City Council - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call the February 17th, 2026 regular city council meeting to order. Let the record reflect that council members U, Mayor Prom Serbo, myself, and council member Voits are present are present. Votes to votes tonight will be recorded using the city's electronic voting system. Move to uh close session. Madame city clerk, have we received any request to speak? We have not, mayor. At this time, the city council will recess to close session for the purpose of conducting regular city business.

At this time, the city council will convene to consider public matters. If you wish to speak, please fill out a blue speaker card and provide it to the city clerk. If you wish to submit any written materials, please provide them to the clerk. that will be distributed to the city council as required by state law. When speaking on an item listed on the agenda, limit your comments to the subject of that item. If you wish to speak on a subject not listed on the agenda, you may speak under public comment portion of the meeting. Finally, please address your comments to the city council. Staff only respond to questions from the city council, not from public speakers. We'll now move on to the invocation. The invitation will be provided by Pastor Walmer Land Verde from Saddleach Church.

Good evening everyone. It's my honor and pleasure to be here. So u I will ask everyone to bow their head and pray with me. Um heavenly father uh we thank you for this gathering tonight and for the opportunity to come together in service to the people of Lake Forest. We lift up Mayor Peno, the city council, and all who serve this community in leadership. Grant them wisdom, discernment, and courage as they make decisions that shape the present and future of this city. May they lead with integrity, compassion, and a heart for the common good. Bless the work of this meeting. Give clear minds, steady hands, and gracious gracious spirits as they navigate complex issues and seek unity in purpose. We pray for every resident of Lake Forest that this city will be a place of safety, opportunity, peace, and a flourishing and flourishing for all. Guide our leaders and our community with your light and your peace. Amen. Thank you. Move to the pledge of allegiance. The pledge of allegiance to the flag of our country will be led by Cub Scout Pack 623.

[snorts]

Put your right hand over your heart. Ready to begin. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I want to get that picture. Three. One, two, three. [applause] Oh,

that brings us to our close session report. Mr. City Attorney, are there any reportable items? Uh, yes. Thank you, Mayor. There is no action to report this evening from close session. Thank you. Uh now close session public comment. Madame clerk, have we received any request to speak during close session public comment?

We have received one public comment for item number one and that is Andrew O' Conor. Andrew Conor foothill ranch since 1990. I guess that makes it what almost 35 years. So the Brian McMillan versus the city of Lake Forest is a sizable lawsuit that Mr. McMillan is claiming $75 million against the city. This is no small frivolous lawsuit. Ladies and gentlemen, the court has accepted it. It's gone through summary judgement. They've looked at all of it and they scheduled for trial in October of 2026. It's so serious. Unfortunately, Mr. Richardson over here [snorts] didn't get a bite of the apple. The guys at the Los Angeles office, the 25th floor downtown LA are taking over. It's that serious. So, Mal, I know you're director of the Irvine office, but I guess you didn't make the you didn't make the cut for the $75 million lawsuit. That's okay. But in the mayor's manner, he likes to talk about fuzzy and warm things about painting a widow's wooden fence or hanging out at the Edney State Park. But reality, folks, [clears throat] District 5 is a hot mess with this $75 million lawsuit. Recently, Pete's Cafe announced closing lo their locations at the orchards. Imagine that. Tea Leaf and Coffee Beans in the Twin Peaks, they also closed. Two prominent

good retail locations closed on El Toro Road in District Fives. Brian has come to this council many times asking for a resolution to the city manager, city attorney city council and you all ignored him. I just don't get it. Seems like a gentleman. Seems like you want to work things out because for some reason or other guys you pursued something else. [clears throat] But he's happy because he's billing us. How many hours have we uh have you build a city attorney for this lawsuit so far? 10 hours? 100 hours. What are we up to? I always wonder what ever happened to employee of the year code enforcement Daryl Hoy when all this went down. Seems like Mr. Hill just kind of vanished. You know, I wish him well. He was a great worker, easy to work with. So, you know, D5, we got homeless. Sunday mornings I stop by and you got these people running around the shopping center, homeless people in shopping carts. It's out of control. Ralphs, don't be surprised when they pull out. Don't be surprised.

Thank you for your comments. Moves us to presentations. Uh, do I have a m motion to consider approving presentation number three? Presentations. Do I have a second? Second. Okay, madame city clerk.

I do need one vote. Thank you. And that motion passes 4 with council member Tedimemer absent. Thank you. Madam city clerk, please read the title of item number three. The title of item number three is the proclamation recognizing Lunar New Year. Madame city manager, please introduce this item. Thank you, Mayor. Tonight we will have a presentation on Lunar New Year by our own council member Benjamin Yu.

