City Council - Special Meeting

It's a regular meeting of the City Council of Calistoga. It is June 3rd. The time is 6 6 p.m. On June 3rd. May we have a roll call city clerk, please?

Councilmember Eisenberg present councilmember Cooper present councilmember Lopez Ortega, but I think mayor vice mayor gift President and Mayor Williams present you're invited to join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I The City Council did meet in closed session on May 19th. The subject of the closed session was real property and negotiations with the representatives of the Boys and Girls Club and from that meeting there's no action that is reportable. Oral communication is the next item on the agenda, and this time is set aside to receive comments from the public regarding matters on the consent calendar or matters of municipal concern which are not on the agenda. Pursuant to Government Code 54954.3, the Brown Act, The council cannot consider any issues or take action on any requests which are not on the agenda during this comment period. Speakers are encouraged to limit their comments to three minutes so that all speakers have an opportunity to address the city council. So this is the time to address the council on matters which are not on the agenda. And are there any speaker cards, city clerk, first of all?

Yes, the first one is Isla Moore.

Yes. And welcome.

Hi, City Council. Thanks for having us. My daughter wrote this letter, and I wanted to take the opportunity to read it. Dear City Council, please. Okay, read your letter. Can you read it? No. Please let us have a bike lane so we can be safe and not get crushed by cars. From Isla Tangney Moore, kindergarten.

Very good, thank you. Are there additional speaker cards, city clerk?

Yes, Jeremiah Moore?

And welcome Mr. Moore.

Just like to speak on behalf of having a bike lane in Calistoga on the way to the elementary school. I've been riding my daughter to school on our bikes and it's pretty dangerous. So I think it'd be nice to look into that. I'd also like to talk about the golf course.

Yep, now's the time.

Yeah. I heard there's some good momentum going on, so it'd be nice to keep the momentum going, and it'd be great to see the golf course come back to Calistoga. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Other cards, city clerk?

Yes, the next one is Hugo DeCesar.

Let's see. Can we adjust the mic? There we go. Great.

Can I be with you people?

Oh, my God. Yeah, I'm not going to do it.

I'll do it. No, I'll do it.

I'll do it. Oh, my God.

Say what you want.

Okay.

I don't know. I don't know. I'm not doing it. OK, SHALL WE SAVE THAT FOR ANOTHER TIME THEN? OK. WELL, YOUR INTENTIONS ARE GOOD. WE APPRECIATE THAT. OTHER SPEAKER CARTS?

YES, THE NEXT ONE IS LUISA DE CESAR.

OK, LUISA, DO YOU WANT TO PASS? ANOTHER TIME MAYBE? OK. Okay, city clerk.

Elizabeth Tankney.

I also mailed a letter, but I'd like to take opportunity to read it. Dear members of the Calistoga City Council, I'm writing to urge the City Council to prioritize the addition of a dedicated bike lane on Washington Street near Calistoga Elementary School. The school actively encourages students to walk and bike to school as a way to reduce traffic and congestion and promote healthy lifestyles. Unfortunately current conditions on Washington Street make biking unsafe for many children and families. The combination of vehicle traffic, parked cars, and limited space creates significant safety concerns for our young cyclists traveling to and from school. Providing a protected bike lane would improve safety for the elementary school students while supporting a healthier, more active community. Encouraging children to bike to school aligns with the principles of Blue Zone Living, promoting daily physical activity, independence, and lifelong healthy habits. It also gives children an important sense of freedom and confidence as they learn to navigate their community safely. Our children deserve safe routes to school by investing in a bicycle infrastructure on Washington Street the Calistoga the city of Calistoga can make our streets safer reduce traffic condition congestion and support the well-being of future generations. Please make the safety of our students a priority and take the action to add a bike lane to Washington Street. Thank you.

Great. Thanks for the comments. And your letter was included by the city clerk in the official record of the meeting as well. Yes, city clerk.

Sorry, Pamela Fred Alizio?

Yes, Miss Fred Alizio. Hi.

Good evening mayor and council members. My name is Pam Fradalizio. I'm a Calistoga resident a teacher at our elementary school and a mother of three children who will all eventually attend our local public schools. My oldest child has been biking to school at CES for the past two years. Through that experience I've seen firsthand the challenges that families face while biking to school especially on Washington Street during busy drop offs and pickups. The condition of the road, lack of a bike lane, and close proximity to cars can make it feel unsafe and stressful for young riders and their parents. Additionally, one of my responsibilities as a teacher at CES is to stand by the bike rack every Monday morning, greeting families and also making sure that students are following our bike safety guidelines. And this past Monday, which was a beautiful warm morning, I counted just eight bikes parked at the school, two of which belonged to my son and me. It's a really typical number, and it only decreases during the colder months. And at a school where most of our students live within biking distance, that number makes me really curious. I want to know what's keeping more students from biking to school. And it turns out that in 2022, the Napa County Safe Routes to School Conducted a walk audit of Calistoga Elementary School that sought to answer that question. It's available online after surveying over 400 families they specifically identified a lack of a bike lane on Washington Street as one of the top barriers to students biking safely and Washington Street is one of the most direct routes to CES for a lot of students and It connects neighborhoods, parks, Boys and Girls Club, the Art Center, and the school campus itself. And there is no alternative route that I believe could safely serve our young bicyclists in the same way that a bike lane on Washington could. And a bike lane would not only improve safety for the families already biking but it would open the door for many more students to ride independently. When my child bikes to school I see both a need and an opportunity. I see the challenges that families face navigating streets that were not designed with young bicyclists in mind. But I also see my child gaining confidence independence physical activity and a connection to his community. So I hope you'll consider adding infrastructure that allows more Calistoga families to experience that safely. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bradley-Dizio. Yes, city clerk.

Gianna Fredilizio.

And welcome, Gianna.

Hello, everybody. My name's Gigi, and I'm four years old, and I think we should put a bike lane on Washington Street. Please? Thank you.

Thank you. Yes.

Cindy Yont.

Ms. Yont.

for the bike lane.

I'm not up here for the bike lane, but I agree with the kids.

I know there was a serious accident many, many years ago of a bicycle on Washington, a very unfortunate accident. So I support the bike lane. I would like to encourage the council when the Boys and Girls Club funding comes or anything to do with the Boys and Girls Club that we do support that organization. They are kids that are at risk. and need the support. It's been a great, I'm talking for somebody else so I'm fumbling here. It's been a great asset to the town and some of the kids that have gone there have really gone further in life that they may not have done had they not been through the Boys and Girls Club. So it is very good for certain kids in our community. so we've given we've taken funding away from them yet we seem to have increased the funding to the chamber of commerce which serves more of the tourists than it does the locals and i would like to see some of that funding be brought back and maybe the chamber should give a fiscal report on where their funds are going before they get any more funding or a raise in funding i know we need the tourists but we also need to take care of our students here i think that's it right now thank you okay thank you

And city clerk, are there other speaker cards? No more cards. Okay. Would anybody who didn't submit a speaker card like to address the council on any matter that's not on the agenda? Yes, now's the time. If it's a topic that's not agendized.

