City Council - Regular Meeting

Good

evening, everyone. Welcome to the Madera City Council meeting. We have tried to transfer over to a new system. It is in still progress. So we are working kind of, like, through the bugs and aren't full capacity this evening. So please come back to our next meeting to see it, the big grand opening show of our new system. At this time, I would like to call this meeting to order on Wednesday, 05/06/2026 at 06:01. City Clerk Gonzales.

The Madera City Council meetings are open to the public. This meeting will also be available for public viewing and participation through Zoom. Members of the public may also observe the livestream meeting on the city's website at www.madera.gov/live. Members of the public may comment on agenda items at the meeting or remotely through an electronic meeting via phone by dialing (669) 900-6833. Enter ID 86920188563Pound. Press 9 to raise your hand to comment and 6 to unmute yourself to speak. Comments will also be accepted via email at citycouncilpubliccomment@Madera.gov or by regular mail at 205 West Ford Street, Madera, California 93637. We'd like to remind those in attendance that Wordley is available for translation purposes.

Thank you for that. At this time, city clerk Consol will do roll call. But before that, I would like to make an announcement. Council member Mihiel will be participating remotely by government code 5495383 due to a contagious illness. So at this time, she will be participating via Zoom audio and video, and camera should be at on at all times so that we are able to see her. With that, I ask for roll call.

And if I may also add, mayor, all votes will

be conducted by roll call.

Thank you for that.

Mayor Gallegos? Here. Mayor Pro Tem Zaparia? Here. Councilmember Rodriguez? Here. Councilmember Motes? Here. Councilmember Evans? Here. Councilmember Mejia? Here. And councilmember Villegas? Here.

Thank you for that roll call. At this time, I will be calling pastor Alvarado junior to do the invocation. And at this time, we will also have our mayor pro Tim Zacharya doing the pledge of allegiance. And if everybody would remain standing for, the loss of our former mayor, Santos Garcia, and supervisor Max Rodriguez for a moment of silence, please.

Lord, we just come before your presence, father God. Lord, we just thank you, Lord, for receiving. Ask, Father God, for wisdom, Lord. Ask for your spirit to be in this place, Lord God. We invite you here into this place. We ask, Lord God, that as you view with the city council members, Father God, give guidance and direction. I pray for the citizens of Madera, Father God, this evening comes tonight to business, Father God. You'd be in the midst of the business, Father God. As you just continue to be with us and bless us, lord, bless all those who are here tonight, god. And, we are also grieving the loss of two great men, father god, that were here to serve the city well, father god. We thank you, lord, for the time they put here, god, and the impact that they made in the city. And thank you, Lord, and that's continue to be with their families as well, Lord. Be with these families. Continue to be with us and bless us for your honor, for your glory. In Jesus' name, Lord said.

Amen. Back.

You show me

this pledge. Ready? Salute.

Please remain standing for a moment of silence for Santos Garcia and Max Rodriguez. Thank you so much for standing and honoring respecting our loss to our wonderful leaders that have served us well in this community and in the city of Madera. Thank you, everyone. So

Excuse me, mayor. We're gonna need to make a very very brief call to council member, you don't mind if we take a few minutes.

K. We're gonna take a five minute recess trying to get councilwoman Mihiel online.

Call two minutes.

Two minutes. Hold tight. Thank you. We're back. I'll turn this over to my city attorney.

Thank you, mayor. As you know, we're having some challenges with our audio visual. We can hear council member Mahia, but we are unable to see her under the government code she's required to be seen. She has graciously agreed to step out of this meeting so we can continue with the meeting. As such, she will not be participating in meeting. Thank you.

Thank you for that announcement. We thank her for letting us go on with business. And, if you have an agenda, you will see proclamations that are listed because of the audiovisual that's happening tonight. We're going to postpone those until our meeting in two weeks, so please come back for all of that. At this time, I'll turn it over to my city clerk for public comment.

We have one written public comment, mayor.

But before we do that,

could we actually approve the agenda?

Oh, I'm sorry. I'm all excited. Okay. Approval of the agenda. I bring it to my colleagues for any questions or concerns.

Madam mayor, I would like to see if we can move item f council member reports up before public comments, and I wanted to do that in order to honor the passing of mayor Santos Garcia this way. I can do that report now versus doing that at the end.

Okay. Thank you for that. City clerk Gonzales?

Also, we would also like to request, as you mentioned, moving presentations to continue those to the May 20 meeting. Also, e one under administrative reports and e two, if we could also, continue those to the May 20 meeting. That is the request of staff.

Thank you. I have those

and two.

E one and two. If I could get a motion and a second from my colleagues.

Motion to approve is written.

Permanent with with the exception of e one, e two, and also the proclamations and moving the section s up to behind the public comment.

Is there still a second? Second.

K. I have a first and a second. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Councilwoman Evans, motion was to do f after public comment, so I'll bring it to my city clerk

For public comment? Mhmm. The first fifteen minutes of the meeting are reserved for members of the public to address the council on items which are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the council. Speaker shall be limited to three minutes. Speakers will be asked but are not required to identify themselves and state of their comments. If the subject is an item on the agenda, the mayor has the option of speak of asking the speaker to hold the comment until that item is called. Comments on items listed as public hearing on the agenda should be held until the hearing is opened. The council is prohibited by law from taking any action on matters discussed that are not on the agenda, and no adverse conclusions should be drawn if the council does not respond to the public comment at the at this time.

Thank you for that. I will open public comment at this time and come up to the podium if you would like to present.

My name is Anthony Forrest here. Live in Madera. Good evening, council members, city manager. First, wanna give my condolences for the loss of mayor Garcia and supervisor Rodriguez. As you may be keenly aware, I'm on the June ballot for the position of auditor controller for Madera County.

I'm here tonight requesting your support from my candidacy. This past March, I completed my sixth year here at the at the city of Madeira as a financial services manager. I've proven myself to be a hardworking, real responsible, ethical, and reliable team member during my employment with the city. I'm running for honor and controller to bring honesty, integrity, accountability, and transparency to Madera County to provide my knowledge, skills, and abilities, and to take on the additional challenge of running a large scale governmental finance department. In addition to the governmental experience gained as a financial services manager with the city, I have almost forty years experience as a certified public accountant in health care, real estate development, agriculture, tribal gaming, winery accounting, residential commercial construction, and of course, governmental accounting.

