City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone. Forgot my glasses, so I'm going to squint a little bit. [sighs and gasps] Um, this is the city of Da Hot Springs regular meeting of the city council. The city council serving as a successor agency to the former redevelopment agency board for Tuesday, January 20th, 2026. This is our 4:30 p.m. close session. Roll call, please. Council member Pittz present. Council member Pi present. Council member Voss. Mayor Potam Gardner present. And Mayor Mattis

present. We do have a quorum. I sure that Mr. Voss is just running a little bit late. Uh we're going to move to public comments. I don't see any public comments. I don't see anybody in the audience. We're going to move to the announcement of closed session. Madame city attorney.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of council. Excuse me. My computer is still loading. Uh we have three items on for close session. First one is conference with legal council existing litigation. Paragraph 1 is subdivision D of section 54956.9. Case is DHS versus Irene Valente. Case number PSC 180 uh 2698. The second item is conference with legal council anticipation anticipated initiation of litigation uh pursuent to government code section 54956.94. There's one matter. and three is public employee employ uh performance evaluation pursuant to government code section 54957B and the title is the city manager. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll show Mr. Voss present and we will recess to close session. All right, welcome everybody. This is our 5:30 p.m. presentation period time. We have two presentations tonight. Our first one is going to be by College of the Desert. And um I'll let you introduce yourself and if you want to come up and good evening. How's everyone doing? Happy New Year. Let me grab this. We're going to be joined by I think uh Trustee Mary Jane Sanchez here in a little bit. Um but she's not in the audience at this moment. I'd first like to say thank you so much for having us here today and for helping us uh having us um present today. Uh we're excited to be here before you. Thank you for the opportunity to update all of you on uh what's happening with uh your community college. We value your partnership with uh Desert Hot Springs and we look forward to strengthening our relationship even more. Our goals are direct alignment with the city, its priorities, including workforce, access, families, and economic mobility. We share a focus on and commitment to one another to help the residents of this community as well as the students across Coachella Valley specifically because we're here, your students in your community. Again, we're excited to be here before you today.

So, let's talk about access and affordability here. This year COOD is launching what we are calling pledge for all. It's a commitment by 2030 that every student in the Coachella Valley, every resident will be eligible for free tuition. Let me reiterate that. Free tuition. This initiative directly supports workforce participation, economic mobility by removing cost barriers to education and training beginning fall 2026. This spring, we'll be announcing the first cohort groups for registration for fall 2026. And by fall 2030, all students from the Coachella Valley will receive free tuition. We're very, very excited about this opportunity to present to you today. Uh, first, I'd like to let you know a couple of our codes we're considering. military veterans, returning students to COOD, nonredit workforce learners, first responders and trainees, and residents with high school equivalency. Again, we are very excited about this opportunity and what this future holds for us in the Coachella Valley. We're also expanding dual enrollment with Palm Springs Unified School District, including Desert Hot Springs High School. programs allow in dual enrollment programs allow students to earn college degree I'm sorry college credit earlier than other areas such as public safety, English, science and math. These credits enable the students to get a leg up before they go to college and actually reduce cost for students who enter their uh college experience. Early access we know accelerates workforce readiness and help students remain connected to the region as they pursue their careers. Cood will soon will soon also be launching uh a robust apprenticeship program. We will be hiring a new director of apprenticeships. This role will will expand earn while you earn while you learn pathways aligned with

regional and local employer needs focused on connecting residents with high demand high sustaining careers in partnerships with cities like yours. We're very excited about the possibilities that lay before us. Specifically, we're excited that we are here today to announce that we are exploring potential for a future student drop in space closer to the DH City Center. This is very important for us as we look to expand our footprint so that the residents of this area know COD is not only here for them, but we support them. While exploring this intent, we are looking for partnership that's going to improve our access, visibility, and integration with downtown and its economic activity. This aligns with the city's goals of walkable, servicated downtown areas. Again, we're excited about the prospects. So we're into the economic development of all areas and this includes DHS. Uh what we currently do on our current site is that we support students and families in DHS continued investment in services that to support them up here. So we involve we have uh started evening ESLN classes for our working adults. We have shuttle services from DHS that go from DHS to Palm Springs to Palm Desert to India to all our other campuses. Uh we have an on-site food pantry and we also have developed these uh food distribution services at each location including DHS once a month during their regular terms. So we do have a lot of um investment in here. We also have our COOD's TRIO educational talent search program which serves approximately 500 DHS students.

They're in both of the middle schools and of course in DH high school. And they provide mentoring. They provide academic support and college readiness for first generation and low-income students. They give those students opportunities to visit uh four-year universities as well to give them the opportunity to see where they could be in the future. Oops. We also have uh the district-wide investment with local benefits. So COOD, as you may have noticed, is doing a lot of strategic expansion throughout the valley, including our new Palm Springs campus. The Palm Springs campus will not only offer multiple signature programs close to DHS, but also offer all general education courses required to transfer to a 4-year university at the Palm Springs campus, meaning that these students will not have to travel all the way to Palm Desert to get those classes, which is local for them. These investments are designed to benefit all communities, creating additional pathways for DHS residents to access education, training, and careers without leaving this side of the valley. Our operational focus is access for students, increased enrollment, and engagement of students. The new signage, as you saw in the previous slide, let me go back to that, has just been put up in the last few months, and it improves visibility and reinforces Cood's presence and long-term commitment to the city of DHS. Plus, we're easier to find now. We will continue to work with staff to align and strengthen our efforts to expand access to education, strengthen workforce development, and build economic opportunity delivered locally, align strategically with the city, and built for long-term impact. We look forward to working with you. And if you have any questions, before we move on, I didn't want to

introduce ourselves without um introducing Trusty Mary Jane Sanchez. First I did you want to Yes. Thank you. Um my name is Val Martinez Garcia. I'm the president CEO of uh College of the Desert. And I'm Scott Atkins. I'm the interim dire executive director of bomb programming and facilities planning which means supervision of all education centers. So I just want to thank our team. Yeah. Thank you.

That make college of the desert possible. If it wasn't for the team, the faculty, the staff, the people, and I have to give a shout out to my president of Ask God, Juan. This is really important that we're all together a family and we work together to unite the future of our students. That is what is about. Good afternoon, good evening, mayor, Councilman Pittz, Councilman Gary Gardner, Councilwoman Pi, and Councilman Voss, and distinguished police chief Shaw, Jeffrey, Roberta, and our glorious city manager, Doria, Christina, Nam, and Daniel Pores, and we cannot forget Gerald. You guys work as a resident of Desert Hot Springs. You work tirelessly from our city to make it happen. and I'm just part of that team. That's all. It's about the students. It is about Desert Hot Springs. And that's why you elect me. It's about our team and uniting for the future of education. So, let me begin. My name is Mary Jane Sanchez Fulton, your humble servant for the community and the College of the Desert. I live in Desert Hot Springs and I will always fight for the students here in Desert Hot Springs, especially those like myself, a first generation to go to college. I'm also an advocate for those that don't see possible college, but it is possible. It's so important. And I want to thank you personally, my distinguished leaders in my city, to give me the opportunity to provide an update. My staff here who work like you for the betterment of the College of the Desert and to share, as they're saying, how we continue to support my fellow

residents. Our partnership with this city is so there are no words how important this is to us to make the future a better place for our students for that single mom like my mother who works so hard so I was able to go to college that's who we fight for the work you all do to expand opportunity and improve quality of life align with us at the college of the desert whether it's in workforce development, educational access, and supporting those families that English isn't their first language. We're creating economic transformation for our citizens. Again, economic transformation for our citizens to transfer their lives and get better, livable wages. Most importantly, I share a deep commitment in helping Desert Hot Springs residents live, I'm going to repeat, live, learn, and build their careers right here in Desert Hot Springs. I'm excited that the team, us, the team, all of us are a team. We're here together and we have opportunities to serve a public educational system that truly works for all of us and transform every child not just to succeed but to succeed. Thank you so much for allowing me to bring that in our team. Dave will continue. Thank you, President Val Garcia. Thank you.