Thank you, city manager. Thank you, mayor. Uh first of all, I really appreciate the city and its council to recognize the culture and the tradition of the Luna New Year to those celebrate happy new year, the year of horse. And it's very important we reflect this diversity and inclusiveness of our community here. And uh I would like to invite the board member of Meadows HOA Harrison John to receive this proclamination. You want to give your words? Um, yes. Thank you, city of Lake Forest. Thank you, council members. And uh I know today is a special day for many of us. Um so especially for Asian-American and Pacific Islanders, those who celebrate Luna New Year. So this year is year of the horse. So I think it simplifies the determination and energy and grit. So this is something that we often celebrate every year to strengthen ourselves, our community and our country. Happy year of the horse.

Happy New Year. I got to push Scott up the ramp. He's struggling.

All right, Madame City Clerk, do we have any requests to speak on this item?

We do have one speaker and that is Andrew O' Conor. So Lunar New Year. My wife is Japanese. She hasn't filed Lunar New Year. A lot has changed since October 2018 when Governor [clears throat] Brown had declared Lunar New Year. The Chinese has raved h have across the globe with co poured fentanel tool into our cities dabling our society. The Chinese government does not allow free speech and expression religion to be met by death. They're killing the weaguers as I speak tonight. Intellectual property is stolen daily from American companies causing jobs and wealth creation. [clears throat] We even have Chinese councilman who said he was a small business owner. This guy right here, Benjamin U. Remember that. This guy convicted. Family Times Resort LLC, a [clears throat] Chinese birthing operation, no longer exists after the FBI opened an investigation. I guess selling the home where Family Times LLC operated ended the investigation. Or or maybe when his wife divorced him. The councilman was arrested for de for a DUI in Irvine. [clears throat] Police also arrested you in October 2021 on suspicious of driving under the influence. Orange County Sheriff's Department deputies have mis dispatched a report of a domestic disturbance disturbance and found you's former partner confused and dizzy after used prosecutors alleged had slammed her head against a granite

kitchen countertop multiple times. He was subsequently charged with a felony and two misdemeanors. The prior summer, Mr. You had been charged with two misdemeanor domestic violence charges. Is alleged he strangled his former partner causing injuries and days later tried to forcefully pull her inside a car. That's who we have on our leak forest council. That's great. The [clears throat] Meadows is 122 acre agriculture site was resone for residential and firsttime home buyers in Lake Forest. Go back and look at the archives. Councilman Voyce, you were on the council at that time and the whole idea was for entry levelvel homes for Lake Forest. Mayor Nik even told the residents, "Yes, these will be affordable home lots for Lake Forest restaurants." Guess what? The Chinese are now Lake Forest restaurants scooped up and occupying 90% of the cost is way above Lake Forest income. Who can afford a $2.5 billion home? And what's the percentage of residents that are Chinese that live in Lake Forest? Remember the cult multicultural celebration at the civic center when different cultures performed their acts? The Chinese presented a dragon and we had to pay.

Thank you for your comments. There any other speakers? That's it, mayor.

Okay. Thank you. We'll move on to public comment. If you would like to make a comment, please fill out a blue speaker card and give it to the city clerk and your name will be called. Comments are limited to three minutes per person. The council and staff will not respond to questions or comments during the public council comment period. If you leave your contact information, staff may contact you to address your issues raised during your comment. When you are called to speak, come to the podium. Your three minutes will begin when the green light is on. The green light will remain for two minutes. When the light changes from yellow, green to yellow, speakers will have one minute left to conclude their comments. When the light changes from yellow to red, your time is concluded and please return to your seat. A timer is not displayed on the screen. Madame city clerk, have we received any requests to speak?

Yes, we have. And our first speaker is Mike Davidson. like to talk on addressing pending ICE and um CBP escalations that uh we anticipate coming. [clears throat] Orange County and Lake Forest will soon be facing an escalation of ICE and CBP uh raids, terrorizing [clears throat] our residents and putting our community and businesses at risk. As [clears throat] with other safety risks to our community, Lake Forest needs a plan. Uh we know that resources pulled from Min Minnesota are being uh deployed to California and New York. [clears throat] Office space has already been leased by ICE and CBP uh in Irvine and Sana. [clears throat] ICE is well funded for at least the next three years and continues to recruit and train additional agents, increasing detentions by 54% in the last 6 months. The number and frequency of raids based solely on race have been escalating nationwide. These are commonly called Kavanaaugh raids. We also know that federal agents can no longer be trusted to act lawfully and to regulate themselves.

[clears throat]

Reuters found in at least 4,421 cases, more than 400 federal judges ruled since the beginning of October that US immigration and custom enforcements is holding people illegally as it carries out its mass deportation campaign. In a court order issued last month in Minnesota, Judge Schultz said the government had violated 96 court orders in 76 cases. Since January 2025, there have been 25 ICE and Border Patrol shooting incidents resulting in 10 and eight deaths and 19 injuries. Five of these incidences were in California. Hundreds of protesters were in were injured by ICE and CBP using less lethal weapons deployed improperly and in potential lethal weap lethal manner. Including a local residents resident where ICE shot a protester point blank in the face. This was just not very long ago. As of January 25th, 2026, out of 70,766 people currently held in ICE detention, 74.2% have no criminal conviction. As of October 2025, Pro uh Publica has documented over 170 citizens, US citizens that retained by ICE for more than a day. Even with the mass uh massive amount of video evidence and hundreds of obviously illegal incidents by ICE and CBP, only nine federal agents have been char.

