City Council - Regular Meeting

To the City Council meeting of the City of Ripon on August 11th, 2026. We met, the Council met in closed session earlier, and Mr. Terpstra, could you report out on that?

Sure, thanks, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, the Council did meet in closed session starting at 530. All Council members were present during the entirety of the closed session, and there was no reportable action.

Very good. Thank you. Let's all stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Remain standing for the invocation. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Almighty God and Father, we bow before you at the beginning of this meeting because we depend on you for all things. Your word tells us that from you and through you and to you are all things. Your word declares that the nation that looks to you as Lord is blessed. We are grateful we can do so. We are grateful for all the joys you bring to life, including Little League celebrations. Father, since the first day of school is tomorrow, we lift up before you the teachers, students, and parents. We ask you to keep our schools safe. We ask you to fill the classrooms with lessons well taught and minds eager to learn. We ask you to fill the hallways with kindness and encouragement. We ask you to help students do their best and excel in academics, sports, and the arts. And Father, since the harvest is now being brought in, we ask you for safety over all who are involved in that process. And we pray that farmers and connected businesses and organizations will be blessed through it. Father, with voting coming to an end this week for the proposed fire protection and emergency response services benefit assessment, we ask you to give property owners wisdom and pray ballots would be turned in. We also ask you to lead the city council to wise decisions this night and during all the various meetings. Father, by your grace and for your glory, may the city of Ripon thrive. May families, churches, schools, businesses, and other organizations be blessed. We pray in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Please roll call, please.

Councilmember Daniel DeGraff.

Here.

Leo Zuber.

Here.

Mike Restuccia.

Present.

Vice Mayor Dean Uecker. Here. Mayor Gary Barton.

Present. Okay, this is a time for public discussion on any items that are not on the agenda. I see our poet laureate is approaching the days or the

The Department of Poetry, I think.

Excuse me, Department of Poetry.

That's right. Thank you very much for acknowledging me. I'm Emil Guglielmo, Ripon's First Poet Laureate. I missed a meeting because I was traveling. Summer is a time for travel. Summer is also hot. It's seersucker weather. So I brought the seersucker out. I recently came back from Atlanta where I sat in air conditioning and wrote this about us. August in Hotlanta, California. In August, it's hot, but not like Atlanta, a.k.a. Hotlanta, as in Georgia, G-A, say ga, but we're talking Atlanta, California, C-A, ca, like a crow. Atlanta, California, southern San Joaquin County. It's not ripping exactly, but it's within our lovely environs. In the 19th century, some Georgians, smart enough to leave the deep south, headed west. They stopped near where 120 crosses Murphy. They farmed, not peanuts, maybe peaches. Never set up a city. That's smart. No politics. But they got a zip code. A zip code. They got a zip code. Yeah. It's Atlanta, California, not sweltering like hot Atlanta, but dry like your Chardonnay. Off of 120. CNN isn't there, nor the Carter Presidential Center, nor Martin Luther King Jr.'s tomb, though his ideas should live everywhere. We do share a name and a zip code. That's cool, except in August when it still swelters and you wear the sticky heat. But in our neck of the woods, still a dry heat. more oven than sauna in Atlanta, California, nine, five, three, six, six. So Atlanta, California, it does exist. It's on the map. Uh, next month I shall return with my ode to the water tower. Um, we meet at the library. I'll look at the library at the main library, the calendar. That's where we, uh, have our, uh, it's open. I guess there's no, uh, uh, any requirements to post a meeting in public, but people are welcome to meet at the library. We can talk about poetry. I'm the Ripon Poet Laureate. It doesn't mean I'm any good at it. It just means I like to use the tool of poetry to talk about us, to talk about Ripon and to celebrate as is the desire of the grant and of the public libraries to celebrate literacy in San Joaquin County. and especially in our great town, our great city, Ripon, California. Thank you very much. Wonderful. Thank you.

Emil, one can only imagine the thriving population of Atlanta, California is just going to be buzzing the next several days with the public acknowledgement.

