City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Yes, okay.

That gavel was actually to close the closed session on which I will now report. We had council member Redmond join us at 435. Council member Kluwer joined us at 439. We discussed the item on the agenda and there's no reportable action at this time. Now I'm gonna hit this again to start the regular council meeting. For those of you watching at home, apologies for the slightly late start. We were finishing up a closed session, which I just reported on. All rise.

to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God.

Here.

Councilmember Clerk? Here. Councilmember Stackflack? Here. Councilmember Redmond? Here. Mayor Glotman?

Here. All right, do we have any special presentations or announcements? I don't think I saw any on there. Okay, moving on to item four, public comment. So for those of you that haven't been here before, that don't know how this works, any member of the public, we got a lot of you here tonight, you will have three minutes to speak on any item not on the agenda. If you would like to speak on something on the agenda, there's a public comment period for each agenda item. But just come on up to the microphone right there. Make sure to speak into the microphone, particularly for the folks at home. Say your name and roughly where you live.

And for any first-time commenters, everyone will have three minutes to speak, and I will be keeping track of your time for you. I will let you know when you have 30 seconds remaining and when your time is up.

Hello. My name is Kathleen Dugan. I live at 1619 Everett Memorial Highway. I've been wanting to express these views for a few years, and the meeting we had a couple of weeks ago about the landing made it more relevant. My concern is specifically regarding excessive speed and dangerous driving on Everett Memorial Highway between Ski Village Drive and Gateway Trailhead. I understand this is not the only road where excessive speed is a problem. I know that this segment is technically county and I also understand that the city has a sphere of influence. Currently, it is being monitored by no one, to my knowledge. This stretch is a residential area and has a very high traffic volume as it goes up to Mount Shasta. The speed limit is 35 miles an hour. There is one sign just past Ski Village Drive and one just before Gateway coming into town. Speeds upwards of 40 to 50 miles an hour are not uncommon, as well as tailgating, and illegal passing on the left as we approach our driveway. It is incredibly dangerous. We've had two serious crashes in the last two years, one just two weeks ago. In that incident, the vehicle crossed the center line and could have hit cyclists. It is true that the physical changes that need to be made to reduce speed must go through the county, and I am working on that. My question to the Chief of Police, and to the city of Mount Shasta is does the sphere of influence apply here? How can we combine forces to monitor this situation and to enforce the speed limit? Is there any way the city of Mount Shasta can monitor this stretch? There are three new builds happening on this road, which is three more driveways. There is no shoulder, nor are there any bike lanes. We are not included in the new transportation plan. No agency seems to accept responsibility to monitor. I've recently been told that I need to call CHP to report, which is great, but it's often after the fact. I have never seen city police, sheriff, or CHP monitoring this segment. More development means more citizens and more tourists, more people who want to go to the mountain, more traffic with no infrastructure to support it. We need to work together to make Mount Shasta safe for everyone. What are you willing to do about this? Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Just for everyone knows, the public comment period, we don't really do like a back and forth. It'll come back to council and staff to then answer questions. So if folks have further public comment, now would be the time. I wasn't ignoring you.

Rosalyn McCoy, Mount Shasta. So on last meeting agenda, it was not really clear that we were going to award the lawyer firm the contract. And we really need to be clear with our agenda packets. I'm not saying that this lawyer firm is wrong or right, but there's a process that we're supposed to go through, and there's like a long history of this city not going through the process, and it gives the appearance that When you come to city council, these decisions are already made. It isn't an open discussion to see if you all, we all, agree with this project or not. And so... I really would encourage a change in this kind of behavior. And talking off mic is a Brown Act violation. This is supposed to be an open meeting where we all can hear each other and the discussions. And that having a discussion among city council members and that we're not included gives the appearance that there's things going on. And after Crystal Geiser and all of this backroom deals were very apparent, I looked at the emails and city council members were directly told, do not tell the public until we had our ribbon cutting ceremony. And so this kind of thing is like, well, what's going on? And then the community is hypervigilant, and that we have to do public record requests. And public record requests have a timeline of 10 days. And it's not supposed to send, like me, sending in how much money is being spent 30 seconds advertisement and more than 10 days pass and the old lawyer were like we don't understand what you're talking about that is not the process the city is supposed to work with the community and fulfill that public record request as much as possible and then go from there and not just oh Well, it happened 11 days ago, and we shouldn't have to be pushed to take it to a legal issue. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, my name's Anastasia Sprout. I live in Mount Shasta, hello. I have a few things I wanted to mention. I'll start with the harder ones and get easier. I sent an email to everyone regarding an investigation about staff with Todd Ujas and just, I'm curious if there is an independent investigation that is planned regarding what happened, staff issues. If so, or if not, why not? as much as you can say. Also, have there been any lawsuits filed against the city? I know that we're being asked to support a 1.5% tax raise, and I certainly want to support the infrastructure, safety, and protection of this city, but I do feel concerned just with what's going on. I wanted to also say that we are going into week three of a business planning workshop that we're doing. So we have mostly Mount Shasta entrepreneurs who are attending. We have 17 people from three other states also. So it's a hybrid meeting. And it's tremendously exciting just to see people planning their business. We're going into business purpose next week. And it's been... really rewarding and just supporting local people who have lots of dreams I think the mountain gives people a lot of visions and dreams I know it does for me but how to get grounded and actually see that come through financially that's kind of the challenge so that's what we're really moving into now and if anyone wants to take that workshop it's closed now but Ohana Connect will have more information about that in the future the last thing is that For my personal experience living on Mount Shasta, the water is really sacred to me. And I'm still kind of new here, but I did decide instead of doing kind of an anti, I was trying to do a pro. I don't really like conflict if I can help it. So I did make just an easy event called Water is Life, Water is Love. And it's this coming Saturday at Headwaters, Sacramento, so right down here from 11 to 1. It's a no data center pop-up celebration. And I have an organization called Shasta Truth, Justice, and Action Network, which is just getting started. But anyway, I made this. It's like, wait, which side up is it? I guess it could go either way. You know, it's in the interpretation. But I'm not going to be in the contest. Okay, thank you. But we are having a contest Saturday for artistic signs. So if you want to come and bring an artistic sign for what represents water, love, life, no data center, anything to you, please join us at Headwaters from 11 to 1. We'll have a $100 prize for the winner. It's just going to be a plazometer. So it's not super fancy. I'm not...

professional artist but I just want to reward people for trying and getting out there so thank you thank you very much lovely painting okay if that is there any more people for public comment sure please Oh, well, first time for everything, right? Step right up.

