City Council - Regular Meeting

Check, check, check.

Thank you. Thank you. And I even sometimes tell people, text me. Because sometimes it's like so much stuff. The deadline, like tomorrow.

I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting to order I WANTED TO ASK OUR CITY MANAGER IF THERE'S ANY CHANGES TO THE AGENDA.

NO CHANGES, MAYOR.

THANK YOU. ROLL CALL, PLEASE.

COUNCILMEMBERS, COMMISSIONERS GARCIA?

HERE.

LAURA?

HERE.

LUTZ? COUNCILMEMBER LUTZ, ARE YOU ON THE LINE?

He's having some issues, but Paul's working on it.

Mayor Pro Tem, Vice President Sanchez. Present. Mayor President Camacho.

Here. And we have Council Member Eric Lutz who's calling in. He's out of town, so he should be with us, right? All right. And then we have our invocation. I'd like to invite Father Alberto from St. Francis Xavier Church to lead us in the invocation. Please rise. Thank you for being here, Father. Father?

Good afternoon, everyone. Good morning. Thank you for inviting me for this special time for our city. And then the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lord God, we ask to you the poor of the blessing upon the city council and upon to these people present here. May we work together to seek the best for our city and Pico Rivera and all residents. Help us to strive united in unity for work together in the peace and progress and the unity for all the citizens. And to support our leaders, and especially for the Consul City, we ask this through Christ, our Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen. Thank you, Father Alberto. And now we're going to have our special guest leaders in our flag salute. Her name is Lily Acosta, 11th grader from Rancho High School. But before she does our flag salute, I just wanted to read something on her because she created this beautiful flyer that talks a little bit about our flag and our responsibility. We also like to recognize Lili for her Girl Scout Gold Award project, respecting our flag. Through her project, Lilly worked to educate younger generations on our community about the importance of properly and respectfully retiring the American flag. As part of her project, Lilly created an educational pamphlet providing guidance on proper flag retirement and where worn flags can be safely dropped off for retirement. Lily, thank you for your leadership and for taking on such a meaningful project that helps teach others the importance of respecting and honoring our nation's flag. Thank you for your leadership, your commitment to educating our community, and for helping us continue the important tradition of honoring our flag. Thank you, Lily. Please lead us in the flag. Salute.

Thank you. It's my honor to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand and join me. Face the flag. Place your right hand over your heart and begin. 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.

We'd like to present you a certificate of recognition of our appreciation for what you're doing. Yeah, come and join. Yes, take a picture.

I do have a flag that I need to take. Thank you for your information.

Rancho High School, yes. Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm sure as a Girl Scout leader, you've done many other projects and I'm sure you'll do many more projects, so let us know how we can continue helping here in the city of Pico de Varela, okay? You're always welcome. Thank you. With that, I'm going to, first I want to recognize our city commissioner, Fernando Sandeno. Thank you for being here, Fernando. And now we have the honor of recognizing Two individuals, but first of all, we're going to recognize someone who already has been recognized here before. Someone who has definitely deserved many accolades for the work that he's done in our community. Someone who has dedicated his life, literally, to help others by coaching them, by teaching them, by mentoring them. And it's our honor to recognize you, not only what we did that last year, but recognize you again for the legacy that you've left the city of Pico de Vera. And I'm referring to Mr. Paul Camacho. Mr. Paul Camacho. Join us up here as I read this as you come up. So tonight is my honor and the city council's honor to recognize Coach Paul Camacho for an extraordinary milestone, 50 years of coaching and serving the youth of Pico Rivera. Let's give him another round of applause. began coaching in 1976 when a friend asked him to help with a youth football team. That one phone call began five decades of dedication to the Pico de Vida Dons and generations of young athletes. Over those 50 years, Coach Camacho has become one of the most recognized coaches in the San Gabriel Valley Junior All-American Football Conference. achieving an incredible 16 championships. And those championships, a lot of them, he guaranteed them. He goes, I'm going to come back. I guarantee we're going to be champions again. I heard it directly. And 37 first place finishes. He also shared his talents with St. Paul High School and Arancho High School. But Coach Camacho's true legacy goes far beyond wins and championships. For five decades, he has been a mentor, teacher, role model, and positive influence to countless young people in our community. And I believe he's probably going to say that aside from the championships, which are great to win, I think this is his biggest legacy right here, is being able to have coached, mentored, and create new leaders that have set a path forward for themselves and their families. This has also been a family journey. His daughters, Angelique and Natalie, cheered for the Donnas. His son, Paul Jr., which is with us here as well, played for him and later coached alongside him for 15 years. And his grandson, Sammy, also had the special opportunity to play for his grandfather. We also lovingly remember Coach Camacho's wife of 51 years. the late Diane Camacho, who supported this journey as an assistant athletic director. Her dedication and memory remain an important part of Camacho's family legacy with the Pico Rivera dance and the city of Pico Rivera. Coach, 50 years is more than a milestone, it's a legacy. On behalf of the Pico Rivera City Council and our entire community, thank you for your generations of young people you have guided, and for their extraordinary commitment to the city of Pico de Vera. Coach Camacho, congratulations on the 50 remarkable years. Please join us to accept this well-deserved recognition on behalf of not only the council, but the entire city of Pico de Vera. Congratulations. Let's give them another big round of applause.

Otherwise, I'll have to mic you. It worked real quick.

By the grace of God and the company I keep, he has made me be a guiding light for my family. This is very emotional, but that's okay. I waited 50 years to be recognized, and I want to thank you. All the kids, all the coaches that mentored me, Rich Avena, Pete Tovar, Richard Reese, Rudy Garcia, all the people that made me who I am today. And that I'm forever thankful, and their memory is always with me. And I personally like to thank the council. who I know personally, the city manager, who had the opportunity to coach two of his sons that were just phenomenal players. It's been a journey here, and I've been very proud of the direction of Pico Rivera Dons and Donnas. They are top of the top. They're feared for being fair, aggressive, and doing everything the right way. And I'm proud of that. And if they say that when you go into an organization, and if you leave it better than what it was, you've accomplished something. And even though I was going to retire, I'm not. I just had hip surgery a month and four days ago, and I'm doing very, very well. So I want to thank the council, the city, and everybody who I know here personally. You know, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Absolutely.

Come on.

I have to leave because I'm going to practice because I'm about ready to guarantee another championship.

Okay, so we do want to recognize another leader here in the community who has brought something very delicious to the city of Pico Rivera, something that makes our stomachs very happy, especially myself when I go have the pescado saladeado. and ceviche. So, you know, during Hispanic Heritage Month, we want to recognize a business here in the city of Pico Rueda. Tonight, it's my pleasure to recognize Noel Garcia Lopez, owner of Santo Fish, for his entrepreneurial leadership and contributions to the Pico Rueda community. Small businesses are truly the backbone of our local economy. They create jobs, bring new ideas to our community, and reflect the hard work, determination, and entrepreneurial spirit that make Pico Rivera such a special place. Noel brought his vision and culinary expertise to Pico Rivera through Santo Fish, creating a restaurant that goes beyond traditional seafood by celebrating the flavors, cooking traditions, and cultural heritage of Puerto Vallarta, which I want to recognize that through Noel and the relationships, we are now a sister city with Puerto Vallarta as well that we recently made a sister city. This recognition is especially meaningful as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and honor the individuals whose hard work, perseverance, and pursuit of the American dream continue to strengthen our communities. And Noel is definitely true to the American dream here in the United States. Noel's success is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished through vision, dedication, and commitment to your craft. We are proud that he chose Pico Riera as the home for Santo Fish and grateful for his investment in our community. So on behalf of the city of Pico Riera, on behalf of the city council, congratulations Noel on this well-deserved recognition. We wish you and the entire Santo Fish team continued success for many years to come. Let's give him a big round of applause.

Come and join us up here.