We have a question from one of our council members. Um gentlemen, thank you. Um, when I was in Washington State, one of my clients was the Association of Community Colleges up there. We pushed for years to have get something that you guys have and that is free tuition for local students.

And as I travel around the community and I talk to our kids here, most of them are unaware. So, I want to know what your vision and your plan is for making that incredible benefit that we're all as taxpayers paying available for these kids so that they know that they don't have to scrape the bottom of the barrel to be able to go to school. I sit on a number of scholarship uh review committees and it breaks my heart cuz I see these kids here with parents, both parents working that have $50,000 and four other kids and they're going to be the first ones to go to school and they don't know where they're going to get the money and I tell them they can go to College of the Desert free and we can

nobody knows about this yet. So, do you have a marketing plan? What is your plan for for for letting the world know that this benefit is available for us? That's a that's a great question and uh first of all, thank you for your advocacy and all you do for scholarships for students uh so you understand the nuances of uh getting the message out. The uh thing that we're going to be doing is over the next month is we're going to be releasing a lot of our marketing material that are going to go over exactly who qualifies for this force this first cohort for pledge for all. And then we're going to continue to work with the high schools, the counselors, uh the college techs so that they're aware of what's available to students as they come to Cood. We also need to get out in the community to let those students know if they have a GED, they're also welcome to come back to Cood this fall for free. And of course, our veterans, our veterans also need to understand that without the impact of any of their GI bill that we're going to work with them to make sure that that doesn't happen. U we're going to work with all the constituent groups that we've kind of identified. But we do have a marketing plan ready to go and it's based off of 10 years of data that we know our students who are part of our pledge program right now who are firsttime freshman at College of the Desert succeed three times more than students who are not part of the pledge program at the same age. So that's 75% success rate over like cohorted groups or like students. So what we were looking to do is how do we expand that? Well, let's expand the program. So, we know financial need is the number one issue with students pursuing their education. We've all been there. We've I have a student I've had well, four three college tuitions I've had to pay for so far. I got rid of one finally, thank goodness. But we know how hard it is, right? And students who aren't as privileged as I am wake up with moms and dads who don't understand the system of higher education and they struggle through it. I can only imagine my student myself who struggled through it, let alone someone who never grew up in it. By the way, I was one of those students as well. So, from a personal standpoint, this program is very

important because I know what it could have done for me or what it did for me as a community college student. But moving into me as a CEO, luckily blessed to be a part of this community, I know what it could do for the valley as far as transforming it. So, there's a number of ways we're going to be able to work this messaging in, but it really starts with all of you who are supporters of COD who get the word out and really talk to your students, those connected to you, having us come to different community events and talk about it as well. But that's just the beginning of our marketing plan, which you'll see rolled out here in the next month.

We're going to run up on time here. Anybody have any quick comments, questions? I have quick uh part of what you were asking for. You've already started this morning um with the executive committee of RAP. You had a representative come and I can't tell it all right now, but he's already starting the fundraising. I want to thank you very much for the sign cuz as you said, you now know where we are. Um, and it's not just us, it's the students. And you talked about community events. Dirt and I are going to stepping up. Stepping out.

Nice. [applause and cheering] Nice. Thank you. Thank you. Anything else? Yeah. So, first of all, thank you guys for coming here today in the presentation. I did have a question. Um, in fact, I took a picture of one of the slides. Um, in regards to the shuttle service, is that is that something that we're as a vision or is that happening that's going to obviously happen later? It's not happening now. I'll let Scott talk about the shuttle service and I'll talk more about something that might be happening. So, uh, all of our students are allowed to use Sunline first of all. Sunlight. Okay.

Uh, but we have our own shuttle service that we produce that goes from our Desert Hot Springs campus all the way across to our Mecca campus. So, if you can get to a campus, you can get on our shuttle service and go to any other campus and that's free to students that we already provide. Nice. And then I think we're in plans to do a little bit more with Sunline, especially when we open up our Palm Springs campus cuz we're going to be a hub for Sunline, but you may want to talk more to

Right. And as the city looks to expand its routes uh into Palm Springs, we want to be sure that we're partnering with you to ensure that we have a presence on wherever that new transportation line is. So the students can have a pickup drop off point. But we're looking at doing more than just that. And I won't go into a whole lot of detail, but we really want to improve our footprint wherever that loop looks whatever that loop looks like.

Well, you're speaking my language cuz I I serve on Sunline. I serve on the Sunline board. And that's one thing that I have been wanting to work with Mona the CEO to make sure that we have shuttle service back and forth from COD obviously um from from Desert Hot Springs and make sure that it happens enough where you know students might be taking one or two classes and go to Palm Springs and not get stuck but be over there right for a certain amount of time. So we want to make sure that we're able to to move them back over. So I love I love what you're hearing what I'm hearing and uh sounds like we're on the same page. Thank you. I want to give uh Val a compliment because he's I'm really I really appreciate you that they hired you and that you were you know part of the you run the school district there the cood um you know just just in the chance I've time I've had a chance to get to know him and stuff and I've seen things that were blurry to a lot of people in the public or issues or how to streamline things and he's been able to streamline things back that I think has been useful for us as a city but also for students that have needed um some guidance and direction with that he's gotten their staff to understand that we can't be so convoluted and so uh scary and afraid to understand these things. So I have all the the faith and knowledge and experience that I think that uh I really believe that um he's going to do a great job in getting the message out that you were you know concerned about Councilman Gardner. Um and I'm excited with everything they got here and look forward to working with you on our projects here in our city as well. Thank you for uh being the leader of that organization.

We're running out of time. I want to say a quick a couple quick things. Uh there was a disconnect with Palm Springs Unified School District for a long time, but when you became president, it seems to be fixing itself with the work that you're all doing at the college. So, congratulations on that. Um I know that our high school has a good partnership with you now. Um and kids are getting uh the extra education they need going straight from high school into college with college credits. And that's a wonderful thing to see. uh my family, most of my family has used COD in some sort of way and educating themsel and I hope you continue the message and what you're doing going forward. So, thank you. Well, thank you all. Appreciate it. Thank you. Awesome.