Thank you for your comments.

Our next public commenter is Jay Cost. Thank you for lending an ear and thank you for your work to make our city a better and safer place. I applaud item number 10 on today's agenda regarding the lobbying efforts of the city through best and crean area urban forest management project to mitigate fire risk close to homes. Safety in our city, whether fire or otherwise, is not and should not be a political issue. However, I was recently told by one of you that you feel that we have been coming to you for what what we have been coming to you for is a political issue and that the council has a written policy to explicitly not address political issues. I have put in a request for public records request to see this policy. Other speakers tonight are trying to help explain from a citizen's perspective how we are definitely uh how we do not see safety as a political issue and many of us do not feel we can trust our city and its contracted law enforcement to protect us if we are attacked. With many others, I participate in the Lake Forest Rally at the corner of Tucco and El Toro each Thursday at 4 to 6 PM. We're mostly met with supportive horns from people driving by, but there are occasional gestures or profanities shouted. if or when the profanities escalate to physically endanger people or more

likely if federal untrained undisiplined board border patrol and ICE goons come to harass us while expressing our first amend amendment rights then what happens most of us currently feel we should not call 911 because the sheriffs will only assist the federal goon squads and not help any of us. We've seen this over and over again elsewhere. Federal agents used to merit the support of local police, but not anymore. We implore you to also recognize this, please. So, is this a political issue? Is our safety a political issue? Is it a political issue to protect homes when you call the fire department? Is it a political issue to prepare in advance to avoid fires like lobbying for the Serrano Creek area urban forest management project? We are trying to partner with you, the city, and hopefully the sheriff's department to avoid injury to the people here, not just the homes here. We have seen the tragedies elsewhere and are trying to avoid the same here. Being prepared for fire or peoples. Thank you for your comment, sir. [clears throat]

Our next public commenter is Theo Bishop. Mayor, members of the council, the historic intent of groups of people using masking is quite clear. In movies and on TV, bandits and bad guys are portrayed as evil and threatening by putting bandanas over their faces or stockings over their heads. In the past, large groups of dangerous people covered their heads with hoods to hide identities so they could terrorize the intended victims anonymously. This practice is well documented in history and easily understood as intentional and purposeful. The one group as a whole that has stayed away from this practice as a tactic as far as my research shows is law enforcement until now at CBP and ICE. This current application of masking at these agencies also extends to vehicles they use and the uniforms they wear. In fact, these anonymous armed agents can pull up pull up in a location in our town in unmarked vehicles with no personally identifying badging on their persons, masks over their faces, brandishing AR style military weapons. This is intended to be terrifying and is a huge safety risk for Lake Forest residents. We have seen nationally that they are targeting even killing citizens with brown or black skin simply because of the color of that skin. ICE is currently creating facial recognition databases of American citizens who are simply exercising and their uh constitutional rights by documenting their actions and protesting their practices, then calling us domestic terrorists. The people documenting these

aggressive and even deadly actions are doing so at great risk and providing the only evidence of these illegal tactics. The powers [snorts] at B have refused to use body cams that would provide trans any transparency. So citizens are having to do the job themselves and put themselves in harm's way. The fact that we have heard your members describe this issue as political is a simply wrong description. These federal policies are clearly and easily understood as issues of safety for the residents of our town. I end my comments with a hypothetical example. Myself [snorts] and my son are often at the Arco gas station on Portola Parkway at 6:30 a.m. filling up on our way to ski in Big Bear. The entire local Hispanic maintenance crew is gassing up and buying breakfast. Unidentified vehicles surround the lot. Unidentified masked agents poured out and pointed guns and tackled people who are scared and scattering. We as US citizen residents of your town are caught up in the middle of this madness.

Thank you for your comments. Our next public commenter is Andrea Alexander.