I remember when he first came to the city and He's like, you know what, he took over a restaurant that had a big legacy here as well, been there for many years, Casa Camino, and then basically took it over and did an entire remodel and commitment to the city. And, you know, like any restaurant, like any business, it's not easy at the beginning. There's a lot of struggles. I know Noel struggled. However, again, as I mentioned, his perseverance, his commitment, And the good food, of course. And I keep saying the pescado saladeado and the ceviche. Now, it's just one of those things that, you know, I think you can't even find a table in the weekend or something. But it's a great honor. So, felicidades. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you.

Gracias a todos aquí, en especial a Gustavo y Mónica, que siempre me han apoyado bastante, y pues a la ciudad de Pico Rivera, que gracias a esta ciudad tan amable y también que nos han tratado, pues estamos donde estamos y estamos creciendo cada día. Gracias a todos por estar aquí.

One, two, three.

Thank you.

All right, let's give a round of applause.

There we go, because the lights are out. Uno, dos, tres. Uno, dos, tres. Gracias.

Thank you, everyone.

EXCUSE ME, FINISH OUR PRESENTATION. EXCUSE ME, FINISH OUR PRESENTATION. EXCUSE ME, FINISH OUR PRESENTATION. AND I UNDERSTAND AND I UNDERSTAND AND I UNDERSTAND OUR COUNCILMEMBER OUR COUNCILMEMBER OUR COUNCILMEMBER IS CONNECTED WITH US AS WELL. IS CONNECTED WITH US AS WELL. IS CONNECTED WITH US AS WELL. SO WE'LL CONTINUE UPON SO WE'LL CONTINUE UPON SO WE'LL CONTINUE UPON THIS MEETING. THIS MEETING. THIS MEETING. ALSO WANT TO RECOGNIZE ALSO WANT TO RECOGNIZE ALSO WANT TO RECOGNIZE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER JOHN CONTERAS FROM JOHN CONTERAS FROM JOHN CONTERAS FROM OUR R We have some written ones and some personal ones. So I'll start off with the green cards, if you turn one in. Start off with Tommy. Tommy, I'm just going to call you Tommy because I'm going to mess up your last name like I did before. Good to see you, Tommy.

Good to see you, Mayor and fellow council members and city manager and city staff. and public here today. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak in front of you today. I'm here to support item number eight. I understand that this is an early process over a letter of intent for recommendation to the city. But I just wanted to say that we have a great partnership with the company, the applicant, Seisico. We've done several projects together. when it comes to energy services for cities. And we bring our workforce and our electrical contractors to the fold. And that's the partnership, ensuring that we have skilled and trained workforce to do a responsible projects like this. Renewable projects, it's really big for us when it comes to the electrical trade, It puts a lot of our members to work, whether apprentices or journeymen. So I hope that you would consider the recommendation tonight so we can put a lot of Pico Rivera residents, local residents that are IBEW members to work. Thank you.

Thank you, Tommy from IBEW. Thanks for being here. And we have Lauren Talbott from the library with some updates.

Good evening, honorable mayor and members of the city council. My name is Lauren Talbot and I'm the community library manager at the Pico Rivera Library and the Rivera Library. Here are the updates for September. The Rivera Library continues to be closed for construction. The Pico Rivera Library is open on Mondays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. We will resume our regular business hours once construction at the Rivera Library is complete. For Hispanic Heritage Month, the Pico Rivera Library Book Club will be discussing Victor Villaseñor's best-selling book, Reign of Gold, on Tuesday, September 15th at 6 p.m. Copies of the book are available to check out at the library. Families are invited to our Mid-Autumn Festival program at the Pico Rivera Library on Tuesday, September 22nd at 4 p.m. We will have stories about mooncakes and learn about the phases of the moon. We'll make paper mooncake crafts and also make mooncakes out of dough. Thank you.

Thank you, Lauren. Thank you for the update. I have two also public comments, but were submitted in writing. Is Laura Mejia here? OR ON THE TELECONFERENCE?

OKAY. OKAY.

OKAY. I'M GOING TO SUBMIT THIS I'M GOING TO SUBMIT THIS I'M GOING TO SUBMIT THIS FOR THE RECORD. FOR THE RECORD. FOR THE RECORD. IT'S REGARDING GRAFFITI IT'S REGARDING GRAFFITI IT'S REGARDING GRAFFITI ON THE ROCKS ON ON THE ROCKS ON ON THE ROCKS ON ROSEMEE BOULEVARD.

ROSEMEE BOULEVARD. ROSEMEE BOULEVARD.

CAN WE LOOK INTO THAT, CAN WE LOOK INTO THAT, CAN WE LOOK INTO THAT, SENATOR? SENATOR? SENATOR? YES, MAYOR. YES, MAYOR. YES, MAYOR. AND I BELIEVE THAT HAS BEEN AND I BELIEVE THAT HAS BEEN AND I BELIEVE THAT HAS BEEN ADDRESSED ALREADY. ADDRESSED I DON'T HAVE A, OH, PARKING RECREATION, PARK USAGE SIGN AND MUNICIPAL CODES. SO I'LL SUBMIT THIS FOR THE RECORD. THANK YOU. WE DO HAVE TWO WRITTEN COMMENTS. ONE ALSO FROM CARLOS CJ, AS INDICATED HERE. ALSO REGARDING, I GUESS I SHOULD HAVE, Oh, regarding the Woodard Dam repairs, Pico Rivera 2035. So we'll submit that for the record. I also have Chris Mochos in regards to the flock camera systems. That I'll submit for the record. Thank you. That concludes our public comments. Any other public comments? No. Thank you, Madam City Clerk. All right. So recognizing that, we are done with public comments. We're going to go ahead with our consent calendar, which is ITEMS 1 THROUGH 11 ON THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL AND 12 THROUGH 14 WITH THE WATER AUTHORITY.

MOVE TO APPROVE.

WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR.

SECOND.

AND A SECOND.

MAYOR, I'D LIKE TO COMMENT ON THIS.

YES, PLEASE.

I JUST WANT TO ASK A QUESTION. My microphone's off. On item number five, I just have a quick question. This is great news. Notice of completion for the American with Disabilities Act sidewalk improvements. So this was funded by our community development block grant funding, federal funding. We did not use all of that money. The report says we have, what was it? What was the total I saw in the report? 47,000. 47,000. Are we able to use that for regular road repair? Or does that have to go to a vote again? Or how are we going to use that remaining funding?

No, I think there's some other areas that we have identified that we wanted to allocate. I think what I'm having staff look into right now, there's an unpaved sidewalk area on Beverly Boulevard in Acacia that we're trying to see if that qualifies so we can utilize it for that area as well.

Thank you. Just to note, I have received messages from residents and perhaps due to this rain or I've mentioned earlier, I've seen trucks even on small streets like Beverly Road, heavy trucks that I think it just tears up our roads. So residents have made, send me messages via social media or other means. So I think any extra dollar that we have, if we can put that to road repair will really help us.

WE'RE ACTIVELY TRYING TO APPLY FOR VARIOUS GRANTS THAT MAKE A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO RIVER BEDS SO WE CAN ACTUALLY PAVE THE ENTIRE ROADWAY. SO HOPEFULLY WE'LL GET A SUCCESSFUL RESULT SOON ON THAT ONE.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR PRO TEMP. SO WE HAVE A FIRST AND A SECOND ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR. ANY OPPOSED? ANY ABSTENTIONS? HEARING NONE. SO MOVED. CONSENT CALENDAR. We're moving on now. We don't have any, we don't have any regular agenda items and we'll lead us into the city manager's staff report. City manager?

Yes, at this time, I have a couple items. I'm gonna turn it over to Noe Negrete to give a presentation that was presented to the infrastructure ad hoc a couple weeks ago. Noe.