We do have one more presentation tonight. Um I'm going to have our police chief come up. It is a swearing in of our newest member of our police department, uh our new deputy chief. and you get that new title for at least a year or so. All right, mayor, council, guest, welcome. Thank you. Uh, Deputy Chief Hattersley, if you'll step up here. This has been uh it's taken us a little while to get here, but as they say, all good things are worth the wait, and this was definitely worth the wait. Uh I'm very pleased tonight to introduce uh our new deputy police chief Jeff Hattersley. And let me just give you a little background on Jeff. Uh Deputy Chief Jeff Hadzley has 36 years of law enforcement experience. Deputy Chief Hattersley served 28 years with the Sacramento Sheriff Office and eight years with the Grants Pass Police Department in Oregon. He has worked in all areas of those departments, including patrol, investigations, community policing, media relations, and on-house outreach. Deputy Chief Hattersley career has been primarily focused on community policing and problem solving. As a public information officer, he collaborated with outside resources to produce a recruitment video and can be viewed as the investigative lieutenant and one of Netflix documentary series Worst X ever. Now, I have to make a side note. He is not the subject of that documentary, okay? He's just with the police department there. Deputy Chief Hattersley is joined here in Desert Hot Springs by his wife, Christina. Together, they have seven adult children and four grandchildren. Deputy Chief Hattersley has an undergraduate degree in criminal justice management and a graduate degree in leadership. Deputy Chief Hattersley leads with a best

practices approach and believes that every interaction is an opportunity to show respect and earn respect. Deputy Chief Hattersley is extremely happy to be back in California. He said he wanted to be someplace warm. I think we're going to be able to accommodate them with that and he feels blessed to have been selected to serve the citizens of Desert Hot Springs and work with the great men and women of the police department and the city. So I want to officially welcome Deputy Chief Hley to Desert Hot Springs and the Desert Hot Springs Police Department. [applause] So with that, I'm going to ask his wife Christina to step up here and she is going to do the badge pinning. They didn't practice. So it is sharp.

I can stick them. You can stick them. Have you put that on there? Mhm. Got it. Good job. Good job. [laughter]

All right. And then with that, you guys stay here. Jeff, we're going to do the oath of office. [snorts] Then have you raise your right hand. and repeat after me. I state your name. I, Jeffrey Hattersley, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic. against all enemies, foreign and domestic. that I will bear true faith and allegiance that I will bear true faith and allegiance

to the Constitution of the United States to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of California in the Constitution of California. That I take this obligation freely That I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion or purpose of evasion. and that I will well And that I will well and faithfully discharge and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I'm about to enter. the duties upon which I'm about to enter. Congratulations. Thank you. [applause] Can you say a few words?

Well, counselors, first of all, I want to uh thank Chief Shaw for selecting me for this position. I do feel blessed to be here and to have the opportunity to uh help him lead this great department that we have here in Desert Hot Springs. Um I want to thank my beautiful wife Christina for supporting me in this and our long move from uh southern Oregon to get here. Um she was the one that asked for a warmer place if we move somewhere and I think she's going to get that come the summertime. So um I know she was happy to leave the 26° in Medford to fly down here at this weekend. So, that was that was pretty good. Um, and counselors, I want to thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to working with you, your staff, uh, this great department, and, uh, the the community that we have here. Um, and, uh, I really do look forward to, uh, helping to make Desert Hot Springs the safest place in Coachella Valley. Thank you, [applause]

sir. Uh yeah, before we uh recess for five minutes, before the meeting starts and you take photos, on behalf of the city council, please be safe out there. So we say to all our officers, but welcome to our community. You've gotten warm. You're going to get hot, [laughter] but we hope you stay for a long time. Thank you. We're going to recess until 6:00.

If I can get the rest of the city council back to the dis.

Congratulations. Thank you. You want city council? What do you want to say? I'm missing Miss Pie. No funny. Oh, pictures. It's six o'clock. Where' you go? I [clears throat] don't know. Someone find my my lost council member [laughter] here. Missing a council member. Probably in the restroom. Yes,

that's who we're missing. Well, Sida's really good. She could photoshop her in. [laughter] All right.

Okay. Thanks again, guys. All right. Good job. Welcome. And you got a uniform. Finally. See you around. There she is. All right, we're going to get started again. This is the City of Desert Hot Springs regular meeting of the city council and the city council serving as the successor agency to the former redevelopment agency board for Tuesday, January 20th, 2026. Uh this is our open regular session. Roll call, please. Council member Pittz, present. Council member Bay

present. Council member Voss present. Mayor Prom Gardner present. And Mayor Mattis present. It is tradition that the mayor prom takes their seat in January of each uh year and I as mayor have always rotated that on seniority within our city council. Uh being the fact that Mr. Voss and Mr. Pittz was elected at the same time, I had them uh rock paper scissors in the back. No, I didn't. Um, [snorts] but I am going to ask that council member Dirk Voss uh represent the city as a mayor prom for the year 2026. Will you accept? Yes, sir. And can I have a motion to ratify my decision? Some move.

Second. All those in favor? I. Anyone opposed? All right, Mr. Voss, we'll switch you with Miss Pi at the next meeting. Um, I heard you had about a 30 minute speech. Yes. Um I'm just looking forward to serving with my fellow council members and continuing our great relationship together in that capacity, filling in where need be and doing the best that I can for our residents. Thank you. Our mayor prom Hot Springs will fill in for me when when needed when those uh shaking of hands and kissing of babies are needed. You're up. You're good with that? Perfect.

Awesome. Thank you everyone. We're going to move to our invocation tonight. Uh, Council Member Vasa is going to give the invocation.

All right, please uh bow your heads. Okay. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the blessing of our city and the opportunity to serve our residents. Thank you, Lord, for the wisdom, the integrity, the unity, and the focus on serving our residents and the community and having wise discernment within the leadership of our city. Thank you Lord for providing the foundation for us to build upon, grow from, and learn from in making smart, impactful decisions for our community. Lord, we ask for a shield of protection over our city. Keep us safe, open doors for prosperity, and for us to be unified as one community together in your name. Amen.

Amen. And before we do the pledge of allegiance, I wanted to take a moment and thank uh Council Member Gardner now for all his services last year as mayor Potam. He filled in whenever needed. He's always a great partner to the city and thank you for your service. And on behalf of the city, would you lead us in the pledge of allegiance? All right. Place your hand over your heart. Join me in pledging to our flag. Ready? Begin. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with [clears throat] liberty and justice for all.

Madam City attorney, would you report on close session? Thank you, Mr. May. Members of council, we have no reportable action.

Thank you. All right, we're going to move to the approval of the agenda. At this time, city council may amend the order of the agenda, approve the consent calendar, remove items from the consent calendar. So, let me ask that question first. Is there any items to be removed from the city council from the consent calendar for discussion? Those are items 10 through 23 items. Do I have any public comments? I know I did receive some written comments based on item someone help me here. I forgot my glasses. Item 17, the second reading adoption of the ordinance vacation rental regulation amendments. Um, I know those did anybody want to make comments on that? I know we've received some written comments. Okay. And I have nobody pull anything from the consent calendar. We'll also approve the agenda as is. Is there a motion to do so?

Move. There's a motion. Is there a second? Second. All right. There's a motion and a second. The move and second on the screen. Please vote when the uh when it comes up. Motion passes unanimously.

All right, we're going to move to public comments at this time. If you have not done so and you are here to speak on public comments that are not listed on the agenda, there's blue cards on the back there. They're right here. Um, at this time, pursuant to the Brown Act, any person may comment on matters of general interest within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city council not listed on the agenda. If you're here to speak on a certain item, you'll have to wait till the item comes up. Under the Brown Act, the city council shall not take action on or discuss matters raised during public comment portion of the agenda that are not listed on the agenda. All comments are be directed to the city council and shall be devoid of any personal attacks. Members of the public are expected to maintain a professional, courteous decorum during public comments. Our first speaker is going to be a Chris Christensen.