Good evening, city council. Um, mayor and staff. Uh, I want to thank the staff for providing a hearing device for me at the last city council meeting. It did allow me to hear everything more clearly, but more than that, I was very touched by the outreach and special accommodation the staff made. I'm hoping you're stocking up because I know others that may need these devices as well. Mayor, council, so many of your constituents have come to you over and over again about the issue of ice in our communities. There are protests and local rallies and student walkouts, not only in Lake Forest, but all over Orange County, opposing the presence of ICE and Border Patrol agents. And still, I feel you're doing nothing. And worse, you're saying nothing. Your presence of the presence of ICE and CBD, excuse me, your silence implies acceptance. This is not acceptable and we the people are outraged by your silence. We provided an example of a well-written and clearly defined resolution that you might use as a guide to create your own. Use it please. This is not a political issue as some of you have suggested. This is right from wrong. These are agents committing illegal acts and people are being murdered. If and when we become Minneapolis, are you ready? Do you have a plan? Will you protect your residents from untrained, unqualified agents illegally abducting people? If you don't have a plan, I respectfully suggest you make one. Talk to other cities, including Minneapolis. Trump hates California, and he and Gnome will stop at nothing, as we have seen. While I'm here, let me just say that

those of you who will be termed out, I thank you for your service. But there is still a place for you as perhaps a mentor or adviser. Council member Voitz, I see you working on the Fourth of July parade committee, which might provide an opportunity for you to be included in the parade as an as an ambassador. Council member Tedimer, I see you as being a mentor to your replacement. work with them. Help them become a good steward of our city and its residents as you have been. Your service doesn't have to end once you are no longer on this council. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Thank you. [applause]

Our next public commenter is Mark Hermanson. [clears throat] Hey, good evening everyone. And I wanted to have something a little positive tonight. I ran into Councilman Voit over the weekend. I've never run into any of you guys out there. And strangely enough, he's actually a normal person when he's not sitting up there. So, it was kind of nice. I think we forget a lot of what we've got in this city. I've lived in multiple cities and I this is the first one I've had a mayor invite me to something that I didn't know what was going on. I've never had a mayor prom who's in another state contact me back over an issue. Uh Councilman, you I've talked to you but never run at into you out in public. I've got a city attorney that took the time out to speak. These are all good things a lot of us forget about. Um I'd mentioned Commissioner Patel back there last week. He's on our parking commission and this guy is at everything whether it's a skate park, a the sports park, anything like that. Overall, we have a good city. Could I find some negatives? Yeah, you can find that anywhere. We've got a homeless guy down by Ralphson and El Toro that, you know, a couple of us have called to report to the sheriff's because he is, I think, a little he needs some mental help. We've got a group of about probably 10 to 15 people that show up here regularly. Mr. Davidson, Mr. Reid, uh, uh, Mr. Fletcher, and even Mr. Okconor back here that actually care about this city. And, uh, my friend Bob over here, we can all agree on things. We can all disagree on things. Many times it happens, but we all shake hands and act like adults. We had a young man here

last week. I would not call him a kid or a child. He showed us how people should act and behave in public. Um, if his father was proud of him before, he should be very proud now. The point being, I'm listening to people here speak tonight with respect and decorum, and that should tell you something about the city we live in and why we live here. Thank you, councel.

Thank you for your comments. Our next public commenter is Bob Holtzclaw. Hello, Bob Hollesclaw, resident of Lake Forest. Um, I want to report on what I reported on last uh session about an individual that uh sleeps sometimes up to 1:00 during the day at the Ralph's uh uh bus station. And uh I agree with the the individual that just spoke there coincidentally. Yeah. He yells and screams at anybody who walks by that uh bus stop. And also he's not speaking Spanish. He's not speaking anything. He's just blabbering away. And I'm afraid, you know, I've got uh someone in that area in district five that's kind of mouthy himself. And I just wonder if geez what happens if he challenges them and here we go with something and someone's going to get hurt and uh you right now you got a $75 million lawsuit against you. What happens if uh those two people get tangled? I mean, the guy is obviously not in his full capacity and you know, something has got to happen and now you've gotten three times the notice and it's like you're ignoring this problem and he's he's got someone's got to remove him. Uh there's no doubt about it because someone is bound to get hurt and all five of you actually uh know about it. So let's, you know, let's be adults here and let's let's get this guy

moved, get him some help or whatever. Uh but uh you know, he can't be scaring people away from the bus stop that residents use. Thank you. Thank you for your comments.

And our last public commenter is Andrew O' Conor. [clears throat] Mr. Hollesclaw, we have an employer calls her name's Lydia and she's responsible for that. And I've sent her numerous pictures this week. I sent three to her and to my councilman and she's never answered any of them. So that's her responsibility. She should be taking care of that. but she's not. But what can we say? So, um, can you believe the mayor, folks approved this decal? Says Andy sucks right there. The mayor. Then he has his posi show up with t-shirts. Sits behind me. T-shirt says Andy sucks. Randy sucks. That's another like forest resident. And the last meeting, he goes and rant number three over my [clears throat] request to have a certificate from the January 20th council meeting to recognize people that submit ALF tickets. Not only myself, I think other people should get recognized for it. And then [clears throat] there's this conversation back and forth that, you know, I do hundreds of them and none of them make any sense. And Mr. Serbo piled on to and says they're unsubstantiated and this isn't right and all that. And um, you know, here's a blue card. I get three minutes to talk. I talk about some important things. None of you have ever followed up with me over those hundred ELF tickets to get resolution. So what it does, it goes in the system and over here the communications manager answers back resolved. Nothing's resolved. Nothing gets done. But that's the way

you five guys play the game. You sit up there up there and then when the light goes three minutes, it's over and done with. Shame on you. But let's look what the city of Mission Viejo did for me. Not even a resident. [clears throat]