Well, it is. I didn't know that there was anything going on with Boys and Girls Club, but I have a young athlete she's 10. So she has enjoyed the sports at Boys and Girls Club and it's been an amazing resource for her to make friends because at school you're busy doing school things and they don't get a lot of time. So learning teamwork and I'm also here to speak on behalf of hearts and hands. Oh and my name is Krista. I didn't mention that. And It's a nice place. My daughter's been going there for a few weeks. And it's a great opportunity. It's right down the street from us. And a lot of after school programs don't have space. So it's a nice opportunity to let her stay there. And she told me it's very cozy. She hasn't had a lot of interactions, but she loves that she can take her nap and bring her blanket and have her stuffy. Yeah, she really enjoys it there. So thank you.

Great, Krista. And your full name, just so that the city clerk can have it on record?

Oh, Krista Fox Sharp.

Thank you. And we're also checking if there's anybody online who would like to make a comment.

There are no hands raised online.

OK. And would anybody else here in the chambers tonight? Yes. You're welcome to come forward.

My name is Mateo and I'm wondering if we could add a bike lane because I know we're going to start building up the cracks because it's kind of bumpy. So I think we should add a bike lane. Thank you.

Very good. Thank you, Mateo. Is there anybody else tonight? And we'll check one more time online. Not online. Before we close public comment or any other members of the chamber here tonight of the residing or joining us tonight in our council chambers. Okay, then we'll close public. So we have other speaker comments or no? Okay.

Moral support. You got this. What do you have to say?

This might work too if you need it.

The slower one on the table.

Here we go.

All right, Isla, you got this.

Dear City Council, For Ms. Fradalizio Singh, she is also known as our Spanish teacher in our school.

Okay, very good. Thank you for addressing us. Okay, one last call for public comment then. And we're checking online.

Not online.

Thank you for checking. Okay, great. Let's close public comment. Thank you, everybody, for addressing the council and the public. Let's see, this is a time for proclamations and presentations. And so now we have a report from the Hearts and Hands Board, and there's no action indicated, but a presentation for us to hear. And we have Ms. Allinger, welcome.

Thank you.

There we go, yeah, very good.

Okay, good evening, mayor, council members. Thank you for allowing us to share an update on Hearts and Hands Preschool and our proposal regarding the Oak Street House on the Fairgrounds property. I'd like to briefly review the role of hearts in hand that hearts and hands plays in our community and share how the organization has evolved over the last six months and present what we believe is a mutually beneficial proposal for the future. At the end of 2005 the board conducted a thorough review of our finances. Oops sorry. I shouldn't hold this. At the time, enrollment levels and revenue were not sufficient to sustain our operations. After much discussion, we announced in January that Hearts and Hands would close at the end of February. What happened next surprised us. Families, volunteers, community members, and local organizations stepped forward in support of Hearts and Hands. Rather than allowing the school to disappear, the community rallied around preserving the important resource. Today, Hearts in Hand serves 24 children every day. We currently have 11 preschool students and 13 transitional kindergarten students. These are local children whose families depend on affordable, quality early education and childcare. Our work supports kindergarten readiness, social and emotional development, and helps working parents remain in the workforce. The board and community work together to address the issues that originally threatened the school's future. Enrollment increased. Our funding model flipped from a non-sustainable scholarship model that meant we relied on fundraisers and donations to cover the majority of our enrollment fees to an agency funded model where community resources for children and preschool for all provide the enrollment fees. We expanded our network. Today, we can confidently say that Hearts and Hands is financially viable, positioned to continue serving Calistoga families. While we solved one problem, another emerged. The preschool itself is now sustainable. Unfortunately, our current facility is not available beyond September 30th. The challenge facing Hearts and Hands today is not funding, it's location. Since learning we would need to relocate we have conducted an exhaustive search. We've worked with county officials school districts city representatives property owners and community partners. Many options were considered. Each had significant barriers ranging from cost and zoning issues to licensing requirements and long term sustainability concerns. After evaluating numerous alternatives, our board believes the Oak Street House on Fairgrounds property represents the most viable solution currently available. It provides stability, accessibility, and an opportunity to continue serving families without interruption. We understand that the city in the fairgrounds committees have been working hard to develop a sustainable long-term vision for the fairgrounds property. We respect those goals. Our per proposal was developed specifically to support that vision while also preserving an important community service. The Oak Street House requires significant investment before it can become either a viable preschool facility or a viable asset to the city. We are proposing that Hearts and Hands assume that responsibility. In exchange, we are requesting a five-year lease at no cost during the initial term. We are asking for the opportunity to invest in and improve a city-owned property while continuing to provide a vital community service. At the end of five years, we would sit down together and decide what's best for all. Should the city have another plan for the property, Hearts and Hands would seek another site. Understanding the city's desire to have the fairgrounds create cash flow to cover expenses, we could also look at to negotiate a lease agreement that works for both the city and Hearts and Hands. This proposal is more than a lease request. It's an investment partnership. The city preserves an important community service, Hearts and Hands, and receives improvements to the city asset. Hearts and Hands gains the stability needed to continue serving children and families. Six months ago, we thought Hearts and Hands would close. Today, thanks to our families, volunteers, community partners, and board members, Hearts and Hands is sustainable and ready for the future. The only thing standing between us and that future is finding a home. We respectfully ask for your consideration and support of this proposal. Thank you.

Thank you for the presentation. So it's not a decision-making time, but are there questions or comments, council members, that you'd like to ask? And we'll open it up for public comment as well.

It's safe to assume that you guys have toured the house at North Oak with staff and have a full understanding of the property? Yes. Okay.

Great. Good question.

And can I add to that? When I say that we can... take on the responsibility of fixing it up. We have donors and interested people who would like to support Hearts and Hands and help us financially with that, but we cannot ask them to do that until we actually have an agreement from the city. It's like the chicken and the egg, what comes first?

Okay. Would any member of the Oh, excuse me?

Yeah. And just to clarify, in order for you to, to get donors to commit to, to the to bring money to the school is necessary to hire a five year lease is is? No. Okay. No. Okay. Thank you.

Councilman Isenberg. Yeah, just a question. I remember some time when this discussion was going on that you may have had access to a portable building and how did, what turned out with that?

So again, as Ed mentioned, there are a lot of hoops to jump through and the most important one is location. We couldn't find a location that we could land the portable on. So that was one hurdle that it was getting too close for us to try and find a location and be able to move out of our current situation in a reasonable time.

Thank you, council members. Would any member of the public will open it up for public comment? Any member of the public like to offer comment on this presentation? Yes. Yes, Charlotte.

Charlotte Williams. I just have a question. I don't know about this, but at one point, one of the food distributions was using the back part of the Adventist Church on Grant Street, which was not fully in use. And I don't know the current state right now of that building. And also the Baptist Church, too, on Berry Street immediately across from the elementary school. I'm wondering about the status of those buildings, if they're available for things like that. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, Ms. Yant. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor. What is the square footage of that house? And is the question, will it be large enough for what they need? And I think until we get further along with the fairgrounds revitalization that's been used by the previous manager or workers that are on the grounds, I know it's been used for other things, but I would consider I had kind of another idea for that area that would fit in well with our town, so I would like to see a dog park in that area next to that house, which would be nice because it's centrally located for um the tourists that visit who travel with their animals when the dog park was on North Oak it was very nice and the PG&E has kind of taken over the dog park area down on south or on east Washington so I think that was a thought I had a long time ago and it had been talked about by the previous fair association at one time before the one was built by Scott so I think we should not commit a hundred percent until we do some do a little bit more looking at the fairgrounds and where they are doing and what their plans are before we commit. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, Mr. Kaiser.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council. Real quickly, I don't know you know, I'm the treasurer of Fort St. Hans, and I took the project of doing a pro forma financials for fiscal year July 1st, 26 to June 30th, 27. I put in there $2,000 of monthly rent. The operation would lose twenty four thousand dollars, which is the equivalent of the rent That's why we're asking for an abatement for at least for a short period of time so we can you know Spend the money on the improvements of the property and everything if we don't we would be in the hole if we get charged rent I just want to let you know that.