Yeah, my son. Sorry, I forgot my glasses. I'm gonna be doing this all night with everybody. I got it.

That's okay. you pronounced it perfectly. So, um, thank you, mayor and council members. I appreciate the opportunity just to share, uh, some things that, uh, are happening in our community. I am, uh, Chris Christensen, the CEO of the Desert Healthcare District and Foundation. And I just wanted to communicate with the council and your uh residents that are here and also be able to get the word out to uh your residents that our board is working on a new strategic 5-year plan. And we are interested in seeking input from the community residents. And the Desert Healthcare District, as many know, uh consumes essentially the entire Coachella Valley. And so we are separated into separate zones that our seven directors represent. uh Carol Rogers, which some of you may know uh is our representative in the Desert Hot Springs area, and I think she will attend uh your meeting in uh early February to announce, but we have def um designed to have community uh listening sessions in each of the designated zones. And so the zone uh two which Desert Hot Springs is uh located, we are doing a listening session on February 7th. It's a Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. located at the Health and Wellness Center on Chola Drive. And so we would like to get word out to the community of Desert Hot Springs as well as we're doing this across the valley and all all the cities in announcing those seven uh listening sessions. And the purpose of these listening sessions

is as our board is now in the midst of probably about midway through our strategic planning development, we want to also hear in addition to the uh community needs assessments that have been done uh throughout the district and and sponsored by the healthcare district as well. uh we do want to hear from the community residents and so we are setting this up in February for all locations and we have a a very high-powered uh strategic planning consultant firm that is engaging the the public as well as our board that will be present at these um community meetings. and we welcome the input and the feedback in developing the strategic plan that goes forward for the healthc care district for the the next 5 years and beyond. So, um with that, I do have some uh bilingual um flyers that I can leave with city clerk and also I will um address [clears throat] being able to get digital versions that can go out uh on your social media. So, thank you for your time. Appreciate it.

Thank you for taking the time. Appreciate you for everything you guys do. Thank you,

Kathy King. Hi. Um, my subject is uh the wash between Avanita Altaloma and Montto Rico Road um off of Mountain View. uh addressing trash and some homeless in the wash. Um we've been had our house for 25 years and uh always loved it, feel safe, but the last few years have changed a bit. Um, I went here to Desert Hot Springs Public Works um on November 10th and asked for a cleanup of trash and a blue bin that had been there and believe there was probably a homeless person there because of accumulating trash. And then 3 weeks later, the blue bin was taken, but scattered trash is still there. Um there's a lot of trees, a lot of um dry brush and um in the area, but also a lot of trash and full bags of something. I'm not sure. Um had a homeless person behind our wall. Um and she's burning candles and I'm worried about fire. Um so that's threatening trees and houses and brush. Um, so I I have pictures um and I would love to request a meeting with the city um manager if I can.

It's a perfect place to do it. So, we'll have somebody from her office meet you right over there and we'll get you sometime. Great. Thank you. Thank you. And I think it says Will Stitch Stitch is Stiken Sten. Am I close?

You're very close. Will Stiken, you got it. And actually it's relating similar to to that topic. Um so good evening mayor and council members. My name is Will Stiken. I'm an ID Wild resident and I work for the Coachella Valley Association of Governments and the Coachella Valley Conservation Commission. Um so I wanted to take a moment to thank the city of Desert Hot Springs, its departments and staff for their partnership on a really significant cleanup effort uh of conservation land within the city limits. Uh in September, we began coordinating with code compliance, swag, the police department, and animal control as we contacted nine encampments within the project area, which is south of Dylan, west of Palm and east of Little Morango. Uh through regular patrols, outreach, and service offerings uh provided by SWAG and PD, the city helped set the conditions for a successful cleanup. When the crews mobilized at the end of October, no enforcement actions were uh required. encampments were dismantled peacefully and the cleanup work was able to proceed safely and efficiently. Uh ultimately, we removed more than 260,000 lbs of trash, well over 30,000 or 30 abandoned vehicles, hundreds of tires, and uh hundreds of pounds of hazardous waste. So, cleaning up this area has real and lasting benefits. Uh it reduces contamination uh risks to the groundwater. It protects sensitive desert habitat, reduces dust and erosion, and it helps safeguard uh protected species that rely on these land. So, removing illegal dumping reduces fire risks, and allows the landscape to begin uh recovering. So, I'm here to specifically thank city manager Doria Wilms, Police Chief uh Shaw, the entire police department for their leadership and support. I also want to thank the code compliance team,

uh, animal control, and the entire swag team for their continued, uh, support and partnership. Uh, and finally, I want to thank, uh, city council member Gary Gardner for his engagement and support throughout this entire effort. Uh, this project really demonstrates what's possible when city departments and regional partners align around common goals and common purpose. uh and it strets sets a strong example for how we can continue to address these complex and uh vast problems together. So uh thank you from your regional partners. Uh we look forward to continuing to work together on projects like this.

It's been some great work you guys have done and the leadership that came from this council especially council member Gardner wanted to say mayor prom mayor prom at the time. Um you guys have done some amazing cleanup. If the uh public has not seen some of the photos, I'm not sure if they're available yet. Um they they will be soon. It's amazing how much I can't put it any other way. Junk was taken out of the conservation area. 260,000 lbs. Yeah. Thank you again for your for your time. Thank you,

Barbara Valades. Good evening, mayor, council members, and guests. Um, I'm here today because I am trying desperately to get code enforcement to engage in a serious issue with my neighbors. They are tenants. Um, I did not move here so that I could live next door to Sanford and Sun. Um, I've made many attempts with uh Mr. Messer. Uh the first um complaint was on April 7, then on May 1, then on May 2nd. Um the last was today. Um been leaving messages. Um I actually have a picture uh pretty blown up. Um and this is just one of the things that I'm dealing with. I'm not interested in living like this. This is not why I moved here. Um, I just want someone from council, uh, quite possibly, uh, Doria, I'm picking on you because you spoke at the women's club, right? Um, and try to find a resolution. When I speak with Mr. Messer, he basically says, um, he lists all the steps that are entailed. Um and then he even uses a term which is um I have to um try and respect you know their property. However, my property is not being respected. Um it looks horrible. Uh it's it's so unsightly. Um I just have to say that u Mr. Messer when he had Laura go out, they only addressed like weeds, vehicle parking, landscaping was whatever. Uh, large black trash bags, numerous in their backyard. For all I know, they're hiding bodies, right? Cuz they're pretty big

black bags. Um, I know that they're operating a business. It is some type of cabry business. Um, and basically I just I just want this cleaned up. It just something needs to happen. I'm not going to live next door to somebody like that anymore. So, I would appreciate again um someone reaching out to me. I've left my telephone number several times. Um when Mr. Messer states that they have rights, again, I would like to know what my rights are. So, um thank you and have a good evening. Thank you very much. Our next speaker is uh I think it's Blanca Rendon. Going to need a translator. Did you bring a translator or?

Yes. Okay.