I moved up to this area in 1975 and then went from down south.

Sorry, could you state your name just for our records here?

Oh, I told you. Good. Okay, walk me through this. My name's Melissa Woods. I live on Woodland Park Drive, and I came here in 75 and worked at Jerry's. When Jerry's was here, that's how long ago I was here. I want to be real positive about this because I love Mount Shasta. I worked hard as an educator, retired and moved back here, then came and worked at Butteville for a few years after COVID, and now I'm retired. So my vision for Mount Shasta is to, let's get it back to where like when we had Windsors and we had the little, the Hallmark clock shop and there were little tiny stores and things that were here and they were a little robust. Because when I drive around on the weekends or wherever and I see these people who are here visiting, and locals, and they're just dying to buy something. They're walking around, they're strolling, they're looking for something to buy. They really are. And so I'm all about local businesses and entrepreneurs, but I also want to keep it real. As we watch all the FedEx and the Amazon and all the people ripping through our neighborhoods, we have to come to some sense of reality that the world has changed. So I would like to see, ready, I was going to fantasy. I would like to see instead of smoke shops and pot shops and all this stuff and the rock shops and all this that we're really abundant in in Mount Shasta, which yes, there is a purpose for that, fine. But why can't we get something like Jungle Yogurt, an ice cream place, some little small businesses that will be good for us? Because I'm used to going to Sausalito, down towards the Bay Area, where you go into these little specialized shops. And I think we could do that. I don't spend a whole lot of time downtown, but I was really highly disappointed when they drove. And then I'm just driving down the road. I'm like, are you so serious? Now we've got another smoke shop in town. And I have a problem with that because as an educator that taught about the DARE program, you talk to kids about the dangers of alcohol and drugs, and then vaping is so bad, and yet here, what did the thing we put in? Another smoke shop. We can go to Weed. We can go to Wairika. We can go a lot of places to find those things. I think Mount Shasta can just do better. So they're there. Let's stay with what's there, but let's put an end to it. Let's see what we can do to bring in something that's maybe a little different. 30 seconds. Good. Okay, great. If we could get something, so what if we get something that's a little bit of a franchise? It doesn't have to be like we're opening the pathway to every Panda Express and everything else. Maybe we could get Jungle Yogurt or... Baskin Robbins, get something so that when people are walking around, it's giving them a reason to come into town and go to the nice, cute little ramshaws like Janet Forrest used to have when she had her store there. Okay, so I'm trying to have a positive vision, all right? Okay.

Thank you very much.

I'll jump in here real quick, Correa, Mount Shasta. Just wanna give an open invitation again to the community. We are having our next Ohana Connect Mixer this Thursday at 5 to 7 p.m. This month, our member Monica is actually here this evening. She's hosting, she does not have a storefront location, so she is hosting at Craft House. And so that's an option for people too. If you don't have your own location, then we can always do it someplace else in the community. Just connecting the business owners, We are doing the workshop, too, so we're just trying to do as much as we can to support and build relationships with each other, make sure everybody knows about what our offerings are so that when you run across somebody who needs some help with something, you know exactly who to send them to because you know exactly what they do and you know that they're a good person because we need more of that these days. So just want to send the open invitation out to everybody, and you can find information on myohanaconnect.com. Okay.

Thank you very much.

Hello. My name is Debbie Lasco. I live at 622 Chestnut Street. I have a very small business of about, oh, eight weeks. And I'd like to grow, but... When did they start doing quarterly business license? I'm having a really hard time with this. As I still don't have the money and here it's the end of the month, I'd like to get a permit up to have a signage. I can't seem to come up with that money. So right now, I'm not eating, I'm not driving, I am working for the city of Mount Shasta, which I like very much. I don't love it. I come from Arcata, California, where we do not have franchises. We do need businesses in the area, but I think you should help the local people of 20 years. make a living and expand and open another business, possibly helping others open businesses and shop local. The only place I shop is Amazon. Sorry, don't have anywhere to go. I don't go to Reading. I don't even go to Wairika. We need more restaurants of small businesses. so we can have the taste of Mount Shasta.

Thank you. All right. Last call for public comment on this. Oh, no, we got one. No, no, come on up, please. Nope, open session.

Hi, my name is Shima Moore, and I've lived here eight years. And I noticed that there was a parking bench down past the hospital on Pine Street. And then it was used for machinery and stuff, and so it was taken out. It was a bus stop. That was taken out. The parking bench was taken out. And every time I walk by there, I think, why is there no bench here? There's so many elderly people who live there, and there's really no place for them to just stop along the way. And I'm just wondering what it would take to get a bench there. And also, I see the bus going around, but I don't see any signs for like bus stop. or any kind of shelter if it's raining or snowing in the winter or whatever. So those are just some concerns I've had. And since I'm here, I thought I'd share them.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Krista Zanotto.

I just wanted to address something with an event coming up that I'm helping with the Best of Mount Shasta and permits through the city. I'm having people tell me they're having a hard time getting permits for daily permits, people who are coming from different areas. And so I just wanted to address that. If there's like an umbrella, we can just, or how... what we can do to get past this, why we're having a problem getting the permits for the businesses, for people coming from out of town, from out of the area. Thank you.