Thank you Anybody else from the public like to address the council on this topic?

I just want to make a clarification. The two churches that were mentioned, we've already researched that. And the church right across the street from the elementary school, it's... It's going on the market in probably in October. I talked to the realtor. It is in really poor condition. It has black mold. It's pretty much a teardown. I think it's an ideal spot. But for us right now, we don't have the luxury of time. We have three months to... to find something and get into by September 30th. So and then the other church nobody was available to get a hold of. So we are still looking. We don't look at the fairgrounds as a long term unless the city wants to work with us that way. But we just need something to get into to get the program continuing and finding a new home.

Okay, and I have contact information for the Adventist Church, so we can catch up afterwards.

Okay. Mayor, I have one more question. Yes, yes. Unless we're still open for public comment.

Okay, good point.

Other public comment? And we'll check online.

We have none online.

Thank you for checking. And let's close the public comment then and bring it. Yes, Ms. Piazzi, do you want to? Okay, squeeze in under the wire here.

I thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak to you once again I know it must seem like we just won't go away but if I could ask the parents and our staff to stand up they came gave up they're all going to work tomorrow but they came to show the support for this and to speak to the value of having a preschool, having daycare that's within walkable distance, that's quality, affordable, and here in Calistoga. I think you've heard us at prior meetings talking about a daycare desert and That certainly, there aren't many choices and to eliminate hearts and hands would eliminate an important choice. I was at the bank yesterday and I ran into a grandmother, she may be online, who is raising our granddaughters and put the youngest in hearts and hands when we first opened. That young lady graduated from Calistoga High School with honors and is attending college. Another mother had her two daughters at hearts and hands. The youngest graduates this year. She wants to be a pediatrician. I mean, we're dreaming big here. And just as heartwarming is a young father who has his daughter in the school now. He's grateful it was open when she was there, but he told me yesterday he wants it to continue serving anyone who needs it. So I could go on and on with the success stories. And I know you have a lot of demands on the property, but our young families need help with daycare, with quality preschool. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Peace.

I just have one more thing I'd like to add not to put a damper on anything but we are in a time crunch. We need to be out of our current place by September 30th. If we don't have a place by then we have to close our doors. Licensing will not allow us to get a temporary license or a temporary go somewhere else in the meantime. So you know it's kind of do or die for us right now. Financially, we can do it. We just need a place to go. So thank you.

Thank you Okay, we'll close public comment and bring it back to council members and vice mayor. Do you want to start that off?

Yep, I just had one question and thank you guys for the clarification on you know it again, we're not making decisions today, but on the potential of moving into that building what that would cost and and the potential request for a waiving of the rental fee for a period of time. But in that time, would you guys be able to pay your utilities on the building? I guess is the question.

So that will be a question to be considered as we discuss this later on. Okay. Yeah. Good question.

Yes. Just one quick question regarding licensing. I know you will need to apply for new license for a different place, or your actual license can be transferred?

It can be transferred.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you for the presentation. Very good. Council is listening.

Yes, one last thing. I just tell them that we listen to their message and we're going to keep working on it.

Thank you, council member. The next item on the agenda is the consent calendar. There's only one item on the consent calendar, which is a consideration of the previous minutes. Is there a motion, excuse me, did I skip over, city manager?

Yes, skip. Ah, city manager. Yes, you did. I'm not gonna take offense to that, but I do have just a few items, not very many. All right. You'll indulge me.

Let's backtrack, my bad. Let's see, we have city manager's report.

Yes. Good evening. See, you got you got me all flustered now. Maybe a mayor and city council. Thank you much. I'm going to give the city manager report. I just have a few items. I want to start out with events. We have a pop up carnival coming in free admission. So free admission should be lots of fun. It'll be June 12 through June 14 at the fairgrounds. I have some dates and times that should be posted on our website, but Friday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. We have Saturday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Ride bands are on sale now at the fairgrounds and on the website, so feel free to come on by and get ride bands, but the entry to the public carnival is free. The next item I have is on June 19th through the 20th. There's a Napa classic car show. That's going to be Friday, June 19th. It starts at 12 p.m. It includes a scenic cruise through the Napa Valley, followed by an outdoor screening of American graffiti on a 25-foot screen at the fairgrounds. On the next day on Saturday, June 20th, is the Father's Day classic car show. It's open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It'll feature live DJ music, vendor booths, vehicle judging, and awards. So for all, for the community, please come out and join us at the fairgrounds on June 12th to the 14th, as well as the 19th and the 20th. A couple updates from Public Works. We want to just keep the community informed that the Lincoln Avenue water main replacement project which is going to be from Washington Street to the bridge. It's going to be starting the week of June 22nd. You should see message boards going out announcing that information for those that are not getting it tonight. It'll also be on our website. We'll be putting out notices to the businesses for traffic and parking impacts along Lincoln Avenue. So for the community, please, we ask for your support patients as we go to improve that area of Lincoln Avenue. And then one other item, the upcoming storm drain pipe installation is going to begin this summer on Grant Street. This is going to be between Maggie and Centennial. It's part of the 2400 Grant Street housing development. And so traffic is going to be impacted. As we get closer and have more details of when and working with the contractors, we'll put that information out. And again, I lied. I actually do have one more item. I want to give a shout out to our revitalization director, Shelly Wright and her staff. This past weekend, we had the Calistoga Ag Fair. It was a great success. We had over 200 entries, wine competition, a tractor show. We had a native bird education. in a tractor and truck pool. I heard it was a lot of fun. I was out of town, so I didn't get a chance to attend the event, but hopefully this will continue to be an annual event for us. So thank you very much.

Thank you, City Manager, and yes, I did attend that, and the Ag Festival, the Ag Fair, I think was a success. A lot of happy people, a lot of kids, a lot of families, good participation, so I think it was a credit to our director and the community. Other council members? Comments on City Manager's report, questions? Okay, thank you, City Manager.

Thank you.

Public comment? Sure. Do you want to open public comment? Do you want to make public comments? Ms. Yant.

I would like to add to the city manager's report that the Native Sons of the Golden West will be hosting a pancake breakfast on Saturday for that car show as well. So you're welcome to come and enjoy a pancake breakfast with the Native Sons. It's on one of the posters that I've seen around town. I can send it to you if you want. But they did it last year and they'll do it again. They're very supportive of the revitalization. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Yant. Let's go to the consent calendar. Is there a motion to adopt the consent calendar? I move to adopt the consent calendar. To adopt the consent calendar. Thank you. And a second? Second. Thank you. A motion from Councilman Eisenberg, a second from Councilman Cooper. All in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? It passes. Thank you, Councilmembers.

Public hearing, we're on item 7.1.

