City Council - Regular Meeting

If having reached the hour of 05:30PM, I'm calling the 03/10/2026 Modesto City Council meeting to order and ask the city clerk to call the roll. Council member Alvarez? Here.

Council member Ricky?

Here.

Council member Bavaro? Here. Vice mayor Williams?

Here.

Council member Wright?

Here.

Council member Scuthia Brayton?

Here.

And mayor Swalen? Here. Will everyone please rise the

pledge of allegiance followed by the invocation from Lance Lowell from Neighborhood Church. It appears that Lance Lowell is not here, so we will move on to city clerk announcements.

Just a reminder, public comment is three minutes and there's speaker cards at the entrance of the chambers. Yep.

Alright. Do any of the members have any conflicts of interest?

And, mayor, maybe I can make a comment here. The vice mayor will actually be recusing himself from consent, counter item number six. And the reason for that, it's a property related, conflict of interest. The vice mayor owns property that it's near a site that is being looked at under that item.

Alright. Thank you. Will the city attorney please report out on closed session?

Yes, mayor. The council met in closed session today to discuss two items, one related to property negotiations and the other related to anticipated litigation. No reportable action was taken.

Thank you. Next on the agenda is acknowledgments and presentations. Item one, A proclamation declaring March is American Red Cross month, and I will read the proclamation. This month, we proudly recognize the extraordinary service of the American Red Cross and their commitment to helping those in times of crisis. Across the nation and here in Modesto, their mission and impact brings support when it is needed the most.

The American Red Cross Heart of the Valley Chapter creates hope every day in our own community. Supported by generous donors and eight eleven dedicated volunteers, last year, the chapter responded to two forty eight disastrous events and opened three ninety six disaster cases to help families begin again. They collected 23,241 units of life saving blood for patients in hospitals and cancer treatment centers. They also opened two thirty four cases and provided eight eighty one services for military members, veterans and their families. Furthermore, they trained 10,259 individuals in first aid, CPR and the use of an AED, engaging 134 youth in emergency preparedness education.

The American Red Cross stands ready to serve. These numbers represent more than statistics. They are lives saved, futures protected, and communities strengthened. The city of Modesto is deeply grateful for the American Red Cross and the volunteers who embody service at its highest level. Now therefore, I, Sue Zwolland, Mayor, do hereby proclaim March 2026 as American Red Cross Month and encourage our residents to support their humanitarian mission and commitment to care for one another.

And accepting this proclamation will be Nancy, Houghton, Red Cross Board Chair and Felicia Wolfhook, Red Cross CEO of the Heart of the Valley Chapter. Would you step forward please to the podium? And if you have some comments to make, we'd love to hear from you now. Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor and city council. My name is Felicia Wolfhook and this is Nancy Houghton.

On behalf of the Red Cross here in Stanislaus County, we would just like to say thank you for your support. We could not do and fulfill our mission without the support of people like you and our donors and our volunteers. So thank you on behalf of the Red Cross Chapter.

You're welcome. Thank you. Alright. So please stay there, and I'll bring the proclamation now down. Thank you for being here this Excuse me, I'm sorry. Yes, comments from council members and Vice Mayor Williams.

Thank you, Mayor. I thank you for your presence here in the community.

Thank you, sir.

We value your presence and so is your service to this community. So thank you very, very much.

Thank you, sir.

Alright. Any other comments? What I was really excited to hear is also about the education regarding AEDs. Absolutely. We know that those are really a life truly a lifesaver in so many situations and really grateful that you have training regarding that for when it's needed.

All

right. We will now bring the proclamation down and present it. Did I see Chris, do you have your hand up? Or is that somebody's that's a cursor. Sorry, that was the cursor was on there.

All right. Thank you. All right. Thank Thank you. Do

you guys wanna come over here?

Here we go. The green on this side. You wanna open that up?

Sure. Sure. However you There you go. Mhmm.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Alright. You ready? Thank

you. Thank you. I appreciate you, Gail.

Thank you, counsel. Do you ever still have efforts

with the Go Red campaign?

Next is item two, consider approving the appointment of Catherine Zagoni as the 2026, Culture Commission representative to the Landmark Preservation Commission with a term of expiration of 12/31/2026. Does council have any questions of staff? I'll open this item up to the public. Are there any members of the public that would like to speak regarding Item two? Seeing none, Council Member Ricky, is there anyone in from the public at your location that would like to come forward regarding this item?

Not at this time, Mayor.

All right. I'll close public comments. Any comments from council members? Vice Mayor Williams.

Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to thank Catherine for her short stint. It's a small commitment time wise, but we appreciate her stepping up.

Alright. I have a resolution approving the appointment of Catherine Zagoni as the twenty twenty six Culture Commission representative to the Landmark Preservation Commission with a term expiration of 12/31/2026. Do I have a motion?

So moved.

Second by council member Wright, second by vice mayor Williams. And will the court please call the roll for this item? Council member Alvarez?

Aye.

Council member Ricky?

Aye.

Council member Bavaro. Aye. Vice mayor Williams. Aye. Council member Wright. Aye. Council member Scuthia Brayton. Aye. And mayor Swalen.