Adam Corkins, 1588 Van Andel Way. Mayor and city council members, I would patiently as one of the citizens of Ripon denied ADU permits. I have reviewed the replacement ordinance and I remain concerned that portions of it still conflict with state ADU law. But first, I want to remind you what this law is actually about. We're not planning housing for some abstract population. We're planning housing for our own children and parents. The housing shortage hurts both ends of the family. Our children struggle to find their first home. while their parents and grandparents may be stuck maintaining homes that are larger or less accessible than they need. ADUs let families solve problems on both ends on property that they already own. A child who grows up in Ripon should have a realistic path from their parents' home to a small apartment or ADU to a starter home and eventually to a family home. Today, that path is increasingly difficult. At the other end of life, many long-time homeowners are aging in houses that are too large, have stairs, or simply no longer fit their needs. An ADU can let an adult child live near family today, and then 20 years later, let the parents move into a small, accessible ADU where the next generation occupies the family home. That is multi-generational housing. There's also a fiscal benefit. Under Prop 13, older properties can remain substantially under-assessed for decades, New construction adds assessed value. Renovation and reinvestment improves deteriorating housing stock, and eventual transfers can further reset taxable value under applicable law. That means more property tax base supporting our city, our schools, our fire district, and public services. The net effect can be very good for Ripon. Better housing, stronger families, and renewed neighborhoods, and more tax base. But that requires an incentive mindset, not a punitive one. We should be asking property owners, how can we help you build something excellent, rather than how can we make this harder on you? And there are legal limits here. Government Code Section 66316 states that a non-compliant EDU ordinance is null and void, and state standards shall apply unless and until a compliant ordinance is adopted. Ministerial approval cannot be converted into discretionary review through local policy preferences. I ask you to consider Bateson versus Geis binding Ninth Circuit precedent. Their officials withheld a building permit, even though the applicant satisfied the governing requirements. The court held that arbitrary withholding would violate substantive due process, and they rejected both absolute and qualified immunity when the law was clearly established. My request is simple. Do not adopt provisions that cannot be reconciled with state ADU law. Require counsel. to put that analysis in writing and do not direct staff to enforce restrictions that state law does not permit. You are called to faithfully discharge your office under controlling law. When state law requires ministerial approval, your duty is not to find a way around it. Your duty is to ensure that the city obeys it. Thank you.

Thanks, Adam. All right.

Mr. Mayor, I have a comment as well that I received from the public.

Yes. Thank you, Lisa.

I received a public comment from Carol Baumann Gish. It's regarding the RCFD benefit ballot prop 218. She says, on behalf of RCFD and with Ripon Fire, thank you for your response to adopt it unanimously for all city-owned properties. That was a great note of encouragement at the July council meeting. Thank you for your comments of appreciation and acknowledgement of the efforts to inform the community. It's our combined investment in keeping Ripon our home of excellence. Sincere appreciation.

Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to address council on an item not on the agenda? Seeing none, approval of the minutes. Would anyone like to make a motion to approve?

I'll move to approve.

Second. Second. You can have it, Mike.

You second? Yeah.

Go ahead. Minutes are approved. Approval of the agenda is posted. I don't believe there are any items being pulled. Is that correct? No. Okay. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? Move to approve. Second. Second. Very good. Next, consent calendar. Motion to approve our consent calendar. Second? Second. Okay. And... Here we go. The highlight. It's your time to shine, Gary. The highlight of our meeting right now.

Good point.

Am I on? Yep. Okay. So, it's not very often that we get to recognize a group of state champions in our little city, but this evening we get to do that, and it's my honor as mayor to present you young ladies, with a proclamation from the city, but also just to tell you how exciting it was to follow you through the newspaper and social media. That's a remarkable accomplishment. Athletics is one of the wonderful things about our town, and so I'm an old guy now, so I've got a little perspective on it. I can tell you that this is something you will remember the rest of your lives. This is something that people are going to say 20 years from now, oh gosh, you were on that state championship softball team. So this is a pretty big deal. And you have great reason to be proud of what you accomplished. Your coaches did an amazing job. I met Coach Mario at the Modesto Roadsters game where I fired about a 55 mile an hour fastball. So if you would come up and join me up here, the state champion girls and bring your banners with you.