A little item of a budget. Yeah. So the subject here is our annual budget for the fiscal year 2026-27, which begins on July 1st. And we're invited to consider and adopt the budget. THE FEES SCHEDULE AND THE ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS LIMIT. THIS IS A DOCUMENT THAT THE COUNCIL WITH PUBLIC INPUT HAS BEEN WORKING ON FOR MANY MONTHS, INCLUDING THE FINANCE DIRECTOR, CONNIE CARDENAS, WHO CAN INTRODUCE THIS AGAIN FOR US.

THANK YOU, MAYOR, COUNCIL MEMBERS, COUNCIL RESIDENTS. I'M HERE TO PRESENT THE FISCAL YEAR 26-27 BUDGET AS A BALANCED ITEM. This PowerPoint will go through some history of six years of expenses and revenue, along with some current operating revenues and expenses, increases, decreases, and how we came about to balance our budget for the fiscal year 26-27. So I like to give out some data on the history of at least six years. Sometimes we give up to 10 years, Our increases have been significant for the past six years that I didn't want to put older amounts since a lot of money started coming in with the new hotels came in in 1920 Solange and 400 Silverado. So these numbers right here are more coincide with the trends of what has been happening for the past six years increases and decreases of revenue and expenditures throughout the six years. So here we have slides of our current fiscal year we want to adopt in regards to how much money comes in. The big ones here are your property taxes, sales taxes, our biggest TOT. and vehicle license fees. The other revenues consist of many types of permits, fees that are collected throughout the departments in the city. One of the great news that we do have here that we have talked about during the workshop is that we got really good news from the county that the VLF We had already planned from previous times that we had spoken to them to keep our BLF But they said that we could keep it for a few more years So that is great news for us just for the public's sake BLF refers to the vehicle license vehicle license fee and so that's money derived from the property taxes. It goes towards property taxes in schools and that was one of the reasons as if they need to try and balance their budgets for schools and that's the piece that they try and go and dip into. So that is the good news about that.

Okay, so that's included in this year's revenue?

In this year's and in the forecast that we've been having also. What I do want to point out is that, again, it's very similar to last year. Our revenue is very low growing right now where our expenses are growing much higher than our revenue is. And even though our expenses have balance there's a lot of work that was done within all the departments to try and try and balance the budget even though we did and we're able to have a few decisions what we'll be talking about soon. It was very competitive trying to. you know move around what was needed in order to come to a balanced budget. Here is the amount of monies that is going to be spent in the next fiscal budget and it's all by department. And what I do want to point out is the biggest increase which will go more in detail. was the part of the firefighters right. We are going to be hiring three new full time firefighters but we work very diligent throughout the last month and a half to try and look in the savings of overtime the cut back on the part time workers and we continue to work on that to make sure that it does become a balanced piece. We will be looking at that as we need to in the next few months towards mid year. If there's any savings or if there is any money that is needed or if there's any other money that will be trickling in for fees or any other outside funding to keep that going for the fire department. So here you have a list of your revenues. I included a little bit amount that we get from other impact fees and this is small amount is the amount that's going to be used for improvements of the pool. So we're going to be getting some development impact fees. The total amount for the improvement of the pool is about seventy seven thousand. The other funds will be coming from the impact fee. Here's our operating expenses, and some of the biggest expenses here will be talked about, but one of the biggest pieces here is 142,000 of the current budget general fund is part of the CIP, even though we do have about A total of over five hundred thousand of general fund a lot of it about three hundred fifty thousand of that is coming from money that was not spent and the biggest one was two hundred thousand that was budgeted for electric vehicle charging that was budgeted last year. It's carrying over for next year. So that's the biggest piece.

Just to clarify, CIP refers to capital improvement projects. Capital improvement projects, correct. And those are projects that are longer lasting than a single year. Correct. They're just not single year operating expenditures, but they extend beyond one year. Is that correct?

Yes, could be one year up to five years sometimes.

So these are longer term and bigger projects. Yes. And GF refers to general fund.

General fund, correct.

Which is the basic bank account for the city.

Yes, and that's where that $22 million is, is your general fund. And I'll get into more detail on the difference of that. So what I do want to point out on the last piece of here, on the capital improvement projects, is it is $2.7 million, but over $2 million of those funds come from other fundings, like your Measure U, your GF, gas tax. The second is called SB 1 but that was voted in years ago. The extra sales tax is called RMRA. We get a little bit more. So we have two separate funds that we have money from and those are the ones that are going to be covering the majority of the street projects that are we're planning to do in the next fiscal year. The last piece here is known to everyone that it is a loan that was given for the fire engine. right from the general fund under the 50 percent reserve. So we get about 215 thousand back from water and wastewater from a fund loan that was given a couple years ago. So it's paying back that money. So it really is not part of this budget because it was already obligated towards paying back the reserve as instructed by City Council.

And we refer to this as a loan, but it's not like we went to a bank and borrowed money from the bank. This is a loan within the city fund. So they're different bank accounts, different funds, we call them, within the city. And this is a loan. We're saying a loan from one fund to the other, and then we're repaying that previous fund.

Public Works brought a staff report a few years back in order to obtain that loan from the general fund for the utility that they needed money to be able to do some projects on their end. And that's what that 215 comes down to. Our surplus is about $2,500 on this budget. Allocated is about 61,000 to try and preserve that 50% reserve. And like I stated, about 140 to 192 are for the CIP. So here are some big items that are part of the budget. As I said a little bit early only 2500 in surplus but we were instructed by city council to increase fifty thousand dollars on the utility assistance program. Last fiscal year we had set aside from Measure D funding. It's not the general fund. one hundred thousand dollars. This year we put into the budget balanced budget for the measure D an additional fifty thousand dollars towards that. We had a meeting for the workshop in April and there was many projects that are needed for the fairgrounds and that amount came out to one point seven million dollars and the development impact fee is going to cover about four hundred fifty thousand dollars of that. So that money is coming from the impact fee for cultural and recreational part and that was already adopted during the meeting in December for our impact fee report that we did and brought to City Council for approval in December of 2025. And it's listed as one of those projects.

And the impact fees are funds that accumulate when people propose projects?

When they develop new projects.

And the city collects funds dedicated to different departments, cultural department, recreation.

Fire, police, we have different types of fees. The impact fee study was adopted, I recall it was in January or February of last year. And those were the new fees. And this year we will be updating that With the current in December, none of those funds were from that new fee study that increased the fees. So that will be significantly changing in December. So here are some big changes that happened of course during the workshop that we had in April that we came to fruition towards the end of balancing the budget. A big impact was one hundred fifty one thousand increase in the CIRA which is as I stated before I always forget the acronym. Maybe they can help me with the acronym is for that, but it is for our liability insurance. You know, it's over a million dollars that we pay for workers comp liability, cyber and other parts that we pay property. Last year it actually increased seven hundred thousand dollars. So that's not bad in comparison to last year but that continues to increase. Now what I do want to point out as I discuss this with our risk management is that we are hiring three more firefighters and as you increase your safety staff your workers comp goes up everything goes up so. Please keep that in mind for the future as we report on a quarterly basis to them our payroll as we hire more people, specifically in public safety, those are very, very high numbers.

And are those associated costs included in this 134,000 figure?

No, it's not. No, because they don't tell us until it's reported they're actually on the payroll is when they start looking into the increases that we have. We do give them our budget, but they go off actuals. So we utilize the quarterly reports that we do for the IRS and the state, and from those they have to balance exactly to what we report to SARA.