The certificate of commendation. The city of Mission Viejo hereby thanks Andrew O' Conor in recognition of your excellent commitment commitment to community safety. On December 11th, 2025, you contacted the Orange County Sheriff's Department to report a suspected DY DVWI driver at the intersection of Margarite and La Paz. Your prompt and decisive actions facilitate facilitated the timely dispatch of a deputy resulting the rest of a driver enhancing the safety of the mission VO community. Your dedication exemplifies the spirit of responsibility and vigilance that defines our community. Wendy Buckman, mayor one time over hundreds.

Thank you for your comments. And I can't get anything. Shame on you. Look at number four's coming.

That's it. Mayor, thank you. So, we'll move on to the consent calendar. All matters listed under this under the city consent calendars are considered routine and will be enacted by one vote. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless members of the city council or staff request specific items be removed from the consent calendars for separate action. Have there been any requests to remove any item from the consent calendar? We have no requests from staff or council members, but we do have public comment on item number five, item number seven, and item number 10. Okay, I'll I'll Mayor I'll take the uh opportunity to make a motion and the remainder we'll move.

Second that. Thank you, mayor. You want to read your Yeah, thank you. Um, let's vote first. Okay, we'll vote. Can I I'm gonna read first. Okay. There are warrants on the register for the county of Orange. I am employee for the county of Orange, but I do not work for the departments that generate the warrants because the county of Orange is a public agency and because I do not work for the departments in question, I have determined that I have a non-interest in these warrants and I will vote on the items. Thank you, mayor. Thank you. Let's vote.

Call a vote. [snorts] And the motion to move the remainder of the consent calendar passes 40 with council member Tedmer absent. And that first item for comment is the minutes of the regular meeting of the city council held on February 3, 2026. And our public commenter is Andrew O' Conor. Andrew O' Conor Foothhill Ranch. So the RA last council meeting February 3rd, [clears throat] Councilman Tedmer commented regarding the Cavana Park at the 1 hour 5136 second time stamp. Costs will be going up for Cavanaaugh Park. Ain't that lovely? Costs are going up. I want to hear a government official try to get costs to go down. Why is his mindset that costs are going to go up? This is just blowing. It's just crazy. Sean Fletcher said D5 is neglected that we should pour more of our taxpayer money into Kavanaaugh Park. Well, Mr. Fletcher, let me remind you residents in Foothill Ranch, Perola Hills, and Baker Ranch, we pay what was called the Malaroo tax for 30 years. That's why we have great parks. Not to mention, we have HOA fees. Therefore, we don't have to do monthly trash pickups in our neighborhoods. Street parking is not an issue because we don't have more people living in the houses than what the property was designed for, like D5. Mr. Fletcher said the retail properties should be taken out next to the existing Cavanaaugh Park, but Mr. Fletcher didn't

any have any solution for replacement. Mr. Fletcher, they contribute property tax and sales tax. What are you going to put in place of them? Doesn't make any sense. He thinks the nursery is the landmark of Lake Forest, which it is. It's got great heritage. You man, you think they could replace their sign? I mean, that thing's it's pretty weatherbeating. I think that uh we ought to take a look at that. Mr. Pania stop by there and say hey man you know can you dress up your sign it's an eyesore if you ask me but that's my opinion later councilman spoke about the Orange County fire authority air support two firehawks and aircraft from the last contract is still in the area kind of vague what does that mean it's in the area do we have resources to it didn't sound like it do we have a sign contract. Didn't say anything. I wish she was here tonight. Then he talked about the the Bella 412s that we have and he says their life is ending in within two years. That's really great. So we got the Bell two 412s going out of service. We got this contract with the other helicopters is not clear. So what's the solution? So what's the master plan on for outgoing chief and is in disagreement with the incoming chief? What's the plans for fire mitigation for Whiting Ranch? Are we going to sit up there, Mr. Serbo, and toast and burn like the palisades in the eating fire? You know, are are we going to be proactive and get some