Wonderful. All right.

I won't read all of this, but I'll just say that this is a proclamation from the city of Ripon. And it makes mention of your hard work, dedication, sportsmanship, discipline, talent. This is, as I mentioned, this is something that rarely happens in our town or any small town in this area. And so it's something that you can take a great deal of pride in. And I, as the current mayor of the city of Ripon, recognize and heartily congratulate all of you. So please join me in applause for these young ladies. And I've got this proclamation and some pins that I will hand off to your coaches, and they can award those to you a little later. And again, very well done, girls, and best wishes on future athletic pursuits. Thank you. Okay, everything's downhill from here. Let's see. Next item on our agenda is an ordinance regarding animal ownership, care and treatment. Chief Sauer.

Yes. Honorable City Council, staff recommends to waive the first reading and to introduce the ordinance. The ordinance amends a portion of Chapter 6.12 of the Ripley Municipal Code, declaring a public nuisance for feeding animals on any public property. We have observed there have been abandoned cat populations are growing at local parks. and neighborhoods sustained by public feeding and unmanaged, unsterilized, and unvaccinated animals drive our population and can spread diseases to domestic pets. I can answer any questions that you guys may have.

Are there any questions for Chief Sauer? I have a question.

Yes. So, Chief, Merced, this thing got out of hand down there, and they had cats everywhere, and diseases, and they were actually... I don't want to say attacking people, but they got close enough to scratching with that. Okay, so you referenced another section because my question was, there didn't seem to be any teeth in this here. Somebody does it, they just violate it, and is it going through a stop sign and not have any penalties? Is there anything that this relates to that under some sort of code or something that it's under?

So I can jump into that unless you want the chief to. Generally, a violation of the municipal code is a misdemeanor that can be prosecuted as an infraction as well. So that would be, I think, just in discussing with the chief, I think the plan of attack here would be to cite infractions for this conduct. But actually, even Before that, because we're calling this a public nuisance, animal control services would have the ability to issue a cease and desist order to that effect. Essentially a warning, more of an educational opportunity. And if the conduct continues at that point, we can hit them with a citation for an infraction, which just carries on. a hundred dollar fine for the first offense and then escalates from there.

And hope the warning works. I mean, look, we all like animals. I'd probably want to go down there and feed the dog on things too, but they become a nuisance. They become a problem, but I'm glad we can do the warning because some people don't know. They're just, they got a big heart. They want to, you know, feed the animals and I get it. So thank you. That clarifies that for me.

Yeah. I was curious on the same point of, you know, how it, how it gets enforced. So that's, um, an interesting point. And I think, you know, one thing we don't necessarily, I mean, talk about in the staff report a bit, but it's not, I don't think in the actual ordinance portion, but I think, you know, to me when I've, you know, explored this idea and concept and the need for this, the impacts on wildlife and the endangered species and things that we have to deal with on a project basis, you know, in our natural areas and waterway areas, I think there's, You know, the riparian brush rabbit, which a bunch of stray cats out there is not helping that thing survive. And there's a very limited population along certain stretches of the Stanislaus River. And it's like, you know, while you're trying to help out these cats and other animals by feeding them, you're just multiplying them and making a bigger problem. So I'm glad we're taking action with this or hopefully taking action with this. But I think it's a good first step.

So it's great. Thank you. Chief, does Animal Control have any sense of the numbers of feral cats we have in our city? No, they do not. Okay. Okay, very good. Is there a motion to waive the first reading?

I'll go ahead and make a motion to waive the first reading and introduce the ordinance. I'll second that.

Thanks for putting this together. I think this is important. It's perfect.

