty at Nyx Beastro. Went to a grand opening of the new doggy daycare that Mayor Prom talked about, Desert Dogs. Attended a dear friend's 100th birthday at Nyx Beastro. Interviewed uh with Wellbe Health. I did an interview with them. It's going to go nationally with their program. Wellbe Health is an amazing organization that uses federal funds to keep seniors healthy and it seems to be working extremely well, growing, growing, growing, growing. So I was happy to do that with them. I had a board operations meeting with Sunline Transit, a pre-commission discussion with Animal Campus, represented you on the Coachella Valley Animal Campus later that week. Took part in the 2 by two meeting as um Mayor Prom said. I was honored to speak at the transgender alliance meeting as well as the courageous resistance group. I attended a do the right thing awards ceremony for one of our students, our high school students in Linta, Cathedral City High School uh lady, but it was at in a Lintita facility. I

represented us at Cake Energy and Environment. I attended the Boys and Girls Club art exhibit. And there's probably more, but I'm going to stop there. We're busy beavers around here. I went to Oregon State, so I can call myself a beaver. It's okay. Busy beavers here. I want to share with you something I did goes really, really, really wrong. And I just I'm going to try to hope that you will take heed. My husband and I went up to Idle Wild for a few days. And on the way up there, we looked ahead of us on Highway 74 and a little bit to the right and we could see some black smoke. I said, "Oh, that doesn't look good. It looks like there's a fire." He said, "Yeah, but it's it's a ways off." So, we kept going and as we got closer to the black smoke, we could now see red flames, but my husband and I agreed with him. We can get through there. We're fine. So, we kept going and soon there was a fire on the left side. So, we have this big fire on the right side. Now, we've just got a little fire. Maybe it's, you know, 3 4t tall. And we're going to go because going on this vacation is more important than our lives. I have no idea when we made that decision, but apparently we had and we got maybe another 25 ft and a small fire broke out right next to our tire on the right side and kind of simultaneously said, "What the heck are we doing? Turn the car around." So, we did. We went around banning and went up and still made it to Idle Wild and had a great weekend. But isn't that ridiculous? Isn't that ridiculous? We're grown people. We know the the importance of safety. We know how dangerous fire is. and and still me who's overly cautious that a lot of people are, you know, I don't know how to swim. I don't really want to be in fires. Anyway, I just I just want you to be aware because I think if I could be that stupid, you could be that stupid, too. So, let let me share. Yeah, I think you could. I think you could be that stupid, too. So, maybe not. Maybe it's just me. I can't say for sure, but that's that's what

I've done over the last week. Some really great things and one big stupid one. Thanks so much. and and thanks for that support there. Council member Carnival. All right. So, uh, city clerk, could you please read the consent agenda? Item 4 A is to wave full readings of ordinances on the agenda. Item 4 B is the approval of the July 9th, 2025 study session and regular city council meeting minutes. Item 4 C is the approval of the check demand register for July 2025. Item 4 D is to ratify the memorandum of understanding between the city and the Cathedral City Police Management Association. Item 4 E is to approve a license agreement with the Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District for the maintenance of the Day Palm Bridge and the North Cathedral Canyon Channel. Item 4 F is to accept the 2025 2026 California Highway Patrol Cannabis Tax Fund Grant Program. Item 4G is to accept the notice of completion for fiscal year 2024 2025 rubber rubberized emulsion aggregate sury reyes project. Item 4 is to authorize the purchase of one 2025 Ford F-150 police responder from Ulletac equipment and uplifting for the homeless liaison unit. Item 4 I is to adopt the resolution approving an updated citywide salary schedule. Item 4J is the approval of supplemental law enforcement services account expenditure plan for fiscal years 2021 through 2022 and 2022 through 2023 for the Axon bodywn cameras and software. Item 4K is to adopt a resolution of authorizing the official design for the leistos California support grant program. Item 4L is to authorize the purchase of one Ford Maverick for the building and safety division to accommodate newly hired building inspector. And that concludes

the consent agenda. Thank you very much. Are there excuse me, are there any members of the public who would wish to comment on any of the items that she just read from the consent agenda? I did not receive any request to speak forms and I do not see any members that would like to speak. Thank you so much. Are there any comments from council or items that you would like to speak on? Starting with Nope. Nope. We're all good to go. Thanks so much. Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda? Move to approve.

Second. We have a motion by Council Member Gutierrez and a second by Mayor Ross. Please vote. And motion carries. All eyes. Thank you so much. So, next is a legislative action considering making an appointment to the finance advisory committee. It is a recommendation to consider making an appointment to this committee to fill an unexpired seat with a term continuing through June 30th, 2026 based on the interviews that we conducted in our study session just a month a just two months ago. June 25th. May we have a staff report, please?

Thank you. Um, mayor, I'm going to give the staff report which you basically just gave. That was an excellent um, summary. You did interview three candidates back in June, uh, and made an appointment at that time. Uh, subsequent to that, we have had another vacancy occur on the, um, finance advisory committee due to the, um, unfortunate passing of, uh, Chip Yarborough, who had served on that committee. and we appreciate his service and we um mourn his loss in our community. He's been very active for many times, but that resulted in a vacancy. This item is on the agenda to give you the opportunity if you would like to appoint one of the two that you um interviewed back in June. The clerk did post this item. There were no other applications received and she did confirm with those uh candidates that they were still interested in that. So, I leave the discussion um and possible appointment up to you all.

Thank you very much. Are there any questions from council? Uh yes. Do you have the names of the two people that uh were interviewed?

Yes, it was David Leech and Rosio Conde have any questions? No, I think we uh at the time of the interviews I think um we had some discussion and um I uh my personal feeling is that they both were did they did excellent job in their interviews. Um they both have some knowledge of Cathedral City. It's of course limited. I um David Leech has only been here for a very short time but I think he demonstrated he has a lot of uh uh financial background. Rosio Kandi has been here much longer. Um and um although she is still in the in the stages of learning um how cities function, she she uh does currently work for educational government and has in the past. So uh I think they would both be excellent choices. Um my own personal choice if to start it off um though would be I I think um the ex the um time with Cathedral City and the knowledge of of of our city um I I would I think they would both be either one would be fine. Um but I would give the nod to Rosio.

Thank you. Can we back to you? You know I totally agree with Mayor Pro Tim. They're both excellent. They were just uh both were outside the box. But uh I believe if I my memory serge right, I was pretty much impressed with David Leech. And again, I could go with either one, but I would I would choose David Leech. Thank you. Well, both of them are excellent choices. they were both well qualified to fill that position. But I also feel that David Leech is a much uh better qualified candidate with his uh with his financial background that he possesses. So my choice would be David Leech

and as would mine. So that carries 31 and it would be David Leech to fill in that position. Please, Madam Clerk. Mayor Ross, I'm going to go ahead and ask for public comments before we take action. If you're a member of the public and you wish to comment on this item, please raise your hand. And I see none. Okay. So, I'll make the motion to appoint David Leech to commission committee. Second. I have a motion by Council Member Carnival and a second by Mayor Ross. Please vote. And motion carries. All eyes.

Thank you so much. Our next item is an administrative attendance policy for city council commissions and committees. May we please have a staff report. City manager.