Aye. Carries, unanimously. Next on the agenda is public comment. Public comment tonight is in person only. Zoom remains available for viewing and for wordly translation. Thank you for joining us. The city council meetings are a place where everyone is encouraged to share insights, listen, and participate in the decision making process that benefits our community. To ensure a fair and respectful environment, the mayor is responsible for maintaining order and decorum as outlined in the city charter and the rules of decorum are posted at the entrance of the chamber. I ask that we are all respectful of all members of the public, presenters and council members. Anyone who disrupts the meeting may be asked to leave.

I appreciate your cooperation as we discuss key issues and make decisions that affect our city. We will now open public comment for items not on the council agenda, and you have three minutes to speak. And I will call the speakers in the order of the that I received the cards. First one is Nancy Robinson.

Good evening, Mayor Swalen and members of the Modesto City Council. My name is Nancy Robinson. I'm President of the Modesto Garden Club. I'm here this evening to let you know about some of our upcoming events. First up is Arbor Day celebration this Friday, March 13. We will be meeting at Roosevelt Park on West Orangeburg Avenue near the tennis courts and our Centennial Garden at 10:00 in the morning. It should be a beautiful morning. We will be planting a valley oak tree supplied by Modesto Junior College. The valley oak tree is the largest oak in North America. It provides crucial habitat food in the form of acorns and shelter for wildlife, including migratory birds.

We always appreciate the support of the city council when we have these events. Look forward to seeing you, mayor. This is a free event for anyone to attend. The next important date is Saturday, April 18. This is our spring garden tour. It is our largest fundraiser, specifically designed to award $9,000 in scholarships to high school and college students. We have five locations this year including the Garden Club office where we will have refreshments and a raffle. The time of the tour is from ten a. M. To four p.

M. Which gives you time to view the homes at your leisure. Tickets may be purchased online on our website, modestagardenclub.org. There's also several local merchants where they are selling tickets, and you can purchase tickets the day of the tour at the homes. Check out our website for more details. Again, modestogardenclub.org. In May, the day before Mother's Day, on May 9, we will have a plant sale and craft fair. Many of the plants are being grown and propagated by our members. The craft vendors have been specifically selected for their handmade items. This event, May 9, is from ten a.

M. To four p. M. The plant sale will end at 02:00, though. The location is Modesto Covenant Church, where we meet on a monthly basis at 913 Floyd Avenue here in Modesto, and what a perfect time to buy something for mom. I have given each of you the three flyers for these events, and you're welcome to share them. Thank you for your support for our club. I always enjoy coming to speak to you. Thank you.

Thank you. Next is Hillary Moak.

Hi. Good evening, counsel. I'm here today because we just finalized our flyers for our annual, Modesto Wreckfest event. So I brought these today to share with you all. We'd love to invite you to join this event. It is gonna be held at the gateway parcel of the Tuolumne River Regional Park. It's an annual event free for the community, family friendly. It's a very collaborative partner shaped based event where we have our organization, other organizations coming in hosting fun recreational activities. There will be biking. There will be bird watching.

There will be, youth fishing, paddling, and a whole plethora of other activities from some of our other partners. We have both, city parks and county parks in attendance as well, showing kind of the collaborative spirit of the Tuolumne River Regional Park. So hope to see you all there. And council member Williams, you're more than welcome to bring your cart again. That was a really fun addition last year. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, Julian Phillips.

Good evening, mayor, city council members. My name is Julian Phillips. I'm district representative for senator Alvarado Gill. Thank you for having me this evening. I'd like to begin by extending a wholehearted thanks to the council members who were panelists at these at the Economic Opportunity Summit that the senator cohosted with the Latino coalition of the senate and the assembly where we focused on economic and affordability issues for the Latino population.

And, also thank you to the council members who, joined, and it's always a wonderful opportunity to learn how we can best serve our community. Now I'd like to begin a legislative update. The senator coauthored a b seventeen forty five with assembly member Gonzales to suspend the gas tax for a year, which would save people 61¢ a gallon every time they fill up. Certainly now more than ever, this is important and will affect affordability for all Californians moving forward. She also, has introduced a legislative package of bills related to wildfire risk reduction and affordability.

S b eleven sixty two, directs the Department of Forestry to prioritize state funded vegetation management projects in high density areas within the wildlife and urban interface, which really are which reducing the wildfire risk there would also reduce the insurance liability for those parcels. There are two other bills, that are focused on tax rebates for solar and home hardening, which are s b ten eighty four and s b eleven eighteen. And, coming up, we will be having, a next our next ag and water policy roundtable that will be hosted in Turlock in several weeks, And we will also be in the district on March 27. So stay tuned for our events, and thank you so much for your time. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thank you. Thank you. I have one more card, but it is for item 22. So I will hold that until item 22. Any other members of the public that would like to address us for items not on the agenda?

Mayor, city council, I would like to make a statement and gratitude for, it's been brought to our attention. We are missing somebody from the city that will be well, somebody's retiring from the city that will be greatly missed, assistant chief Ivan Valencia. He's done a great, he's done a great job working with the car community, and we like to thank him on behalf of myself, Eddie Santos, Tina Tatillo, and other members, within the Lowrider community and the car community as a whole. He did great strides in bringing us together and working with us along with the chief on lifting the band in Modesto. He also was very enthusiastic in bringing, about and to life the Lowrider, police car project for the high school students, so they would like to thank him also for that.