Thank you, Steve. So Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Council, I'm just going to give you a quick update on our capital projects. Stop me if you have any questions. The first three projects are the ones that have been completed recently. This room was completed. There was some revisions that needed to be made. In particular, your back wall there was changed from the veneer to a slatted wall with some issues back in there. So now all the repairs were made. It looks much better, by the way. WE'LL DO THAT IN BETWEEN MEETINGS FROM THIS ONE TO THE NEXT ONE. WE'LL DO THAT IN BETWEEN MEETINGS FROM THIS ONE TO THE NEXT ONE. WATER MAIN REPLACEMENT, ALL THE WATER MAIN REPLACEMENT, ALL THE WATER MAIN REPLACEMENT, ALL THE WATER MAIN IS IN THE GROUND. WATER MAIN IS IN THE GROUND. WATER MAIN IS IN THE GROUND. WE'RE LOOKING AT TRYING TO SCHEDULE WE'RE LOOKING AT TRYING TO SCHEDULE WE'RE LOOKING AT TRYING TO SCHEDULE THE AC REPAIRS. THE AC REPAIRS. THE AC REPAIRS. WE ACTUALLY HAVE A MEETING WE ACTUALLY HAVE A MEETING WE ACTUALLY HAVE A MEETING TOMORROW WITH THE CONTRACTOR TOMORROW WITH THE CONTRACTOR TOMORROW WITH THE ISSUES, A HICCUP WITH ONE OF THEIR SUBCONTRACTORS, BUT WE'RE TRYING TO GET THAT PAVING HERE MID TO LATE SEPTEMBER. WE'RE REALLY PUSHING TO GET THAT BUTTONED UP IN THOSE AREAS. THIRD PROJECT WE JUST TALKED ABOUT RIGHT NOW, WE JUST COMPLETED THE SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENTS THAT WERE CDBG FUNDED. SO CDBG IS VERY RESTRICTED. IT'S RESTRICTED, ONE, BY LOW INCOME. or disadvantaged communities. So that's what's one of the has to be in that area. And it's limited to sidewalk or something that provides access. But we can't use it necessarily for roadways. We can either roll that money, we're looking at a couple different issues of using that leftover money for something else that qualifies, or we do another CDBG sidewalk project. So we don't lose the money, we just roll it over into another project. Smith Park Aquatic Center. So, you know, we started that at the beginning of July. It's going really well. We're on schedule. If you've driven by it recently, you've really seen a lot of the demo. The building itself is down to the studs. The pool doesn't exist anymore. There's no more pool you can see visibly from the street. They've actually filled in the pool in lifts, and they're doing compaction. A LOT OF GRADING, SO THE HILLS, THE TWO PRIMARILY BIG HILLS OVER THERE ON THE CORNER, THEY'RE STARTING TO LOWER THOSE DOWN. AND THEN NOW WE'RE STARTING TO LOOK AT THE UTILITIES IN THE BUILDING AND OUTSIDE THE BUILDING. SO A LOT OF ACTIVITY FROM NOW TO THE END OF THE YEAR. WE'RE MAINLY FOCUSING ON THE UTILITIES IN AND OUT OF THE BUILDING. BUT WE'RE RIGHT ON SCHEDULE, ACTUALLY A LITTLE BIT AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. The HVAC, we've been focused at Pico Park. Per schedule, we're looking at trying to be complete at Pico Park at the end of September and then making the switch to Rivera Park in October. So I want to thank Pam and her team for being very cooperative with us on that, maintaining the programs as best as we can for the kids during the summer. Resurfacing and overlay project. So last time we were here, we talked about accelerating this. So within, I think, a week and a half of approval of the contract, we were actually paving La Colina and Balfour. We got that paved on a Saturday when they started school on Wednesday. So that's the first paving. Now you're seeing a bunch of concrete work being done. So going back to sidewalks, driveways. CURB AND GUTTERS. CURB AND GUTTERS. CURB AND GUTTERS. I THINK THEY'RE IN WEEK. I THINK THEY'RE IN WEEK. I THINK THEY'RE IN WEEK. I THINK IT'S EITHER TWO OR THREE. I THINK IT'S EITHER TWO OR THREE. I THINK IT'S EITHER TWO OR THREE. I APOLOGIZE. I APOLOGIZE. I APOLOGIZE. BUT WE HAVE FIVE TO SIX WEEKS BUT WE HAVE FIVE TO SIX WEEKS BUT WE HAVE FIVE TO SIX WEEKS OF CONCRETE WORK BEFORE THEY OF CONCRETE WORK BEFORE THEY OF CONCRETE WORK BEFORE THEY ACTUALLY START PAVING. ACTUALLY START PAVING. ACTUALLY START PAVING. DON'T HAVE A SCHEDULE TO SHARE DON'T HAVE A SCHEDULE TO BUT WE ARE LOOKING AT THE FIRST STREET THAT'S GOING TO BE PAVED IS THE SECTION ON ROSEMEE THAT'S SOUTH OF WHITTIER, BETWEEN WHITTIER AND MINDS. ONCE WE GET THAT DATE, WE'LL HAPPILY SHARE THAT WITH YOU.

DIRECTOR, I KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE A SCHEDULE, BUT IT'S THE NEXT COUPLE MONTHS.

OCTOBER. LOOKING AT OCTOBER. EXACTLY WHAT DATE, WE'LL LET YOU KNOW.

VERY WELL.

But yeah, we need to do the concrete first. That's typically what you do. You do the concrete first. It's got a cure, and then you're able to come back and do the asphalt. Doing it in a reverse order, essentially we'll leave, just say curb and gutter. I did the asphalt. I come back and do the curb and gutter. Now I got to do a soft cut one foot in that area, and I come back and put that patch in, and it's not going to look very well, right, from a perception standpoint. You say, why don't you do it in order so you don't have that seam, you don't have that patch, right?

Yes. Oops. No, I have a question. Well, I know the answer, but I want you to reiterate for us. So I did get a question. Why do we have 36 million for a pool and 2 million for the HVAC system, but we only, we didn't put enough to fix every road in the city. I know that several of our park improvements were due to grants. So can you explain that, that the restricted funding and the park and the, all of the things that we've been able to improve, but why can't we just transfer that money of millions of dollars to fix every road in the city?

Okay, I'll just restate what you just said. In my own words here is that we've been very successful with grants here. I think we're 75 to 80% of grant funded projects, which is, AGAIN, TOTALLY AMAZING THAT AS A GROUP, WE'RE ABLE TO DO THAT. BUT THAT COMES WITH RESTRICTIONS. YOU HAVE TO USE THAT MONEY FOR CERTAIN THINGS. SO LIKE THE POOL, IT WAS DEDICATED FOR SPECIFICALLY REBUILDING THAT POOL. Now, the issue with streets is that it's very competitive because every city has the same issue. They're trying to pave streets. So there's limited to very little amount of grants out there for streets because it's so competitive for that. But I guess I'll answer the question this way for the person that told you that. We're setting aside $9 million per year. A city of our size, that's almost unheard of. Most of our neighboring cities around us have a total CIP of anywhere between two to three million dollars for everything, not just streets. So, and we have a commitment on our end from our budget, our five-year budget is to spend nine for the next five years. So I would say that go find another city that's putting the amount of resources that we are. Now we're definitely catching up, right, if they tell you that, that's true, but we're trying to address it. IN LITERALLY ONE STREET AT A TIME. SO WE ARE PUTTING MORE THAN ADEQUATE FUNDS ON THOSE STREETS. I WOULD SAY MORE SO THAN ANY OF OUR NEIGHBORS.

ARE WE HAVING A CHALLENGE WITH STAFFING IN TERMS OF GETTING THE BODIES OF THE MANUAL LABOR OUT THERE TO FIX AND REPAIR OR IS THAT FINE?

WE HIRE CONTRACTORS TO ACTUALLY DO THE WORK. SO NO, WE DON'T HAVE NECESSARILY A STAFFING ISSUE. YOU KNOW, WE JUST HAVE A LOT OF WORK THAT WE NEED TO GET DONE.

THE CONTRACTORS ARE DOING THE WORK. IT'S JUST A MATTER OF THE AMOUNT OF MONEY AND ROAD BY ROAD GETTING IT DONE.

WE'RE SETTING ASIDE THE NECESSARY RESOURCES.

THANK YOU.

YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE, IF I MAY, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE AD HOC COMMITTEE IS CREATING A STANDARD OR WHAT I'VE USED FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM, A BIBLE. by which public works can consult in regards to what type of standards we want as a city in regards to roads in regards to driveways in regards to because we're seeing we're coming across a mix-and-match hodgepodge of USE OF MATERIALS THAT EITHER RESIDENTS ARE USING, THAT THE CITY HAS SIGNED OFF ON IN THE PAST, AND WE BELIEVE THAT OUR STANDARDS SHOULD BE HIGHER. AND ONE OF THE EXAMPLES THAT YOU GAVE US WERE DRIVEWAYS, RIGHT? YOU'RE FINDING A LOT OF ASPHALT BEING USED. WHEREAS THAT IS CITY PROPERTY, AND SO THAT WE HAVE OVERSIGHT IN REGARDS TO WHAT TYPE OF MATERIAL SHOULD BE USED. COULD YOU ELABORATE ON THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE? AND COULD YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE BIT MORE ON THIS IDEA OF CREATING A STANDARD AND HAVING IT WRITTEN DOWN SO THAT WHOEVER IS SITTING IN THESE CHAIRS 20 YEARS FROM NOW, WHOEVER IS TAKING YOUR SPOT 20 YEARS FROM NOW, WE HAVE A STANDARD THAT WE'VE CODIFIED WE HAVE A STANDARD THAT WE'VE CODIFIED WE HAVE A STANDARD THAT WE'VE CODIFIED THAT WE CAN GO BACK AND REFERENCE.

THAT WE CAN GO BACK AND REFERENCE.

THAT WE CAN GO BACK AND REFERENCE.

I HOPE IT'S NOT 20 YEARS, I HOPE IT'S NOT 20 YEARS, I HOPE IT'S NOT 20 YEARS, BY THE WAY, FOR ME. BY THE WAY, FOR ME. BY THE WAY, FOR ME. TO ANSWER YOUR TWO QUESTIONS, TO ANSWER YOUR TWO QUESTIONS, TO ANSWER YOUR TWO QUESTIONS, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE DRIVEWAYS. LET'S TALK ABOUT THE DRIVEWAYS. LET'S TALK ABOUT THE DRIVEWAYS. WHEN THE CITY INCORPORATED, WHEN THE CITY INCORPORATED, WHEN THE CITY INCORP Today, the norm is to put in a concrete driveway. When I say there's two different things, the approach, which is the city side, like it's usually between your sidewalk and your curb and gutter, and your driveway itself is on your physical property where you usually park your car. And over the years, those asphalt driveways really haven't been addressed by us as a city. We've placed that burden on the homeowner. I have a difference of opinion than the past engineers that have worked here. I think that's our responsibility. And we're not going to be able to do them all at one time. But in this project here on the major streets that we're doing construction on, we're committed to doing those asphalt driveways as part of the project at no cost to the resident. And that's what we're going to move going forward is as we attack these streets, not only are we going to look at, you know, broken sidewalk or missing sidewalk, but driveways that are of, you know, not up to current standards will be replaced, which leads into your other question about standards. So, I FORGET HOW OLD WE ARE AS A CITY HERE, BUT WE DON'T HAVE STANDARDS. AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS USUALLY YOU HAVE, I'M GOING TO SAY A BOOK, BUT IT COULD BE ON ELECTRONIC NOW, IS THAT SOMEONE USUALLY WILL DEVELOP WHAT STANDARDS ARE GOING TO BE BUILT HERE FOR EVERYTHING. AND WE START SMALL. IT COULD BE A CURB AND GUTTER. HOW TALL DO YOU WANT THAT? HOW WIDE DO YOU WANT IT? DRIVEWAY IS ALWAYS ONE AS WELL IN TERMS OF HOW WIDE YOU ALLOW FOR THE WIDTH OF A DRIVEWAY AND THE DRIVE APRON TO BE. WE DO THAT PRETTY GOOD JOB NOW WITH PLANNING ON THE PERMIT SIDE, BUT I CAN'T GIVE THEM A STANDARD IN TERMS OF HOW THICK THAT SHOULD BE. DON'T HAVE THAT RIGHT NOW. WHAT KIND OF CONCRETE DO WE WANT TO ALLOW THEM TO USE TO BE ABLE TO PUT THAT IN? THOSE ARE JUST TWO EXAMPLES, BUT WE HAVE EVERYTHING IN THE RIGHT-OF-WAY YOU SEE, A STREETLIGHT POLE, A SIGN. WHAT KIND OF SIGN IN A POST SHOULD WE USE? SO WE'RE ACTUALLY DOING THAT NOW. WE'VE IDENTIFIED, I WANT TO SAY, ROUGHLY 40, 45 DIFFERENT STANDARDS THAT WE'RE GOING TO DO AS OUR FIRST WAVE TO AT LEAST TO ESTABLISH SOMETHING. SO WE HAVE DESIGNERS OR DEVELOPERS OR ANYBODY THAT'S BUILDING IN THE RIGHT-OF-WAY, THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT THE EXPECTATIONS ARE IN TERMS OF WHAT IS GOING TO BE ALLOWED. AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHAT'S NOT GOING TO BE ALLOWED.

VERY WELL. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

I'LL CONTINUE. ONE, IT WAS TO HELP ELEVATE THE IMPORTANCE AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MODIFYING THIS DAM TO PROTECT NOT ONLY PICO RIVERA BUT DOWNSTREAM COMMUNITIES ALL THE WAY DOWN TO LONG BEACH FROM THE POTENTIAL HAZARD OF FLOODING. but then also to raise awareness about the level of impacts that we, the City of Pico Rivera, are ultimately bearing the brunt of. And that's everything from the construction-related impacts, the loss of parks and open space, of course, our beloved golf course, roads to the Pico Rivera Sports Arena, Streamland Park, and the impacts of the Pico Boys Little League. the Army Corps provided an opportunity for the community to actually get their hands and feet on the dam itself, meet with the colonel directly that oversees not only just the project, but the entire Western Pacific Division for the Army Corps of Engineers. So it was a really good opportunity for the community to meet directly with the project sponsors and get answers direct. We had upwards of about 300 people in attendance, and we feel that was pretty good attendance given it was well into the 90s as far as the heat is concerned, so it was pretty hot. We had a follow-up meeting. We're going to be hosting a couple more meetings with the Army Corps and a couple more town halls up and coming, soon to be announced dates, times, locations. We'll make sure to make the community aware of those meetings, but we can expect to see some construction activity at the Wooden Arrows Dam starting October 1st and ramping right up in the weeks subsequent to that. And then lastly, we have also as a city, not necessarily the Army Corps of Engineers, but the city has been undertaking a canvassing campaign. We've targeted upwards of about 200 households that live as relatively immediately adjacent to the project boundaries themselves. Again, these are the communities that are really gonna bear the brunt of impacts when construction starts. So everything from dust, noise, vibration, traffic from all the trucks and deliveries. And so the nice thing about the canvassing campaign is that we've been able to reach the hard to reach members of our community. So there are a small population of people that we targeted. that had no information about this project. And as a result of our canvassing campaign are now aware, educated on the project benefits and of course its impacts. So again, this has been an ongoing partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers. We're doing obviously our part to ensure that our community is aware of what's going on with the project. But then of course, a really good partnership with the Army Corps to ensure that our community has the answers that they need when it comes to the technicalities associated with the project. So with that, I'm happy to take any questions.

Questions, comments? Go ahead, Dr. Sanchez.

I just have a comment. I live very close. That's my backyard. And unfortunately, I walked that dam to walk my dog. So that bike path going north is also going to be shut down to not just the golf course, but the actual bike path.

Yes, not only that bike path, but so the bike path of the San Gabriel River bike path, it's a class one bike path that goes up and over the Whittier Narrows Dam to then connect to Whittier Narrows Recreation Area. And then from there, you can take the trails all the way north to the city of Azusa and into the San Gabriel Mountains. But that location at the Pico Rivera Golf Club will be closed for the next five to six years. And so one of the things that we've made very clear to the to the army Corps of engineers is that there's very few alternative routes to get, uh, around that location. And so we made it, uh, a request has been put out to put up detour signs and maps and, um, informational signage throughout the area, not just in Pico Rivera side, but also in South Almani and further north and further south as well to inform and educate people about routes to take to get around the project site. But one of the things that has become abundantly clear to the Army Corps is how many people actually use those routes on the weekends. And so it's going to be interesting to see how those routes are detoured.