Thank you for your comments. The next item with public comment is item number seven and that is the certification of the warrant register and that is Andrew O' Connor as our public commenter. So, the Warren Register, which I refer to as a city's checkbook, where we pay out to different vendors, you know, anywhere from three to$4 million every time. And I go through and take a look at it. And boy, here's my three favorite vendors I've never gotten an answer on. We were sending a check in January to Joe A. Gonzalez lobbyists for $3,750 when we paid him $40,000 in 2025 for lobbying. Mr. Silver, you're my councilman. Did you ever look into this and find out what he did lobbying for the city of Lake Forest in Sacramento in 2025 for us? Sir, you can always get back to me. You text me, me, we text all that. You know where I live and all that. Do you think you could tell me where that 40,000 went, sir? And this is a good one. We just wrote a check, $32,000 to security property graffiti removal and my ears perked up when we talked about Cavana Park and Mr. McGovern over here talking about the Burm and um you know, we're painting the wall and we've heard that we've painted the wall so many times it doesn't even stick anymore. It's a glob. So, I have to ask you, why is public when you're here, miss? Oh, there you are. public works. Why are we sending Superior out to repaint that wall over

and over again if it doesn't stick and it's just a glob? I'm superior. They get a worker, they don't care, and they shrug their shoulders, go out there, spray it over. It's a glob. They get paid. But it's a waste of money. And what are we doing about it, Mr. Pan? That's your district. I This is This is why I say your district's a hot mess. We just keep spending money. He even said it. Go back and listen to it. He says it's a glob. The paint that we're trying to cover on that wall is a glob. And then $6,000 to Cosmop for industrial analysis. When they did that PowerPoint last time, remember they put up there all the companies they show Cox. They showed Cox had 491 employees. How embarrassing is that? Cox moved out a year ago, but they had it on our PowerPoint. Ain't that great, city manager? You hired a consultant that's charging us all this money and you just wrote them a check for $6,000 and on their PowerPoint they show a company's not even here. I mean, you can't make this stuff up, folks. Am I wrong as a taxpayer to say, "Where's my money being spent? It's being spent horrendously. You guys don't even know where it's going. We're putting a sprint over a graffiti that nobody even sees. We're paying a consultant. This is Cox.

Thank you for your comments.

And then our last public comment is on item number 10, which is the first amendment to the agreement with Best Best and Creger for federal lobbying services. And that public commenter is Andrew O' Conor Andrew kind of ranch. Let's put this in perspective, folks. Lake Forest, 86,000 people population, right? It's 6x3, 18 square miles. We're pretty much built out. Okay, there's not much more we're going to have happening here. Can someone explain to me why we need a lobbyist in the federal government, Washington DC, for $260,000 to lobby for what? what federal programs are coming up that we need to lobbyist on behalf of Lake Forest and then the report says they need to lobby for Kavanaaugh Park. Really? Do you think the federal government really gets any concern about a little little park like that? Oh, and by the way, while we're talking about Cavanagh Park, if you guys reached out, South Coast Air Quality Management District, they're laughing hysterical. They said, "What city puts a park next to Interstate 5 like that? We're going to come out and do an air analysis and more than likely it's going to flunk and you guys probably won't be able to build a park there." So, Mr. we're governing if you reached out to South Coaster Quality

Management District and said, "Hey, you know, we're building this park and you know, we may maybe should get some air analysis because what they're telling me just they looked it up like right there. It's the Elurro. The air is not good. There's no way we're going to approve a park there. So, you guys have already paid this consultant what half a million dollars in South Coast Air Quality Management Districts not going to sign off on it. And then you got to have this. We got to have a consultant from BestBriger. He like I told he runs the city. He runs the city right there. That's the guy. He what did you bill us last year for? 1.2 million. So next year it's going to be another 250,000 for lobbying for those two kids. And even you said, mayor, when you guys went what, October, November, you went from room to room to room to room, you get nothing accomplished. So what what is the big picture? What are we lobbying for for this amount of money? What is it? A water treatment plant, uh, AI energy. There's no scope of work, but you're budging 250,000. There should be a scope of work. What is it? I don't see it. Until I see it, you shouldn't sign off on it. I know this is the first stage. We got two more to go through it, but come on. Honestly, you're going to spend over $200,000 with lobbyists with no with no scope of work, no water treatment plan, no AI energy nuclear plant, nothing.

Thank you for your comments and I'll take uh recommendations for 5, seven, and 10. I'll move five, seven, and 10. Thank you, mayor. I will second that. Let's vote.

And thank you, council members. That motion passes 40 with council member Tedmer absent. Thank you. We'll move on to discussion items. Madam City Clerk, please read the title for item number 12. The title of item number 12 is the summary of outreach results related to pickleball court striping at El Toro and Mountain View parks. Thank you, madam city manager. Please introduce this item. Thank you, mayor. Tonight, we have a presentation by our deputy city manager, Sean McGovern, on the survey results for pickle ball court striping at El Toro Park and Mountain View Park.