This diverse background will serve me well during my tenure as the honorary controller, if I'm elected. During my almost forty years of experience, I've supervised staffs as large as 30 and as small as one. I have made presentations to executives, council members, and boards of directors. My early years of experience included preparing tax returns for individuals, partnerships, corporations, and nonprofit organizations, as well as performed audits for companies in multiple industries. I'm asking for your support and the support of your friends, family, acquaintances, and constituents. Thank you for your time and consideration. And remember, vote Anthony Forrest here for internal for auditor controller Madera County. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Good afternoon. My name is Monica Ramirez. I'm the executive director with First five Madina County and Family Resource Center as well. And I only bring you a message from some of your youngest residents in the city, and we've been seeing a lot of work happening. We our Family Resource Center sits in the corner of Yosemite And Lake.

So we are privy to all the action that's going on, and we are very happy and excited about the the changes. The kids are really thrilled to see all the big equipment. And not so much the parents that have to serve the kids a lot of them before. But we bring you a big thank you card because I know that it takes a lot of work for all of this to happen. And even though the work continues on, we just wanna extend that and our gratitude for that hard work. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Thank you. Thank you.

Hello, everybody. Members I want to extend this space to have a memory to both leaders here in Madera, Max Rodriguez and Santos Garcia. I would like to have a moment of silence to celebrate the life, aportation was representing to the Madera County in the District 4 in the District 4. He advocate for the union integration and the good neighbor on the community at the park sale during and community events and for be the pioneer in the change. He was and he will be on a member active We extend the condolences for the family, friends, to the invitation to continue to the inclusion, the union, and we all together, we contribute to him to do a better community in Madera.

Max. Thank you so much. I'm so sorry my English is like

a little bit, but I

talk to my my heart. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Are there any other comments in the chamber? I see none. City clerk consults. Anyone online or on Zoom?

We have none there. We did receive a public comment that a copy has been distributed to the city council, and there is a copy of the podium for those wishing to obtain one.

Perfect. Thank you so much for that. With that, I close public comment, and we move on to

Excuse me. We do have someone on plan.

Oh, okay. He put his his hand in.

Open public comment. Back up.

Caller

with the last name, if you wish to speak. Please press 6 to unmute yourself. Caller by the last name

Could you hear me?

Yes. Is this for public comment?

Are

you Could you hear me?

Are you on the line for public comment?

We can hear you on the Zoom call. I don't think they can hear you in the chambers. One moment, please.

I typed a question actually over to you guys. Just asking a few questions on the public comments. I emailed it to the city clerk info.

Okay. One moment. Let me text Let me text and tail.

Yeah. As long as you can read it, I'm fine with that.

Okay.

We can we can hear you. We can hear her, and I can read it.

We can hear her.

Okay. Here's the public comment from Gabriela Cachadorian. She says, hi. We are not able to comment online. I'm reaching out regarding the maintenance in the area behind Parkwood Elementary. Where can we locate a calendar when maintenance is completed in this area, new Parkwood Valencia? My next question is if there are resources available for residents to cover some of the medical expenses. I only ask because some concerns have been brought up that residents have been discouraged to use the hospital because they are being told there is no fee waivers that Madera offers. And that is the end of the public comment from miss Cacciatore. Okay.

Thank you, city clerk Gonzales. With that, I close public comment at this time and move on to council members reports, announcements, future agenda items. City clerk Gonzales.

One.

This portion of the meeting is is reserved for the mayor and council members to make brief reports on boards, committees, and other public agencies and at public events to request updates to initiate future agenda items and to take action on matters initiated under this section of the agenda. Under this section, the council may take action only on items specifically agendized and which meet other requirements for action.

Thank you for that. I'm gonna go to council member Rodriguez who wanted this to be moved up. I'll go with you first.

Yes. Thank you, mayor, Gallegos. I appreciate that. You know, obviously, everybody is aware of our former mayor, but I just wanna take this moment just to extend my deepest condolences on the passing of our former mayor Garcia, who left us this past Saturday, who devoted his entire life to service a long time postal worker and also very active in the United Farm Workers organization. And very and as, you know, the the Monica had commented, they're very devoted and care deeply for the people of Madera.

You know, in in getting to know Santos when I first got elected, it was it was unusual seeing this this man out here just always coming to the meetings in 02/1617, And he would always praise me for comments that I would make, again, just making comments or asking questions. So he took on that baton himself. He took on the city council in 2018 on and then went on to pursue the mayorship, of which he cared very deeply for the community, especially for those voices that were unheard. His purpose was always to uplift those who felt overlooked and unheard, whether delivering mail, organizing workers, or serving to varied diets. He carried the same commitment of fairness, representation, and human dignity.

To his wife and family and all who loved him, we offer a heartfelt condolences and the loss of his true loss to the entire community. May we honor his memory by continuing to work he championed building in Madera, where every resident is seen, heard, and valued. Aside from that, I also wanted to a heartfelt tribute to our esteemed former county supervisor, Max Rodriguez. I think it was said earlier by Monica, supervisor Rodriguez, against her community for over sixteen years. This was a loss that took place within thirty days, and really our deepest condolences to them. Now moving on, I just wanted to share that. I think that was appropriate to do it while we were here. Most of the time when we

give these

reports, everybody's gone. And, typically, it's we're talking to ourselves. But I wanted to make sure that I if any family members, friends of Santos, they know that we also have a a very we'll have

a vote here in the community.

I had an opportunity to attend the League of Cities, a leader's summit that I was accompanied by. Our council members, Maria, Evans, Villegas, Zachariah, and our esteemed state manager, Rodriguez, throughout the sessions that we attended, you know, water, government policy, and other important sessions. But one thing that did stand out for me, this was the last session that I I wanted to bring to the city, see if it's something they may consider as AI has advanced so much that we can we could potentially add a chat box to our city website. I know this was a redeveloped website. I think a chat box is now very appropriate.