It seems like some of them would be predictable. You know, the workers' comp, is that not a fixed amount, or is that variable?

It all depends on if you have accidents, how many employees have been on workers' comp, and many of that is unforeseeable.

Got it.

Yes I discussed earlier about the three new firefighters that we're looking into a little bit of savings that could come up but we'll be discussing that in the next few months and if there's any savings or if we need more money we will bring that back to you during the mid-year process and continue to speak to you and how that is coming about because we will be keeping an eye on overtime or anything that's needed to be able to Make sure that our budget comes as a balance at the end of the fiscal year. OK. As I said earlier we have about 350 carry over the big one for CIP from this current fiscal year. Right. Which was electric vehicle is the majority of that. But the big piece right here also is I want you to note the 129000 is a very small amount in comparison to the last few years of equipment that is being purchased the janitorial truck and a third. I don't know what a backhoe loader is that would be Public Works to identify that for you. But only a third of that cost about thirty three thousand is being paid by the general fund. The other two thirds a third of it is water utilities and the other third is wastewater. So it's being distributed evenly so that we can save some money on the general fund side. But last year we spent over over almost four hundred eighty thousand dollars. So I'm trying to stress how much we had to cut back on the needs and what is needed to try and balance our budget for this fiscal year and that is very significant piece is almost three hundred thousand dollars that we had to save on other needs throughout the departments that need new equipment to do their work.

I can't help but compliment the council for not asking you what's going to happen to the two-thirds of the backhoe that we're not getting. Council members, my compliments. Utilities will utilize it. Which wheel do you want and which wheel will you give up?

So on the next slide, this is the big piece where you may have some questions of where all this money is going to be going for the capital improvement program. It's about $2.4 million. that's gonna go into pavement of the streets and the rest are there, just a small list. It's very small, the smallest I've seen and Public Works can say it's a very small amount because we don't have that much money going on in the general fund at this point. The money is more growing on the utility side. They're doing more capital improvement projects on that side as we go moving forward. Okay, oops, other than that, we're open to questions and comments.

Thank you. Council Members, if you have questions or comments, let's start here and then we'll open it up to the public as well.

I just want to make a quick comment regarding the BLF, the vehicle license fee. I just want to mention that advocating in Sacramento is very important because our Senator Cavaldon, along with Napa County Council members and the Board of Supervisors, we were able to talk in a hearing in Sacramento back in April. And it was very important because for that advocacy, we were able to maintain the fee coming to because Calistoga was about to lose over a million dollars on that, so.

Was that your participation that helped?

Yeah, I speak over there. Well, along with the rest of the Board of Supervisors and other council members. Senator Cavaldon, too.

Thank you, then, for representing Calistoga on that.

Thank you.

Other council members?

That's open for public comment then, both online or in the community center here. Would anybody like to address the council regarding the budget that Ms. Cardenas is introducing to us? Yes, Charlotte.

Charlotte Williams. I continue to be very, very concerned about what is happening in West Asia and how that's going to be affecting the United States as far as energy and fertilizer, crops, things like that. It seems like a long ways away, but it's a big problem that is probably going to fall on a lot of other countries other than immediately where the war is. So what I am hoping is that this council and has directed staff to set aside enough of a reserve so that if things get extremely expensive very soon, that this city council, that the city administration, the city of Calistoga is going to be in good shape to withstand some really dire economic times. And I am sure some of you remember that back in 2010, 11, 12 states were in very, very bad shape financially. I am hoping that you will remember to protect us from that so that we are not susceptible to having our arms twisted by vultures, also known as developers, who wait exactly for when city governments, all sorts of agencies, are weak and depleted financially, and then force their way in. I like this small town. This is what I want, a small town. and I don't like it when our government has allowed itself to overextend and then we are desperate for money and essentially sell our souls to developers. I want us to be protected and I encourage you, actually I demand that you protect this town from that and upcoming councils also, thank you.

Thank you. That raises a good question about our reserve. So I see on the slide that there is a 50% reserve. That means 50% of the 22 million. So it's around 11 million reserve or so. And how does that compare with other cities? I've seen reports of other cities having much lower percentage reserves and sometimes higher.

Before I came here, the highest I seen was 25. But again, the percentage is really a part of your actual budget. We're a small town. It's a small budget. So having an $11 million is good enough, especially with such a high percentage of the revenue that comes in from TOT. So, I mean, when we go back to looking at COVID, when we had a lot of revenue loss all across the country, all over the world, that's when a lot of cities, entities began really looking again at their reserves because of what happened during that time. And not only that, the Great Recession back in the early 2000s also. there's different impacts that have happened in history and that keep you looking at your reserve. And it's always something, as stated, that you need to look at overall, not only your reserve, your future and what's down the line to be able to preserve that reserve along with keeping your expenditure stable.

And I've agreed with previous councils and with this council in maintaining that 50% reserve because we're so dependent on basically that one industry. Glad for it, but dependent on it. And we do know that it's vulnerable when fires, pandemics, which we've experienced, come along. So having that reserve, I think, is important. And have you heard of cities having a greater percentage reserve?

You know I think we're the ones that are having locally we're doing good on our reserve right. But like I said it really depends on your the future what you have, what's coming along, and versus what revenue you really depend on and the volatility of the revenues, right? So every city, every entity is different. Some are just fee-based and don't have tourists, so they have to base it on other ways of having analysis on their revenue. Here, the majority of analysis that my staff and I do is based on the TOT. because there's over 50% of the revenue that the city receives.

Thank you. Public comment is still open. Would anybody like to address the council on the topic of the budget? And we will check online.

I'm online.

Thank you for checking. Then let's close public comment on this topic, bring it back to council members. Any concluding or continuing remarks, council members, on this?

Sure. I just wanted to compliment your team on what you've done to put this together. I know it's been some difficult decisions from staff, and requesting a 50%, of course, RESERVE IS IMPORTANT. I'M GLAD THAT WE STOOD TO THAT. AND IT'S A GREAT JOB. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

Yes, I concur not to be redundant, but I know this is a very long, ongoing process. I really appreciate your hard work, Connie, and not to throw anyone under the bus or particulars, but do we have a time frame for which we know that we will pay back our loan to ourselves on the vehicle that we purchased last year?

We should probably know in the next two to three months in regards to closing the year. If you recall, I think it was $456,000 that was part of the piece of the development impact fee that we have from the fire, whether we decided to bring it back to you to say do we need it, do we not need it, put it back in. And that decision would be final of not transferring that fund. FUNDING BACK INTO THE GENERAL FUND, BUT WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT TWO TO THREE MONTHS IN REGARDS TO THAT. GREAT. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

THANK YOU. YES, COUNCILMAN EISENBERG.

OKAY. WELL, I CONFER. DIRECTOR CATERNAS, YOU'VE DONE A FABULOUS JOB. WHILE I WON'T SAY IT WAS EASY TO READ, IT WAS COMPREHENSIBLE, WHICH IS A PLUS. I ALSO ACTUALLY APPRECIATE STAFF AND UNDERSTANDING THAT We do have to be conservative in our expenditures. It's a balanced budget. We have to stay a balanced budget, maintaining our reserves. We know that there is possible volatility in revenue and always be cognizant of that. But I think you've done a great job, the city has done a great job in keeping OUR CITY SOLVENT. AND WE WANT TO CONTINUE THAT. I THINK THAT'S BEEN A VERY CLEAR MESSAGE FROM COUNCIL. SO THANK YOU TO EVERYBODY. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN EISENBERG.