Yes, mayor. I'll do this one as well. Um at a previous meeting, you had a discussion about um attendance uh and issues related to that on our boards and commissions. And one of the outcomes of that was a request that we come develop a policy and a procedure so that we don't let attendance issues just pile up so that you're informed. And uh I think one of the speakers who submitted information use the word transparency to promote the concept of putting these um uh on the agenda for for each of the committees and then also monthly for the council. We would treat it like um the uh claims and demands where it's on your agenda so that you can see the attendance reports but no action is required unless there's um a particular issue that comes up. So we did develop a policy to that effect. Um and it's ready to be um issued. I um will just go through briefly what it what it covers. Um first of all that notice of attendant and it asks commissioners to um where possible to notify their um staff liaison at least 24 hours in advance of an absence and that way we know what's going on and and can record that. If it's an unplanned absence, you know, they suddenly got sick or something like that, it asks that they um inform the staff liaison as soon as possible of the reason for the um absence. It also identifies um excused and unexcused um absences. It does give it does provide for a extraordinary circumstances authorization and that was designed to try to to cover um something that that really couldn't be anticipated

and actually the speaker even talked to that I mean uh in uh asking us to recognize the volunteer nature of service and that there ought to be a case-byase hardship review which really was what that um uh was designed to cover it requires that the staff liaison should keep a record of all um attendances including u the date of any absences, the reason provided and the classification as excused or unexcused and these records will be maintained for a year. Um then item six, threshold for excessive absences quotes directly from the ordinance. That's the language that exists today in the municipal code, which is that if there's more than three consecutive um absences or absences equal to 25% of all the meetings that they should be reported to the city manager. Um then probably the most significant part of it is that it does require then the city manager upon receipt of a notice of that to notify the council member who nominated the person so that you all are aware of what's um going on there. And then finally, it does require reporting on the commission's agenda each month from the um uh attendance from the previous meeting and monthly that a compilation of all the committee um and commission meetings that were held during that month be placed on your agenda so that that's um uh publicly um acknowledged. And really the reason for that as the speaker indicated in her comments is in the interest of transparency that the community knows what's going on. So that's the policy. Um it's ready to be um uh uh put into place as an administrative policy. It doesn't really require council authorization, but since you all had asked us to uh prepare that, I thought

it would be wise to make sure that you were aware of it and uh receive any feedback that you had on it. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have any any questions from council? No, I have a comment, please.

If you don't mind, I think this is appropriate. I think it's well planned and well thought out, you know, for the benefit of the the city uh residents that live here and for the volunteers that give up their time is they put up a lot of uh time and uh information. they they have value and sometimes there's hardship, sometimes there's uh work, sometimes there's reasons they can't be here and and I think it's only but fair that with this policy here, it'll put everybody on a fair playing field where the commission or the committee will be at at a full staff all the time. So, and I like the idea that if uh if it gets too many misses, the uh the council member will approach them and, you know, show some respect and see how they can, you know, either continue and start attending. But I'm I'm for this. It's

I think it's welld deserved for the city and the commission.

Yeah, I would I think it it's okay. I think it addresses the concerns. I I think I shared with city manager. I don't know about the excused and unexcused part of it. um because it doesn't really make any difference, but it's okay because it at least elicits some discussion as to reasons and so people don't necessarily have to feel bad and we're not trying to make people feel bad. In fact, we're just trying, you know, the the goal um has been um to comply with uh the uh code requirements and and um and make it transparent and have some discussion with someone if they're having attendance problems so we can work out solutions. Um and I think that happened when we did this last item where we addressed some of the ones for the past year. But the sad part was that was the first time some of them had had a discussion and they were able to come up with a solution like one of them talking to their boss or there was some suggestion that maybe and I don't know if this has been followed up on but the time of the meeting was problematic for some of those and I think this will address that because you know the sad part is that should have been addressed a long time ago so that they didn't miss so many of them during the year as soon as that came up. So at least to me this is transparent and it'll generate dialogue. So and I think that's the real goal. The the goal is not to embarrass anyone or point out anything, but if there are issues, then this will this should promote that dialogue as to well, what can we do to resolve this? And uh what can we, you know, um and um is there some way we can help you with this? Or if not, is maybe it's a time for somebody else to fill in for a period of time or or that type of a thing. Um because I think what might also be lost in here is that these are all volunteers but you have to have a quorum and you have to have this

discussion and so we sometimes have times where you know people are absent to the point where these meetings aren't even able to have quorums and yet there was still no discussion with them as to you know why you're absent and what can we do that means the other people who had given up their time to volunteer weren't able to go through with the meeting. So, I think that'll also help address that problem. And especially if people know if they're not going to be there, they need to give 24-hour notice. If the person holding the meeting knows there's not going to be a quorum, then they can, you know, address that or cancel the meeting, that type of a thing or reschedule. So, I think it I think it's a it's it will accomplish the goal.

You know, Mayor Pim, you brought up a good a good point to me. I wonder if it would be if we could research the area and have an alternate just like we have alternates for any of our commissions or committees that we sit on uh for the planning department or historical because sometimes I watch I say only two or three only three show up. Would an alternate work? What do you think? Would that something we should look into?

Well, I the one I would think of would that might that might make sense for is the planning commission because they have some things that are timely. I don't know if we're to that point yet. So I don't know if that needs to I think that that could be out there and and those those involved with that if they start running into a problem with um with um quorum in it where they have to cancel meetings maybe that's something we could look at is having an alternate for that type of thing. most of the other ones, you know, their their things are not that timely. And again, if I think if we address attendance and make sure that people know it's important and if they are having issues that that we're we we want them to have a dialogue with their staff leaison and ultimately with the council member if they need to.

So, city clerk, are there any members of the public who would like to comment on this? Mayor, I did receive one electronic comment. I'll read that now. The following comment was received for the record, provided to the members of the city council, and made available at the entrance for public inspection. Sunshine Herrera provided feedback related to the proposed commission committee attendance policy. Are there any other members that would like to comment on this item? I see none, mayor. Thank you. And city manager, that was the comment that you were referring to when you were saying the speaker. That's correct. I I thought that was okay. Thank you. And so, just to follow back, we're all good. We're all good. Ready for a vote? Do we have a I move I move approval. Second.

We have a vote. Motion by Mayor Pro Tim Gregory and a second by council member Gutierrez. Please vote. And motion carries. All eyes. Thank you very much. The next item C is an amendment number one to the professional services agreement with Wilden Engineering Incorporated for the Sarah Street area assessment district formation phase 2A. Mayor Oh, I'm sorry. I I will need to recuse myself from this item as I um have a financial interest in real property in the area. I recalled that. Thank you so much. I wouldn't have remembered it without your reminder.

Hi Good evening, honorable mayor, council members.

Tonight, I'll be presenting amendment number one to the agreement with Wildan Engineering for the phase 2A of the Sarah Street assessment district formation project. Starting off at background, in January of 2023, city council approved an agreement for phase one of this project, which included pre preliminary assessment. In November 2023, phase 1 was completed and city council also approved an agreement with Wildan Engineering for phase 2A of the project which included preliminary costs and additional outreach. The areas included with phase 2A are shown on this slide. You can see on the map there the four areas. Ago Kiente Trail, Bachner Family Property, Lake View Villas Condos, and the Sarah Street area. The Lake View Villas condos were removed from this project because they'll be getting their sewer improvements through the clean water state revolving fund grant project. So for the phase 2A will then has completed utility coordination, preliminary exhibits and preliminary sewer memorandum, engineers opinion of probable cost or engineers estimate and a presentation at the November 14th community meeting. At the community meeting on November 14th, we'll then cover the project overview, proposed scope of improvements, preliminary cost estimates, available funding mechanisms, and the assessment district formation process. There were three property owners in attendance. Two of the major property owners from the AA Kiente Trail area and they expressed that they did not wish to move forward with the high preliminary estimates assessment estimates. The one property owner from the Sarah Street area expressed his interest in proceeding with the preliminary design. So based on this feedback from the community, scope was reduced to assess