And next, ordinance regarding some modifications on garbage collection and disposal. Mr. Peace.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor, Honorable City Council. So this ordinance update is primarily housekeeping for Chapter 8.12, garbage collection and disposal. It doesn't create any new significant changes. REQUIREMENTS FOR RESIDENTS OR BUSINESSES, IT DOES CLARIFY EXISTING LANGUAGE AND UPDATES SOME ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES AND IT ALIGNS THE MUNICIPAL CODE WITH OUR CURRENT SOLID WASTE OPERATIONS AND STATE REQUIREMENTS. SO I'LL FOCUS ON THE MAIN PROPOSED AMENDMENTS OF THE CHAPTER AND THEN FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS IF YOU HAVE ANY. SO SECTION 8.12.020, SO THIS ALLOWS PERMITTED WASTE COLLECTORS TO NOW PROVIDE SERVICE TO SELECT RURAL RESIDENTIAL AREAS WITHIN CITY LIMITS if and when it's deemed impractical for city collections to take place. There are a select few on the outskirts of town where other providers are currently running routes, and it would be well outside of our operational route where that would be something that may make sense. Section 8.12.190, it combines the former Section 8.12.200. It removes outdated

Okay.

Thank you. And it extends the free annual brush collection end period as per council's previous request from January 7th to January 14th. But council still does have the ability to change that or modify that through a resolution if needed, depending on the season. And really, that could be necessary in order to help with localized flooding, just to keep us on the streets longer, removing leads and such. Section 8.12.200 codifies the city's existing large item collection program. This is something that wasn't in the code before. It goes over eligibility, our scheduling requirements, service limitations, and it authorizes staff to update that list as needed, and really that's just determined based on the locations that we're able to get rid of this material or those materials. And then 8.12.210, it rescinds the old unacceptable materials section. Most of this is now just incorporated into that large item collection program. And then there are a few minor formatting updates, clarification of the permit fees, and really just to provide consistency and an alignment with our current operations. There is a potential fiscal impact with the one-week extension of the animal brush collection program, which may increase the garbage operations fund by up to approximately $5,000. And our recommendation would be to waive the first reading and introduce. And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, James. Any questions for James? That was pretty clear. If not, is there a motion to waive the first reading and introduce the ordinance?

I'll make a motion we waive the first reading and introduce ordinance.

Second.

Very good. Thank you. Next, we have a ordinance regarding money raised by taxation in the city of Ripon. This is pretty straightforward. Lisa Rose, would you like to discuss this one?

This is our annual ordinance to certify the 26-27 appropriation limits, which are also known as our GAN limits. This is for second reading and adoption.

All right, very good.

Next, discussion item on... West Side General Plan, a pretty important issue for the future of our city. Mr. Zeiderhardt. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, fellow council members.

Trevor, if we could pop up a few slides here to share with you guys and step you through the process here tonight.

Let's see. Get that.