Hello, everyone. I'm Lele Hope. I'm new, trying to move here from Tucson, Arizona. I've been here about two months now. I think, like all the people who's talking, I think we need pro-small businesses. Personally, I feel like there's a lot of, like the resource center, if we could get it open, or at least the phone line open more, and then people, newcomers can get some or maybe a community center or something to help new people transition. And I like the more alternative housing, especially Alfea and Aurora is promoting. I'm new here when my daughter tried to establish here, so I think give more option to, you know, that would be helpful either. I think I'm here more like for the community, obviously, especially small businesses and for women or single mother, that would be attractive. And I heard about the organic for the Kaiser Center. I think it's a fabulous idea in terms of hydro, and with the branding, I like that to see the city voting on that. Hopefully that would be, you know, not utilize the water, but, you know, the source water here. That would be very good to make it locally utilized. That's all. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Hope. A few meetings ago, town hall meeting, you were having some discussion on finding ways of helping revenue come into the town and all that stuff, and I met with your old city manager. I wasn't, so, okay, cool. I just wanna, I have a proposal that I shared with him and all that stuff, so. She's got you. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you. Perfect. Thank you very much.

Hi, my name is Scott Ward. I'm a resident of Mount Shasta and just came to show support for the tiny homes item that I see is on the agenda tonight.

It is, so I would ask that you save your public comment for that agenda item, but duly noted and thank you for coming. But still, thank you for coming.

Hello, my name is John LaFontaine. I'm a weed resident. I missed your city council meeting where you spoke about the landing and the topic of Native Americans came up. I'm approaching the council tonight to consider an initiative that might really bring that to life. that there might be an intertribal consortium or a center where the community has an opportunity to really discover the heart of the Native American tribes of this area. And there are, what, there's six or seven that have found a sense of resilience in this area. I don't see much of an established movement in that area and I was just, I'm just approaching the city council and if you are interested in developing an initiative or something that supports Native American tribes within not just this area but possibly a consortium between Weed, Shasta and Dunsmuir to really bring something to life I think it would benefit not only the tourists that come to the area, but also the community here. Thank you.

Thank you.

Can I assume the rest of you are here to speak about renewing our contract with Wilson Construction? All right. In that case, if there is no public comment or public comment for things not on the agenda, we'll now move on to item five, council and staff comments. And thank you, everybody, for all of your public comment. Really nice to see such a lively bunch and a full house tonight. Let's keep that going. Just to address a couple of things here and then I'll let others take a turn as well. I recognize that it is unsatisfying, but I'm going to reiterate that we cannot comment on personnel matters. And then, as a number of people mentioned, we have a need for more small businesses. I wholeheartedly agree with that. I would like to see all kinds of different small businesses. I think there's a glaring lack in any number of areas. And I would, for folks that are interested in doing something like that, I would put in a plug for the folks over at Jedi. They are really great, and I know a number of people who have started a business with their help, and they are a non-profit, they offer free consultation for things, as well as there's a business seminar going on right now, so yeah.

Oh yeah, and Great Northern as well.

So there are resources, reach out to all of them. Lots of businesses. All right, anybody else over here? Over here? Oh, I got one question for Ken. The other day I met Mike, the gentleman who is repairing the clock downtown. Yes. Did he get that done? I forgot to look at it when I was going by. Do you know where we're at with that? He said he was close.

Yes. Well, you got the latest update more than I have. But he is close. He keeps emailing and apologizing because, gee, his regular job's getting in the way. Tell him to get rid of that. The guy's, he's phenomenal. And I'm saying no pressure. you're on your own schedule, so.

Awesome, thank you. All right, and... Gee, if you look like you wanna say something, let's hear it. Either way. That's all I got.

Okay, just a couple updates. Council Mayor may not be aware on Yesterday we had an individual who, in a road rage, decided to ram another vehicle in the middle of the boulevard. The officer was right there. She took off from the scene. A pursuit came, high speeds down the boulevard. He attempted to get her stopped down at McLeod and the boulevard. She evaded that, took up towards Upton Road. He was able to finally get up and put his vehicle between her and other people and was able to bring it to an end without any injuries, but we did sustain significant damage to a patrol vehicle, so we're down one patrol car. She was booked into the Siskiyou County Jail on numerous felony charges. And then today we had a little fire you may or may not have heard of behind the... Forest Service building that was started from a transient. We were able to locate them. That person was taken into custody and booked into Susquehanna Jail for felony negligent causing a fire. It was just under a tenth of an acre back there, and we were able to get on it pretty quickly. And if you'd like, I'd like to address the Everett Memorial. So just to address that. Couple of issues. We don't know if there's a street survey done on that roadway, which is required on anything under 55 for us to run radar. Whereas Everett Memorial from Shasta Avenue South, we know that the Street Survey is current, so we can run radar there, and we are running a lot of radar down on the lower half. Your best bet, far short of annexing all that area into the city, is to speak with the CHP commander at the Mount Shasta office down on West Jesse across, you go over there, and speak with that commander and see what he can do about getting officers to do extra patrols up there. I believe they have the roadway and the jurisdiction is the Sheriff's Department, so you can reach out to the Sheriff's Department as well. Again, it gets out of the city. I don't have the officers to be running up Everett Memorial unless we're requested. There does become a little bit of a liability issue as well. I'd be happy. I'd love to go up there and help you because, yes, I've seen it myself. And we've stopped people. But that's the best answer I can give to you. I know it's probably not what you wanted. But you've got a good CHP commander that's from the area, that's lived here. He knows it. So if you bring it up with him, you probably see a little bit of a change at least. in the near term on enforcement and traffic enforcement up there.

Yeah, let's get back to that.

Okay, it's been a busy couple of weeks. The only meaningful update I have is for the landing. The consultants for the landing are knee deep in addressing all of the proposed uses that the community's brought up in the first town hall meeting. Because there's so much to go over, the published August 11th date, for the second town hall meeting is going to be postponed to Tuesday, September 1st. So tomorrow morning, because that's just been inked, tomorrow morning all of the information on our website will be updated to reflect the fact that the second town hall meeting will be September 1st, and then there will be a third town hall meeting after that, so that's not even the last opportunity to provide input for the landing. But that is moving forward. I think that's the only update I have for right now. Thank you.

And on that note, I did forget to mention that, but that last town hall, for those of you that were here, it was a lot of you, was great. I mean, I think we had even more people than are here tonight and a ton of great ideas. So let's make sure we get double the amount of people. Oh, please. Is that too many people, Chief?