He's also been very a key role in supporting us and, with the Lowrider holiday that we first started last year. And so we would like to thank him, and he will be greatly missed. And, hopefully, I know it's gonna be hard shoes to fill with him gone, somebody who can hopefully do the same job or as good a job as he once has done himself. So we like to thank him, and he will be greatly missed. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Anyone else at this time? All right.

Kevin McLarty, District 1. I just wanted to tell the council that I went out to the animal services office today and I spent quite a bit of time there. And I've got to say that I was under the impression before I went there that things were totally out of control there, that it was in chaos and things were disorderly. I've got to say, I went out there and I got a complete tour of everything. And the lady spent a lot of time with me.

She took me to all the different hallways and explained everything to me. I was extremely impressed with what I saw. And she explained to me that the are the feral cats are taken in, and they are put in this one area. And then if they are friendly, then they are taken to another area where they await adoption. And some of the ones that are not friendly are put in another section to be housed on farms.

So that they can become a farm cat that can hunt for mice and things like that. They call that a working cat. Euthanasia was hardly discussed at all. Apparently it's a very last minute entity that is very rarely utilized. The facility was extremely clean.

All of the cages were were immaculate. I I could not believe how clean the place was, how immaculate everything was, how how orderly everything appeared. I from listening to the council meetings, I was under the impression that things were in total chaos out there. And so would recommend, as Michelle recommended, Michelle's the volunteer who took me around and showed me everything, that you spend a day volunteering there. And that's what she recommended.

She said, come out here and volunteer for one day. And then form your opinion about what is going on out here. And she recommended that the council members do that too. Spend a day out there volunteering. So just to give you a different opinion on the animal services department other than what you've been hearing. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else under public comment for items not on tonight's agenda? All right. Council Member Ricky, is there anyone at your location wishing to come forward to speak under public comment?

I don't see anybody right now.

Alright. Thank you. Next on the agenda is consent items. An item may be removed from consent and discussed at the request of a member of the public or council member. Is there anyone on the council that would like a consent item removed for further discussion? Seeing none, is there anyone in the public that would like an item removed from consent for further discussion or comment?

Item 11 for questions.

Okay. All right. Council Member Ricky, is there anyone in the public at your location that would like an item removed for consent from consent for further discussion or comment?

At this time, mayor.

Alright. Will the city clerk please read the consent items?

Yes, mayor. Item three, consider approving the minutes for the 03/03/2026 council meeting. Item four, consider approving a fourth amendment to the agreement with CGI Technologies and Solutions Incorporated, Fairfax, Virginia for the CGI Advantage Performance Budgeting and Advantage insight reporting software, increasing the agreement amount by $464,965 to a new total amount not to exceed $2,141,393 through the duration of the agreement and extending the term of the agreement from 03/31/2026 through 03/31/2029. Item five, consider accepting the 2025 general plan annual progress report and authorizing staff to submit it to the state of California. Item six was removed for a separate vote.

Item seven consider accepting the Downey shade structure and parking lot replacement project as complete, releasing securities, releasing payments totaling $609,728 to Westside Landscape and Concrete Incorporated of Neumann, California and authorizing the city clerk to file a notice of completion. Item eight, consider accepting rebid La Loma sewer replacement phase one project as complete, releasing securities, releasing payments totaling $6,065,080 to Mozingo Construction Incorporated of Oakdale, California and authorizing the city clerk to file a notice of completion. Item nine, consider approving a cost sharing agreement with the County Of Stanislaus for seventh Street Bridge project. Item 10, consider accepting the final report. City of Modesto project compliance audit for State Route 132 West Freeway Expressway Phase one project and Crow's Landing Road pavement rehabilitation project from the independent office of audits and investigations.

Item 11 was removed from consent. Item 12, consider accepting the monthly investment report for December 2025. Item 13, consider accepting an informational report for the January 2026 accounts payable payment register and void report. Item 11, consider approving the agreements for the on call hazardous waste and biohazardous waste remediation services to Greymour Environmental Services, LLC, Moses Lake, Washington and Clean Harbor Environmental Services, Incorporated, Norwell, Massachusetts for a total combined amount not to exceed $1,380,422 over five years. Item 15, consider approving an agreement for the furnishing of citywide security services to Intercon Security Systems Incorporated, Pasadena, California for a total amount not to exceed $7,112,000 over seven years.

Item 16, consider approving the purchase for five fleet additions and seven replacements, which include 10 Ford Mavericks and two Ford e three fifty vans in a total amount not to exceed $559,191. Item 17, consider approving a third amendment for bottled water delivery services for citywide locations to Blue Triton Brands Incorporated doing business as Primo Brands, Manteca, California increasing the agreement amount by a $100,000 over the term of the agreement. Item 18, consider approving the first amendment to the lease agreement with Beard Land Improvement Company of Modesto, California for the lease of the Modesto Fire Department Administration building located at 409 12th Street, Modesto, California, extending the term of the agreement to 03/31/2029, increasing the agreement amount by $490,716 to a new total amount not to exceed $1,196,790. Item 19, consider approving an agreement with ace SHI International Corporation of Somerset, New Jersey for the city's Microsoft Enterprise Agreement and additional Microsoft licensing for a total amount not to exceed $3,409,621 over three years. Item 20, consider approving the purchase of a factory new Lycoming TIO five forty a h one a engine for the Modesto Police Department GA ATC three twenty AirVans Sky one to Gyps Aero Proprietary Limited Victoria Australia for a total amount not to exceed $254,000.