It's being utilized in many of the especially workspaces that I have. So if it's something that we can consider in the future, this is something that I'd like to bring back up if the council would agree to bring this back up in a as a future suggested agenda item. Last but not least, I did have an opportunity to attend the San Joaquin Regional Policy Council Retreat that was held in Merced. This retreat was again eight counties coming together, trying to see what's in the best interest, what nexus, or what common interest we have, which is all transportation, air quality, and, again, housing. So with that, there were very a lot of important topics that we talked about, but I always champion the needs of our community, especially here in Madera.

And with that, madam mayor, that's all I had. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your report. Council member Villes.

Thank you, mayor. I just wanted to say that, yeah, I in 2020, when I start planning for city council, The first one of the first persons that I meet, that was on Sofia, and I learned a lot from him. He have a lot of good things in mind for the city to to improve and and all those kind of things. So I learned a lot from that from him and from customer Rodriguez at the beginning. And I just wanna say it's it's a it's a one of the very bad laws of of somebody that that was caring and had in mind that we serve to the people and make things better around the city.

Also, also attend the 03:00 with my colleagues. And then so I just wanted to they they say that we will be remembered by many people in.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Councilwoman Evans.

Okay.

Good evening, everyone. Blessings

to you all.

For me, it was hard to come today. Santos and I, we talked all the time. We fought. We didn't talk to each other. We cried. We complained to each other. But he was more than just a colleague to me. He was born like a brother. His family, Martha, if I got sick, they were at the door. They were at the door bringing me. Oh my gosh.

Let me tell you.

One night, my son was here, and he needed hypodermic needles because he's a diabetic. And I spoke with Santos, and he came over about 10:00 at night to bring a box of needles to my son so that he could take his insulin. Everyone else has spoken about how he did things in the city,

and, yes, he did. I mean, it

was I might hurt the needle. He was one of the first to speak to me about running for office, but that was just a small part. He made sure that there was food for children. There was food for families. He made sure that every time the door opened, he was at some type of event.

It was at one point in time, said that when she goes for the photobomb. Well, one thing in mind, no one can ever say that he wasn't there. Wasn't our mayor. He made sure that his voice was heard from Sacramento all the way down to Los Angeles. And anyone in here that's a Dodger fan, oh my goodness. Heaven forbid if you rooting for someone else. He would just out of it. And I don't know how many of you knew that he was color blind. So Martha would pack his clothes because she wanted to make sure that his things matched. And one day I asked him, I said, is blue your favorite color?

And he said, is that what I have on? I said, yeah. And he said, oh, I was like, okay. So there's some of the the the personal things that I just want to remember. I've been in contact with his family, and they want everyone to know just how much they so appreciate the love that this city has shown to some people.

They rode around town, and they saw the flags that were in Ash Gap. And I have not talked to Martha, but the daughters, the sons, they're everyone is devastated because he called me, and he was on the phone. And he was like, I can't stay on the phone long. And I said, why? What's the matter? And he says, I need a cold break. I said, you want me to cold break? And he said, yes. I do. He says, but I gotta get this work done.

Martha left left a list for me. Relationship we had. It it didn't matter. It didn't matter if we we didn't talk for weeks because we were mad at each other, and then you can call. Okay. I'm sorry. I'm I'm can I talk now? You know? So but that was the loving side, the the the man's side, the the father's side, the brother's side of him. And I just I I will I will truly miss him.

Yesterday, we went over to the supervisor's office, and they had a moment of silence also for Max Rodriguez yesterday. And today, I went to the celebration of life for Max, and it was very, very moving, very touching. I wanted to make sure that we were represented, you know, the the city. Because we need to be able to have partnerships, and we need to come together. Life is so short.

And you just never know from one day to the next when you may take your your last breath. You know? I'm not going to say that I'm just overly overly religious, But one thing that I do believe and I do believe is that we all have a number. And one day, god will call you in. And I just pray that each and every one of you who have defenses will forgive each other.

Because in order to make it into the kingdom of heaven, you have to forgive. Anybody let some stuff go. You know? And and today, I I listened to supervisor, and he talked about how he impacts were of different parties. But on the local level, it it shouldn't matter because we're supposed to all be here for each other.

And that's that's the bond that we need to have as a community, be it county or city. We're all one, and we need to come together as one. I too went to New York City, and it was so nice. There was five of us that were there. And camaraderie was just awesome to just be able to sit with my colleagues, and we finally at the ground.

You're talking about too much other stuff other than of the city. But it was just nice because there's many times that I go and especially with the the housing, you know, it's it's only the two of us. And it was nice to be able to walk into a room and see people that look just like me because, generally, the only one in this room is myself

and Joey.

And it's it's it's odd. It's very odd. I want you to know that we need to come together. I I went on last Monday to Sacramento to the legislative day. And I was there, and we went from building to Building 1 to different representative's offices.

The only one that made time for us, and no disrespect, was assemblymomma Sweeney. And she is here. She comes here, and she encyclists with just, like, thickest speech as well as a senior. And we used to have that type of partnership amongst all of us. We're coming here with smile. But there was a song, and I'm aging myself, years ago. It was by the temptations. It's called smiling faces sometimes. Pretend to be your friend. We need to get away from that.

We need to get away from that. We need to pray. We have this in God who trusts. But how many of us really take the time to

just

really trust trust

trust

each each other, other? Trust that we love that we're supposed to have as colleagues. We're supposed to have as a city. I thank you guys for

Thank you for your comment. Mayor Pro Tem Zechariah.

Don't pull that one. But Watch out. But well said. I mean, the experience that we've had with Santos as a just a form of with us, we as a service club member, the things he did for the community, that's always where he had his heart, and it is gonna be a big loss. You know, that same day was also a big victory from Derek for the MatTown Robotics.

Got to watch that and worrisome as we always do every year, but it's a great thing for the community. I I would hope to have them to come for a block proclamation at some point. So I don't know what we put on the agenda. I know next meeting will probably be full, but the the ones that we're moving from this agenda, but, you know, happen here. It'd be nice to kinda recognize him as for all the work he's done through

the year. So thank you. Can

you let everybody know what happened at the end?