If anybody hasn't been to the little ice cream shop next to Yak's, it's worth going down there and checking out. Not a lot of people. I forget about it sometimes. But go down there. It is a fabulous little ice cream shop. Or you run over to the pizza factory. They got ice cream there. We do got ice cream back, so go check it out.

That's not to say we couldn't have more ice cream. I'm just saying. All right. unless there are additional comments from anybody? No? Okay. Ken, did you have anything? No, you're good? All right, cool. All right, we will now move on to item six. Did you have something?

No, everything I want to talk about is either a future agenda item or being worked on.

We'll move on to committee updates. We've got the Downtown Enhancement Advisory Committee, the Library Tax Advisory Committee, the Beautification Committee, and the Active Transportation Committee.

I don't have any committee updates.

Okay. Well, before we move on from this, I'll just mention we do have one vacancy on the Planning Commission, two vacancies on the Beautification Committee, although hopefully after tonight only one, and then one vacancy on the Downtown Enhancement Advisory Committee. So if you are interested in... There you go.

One quick amendment to that is there are now two openings on the DEAC because we just received one more resignation, I'm sorry.

Two on the DEAC, folks.

Two in DEAC.

I'm hearing lots of desire out there for enhancing downtown, so let's join that committee. Okay, we will now move on to item seven. The consent agenda, the city manager recommends approval of the following consent agenda items. All resolutions and ordinances on this agenda or added here to shall be introduced or adopted as applicable by title only and the full reading thereof is hereby waived. A, approval of minutes July 13th, 2026, regular city council meeting. B, approval of disbursements, accounts payable July 14th, 2026, total gross payroll and taxes for the period ending July 9th, 2026. C, monthly investment report. And D, parklet ordinance second reading.

I move to approve consent agenda items A through D by title only.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye. Any opposed? Okay, awesome. We will now move on to item eight. This is on your packet, page 36, the Beautification Committee appointment of Kathleen Dugan.

Kathleen Dugan has submitted an application to serve on the Beautification Committee.

If you would like to come up and say a few words, please.

You want me to say something?

Sure, that'd be lovely.

Don't you have questions for me?

Probably. I just wasn't sure if you wanted to make a statement first. No. All right. Well, in that case, we'll bring it back to council for questions.

Do you have any particular thing you'd like to accomplish as a volunteer from the beautification committee?

Just support and find out what's going on in town. I'm so excited to be able to do that.

Well, thank you for volunteering.

Yeah.

Appreciate that. Please, Jeffrey.

Thank you.

Sure.

Yeah. It's this town in large part gets a lot done by volunteerism and without folks like you stepping up again. Thank you.

You're welcome. I already helped plant 12 planters two weeks ago. It was so much fun. One of the funnest mornings of my life.

Awesome. You hear that, folks? Everyone, come on out and volunteer. Yeah. Let's get some applause for that one.

All right.

How do you feel about public murals?

Public murals? I think they can be awesome.

Love it.

I've seen some beautiful ones in Seattle and Portland and Eugene. Those are the cities I'm familiar with.

Sure. Good answer. All right. In that case, we'll go to public comment. for this, anybody have some, unless you wanted to make a statement, no, okay.

Would anybody like to publicly comment on the appointment of Kathleen Dugan?

Please, come on up.

I fully support.

I think she seems lovely and we always need more helpers. So yeah, I'm fully on board. I've been hearing them talk about an opening on the beautification committee for it seems like every single meeting we've been here for for the last year and a half. So let's fill it and then we don't have to talk about it anymore.

Love that attitude. Please.

My name's Lori Saunders, and I'm chairman of the Beautification Committee, and I'm really, really happy that we have her. Hallelujah, hallelujah.

Well, that seems like a pretty good endorsement. Well, hold on, we gotta vote. I think we'll, unless there is further public comment, I think we'll bring it back for council discussion. I think we're pretty well discussed.

Yeah, I'm gonna move to appoint Kathleen Dugan to the Beautification Committee.

All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? All right, welcome Kathleen. Moving on to item nine, authorizing the acting city manager to execute a contract extension with Wilson Construction. In July of 2025, the city entered into a lease agreement with Wilson Construction for the use of the landing for storage. The attached agreement will extend the lease through March of 2027. Ken. Mayor and members of the council.

As the mayor just briefly stated, yes, the city of Mount Shasta entered into a land rental agreement with Wilson Construction July of 25 for $650 a month. The area that they needed was quickly expanded and the rental rate went up to $1,200 a month. The original agreement was to end on 12-25, but in December it was extended to 4-26 of this year. They're now requesting an additional extension from 4-26 to 3-31-27. And the rental rate will remain the same. But because we are now exceeding a year in total length, it's no longer strictly a rental agreement, and we're now getting into a lease agreement, and that requires the council approval. So, We are here to request the Council approval and extend the land lease with Wilson Construction for a storage yard at the landing from 4-01-26 to 3-31-27. And the monthly rate will remain at $1,200 a month.

Okay. Seems pretty straightforward. I'll bring it back to Council for any questions. Over here. Over here. All right, let's take it out to the public for comment.

Come on up.

Good evening. Good evening. John Altorfer. I love the idea that we're getting revenue for the space there. I think that's awesome. But I just want to make sure that I have a few questions and comments to make sure that the city is being protected. I don't really even understand what exactly is being stored there, and so maybe if I knew, maybe I wouldn't have some of the questions, but I want to make sure that we don't have any fair market appraisals required since the lease is beyond 12 months, and since it is a long-term lease, are there any requirements for an appraisal to ensure full market value, although I think anything is better than nothing. But I don't know, and so that might require a formal RFP process. And would this have any potential conflict with the developers for the landing if their lease extends into the time that the developers may purchase the property? Are there any environmental liabilities the city may incur from whatever they're storing there? And I'm sure the city's doing this. Are we following our own zoning rules? Does it require a cup? Probably not, but I don't know. And I would like to again recommend that the city not sell all the parcels at the landing and hold it back for 15 to 20 years for their own use, including subleasing like you're doing right now. I think that's wonderful. I mean, it can be a revenue generator. So I think that's really positive. And then just a small thing, I think paragraph 5.1 should say written prior approval for making improvements. Because it doesn't address whether it should be written or not. So that was it.