Thank you, Manager Rose. Good evening, Mayor and members of the city council. Tonight staff will present the outreach results you directed us to conduct regarding potential pickle ball court restriping at El Toro and Mountain View parks. Following the presentation, we are seeking council direction on next steps. This item builds on prior city council conversations regarding pickle ball facilities. At the October 21st, 2025 city council meeting during a CIP update, the council reached consensus to agendaize an item related to pickle ball at El Toro Park. staff returned on November 4th of last year with information regarding a potential construction project identified as CIP project uh number PO24, excuse me, 24 PO5, which would replace the existing sand volleyball court that's at El Toro Park with two paved pickle ball courts. Prior to that item, staff had conducted outreach in November 2024, so a little over a year ago, regarding the potential conversion of the sand volleyball court. That survey yielded 119 participants and nearly 70% indicated they did not use the existing sand volleyball court. That reported usage level was considered in bringing forward that construction item. Two separate online surveys were conducted. one for El Toro Park and one for Mountain View Park. The surveys were open for approximately 6 weeks over the holiday break in 2025 to 2026, finally closing on January 2nd, 2026. We mailed out 1,752 postcards within the surrounding park neighborhoods. We placed some on-site signage at both of the parks where people could scan the QR code to be linked directly to the online survey. The El Toro Park survey received 93 participants and generated more than 50

written comments. 39% indicated support for introducing pickle ball within the existing tennis court space while 58 per while while 58% expressed opposition. Over in Mountain View Park, we uh that survey yielded 188 participants and generated about 100 comments. 60% were in support while 32% were in opposition. Overall, the results indicate mixed sentiment at both parks and neither park demonstrated overwhelming support for for for introducing pickle ball within the existing tennis court footprint. In addition to the quantitative results, both surveys included opportunities for written comments. That's part of our survey software that we use here. uh supportive comments highlighted expanded recreation opportunities and and interest in more court access. And some of the concerns that were referenced were noise, the compatibility with existing tennis use, and potential impacts to the surrounding residential neighborhoods, which include parking and increased overall activity levels. In addition to outreach results, staff reviewed applicable noise regulations under chapter 11.16 of the city's municipal code. The code establishes exterior noise standards intended to limit excessive or disruptive noise, including noise generated from the city's parks. For residential areas, outdoor noise, outdoor noise at the receiving property line is limited to 60 dB during daytime hours and 50 dB during nighttime hours. The code applies more restrictive standards to to impulsive or impact noise, which includes repetitive and sharp sound events such as pickle ball

play. In those cases, allowable levels are reduced by 5 dB. So that is a 55 decibel limit during the daytime for the kind of noise that pickle ball generates. And pickle ball noise can can reach approximately 70 dB. Given that threshold and the proximity of the courts to nearby residences, those levels could approach or exceed the daytime allowable standard. staff staff tested each restriping LO location and confirmed noise levels would be a compliance issue. These next few slides are just going to illustrate just kind of how close the two restriping projects are to existing residential property lines. Here's El Toro Park about 70 to 75 ft. It's not an exact measurement. That just gives you kind of a ballpark. Fairly close. Um our decibel readings were right about 54 55 56. So, right on that border line, which would violate the city's code. And then over here in Mountain View Park, that's only 40t away from the closest property line. Um, yeah, and that would also violate the city's code in in a more obvious way with Mountain View Park. Just some context here. Here's the original construction site. We're about 120 to 135 ft away from the nearest property lines. Pickle ball noise here wouldn't violate the city's noise standards because the because the distance to the property lines is greater and the traffic noise from Los Alisos and Merland's tends to drown out sharp noises. So there's a lot of ambient kind of like white noise there which tends to drown out the noise. Uh, and the there is a hill that's between where the original construction site is and that house up on the top left. And we think that also serves to mitigate noise. So, just kind of a recap, there's mixed community sentiment about restriping and

neither park received a sizable majority in favor of that idea. On top of that, you have the application of the city's existing noise standards, which present another impetive to implementing the restriping option. So staff's recommendation is to receive and file this and exercise city council discretion. We do need to bring the construction project for the original plan back to the city council at the next meeting. So practically speaking, we do need some direction here tonight on where the city council would like to go uh with the issue. So be happy to answer questions. Thank you. Okay, before we do that, madam city clerk, do we have any requests to speak on this item? We do not, mayor. Okay. Thank Thank you. And I'll bring it to my colleagues.

Yeah. So, I know we're always conscious of what amenities we want to bring, you know, to the city and pretty much everybody knows that pickle ball is is a very popular sport these days. And if we're talking about these areas in Lake Forest, I I think they're underutilized somewhat for these these types of amenities. I know we've got conflicting information about opposition and and support. And I guess the question is that if if we don't have something there that appeals to people and brings them to the park, then it just continues to be an underutilized area for amenities. So, I I'm guess I'm a little conflicted in the fact that, you know, I do play pickle ball. I enjoy that. I think it's good for uh community and for a couple of courts there that is daytime use only with the the mitigation of some of the noise levels uh that um Sean illustrated. Um I guess I'm I'm not ready to say, you know what, we shouldn't do this. Uh I I think that there's still an opportunity for us. Um, I know we've got, you know, the community engagement there, but, uh, I just, I guess I'm not ready to to say a hard no on it yet.