Yes. Okay. [clears throat] She she's just very happy to be here. She's a resident for over 20 years of desert hot springs. Um, housekeeping, Mary Jane Sanchez. Her occupation is housekeeping and she's very uh happy for Mary Mary Jane Sanchez support she had for her students. Um, [laughter and gasps] Mary, she has three kids. One of her daughters wants to study veterinarian and Mary J. Sache helped her um move to that path. San Diego. She also has a second daughter who would like to pursue police officer who's actually working as a dispatch in the San Diego area. She would be interested in coming back to the Desert Hospital being served with this community.

And she's also taking uh English or try to learn English classes. Um and she wants to involve herself in the community. Thank you. Gracias. Thank you very much. [applause] Our last speaker is Ian uh Gabriel.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Prom, Council Member, staff. My name is Ian Gabriel. I'm the director of collective impact at Lift to Rise. I'm joined by my colleague and Desert Hot Springs resident, Joe Mota, um who's our director of power building at Lifter Rise. We're a nonprofit based in Palm Desert, but we serve the whole Coachella Valley and we work with a network of over 70 partners made up of cities, developers, the county, uh, nonprofit groups, CBOS, etc. on a plan to increase affordable housing supply here in the Coachella Valley by 10,000 units over 10 years. And tonight, I just wanted to um recognize the city of Desert Hot Springs leadership in the progress that we've made as a region towards that goal. Um, so currently we are tracking more than 9,700 units of affordable housing underway across the valley and over,00 of those units are here in the city of Desert Hot Springs. Um, I also wanted to acknowledge and recognize the city's efforts working alongside Abode Communities affordable housing developer and Sunline Transit Agency. uh the project that they're working on um Parklane Homes recently was awarded uh over $30 million from the affordable housing and sustainable communities program from the state of California was the only project in the county of Riverside of about 25 projects statewide that were selected for funding which is huge. It's one of the few funding programs at the state level that actually is funded right now and so there's a lot of competition. So it was really um a big effort herculan effort I would say of the city sunline and abode to get that uh project across the finish line. Um so lift to rise similar to what um CEO Christensen from DHCD shared we also embark on strategic planning efforts every couple of years to inform our strategies and our progress moving forward with our partners. We call it action planning. So, our 2026 2028 action planning session is happening at

the end of this month, next week, actually on the 28th and 29th. Um, I would like to invite all of you to participate. I think council member Pi might might be uh planning on coming as well as um Syra Hernandez um from city staff who has been a very engaged member of our network. Um the point of action planning is really to bring together all of our partners to um learn from each other, share what you've done successfully as a city. Other cities have a lot to learn from what you've done here. And then we come up with a set of strategies whether it's financing, policy, community engagement, um land use, all kinds of different things that are going to help us get to our goal of 10,000 units of affordable housing by 2028. So, I would love to um in invite you all to participate and um if you're not able to attend, I get that as well. Uh you all are very busy, but there are plenty of opportunities for us to continue to engage with the city of Desert Hot Springs around affordable housing solutions in 2026. So, I'm looking forward to working with you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. No other blue speaker cards. Anyone would like to speak and public comments that did not have a chance to do on any items not on the agenda? All right, we'll close that item now for you now and move the city manager's report.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor, city council. Before um I bounce off to some of our departmental updates, I do want to touch on a couple of things. Uh there was some comments earlier about the encampment cleanup and uh thank you for the nice comments for Chief Shaw and I, but I definitely want to acknowledge the boots on the ground staff that worked on that. Um, so our deputy city manager Christina Newsome, our compliance manager Tyler and off officer Kuransza were all instrumental and boots on the ground working with our entire um team to make that happen. So definitely want to acknowledge uh their efforts there. Um, in addition to that, over the holidays, we had significant um, storms that uh, came into the valley and um, I also want to publicly um, make some comments to our public works staff. They worked tirelessly during the holiday break. Um, and in most instances uh, cleaned up the roads and had them open that same night. Um, the road on Little Morango at the wash also uh illustrated that it performed exactly as it was designed to perform because as soon as that roadway was cleared, the road was still there. So, uh, that's a huge testament to the team that worked on um, the Hillary um, rebuild. Um, before I move it over to Jeffrey, I'm also going to recognize Jeffrey and his finance staff. So, um, I'm really happy to report that the city of Desert Hot Springs received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association. The GFOA Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is a national recognition honoring state and local governments for excellence in preparing budget documents that meet the highest standards of public budgeting, quality, and transparency. To earn this award, a government's budget document must excel in multiple dimensions, not just raw numbers, um, including serving as a

policy document, a financial plan, and an operations guide as well as a communications tool. Receiving uh, the distinguished budget presentation award is considered a significant professional achievement. It demonstrates a government's commitment to transparency, accountability, planning, excellence, and clear communication. Jeffrey and his entire team worked tirelessly on the budget. This achievement reflects their countless hours of thoughtful work and collaboration and reinforces the high standards set for our organization. So, thank you Jeffrey. Thank you to the entire finance team. We are very, very proud of you. And with that, I'm going to ask Jeffrey to give us some financial updates.

Yes. So, thank you, Dor and hello, mayor and council members. So yes, we have received this is a copy of the distinguished budget presentation award. So I encourage you to go online to look at our budget document. It shows um not just numbers but like a community profile um the revenue uh discussion of our revenues, the trends, how we came up to those numbers. Um it talks about our operations. It also also has a link to our um uh strategic plan as well as goals and u performance measurements. and it's it discusses where we're going. [clears throat] So, um I encourage you to go online and take a look at it. And I believe this is probably the first time the city's ever won this award. Um [applause] and you know, I'd like also like to thank my the finance staff and all their staff help that help make us work help work on this budget document. It's uh first time and and we're really proud of it. Uh so for our financial highlights for this fiscal year as the end of December uh end of December 2025 our 2526 revenues are at uh over 9.7 million which is 24% of the adopted budget. Last year at this time we were at 9.8 million was at 27% and two years ago we're at 8.1 million which was 25%. um a large the the last year's revenue were revenues were larger because we had the um development and you know permits from Amazon which we do not have that at this time this year but that was a large amount and yet we're still pretty high in the revenues. Um expenditures at this time is 18.2 million which is at 46% of the budget. Last year we're at 16.7 which is at 47% of the budget and two years ago we're at 16.5 million which is at 48% of the budget. And that is my report. [snorts]

Thank you Jeffrey. Um next I would like Robera Cernick, our recreation and community services director to give the community an update on uh some events in the downtown. Yes. Um, just a reminder, our next concert um on Desert Nights on the Boulevard is next Saturday, January 31st. The event is from 4 to 8:00 p.m. The headliner, which is Madonna, uh, starts at 6:00 p.m. And then, uh, the D and that goes through 8:00 p.m. And the DJ this time is Liz Castles, and she'll be playing from 4 to 6:00. Um, so I encourage everyone to come on out, enjoy some food, come see our vendors, and enjoy some music. Thank you.

Thank you, Roberta. And lastly, um, our deputy city manager, Christine, I'm not forgetting the dog this time, uh, is going to introduce a dog with Tyler today. Uh, so first, I will provide, uh, some, uh, updates for our adoptions and rescue since our last meeting. uh through the dedication of our staff, volunteers, and community partners. 17 animals were adopted and 21 animals were rescued during this reporting period. Uh with us tonight is Otto. Um Otto is a six-month-old lab mix. He's one of 11 puppies who are abandoned in a residential neighborhood in our city. And thanks to our incredible rescue partners, seven puppies are already safe, and now we're hoping to find loving homes for the final four boys. Otto is playful, sweet, and full of puppy energy. an ideal family companion. If anyone's looking to add a little extra joy to their home, Otto is ready to meet you. Thank you.