Anyway, that's it. Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other comments? Okay. We'll bring it back for discussion. Just to alleviate some of your concern, I ride my bike through there four or five times a week. They're mostly storing the big poles that they're putting up and some trucks. Some piles of gravel. Doesn't really seem like a whole lot going on there. I haven't seen any big chemical tanks or anything like that.

Okay. I'm going to move to approve an extension of a lease with Wilson Construction for a storage yard at the landing Extension period will be from April 1st, 2026 to March 31st, 2027 at a rate of $1,200 per month for the duration of the lease.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Moving on to item 10, the public hearing for the tiny homes on wheels ordinance. In July of 2025, the city council adopted an ordinance creating chapter 18.18 to the municipal code regulating tiny homes on wheels. City staff has prepared revisions for this section of the municipal code. Kim.

Thank you, Mayor, members of the City Council. So this is an ordinance that was adopted last year. As with most ordinances, they're living, breathing documents, and they're not really tested until we have users looking through the pages to determine what the rules and parameters are. So in the last year, planning staff has actually met with several members of the community to answer some of these questions that are kind of vague. There were some vagueness in the previous ordinance So this effort before you tonight is simply an effort to clean up some of that language, to fill in the gaps where it was unclear before, procedural things, just to make it super user-friendly. Not before you and not under the authority of the council, but separately, staff is working on some user-friendly manuals and pamphlets and brochures, things that would let the community know, hey, go here to do this, go there to do that, maybe have vendor connections so people have connections to people who will do the site work for some of these tiny homes. So behind the scenes, we're laying out a whole framework to help the community get started. This is just a piece of it to fine tune the ordinance language so everybody knows what to do going forward. And that's pretty much it in a nutshell. The red line changes are in your staff report packet. If you have any questions about those changes, let me know. Otherwise, staff is recommending at this time that we approve the ordinance updates for Tiny Homes on Wheels.

Thank you, Kim. We'll bring it back to council for any questions. Anything over here? Over here? All right. Well, now's the moment you've all been waiting for. If you have any public comment about this agenda item, please step forward.

Me again. I'm really excited to be openings to make things even more affordable and easier for the community as well. And so that is what we're really excited about. I think there's some really amazing pieces in this, definitely making it more clear and easier, which is always a plus. And it also does open up some more flexibility for certain things like third-party certifications for tiny homes, which alleviates some of the workload off of our city inspector for having to go in and update and approve every single piece, because some of that can be done already for him to make it easier. Also, as far as opening up more flexibility for utility hookups to make it easier, these are all based on recommendations from experts in tiny homes. The Tiny Home Industry Association president, who reviewed our ordinance and said it's already awesome, but this is how it could be even more awesome. And he's the one actually that wrote most of the ordinances adopted in other locations that ours was even based off of. So he's clearly an expert and we appreciate his support in that too. And then also talking with community members in different situations. addressing from different angles, making sure it's affordable, making sure the questions are answered, and just trying to make this the next most awesome thing we can. And so we would really, really love if you guys would approve this next round of updates. These are easy yeses, we think. And I would also like to make a formal request for a few other items that aren't necessary to approve this piece, but for looking to the next level is... You guys are already doing a fee review schedule. And so we would love to see, because one of the biggest hurdles in actually putting the tiny home and building on a piece of property here is the utility hookup fees. They're very substantial. It's tens of thousands of dollars. And a lot of people don't have that out of pocket. So we would love to see when you're reviewing the fee schedule, is there an opportunity for a fee release?

30 seconds.

possibly a 50% reduction in fees for a period of time, or rolling the fees out over maybe a 15, 20-year payment schedule. That would make it a lot easier for people to get started. So I'm going to pass these out. I have a list of recommendations. But again, these don't hold up tonight. We're a winner tonight, but I'm going to pass this out for you guys. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Appreciate it. There we go. All right. Any other public comment? Please step forward.

Okay, hopefully this thing works good. Oh, okay, so kind of to add another point of what Araya was saying, I'm here today, of course, for affordable housing. I'm here in support of the housing mission that Ohana Malama Lama represents. I think it's beautiful. Every portion of what I do in my life kind of plays a role into what this is gonna do for our community. I've lived in Mount Shasta for a very long time. I go back and forth. My name is Tricia. I am a college instructor, adjunct. They say it's part-time. I teach welding. And a lot of my students have trouble on campus because they don't get their own private rooms. Some of them have dietary restrictions. And to rent an apartment or try to purchase a house here is pretty much impossible. I also, as an educator, I don't just teach welding. I am I am a counselor, I am a ear, I am helping people financially pay for the personal protective equipment that they wear and to see all these students wanting to do something more and being hindered by every little thing is hard to see. I was there myself, I still am. I also work at Pfeiffer Vacuum in the morning, some blue collar worker there, and I have at least half of the people that we work with struggling with affordable housing. I am your coordinator for the Upper Northern California region of the American Red Cross. I am a disaster action team coordinator. So what that looks like is if there's a fire, a flood, a blizzard, any of those things, you've likely seen my face if you have had some form of disaster in Siskiyou County. Upper Northern California region is more than just Siskiyou County, but I'm the only representative here. And the reason why I'm the only representative here is our area is beautiful, but how do we afford housing, right? It's a challenge. On the flip side of that coin, we have families. We have people who have no family, just senior citizens, all these people losing their homes in disasters that might not have insurance, that might not have any kind of... backup or support system when they lose their home. And not only do they sometimes lose their home, they lose their family, right? So, in conclusion, there's students, there's our elderly community. There's people that suffer from disasters. There's so many people who will benefit from this. Lastly, single parents. I have my finances well organized and I still don't see a future where I can afford to buy a house here. Three minutes. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

My name is Colette Winlock, and I actually live in Weed. And I wanted to come up and just really to express just the gratitude of the community here that have been working and your staff that have been working on this ordinance. Because in Weed, we also have a group that we're looking at creating a tiny house ordinance. This ordinance that you guys have put the time into, just want to really thank you for that. And I got my weed folks back there. And I guess... I wanted to come up to say this is really a regional effort. And Mount Shasta, you guys are taking the lead, and you're really helping so many other folks. I'm a retired person. I don't know. I don't think I'm going to be buying a house. But I would love to be able to live in a tiny home and allow myself to be able to stay up here. So I just wanted to come up and just say thank you so much. And I hope that you do approve the changes that have been made. did have a chance to sit in with that meeting and they make a lot of sense. And so I just want to really thank you for that.