And item 21, consider approving an agreement with Corolla Engineers of Walnut Creek, California for the preparation of the wastewater engineers report update in the amount of a $136,668 plus $13,667 in additional services if needed for an agreement total not to exceed a $150,335 and an agreement with Bartel Wells Associates of Berkeley, California for the preparation of the wastewater rates and fee study in the amount of a 188,600 plus $18,860 in additional services if needed for an agreement total not to exceed $207,460. Alrighty.

May I have a motion to approve the consent calendar as read?

Motion to approve.

Motion by council member Scuti Brayton. Second. Second by council member Wright. And will the clerk please call the roll?

Council member Alvarez. Aye. Council member Ricky. Aye. Council member Bavaro. Aye. Vice mayor Williams. Aye. Council member Wright. Aye. Council member Sklutia Brayton. Aye. And mayor Swalen.

Aye. Carries unanimously. We will go back to item six. Alright. Consider and council member or vice mayor Williams will be recusing from this item. Consider approving a second amendment and reinstatement of the letter of intent between the United Soccer League, LLC and the City of Modesto to extend an exclusive negotiating period to 06/10/2026.

Second.

Alright. I have a motion by council member Wright and a second by council member Bavaro. And will the clerk please call

the roll for this item? Council member Alvarez? Aye. Council member Ricky?

Aye.

Council member Bavaro? Aye. Council member Wright? Aye. Council member Scuthia Brayton? Aye. And mayors Wallens? Aye. Carries,

six to one. And for clarification

Six

Six zero with one

One recuse.

Accused. Vice mayor Williams recuse. And I'm gonna ask for clarification. I read the agenda item, not the resolution. Is that permissible?

Yes, Mary. It's on a consent calendar, so you were just reading the title.

Okay. Perfectly fine. Alright. Thank you. On to item 11.

Consent item 11. Consider approving memorandum of understanding with Yosemite Rivers Alliance, formerly known as Tuolumne River Trust for habitat restoration at the Carpenter Road parcel of Tuolumne River Regional Park, and we will have a staff report. Thank you. Welcome.

Thank you, mayor. Good evening, mayor and council. Toby Wells, director of engineering services, city engineer. This item 11 is an MOU, a memorandum of understanding between the city of Modesto and Yosemite River Alliance, as you mentioned, formerly known as the Tuolumne River Trust. City of Modesto as the managing partner for TRIP for the Tuolumne River Regional Park.

This land that is being, received of a state grant to restore some fish habitat. Since we are the managing partner, this MOU allows us to facilitate the Yosemite River Alliance from doing the construction of restoring the fish habitat. So it really is we're facilitating. They're doing all of the work. We review the plans, and ultimately, it will restore a vital piece of fish habitat along the Tuolumne River. This property is just east of Carpenter Road on the north side of the river. Happy to answer any questions.

Alright. Thank you. Does council have any questions with staff regarding this item? Alright. Any members of the public that would like to come forward regarding item consent, item 11?

So basically, have three questions. I want to know what animals are they whose habitats are being restored by this measure? How were their habitats depleted in the first place? What was the cataclysmic event that occurred that depleted their habitat in the first place? And does this measure include an education component for the public so as to protect these animals' habitats so this doesn't happen again?

You. Thank you very much. If you would okay, we have some help here for this. How convenient.

Yes. Very fortunate that Hillary is here this evening. So I can answer the first question. It's Chinook salmon and juvenile or Valley Steelhead. Though I do know that answer. In terms of the overall big picture, I think Hillary is best to answer that question.

Right. Welcome back. So

I'm speaking on behalf of our restoration team. I'm the program director, so I don't I'm not specifically involved in this project, but I do knew quite a bit about it. So this is a habitat restoration project to create a better and active floodplain with high levels of water for juvenile steelhead and Chinook salmon for rearing habitat. We recently completed a project upstream at La Grange for spawning habitat, and so this is going to help continue that path to try to increase our native Chinook salmon population that have been depleted over the last decades. So those are the main animals that we're working to protect and essentially there will be in channel that will go in, activate the floodplain with water.

Juvenile salmon can swim in, grow, get stronger before they exit, and then head out to the Pacific Ocean to live. And regarding the educational piece, we really hope so. And we've talked with some park staff regarding interpretive signage. Part of this is actually involved in the trip master plan update that we're still waiting to do, but there is an educational interpretive component that we'd love to be able to facilitate to educate the community on the importance of salmon, how salmon help our river, as well as the benefits of it to the park.

Alright. And okay.

Thank

you. That's adequate. Alright. Thank you. Any other public comment on this item? Uh-huh.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, City Council members. My name is Ron West. I live at 720 North 3rd Street in Paterson. And I would like to speak in favor of this and remind everyone how important are. I've been very blessed to be on that Tuolumne River Regional Park Citizens Advisory Committee for probably twenty five years. I guess I'm that old. And that park is a treasure. That park is an absolute treasure, you guys. And we need to understand that. We need to share it. And the rec fest that Hillary was telling you about is going to be really important. So I support this and I encourage you to show up. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other comments on Consent Item 11 from the public? Seeing none, Council Member Ricky, is there anyone from the public at your location that would like to come forward on this item?