Thank you. My second concern and issue is we experienced this with the old Marine Corps base that was shut down. Once services terminated, we found a lot of graffiti, unhoused individuals going into that site. So maybe a message as well, I know Captain has been very involved, but perhaps increased patrol might be needed in that area. to make sure that although we were ensured that it was going to be fenced off, and there's a contractor there. There are we're very aware there are individuals living in the encampments in the riverbed there. So that might trickle over to this now vacant piece of land when the construction workers are not there. So that's a big concern as well.

That's something we definitely have our eye on. As you may be aware that the facility itself that was blighted and of course graffitied is now been torn down. So it makes it a lot easier to maintain visibility across the property. AND SO, YEAH, WITH THE PARTNERSHIP WITH OUR SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, WITH THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, L.A. COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS AND FLOOD CONTROL DIVISION CONTINUES. SO WE'LL MAKE SURE TO CONTINUE KEEPING THAT AT THE TOP OF OUR PRIORITY LIST AND ENSURE TO REPORT BACK ANYTIME WE ENCOUNTER ANY ISSUES.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR PUERTO. THANK YOU, MAYOR. Mayor Pro Tem's comment is well taken. I think we've all been very adamant in terms of security and safety and homelessness to make sure that they cover that through the dialogue that we've had with the Corps. But I just want to commend the outreach and recruitment done by staff, the door knocking, the canvassing. It was made a public comment in one of the written comments right here that they appreciated those efforts. We still got a ways to go. ON THAT PROJECT, AND THERE WAS ONE OTHER ONE, BUT I JUST, I'LL GO AHEAD AND PASS IT OVER, MAYOR.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR THAT. NO, I JUST WANT TO, AGAIN, THE CAMBUSING IS IMPORTANT, BECAUSE AS YOU MENTIONED, NOT EVERYONE'S GOING TO THE TOWNHOUSE, NOT EVERYONE HAS PAYING ATTENTION TO OUR SOCIAL MEDIA, SO GOING DOOR TO DOOR WAS IMPORTANT, AND IT IS AN EFFORT THAT WILL BE ONGOING, BECAUSE IT'S OBVIOUSLY GOING TO BE HERE FOR A WHILE. AND AS MY COLLEAGUES MENTIONED, AS FAR AS what is being addressed, security, graffiti, homelessness, encampments. Can you talk a bit about the wall that is going to potentially gonna be now based on mitigating the noise, the dust and security issues as well?

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for the reminder on that. One of the things that the Army Corps unveiled during that meeting or that event that we had with the community was that they're going to be installing about a 12 foot tall wall made out of a fabric. It's a noise dampening wall, but also helps with dust mitigation. The wall is gonna be installed pretty much along the back fencing of all of the residential communities whose backs are to the Whittier Narrows Dam itself. The wall is going to be served multiple purposes. One is to protect the site, others to protect residential communities as well from the dust and from the noise as well. But one of the things that has been brought to the Army Corps' attention is the level of graffiti. In fact, during that Walk the Dam event, all staffers of the Army Corps of Engineers saw firsthand the depth of artwork that I guess we experience here in Pico Rivera. So we brought it to their attention. They've brought it to the attention of their contractors to ensure that they mitigate any and all graffiti PROACTIVELY. SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE AGAIN GOING TO CONTINUE TO MONITOR AND WORK WITH THE ARMY CORPS ON.

MAYOR, IN TERMS OF SECURITY ISSUES, THIS MORNING I WAS OUT AT THE GOLF COURSE AND THERE WAS AN INTERCOM THAT CAME ON AND SAID STAY AWAY FROM THERE. YOU'RE OUT OF BOUNDS. WHAT'S YOUR PURPOSE HERE? CAN YOU ALLUDE TO THAT?

I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THAT.

I WANT TO SAY, WAIT A MINUTE, WHERE DID THIS COME FROM? ALL I WANT TO DO IS HIT MY GOLF BALL. WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?

SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LOST YOUR BALL? HE WAS CORRECTING YOU. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

I SAID, DO WE PUT A NEW SYSTEM IN PLACE OR WHAT? IT'S JUST TO MAKE SURE OUR GOLFERS ARE HITTING THE BALL STRAIGHT.

NO, BUT AGAIN, IT'S, IT'S, I KNOW THAT I ATTENDED THE WALK. I KNOW COUNCILMEMBER LARA AND I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO THE COLONEL, WHICH I GOT TO SAY, YOU KNOW, THE COLONEL AND THE STAFF HAVE BEEN VERY RESPONSIVE AS, YOU KNOW, EVEN THE CONVERSATION WE'VE HAD OVER THE COURSE OF THE MEETINGS. WE JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CONTRACTOR AND THE SUBCONTRACTORS ALSO GET THAT MESSAGE. BUT IT'S AN ONGOING, AGAIN, IT'S NOT THE IDEAL SITUATION FOR OUR RESIDENTS, BUT IT'S A SAFETY ISSUE. As we see what's happening around the world, it just becomes that much more important, flood control. It's done its job now. We want to be sure it continues to do the job. So thank you for that. And Council Member Lutz.

Yes, thank you, Mayor. Director Hernandez, can you give me a little bit more detail if you'd have the information on that fabric? that's going to be used for privacy and for noise reduction. Is it very similar to the fabric that's used in construction sites on chain link fences?

It is very similar. It's a little bit more dense to help capture dust as well. But it's not the primary method for controlling dust. It's more of a secondary support system. The primary method for controlling dust is going to be the water dampening. but it does help with noise transmission. And so I can't tell you the details on the fabric itself, but that's certainly something that I can get for you when we reconnect with the Army Corps. Great, thank you.

Thank you, Council Member. Okay.

Last item, I'm going to put Victor on the spot to announce the award. I sent you guys a memo, but just a quick reminder for the Office of Sustainability.

THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THE NEWS. A COUPLE WEEKS AGO WE WERE NOTIFIED THAT THE CITY OF PICO RIVERA RECEIVED TWO AWARDS FROM THE BEACON AWARD PROGRAM. THIS IS DERIVED FROM THE LEAGUE OF CALIFORNIA CITIES OR INSTITUTE? LEAGUE OF CALIFORNIA CITIES. AND WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO GO AFTER THIS AWARD FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, AND ESSENTIALLY WE WERE SUCCESSFUL FOR BOTH AWARDS THAT WE SUBMITTED. The first award relates to a platinum award for sustainability practices. And these are based on measurable outcomes, decisions and practices the city undertakes, including recycling, energy efficiency. And there's a long list, but, you know, we're very proud. We're very, you know, you know, proud and proud. and grateful for the support from the council. It starts from the top, the vision of the city manager and support he makes happen and from the various departments here that contribute to the success of sustainability and energy efficiency here in the city. The second award that we received was related to energy innovation and that's with the adoption and the the progress prime has made over the last several years including maintaining competitive rates using the the the revenues from these from from this program to further other areas of sustainability in the city including the early adoption and implementation of the cap which this year has received several awards. So it's just very exciting news. We will, there will be an opportunity later this month to attend the conference in Anaheim, California to receive that award. Thank you.

Thank you, director. I appreciate it. And congratulations again, the entire team, but congratulations, congratulations to the city of Pico Rivera for receiving that. So thank you for that. WITH THAT, CITY MANAGER CONCLUDES THE CITY MANAGER REPORT, SO IT LEADS US INTO THE GOOD OF THE ORDER, AB 1234 REPORTS, NEW BUSINESS AND OLD BUSINESS. I'LL START WITH MY LEFT, WITH COUNCILMAN RULEIRA.