That's for the end to end? Well

well Yes. For the fourth.

Fourth time, two times in a row. And what's what's always key to understand is, again, to remind people, this is not nationals.

This is

this is the world scale.

So they were going internationally, China, Mexico, Israel, all the big big names you would imagine. And and Little Omidera is is the center of the world when it comes to robotics. So just remember that. So

That's right. Thank you. Perfect. Yeah. Good for that. Thank you for your time. That's a number of my

steps. And And I'll be I'll be brief, and I'm sure it won't be as open as some of my colleagues. But I do also wanna express my condolences to the the

families of brother Rodriguez and

the Garcia families. They're both leaders in the community. They're both leaders in the community, and I'm sure it's gonna leave a void in a lot of people's hearts. And so my thoughts and prayers go out to their friends, family, and loved ones. And I guess I need to get out more often because that is the end of my report.

Thank you for your report. And we were talking about how they did so much for this community. This weekend was a packed house. We had Relay For Life that raised $57,000 just for Madera. We had Doors of Hope that opened up their doors for this community to come see what they're all about. Gong Boxing Gym opened in the city of Madera this weekend, and Madera High School Coyotes did a volleyball camp for our young students, k through six. We also had the Madera County Office of Education put on the Art Fest. Great event. And what was kind of exciting, had our law enforcement set united for an 80 mile ride, came through our city for fallen law law enforcement officers. That was very exciting.

I got to see them. What was exciting for me is I got to be at a ribbon cutting with the governor and his first partner wife that we are opening up our national parks for, free of service. If students or adults wanna get a free pass from our Madera County Library, they can do that. And their vision is in thirty years to acquire 30,000 more square footage of parkland. So they're calling it 30 by 30.

So going to see the governor and championing parks, I'm a parks and rec gal way back. I was very excited to be there with so many other elected officials. It was held at Sycamore Island in Madera County. So in our backyard, we had the governor here a few weeks ago, and that was very exciting for all of us. One more thing I'd like to remind everyone in the community is the Madeira, prayers breakfast is tomorrow morning, and hope to see everyone there for that. With that, at this time, I will close the reports from the council and move on to the next item.

Section a, public hearings, item a one, consideration of ordinance tax amendment 2,026 dash zero one for the amendment of chapter three, planning and zoning of the city municipal code regarding a commercial color palette and establishment of exterior paint color standards for construction of new buildings and repainting existing buildings with commercial zone districts.

Thank you. And that will be presented by our planning Braddock. Thank you for being here tonight.

Good evening. Mayor Gallo is coming from council David, manager. This item is ordinance tax amendment twenty twenty six dash zero one, and it's for exterior paint color and exterior paint color in commercial zone districts. For products here tonight, there was the council's concern that they expressed over repainting commercial structures of colors that were just or disruptive or distracting in our established commercial zone districts. And on 02/18/2026, council received a report from staff regarding color palettes for new development and repainting of existing structures and commercial zones.

Per the municipal code, the the council has the authority to amend zoning regulations by initiating a text amendment by resolution, sending that into motion that starting with the planning commission, first holding public hearing, reviewing draft ordinance, making a recommendation of the council, which is coming for you tonight, and then the council taking action on that draft ordinance. Again, getting to tonight, the council's concern was maintaining the scenic beauty of our community, primarily commercial districts. And you have that authority through zoning regulations in government code section six five eight five zero. That includes regulation of paint color, and that is the that's before you tonight. Council's direction was to establish standards for commercial zone districts for approved colors, both for new development and for repainting of existing structures in commercial districts with an emphasis of prohibiting nuisance or bright colors in those districts.

04/21/2026, the planning commission adopted resolution that's included in your staff report. Resolution twenty forty nine It's their review and recommendation of the draft ordinance, and that's before you tonight for their recommended approval. The ordinance itself applies to in commercial districts, new buildings, additions to existing buildings, reconstruction of existing buildings, either where it's caused by natural disaster, fire, tornado,

because we

have warnings a few weeks ago, repainting of existing buildings. Where it doesn't apply is if for some reason there's code enforcement, code enforcement action, or vandalism or graffiti, something needs to be repainted. The requirement is that they match their existing building as close as possible, so this doesn't necessarily apply to that. The color selection selection within commercial District for your direction was that it'd be nonreflective, subtle, and be based on controller, very tone colors. The ordinance also specifies a certain percentage, 10%, can have accent or trim colors that are different.

And it requires your ordinance requires approval by the planning department. So we developed a draft application that needs to be submitted both for new new buildings and repainting of structures. There's no fee for that application. It's reviewed and approved by staff. And for some reason, staff feels they can't approve it, that decision is appealable to your planning commission.

The planning commission's decision is appealable to the city authority on that decision. The ordinance before you tonight commands the city code and sets a process to establish the color palette. So the ordinance doesn't set the color palette. It says that the color palette is set by resolution, but that resolution is approved by the city council. So that allows you more flexible process should you ever confirm the the acceptable color palette. In your staff report,

the

draft includes a healthy list of acceptable colors and trim colors, and that can be amended. And this CEQA this ordinance amendment process is exempt from CEQA under the common sense exemption. The next step should you approve tonight's first reading is that we schedule a second reading, which goes on your consent agenda. That would be 05/20/2026. At that same meeting, we would, agendize a hearing for resolution to set the color palette for you. Staff's recommendation first is a minor edit to the draft ordinance that's included

in your staff report.

The full text of that section is listed in this slide, and you can see where we strike out and replace. It's the third report line from the bottom striking out sign the new permit and inserting the application. That's the first part of our recommendation. The second part is that you then waive the full reading and introduce by title only this ordinance of the city council of the city of Madera determining the project is exempt from CEQA section one five zero six one b three, the CEQA of the California Biomassology guidelines, and then in chapter three of title 10, just defining the zoning of the city and municipal code regarding exterior colors and commercial zone districts. That concludes our report, and I will try

to answer any questions for Thank now.