Thank you, Christina, Tyler, and Otto. And that concludes my updates. Great. We'll move the city council comments. Start with Mayor Bertim Boss.

Thank you, sir. Uh we had some time off but uh still kept ourselves busy. So uh on the 4th I walked the my entire district all the businesses with Brandon the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce and we went to every single business and introduced the chamber and I introduced myself as the councilman for the area as well. Uh, interesting enough and part of those findings was is some of them didn't know we had a chamber. Others only knew of they heard about it. A couple people were um were members but didn't know what they could be doing with the chamber. So, they weren't sure about that. Uh, but what was also nice too though is as I was meeting some of the different individuals is there's a beauty supply person next to Vans in that area. gentleman's been here 23 years and so it was pretty amazed you know it was it was nice to hear that you know that he was there so you know that and it was good for the the CEO of the chamber to actually hear these things that uh you know people said the first person we went to actually said I didn't even know there was one existed out here and so it was really good to personalize it and actually you know see that firsthand uh and then also then uh with that point from that same day uh connected met him with uh our spa tour group. So, they're supposed to be helping out with that. And then we met uh the vice principal of Desert Springs Middle School the same day. So, it's a very robust full day. I kept them busy. Uh so, they make sure that we uh have some needs with our chamber and that they need to um kind of step up their game a little bit in our town. And you know, he heard that come direct from me. So, there's nothing to shy away from publicly on that. It's um you got to step up your game here because the people are are interested in different things and they didn't know and they

should know. Um [clears throat] the uh school held a uh held some nice events and whatever and it was just good that they were able to interact cuz the vice principal over there is the one that handles all the different special events and what have you. So they were able to connect. So that was good. Uh also then I attended the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce legislative breakfast. Uh that was good. um attended the DHS women's club annual fundraiser event. Uh that's always a hoot uh with that. And then the fun thing was on the 8th I went with uh Barber at Vister Montana and we got went through the golf cart and drove through the entire neighborhood and we got to uh I was a judge for the uh Christmas lights on that whole thing. So we got to do that. Uh that was good. attended the state of the county for Riverside County at the arena. Uh we had a Christmas parade, the airport commission, uh we did our strategic planning session with that. Um you know, and in kind of a nutshell, what they're looking for, and this is where it's going to really impact us, is their goal is they're wanting to have 6 million annual wrerships. They're also expanding the convention center and looking to have uh or Palm Springs is and looking to have a minimum of 150,000 visitors a year there. So that's obviously going to trickle over into our and it's going to trickle over into our area economic development wise, foreign trade zones and other type of discussions including uh ancillary services to the airport that are going to be looking for available land, easy to access land uh close to them as well. So, uh, when we, you know, communicate about certain, uh, utilities and what have you that are necessity, uh, this is one of the reasons why it's so important with that as well. So, we're excited about that. Um, attended the CVCAN

Christmas annual party and then also got to participate in the Desert Springs Middle School Tamalei making community program. And I want to just give a quick shout out to Rancho Grande. They were the ones who donated all the materials for them on that day as well. So that was nice. And then um attended the DHS Boulevard nights. I guess it was on the 20th. And then I took two weeks off. That's it. Miss Py,

I'm simply going to say I did a lot. [laughter] Uh I attended several Martin Luther King events. Um Can did a um public town hall and um council member Gardner I attended that. Um CV giving day is happening. It's with rap. If you go to the regional access project, um you will find out about CV giving day and they will be um giving you lessons on how to do uh the giving day and they're giving approximately $300 uh,000 out to CV giving day. Um they're also are going to be doing um the fast pitch in October and uh I will give you more information on that. But majority of the things that I went to people are talking about how well Desert Hot Springs is doing and that Desert Hot Springs is doing a lot of stuff. And so it what it is is it's um very rewarding to know that we're not desperate hot springs anymore. That there are things that are happening and people aren't afraid to come up here anymore. And that happens in several uh areas across um the Coachella Valley. And so that's the good thing. I'm done. Mr. Garner, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Happy New Year. It's good to be back. Um, lots of little things, but nothing major really over the holiday break. I wanted to give kudos again to Roberta Cernick

and her team for the great holiday parade and party. That was uh amazing as it always is. But I think we even had more people this year than we have in the past. And I'll second what the city manager said. The outstanding work of our public works staff on the storm clean up over the holidays. You guys knocked it out of the park. We had our roads open in Palm Springs took weeks. So, good job. Uh nice to see our construction starting too on Eagle Sports Park. That's uh walked past there every day and it's it's coming along. Uh as she mentioned, Council Member Pi and I attended the CVAN town hall. got a chance to listen and discuss a lot of cannabis issues with uh with their members. Um and likewise she and I attended the MLK celebration in Palm Springs uh put on by the Palm Springs Unified School District African-American parent students and DHS's own Jarvis Crawford who runs that program were there. Uh lots of Valley Cities were there as well and Jan presented the proclamation from us. So it was a very moving and uplifting event. And uh finally the Coachella Valley Conservation Commission met and we spent a lot of our meeting discussing the potential impacts of the burrowing owl being listed as an endangered species as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is proposing. And while bird numbers are dwindling statewide elsewhere, the owl is thriving here in the Coachella Valley. really is uh thanks to our multiecies habitat conservation plan and the efforts of CVCC. When the MHSCP was adopted in 2007, it was thought there were really no burrowing owls here. We now see a population that is thriving here in the valley and we're working with the state to show that the owl population increases here and our area and the MHSCP are working and demonstrate that in this area at least the bird isn't endangered. And so as they work to designate as endangered species would really impact building in the valley. So

we're trying to carve ourselves out by showing how how well our population is doing here. And uh as you heard from Will Stiken uh he is the uh the coordinator for the uh the upcoming ranger program that we're having that we're building at CVCC. And Mission Springs Water District board member Amber Duff who serves on the CVCC with me. We toured a couple of homeless encampments that he mentioned, the cleanup sites in DHS that we have remediated and it was it was absolutely amazing to see. I wish I had pictures. We took pictures out there, but we didn't bring them with us this time around. Um, but it was amazing, but also also very frightening to see the amount of debris and waste that had accumulated out there and what a dangerous impact that is on our groundwater. Uh CBCC's new ranger program will really help to address that uh with increased patrols later this year. But cleanup costs for those two encampments alone are almost a quarter of a million dollars. And that is a lot of money. We've got to really come up with some creative ways of keeping encampments from starting in the first place and start working on some longer term funding uh ways to reduce desert dumping and encampments because that is a very very very costly endeavor and uh that's all that I've got.

Mr. Pittz.