There we go. Thank you. So tonight, staff is recommending that the City Council authorize an agreement with Mintier Harnish to begin preparation of what we're calling the West Side Plan. This will be a comprehensive, long-range planning effort for approximately 1,800 acres on the west side of Ripon and represents an important opportunity for the city to proactively plan for the future. The map up on the screen here for you guys, just to give you a better idea of what we're talking about, the black line around the very outside of that drawing is the City of Ripon's general plan boundary, or also known as the city's area of interest. This area encompasses approximately 13,400 acres. That's area that's Ripon, it's in Ripon's general plan boundary, so Manteca can't encroach upon that or other communities without us agreeing to trade boundary or adjust boundary lines between the two communities. Shown in the green outline on that map is the city's sphere of influence. This area's properties is planned for, this property that city has planned for growth in the next up to 2040 year, 2040 general plan. We do have land uses that are assumed on those properties. However, they are outside of city limits. So that area encompasses about 3,600 acres. And then obviously the red line is the current city limits. That area is about 3,600 acres as well. So just to put things in perspective, the west side plan area, which is shown there with the hatched black area up on the left-hand side of that drawing, that is the area we're talking about for the west side plan area, and it's about 1,800 acres, mostly west. which of that property is currently outside city limits. There is a little bit that's within city limits. It's just north of State Route 99 in the proximity of like Flying J and some of those properties out there adjacent to Jack Tone Road by River Road as well. The intent is not simply identify where growth may occur, but to comprehensively plan how this area should ultimately develop, including land uses, circulation, infrastructure, public services, and economic development opportunities. So what will the plan address? Well, the ultimate objective is to establish a comprehensive framework for how this area develops over the coming decades. This is a long-term plan. That means determining the appropriate mix and location of land uses, establishing the backbone circulation system, evaluating the infrastructure that's out there, and city service needs and making sure that the future development is fiscally sustainable. The process will ultimately include amendments to the general plan and development title, preparation of a program EIR to study the impacts of the new land uses out there, and updates to the sphere of influence and annexing property and getting approval through LAFCO. So the community and decision maker involvement just gives you an idea of what the public outreach will be. One of the important components of this process will be public engagement. We don't want to plan this development in isolation whatsoever. So the consultant will establish a dedicated project webpage and regular communication program and will conduct approximately 20 interviews with property owners and potential developers in the planning area. So we might set up joint meetings with property owners out there or one-on-one meetings. And if we need more than 20, obviously, we could add more to that as needs arise. There will also be several opportunities for the Planning Commission, City Council, and community to weigh in as the land use plan is developed and refined. And then importantly, obviously, Council will have the opportunity to provide policy direction on the land use plan before we move into full environmental analysis of it. We've got to really lock down the land use plan and then start getting into the environmental part of it and seeing what the impacts might be. And then lastly here, last slide to kind of wrap up, this is anticipated to be in approximately a 16-month process. Some of these phases will overlap, particularly the environmental and LAFCO work, which is towards the end of the project. The first couple months will focus on project initiation, data collection, stakeholder outreach. So we will be reaching out to all the property owners in the area and establishing the overall planning framework. From there, we will move into refinement of the land use and circulation plans, followed by environmental review, public hearings, and ultimately the LAFCO process, hopefully resulting in refinement. some annexation. We're not going to look at annexing the entire amount, but we are looking to pull in a little bit of property with this project. The schedule shown tonight is preliminary. Once the consultant is under contract, one of the first tasks of that scope will be to develop a more detailed project schedule with specific milestones. This is obviously a significant planning effort for the city. The west side represents Ripon's largest remaining opportunity to comprehensively plan for future growth and economic development, especially for property located adjacent to Highway 99. That's really our last property we have that's adjacent to 99, so it's important that we get it right. Our objective is to be proactive to establish land use, circulation, infrastructure, and fiscal framework before development occurs rather than reacting to individual development projects or proposals as they come forward. So tonight's action really represents the beginning of that process. Staff is recommending that the city council approve the agreement with Menteer Harnish and assuming approval tonight, we would begin the project initiation and public outreach process shortly thereafter. With that, I will turn it back over to you, Mr. Mayor. I'd be happy to answer any questions the council might have. Very good. Thank you, Kenny. Any questions from council?

I have a question. Go ahead. You guys go. I was just curious on the timing and the way the scope's broken out. If you get to a point, what are the off ramps on this project if you say we don't like the direction it's going or something goes haywire along the process? How stuck are you with the contractor? What are we able to do? Are there set points in the scope that you can say, okay, we've got this far, we're not taking it any further, or does that make sense?

Yeah, no, I get what you're saying. I probably would defer that question over to legal counsel and our professional services agreement on how we would.

Yeah, and you know what, I'm just pulling it back up to refresh my memory, and yes, just consistent with most of our professional services agreement, we do reserve the right to terminate the contract for convenience, so at any time. and without cause and without written notice. So yeah, we have flexibility with this.