You for that. I'll bring it back to my colleagues for any questions or concerns.

Councilwoman Evans? I'm trying to find out what you like. Can you take that up, the the color palettes, please? Yes.

Yes. You might have

to look up here. She's working on it.

Okay.

I have a recommendation. This this is personal, but, I mean, I'm looking at the colors that we have here. And because of our city, have a recommendation to go no more than looking from 27 to 42 in in reference to the city and and the colors that it could possibly be. That's just my recommendation. 27 to 42. But I thank you so much for your report. That was that was what I wanted to ask. So

tonight's action is just the ordinance and its process. Mhmm. But we will take your comment back with us and include that presentation for the resolution to adopt. There's a it's a a long list, but if you have the flexibility to direct us, we should expect to use adopted.

K. Thank you for your comment. Mayor Pro Tem Zakaria.

And then this question that I know I've I've asked before, but, like, for instance, when we have, like, downtown district that may have a certain kind of feel to it that they wanna have, that we still have the how hard will it be

in the future to add or change

the palette as we go? Is it simple single meeting? Is it something that has to go back to a public? Or

It's a single meeting we would schedule. Well, it would be two meetings because you would need to direct us to get it onto the agenda. We could do that and bring modifications to consider.

Okay. And and as far as, like, once we approve, is planning happening part of that as well, or it's just we're gonna do the end. Right?

I mean,

we're gonna dictate colors, send it back to planning. They're gonna be the

ones to

kinda enforce in some sense.

We'll modify the application that includes the colors that are that are permissible, and that would be the new standard where when we apply it, if it's in there, staff can approve it with the key movie. If it's not in there and it wants to be added or you're suggesting something to be removed, we would need to do that.

And there's no color restrictions, for for instance, for companies that have specific colors to their their personality, their that that would be in the trim for for instance. Right? If I, again, have a purple business, but I can still put that on the trim, and that's extended from the palette color, or the trim's gonna be restricted

to the

pallet. The draft brilliance says 10% of the trim, and the draft color palette that's included in your staff report, if it's included, they can they can propose 10% include that color.

And I I'm just using an example. Like, McDonald's is yellow and red, so they would have to vary 10% is all they're gonna be having on that whole building or the as far as their coverage.

And if if

that's staff's interpretation through that process, then that could be appealed to the planning commission, which can be appealed

to you. Perfect. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. I see no other comments. I just would like to thank staff for bringing us back with this information. It was very important to us, so we thank them for their time. With that, I open up a public hearing. Anybody in the chamber have any comments? I see none. Anyone online or on Zoom?

Gotcha. Is me. There's no

one on Zoom.

Thank you. With that, I will close the public hearing and bring it back to my city attorney to waive the full reading.

Thank you. If you're inclined to approve this, the motion would be waive full reading introduced by title nine Ronnas, the city council city of Missouri attorney. The project is exempt pursuant to section, 15 o six one b three of the California Environmental Quality Act guidelines and amending chapter three of title 10 planning in the zoning of the city municipal code CMC regarding exterior colors and commercial some districts as amended by staff. Thank you.

Thank you. Well done. I will bring it back to my colleagues for a motion and a second.

Motion to approve as written. Second.

I have a motion and a second. All those in favor

Is as written or as stated?

As stated.

Please forgive me. Yes. Thank you. Motion and a second. All those in favor, aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you for that. Great report. Moving on to, the next

item, city clerk Gonzales. His consent calendar matters listed under the consent calendar are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion and one vote. There will be no separate discussion of these items. If discussion is desired, a member of public or a member of the council may request an item be removed from the consent calendar, and it will be considered separately.

Thank you. So I'll bring it to my colleagues for any concerns or questions. I see none. I open it up for public comment. Anyone in the chamber? Anyone online or on Zoom, city clerk? We have none, mayor. Thank you. I close public comment and bring it back to my colleagues for a motion and a second.

Move to approve consent.

I'll second.

Thank you for that. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor, aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Next item.

Item d one, landscape and lighting assessment district zones of benefit. Engineers report an intention to levy and collect annual assessment for citywide landscape and lighting lighting assessment district zones for benefit for fiscal year 02/2627.

Thank you for that. That will be presented by our admin analyst a. Thank you for being here tonight.

Thank you, mayor and council. Nicole Stanton, trade analyst, and the care department. I'm here tonight present the 2627 landscape maintenance district and care report. We believe that everyone on the council has been to this at least once, but

for anybody following along with home, we will

give a little bit of background. Beginning in 1991, these projects were approved. They were annexed into the landscape maintenance district or L and E program. They are inactive zones of benefits within the citywide landscape of land use program. Are are not subject to this assessment. Assessments are collected as part of property taxes to maintain common landscape areas. Rates were set when the zones were established as was the maximum amount that may be charged. To exceed or raise the maximum maximum amount, the majority of parcels in each zone must vote in the affirmative. This is the current map of all

so you cannot

see it necessarily on the map as the person we are in the VC one right here, but they all all over the city. The history of the insurance reports prepared on an annual basis and incorporates past expenses revenues, and projected expenses and revenues. It makes recommendations on adjustments to assessments based on data provided by the finance department as planned in some of these track system, which we need us, and estimates expenses from parks and finance departments. Changes since the last report, the city could not allow the assessments.

Okay. Track and track.

Jason's last report, city cannot let the assessments on negative fund balances based on operational funds over the current fiscal year, which is fiscal year twenty twenty five twenty six. Operational losses from 2024 and prior years have been removed. This equates to $52,708 that must be covered by the general fund. For the current fiscal year 2526, we're projecting to have an operational loss of $41,922. For the next fiscal year, fiscal year 2627, we're projecting to have an operational loss of $63,382.

For fiscal year 2627, we will continue to adjust assessments on per zone basis when permitted by individuals and covenants. What this means in practices, there'll be no cost or adjustments or. We will increase up to, but no higher, the base threshold amount in agreements that has been approved.