Not at this time.

Alright. I will close public comments. Any council member comments regarding item 11? Seeing none, I have a resolution approving the memorandum of understanding with Yosemite Rivers Alliance, formerly known as Tuolumne River Trust, for habitat restoration at the Carpenter Road parcel of Tuolumne River Regional Park and authorizing the city manager or his designee to execute the agreement. Do I have a motion?

So moved.

Moved by, Council Member Alvarez. Second. Second by council member Wright. And will the clerk please call the roll?

Council member Alvarez. Aye. Council member Ricky. Aye. Council member Bavaro. Aye. Vice mayor Williams. Aye. Council member Wright.

Aye.

Council member Scoutier Brayton?

Aye.

And mayors Wallin?

I will say aye, but I just noticed that council member Scoutier Brayton did you have a comment? No? Alright. Aye. So it carries unanimously. Thank you. And next on the agenda is council comments and reports. Do any council members have comments and reports at this time? Vice mayor Williams.

Thank you, mayor. Just this weekend, we had I had the opportunity and a couple of my colleagues were with me for my very first bar mitzvah.

Bar mitzvah.

Say it again.

Bar mitzvah.

Okay. That sounds good too. We're gonna convert your house. Right. Absolutely. Why don't we get past Saint Patrick's Day first,

and then we can go from

there. So that was a wonderful event, and I don't know if some of my colleagues may wanna chime in on some of the experiences, but it was really, really nicely done. It was Field Trumpeter's granddaughter who had that, and it was wonderful. Also, last Friday, I had the opportunity to be with my colleagues at the summit, and it was well done. And I appreciate them being there representing the city Modesto, council member Alvarez, and councilwoman Scoutier Brighton, who were speakers, and they did a wonderful job.

Didn't get to hear them. I had to step out, but when I came back, I did ask, and they said that they did a wonderful job. Also, at Beard Elementary School was a career day. Was able to spend some time with some third graders, fifth graders, and sixth graders as they came out for recess for maybe thirty minutes or so each session. And, of course, they were rambunctious.

They were excited, and I don't think they wanna be a council member. But for the most part, it was pretty fun. And then we will be doing that same thing at separate career day, their elementary school on this coming Friday. And last but not least, there is a woman in the audience who is a really good friend of mine. Her husband was a really good friend of mine, and some of you may know him or have heard of him.

His name is Hal Conkey, and he passed away 08/01/2025. And Lucy Conkey is in the room, and she's still in Moban and does so much community work in our community. Just wanted to acknowledge you today, particularly on woman's month. Mayor, this is woman's month. I said week last last week, and I got in trouble.

And so now I want to clarify, it's woman's month, but as councilman Wright said, it's woman's year, all year. Well, it's been a woman's forty years for me with my wife, so I'm thankful for that. But Hal Hal Conkey was a wonderful person. I it was interesting that I just ran across a video that he we did with him, and we were talking. I said, Hal Conkey? So what would be the words for today? What what would you like the the people of Modesto to know? What and he said, just breathe. He was 101. And he said 100.

When we did that video, he was a hundred and a hundred and one later. But when he we did that video, he said, just breathe. So ladies and gentlemen, just breathe. That concludes my time. Thank you, mayor.

Alright. You're welcome. Council member Alvarez.

Thank you, mayor. I'll be brief tonight. I just wanted to highlight an event myself and my colleague councilmember Scuti Brayton attended and Jeremiah attended later in the day. It was an entire day worth of summit at MJC. I'm an alumni of MJC.

So last week, we had the honor of participating in the Modesto Latino Leaders Summit at the community college on the West Campus in the Science Hall, focused on strengthening educational pathways and addressing the challenges facing Latino communities. And the summit was led by Mike Madrid, the author of the Latino Century. Mike is also the cofounder of the Lincoln Project. And the summit brought together leading voices from the Latino civic and business community to discuss the most pressing issues impacting Latinos in Stanislaus and Merced Counties. And I want to give a special thank you to all the folks involved in organizing an impactful summit, senator Maria Alvarado Gil, assembly member Juan Aleniz, Julian Canetes, president and CEO of the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Doctor.

Brian Sanders, President of MJC. I want to thank them for their support and organization of such an impactful summit this year. Thank you.

Council Member Ricky. Unfortunately, right now, you are frozen. All right.

Are there

Oh, now are you back? No. We cannot hear you. I will go to council member Escobia Brayton.

Thank you, mayor. Today I had the wonderful opportunity to tour Santa's Law's regional 911 call center. It was a great opportunity to see firsthand behind the scenes of the work that infamous three digit number we all know, but yet we all hope we never have to dial, how it works. The center is led by Ms. Casey Young.

She is an outstanding professional whose temperament, leadership, and experience are perfectly suited to guide that team of individuals on a daily basis, manage situations that oftentimes have to balance between life and death. And they do it well, they do it in a very calm fashion. I got to witness firsthand calls coming in and just their professionalism in dealing with the nature of those calls. Very, very impressive. I'm certainly not the only one impressed with Ms.