MAYOR, IF I CAN MAKE A COMMENT.

YES, SAVE MANAGER.

SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS, BUT I WANT TO SHARE THAT THIS IS A HERCLIAN EFFORT PUT ON. Director Cadenas and her staff take the point in the lead, but I want to share that this is a total departments across the city effort to put this together. It's this budget starts months before the workshops that you all attend, and it's to gather and put information. And we did transition to a new financial system, which has made it a little bit easier, but we were in the middle of that transition. So that presented a lot of challenges for the staff. And we're hopeful that as we move forward and for the next budget, not that we're looking to move to get there quickly, is that it'll be hopefully a much more smoother process, an easier process. I mean, as you know, as we go through the budget, I hate to say this, but the numbers move around, right? Because not everything is a solid number, whether it's, you know, when we're looking at projections and what we can anticipate for our CIRA, our vicarious liability challenges that face us, as well as some staffing things. I mean, some things, you know, It's best guess, it's projections based on experience, based on prior years. So a lot of effort comes into this. So I thank all our directors for their efforts, because many times it requires a sacrifice on their part for their departments, because everybody has needs. But as a city, if the city's not successful, then our departments are not successful. And so they a lot of times have to make some difficult choices as we come to them to produce their budgets. I THANK THE STAFF FOR THAT, AND THANK YOU, COUNCIL.

THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENTS. I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE THE BUDGET AS IT'S PRESENTED TO US.

I SECOND.

SECOND. OH, YOU ALREADY SECONDED.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE THE MOTION? OH, I'M SORRY. I ENTERTAIN THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE BUDGET.

I'LL SECOND IT. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN, COUNCILPERSON ORTEGA, AND THANK YOU FOR THE SECOND. COUNCILMAN EISENBERG, LET'S TAKE A ROLL CALL, PLEASE.

Council Member Eisenberg? Aye. Council Member Cooper?

Aye.

Council Member Lopez Ortega? Aye. Vice Mayor Gift? Aye. Mayor Williams?

Aye. Thank you. Thank you, Finance Director and your department as well.

Mayor Williams? Yes. Could I indulge the council for 90 seconds? I left something on my bike critical to health.

I WILL RUN AND BE RIGHT BACK.

BE CAREFUL. NO TRIPPING.

I HAD TO BUY HIM A SNACK THE OTHER DAY.

POOR GUY.

WE'LL PAUSE JUST FOR A MOMENT HERE. Welcome back, Councilman Eisenberg. Thank you. That concludes our meeting. You missed that last topic. No problem.

Do you need water?

No. Okay.

Are we okay?

Yeah, we're good.

Great. Let's go then to General Government Item 8.1. And this is a recommendation regarding the advisory committee communication procedures and roles. So as you know, there are a number of advisory committees that participate in various topics of the city. These are volunteers nominated by me, appointed by the council, and they meet monthly generally and discuss topics pertinent to their different committees. Each of the committees has a liaison. One of us on the council attends the different committee meetings, and we're not members of the committee, but we are there to offer information or to be simply A CONDUIT BETWEEN THE COMMITTEE AND THE COUNCIL ITSELF. SO THE COMMITTEES ARE HELPFUL. THEY ARE ADVISORY. AND TO BE PROPER ABOUT IT, THERE ARE A VARIETY OF RULES AND PROCEDURES AND PROTOCOLS THAT GOVERN THE COMMITTEES. AND WOULD YOU LIKE TO INTRODUCE THAT TO US AND TAKE IT FURTHER, MS. PULLEAU?

YES. Good evening, mayor and council members. Staff is recommending that city council consider the proposed amendments to the advisory committee bylaws to formally incorporate the role of the council member liaison within the committee communication framework. These amendments would clarify that committee-related matters intended for city council consideration can be communicated through either the assigned staff liaison or the council member liaison. Staff believes that clarifications would promote greater consistency and transparency regarding the respective roles and communication pathways established for advisory committees. Staff also has made administrative changes to the document as redlined to be less restrictive about the meeting location and to fix some grammatical errors. And I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Okay, thank you for introducing this. It's a a item for public comment. Is there anybody who would like to address the council on the topic of the Advisory Committee bylaws?

I have a card for Cindy.

Very good. Yes, Miss young. Thank you, city clerk.

I AM VERY HAPPY TO SEE THAT THIS HAS BEEN BROUGHT BACK TO THE COUNCIL BECAUSE THERE WAS A VERY TUMULTUOUS INCIDENT EARLIER THIS YEAR AT A COUNCIL MEETING. PLEASE DON'T MAKE FACES AT ME, MS. GIFT.

LET'S DIRECT YOUR COMMENTS TO THE ENTIRE COUNCIL, PLEASE.

IN THE BYLAWS THAT I FOUND ONLINE BACK IN when this all started back in March, there was no information on the liaison for the city. It was omitted on April of 2025 when they rescinded all of those resolutions and they should have kept one in that gave information on what the council liaison had It was the last one that was put into that as far as I can tell, where it says the council member liaison should not be an advocate for the committee, give direction or influence decision of the committee. The liaison may, however, assist and provide information. I have heard you use that verbiage many times at meetings when they've asked you for help, Mayor Williams. And I think that is about the only important one. The rest of them are kind of redundant and they bring back previous ones that were really outdated because the previous way back with the ones that they rescinded in April were confusing because as far as I can tell, they were very old and that needed to be cleaned, the house needed to be cleaned up in that matter. So that to me is about the only one that should identify with the liaison's very short and sweet with the liaison's position should be they are not to take sides are not to lead they're not to make direction to the committee that is the uh... the the city you have directors in planning and everything and that is their job to help bring and uh... lead those those meetings or help with that they're the advocate for IT'S THEIR DIVISION, THEIR AREA. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, MS. YOND. ANY OTHER SPEAKER CARDS, CITY CLERK?

NO MORE SPEAKER CARDS AND I HAVE NO HANDS RAISED ON THAT.

NO HANDS RAISED ALREADY. WOULD ANYBODY ELSE HERE IN THE COMMUNITY CENTER LIKE TO ADDRESS THE COUNCIL ON THIS TOPIC? Okay, let's close public comment and bring it back to us council members. I'm fine. I'm fine with the revised bylaws. Thank you for cleaning them up, and I'm okay with them. Other council members? Yes.