YES, I DON'T THINK I HAVE ANYTHING TO REPORT IN REGARDS TO AB 1234, BUT I ALSO WANT TO HIGHLIGHT, WE DID HAVE THAT INFRASTRUCTURE AD HOC COMMITTEE MEETING, AND I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT WE ALSO WENT OVER A FEW ITEMS REGARDING PICO RIVERA 2035, We talked about the commuter rail station and the progress that's being made. We're at the point where funding needs to be secured to complete design to at least 30%. Staff is making really good progress. It's, you know, we're doing our part as council members to advocate for the project, to make sure that significant funding is set aside for the city of Pico Rivera. At the Metro board, then at the state side, I RECENTLY TOOK THE E-LINE FOR THE USC GAME, AND IT JUST REMINDS ME HOW EFFICIENT THAT IS. I PARKED ON ATLANTIC. I THINK I PAID LIKE $2 FOR PARKING, AND I PAID $1.25 FOR THE TRAIN. I TOOK IT THERE AT ATLANTIC, AND IT DROPPED ME OFF RIGHT IN FRONT OF EXPO PARK BETWEEN EXPO, WHICH IS A COLISEUM, AND USC. I WALKED IN. IT TOOK ABOUT 20 MINUTES TO GET THERE. I didn't have to hassle with traffic. I didn't pay for parking. I didn't have to park and then walk to the Coliseum a mile after the game, got back on. I felt safe. There were ambassadors there. There were plenty of other USC fans who had done the same thing. Highly recommend it for the football games. If I were to attend a Lakers game, I'd probably do the same thing because there's a stop a block away from Crypto Staples Arena. So I look forward to that line extending down to eventually to Montebello and then eventually once funding is set aside going through Whittier and just giving residents more opportunity to be able to use mass transit to be able to navigate to downtown to the rest of the city. So we talked about that. I want to talk about my attendance at the Concert of the Park. Very well done. ALWAYS PAM, YOUR STAFF, EVERYONE INVOLVED AT THE CITY. I WANT TO THANK THE, OH, I'M SORRY. HER NAME ESCAPES ME. LAUREN TALBOT. I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING TO USE THE PARKING LOT THERE FOR THE LIBRARY. ALSO, I KNOW FOR THE DAWNS FOOTBALL GAMES, GIVEN THE CONSTRUCTION, JUST EVERYONE'S JUST TRYING TO MAKE modifications so that we were able to provide for our residents and those who visit. Let's see, AYSO, that was an amazing, what, 950? 950. With 100 on the waiting list, right? Right, so that just, one of the comments I made when I heard that is that that just tells me as a council member, we need to make more space for these kids, right? And more coaches. And more coaches, right? Let's see. I do want to ask for two items, if I could just get a second to be able to just work with staff. I realize funding's tight, but I just need to know how much something costs to determine if there's willpower to continue it. I'd like to sit down with staff and do planning in regards to batting cages there at Rio Vista for the girls. There's potentially spots, but then that's going to have to do some preliminary sketches and just getting a price tag on how much that would cost. In addition to that, I think we need to talk about covers, either a canvas or some other type of cover for the bleachers at Smith Park. Every time I attend the AYSO opening, it's hot. And I remember what it's like to sit on those bleachers for Dawn's football games. And I just think, you know, WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT A CANVAS COVERING. A CANVAS COVERING. WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT SOME WAY WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT SOME WAY TO PROVIDE SOME SORT OF SHADE TO PROVIDE SOME SORT OF SHADE RELIEF FOR, YOU KNOW, RELIEF FOR, YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE WHO SHOW UP THERE. THE PEOPLE WHO SHOW UP THERE. NOT SAYING THAT WE'RE NOT SAYING THAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IT, BUT JUST, GOING TO DO IT, BUT JUST, LET'S DO A SKETCH, LET'S DO A SKETCH, LET'S DO AN ENGINEER, LET'S DO AN ENGINEER, LET'S DO A PRICE TAG, LET'S DO A PRICE TAG, AND THEN LET'S KIND OF AND THEN LET'S KIND OF GO FROM THERE. GO FROM THERE. SO IF I COULD, THANK YOU. SO PERMANENT, PERMANENT, YEAH. AND LET'S SEE IF THAT EVEN WORKS. LET'S JUST SEE IF THAT EVEN WORKS. LET'S JUST THROW SOME SPAGHETTI AT THE WALL, SEE IF WE HAVE THE REAL ESTATE FOR IT, AND THEN SEE WHAT THE COST WAS GOING TO BE, AND THEN SEE WHAT THE LOGISTICS ARE GOING TO BE, AND JUST ALL OF THAT. AND IF IT DOESN'T, IT DOESN'T. BUT LET'S KIND OF PUT A GOOD FOOT FORWARD.

SURE. JUST WANTED TO MENTION, ALL THIS INFORMATION IS GOOD. AS WE MOVE FORWARD FOR THE PROP FOUR FUNDS. WE ARE TRYING TO ASSEMBLE THE NEEDS OF OUR CURRENT FACILITIES TO PUT IN A GRANT TO TAKE CARE OF THINGS LIKE RIVERA PARK ALSO NEEDS BATTING CAGES AS WELL. SO I THINK HAVING ALL THIS INFORMATION IS GOOD AS WE GO OUT AND APPLY FOR SOME OF THESE GRANT FUNDS TO HELP US WITH OUR CURRENT FACILITIES. OKAY, GOOD. THAT'S RIGHT. THAT'S RIGHT.

OKAY. OTHERWISE, IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK. THAT MONTH SEEMED LIKE THREE MONTHS. IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK DOING THE BUSINESS. DOING THE BUSINESS. DOING THE BUSINESS. GOOD. GOOD. GOOD. GOOD. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK TO ATTEND OUR RANCHO HIGH SCHOOL, TO ATTEND OUR RANCHO HIGH SCHOOL, WELCOME BACK THERE. WELCOME BACK THERE. WELCOME BACK THERE. THE DONS AND DONAS HAD ANOTHER THE DONS AND DONAS HAD ANOTHER THE DONS AND DONAS HAD ANOTHER AMAZING OPENING DAY, AMAZING OPENING DAY, AMAZING OPENING DAY, AND PAUL CAMACHA WAS RECOGNIZED AND PAUL CAMACHA WAS RECOGNIZED AND PAUL CAMACHA WAS RECOGNIZED FOR HIS TENURE THERE. FOR HIS TENURE THERE. FOR HIS TENURE THERE. I ALSO HAD AN OPPORTUNITY I ALSO HAD AN OPPORTUNITY I ALSO HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND THE HISPANIC AMERICAN TO ATTEND THE HISPANIC AMERICAN CONCERTS IN THE PARK. ANOTHER AMAZING JOB. ANOTHER AMAZING JOB. IT WAS A RANCHO DONS REUNION. IT WAS A RANCHO DONS REUNION. WITH ALL THE HEADLINERS. WITH ALL THE HEADLINERS. GREAT EVENT. GREAT EVENT. I ATTENDED OUR SENIOR CITIZEN I ATTENDED OUR SENIOR CITIZEN DANCE EVENT TO PROVIDE DANCE EVENT TO PROVIDE SUPPORT THERE. SUPPORT THERE. ANOTHER SENIOR CITIZEN EVENT ANOTHER SENIOR CITIZEN EVENT FOR NATIONAL SENIOR CITIZEN FOR NATIONAL SENIOR CITIZEN DAY. DAY. ALONG WITH MAYOR PROTAM, WE WENT ALONG WITH MAYOR PROTAM, WE WENT TO ST. HILLARY'S. TO ST. HILLARY'S. THEY RECEIVED S AYSO, IT WAS A WARM DAY THERE. I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND BERNIE TECH ACADEMY TO WELCOME BACK SOME OF THEIR STUDENTS INTO THEIR NEW HOUSE. IF YOU LOOK AT HARRY POTTER, RED, BLUE, GREEN, ORANGE, PURPLE, YELLOW HOUSES. AND BERNIE IS MY ALMA MATER, SO I TRIED TO GO BY THERE. AND THEN LAST BUT NOT LEAST, GOLF COURSE WEDNESDAY AT 6 P.M., CORRECT? THREE MINUTES?

YOU GOT IT. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER GARCIA. COUNCILMEMBER LUTZ.