interest among other property owners in the Sarah Street area only. As I mentioned on the previous slide, the assessments for the Aakolian trail and the Bachner family property were too high for the property owners. So for the reduced scope phase 2A, we'll then completed updated exhibit and opinion of probable cost as well as the July 30th meeting presentation. Then there were no members of the community in attendance at that meeting. So the agreement will will then expired on November of 2024. This amendment will be retroactive to the expiration date and will be extended to December 31st, 2025. This amendment will allow sufficient time for will then to complete additional phase 2A tasks. And the additional 2A tasks include distrib distribution of a postcard survey and analyzing the level of interest um from the property owner property owners and proceeding with the assessment district formation. Just want to note that this amendment does not increase, modify or affect the total compensation of the agreement. The budget that was approved in November was in the amount of $56,695. And of that $56,000, we have a remaining budget of $15,131.74. So, city staff is requesting a budget adjustment in the amount of $15,131.74 to roll over the budget to this project. This item aligns with goal B, community investments and staff recommends the city council to approve amendment number one to the agreement with Wildan Engineering to extend the term of the agreement for the Sarah Street assessment district

formation phase 2A project. Authorize a budget adjustment in the amount of $15,131.74 and authorize the city manager to execute this agreement. Amendment number one. And that concludes my presentation. I'll hand it back to you, Mayor. Thank you so much, gentlemen. Questions? No, no questions. I just think that is a a process and assessment that is necessary to complete. Uh I hope that it gets approved, but if it doesn't, I think it is necessary to finalize it. Thank you.

Okay. Are there any members of the public who would like to comment on this item? I did not receive any request to speak forms. If you're a member of the public and you wish to comment on this item, please raise your hand. I see none, mayor. Okay. So, do we have a motion to approve staff's recommendation? Make a motion to approve. Second. I have a motion by council member Gutierrez and a second by council member Carnivali. We're going to do a roll call vote because Mayor Prom is recused. Council member Carnival, yes. Council member Gutierrez, yes. Mayor Ross, yes. Motion carries all eyes.

Something bad happened to my screen. You know that. You don't have to do I know. Oh, yours, too. Everybody's Everybody's is black, but yours. Why isn't yours Oh, and just secretly it just popped up. Okay. All right. Good enough. Thank you all for your patience. Item D and welcome back. We missed you. Uh so item D is award of a professional services agreement to HR Green Pacific Incorporated for the design of the tropical storm Hillary date palm drive pavement recon pavement reconstruction project city project number C08684.

Thank you mayor. This is this is a important step forward. Um, one of our streets that um, desperately needs some uh, repair, particularly after the damage incurred by the tropical storm is date palm drive. And this project will do the design for that. It's a complicated situation because part of it's covered by the FHWA funding, part of it will fall on the city. Armando will explain all of that to you.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Good evening, mayor, mayor proterm, council members. Okay, this is a presentation for a professional service agreement for the design of Dean Drive payment reconstruction project related to the tropical storm Hillary. The project is located on Deon Drive along drive between Vist Chino and 30th Avenue. As it was mentioned, the pond drive is a primary corridor in the city and is classified as a federal principal arterial under the federal highway administration. In August 2023, tropical storm Hillary affected the northeast area of uh Panorama neighborhood and they pal was closed from Vista Chino to Los Gatos for cleanup efforts. After the storm on se in se on on September 2023, we conducted a payment condition index service to assess the damage and we uh found the drop that the drop in payment condition index was significantly going from a fair condition to a poor condition. The current payment condition index is very poor with an average of four uh with an average range of 14. Following that and the staff submitted a damage assessment form to CLR requesting funding support from the Federal Highway Administration the emergency relief program. On June 6 of 2024, Culturas approved the request for funding the design and the construction phases of the projects under this this program. Uh the funding will be distributed as 88.5%

from the federal relief emergency relief fund and 11.5% need to be from city local match and the total amount approved was almost $3 million. The project's limit for this federal highway administration funded part of the project that goes from day pan uh day pan drive from vistachino to 250 ft south of Los Gatos uh is only for the area affected by the tropical storm hillary. The scope of work is to remove or do the full reconstruction of this section of the road and also include the drainage improvements at the intersection of Los Gatos and Day Pal. On August 9 of 2024, Calrans authorized the allocate $212,000 for the preliminary engineering of the project from the emergency relief program. Erh the staff look at the segment between Los Gatos and 30th Avenue and to improve efficiency we extended the project design from day palm south to to down towards 30th Avenue. Thus that will allow the streamline and the overall design process to eliminate separate contracts for design and construction. uh we evaluate the payment condition index of this section is in poor condition so it's in need of rehabilitation a different rehabilitation that the north side of the project and the limits these are beyond the federal highway administration funds so there's this segment is not eligible for this emergency program so the project has two segments one on the pan from Mistachino to Los Gatos

that is partially funded with the federal highway administration program. The other part loss gatos to 30th Avenue that is local locally funded. Uh as you saw during the capital improvement programs, this the construction for the second segment the construction for Losatos to 30th Avenue is unfunded and we are experiencing in in the last projects some savings on fundings. So we want to explore the possibility that those savings can be allocated or programmed to for the construction to offset the construction cost of this segment. Moving on to the design, we staff request uh request did a request for qualifications and proposals for professional engineering design service services. This was advertised advertised in the desert sun and on the city website in March of this year and the due date to submit the request for proposals and qualification was April 17 of 2025. We received three proposals HR Green Pacific, TKE Engineering and NCE. And after the evaluation from the committee, the highest rank proposal was HR Green Pacific due to the qualifications and the understanding of the project. The proposal from HRE includes field work, preliminary plans, environmental documentation, right away documents, plan specifications and estimates. There is also the part of the right-of-way acquisition that typically with federal funded or state funded projects, CALR requires that all right of way is acquired before construction funds are

allocated from the programs. So, city staff will return to city council to present a detailed estimate uh to seek formal approval for the need or for the necessary right-of-way acquisitions. The design schedule proposed by HR Green extends from September of 2025 to May 2026. And if you can see the right of way documentation, we are expecting to be have it completed by October of next year. the fiscal impact we program budget for this uh project and we estimate for the design of this project and the program budget was in the order of the $283,000 the proposal cost from HR green for the design service is 345,3 with dollars with 34 cent city staff is proposing to include a 10% contingency in the amount of excuse $35,000 bringing the total design cost to $380,000. The federal highway uh funded segment aligns with the budget allocated through the program and the extended segment is consistent with the project valuation. The additional budget we need to cover the difference between the program funding and the the design cost. So staff is requesting additional funds in the amount of $96,500 $96,500 that are available on MOE on monies. So uh that's the additional request to complete the design of this project. This is a summary of the proposed funding uh emergency relief program from the Federal Highway Administration,

$212,000 and general fund MOE $168,000 for a total of $380,000. These projects align with the five years strategic plans and with the goal B community investments. And the recommendation that is in your report is to the for the city council to approve the professional service agreement with the HR Green Pacific in the amount of $345,33 with 34 cents. authorize a 10% design contingency in the amount of $35,000 for unforeseen the design related expenses bringing the project cost to $380,000 and authorize the city manager to execute the grievance. That's conclude my report.

Thank you so much. Don't go anywhere. Any questions, gentlemen? Thank you for your presentation. My question is this. um during the design process is I know there's an issue on Losato and Deon and we're going to be working or we've been talking about uh u actually uh working on that issue and correcting the problem there is a design going to be able to uh be worked during that design

the design of the intersected drainage in Los Gatos and the drainage in Los Gatos and Day Pal is included and is the resilience part of the federal highway problem. Yes, it's going to be solved at this moment. Thank you. Nice. Yes. That's good question here. Prom did him. I don't know if you heard him. We're glad to see it moving forward. Okay. Thank you very much. Moving up. Moving forward. Are there any questions from the or comments from the mayor? I did not receive any request to speak forms. You're a member of the public and you wish to comment on this item, please raise your hand. I see none. Okay. Do we have a motion, please? Move approval.