Thank you. And any council members from another neighboring city, feel free to steal the ordinance. We don't mind. All right, who's next? There she is.

Hi, good evening. I'm Patricia Carreras. I live in Mount Shasta. I too want to express gratitude. There is nothing but kindness and support among this community, among this leadership, for looking at ways to solve the housing crisis. As a senior, I know my opportunity now to have a, quote, house is pretty much non-existent. I live on Social Security. I don't have the same resources I used to have when I was in the working world. But this opens up a whole new world to me. And tiny houses are being made in such a way that it makes it easy and convenient for senior citizens. I too had the great pleasure to sit in on the meeting where we talked about these proposed changes. There were so many amazing issues they covered that would make this even easier, even more affordable. There were ADA issues that they brought up, which really helps seniors. The utilities is a huge thing. Because, you know, I have the down payment for the tiny house. I don't have another $50,000. I'd have to live in a tiny house with like a bucket and go out to the headwaters and bring water back or something. Okay, that's facetious. But the truth is there's so many costs that you have to consider. And when you're on a lower income, any help that you can get from community from like-minded people is extremely appreciated, and I'm grateful for it. And I want to say, Kim, you're amazing. She's done an amazing job with this tiny household. You've been awesome. And so has Afa and Araya. They've been really great in not dropping the ball. So the last thing I'd like to say is, It would be amazing if there was a way we can figure out how to use surplus city land to help, even if it's just a few prototypes, get into place so people can see the possibilities in tiny houses. But then also to help people like me, because somebody 20 coming up, they have a lot of years left. Somebody 69, we don't have quite so many years. So if it takes 10 years, my window may be over. But whether it's over or not, I appreciate the effort, and I look forward at some point to having one of the tiny houses, and I'm happy to make it a prototype if anybody wants to come see what tiny house living can look like. Me and my cat will welcome you happily. Thank you, guys.

Thank you very much. Somebody left their phone? Well, Jack, while you're up, you got anything to say? Anyone else, would anyone else like to speak on this? Oh, we got, there we go. Now's your time.

My name is Scott Ward. I'm a resident of Mount Shasta, and I'm just here to support this. Like two weekends ago, I stayed up in a tiny house in the middle of Bend. And, you know, it got a nice taste. Spent three days in it. And, you know, for me, retiring is like it's going to be somewhere in Asia, most likely. And so, for real, like this is probably the only other alternative would be something like this. Yeah, I totally support this. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Scott.

Thanks, y'all. Alex Hoekstrom, Top of Ski Village Drive. And so it's pretty obvious the need is here and the support. So I just want to thank you all for that. And there was a few mentions about disaster relief and stuff, too. If you go look at Talent, Oregon, where the whole town was taken out, there are little tiny home developments to get people back on their feet. Maybe it doesn't always take a disaster to help people get on their feet, but I've seen it in India, too, after the Indonesian tsunami of 2006. Little homes went up and people were happily occupying. But it's a little pitch, too. There's this dandy facility right across the tracks over here, 210 Ski Village, would be a beautiful manufacturing plant made in Mount Shasta, homes that were just in the door. We just need a woodworking entrepreneur, someone to come in there. That would be a beautiful package deal. And we can serve the whole area. And if you look at Wildfire, all the Wildfire rebuilds, McKinney Fire, pretty much all of Shasta County, it's all manufactured or modular homes because nobody can do a stick build and afford that. So who knows? Maybe right up here. But thank you.

Thank you. Not a bad idea. Thank you. There we go.

Good evening again, Johanna. I love tiny homes, and I think we do need a lot more affordable housing here. But there's a couple of things in the details that I want to make sure that maybe we can iron those out. One of them is the 4-foot versus 10-foot setbacks. The current draft has a 10-foot separation within a village, but with neighboring properties, it's only four feet, and I think that should also be 10 feet with a neighboring property, because it looks like the developers, they would get the benefit of fire safety and snow loads, and then you also have eaves and gutters that take away part of the four-foot space for the overhang. Anyway, and then height limitations, the way the ordinance reads right now, it says the 400 square foot max could be 35 feet in height, which I think is way too high. I think it should be 14 feet, which is what the movable ones are. I also think the Planning Commission should be involved. when it comes to four or more units, which is kind of what we use currently, I believe, because a multi-unit home is for a village. And I actually think all We should have tiny homes allowed in all zones, like even R1s, quite honestly, although an ADU kind of takes that place. But I think a village is more conducive to a C1 or a C2 because they're separate units. So I think where it says that the planning director can approve things unilaterally, I think it kind of just bypasses the core of what the planning process is. standard zoning hierarchies dictate design modifications and conditional exceptions belong to the planning commission. And it's not a ministerial thing because it's not even defined in the ordinance. So I think that would, be in favor of going to the Planning Commission. I also think that there's a couple of references of the building inspector where it goes... 30 seconds. Where it says it's up to the decision of the building inspector. And the building inspector, because that's kind of subjective language and it's not clear what authority he has, but it seems to me that... Everything should comply very strictly to California Residential Code, including Appendix Q and all manufacturer installation directions, because that's really important, because the building inspector is a objective position, not a subjective. So, anyway, I think that was time. Right? Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Melissa Woods, here I am again. I was talking to Arthur outside and I told him I have been watching slowly this tiny home conversation that's happening and I understand the need. I just have some concerns about it. And I came today to learn, and when you started speaking, Kim, saying that you have these flyers and these informations and all this, I was feeling a little more calm. And then I keep hearing this word, these ordinances, these ordinances, and we've got this ordinance. Well, I don't know what any of these ordinances are or the specifications. I can say that home ownership is difficult. I work two jobs to get my home. even when I had children. I was going to college and I was doing two jobs. And it wasn't easy to afford a home, and it never is. And I'm a senior, so I understand when I hear people say the needs of a senior. But also, in my mind, is that I'm thinking, if you can't afford the tiny home, and you're getting help with that, you're gonna have to you're gonna have to probably have a well, you're gonna have to have septic, you're gonna have other things. And then it just kind of escalates to where does it end, okay? And I don't mean to be mean, please don't persecute me for this. I'm trying to be down the middle here because both of my children have homes because I worked my tail off and I told them, You get yourself in order because I will go, when you can get your down payment, mama will come in hot and I'll help you with your closing costs because I know it is not affordable. It is not reasonable anymore for younger people. It wasn't reasonable for me. My husband was on welfare. I wasn't rich by any means. It's just a matter of getting a goal, setting the goal, and go. So my concern is now I have two children that I did the deal with. They did the deal. But now they have houses out in Lake Shastina. Remember what I said. I came from the area. The houses down in the Bay Area are big dog prices. Up here, these are like free. If you go into Lake Shastina and some of these areas, they may seem high to people who've lived here their whole lives. Try to go down below. When I moved from there to here, I knew there was no going back. 30 seconds. Okay. So now here's my concern. So now I've got... Sarah in one, I've got Michael in the other, everything's good. But I'm looking over at these lands on both sides of them and now I hear about these little tiny home communities and if the people don't sustain themselves and stay there, they move out and then they're gonna have possibility, we've all seen it, let's keep it real. Put stuff outside, it starts looking like not the greatest, not the greatest. And if I'm driving around looking to buy a property And my home, are my property values going to tank? Are we going to tank? We have to go slow on this. So I'm not against it, but my eyes are wide open after having, you know? Three minutes. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else?