Okay, well, I'm actually fine with the revised bylaws, but I want to make sure that there is an understanding that the Council liaisons do do good work on these committees. I have mostly my experiences on the Green Committee and the Active Transportation Committee and No, I completely agree that we're not to Tell the committee what to do. We're not we don't vote. We're not to influence the committee, but we are an incredible resource when the committee NEEDS WANT SUPPORT ON HOW COUNCIL WORKS WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO GO ABOUT SOMETHING TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CITY AND IT'S IT'S A VALUABLE RESOURCE IT'S NOT JUST JUST BRINGING INFORMATION BACK TO COUNCIL OF COURSE WE MUST ABSOLUTELY MAKE THE DIVIDE BETWEEN BEING A MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE AND OFFERING SUPPORT TO THE COMMITTEE IN THE WAY THAT THEY WANT. AND SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE THAT CLEAR. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO COMPLEMENT THE STAFF LIAISONS TO THE COMMITTEES. THEY WORK REALLY HARD BRINGING, HELPING THE COMMITTEES DEVELOP STAFF REPORTS, HELPING THE COMMITTEES organization. They're very knowledgeable. So my compliments to all the staff liaisons. And especially I'd like to compliment the committees, the ones I've been on work really hard. And I was going to do this at the end, we're reporting about the committees, but THE TWO COMMITTEES THAT I'M WORKING WITH ARE DOING AN INCREDIBLE JOB OF TAKING THOSE WORK PLANS, WHICH WERE PRESENTED AND IMPROVED BY COUNCIL, AND TRYING TO TURN THOSE WORK PLANS INTO CONCRETE STAFF REPORTS THAT CAN COME BACK TO COUNCIL FOR APPROVAL. SO I AM A BIG SUPPORTER OF OUR COMMITTEE STRUCTURE, A SUPPORTER OF OUR STAFF LIAISONS, AND I THINK THAT WE COUNCIL LIAISONS HAVE AN IMPORTANT JOB TO DO ALSO. Thank you, council member.

Other council members?

Yep, I have a couple questions, and then for staff, if that's okay. So thank you for all your hard work. I agree with clarifying the rules of liaison, absolutely. But just for point of clarity, it's my understanding that the original bylaws were developed collaboratively, like with all of the chairs and staff, and then they were unanimously approved by council. Were any of the current advisory committees or chairs consulted, or were they all consulted prior to the proposed amendments?

The answer is no.

Okay.

We didn't see that the, these are clarification amendments, so we didn't think that they went to the level of needing to get approval by each of the committees themselves.

Okay, so I'm just curious what is the issue or concern that proposed the removal of the community center of the official meeting location and would retaining the former language that was in place as the community center as the default location while allowing exceptions achieve that same objective because we had that language in place prior but The initial as far as I understand the initial FAC meetings I know the first one was at the tubs building and they've kind of changed locations a few times but initially Yeah, I'm just curious of maintaining that language would would solve the same objective I

So the language was stricken from the revised version based on the fact that the fairgrounds committee has been meeting at the fairgrounds which was counter to what and not at the community center and further they've been known to switch between different buildings at the fairgrounds so just out of simplicity there was nothing other than creating a more streamlined and clean bylaw document

based on what their practices were. So just really quickly, have there been any operational challenges with holding advisory committee meetings here at the community center for any, whether it's the FAC or any of the other committees as they're ARE THERE ANY CHALLENGES WITH HOLDING THE MEETINGS HERE?

I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY IN THE CONTEXT OF HAVING COMMITTEE MEETINGS. I DO KNOW THAT THIS CHAMBER IS USED A LOT BY VARIOUS OTHER PARTS OF THE COMMUNITY. BUT I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY SPECIFIC CASES THAT WOULD HAVE PREVENTED THE FAIRGROUNDS COMMITTEE FROM USING THIS SPACE.

OKAY. THANK YOU.

IF I CAN JUST INTERJECT. SO ONE OF THE THINGS IS ALSO TO ADD FLEXIBILITY. YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES WHEN YOU A committee could have a meeting. The fairgrounds is a great example where you get a topic that you know you're going to get 80, 90, 100 people. And so the community center may not be able to handle that level. And so removing the community center and making it, because we have a nice property at the fairgrounds, to give flexibility for the committees that if they choose, they could vote to have a committee meeting at another location that's more appropriate for that particular topic or that particular anticipated attendance. You know, this really, I mean, I'm glad we did this. I'm glad, you know, this was brought forward through a community member to provide clarity, you know, not just to The council members the liaison but council members, but the community and the committee's itself I mean we do training with the committee's but we have to remember that these are lay people They're here volunteering their time. They don't do this a lot And so, you know having the late the council liaisons and or the staff You know in attendance to help guide the committees when they have questions and things like that and so I just want to share that we're presenting this to you and You know, the document was redlined for your review to see that you are in concurrence with what we are recommending. But as soon as you approve this, our plan is to go to the individual communities to make sure that we're all on the same page and that we understand, you know, how do we get things to council? How do things get agendized? And just reinforce some of the rules.

Yeah, so thank you for that clarification. And just to remind everyone, the previous language that's redlined there in Article 1, item B, is the official median location of the committees shall be at the Calistoga Community Center. The median location is subject to occasional modification and will be noticed in compliance with the Brown Act. I thought that previously it said without the permission of the city manager. And so I feel that that language and like removing that language already allows for us to make those modifications. And so I just want to go into quickly my statement on this and talk to the council about what they feel about it. So I have concerns about removing the community center as the official meeting location for our advisory committees. The community center provides a consistent, accessible, and well-known location for residents who wish to attend and participate in committee meetings. It's also where I think all of our other advisory committees currently meet, which helps create continuity and predictability for both committee members and the public. Again I decide I understand the desire for flexibility and I think that we had that language in there but I'm not convinced that removing that designation as the official meeting location improves public access or transparency and I can speak to one specific incident where after it you know had moved from the FAC in particular had moved from the Tubbs building over to to the golf course building.

Tucker.

To the Tucker Center and a high school student was supposed to come and present to us at a meeting and couldn't even find the building So again, I just think and I've had this request from many members of the public for there to remain some continuity and I couldn't help but agree that having all of our committee meetings as well as these council meetings in one place is obviously with the exception to large meetings and the approval of a city manager. And that's kind of my position on it and I'm curious if I was to make a motion to maintain the language as it stood previously if there would be support for that.

Okay, thank you, Councilmember. I'm supportive of what's presented, but I like the flexibility that the city manager is referring to, and for simplicity, I agree, cutting it out is, cutting that red item out, it doesn't disturb me. And most of the time, the meetings are going to be here, but they're announced ahead of time. So I'm okay, I'm okay with what's presented, but

other council members are you okay with this or council member gift is suggesting i'm okay i'm okay with uh what is presenting to us because you know um is, is the community center is is being used, as they mentioned for many groups. And so sometimes we need the flexibility to move somewhere else. So I think just to leave it open and and I agree with the council members.

well i i am concerned that um a meeting got moved from the fair from the tubs building to the tucker building i was i was not involved in it i don't know but i think that it is should be the job of the committee staff liaison to absolutely make sure that people know where the committee's meeting and If the fairgrounds committee is going to meet regularly at the fair, if they're going to be regularly at the Tubbs building, then it should be regularly AT THE TUBS BUILDING SO THAT ANYONE WHO WANTS TO ATTEND WILL ALWAYS KNOW WHERE IT IS. AND IN ALL OUR PUBLICITY OF OUR COMMITTEE MEETINGS, IT SHOULD BE INCREDIBLY CLEAR ABOUT THE EXACT LOCATION. I DON'T WANT TO DICTATE WHERE THAT LOCATION IS AS LONG AS IT IS ABSOLUTELY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AND CLEAR TO THE PUBLIC how to find that meeting, where to find it, when it is, that's an obligation for our city staff.

Okay.

I would say it's appropriate for the fairgrounds committee to meet on the fairgrounds. I think that's probably the only committee that would be subject to that, and predominantly pretty much every other committee is going to meet here unless there is a conflict, in which case they could potentially move to the the Tucker building as well. So I'll be fine with how it's presented.