A large contract, and they're drawn out sometimes, and you change staff, and you may not like the way it's going at a certain point. So it's just to make sure we have that ability. Not to say it's going to go bad, but just in case.

Council Member Stuccia.

So a couple things. Have we had any experience with these people? Have they done work for us before? Or how do we choose them besides just maybe price?

Mentor Harnish has not done work to my... knowledge for Ripon in the past, at least since I've been here. They have done a lot here in the Central Valley. They've done, actually, one of their bigger projects probably about five or so years ago was the San Joaquin County General Plan update, which was about a four-year process through San Joaquin County. They do come with high accolades from other communities that have used them. We did reach out to the three firms, which you saw in the staff report. These guys are right in the middle, price-wise. We're not going with the lowest offer. We feel these guys were the most responsive and had the best kind of plan of action moving forward, which included a lot of public outreach, which I think is important.

Well, I'm glad you brought this because we've actually been talking about this for much longer than 16 months, which I'd like to see the 16 months when that happens, because I doubt that's going to happen that quick. I mean, it just, it doesn't, you know, it takes longer to put these things together. I'm glad you're doing public outreach. So we design a much better project that way, but I think this is something that's needed and we won't see a shovel turned. I mean, I may never see it, but at least we'll get a plan into place. Um,

Can I add to that, Mike, and Ken's response? I was looking through their proposal and scope, and there's three other consultants, I think, along with them in the package. So it's not just this one company, but there are other consultants that work on local stuff, too, and are known for this. So you're not just getting one big firm. You're getting... MULTIPLE COMPONENTS, TOO, SO I THINK THAT ADDS VALUE TO IT.

NEW SPEAKER I WOULD JUST CONCERN, QUESTION WHETHER WE USED THEM OR NOT. I KNOW YOU DO BACKGROUND CHECKS ON ALL THESE PEOPLE, WHICH IS GOOD.

NEW SPEAKER THEM IS THE PRIME, BUT WE'VE PROBABLY DONE WORK WITH A COUPLE OF THEIR SUBCONSULTANTS.

NEW SPEAKER ANYWAY, I'M GLAD YOU'RE DOING IT. THANKS. THIS IS A GOOD PROJECT OR A GOOD CONCEPT. NEW SPEAKER COUNCILMAN ZUBER.

NEW SPEAKER MY QUESTION IS MORE TECHNICAL TO UNDERSTAND. looking at this last slide, we're going to do the work, come up with the plan, then it goes to LAFCO for consideration?

So the part that LAFCO will be involved in is when we want to annex property. So we're going to get, obviously, amend land uses within our general plan. There's two components that LAFCO has to approve. We are looking to adjust our sphere of influence a little bit. Not much. If you look at the top, Let me go back on that. If you look at the top left corner of that map, that little section at the top left corner that's outside the green line is that adjustment. So that's a LAFCO decision and operation, and so is annexation. So we are anticipating annexing some property on the south side of 99 west of Jack Tone as part of this plan. So those two will go to LAFCO. Part of what is in the proposal in front of you tonight is updating our municipal services review. So anytime you go to LAFCO to annex property, they want to make sure you can support with services what you're bringing in. So part of that is this consultant updating that municipal services review and then going to helping to get through LAFCO to annex the property that we want and adjusting our sphere of influence. All right.

Thank you.

Yeah, I want to compliment you, Ken and Michael, and other members of the staff. This is good work. This is going to be a big part of your legacy, Ken, and I think it's potentially really exciting for this town. We've talked about some of the recent challenges with sales tax base, and ultimately I'm hopeful that this will provide a number of opportunities to build wonderful businesses that will support our city. Mike asked about the selection of interior harness, and I thought you did a really good job of outlining the questions that you asked, the number ranking. It seemed pretty clear cut from that, the selection you made. was the right one. And so, yeah, I appreciated the clarity of that. So if there are no further questions, is there a motion to approve the hiring of Mintier Harnish to prepare our Westside area plan?