Young. Next week, State Assembly member Juan Alanis will be recognizing Ms. Young with the prestigious honor of being recognized as Woman of the Year. So I would encourage you all to help me in congratulating Ms. Young in receiving this very prestigious award. Thank you.

Alright. Council member Ricky.

Let's try this again. Can you hear me now?

Yes. We can.

Alright. Farmers and workers would both benefit from finding a pathway to reopen the old Del Monte plants. The economic development is an important priority for the city, and I'm hopeful that we can find a solution to bring this back to life. Also, Cat Cafe would be a good way for Stanislaus Animal Services to provide spay and neuter services, generate revenue, and adopt more cats. It could be located in Downtown Modesto or at the mall.

We need new sources of revenue for salsa, and a cat cafe could be another way to get us closer to providing the services this community needs. There was also a public comment today about animal services. I would just suggest that the staff at the animal shelter speak with the public about the organization's current performance. The hundreds of Modestin's complaining shouldn't be continually gaslighted by an organization that fails to do anything meaningful in terms of spay and neuter, has no TNR program, limits intake, and is still euthanizing more animals than they have in years. We really don't want tours.

What we want is results. And finally, exploring new strategies to help the thirty percent of the of homeless people who are addicted is really important. And I'm seeing a new performance based pay strategy for addiction therapy that's really interesting. And I'm looking forward to exploring it as a possible remedy to improve the performance of our addiction and treatment services. Thanks, mayor.

You're welcome. Anyone else? I attended on Monday the twenty twenty six annual spring conference for the Northern California chapter of the Appraisal Institute. And it was really great to be with them. This is just one of the many groups that meets at the Center Plaza to enjoy the amenities that we have there where groups can gather and have their conference.

It was incredible, the breakout sessions that they were gonna have about agriculture, economic development, and commercial development in our area. So that was great to be with them. I had a meeting this morning with Fallon Farris, and she is the new Modesto City Schools engagement coordinator, and she is ready to go to have lots of engagement with groups in the community. And I suggested anyone that is interested in any of our 400 nonprofits or other groups to connect with her. I also attended our clergy council meeting, which is held monthly this morning, where we hear from our own police department, police chief, sheriff's department, highway patrol, fire department, and got a lot of really good information.

It's another community outreach meeting. We're very good at that. We have a lot of public input at these meetings, and that's how we're able to make really good decisions for our city. We will be having a 7th Street Bridge groundbreaking. The county is hosting that, but it is on Wednesday, March 18 because this is the last week that the 7th Street Bridge will be open.

And I believe it opened in 1916. So it's going to be a transformational time, but things move on. Wednesday, March 18, there'll be a joint City Council Planning Commission meeting that will be very important. And another opportunity to hear from the public regarding our general plan. And that will be in the Center Plaza at the Arbor Theatre starting at 1PM. Those are my comments and reports. Does the city manager have any comments or reports?

Yes, mayor. Thank you. Just wanna take a moment to also say congratulations to assistant chief Ivan Valencia for his twenty six years of dedicated service to the city of Modesto. His steady presence and leadership has been nothing but astounding. We appreciate all that you've done for our community. Ivan, we wish you the best of luck in the future.

Thank you so much. Ivan, would you like to make any comments this evening? We are so appreciative of your service. I think the answer is probably no, but you're being very gracious to come forward and

Yeah. No. Thank you, city manager Lopez, for those kind words. And truly has been my privilege to to serve this community. I am grateful for the opportunities that were given to me. This city allowed me to to realize my dream of becoming a police officer and and many other opportunities. But I also am very grateful for every public servant that serves the city whether elected or appointed. It's really given me a fairytale ending or storybook ending to my career with the the historic year we had last year with crime reductions, the way our city looks. And so I couldn't pick a better ending to to, you know, start the new chapter in my life. But thank you very much.

You're very welcome. And stay here. I have a feeling there's people that are gonna wanna make comments. Councilmember Scoutier Breaton.

Thank you. I just could not pass up this opportunity to personally thank you for your service. You have been the epitome of quiet leadership excellence, and thank you for the tons of years of service that you've given to Modesto and to keep our neighborhoods and families safe, and thank you for serving as a role model specifically to Latino individuals that you, by just what you do, you demonstrate that you can be in a position of leadership and of service to our community, And it was afforded to you. You stepped up, and you just serve as a role model, as a leader, and that speaks volumes. So I wish you well in your retirement.

I truly hope you retire and relax and enjoy your family. I know that that your family is the core of your existence. And I just wish you well, and God bless you.

Thank you.

Alright. Council member Williams.

Thank you, mayor. So this is it. I was hoping to hear some walk up music when you came through, but I that didn't happen. I was trying to get to this. But you you have been a true example of following leadership and not wanting to take over the leadership.

And that's that's a that is a characteristic that a lot of people do not and are not able to possess when you could be a good follower and you can be a good supporter to your your leader, which is the chief. And I'm sure he really, really appreciates that. It's nothing worse than someone doing a job and somebody wanting that job who's who really could be qualified or not qualified. But when there's a person who knows where they're where they're supposed to be, know what they're supposed to do, and do it well like you have done all these years being an assistant chief, I respect that greatly. Lastly, I'm just wondering what classic car you're gonna get now so you can start cruising with Jerry and Betty and the rest of them.