I believe I have a motion by council member Gutierrez. Is that correct? Correct. And a second by council member Carnivali. Please vote. And motion carries. All eyes. Hey. Okay. The next one is you again. Me again. I apologize. I apologize in advance. Is item E, a construction contract award to granite construction company for the Whispering Palms Trail class 3 bike route project C08672. Mr. City Manager, he's one up. He's already standing there.

Thank you. Yeah, he can go ahead and take this. This is another one that we've been talking about for some time and it uh combines addressing the the need for bikeways in the city also with the need for some uh pavement improvements on that particular street. Armando.

Thank you Mr. City Manager Mayor Mayor Proterm Council members. Okay. This is award for the construction contract under SBA21 bicycle and pedestrian facilities for the whispering palm trail class 3 bike route. A summary it's in since 2023 the city council accepted the cathedral city active transportation plan that was funded from the Southern California Association of Governments. Uh after we after you accepted the the transportation plan, Riverside County Transportation Commission Commission issued the fiscal year 23 24 bicycle and pedestrian facility programs. Staff identified two projects Pis road class 4 bikeways and whispering palm trail class 3 bike route projects. Both projects were submitted and both project were selected for funding and then the agreements with RCTC were formalized to commit the funding and the construction of these projects. In this particular case, Whispering Palm was approved for a million62,000 for design and construction. 65% of that amount was coming from SBA21 and 35% was coming from local funds. In 2024, no on November 2024, the city council awarded the design contract to STC traffic, one of our on call consultants, in the amount of $35,000 to complete the design. So, the project extend uh extend for two miles from Whispering Palms Trail from 30th Avenue to Dinosaur. And the project description is a class 3 bike route that is an on street route. Bicycles and vehicles will share the travel lane. The proposed improvements are shar

markings and payment striping, a speed feedback signs, bicycle route signage, and also the payment rehabilitation of half a mile between a payment reconstruction of half a mile between Bega and Barista Road. And then the rest 1.5 mi of rubber ice or slurry this the slurry for to maintain the the road surface. the construction solicitation staff uh advertise the invitation to be in in the desert sand on July 6 and then the advertise also in the Cathedral City website and planned plan room from July 7 to July 24 and the bid opening opening was held on July 24 of 2025. We received six proposals and erh the lower responsive and responsible bidder was granite construction company from India in the amount of $672,000. That's the base bid amount. There was alo there was also in the bid an additive alternate that is responsibility or is related to Quacella Valley Water District. But in this case, Quella Valley Water District opted not to proceed uh with granite and do the work with their own uncle constructor construction comp uh construction at the time of contra at the time of construction sorry the fiscal impact this project was programmed in the fiscal year 2526 CIP budget and it was programmed for the construct for the construction budget of $1,17,000. The project construction cost from granite is $672,000.

We are requesting to add 20% contingency just for uh construction issues that we can find making the total construction cost for 800 $86,400. This is a summary of the budget allocation for the construction of the project. uh SBA 21 funds will uh will be in the amount of $524,000 and assessment district 85-1 will be in the amount of $282,000. So this align with the 5-year strategic plan goal B community investment and also action B15 where some payment is uh is repaired just to increase the citywide payment quality index. So a staff recommendation is to award a construction contract to granite construction company in the amount of $672,000 for the whispering pal rate class 3 back road project approved 20% contingency in the amount of $134,000 for construction cost and thereby bringing the total project to an amount of $86,400. Authorize the city manager to execute the required contract documents and authorize the city engineers to request bonds insurance for the project and issue the notice to proceed.

So that's conclude my report. Thank you. Back to you, council gentlemen. No questions. Mayor Pro Tim. No. Um just a just a notation to again thank John Carella for his work on this. I know this is from a long time back, but uh he did a great job getting this project submitted and and uh approved through RCTC.

Thank you. And I I would like to echo the praise that you are often given for the good work you guys do. You kind of do it in the shadows. Um I'm I don't know if you should take it personally. He's giving you the finger. It's this finger, but still it's nonetheless. And um and he's right. Good job. Thank you so very much. And coming in less than the estimate, then that's a that's always a good thing, too. So that's that's a savings that we can start collecting from the start pocketing. That's why that's why. Do we have any public comment? City clerk. Mayor, I have no request to speak forms. If you're a member of the public and you wish to comment, please raise your hand. And I see none. Mayor, do we have a motion? Please

approve. Oh, go ahead. One, two. Okay, looks like I have a motion by Mayor Pro Tim Gregory and a second by Council Member Gutierrez. Please vote. And motion carries. All eyes. Thank you so much. Item number F is the Balloon Festival Saturday headliner options. Last as our presentations go but not least, Ryan Hunt of our

Thank Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. This item is presented to get to get your feedback on some possibilities in the budget already that you already approved the contract for this um includes enough to have a tier one cover band on Saturday night which is what we typically have um done for the balloon festival through the years except for last year when when we had a higher um position that results in a in a uh concert that can be free for residents and what and when a a small cost for others probably in the $10 $20 range. However, we based on the discussion that we had at the last meeting and you know wanting to make sure that the event didn't seem to be um a step down from previous years and things like that, we did um work with sound skills and develop some alternatives for you to consider that would be a higher cost for the acts that would be possible which then correspondingly would result in higher ticket prices um to help offset um a portion anyway of the cost for this. So, Ryan Hunt has been working with um Sound Skills on these items and he's here to present the options for you and we'd just like to receive from some feedback. Um we can we we don't have to do anything. We can stay with the um budget event, but if you want to pick it up a pace, there's some alternatives for you here, and we'd like to hear your thoughts on that. So,

excuse me one minute, Charlie, just so I understand it. Last year we had Leanne Rimes. Was that in the tier one budget or did we pay extra for We paid extra for that and that was the 10th anniversary and that was a decision that was made at the time the budget was um developed for that year to put in additional funding for the 10th anniversary. So we did that would be equivalent to I think a a tier 22,000 or something like that. Yeah. All right. Thank you Charlie. Hello Ryan.

Hey thank you mayor Mayor Prom city council. It's good to be with you. I think the city manager queued it up really nicely. This I would advertise more as a a study session presentation with um an action item component to it. It's really exploratory uh in the sense to give you all options. I really am interested in your feedback on this. Um we've certainly done it u the tier one route which is staying within budget with a cover band and we've had a successful festival. There's no reason to think that we wouldn't have that um this year as well. But uh did ask Sound Skills to crunch the numbers, get some uh data back. you see in the staff report, we outlined some ticket revenue uh estimates that was all based on software and and programming that they provided. Um so wanted to kind of show you what it all looks like, but um as you'll notice in the uh recommendation of the staff, I don't endorse a tier specifically. I'm really looking to see what you all think and get your feedback and and go from there. Um so the balloon festival um you know as the city manager mentioned um is uh certainly part of our our uh goal F which is in the strategic plan to promote additional community events and celebrations. It is our longest running uh signature event and festival um and certainly uh represents cultural diversity, our international uh showcase. We have an audience from all over the country and the world for this one. We've had residents uh and visitors from Canada, from Scotland. We've had uh pilots from Belgium, from um from the Czech Republic. So, uh continuing to um promote um Cathedral City as a destination for tourism um and foot traffic for our local small businesses as well. So, you know, the building on our success, which can, you know, you know, come a number of different ways. This is the 11th year. I consider that certainly a successful run of of a festival. Um but we did successfully host Leanne Rimes in 2024. I did uh receive some questions and feedback about the revenue generation. I think I mentioned it at a a public meeting before, but it was a little less than $50,000, a little over 47K uh was the revenue generated for for Leanne Rimes. Um you know, I can go into a number of