I'll move to approve the recommendation. Second. Fast down there, speedy. Okay, I take that back.

I'll get it for you.

Turn it off.

I hit the second. I thought...

Mike is standing for you. There we go. We have approved. All right. End of agenda items. Reports. Chief Sauer.

Yes, Mr. Mayor. The only thing out of the report is we have our third quarter community meeting will be held tomorrow night at the police department. All are welcomed, and it's a great time to meet officers and discuss any public safety issues. And other than that, nothing else to report. And what time is that? 7 p.m. Thank you. Kai.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just one item. We've got opening week for soccer, so sports park's going to be busy this weekend. Feel free to come on out if you want to watch some soccer.

Excellent. Mr. Zidervark. Just really quick, we do have one item for Monday for the Planning Commission. It's a variance that somebody's looking at for a piece of property here in town. So that'll be on the agenda if you're looking for something to do on Monday night. It'll be riveting, I'm sure, 6 o'clock right here. Gosh, I was. Glad you brought it up.

Yeah, thank you. James. Yeah, just real quick. Our water usage for the month of July, we were 20% lower than our 2013 number. We were within 1% of our last year's number. And then our large item pickup program is going through September, so residents still have a month and a half or so to sign up for that service.

Very good. Thank you. Mr. Terpstra. This is going to be a rare report for me, but I will likely be out there with you, Kai, on the soccer field on Saturday. My son is going to be participating. That'll be a fun first for me as a dad. So looking forward to that and thankful for great rec programs in this city.

Indeed. Thank you. Kevin. Mr. Councilman DeGraff.

Well, I will be on the soccer field as well, and so, you know, a little son-to-son head-to-head action here. I mean, we'll see how this goes. If your kid hurts my kid, you know, it's going to be a sad story. But no, um... Now that we're talking about passing this ordinance for the cats, I'll let you know that our city attorney has designated me the cat cop. So that's my new role. So I'll be reaching out to Mayor Humdinger down in Foggy Bottom, if you know Paw Patrol. They get some advice, but I want to thank our city attorney for that title. That one did not come from me. No, but now I want to comment on the, just the athletics in general and through the city programs. It's fun to see as a parent of the kid who's now going to be going through that, just to see the process and how it functions. So I just want to commend Kai on the work that he does and look forward to being out there. So that's it. Thank you. Oh, and thank you to all of you who stuck around and listened to us as usual. So thank you.

Indeed. Kai, just one request. If there's any flopping, that's going on by a Terpster or to Graf, I wanna hear back from you at our next council meeting. All right, Councilman Zuver.

I can't top that, so I'm just gonna.

Councilman Astutia. So the bets go to Catman or Terpster, is that what we're talking about here? Yeah, and I'll say the same thing. You know, I've complimented you on the softball. I've complimented you on the football. I'm looking forward to this, too. Now, do you have a schedule out on the website when these are? Are they every Saturday?

Almost every Saturday and Thursday. Okay. But, yeah, it's posted online, and if you need any help accessing it, I'd be happy to show you where it's at.

Oh, no, I can get that. That's fine. But if it's as successful as the other that I go to all the time, that would be great.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Euchre.

Well, let me see. I guess I'm talking about soccer, so I guess I'll talk about soccer too. Back about 40 years ago, I used to coach soccer here in Ripon, and actually I coached Lisa was one of my players and her sisters.

She's not 40 years old.

Well, she was when they were very young.

Close. Well, yeah, you might have been 35 years ago, because my daughter's 45, so that's pretty, right, right, okay. Thank you, and Kai, I don't think you were here then. That was when, yeah, that was my neighbor. He's not with us anymore. Hart, there you go, yeah.

Very good, thank you, Dean. And I will just mention I was abroad the last couple of weeks, and one of the things that always strikes me when I come home is just how great it is to come back to the United States. And these were first world countries. I mean, it was a great time, but gosh, we are blessed to live in this country. So if there are no further comments, we are adjourned.

Amen.