THANK YOU, MAYOR. I DON'T HAVE ANY ITEMS FOR AB 1234. I DO WANT TO LET THE PUBLIC KNOW THAT WE AS A CITY DID A FANTASTIC JOB WITH SUMMER STREET FEST, THE TWO Summer Street Fest, the first one, the mariachi, it was a big hit. The neighborhood and everybody enjoyed themselves. And the second Summer Street Fest, which were the cover bands and expose, you know, were fan favorites. And I think we did a record. If Director Ugar is here, I can't quite tell here from the image that I have here. But director, did we exceed 9,000 participants for Summer Street Fest number two?

No, that's a bit much. But yeah, it was quite a bit. I think we exceeded somewhere between 3,000 to 5,000. Yeah. It was quite good. And something that was even more remarkable was that we still had a huge crowd at 10 o'clock. typically it tapers off but it was still going and the beer garden ran out of beer twice so you know that was a good night yeah it was a great night we saw lots of people there and it did seem quite

Quite large. I did talk to some of the sheriff's deputies, and they did say that we had a number count above 3,000. So I was very happy to see that. I think the Summer Street Fest is becoming more and more popular, and the neighboring cities are starting to catch on and do the same. And I want to commend your team for doing a great job year after year. I think we're on, what, five or six years now. So thank you. Keep up the good work.

Thank you, Council Member. Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you. Regarding AB 1234, I want to report that I attended the California Contract Cities Fall Summit. Although it was very warm in Oceanside, we had a number of speakers, including the keynote speaker was Sheriff Robert Luna. And he had a focus, he mentioned a number of things, but had a focus on emergency preparedness. especially relating to our climate and El Nino, which Mayor will talk a little more about. But one question that resonated with me was he said, would you be able to survive one week without your cell phones? And how would you communicate? And do you have enough water for your family? Do you have everything that you need for one week without services? So that really struck me with fear because I don't have that. But coming up with a plan and talking to your families about what will you do in case of emergency? How will you communicate and get information? REALLY WAS IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY WITH THIS CRAZY RAIN AND THUNDER AND LIGHTNING AND EARTHQUAKE AS WELL THAT WE HAD. SO IT WAS REALLY GOOD FOR US TO GO AND INITIATE AND TALK ABOUT THAT. SECONDLY, I ATTENDED THE SASFA BOARD MEETING. I REPRESENT THE CITY OF PICO RIVERA FOR THE SOUTHEAST AREA. WE PROVIDE SENIOR SERVICES, FOOD PRIMARILY, AND I'M PROUD TO REPORT Pico Rivera, we have the largest amount of residents that are receiving both in-service, so they usually go to the senior center, receive food services, the congregate meals, as well as delivery, home delivery. We do not have a waiting list, whereas other cities that are part of this group, including the county, Whittier, city of Santa Fe Springs, and city of La Mirada, SO WE'RE PROUD TO SAY WE DON'T HAVE A WAIT LIST, ALTHOUGH IF YOU KNOW ANY SENIORS, YOU CAN GET FOOD DELIVERED TO THE HOUSE OR GO AND JOIN THE SENIOR CENTER, WHICH WE HAVE A VERY ACTIVE COMMUNITY THERE TO GET A NUTRITIOUS MEAL AND ALSO SOCIALIZE. SO I'M PROUD TO REPORT THAT. I DID ATTEND ANOTHER EVENT, A NUMBER OF EVENTS. I ATTENDED THE STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY OUR CONGRESSWOMAN LINDA SANCHEZ. I also attended the El Rancho back to school breakfast. Oops, sorry. And also the Pio Pico Woman's Club luncheon and the concert in the park with the mariachi group was wonderful, well attended. And I received a ton of compliments, although I can't say that I did anything, so compliments to the Parks and Rec staff. and AHUA as well was one of our sponsors. So thank you to all of our sponsors and all our staff that made that a great event. Also to St. Hilary, they had a blessing of their school and many renovations to the school site. So thank you so much. And I also want to say congratulations to Paul Camacho. He already left to practice, but we were able to recognize him at the Dawn's opening day. And my son played on the Dons and I always tease him, but he's been a coach longer than I've been alive, which is great. A great career. He's a great legacy. And he also has shared about his past. He is very active in his faith community and has years of sobriety. So he's A GREAT MENTOR, A ROLE MODEL FOR MANY PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY. SO CONGRATULATIONS TO PAUL AND ALL OF OUR PARK STAFF. SO THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, MAYOR, FOR YOUR TIME. COUNCIL MEMBER LUTZ, YOU HAVE ANOTHER COMMENT?

Yes, I did want to let the community know that tomorrow I will be attending the Gateway Council of Government's monthly meeting. And at the moment, I'm at the Gateway Council of Government's retreat, which is a three-day event. And that would conclude my comments and items for AB 1234, since that is occurring tomorrow. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilmember. IT HAS BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE MET, AND IT'S SO MUCH THAT HAS GONE ON. I'M JUST GOING TO DIDDLE A LOT OF THE COMMENTS THAT MY COLLEAGUES HAVE MENTIONED. I MEAN, FROM, YOU KNOW, GRAND OPENINGS TO OPENING DAYS TO SISTER CITY, WE HAVE OUR SISTER CITY COMMISSIONER, MR. CENTENO, HERE WITH US. AND JUST IN THE FESTIVITIES, I MEAN, EXPOSE, DANZA DISTINCTION, AND THE TAPIA SISTERS, IT WAS DEFINITELY A PICO DE VERA TALENT THAT NIGHT. all good stuff and all the things to be proud of. I too attended the fall, the contract cities fall summit, uh, had a really good conversation with chair Fluna as well as once other things with the mayor pro tem. And so, um, pretty much run through that. I do have, um, uh, some questions or comments in regards to, I did attend, um, A CALL TODAY, A ZOOM CALL PUT TOGETHER BY CALIFORNIA CONTRACT CITIES AND FACILITATED BY SHERIFF LUNA REGARDING THE CONTRACT CITIES EL NINO PREPAREDNESS AWARENESS AND WHAT TO DO. I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF CONVERSATION GOING ON RIGHT NOW AS IT RELATES TO EL NINO AND THIS, YOU KNOW, PHENOMENON OF THIS ATMOSPHERIC WEATHER THAT IS TAKING PLACE. I know you've seen the news about what's happening over on the coastline nearby us. And we had folks from the National Weather Service, the Office of Emergency Management from the county, as well as the fire department, everybody and public works from the county as well, giving updates as it relates to what to do, what to prepare. It's best to prepare and invest in preparedness than it is to, you know, DEAL WITH THE AFTERMATH OF WHAT CAN TAKE PLACE AS WE, YOU KNOW, WE TALK ABOUT THE WHITTER DAM, WHITTER NARROWS DAM PROJECT AND SO FORTH. SO QUESTION TO OUR CITY MANAGER AND PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR IS TO, I KNOW THAT WE DO A LOT OF EMERGENCY PREPARING THIS YEAR IN THE CITY. I KNOW THAT THE POTENTIAL OF A BIG RAIN IS, YOU KNOW, PREDICTABLE IN THE HIGH 90%, BUT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT IT'LL COME. AND NOT TO ALARM THE COMMUNITY, BUT JUST AS AN AWARENESS THAT WE ARE DOING WHAT WE CAN ON A REGULAR BASIS TO PREPARE FOR ANY POTENTIAL, IN OUR CASE, FLOODS AND OTHER, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD THE TORNADOES THAT HAVE COME THROUGH OUR CITY AS WELL. BUT IF YOU COULD JUST ELABORATE BRIEFLY ON THAT, CITY MANAGER.