We will

continue to consider avenues for zone consolidation. This is still a bit of a a a a a consolidation on assessments for many property owners to increase in the short term, which makes success. Changes going forward as spend balances in certain zones continue to drop, changes will be needed to minimize losses. Our direction will be needed as to what those changes may be. Certain options have been discussed in the past, and here's just a quick overview of some of them.

Reduction in service is kind of the default first action that we could do, which would be a reduction in service means reducing either the frequency of visits to a given zone, reduction in the amount of time spent on-site, or some combination of the two. The pros of this would be that it would reduce the amount of man hours in affected zones, which would, in theory, lower the amount of labor required. A con would be that the landscaping would become and potentially lose a steady appeal. We believe that residents are generally not the favorite. An option would be removal of landscaping.

Removal of landscaping involves removing either shrubs, flowers, or trees. Removal of trees would generally not be considered as part of this route. The pros are that it has to reduce the time spent in infected zones, thereby reducing the labor hours required. The require the cons are, again, that requires upfront labor cost was to have to remove and dispose other roof landscaping. And then potential future cost to roof plant should zone balances increase in the future, and, again, we believe the residents are generally not in favor of this approach either.

The I think this is the last recommendation or possibility rather would be alternative landscaping. This option involves replacing these existing plants with less labor intensive alternatives, such as natural ground cover or installation of features that require little to no maintenance, such as xeriscaping. The prosodent has the potential to reduce labor costs while also potentially maintaining aesthetic appeal, but the downside would be that depending on the alternative landscape chosen, material costs could be prohibitively restrictive and could potentially require a significant amount of labor to convert the physical sentence. The recommendation for tonight would be to approve the insurance report with amendments as may be requested, authorize staff to file a ten day public notice for public hearing, and schedule a public meeting for council session of June 2. And with that, happy to answer any questions.

Thank you for that. I'll bring it back to my colleagues for any questions or comments. I see none. I will open it up for public comment. Anyone in the chamber? Anyone online or on Zoom? City Clerk Gonzales. No attendees have requested to speak, mayor. Thank you. I will close public comment at this time and bring it back to my colleagues for adoption. I need a motion and a second.

Move to adopt. Second.

Thank you. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor, aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you, admin analyst day, for your report. Moving on to the next item.

Item d two, Raymond Road Street improvements, rebid city project r 37, CMAC five one five seven zero nine four, shoulder paving, and RMRA Street rehab. Alright. Presented by

our senior engineer, Ben Corr. Great to see you this evening.

Sorry

about that. Mayor of New York City Council, my name is. I'm a senior civil engineer with. CML57094. Shoulder shaving and a heart and heart rehab.

Context, the the congestion mitigation, air quality act, funding is specific only for the shoulder baby portion of this project on Raymond Road. And the regional surface transportation program, RSTP, exchange funding is specific only to existing pavement rehab. This is just Raymond Road. It extends from from Cleveland Avenue all the way up to the Northeast city boundary. The northern and southern limits of shoulder pavement pavement rehab are the same.

Therefore, we combine two projects. There's expected cost savings by getting both projects together under one contract. Two good schedules were incorporated for each funding source for tracking purposes, but the award is based on some of those schedules. This project is a rebid of project that was advertised earlier this year due to potentially ambiguous language and causing bid documents concerns raised by contractors after bail brief. And city council document resolution 26 dash 38 on 03/28/2026, projecting that they have been authorized and issued public to be advertised.

Project limits are Cleveland Avenue, and to the settlements to the Northeast. The work in general consists of initial cleaning, rubbing for new shoulder paving and approximately eight foot of shoulder paving on the riverside of a new road. We have includes drying and replace type two microsurfacing, surface and, also, to remove and replace all pavement pockets. Project bid is on 03/25/2026, city released the revised budget for public payments to his plan of this last quarter and listed by the two projects in the Derby Tribune newspaper on March 25 and again on 03/28/2026. 04/21/2026, five bids were received.

The bids were checked for accuracy against bidding requirements, permitting licenses, and its surety. The lowest bid was Juarez Brothers General and General and was well below the cost. Morris Brothers General Engineering Incorporated submitted the lowest bid of $443,269, and then all of their documentation requirements is selected as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. Recommended allow recommending an allowance of 10% of contract amount for contingency resulting from unforeseen conditions. Project is funded with congested mitigation as air quality, CMAT, local transportation principal, and the regional surface transportation transfer.

Recommendation from staff is about the resolution approving the contract award for the Raymond Grove Street Improvements, GBA, city project 37 r 37, Cmax CLL 50 157094, shoulder caving, and rMRI pavement rehab, and $443,020.61 dollars, plus contingencies, two more as drugs, general engineering incorporated, and adopted secret class one existing facilities categorical exemption for the project. That concludes my presentation. Is there any questions?

Thank you, senior engineer Baron Court. I can tell you the residents are going to be happy. I drive that road quite often, so woo hoo. Thank you for championing that project through. I bring it back to my colleagues for any questions or concerns. I see none. I open it up for public comment. I see none in the chamber, online or on Zoom. City Clerk Gonzales. No attendees have requested to speak, mayor. Thank you. I close public comment at this time and bring it back to my colleagues for a motion and a second.

Motion to approve is written. Second.

I have a motion and a second tie. Mayor Pro Tem, Zachariah second. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye. Aye.

Those opposed, motion passes unanimously. Thank you for that presentation.

Thank you very

much. Moving on to the next item.

Item u one and e two are continuing to the May 20 meeting. Moving on to e three direction regarding animal control services agreement with the county of Madeira and consideration of establishing a city county ad hoc committee.

Thank you for that. Presented by our city manager, Rodriguez.

Thank you very much, mayor, members of the council. For the record, our message for the city manager, you have to be forwarded this evening to establish an ad hoc committee after the request of McGarry County. For a background, the city and county entered into an agreement in 2018. Next slide, please,

sir. Mhmm. You can tap through here. Oh, never mind. I'm sorry. Please tell this to me.