reasons why I think the experience would be enhanced from a revenue uh standpoint. Uh namely the ticketing software that we used, which was pretty dreadful if I can say so myself and be honest. It was something that um that I inherited and and and went forward with. But I think we certainly would have better uh we we we really have an event producer I think for the first time uh running this festival. So I think we could certainly clean up the ticketing and make it more appealing there. But uh Queen Nation through your creativity as a council and appreciate your approval uh of of kind of merging tastes and sounds to have a Friday night lineup of radio ready uh leading off and then Queen Nation uh which is a terrific cover band in LA. Um both the event organizer and myself have seen them live. They really do a great job and I think um will be a nice addition to Friday night. Um and then obviously um that builds a strong foundation for a Saturday headliner uh enhancement. So tier one um is obviously staying within the current budget. Um so if that's um where where council decides to move forward, we'll we'll keep on working as we have been for the last several months. I think as you know all know we have uh it has been an unusual year u with the late RFP process with some of the um um distractions that we've incurred unfortunately as part of this festival. Um we're we're running as hard as we possibly can to to make this successful and I know that even as we're rebuilding I I have full confidence that Sound Skills will be able to deliver. Um we are making good progress on pilots and securing it. So, I feel like we're for the last month or so, I feel like we're getting back to normal a little bit from a planning standpoint, which is nice. But, uh, I wanted to mention that these tiers 2, three, and four, you know, I think last year we learned a lot from the Leanne rhymes. You know, it was okay. It was it was 80,000 to answer your question as far as um the the securing that that act, but that really came with AV and additional enhancement uh to the amphitheater. Uh, and so we built in those costs and these projections for the tiers. So, it's not one of those, oh, surprise, it's 20,000 more. What we're really looking at on

the especially on tier 2, the mid-level 80k, it's really an act for about 50 60 and then the enhancements would be the remainder of that uh within that budgeted scope. Remind the public listening, what is a what is a level two? Name two bands that would be a level two. Do you do you know? Yeah, I've got them on the list. I know. I just wanted them to be able to hear.

Yeah, I've got I'm going to go through them all now. Yeah, I've got some suggestions. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so tier one, um, I'll just kind of roll through this. I think you know, uh, would be a continue on the investment that we've already made in the festival that you all have approved as part of the budget. Um, uh, a high quality, you know, cover trivia band similar to Queen Nation that we've secured. We had Abadabad last year. Um, certainly would have liked a little more time to promote them. I think they had a better crowd for Taste and Sounds, which was nice to have them there. Um, but, you know, it maintains our proven entertainment model. We've been successful for nine out of the 10 years, uh, doing this. And so it would also allow us to have free admission to Hall Cathedral City residents and have a really modest non-resident ticketing ticket price of $10 to $20. Tier two. So the potential artists um to answer your question uh mayor um Gavin Degra um Neil McCoy better than Ezra Bowling for Soup and Tracy Bird. Tracy Bird and Gavin Degra I think piqu my interest the most as far as their social media following and engagement based on their price which was more reasonable than some of the other acts. Um, we think that country music is um kind of a a hit for this festival. Could be a genre that does really well measuring the demographics and what we've seen. I mean, Lean Rimes obviously has a country pop uh feel to her as well. Um, but you know, they they have strong regional uh recognition. This group uh the revenue potential um we're uh estimating 40 to 75K. We made 47K from the Leanne Rimes concert uh last year. So, that would fit into a similar uh revenue potential. Well, I can explain why I think it would be better if we did it this way again. Um, but likely ticket pricing 500 to a,000 free Cathedral City residents. I am proud that all thousand of our tickets were um uh taken advantage of by our residents for the Leanne Rhymes concert. Uh that was nice to see. We had a good partnership with the Ace Club over at the casino to get foot traffic in there. They had to register and sign up and they got really good data back um for that as well. Um so we would be exploring a similar option if we went that route. But um you can see the ticket prices there that are suggested

similar range to what we charged for the Lean Rhymes concert. Um tier three um which we're calling a significant investment. I think all these are significant. So appreciate your support um on as a council but potential artists Billy Currington, Marcus King Sticks, Casey and the Sunshine Band um and Dwight Yokum. Uh Casey and the Sunshine Band to me jumps out the most from a name recognition ID standpoint. They have certainly done really well from a concert performance and ticketing component. Um when when um Sounds Skills was running the numbers, they were one of the top um performers as far as getting the bang for your buck and the ROI. Um you know, we've also I think this is a good time to address and think I also received some questions in advance uh of the meeting um about you know how the sponsorships and and how all that works and is secured. So we've done it a number of ways. So I think the the the the title sponsorship and presenting sponsorship as we've outlined the contract agreements has been the responsibility of the event organizer to secure um and so that goes to the event as an enhancement for the experience but in this case and I think this is where we struggled a little bit with our previous operator is when the city is making the only investment particularly to the headline concert performance the revenue goes back to the city and so the sponsorship for anything main headline act um and we would bring any type of contract agreement we would make this separate I we want to make sure we have an agreement separate of the overall operating of the festival for any of these components that would be seen by you all as a council for a blessing and approval. Um so so that I wanted to clarify that that um we think if it's the investment that the city is making that money would go back to cost recovery for the investment. So I wanted to make that clear on a sponsorship standpoint that anything secured for the main headline and we have had really good discussions with a few new sponsors. You know, I don't want to mention names for, you know, I don't want to ruin any of the negotiations we have currently, but there are some that are, I think, chomping at the bit to get a to get a part part of this festival um that are that are bigger names that have sponsored other festivals uh across the

valley that I think would be enticed. But I wanted to add that note as well. But um the goal here would be um revenue potential for the general fund and cost recovery for any investment the council would make. Um, so tier four, um, Nelly, um, Earth, Wind and Fire, Pentatonix, Dustin Lynch, uh, Earth, Wind and Fire jumps out at me the most in this group, but for, you know, the $400,000 premium investment. Um, you know, the, uh, the Grand Theft Grammy winners, they have millions of social media followers. Uh, you can see the revenue potential there and a likely ticket pricing. I put 500 to a,000 for for tier 2 through four. Uh, wanted to give the event organizer a little flexibility and with the free ticketing component. And I still think 500's quite a few uh that would go to Cathedral City residents. But as we adjust our model to then, you know, account for some cost recovery for for uh a potential investment, I wanted to leave that wiggle room a little bit um for for both parties to explore. So I I think the benefits across all tiers, not just not just uh two through four, but one, you know, obviously making an announcement for a headline, you know, if it's cover band, we've had certainly had success with the Dreamboats and Pack the House at at Taste and Sounds. Um you know, the idea is to increase festival attendance and get vendors um people spending more money right inside your venue, inside the amphitheater, build more foot traffic to go to Luchador, to go to Triila, to go to even the Mary Pikford Theater. I've seen people double up and go to the festival and do a movie. You know, I'm leaving out uh plenty of our fine dining uh brunch 101, desert tie. You know, that's the goal is really to bring more foot traffic into our downtown. And I think it was actually council member Gutierrez last year at the Saturday night. I remember he was like, I couldn't find any parking. He was like, this is but he wasn't mad about it. He was like, this is great. I mean, that's the goal of what these festivals bring um is an economic revenue um component and the economic development side. So, um, certainly appreciate all the work that, um, our economic development team and Andy Firestein's been really supportive on this process as well. So, uh, revenue generation, I think I've mentioned a lot