Rosal McCoy, I guess again, reality check. We're talking about all this development for Mount Shasta, the landing, but I'm not hearing we have X amount of water and this water can be supplied to this number of businesses and hotels and this is the growth that we can do with our water. limitations that we have and if we get a second well and storage tank on spring hill then that can go to another point we have a sewer system and that sewer system hopefully will be put on the agenda so we can learn a little more about what's going on with it but there was violations with ammonia in that sewer system in the past years. And so how much can that sewer system handle? And so we're talking about these dreams, but we still need to base it on how much can we handle. And I would like to see those numbers and some kind of set of limits. Not that we're ever going to hit those maximums, maybe. I don't know. And that's the whole thing. How much water do we have? How much space do we have in our sewer system? So I would like to hear some of that kind of information. Thank you.

Thank you. just to address that real quick ken correct me if i'm wrong but our sewer plant the new one has capacity for something like 50 000 people it's it's a lot like a lot more than we have a lot more than we have a lot more than we have but i don't think we're going to reach that but i still valid concerns all right anyone else

Hi, I'm Jack Trout, local here 30 years. At this point, I'd like to acknowledge the city council. I'd like to acknowledge the members, our great chief of police, our public works, and also our county city clerk, or excuse me, city clerk. Could you all stand up and give them a round of applause? At times, I would imagine it can be a thankless job, but we all appreciate you. And I know there's been some things that have come up recently, some unwarranted comments that have been made and things that Bob has had to address. So I just thought as a community, it'd be important to acknowledge the people that we really respect and are grateful of. Thank you.

Thanks, Jack. You know, Jack, that wasn't related to the current agenda item, and I would have stopped you, but I do love people cheering for me, so I'll let it slide this time. Anyone else for public comment?

There we go.

Namaste, yate, and aloha. Thank you, thank you, thank you for approving this, working with us, and working with this whole process. It's been quite a process for us to get to this point. I'd like to thank everybody for showing up on very short notice. I appreciate all of you from coming from Wairika to Weed to Dunsmuir. I've gotten letters. We've submitted it there. Just a lot of... Showing up so very thankful two little things one thing one really good comment was about all the new little upgrades on top of there We had a nice great meeting to to mastermind this upgrade and the city inspector which is usually the one that is the tricky one to convince to get the process going by the end of the whole conversation which Patricia and Colette and Noah and and our community members were talking about that put inside. By the end of this whole thing, the inspector was already on our side just saying, send me the emails. I really want to put this together. I really want to make this thing happen. So to take an inspector and move him into that type of mindset is a miracle. And so thank that guy. Number two, there was another good comment. I forgot what it was. But when it comes back, my pickleball sister. And so I'll get back to that when I remember. This is huge. This is monstrously huge. This is way bigger than everybody even knows how big this is. Multiple cities are ready to take this ordinance and move it into their planning commissions, into their councils, and move it into... Weed is the lowest hanging fruit. Dunsbury is next. I already talked to the mayor of Wairika. We got members here from the HOA at Lake Shastinas. Weed is... They're ready to move on top of this. After all these little data points are moved, we're going into the county. We've talked about the water septic process that will come later, which is super helpful. We talked about the tiny houses that's being financed that people can finance it for a 15 year note. We're talking about Ohana Malamalama that already has a donated piece of land and two more pieces of land is coming. So if we have donated land and we have water and septic on a 15, 20-year note or 50% off of the fee schedule, whatever we talk about later, that's very affordable. When a tiny house is 15 years, when the land is donated and when water and septic is negotiable, we see a multi-generational, intergenerational housing solution. So many spiritualists come here because Mount Shasta is a niche of spirituality tourism. It is a niche. It is well-known. 30 seconds. 30 seconds. It is well-known. worldwide and every spiritualist has talked about all their best buddies on nine different tiny houses with a community center in the middle we have nurses that specialize in hospice that want to open up systems for our elders to make their transition and graduation we have doulas talking about birthing centers so that the elevator can come down and set up a new golden age system we have health people health care villages we have permaculture green thumb villages we got Essential oils for our police department and fire department and ambulance services and staffing services. So it just affects so many different realms as a solution for so many. And so I'm so deeply grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you, Alpha. Thank you. Anyone else out there? Okay. We will now bring it back to council for discussion.