OK. Thank you, council members. I'll make a motion then that we approve this revision to the bylaws as presented. Is there a second on that?

I second.

Thank you. There's a motion by myself, a second by Councilmember Lopez Ortega. May we have a roll call vote on this, please?

Councilmember Eisenberg. All right councilmember Cooper. Aye councilmember Lopez Ortega. Aye vice mayor gift. No mayor Williams.

Hi Thank you council members and thank you staff for presenting this to us And that just about concludes our meeting let's go to council reports Councilman councilperson Lopez Ortega

Yes, first I want to start with respectfully ask the Council to end this meeting in memory of our lovely Lady Rosbeck that we just, you know, She passed away, so I want to end the meeting in her memory. And also about my reports, it was a very busy month of May, and I had a long list here. May 13, I attend the planning commission meeting as a council liaison with the commission. And I was very happy to hear that the clinic OLE project was approved by the commissioners. In May 14, I attend the Napa County League of Governments meeting here in Calistoga. May 21, I attend the Community Conversations meeting at the high school that it was put together by the city, the school district, and the Advale Family Center where the Community residents have the opportunity to express their desires and their ideas for projects that they want to see happening in Calistoga. On May 22nd, I attended Latino Leader Roundtable in Napa where we had updates from the federal level by Congressman Mike Thompson and at the state level by Senator Carvalho. And then, May 25th, I attend the Memorial Day Ceremony at Lobby Park. And last, May 29th, I attend the Valeo Conference, which is Bay Area Latino elected officials in Napa, along with Supervisor Belia Ramos and Ann Cottrell. AND THAT'S A BUSY MONTH FOR ME.

THAT IS A FULL MONTH, COUNCILMEMBER.

IT WAS A FULL MONTH, YEAH.

THANK YOU FOR REPRESENTING CALISOGA IN ALL OF THOSE MEETINGS.

Mine is shorter. No, first, I also refer to the League of Governments from Napa County, it was such a pleasure having it in Calistoga. In my almost four years on council, we've never had a meeting in Calistoga. So by the League of Napa governments, but I also would like to highlight that There was a very informative presentation by Firewise and the Open Space District on the upcoming initiative on putting tax money into an account for both open space and fire prevention. There were many pros and cons that we heard. And I think it helped a lot of city officials better understand exactly what was happening. So it was a very valuable League of Governments meeting. I also would like to mention that we've just completed the month of may and the miles to make money for to complete the vine trail i was a participant i wound up with 403 miles for the month of may i was aiming for 400 but i had to get home so that added the extra three miles um and a lot of money i don't have the exact figures quite yet was made for the fine trail and remember there's home it's there's just The section from St. Helena to Yountville and a few small sections just north of Vallejo and we will have a 47 mile continuous pathway away from cars to ride our bicycles walk um stroll whatever so that was a it's a success was a successful month and i'm looking forward to everything being completed thank you thank you councilman eisenberg councilmember cooper i would just say that we had a full house at the league of government event here in calistoga i too was very glad to be

TO SEE THAT TAKING PLACE IN TOWN. I THINK WE HAVE ONE MORE. I BELIEVE WE DO ONE MORE THIS YEAR. YES, EXACTLY. OTHER THAN THAT, NOTHING TO REPORT. OKAY.

VICE MAYOR.

YEP. THE CITIZENS INITIATIVE AT NICLOG WAS Great, it's interesting. I think that it will provide some sort of solution. It doesn't mean I don't have some concerns about the funding that will be directed at each individual city, but overall I think it's better than what we had before, and that's a very positive thing based on the presentation. I have so many meetings I can't remember, but one that is off the top of my head is the presentation I did at Bay Run. regarding the CRC, which was incredible, and just getting to talk to.

CRC.

The Calistoga Resiliency Center. There we go. Yep. Okay. So how that is obviously unique, and it was nine Bay Area representatives from nine Bay Area counties coming together and really focused on green initiatives and green power alternatives, so.

Great, thank you. I want to bring attention to the information that came from our Napa Valley Transportation Authority. The Press Democrat did a good article on it, and we were at the meeting. Councilman Eisenberg was there as well. So the NVTA is launching a program to help older adults and disabled people living up valley to pay for rideshare trips to services. So in other words, if people up valley qualify if they're older or disabled and they want to use an Uber or a Lyft, they can apply to the NVTA, the Transportation Authority, for reimbursement of half of the cost of that transportation. So it's a new program for us up valley. And if seniors or qualified people want to participate, that is, have their Uber or Lyft paid for up to a certain point, up to $50 per month, then they should contact the NVTA, Napa Valley Transportation Authority. So that is a way that the NVTA is trying to help people get around the valley without having to pay for the Uber themselves. And buses don't go everywhere, of course, especially in our rural counties. So this is a way to help people get around better. I ALSO, LET'S SEE, ATTENDED THE FAIRGROUNDS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING AND VICE MAYOR GIFT WAS THERE AS WELL. MY RECOLLECTION IS THE DISCUSSION MAINLY CENTERED AROUND GOLF COURSE AND BY GOLF COURSE I BELIEVE THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS MEAN SOMETHING PERHAPS BIGGER THAN GOLF COURSE. THEY MAY MEAN ANCILLARY OR ADDITIONAL PROJECTS THAT ARE COMPLEMENTARY OR ASSOCIATED WITH GOLFING. In my mind, I'm using golf as a shorthand, but it may entail more than that, and it's still a matter of discussion. And on my agenda, let's see. The NVTA, the Fairground Advisory Committee, and Thank you, Councilmember Lopez Ortega, for reminding us of the passing of Rose Beck, former, yes.

Before we finish, we'll be okay at this time to request the city manager to bring us the item for Harsinghens for discussion. Oh, this is the time to request that. Yeah, so I would like to see if we can get a report about, you know, what we can do with Harsinghens. what kind of agreement we can do what is the possibilities that we have to let them use the house but more specific the cost to the city and how can we come to an agreement with to find a solution for them, so.

Council members making that request? Council members, let's see, do you want to, okay, Vice Mayor, you're good with that, and Councilman Cooper? Okay, we have that request from council to bring back to the council the discussion on the situation described in the presentation.

so I understand and so I just want to share that our next council meeting is June 23rd I'm not sure I can meet that deadline there's a number of information in getting a status for you so you all can have a discussion and make an informed decision and so I'll look at the calendar I'm at best I need to consult with staff who will be putting this together to see if they can get it in by the first council meeting in July but I will uh I will work with the council to try to get it on the agenda because I know this is a time sensitive item, but there was a lot of material to put together for your consideration.

You'll do what you can, we're sure. Okay, thank you.

And one last thing before I forget, the Napa County Commission in urging, you remind me of this event coming up. They're gonna meet here in Calistoga on Monday, June 22nd from two to four o'clock. There's gonna be a presentation Our supervisor, Ann Cottrell, is gonna be here. Mayor Williams also be here, and myself, and any other council members that you want to attend. So all the members of the community are invited to this meeting, and it's gonna be very informative with resources for our seniors in Calistoga. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember. Let's adjourn the meeting then in memory of Rose Beck, great lady, great volunteer, and a former Councilmember here in Kalasoga. Thank you, everybody. Meeting adjourned.