And under that agreement, the city provides our own animal control officer. And, currently, we have two officers, and we provide the equipment and all the necessary items for those officers. However, the the animal control shelter itself is controlled and managed by the county. So currently, if the city picks up an animal, we we take it down to to the animal control shelter. If a community member has an animal, stray animal, they in theory would take it to the shelter. There have been some challenges with that agreement in that the county at times is at capacity or has indicated or has notified the city that they that they would not have the ability to take some of the animals. When that happens, unfortunately, the animal will stay in the neighborhood typically

where it's found.

As part of the agreement, while it's not directly related to the animal control service agreement, there's a second component to that.

And that second part is that

the city provides law enforcement services to Courthouse Park. I do wanna identify or highlight that there are a couple of other agreements that some community members have talked about. The city has this agreement. So, again, this is the 2018 agreement. We commonly refer to it as the agreement. There's there's a second agreement that is not part of this, and that is the tax revenue agreement. What that agreement does is it it outlines how property taxes are split between the city and

the

county. It it identifies sales tax. The city pays 4.5% of our sales tax goes to the county. So, again, 4.5% of the city sales tax goes to the county. And then it also outlines that the city provides law enforcement services to Parkwood. Parkwood is not in the city. It's approximately 2,200 people, about 550 homes. And then, also, there is language that the city provides some funding for the library, which is located in downtown. And at the same time, if if the water level in the Parkway ever malfunctions, there's an inner tie. So there's a a large gate valve.

I believe it's an eight inch gate valve on Avenue 13 or Pecan Avenue. That gate valve is turned on until the residents probably have potable water. That's a separate agreement. So that agreement is not part of this agreement. And there's a third agreement, and that third agreement pertains to fire services.

When that agreement spells out, it's not it's nearest nearest equipment is gonna respond to an emergency. So if the fire is in the county and our agents closer, we will respond. And likewise, if there's a part of the city and the county agents closer, they will assist us. Those two agreements are not part of this agreement, and the only agreement that the county is requesting that we revisit would be brand new control itself. So for context, going back to 2021, the city was paying roughly a $157,000.

Normally, settling in the current fiscal year, we have paid about a 181,000. The reason it it increases every year is there is a 5% cost of living adjustment built into that agreement. At the time, in 2018, the the price or the cost for one person, 4th Floor as part, was estimated at $60,000 per year. That estimate does not have a code, so there are no adjustments. So that estimate scores the outstanding. For that one, there's no cash exchange. That's just services. For for the payment for shelters, there is payment. We pay then. So the city pays

the county.

So, again, so the county has expressed a desire to renew their shift, which they have the the autonomy to make that request, and it's it's more specifically outlined in section in section seven of the agreement. So the county has also indicated that an agreement is not reached between the city and the county by the end of this fiscal year, which is the June, that they intend to to to initiate a clause in the agreement where they will be providing the city a hundred and eighty days to fully terminate the agreement. And then that termination would be for animal services, and I suspect also for law enforcement to court house parts because that's housed within the agreement. With that said, there are a lot of challenges with operating an animal shelter as we've collectively talked about. And so a couple of things.

We our our animal vet bills, which the city pays for, has increased over the past couple

of years, which is shown on

the overhead. So two fiscal years with about $700 a year. We're we're currently at about 25,000 starting a couple of months ago. That is paid for out of the general fund. The other thing to know is that dog intake has been declining. It's not that we have less dogs in the community, rather the dental shelter is declining to accept the animals.

So, you

know, I I I I can't tell you that the dog population has increased or decreased in

our team area, and that's

a difficult number to to to quantify. However, with the animal shelter has indicated that they are not accepting some of the city dogs. And that and that is outlined. This is data that we obtained correctly from the animal shelter. And so, again, this simply shows that the dog intakes in the city is blue. Basically, we've been decreasing, and then we also have cats. I should also note that that there is a local measure being championed by some community members that they intend on placing a measure on the November ballot, and that would be for quarters in sales tax of point two five

on

top of the the sales tax that we have right now, which is 8.25. So it would go to be point five o. And that that course in sales tax would would go to a group, and my understanding would do the language. It it would then go to the county sheriff to establish animal services countywide. Under that measure, a a new shelter would be constructed, and all animal services would be provided, including animal control officers.

So that packet was placed on your diocese this evening, and, again, that was at the request of one of the authors of the measure. She also indicated that Thursday and the fifth this Friday, we had a paragraph between five and 10PM to bring some of information. I'm not council member to sit as an ad hoc, which would be registered directly for the supervisor members. At at the request of city council, you would have staff there. I'm I'm not positive the county will have staff there.

But if that were the case, I would recommend that the chief of police and myself sit on our committee. Or if there's anyone from council that council would like in terms of city staff, we would make ourselves available. So with that, that concludes my presentation. Thank you.

Thank you for that presentation. I'm just gonna make a quick comment, from the staff report stating that, the county is looking to close the city residents from having access if we don't come to agreement. We have five supervisors, and four of them, represent city residents. We are county residents as city residents, as county supervisors, and and council electeds. They have two elected officials.

To say that is disheartening because I'm a county resident. And you're telling me just because I live in this the city zoning area, you're gonna say I can't bring my animals. When I pay county taxes, I have a concern about that. The second thing was, the part two of the ad hoc. City manager, tell me if I'm mistaken. I thought some of that, for Parkwood patrolling Parkwood was for the animal control.

That's that's how it's gonna be in the tax rate agreement Yes.

Which is a separate agreement

It is. Which is not subject to this agreement.

Okay. But it is that money still pulled aside for the animal shelter, is it not? We're patrolling Parkwood. That money is being levied so that we have access to the animal shelter. Is it not in the tax sharing agreement?

I I'm not too familiar. I've gone back, and

I've done any agreements. I'm not

too sure how the papers originated. However, how they're prepared, how they're drafted Mhmm. I would state that they're drafted. Someone's silent and that they're very distinct from from one another. Okay. Now some of the negotiations overlap, and that overlap is not reflected within the agreement, I can't state that with confidence. I simply wasn't there.