But, again, congratulations to your success, and may your future still be bright. Thank

you. Alright. Councilmember Wright.

Thank you, Mayor. I think it was about thirty five years ago I met you. I remember going to your home there. I think it was Paradise. Yes. The first home that you bought. And you told me that you were going to be a police officer. And I went, this should be interesting. But it's amazing to see how your career has taken off and where you're at today, and my hat's off to you. And just glad that you've spent your time here in the city of Modesto, making this a better city. Wish you all the luck in the future. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Councilmember Bavaro.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm just going to ditto what everyone else has said. But I also would like to thank you for your work on SkyOne and bringing SkyOne to the council and explaining the purpose of or not the purpose but the use within the Modesto Police Department on how we can fight crime. And, you know, just wanted to thank you for for making it simple for us, or at least me, to understand. And and, again, all your hard work, and that was quite an accomplishment. Thank you, mayor.

Alright. Council member Alvarez.

Thank you, mayor. I wanna just I wanna highlight a point that my colleague, Rosa Scuti Brayan, mentioned. I mean, you served in this position not overnight. You've rose through the ranks with humility. I think I met you three years ago when I first came on council.

And seeing a Latino in a position of power, a position of authority and doing it with excellence and humility, you know, it leads it's a good example for other Latinos who aspire to go into public office or aspire to go into public service and public safety, knowing that there's folks who walk that path with integrity and character and have served ethically and principally, it really shows what's possible, what the walks of life that are typically, stereotypically and in the media framed as negative, you've done it and turned that stereotype on its head. And I think that that ripples a lot further than what we all really realize. So I wanna just tip my hat to you and your excellence, Latino excellence right before us.

Thank you.

Alright. Council member Ricky.

I just wanna echo the sentiments of my colleagues. Thanks for your service for all these years, chief. And, in in addition to all that, just you were a great bridge in the community when we were doing the cruising van. And, you know, we make it sound like it was easy now, but it was it was a difficult thing, and I appreciate your contributions.

Alright. I'll end. I honestly typically never ask someone to come forward if if you don't want to, and I know that you did not want any, all of these these words and thanks, and you want to just do this quietly. But I just could not let that happen. I just could not.

I just couldn't. We truly appreciate you and who you are, everything that you are and stand for and, your support of our chief, Brandon Gillespie, throughout everything in his life, in our lives, and, I just made you do it. So thank you for, you know, great being so gracious. And thank you so much, Ivan, for your service.

Thank you.

Alright. You're welcome. Alright. Yay. Next on the agenda is hearings. Item 22, a hearing to consider approving an application to rezone 1.35 acres at 3213 Coffee Road, West Of Thorson Avenue from professional office zone to medium density residential zone. And we will have a staff report.

Great. Thank you, mayor and city council. Jessica Hill, director of community and economic development. So the item before you today is about 1.35 acres. It's on the West Side of Copy Road opposite of Thorson Avenue.

That entire area there was annexed into the city of Modesto in 1963, and it's currently zoned for professional office uses. So for a little bit of background regarding the property, the site was previously zoned in August 2012 as medium density residential. And at that time, it was rezoned to professional office to help facilitate new office development. And since that period of time, no development occurred and the site remains vacant with existing frontage improvement so it has curb gutter sidewalk. The site's adjacent to R 1 uses to the West and to the North and then R 2 uses to the South.

So on 07/31/2025, the property owner, since they were unable to develop into professional office, submitted an application actually to rezone the site back to medium density residential, and at this time, no development is proposed with the rezoning. But if it's rezoned, the allowable density will be 10.9 to 22 units per acre, so will allow in between 14 to 30 units. The applicant also conducted neighborhood outreach by sending a letter to all the surrounding property owners to introduce and describe the proposed rezone. So the table above is just a comparison of what the zonings in each each the current zoning and the future zoning would allow for. So some key things I wanted to point out is both professional office and medium density residential allows two stories, but professional office offers a 35 foot maximum, whereas medium density residential offers a 30 foot maximum.

And then any two story development that actually occurs adjacent to single family homes do go through a second story review to ensure that we look at the two story construction and look at the rear yard visibility to ensure the protection to neighboring single family homes. Single family and single story homes. We did an environmental assessment where we looked at our programmatic EIR and it was pursuant to section one five one eight three of the public resources the public resources code, no further environmental review is required. It was brought to our planning commission at on December 15, and it was voted approval unanimously unanimously. So before you today, I do have two recommended council actions, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much for your report. Does council have any questions of staff? Council member Wright.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you for your report. On the outreach to the community, do you what was the response?

Absolutely. We had the outreach happened on three separate occasions. So prior to the planning commission, prior to city council, and then we have the applicant actually do another outreach just about the history and more details about the project in between the two. We did have some individuals actually come to planning commission who was concerned about being adjacent to a multi a potential two story multifamily residential. And we've had a couple of other conversations with community members who did call us who had those similar concerns.

So what was the vote from the planning commission on

the Planning commission voted unanimously.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Vice mayor Williams. Questions?

Thank you, mayor. The quest the question I have thank first of all, thank you for that presentation. That area is in my district. And the one question I have mainly is, was there any cost to the rezoning for the applicant?

So the applicant, when they do submit an application, they have to pay the application fee.

And what was that?