THANK YOU, MAYOR. YEAH, WE ARE BATTLE TESTED WITH TORNADOES, LIGHTNING STRIKES, Yes, cows running through our streets. So yes, I've been through all those different types of events. And we do have our emergency operations team WE CURRENTLY COUNCIL REVISED THAT RECENTLY. I WOULD SAY THAT IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, WHETHER IT'S EARTHQUAKE OR SOME OF THE OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS THAT I JUST MENTIONED, WE'RE GOING TO TREAT THIS ONE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT. AND I THINK IN TALKING TO OUR DIRECTOR, CREATING A RAPID RESPONSE TEAM, THIS WILL FOCUS ON ACTIVATION, OUR EOC, AND ACTUALLY RESPONDING IN REAL TIME TO DIFFERENT ISSUES IN THE CITY BECAUSE MANY TIMES FLOODS OCCUR IN ONE PART OF THE CITY, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ABLE TO RESPOND QUICKLY. A LOT OF CHALLENGES THAT WE DEAL WITH WHEN IT COMES TO RAINS ARE GENERATORS. THEY GO DOWN, IT CAUSES FLOODING IN OUR UNDERPASSES, AND THEN THAT CREATES SOME CHALLENGES OUT THERE AS WELL. WE ARE ACTIVELY CLEANING OUR CATCH BASINS BECAUSE, AS YOU KNOW, OUR STREETS GET FLOODED WHEN THINGS GET TRAPPED IN THOSE PARTICULAR AREAS. So we have our internal preparedness that we're doing. Mandatory meetings are happening now. In addition to that, the external messaging that we're gonna implement pretty soon for our residents to make sure that they're prepared. You gave an example of a week. Those are some of the information that we're gonna have to help prepare residents in the event SOMETHING HAPPENS, A FLOOD. ACTIVELY TALKING TO THE ARMY CORPS, JUST GAVE THEM UPDATED INFORMATION ON WHO TO CONTACT IN CASE SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO RAISE AWARENESS IN OUR COMMUNITY. SO IT IS QUITE A ROBUST PROGRAM TO DEAL WITH THIS POTENTIAL ISSUE. I DON'T KNOW, NOE, IF YOU WANT TO ADD ANYTHING TO THAT?

NO, YOU MOSTLY COVERED IT. JUST TODAY WE HAD AN INCIDENT, YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T REALIZE IT, BUT THE UNDERPASS ON PARAMOUNT LOST POWER. EDISON HAD A POWER OUTAGE AND IT AFFECTED THAT PUMP STATION. SO NUMBER TWO LANE WAS CLOSED. WE SENT STAFF OUT THERE, WENT TO GO GET A PUMP, RENTED A PUMP, PUMPED OUT THE WATER TO GET THAT LANE BACK IN SERVICE. AND WE WERE WORKING ON A COUPLE OF CONTINGENCY PLANS BECAUSE WE'RE NOT SURE WHEN POWER IS GOING TO BE RESTORED. AND THEN DURING THAT TIME POWER GOT RESTORED. BUT OUR NORMAL ROUTINE IS ON A RAINY DAY OR A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, RAIN COMBS. WE DO HAVE STAFF DEDICATED TO GOING IN THE AREAS THAT WE KNOW THAT ARE FLOODING AREAS, BUT ALSO JUST DRIVING THE CITY TO MAKE SURE THAT SOMETHING HASN'T HAPPENED IN AN AREA THAT WE, YOU KNOW, AREN'T AWARE OF. AND YOU'D BE VERY SURPRISED WHAT ACTUALLY FITS IN A CATCH BASIN, WHAT GETS STUCK IN THERE. IT'S ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE WHAT GETS IN THERE. BUT WE'RE WORKING WITH THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE IN TERMS OF WE'RE EXPECTING TO JUST MAKE SURE WE HAVE EVERYTHING READY. WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT DIFFERENT THINGS WE CAN DO FROM ALSO OUR RESOURCE AND EQUIPMENT STANDPOINT AS WELL SO WE CAN BE READY.

THANK YOU FOR THAT. I APPRECIATE IT FOR THAT UPDATE. I WANT TO GIVE AN UPDATE AS TO OUR LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY. I KNOW THAT WE HAVE A LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM. WE WORK TOWARDS BEING ACTIVE ON THE STATE, FEDERAL, AND COUNTY LEVEL. I WANTED TO GIVE THESE UPDATES JUST TO SEE HOW WHAT WE'RE DOING OUTSIDE OF CITY COUNCIL, CITY HALL, BUT OBVIOUSLY LED BY A LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM. WE TALKED ABOUT THE ARMY CORE OF ENGINEERS. WE TALKED ABOUT THE WITTER NARROWS DAM PROJECT. I KNOW WE CONTINUE TO MITIGATE to work to mitigate as a council and as a city to try to make us whole again. I know Council Member Garcia and I just met with the Pico Boys Association Board of Directors earlier today to try to help them into this next phase of the future of Pico Boys, which I know the city council appears committed to do what they can to resolve those issues for them. But if you can allow me to just to read a few things that were active. I know Jesse Garcia, legislator, REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE CITY JOINS ME AND THERE'S CALLS. I HAVE LEGISLATIVE CALLS TWICE A MONTH WITH MEMBERS OF VARIOUS CITIES TO DISCUSS VARIOUS BILLS, PARTICULARLY SACRAMENTO. SO I'LL GO ON AND SAY THE CALIFORNIA LEGISLATOR HAS RECENTLY CONCLUDED ITS FIRST FLOOR SESSION AND BILLS THAT PASSED THE LEGISLATURE ARE NOW HEADED TO THE GOVERNOR FOR ACTION. THE CITY HAS BEEN CLOSELY MONITORING THIS PROCESS AND HAS SUBMITTED MORE THAN 40 LETTERS TO THE GOVERNOR ON PRIORITY LEGISLATION CONSISTENT WITH OUR ADOPTED LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM. We have requested the governor's signature on bills such as AB 1546 and SB 907, which increase penalties for repeat DUI and reckless driving offenders. AB 1588, which strengthens penalties and enforcement related to street takeovers. AB 1941, addressing organized metal theft. AB 2046, giving local government, local government's greater authority to establish speed limits and safety requirements for electric bicycles because this is something that we've all been impacted by in our city. And we continue to advocate and push for stronger legislation that allows us to enforce this at the city level. At the same time, we have requested vetoes of legislation that would undermine local authority, including SB 1272, which limits our ability to enforce certain building and municipal code violations. SB 1361, which significantly restricts local control and public input around transit-related land use. and AB 1751, which further preempts local oversight and limits public hearings for certain housing projects. I'm also pleased to report the city has been successful in securing $1 million in state funding pending final approval for much needed improvements to the baseball facilities at Pico Park. A special thank you to Senator Bob Archuleta, who has been a strong champion of Pico Rivera. We also made significant progress on the Pico Rivera Regional Rail Station, THE CITY HAS ESTABLISHED A STRONG PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS, WHICH WILL TAKE THE LEAD IN IMPLEMENTING THE PROJECT AND ADVANCING IT THROUGH DESIGN AND ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE, WITH METRO PROVIDING THE FUNDING NECESSARY TO COMPLETE THIS PHASE. THIS IS AN EXCITING DEVELOPMENT. IT'S NOT OFTEN THAT THE TRANSFORMATIVE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT MOVES FORWARD WITH THIS LEVEL OF SPEED, CONSENSUS, AND REGIONAL SUPPORT. WE LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING THIS MOMENTUM AND ULTIMATELY DELIVERING A MAJOR TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ENG We will continue to advocate for Pico de Vera's priorities, build strong partnerships at every level of government, and ensure that our city's voice remains influential in the decisions that impact our community. Thank you for indulging me on that. I'll try to read it as fast as I can. We're very active. We're not just doing, as a council, the work here on the local level. We're advocating on the state and federal and county levels to make sure that we're well represented, but also that we're getting the funding and support that we need for our city. So with that, we do have a couple items in closed session. So I asked our city attorney to lead us into closed session.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor, members of the City Council. It is now appropriate to proceed into closed session to discuss the two matters listed in the closed session portion of the agenda. Specifically, existing litigation brought under Government Code Section 549569, Subsection D1, and more specifically, City of Pico Rivera versus Aries Stock et al. and Fernando Islas versus City of Pico Rivera et al.

Thank you. Thank you, everyone, for being here. And so we'll be headed to closed session. Thank you.

So I'm like, yeah.