of this, but, you know, I I I can't hammer home enough how a better ticketing system, I think, will be I mean, we had so many drop sales from people who just gave up on the Tikoria system that, um, I've made sure is is is buried and will never come back into existence. Um, so we will have a much better uh, ticketing component uh, with that. Um uh AU Kelly into casinos is merging with ticket master. Um Sound Skills has has experience with Ticket Master with AXS. Um there's a number of of leading ticket tier operations that um we will certainly employ and that was a lesson learned that I'm happy to wear that one as we we learned a lot from the Lean Rhymes concert. Um I also think it would be better staffed. I think we had some issues with seating. We were flying a little bit by the seat of our pants. I think I want to give kudos to Adam Chastain. I think, you know, he learned a lot on the job that night and and certainly jumped in with some intuitive uh notions about how to step in and jump in and help when things are, you know, not always uh in control. So, I want to throw that in there as well. You know, our venue capacity is is uh something that is worth mentioning. It's 3,000 seated, 4,500 standing um standing uh room. Um, I I do think that Sounds Skills has come in with some really cool um ideas as far as a standing room only section that you could do as part of a buyin purchase for the whole package of coming into the festival and then you can get we had that standing room section that I felt like was kind of underutilized during Leanne Rise. We could have let you know more in that back area. Obviously, we would want to make sure that there's some cost recovery to that. But, um, I kind of like the idea of a standing room. Hey, if you want to upgrade your ticket, you pay the premium price, but if you want to have the experience, it's a little less. you know what you're getting into, but some people don't mind doing that. Um, and and so that was something that we're exploring as well. Um, and then the enhanced sponsorship

ask. So, I have to come back to this. So, you're talking about a standing room that would be in the back or like some of the festivals have it in the front like a standing room pit or something like that. Uh, so the the issue with the front, at least dealing with I'm not suggesting the front cuz I don't think you have the space for it. No, we don't. I'm thinking the back to answer your question. Yes. Yes. In the back behind behind the seated area in the grass towards the playground area is what I was thinking. Okay.

I was I was just quick at mentioning that Lean Rimes um negotiated certainly with us. She didn't want anybody in front of the stage. So, we had security component and there was a certain amount of distance we had to agree to. I imagine any artist that we invested in, you know, beyond tier one would would require something similar. Um and so,

may I ask you a question kind of following through on that? I thought last year was a great success. So if you hear anything critical, it's it's a one-off. But it was it was not knowing where to sit. And so people would come to the front, but you know how that is. If they don't have an assigned seat, they don't want to sit right next to somebody. So they'd leave a gap seat or they'd leave two gap seats and then there'd be three people. And pretty soon it was a little bit confusing as to who was supposed to be where, when, and how. Yeah. What can we do to to maybe have an an escort or a person of one person down there, you know, kind of helping, can I see your ticket? Here's where you sit.

Not have a city staff clone a production team of 15 people. That that I think we changed a lot of that with who we decided to select in our RFP process. Quite quite frankly, um I think that was the issue. I think, you know, when a little fingerpointing No, no, no. Well, no. I'm just being candid and honest with you. I think it was the we we have a better entertainment production company um backing us from a staffing standpoint. Uh I think moving forward that's that's what I meant to say. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 100%. I totally agree with you. I I didn't know if anybody had even noticed, but No, they did. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. They noticed. Yeah. Absolutely. All I know is my sister sat in a better seat than I did. She's not part of council. That's all I know.

Yeah. Absolutely. No, I noted. Totally appreciate that feedback and I I think we've received it before. Mayor Pro Tim, I think mentioned something similar to a previous meeting. We we we certainly from a seating Yeah, there were people fighting in, in the row behind me and trying to say they didn't know they were supposed to sit there, but they didn't want to move and Yeah.

Yeah. Absolutely. No, that's yucky and we don't want to have to deal with any of that for sure. So, um so our recommendation is is really generic in general. It's to approve one of the four uh proposed Saturday headliner options for the 11th annual Cathedral City International Hot Balloon Festival. Authorize a budget amendment for the selected amount if necessary. Uh authorize staff to negotiate a shared revenue agreement with sound skills that would be bring back that we would bring be bringing back to the city council uh for cost recovery were applicable and authorize communications and events manager to pursue major ship major sponsorship opportunities to offset production costs. I can tell you that last part is already taking place from Did we talk about shared revenue agreement then? I mean you what does that mean? That's that that's the contract that I outlined that would

just means we just give them some revenue or what does that mean? We we certainly that's that's part of the feedback that I'm looking for for what I would bring back. So yeah, 100%. No, if it would be no full cost recovery. If that's the the answer, then that's the answer that that our event producer uh will live with. I I I'm I'm bringing that into beer and and food sales. We typically allow them to have um you know recovery of that. Um which is what we did for our organizer last year. I think that's fair. I would want even that outlined in agreement, which is what I'm I mean to to mention as far as revenue and and recovery of cost.

So, I would think if you're thinking of, you know, who to actually look for, and I music-wise, I don't care if it what it country or rock or whatever, but it seemed like the two that to me that might fit our genre was KC and Dwight Yoka. Two different kind of groups. really two different kind of plugs, but I thought they seemed like for the money maybe maybe where I'd be comfortable. Okay. Would you say I'm too old?

I said they're old. I remember I saw Dwight Yokum years ago in in Phoenix. It was years ago. Um and Casey and Sunshine Band. I would say before you jump on them, see how many times they performed in the last year here in the valley cuz it seems like they've been at every few weeks at at a either a charity event or you know at one of the casinos. Yeah. And I want to I also want to stress too the names that that are on this list nobody's been secured. Nobody's been negotiated with. This is a range of you know some of the recommendations on are they recommendations though?

They I mean yes. I mean they're part it's part of research absolutely as far as social media following mixture of of revenue sales and ticketing. Um you know I I Casey and the Sunshine B I've seen in a wide range of venues both small intimate and and bigger bigger places. They um you know as far as the revenue sales that I was able to to see from from that standpoint they did seem to do well. But you know you you can never predict exactly what what things are going to sell in the valley. Um it is you know we we were obviously confident of Lean Rimes too and I think she did really well. But, you know, I I do think the ticketing system really hurt us. So, have you negotiated with uh Charlie McClinton in the Sunshine Band?

Well, if he will be willing to come out of retirement for that, we would be happy to have him. Charlie Charlie can sing. So, Charlie has a great singing voice. So, we would be happy to have

So, mayor, if you don't mind, let me let me start. So, when I looked at this, I have to say I was like, "Oh, no." Because I know in budget discussions there was an increase from last year and Sounds Skills wanted more of an increase, but you pieced together enough funding that we're ready to set to go and I'm like, "Oh no, here we come back again for another bite at the apple because to me the balloon festival is about balloons and family time and and the f the the uh rides are, you know, all it all comes together really well and some local performances and and then somebody maybe a little more, you know, more professional performances on the stage, but the going higher quality in their performance on the stage isn't really the primary thing. It's I mean it they need to be decent and you know good and hopefully the best you can get

but last year I know we because it was the 10th anniversary we wanted to do a big draw as an experiment and so we did it with and it was the understanding it was the 10th anniversary thing but now we're back again and saying well that was fun so let's let's do that let's consider doing that again. Um, but I don't I don't really think that that to most people that that really put the balloon festival on the map. I think it was already on the map and then they they came in and they enjoyed it. And trust me, I enjoyed it. I bought those primary absolutely tickets and I was right there. You were a huge supporter. No, I appreciate that.