All right. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and city council members. This is my city council update for January 20th, 2026. It's sounds kind of weird saying that, doesn't it? My goodness, we were just at 2025 just a couple of weeks ago. So, on December the 11th, I along with my city council colleagues and some members of the city manager's office attended the state of the county event at the Aquaare Arena. and uh we enjoyed a delightful dinner and were updated by our county supervisors on the progress and vision for a better Riverside County. On December 13th, I along with our mayor and his family and city council colleagues participated in this year's holiday parade and festival of lights. This event was well attended by both residents and public figures from other jurisdictions. As always, it was a wonderful occasion to come together and to celebrate this holiday season. And I'm also going to piggy back on what what you did. A big shout out to Roberta and to her staff for making this event tremendously successful. As always, on December 17th, I also attended the Coachella Valley Cannabis Alliance Network, or CCAN, holiday party and canned food drive held at Mary Pigford Estate along with several other elected officials. This evening was filled with education and collaboration highlighting the cannabis industry as a valued business partner in our city and enhancing our overall vision for economic development. I had the opportunity to speak briefly about the rewarding experience of being a business advocate. It has been amazing to witness our local cannabis businesses not just grow but actually thrive. and we are proud to participate in this partnership as this success contributes significantly to our city's economic

growth as well. Last but not least, so on Sunday, just a couple of days ago, January 18th, I was honored to be a special guest at the National Alliance of Filipino Americans or NAFA 20 2016 charity ball and recognition gayla. This evening included a delicious dinner, a Filipino choir, traditional dancing, and more. It was, you know, both entertaining and informative. But the event was hosted by Manny the Movie Guy from NBC Palm Springs and also Palm Springs City Councilwoman Grace Gardner. So, I enjoy connecting with various Desert Hot Springs residents, especially those there were many from the Asian and Filipino communities right here that are in our own community that attended this. It was really cool to connect with them. And so, our city is incredibly diverse, uh, comprised of many beautiful cultures and people. And as city leaders of Desert Hot Springs, we are fortunate to serve all of our residents. And I just want to say thank you to NAFA for graciously hosting myself and my spouse. Mr. Mayor, that completes my report. I yield back.

Thank you. I'm going to start writing my report and having council member Daniels or Pitts give uh my report. He's just entertaining to listen to. Um I first wanted to start off and this might come as a surprise, but the accounting department, finance department of our city is not always the most sexiest department here, but I really wanted to say thank you Jeffrey for that. That award means a lot to our community and for what you and your staff have done for our community. You deserve it and deserves to be recognized. So, thank you. Um, I attended I I attended a few things over the break, but just a couple things that that uh I wanted to say. Riverside County Transportation Commission. I met I attended my last meeting. Uh, Mr. Voss has taken over for that now uh to represent the city due to my work schedule. I was hoping to finish my time on that committee as I finished my mayorship here then over the next three years but just wasn't in the cards and uh I wasn't going to go to the last meeting but the uh chairperson for county transportation is um uh supervisor Spiegel and she wanted to recognize me for my service of 18 years to the commission so they gave me a nice proclamation. So I just wanted to thank the commission for everything they've done. A lot of people don't realize that money is funneled from the federal government to the state or from the state from the tax collections uh through Riverside County Transportation and then back through the Coachella Valley Association of Governments for a lot of our major projects. And so having a representative on that commission is so important to make sure that we continue to see projects um come to fruition here in Desert Hot Springs. We've received millions of dollars in grant funding over time that the Riverside County Transportation has been instrumental in and their staff does a great job. So, it was an honor to serve there for 18 years. Um, our holiday events are always wonderful. Roberie did a fantastic job. All the staff members that came out and helped participate. I

just want to thank you for your time. This event, uh, especially our our our parade and and holiday event has really outgrown what I think we've done over time. And I think it's going to be reimagined, uh, in the future. I'm not saying it's going away. We're not saying that. Roberto thought, "Oh, great. I get a year off." No, no, no, no. Um, but I just want the residents of Hash Springs to know that we we've heard you. We understand that this event has is growing and it's been a success because of everybody wanting to come out and participate. Uh, but, uh, look forward to this year. I think things are going to be reimagined a little bit, but as you see what we've done here at the city with just uh some people sitting around a table and talking about things how they grow uh from our um smaller events like our Memorial Day and Veterans event to our holiday event, Fourth of July, and now our downtown uh events are just um taking off. So, as time goes on, just something we as a city council have to be aware of and continue to grow those. And then lastly, I did speak at the Realators Association, Palm Springs Realtors Association. They have a what they call D Hot Springs Caravan, uh, I think once a month and the beginning of each year, right after the holiday, they ask me to come in and speak and I give like a really short stay of the city on the events that are going on. Um, they're excited what's going on and what's selling at Desert Hot Springs. And we're excited, too. So, uh, with that said, we're going to move into our agenda.

What was the first thing you talked about? Congratulating Jeffrey on the No. Next. The Riverside County Transportation.

Yes. Riverside C. He's not talking about it. I'mma do it. He's He's been on there 18 years. Before he got on it, the mayor had nobody. No one on that commission. No one. Then all of a sudden he comes along and we started getting grants. No one paid attention to Desert Hot Springs because nobody was at the table. And it wasn't until he started that people started to even recognize Desert Hot Springs. And that's how we got all of those grants. I'm done. Thank you very much. [applause]

say one more thing about that is I did the Jan PI kind of u um commission or what am I trying to say? I I took on Janie as my mentor. When I sat in that commission seat, I only spoke when I necessary. So the few times I did speak, they heard me and they knew it was important. Yep. All right. We're going to move to our administrative calendar. Item number five is noise control regulation amendments. Miss Newsome.

Good evening again, Mayor and City Council. So, this ordinance aims to amend our current noise regulations and further update the city's 2022 noise regulations, which established 8.12 as the primary authority for noise standards and ensured consistent enforcement. The proposed amendments extend allowable hours for sound production reproduction devices such as amplified music and loudspeakers and similar equipment from 8:00 p.m. to 1000 p.m. Uh establishing quiet hours after 10 p.m. aligns desert hot springs with the standard used by most cities throughout California and nearly every city in the Coachella Valley, helping standardize our ordinance while protecting residents late at night. The amendments also clarify exemptions for city permitted special events and permitted private events, allowing them to operate under event specific noise conditions established through the city's permitting process. Overall, the amendments modernize the ordinance, support community events, and maintain appropriate protections for neighborhood quality of life. That concludes my report and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Open up to public comments first. Would anybody like to make any public comments on this item? Any questions of council? Yes, sir. Not necessarily a question, but uh when working with uh with Christina on this did some some quick research and every other city in the valley is also at 10 p.m. So we are not really stepping out. We're we're we're we're more coming in line with what everybody else in the valley is doing and uh probably about 80 to 90% of what the rest of California is doing. So it's not at unusual where we're at. We're standardizing it and uh uh I think we right in line with everybody else. Any other comments?

I have one and that is for those that are not city or ordained, will we be um asking people to send notices to residents around them? Yes. So for private special events as a part of the conditions that I referred to that will be standardized. Okay. No other questions. I'll entertain a motion. I'll move that we adopt the uh changes to the noise.

There's a motion by Mr. Gardner, second by Mr. Pittz. [clears throat] Soon as it comes up on the screen, please vote. I think we should play the Jeopardy thing. [laughter] It's stuck. There we go.