Anybody over there? Okay. So moved to approve the first reading of ordinance CCO-26-A number to be determined, which is an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Mount Shasta amending Mount Shasta Municipal Code Chapter 18.18, which is about tiny homes on wheels. and move this to a second reading at a meeting in August by title only. Second. All those in favor?

Aye. Any opposed or abstained?

OK. Now you can clap.

Trendsetters.

All right, moving on to agenda item number 11, public hearing for a transient occupancy tax ordinance. It has recently come to the attention of city staff that the municipal code has no mechanism for placing liens on businesses which fail to remit transient occupancy tax. Chief?

Thank you, Mayor and Council. During a recent investigation into a business withholding and failing to remit temporary occupancy tax, or TOT, we found that the ability to collect on that debt was limited due to being there was no mechanism in the municipal code to apply a lien on the property. for the owners or the operators of the business. This proposed change language within the Mount Shasta Municipal Code would allow for the city to have a mechanism to recover the cost from delinquent operators and recover costs that we've incurred through having to use our attorneys to file lawsuits, to file injunctions. or if they decide to do legal shenanigans and file bankruptcy and start new LLCs, we would still be able to get our money back that we've spent. We have numerous other municipal codes that have the capability for recovering liens, including if we wanted to do a $2.50 lien. on a house that didn't put up their numbers. We have that in there, but we don't have a way to get back tens and hundreds of thousand dollars in TOTs. And so that's what this is designed to do is to recover the cost that the city is spending.

Thank you, Chief. Any questions over here? Over here? All right, we'll go to public comment. There we go.

As you all know, often I have been to basically every single meeting since March of last year. And so I've heard this issue come up multiple times, and I know exactly what hotel you're talking about. And if I'm not mistaken, I believe I came up and made a comment about putting a lien on the property. So I'm really excited that this is what's happening because, yeah, they're making all kinds of money. They should be paying the TOT tax. our city's you know got a budget crisis we need to be collecting all the tot tax from people that are making all the money so i fully support this i'm excited go guys thank you very much any other public comment alex

Again, and excuse my ignorance on it, so does this apply also to vacation rentals and Airbnbs? Yes. Because I can't imagine how many are operating out there and ignore you guys completely.

It applies to ones that have a permit. Ones that are operating illegally are operating illegally and would fall under code enforcement.

Okay. But can then fees be collected retroactively? if they have been operating and not paying in the fees, but then it's found or determined that they owe the fees, can that also go in your same avenue?

Yeah, I can address that after your public comment. I'll be happy to let you know on the different municipal codes that we can come after them for. Okay.

But yeah, I think we should do it.

Is she coming up here or leaving? All right. Any other public comment for this one? Okay. Chief, go ahead, please.

All right, so to address that, yes, if you're operating without a business license, which if you were a short-term rental and you didn't have a permit, you'd be operating without a business license, we can come after you under our administrative process under 1.04, which has a lien ability in it. So if you're violating, so if you're working without, we're gonna issue you a fine under our administrative citation process. If you don't pay those fines, we have a process to do a lien. We don't have a process to go after people who don't pay their taxes. And that's what this is there. So we do have mechanisms to go around other ways, but we don't specifically. And remember the TOT is not their money. It is the public's money that they're holding for us, and they remit to us on a monthly basis. So it's your money that's supposed to come to us. They're just the caretakers collecting it for us.

Great explanation.

OK, so further clarification. whether they're short-term rental owners or innkeepers, the third parties that are usually booking rooms for these hotels and short-term rentals charge the 12% automatically. So the process is simple. You book a room, the innkeeper or short-term rental through that third party, typically, charges the 12% and you pay it. It's collected by the innkeeper or the short-term rental via their third party, and then it is to be remitted to the city on a monthly basis by the end of the following month. So for July, it would be August 31st. We have at least one hotel innkeeper that's not paying that. And from what I understand, we have numerous short-term rental owners that are not. So they're essentially charging and keeping a tax that they're basically getting a price increase when that shouldn't be happening. This is one step, but there is this tricky situation with places that don't have licenses. And there are short-term rental owners that really, they have no permit, they have no license to do that, to be in business at all. We have 55 licenses, I believe. And it's like 55-ish, and I don't think they're all used, but some nefarious people are still using their homes as short-term rentals. So will this cover those unlicensed businesses, whether they're innkeepers or short-term rentals?

So yeah, so for example, I know of one right now that we're dealing with that hasn't paid or is constantly late by several months paying their TOT. So this would be able to use if we couldn't get them to pay their TOT tax back. And then if they're operating without a business license, then we can go after them for operating without a license, which is a different section, which has a lien process in it. So you could get them for operating without a license because the California tax code requires them to have a tax certification from the city in order to collect our taxes. So that's part of the tax code. And we can get into criminal liability as well with these innkeepers and stuff. So what this does is this says if you're gonna try to, you're not gonna pay us our TOT, which is you're just our caretaker, we can come after you and you can't do shitty things like quit business or go away or not pay us and just walk away. This says that we can put something on the property that we will get the money back for the citizens.

All right, I'm gonna move to approve the first reading of CCO-26-A number to be determined in ordinance of the City Council of the City of Mount Shasta, amending 3.12.110, actions to collect of Mount Shasta Municipal Code chapter 3.12, transient occupancy tax. Move to a second reading by title only.

All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Moving on to item 12. Council reports on attendance at appointed or outside meetings. No? For those that are interested, I do have a Coffee with the Mayor event tomorrow morning at 8.30 a.m. outside at Drizzle on the patio there. Fingers crossed it's going to be nice weather. I'd be shocked if it wasn't. Yeah, hopefully see you there. Still not going to comment on personnel matters, but anything else is on the table. Future agenda items. Anybody got anything to add? Me neither. Okay.

Oh, wait, John. That hotel, do we have to put that in front of council to make a decision?

That is going to be coming back, yeah.

That's going to come back? Okay. Yeah.

Well, we'll move on to item 14. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Can I add to item number 13, please?

Please.

There are several staffing gaps within the city, so I would be shortly here presenting the city council with temporary contract staff just to get us through some immediate work that needs to be done.

Sounds good. I would move to add that to the agenda, future agenda. Anything else? Okay. In that case, cover your ears.