I believe it ranges about $5,000, but I don't have that exact amount.

So in three years ago when they were trying to do the other and it didn't work out, did they have to pay for another zoning

They did at that time as well.

And so now another zoning cost Yes. For this Okay. Thank you.

You're welcome. All right. Any other questions from council members? Seeing none, I'll now open the public hearing. Are there any members of the public that would like to come forward regarding Item 22? And we have one blue card from Ron West.

What a coincidence. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Ron West. I live at 720 North 3rd in Paterson, and I appreciate your time. I also appreciate your contribution to your community because I've served as the Chairman of our Planning Commission in Paterson for the last sixteen years, and I know there's a lot more work that was under your jobs up there than people realize. So thank you for your time. I'm representing my client, Mr. Lindbright, who's owned the property for many, many years. He developed a small cul de sac project immediately next door to it on the South and built some duplexes and triplexes there.

This was sort of the remainder R2 piece that did not get developed, and it sat there for many years. Years ago, as your staff indicated, there was a big demand for offices. Everybody wanted offices for a while, so we rezoned it. Then nobody wanted offices. All the viruses came and nobody wanted offices. So I know there's housing demand. We have no particular plans for the site. But I think the highest and best use for that property is probably residential. And we're just simply going back to the R2 zone that was previously there. We did make an extra we went to planning commission and we had unanimous vote.

I think we had one neighbor, maybe we'll add someone comment. I've talked to several neighbors. I got a phone call and I've talked to a couple here tonight, but we've been able to establish a good rapport. I did send a letter out to everyone within 1,000 feet as a special notice, and we haven't heard that much except maybe the one phone call I got. Anyway, we want to be good neighbors. As your staff indicated, the PO actually allows a little higher building than the R2 that we're asking for. So I fully understand the neighbors concerned about the big tall building that got built up the block. I really get that. The first time I saw it, I had the same reaction. I'm sure I thought, uh-oh.

That's not what's being proposed here. That's not what this zone would allow. We have no intention of doing that. The other thing is this site is smaller than the one next door that had the cul de sac development. So there will not be interior asphalt and units around the outside like the neighbor like the one next door. This will have to be parking around the perimeter and the units in the middle. So that will give further setbacks and I think even better protection if that goes two stories. So I think the setup will probably be something that will benefit the neighbors in terms of preventing something like they've seen recently nearby. Other than that, we don't have much to add. Yes, there are fees.

There are several thousand dollars. Nothing is cheap anymore, but we understand that. Are there any questions?

Just comments from the public right now, so that's great.

Thank you.

Appreciate it. You. Are there any other members of the public regarding item 22, this hearing?

Hello, my name is Colleen Fitzgerald. I live on Londonderry Road, so I'm a little down a little bit from that property. The three story building that's there is terrible. My concern about this two story that is proposed I think Ron said that it's going be in the center with parking all the way around and how many units that is. I'd like to know kind of how many people are going to be there and what effect that will have as far as the distance from the building or parking to where the wall is.

It's a seven foot wall. 15 feet doesn't seem long enough or big enough to me in distance. The other concern I have is how it may affect the solar panels on on the block of London area. So

Alright. Thank you. Jessica, can you respond to that? My understanding is there is not anything

So there's planned no for the development proposed at this time, but in accordance with what the zoning allows is the property if it was a or if the development was a two story development would have to be at least 15 feet away from the back wall. And so that's kind of how the orientation would look. So the planning setbacks would really kind of determine where the the building would be placed. In regards to the solar, any this is part of the second story provisions. So to ensure that the building wouldn't have any effect on neighboring parcel solar. And so that would be considered when the second story review does happen.

Alright. Thank you. Any other members of the public with comments regarding item 22? Alright. Seeing none, council member Ricky, is there anyone in your location that would like to come forward on this item?

Alas, there's not.

Alright. I will close this public hearing. Close public comments. Are there any comments from council members? Seeing none, we have to vote on two two motions here. First is a resolution finding the rezone from PO to r two for the property located at 3213 Coffey Road, conforms with the Modesto urban area general plan pro pro excuse me, programmatic environmental impact reports. And this is s c h number 2024091127. Do I have a motion?

So moved.

Moved by council member Bavaro. Second. Second. Okay. We already had it from council member Alvarez. The second. And will the

clerk please call the roll? Council member Alvarez. Aye. Council member Ricky. Aye. Council member Bavaro? Aye. Vice mayor Williams? Aye. Council member Wright? Aye. Council member Scoutier Brayton? Aye. And mayors Welland?

Aye. Carries seven zero. Next is a motion introducing and waiving the first reading of an ordinance amending section nine dash three dash nine of the zoning map of the city of Modesto to rezone from professional office zone PO to medium density residential zone r two for property located at 3213 Coffee Road, West Of Thorson. Drive a motion.

So moved.

Moved by council member Wright. Second. By council by vice mayor Williams. And will the clerk please call the roll?

Council member Alvarez. Aye. Council member Ricky.

Aye.

Council member Bavaro? Aye. Vice mayor Williams? Aye. Council member Wright? Aye. Council member Scuthia Brayton? Aye. And mayors Welland?

Aye. Carries seven zero. Thank you. Are there any matters too late for the agenda? Seeing none, I'm calling this meeting of the city council to be adjourned.