So with that, I would like to be part of that ad hoc committee myself. If any other council member is interested on being that, please speak forward. Or

Yeah. Before I I that, mayor, I did have a question regarding our cost of living increase. Looks like that 5% is not sufficient according to what they're claiming, right, that this cost of keeping the animal shelter has exceeded. At least for this city, the city's portion were not contributing sufficient. I mean, for I think I saw the letter that came across as 40% of the animals at that shelter are coming from our city. Do you agree with that statement, or is there something to to hold us accountable to that to to state that we have about 40% of the animals held at the animal shelter?

I I wouldn't have those figures, and it would be difficult for me to speculate. And the reason I say that is there are many animals from speaking with our chief that that we don't take them because our officers will make a call, and they'll indicate that that man will, you know, the shelter's been accepted. So I I I can't stay in the conference and normally our our our house there and whether they're visiting, if they're in the city or they're in the county or if we're simply not taking. So we I I I wouldn't have that data, but I think as part of this discussion with the county, we can flush out some of those details.

Yeah. And, also, just to comment on the I I think you provided something from one of the founders of the proposed tax measure. Is this in perpetuity, or is this something that would happen for, like, a certain time frame, ten years, twenty years? I didn't see anything on there.

My understanding is it's in perpetuity. K. And there's a couple of council members that kind of are nodding.

Okay. Yeah.

I did speak with her at Lane on Friday evening, and that was my understanding.

Now, you know, like any other tax measure that takes place, whether it's transportation, what have you, there's always some representation from the public agency that's also obviously the city or county and any other city that's part of this thing. So I didn't see that on there as well. And, again, this is not part of our item here, but this was presented in conjunction to this item here. I I just I'm not ready to review this yet. I think we have something before us with the ad hoc.

I saw them. I sat on their last tax sharing agreement that was there, and I certainly would agree with our mayor is that we we should do this carefully. I mean, I I I think we do pay property taxes. We do pay other sales tax measures that are collected by the county. I'd like to I'd like to see numbers that represent the claim as to why we're not paying our fair share.

And if that's the case, then let's see it. I'd I'd like to see what that looks like before we connect to an EM. So if if you're looking for another person, I'd like to sit in as well. I think, you know, I I I'm not saying I have a relationship with the county, but at least I've been part of these ad hocs. And I'd like to really question how we come about these numbers.

Thank you for that. I'd also like to nominate mayor Pro Tem Zach ariah because we have two veterans, and we have someone who's new. Think needs to really see the process and and learn from it because we're not gonna be here forever. So, mayor pro tem Zachariah, if you will accept that nomination.

If if

that's unavailable, I was gonna leave it to you guys. I trust in your hands. But if you want a third, I'm more than willing. Yeah. I think it I I actually knew that it's it's very appalling to be put in a in a rock and a hard place because either we we acknowledge their demand for what's probably gonna be more money or they shut us down.

And then understanding that, to your point reading this, we're gonna hand five people, nonelected, up to $6,000,000 every year for perpetuity to not just build, but essentially build their own private shelter. So it it's I think it's for the you know, good for the taxpayers to attend that meeting and ask them why it's in perpetuity that they're gonna be taking between 5 and $6,000,000. And then we're not included on any to say of how that is spent. So just understand that it's not it's not just that they're collecting money. It's that these five people are gonna decide how it's built, how it's spent, and essentially force us to use their services because the county shuts us off, and we have no no other choice.

So I would encourage, you know, the community to go out and ask those kind of questions because when I've done so, that that individual didn't seem to like those kind questions. But I do have concerns with the a lot of that, the amount and the perpetuity part. So K.

And with that, I'll motion to

Yeah. Have question. I just

have one one question, and I agree with the with the

or the candidates for that hour. But I don't know if I if I'm getting ahead of myself, but I know this is hey. Talk to the county, say what you do, but if we are not able to reach an agreement with them, our options are to get started our own shelter. Is that something that can be I mean, I'm not saying that's what we're gonna do, but as we're in negotiation negotiation at the same time, some time, tenancy have a plan to plan for this agreement to not go forward?

I think it would be advisable to win multiple parallel paths in case we cannot come to an agreement and and and explore options. I'm not too sure if there's any good options, but but I think, obviously, the goal is is that we improve our level of service. I think collectively, we admire that that there are voting animals in the community. I I'm not too sure if any of us are happy about that. And I do think we're going to our constituents to to, quite frankly, do a better job of how we tend to to to straighten animals.

K. Thank you for that comment. Council member Rodriguez.

Yes. Thank you, mayor Gallegos. Again, I would also ask our legal counsel to review the invocation of section seven and how that affects and puts puts the city at peril when you have no access to the animal shelter. So I'm not sure if, in fact again, for payers of service, I understand that there's an agreement before us, but, again, this county provides multiple services to the city residents through property taxes and other tax interviews that we have. So I would ask 30 year old council to review that and make sure that all ends, especially with the city, are also we're not overlooking these these small details that could potentially put us in some type of litigation,

and that's the line. So

Great comment. City attorney got that? Great. No other comments. I will open it up for public comment at this time. Anybody in the chamber? Anyone online or on Zoom?

Have no attendees requesting to speak.

Thank you. I close public comment at this time, and I will make the motion for the committee, for e three to be mayor Gallegos, council member Rodriguez, mayor president Zachariah.

Second that.

I have a motion and a second. All those in favor, aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you for that report, city manager Rodriguez. Moving into closed session, I will turn this over to my city attorney. Thank

you, mayor. We have one night up for closed session this evening. It is called for chief. We're cop's legislator. Consent to government code section fifty four ninety five seven point

Thank you for that. I open it up for public comment. Anyone in the chamber? I see none. Online or on Zoom?

No attendees have requested to speak, mayor.

Thank you. I closed public comment, and we will be moving on into closed session. Thank you for joining us this evening. We apologize for the inconvenience and all our our mishaps, but we're we'll get it next time. Thank you so much.

That's old school soundboard right there.

Sorry? Okay. That's like a old school soundboard. Board.

Yeah. Welcome back, everyone. We're coming out of closed session. I'll turn this over to our city attorney. Thank you, mayor.

There's no reportable action taken in closed session.

Alright. I adjourn this meeting as of 07:36. Six, and we will see you Wednesday, May in the same location. Have a good evening, everyone. Thank you. Mother's Day.