Motion passes unanimously. This is the first reading of an ordinance of the city council of the city of Desert Hot Springs, amending chapter 8.12, noise control of title 8, health and safety of the Desert Hot Springs Municipal Code. The ordinance will return on February 3rd for a second reading and adoption. Move to item number six, fire station 98, city project number 80004, notice of completion. Don't see our associate engineer. I'll just take it, Mr.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of council items regarding fire station 98. I'll give brief uh project details. In March of 2024, the city council awarded the construction agreement to Oak View Constructors, Inc. in the amount of 8,52,000. There was also a 10% contingency that brought the total amount to $8,857,200. Excuse [clears throat] me. In September 22nd, 2025th, there was uh the construction was substantially completed. The total change orders were 20 of them in the amount of $372,56. And we're happy to announce that that was actually $432,000 42 $432,694 under the actual total project budget of 8,857,200. Um there were 20 uh changers that were necessary and unforeseen. And here just some pictures of the exterior and we'll go into some of the interior pictures, but it is in operation um as we speak. These pictures are taken right after construction. This is just some of the exterior and the backside and the side of the building. This is from the back of the bays and the back of the um gas station and and storage room. And then we have the living room, kitchen area, dining area. We have the kitchen and pantry area. Um the offices hallways, uh the bay, and then more hallways. And then we have our brand new um quint for fire station 98. The recommendation recommendation is to approve the work as performed, accept the project as completed, authorize a final payment to Opia Constructors, Inc. and direct the city manager to file the notice of completion for the Rivera County Fire Station 98 project, city project number 804. This is part of our strategic plan and it aligns with goal number four, public safety, staffing, and community police policing. That

concludes my staff report. Glad to answer any questions. Do we have any public comments on this item? [clears throat] No public comments. I'll open up to city council comments. Under budget. Yes. How often do we get to say that? Great job. Great job. Looks fantastic. Do we have a ribbon cutting date set? Yeah, we're working with our our fire chief and fire uh personnel to establish the exact date. So, we'll be announcing that shortly. Entertain a motion. Move. Second. There's a motion and a second. Mr. Boss, Mr. Gardner, please vote. Motion passes unanimously.

Item number seven is an ordinance amending chapter 1.10, city seal and insignia of the Desert City Desert Hot Springs Municipal Code. Mr. Serriiano.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. The city's official seal and logos are used by the city for certain official purposes. Desert Hot Springs Municipal Code Chapter 1.10 10 provides um the official city seal and logos that are currently in use, ensures that the current and previous official city seal and logos are used only for purposes directly related to the official business of the city of Desert Hot Springs, and prohibits unauthorized use of the current and previous seal and logo to prevent fraud, deception, misrepresentation, and or abuse. The ordinance before you um revises exhibit B to incorporate the logos associated with animal care and control. There are no language modifications. Uh that concludes my staff report.

Any public comments? See nobody coming forth. Any city council comments? If not, I'll entertain a motion. Second. There's a motion in a second. Mr. Voss, Miss Pi, please vote. Motion passes unanimously. This is the first reading of an ordinance of the city of council of the city of Desert Hot Springs amend amending chapter 1.10 city seals and insignias of the desert hot springs municipal code. The ordinance will return on February 3rd for a second reading and adoption. Move to item number eight authorization to execute program award documents for the affordable housing and sustainable communities award. Mr. Clark.

Good evening Mr. Mayor and council members. This item gives the city manager authority to execute documents related to ASIC affordable housing sustainable communities award that the city received on December 10th, 2025. As you will recall and was stated earlier, the city partnered with Abode Communities, the developer of Parklane Homes to submit this joint application. The award will provide approximately 24.6 6 million in low interest loans towards phase 1 of Parklane Homes, which is a total of 87 units, 48,000 in grant funding for resident support services and 11.2 million in grants to the city's sustainable transportation infrastructure or STI. The projects included in the SDI portion are one redevelopment of Pearson Boulevard downtown between West Drive and Palm Drive as a complete street with wider sidewalks, ADA improvements, shade trees and landscaping, street furniture and parking. Number two, development of a Sunline transit station. Uh number three, additional pike bike lanes from Lo Morango to Mosquite Avenue. and for a microtransit service to take residents to the developing industrial area and job center of Indian Canyon. The total award is 36,31,486. Uh this award supports several of the city's goals and the city strategic plan including goal three downtown district, goal six, community beautifification, and goal 10 street road infrastructure. The next step is to sign a standard agreement with HCD uh detailing the scope of work and timelines. Abode is still looking for additional funding for the housing component and plans to submit for the tax credit allocation on February 3rd and the city is assisting them in that effort and I'd be happy to

answer any questions you may have. Open up to public comments. Would anybody like to make any public comments on this item? This is exciting for the city of Des Hot Springs. Any comments from the city council? All right, I'll entertain a motion. Move. There's a motion by Miss Pi, second by Mr. Gardner. Please vote. Or vice versa. Okay, we'll do it that way. That's fine. Please vote. Motion passes unanimously. Item number nine is a consideration of an ordinance increasing the salary of the city city council members and mayor. Mr. Serion.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of the city council. Uh so salaries for the city council and mayor should be reviewed periodically to provide reasonable compensation for council and mayoral duties as provided by law. Compensation amounts were last increased in 2020. Currently, the city council and mayor receive the following salaries and allowances each month. for the office of mayor. Base salary of $1,42928, an auto allowance of $600 and a phone allowance of $72, which brings the total to $2,128. For the office of council member, base salary is $1,11162 with an auto allowance of $600, phone allowance of $72, which brings the total to $1,78362. The city of Desert Hot Springs is a charter city organized pursuant uh to the California Constitution because a city is not a general law city. It is not subject to state requirements under California government code uh which establishes salaries for council members based on population. Staff conducted a survey of the Coachella Valley cities that included totals of base rates and allowances which is included in your packet. The survey shows that an average total monthly compensation for council members to be $2,341 and for uh mayors to be $2,571.40. It's recommended that the council considered the proposed ordinance amending the municipal code to increase the base salary of council members and mayor to be comparable to the average total compensation of other cities. Uh therefore the compensational totals with base rate increases are for the office of mayor uh $1,899.40 uh including the auto allowance of 600 photo phone allowance of $72 which brings the total to $2,571.40 for the office of council member. Uh $1,6321

is the base salary auto allowance of $600. phone allowance of $72, which brings the total to $2,341. That concludes my staff report. Was there any public comments at this time? See nobody coming forth. Any council comments and entertain a motion?

Motion by Mr. Gardner. Is there a second? Second. Second by Mr. Pittz. Please vote. Motion passes unanimously. This is the first reading of an ordinance of the city council of the city of Desert Hot Springs amending section 2.04.02 of chapter 2.04 city council of the Desert Hot Springs Municipal Code increasing the salary of city council members and mayor. The ordinance will return on February 3rd for second reading and adoption.

Um, no items pulled from the consent calendar. We'll move to public comments. Anyone that did not speak at the beginning of the meeting may speak now. Please state your name and then your three minutes will begin. Omar Kamacho. Um I'm here just to um happy to hear that the finance department got such a prestigious award. I'm here in the behalf, you know, my fiance can't be here. Um, to feel the recognition in person. I wish he could be here, but there's been a lot. So, I just wanted to say thank you, Jeffrey. Um, just thank you. That's it. Thank you, sir. Would anyone else like to speak to the city council? All right. All right, we're going to close public comments. And before I adjourn, the next city council meeting will be on February 3rd at 6 p.m. The planning commission will meet on February 10th and the public safety commission on February 12th before we return for the second council meeting of February on February 17th. Uh we are jured.

I don't know.