So, it's not that I didn't think it was good. Um, like you say, there were always some things that could be better, but but it w I think it was it was good. I just don't think that that's the reason people come to the balloon festival. I mean, the argument is, well, you'll draw some people that will come for that act, but we have plenty of performance venues around the valley. So, it's I'm torn because it does need to be good, but I don't know where we put the brakes on. Well,

well, why don't we just hire Lady Gaga or Madonna or somebody? You know what I'm saying? if we're just going to open up the the purse. Yeah, Beyonce. Let's just have Beyonce and then everybody will come, you know, at some point. It's it's got to be, you know, we have this venue and it's a good size venue, but it's it's not a it's not a stadium or anything like that, you know. So,

this is the type of feedback we're we're looking for. I would I would add just one caveat while I have you um at that that place. I think that's why I've stressed um as much as possible and and I think learned a lot about cost recovery recovery and revenue generation to get that money um you know obviously city governments when we go into these festivals we're not trying to make hundreds of thousands of dollars we're trying to give back to our taxpayers who have raised you know and obviously we are investing that amount we're never going to make money exactly 100% pretend like we're going to oh well if you get this you're going to you'll make all your investment back and you might even make money on it no that's not government. So, yeah, absolutely.

I mean, that discussion came up sometimes when we were talking about the amphitheater. Oh, well, we build a great amphitheater and we'll put all these improvements in and we we'll probably make money after a couple of years. You're never going to make money. So, and that's not the goal. The goal is to provide, you know, these this location that can be used for all types of different things. So, that's, you know, I'm just being honest. That's I don't know how the rest of the council feels. I'm torn. If you if we get to we do want to go higher, you know, I'm interested in what revenue sharing means because to me that means like if we put 25,000 in and Sound Skills is going to put 25,000 in we split the revenue, you know, is that what revenue sharing means? But if it just means, well, we're going to do this act and they would like to get 20% off the top just cuz then I'm like, why why would we do that? You know, because we do we do need to watch out for the taxpayer dollars. Again, that's the feedback that I'm looking for. And if it's 100% cost recovery is the is the direction of council as far as revenue uh from that that it is not uncommon, I will say, to split with these event producers and that's why I'm that's why it was mentioned.

Why do they why do they put in is what I'm saying? Well, it's not and and for that reason that you mentioned, it's not designed as a match. So, at this point, and similar to what we did last year for Leanne Rimes, I think the council is totally correct in wanting to recover 100%. Right? Because we already if it was if this was part of the whole original deal then you know it could be right discussed but I mean we already have a deal with the promoter. So then now if we're going to hire a bigger act and we're going to put all the money in and they're not really going to provide anything more except they may get more people to come and buy well right and that's the goal and their drink and they're going to benefit from it. even beverage and food. Mayor Bo,

why would we then say, but on top of that, we're going to give you a percent. Unless Unless they're going to come and say, well, you know, we're concerned about the cost, so we'll guarantee us, you know, a certain amount or whatever. And then, yeah, as a risk for them, but then, you know, then then you might it might make sense. I I think Yeah, that that makes sense to me. I I I think what what I want outlined regardless of of what is decided and if it's tier one, we stay within the contract agreement. It's it's a moot point. But um is I think we learned last year that you can never have enough contractual obligations to be able to Ain't that the truth? Yes. So

because that's the part I I haven't mentioned. But I mean it is interesting that we're having this discussion this year and we just approved the demand register where we saw $130,000 worth of legal fees that weren't planned. And it's I'm not bling fingers because it's certainly not the city's fault or city staff's fault for the balloon festival. So, we've already spent $130,000 or more on on that. And I don't plan to comment on that, but yeah, I appreciate that. I'm not asking for a comment. I'm just saying it's from us

being mindful of trying to put on nice things for the taxpayers, but also trying to be mindful of taxpayers dollars and what these other things that these could buy. I mean, that all comes into the mix. So, we're not the federal government. We don't just print money. I mean this this all could be used somewhere else or has to come out of somewhere else. No, appreciate all of that feedback. So yeah, so I mean and personally when it comes to the axe, there are some names in there I think would be fine. I'd rather see the Dreamboats than Dwight Dwight Yokum though to tell you the truth in the Dream Boats will be there for the kickoff performance on Tuesday. So leading off the week. So yeah.

So I mean that's again what I'm saying is where some people might really like some of these and say, "Oh, well am I oh it might be worth it. I'm saying but as a council member you're spending the taxpayers's dollar and you know is it really worth it? So just that's my two cents.

Thank you. Appreciate that. Mayor prom you know Ryan I really appreciate your presentation and the efforts you put in here and uh all of them are great. All those tears are really great but I kind of go back to look at we built this uh festival on balloons not entertainment. I mean, we have acure and casinos uh with big names here. And you know, we're not an entertainment industry uh in Cathedral City. And my biggest concern is, you know, at at $45, $50, $60, you got a family of four. It's taking the fun out of it. Now, Cathedral City always likes to give back. And of course, if it's free, it's me. And I like it right where it's at right here. A free concert uh with the food. like Mayor Pro Tim said, they come for the food, they come for the rides, they come to see the magnificent balloons and and all that. So, uh, taking it out of the box last year, I was all for it, you know, I thought that was great, but I'd rather just concentrate on what we have. They're coming for the balloons. They're coming for a a good cover band. I mean, I was talking with Ann. There's great cover bands out there that are actually more fun than some probably uh

Well, we got a good one Friday night to on your point. So, absolutely. Exactly. So, uh to be uh perfectly honest, I would like to just to stay at tier one and uh do with what we have here and then on our uh 40th anniversary, we'll do something else. Okay. Thank you, council member. Council member, yes. Uh thank you for for your presentation. Very interesting. Uh I'm torn between our two council members here. Uh one of uh uh Lean Rimes was what tier? I I think she's probably closest to uh tier two. Tier two. Okay. Well, uh we did if we are able to get sponsorship

like you said, if we get someone from tier two, tier four, forget it. I'm not interested. Right. Um tier three, depending on what type of uh sponsor sponsorships are we able to get. Is it a $10,000 sponsorship or $75,000 sponsorship? I think we would be looking for higher than $10,000. I can tell you the the range would probably be, you know, 30 to 40. Um, you know, outlined in the sponsorship deck that I've received from Sound Skills that they've been, you know, marketing um, you know, around to to a number of different uh, folks. I think it would be it would certainly be more than 10,000. I can tell you that.

So, for tier one, there's no discussion. So, the true discussion is between tier two and three if necessary. and uh depending on the sponsorships that we're that uh we're able to get

I will be interested in seeing what's going on but uh I would not go beyond tier three but depends on the amount of sponsorships that we are able to accumulate that will be my decision otherwise I would stick to tier maximum tier two and get the sponsorships whatever it is because I do want to get also as much recover recovery as we can for and and like council member Carneali mentioned we are a

resident a a a community oriented city so I also like to keep it as small as possible make sure it's a community event still but yet by bringing good acts that were able to sponsor most of the cost I think it will be a great event that many around many people around the Coachella Valley would actually be jealous of. I appreciate that feedback, council member. Thank you. Yeah,

I don't think this is a a lay your hat on it kind of a thing, but I also like the idea of at a cost having a ticket price for some, you know, so you're some residents get it for free and then other people pay the ticket cost and being able to draw a larger Coachella Valley group, you know, be able to encourage some of those other neighboring cities to come and join us as much as we go enjoy their their events as well. And I and I think I don't know if we did with Lean Rimes or not. I I was more of a participant at Lean Rimes. I got kind of swept up in the moment. So I just know what I did that night. So um but I I like the idea of a tier 2 as well and getting the person that we thought I don't know. I don't think I don't think I I don't know about going to it three. It depends if we got sponsorships. If we got sponsor comfortable with two, could be comfortable with three if we had that offset of the of the things. But I love the idea of of giving our folks that once a year really really big celebration.

Appreciate that feedback. And I will stress, you know, I do appreciate all this feedback. I think it's really really invaluable. Um, you know, the balloon festival, it has graduated beyond the local event. 35,000 attendees over a weekend. Um, a number of them from out of town. Um, and that was the largest Saturday night balloon glow attendance. And and I think the concert did um have a positive benefit. I totally understand all the feedback I get. I I think everybody's got uh a really great uh footing of of kind of where they stand. I just I wanted to add that that the growth and trajectory of the festival is something that we have to take into account cuz I think we are starting to get some bigger eyes from some more corporate sponsors and um you know it has grown up and I think that's a success story of Cathedral City. So we like that.

So what is our current budget for the balloon festival for this year? It's 175,000. So, I'm saying that so I know, but also just to point out that it's we're not saying that it's not worth money because you've already put 170. Certainly didn't imply that or mean. No, I don't think you did. It's just making sure we're transparent. And we're also we're also getting uh some sponsorship from maybe other people or other entities. No, that goes to the promoter. We don't we're not making any cost recovery on that 175.

Well, the presenting sponsorship is what is is what is outlined in the agreement with the event organizer. I the sponsorships that would be secured for the concert as I mentioned at the beginning of the meeting would go back to cost recovery of the investment the council made. I think that's and it's outlined in a provision now in the updated contract um that uh that the Saturday coming back to you all it gives you the perview whether you decide to do that or not. So that that cost recovery of of any sponsorships that would be secured for the headline act, separating that from the presenting sponsor, it would go back um to the city. Correct. Yeah. But I thought I thought he was asking about the 175 and then saying, but we're going to get some of that from sponsors. And the answer to that is no, we don't. Correct.

We don't we don't get any of that on the on the Yes. On the presenting sponsorship that does go to Now I I can tell you we've never had a sit presenting sponsorship that wasn't spent. I mean, it was spent on the festival, so I just want to make that clear. But yeah, go ahead. Thank you. So, you're just saying if there was extra funds or if there was funds left over, it would go No, I'm saying that if a concert act is approved, we would sec go out to try to secure sponsorships to recover the investment the council makes and then go back to the general fund. And does that seem doable? It does to me, but I, you know, I I you know, obviously until we know they act, we can't really go out and sell. So,

well, you are our events person, so we're going to we're going to kind of lean on you to lead us here along. 100%. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. Anything else, council members? Can I get out of here? Did you get enough information that you needed from us? Well, I do think we we we have uh an action um as part of the city manager. I don't know if you wanted to um it seems like we're at 22 to to me. So, and council member Lamb is absent. So, darn Rita.

Well, you know, if I could uh you know, I wouldn't have no problem going to a tier two if we could if you could uh give us some names that, you know, besides just these here, I think that's affordable and I think it still would be affordable for our residents. Okay. But I don't think I'd go past tier two either. But I mean, Lyanna Rhymes was was good for tier two. I think if we just even kept it there, I I would be agreeable with table with tier two, but nothing more than that. I mean, the 400,000's out of the question unless Well, I think I think unless Taylor Swift comes or something or Beyonce to the city manager unless you people big sponsors unless

so at some point it becomes a gambling thing. It says, "Well, if I put this much, if I buy this many lottery tickets, I can win this much if I buy this many." So tell him, tell us, am I going to win or am I not going to win? You know, he's you got to make a decision and then he goes out and does the best job he can on getting sponsors and and um um and and acts and he'll do the best he can. I don't want to speak for you, but I know you'll No, I appreciate that. Yeah.

So, I don't think I don't think you should but I don't think anybody should be eluding themselves by saying, "Well, we'll get this much back in a sponsor or we'll get this much back in ticket sales." You have to plan to spend the whole amount knowing that you'll probably get some back, but there's no way of knowing that until you actually go through with it, you know, and keep in mind we're an ample theater, you know, god forbid it rains. We're out that cash and no ticket sales happen.

The force de majour and the and the contract was pretty it gave us a pretty good option there and the lean rhymes and we would negotiate that with the artists. So, as far as weather and acts of god and all that stuff, we're we would be we would be protected. And I I'll definitely Eric uh Eric's office u reviewed the last agreement with Lean Rimes. They're not going to make they're not going to have anything that that goes missing on that as far as protection. And it was interesting that with the new ticket process you say would be a win-win.

I I I honestly I mean I can't tell you how many calls we got of people that got tired of trying to figure out that Toria system. And I I think in the first week or two of momentum, I think we got it back by getting creative with our marketing. Um and and that was internal uh on the city's efforts. um you know utilizing some email marketing lists. We did sell 300 tickets at the door that day which was really nice. That that helped quite a bit. Um so but yeah, I mean it was an 80,000 act you know with 100,000 obviously that you all authorized. Um and and Mayor Pro Tim is right to ask the question. It's it should be transparent on the revenue. We made 47,000 and a little bit more little bit of change um from the lean rhymes with the faulty ticket system.

I'll be okay with a tier 2 maximum myself. Okay. Uh like council mayor Bortan mentioned if we have to fork out the uh full amount of $175,000 hoping to get sponsorships not knowing I'm not I'm not uh very certain to I appreciate that. Yeah. Tier two max. Yes. Okay. All right. Thank you all. Thank you. Mayor Ross. Yes, ma'am. I do have one comment that I received for the record. Thank you.

The following comment was received for the record, provided to the members of the city council and made available for at the entrance for public inspection. Sunshine Herrera provided comments related to the proposed budget amendment for the balloon festival.

Thank you so much. And they're both out there. We can she gave two comments tonight, didn't she? And I would like to reinforce that the agreement, the revenue sharing agreement, which is probably the wrong word for it, will clearly outline, you know, who gets what from everything. And the direction is clear that the sponsorship dollars come to the city. um the ticket revenue would come to the city. What would probably go to the um to to offset the cost because they will pro be providing staffing with some of the things that we mentioned in terms of helping with the seating and things like that would be the um the beer and the or the drinks and the food revenue that basic framework and we may even ask for a a percentage of that. So

yeah, and Mayor Ross, we'll bring that back to you. Mayor Ross, because the recommendation does say to approve one of the tiers, can we do a motion so that we can finalize that tier 2? So let's ask the attorney. Do we need to because we're not really approving a contract or are we just giving direction? There we go. Uh I do think you should have a motion to clarify the direction. Um, I think this is going to start a process of going out and looking for an act and finding sponsors predicated on whatever level that you're doing and we're taking a meeting. The contract will still come back to you again, but but I do think a a motion and a vote is in order

and we don't always have to go with it if we can always resend our motion, right? Nope. And not go with it. Review at some point in time before we sign a contract. Okay, that's that's fair enough. I'll make the motion to approve tier two. Okay, we have a motion by Council Member Gutierrez and a second by Council Member Carnivali. Please vote. Pro Tim, did do you see the vote option? Do you want to verbalize your vote? It didn't come up at all. My vote is no.

Nate. Okay. And motion carries. All eyes with council member mayor prom Gregory voting no. I see it there. Carries 3-1. Apologies. Okay. So, we are winding down here. Our next is number seven. Discussion on future agenda items. City Council members, do you have any future agenda items you'd like to put forward? I do not. Well, that was easy. None of us do. So, we adjourn at Are we going back? Are we going back into close session? We have one item. We are. We have that one item, right?

So, we are going back into close session. When we come out, we will adjourn the meeting, but not until then. So, everybody sit.