Okay. Thank you, mayor. Uh, this area is built before the incorporation of the city and a lot of uh, plannings are not up to the city standard. What I see here is no matter what we do uh it's hard to bring some uh satisfication to the residence and increase in increase the interest of the usage in the area. So I would inclin just receive one file in this case here.

Yeah. Um John thanks for the report. Um on the one slide it the decapose reached approximately 70 but then what brought it down to 55ish of the distance away. So the further away the lower the reading is so if your house is further away and a 70 dB sound from 10 ft away uh would be you know 30 to 40 if you're 75 ft away. So to to conclude um what you said 70 decimal is courtside. You're on the court

courtside and probably if you're hitting the ball pretty hard. I mean we we didn't we didn't take a uh we didn't do a like a scientific noise study. Um we just went out there and kind of did our best to test it with what we thought. And who who's hitting the um was it was it councilman or mayor prom Serbo or was it you hitting the [laughter]

I wasn't involved. Okay. Um I I I really don't have any I I think that the proximity to the houses um is just a little too close um to have people be being out there playing pickle ball. It is kind of a loud sport. I know that we've got a lot of complaints at the Lake Forest Sun and Sale Club and that carries across Lake Forest Drive even, but um you know they've kind of come used to it because of the distance there. But the distance in these two neighborhoods is right almost right on top of the court side. Um, so I think that um my motion would be to receive and file at this time. Yeah. But he's also asking for us to give further direction. Correct.

Yeah. So we have a construction contract for the for the original plan coming back at a subsequent city council meeting, likely the next city council meeting. So we can only hold that bid price for so long until the contractor it it gets it gets it gets too far out from the point in which they bid. So their input prices could change. So they can only guarantee that price for a certain amount of time. So they kind of need to know. Um well is it can I Yeah, go ahead. So um but that contract's not before us right now. So can you just can my my motion be to bring that back to us so that we can see it and review it and vote at the next meeting? Yes. Yeah. Okay.

Okay. Well, before you go any further, I'm sorry. But there's there's a couple of things when you talk about so El Toro Park has a ton of amenities. They have they have a tennis court. They have a you know a big bathroom. They've got a big uh playground. They've got a meandering trail with um with play with workout equipment. So it's it's not like it's it's Kavanaaugh Park with one 1972 Kmart special slide there. So, El Toro Park is a very uh it's got a lot it's got quite a few amenities. One of the issues that we have to look at is like he said is one is the neighbors really don't want it. Um two is if we build a pickle ball court there now we have to worry about septit or community or crime prevention through environmental design, we're going to put four more walls there for somebody to hide behind at night. Um the parking is horrible. I mean, there was conversation about moving Bunny Blast from El Toro Park because there's no parking there. So, uh I I appreciate us doing something there. But, uh I don't I don't see what's wrong with that beach volleyball uh court that's there. Um and you know, I did hear, well, beach volleyball, that's that's that's an that's a sport that's that's gone by. Well, somebody should have told the people when they built the the beach volleyball court up in Porto Hills not too long ago. So, um I do I would like to something to go there that that doesn't violate the noise uh the the you know the the decibel levels um and something that won't contribute to septid issues and then something that you know that the locals there can do. But, you know, since you already have a playground, a gigantic playground, and we just did

that about 5 years ago. When did they up upgrade El Toro Park?

About eight years ago. So, it's a brand, it's pretty new. The tennis court's already there. Um, and I I just I don't uh I And it's quite expensive. So, um I mean we've got two receiving files, but we still need to give direction on what are we going to do with that contract because if we bring it back, that means we're still considering putting a pickle ball court there. Correct. So, uh I mean receiving file is great, but we have to do something with that other with the the the second part of what staff recommendation is. So, if my colleagues can figure something out either, hey, let's let's go forward with pickle ball, which you know, if you look at the community results, and when I was looking at the results, and I brought this up to Sean's attention earlier, people as far as Pittsford Park were chiming in on what's going on at El Toro Park, the people that don't live where they're going to be hearing all this noise. So, I I wished I mean, and I brought this up that when the survey went out, we should have sent the survey to the people that were going to be affected because I can say, "Hey, at Pittsver Park, I want to I want six dog parks." Well, Scott's going to have to deal with that. So, I I'm just I just think that uh the community spoke said they really don't want it. Um, and it doesn't make any sense because of the parking, because of septed issues, and it's not, like I said, it's not like it's a park that doesn't have amenities already. So, but go ahead, Doug.

Yeah. And just again, not trying to advocate one way or the other here, but you know, to be fair, if you have two pickle ball courts, eight people, everybody drives there, you could have eight cars. Well, there's plenty of room on Los Alisos to park there for accessing that. So, I I don't want to discount what you're talking about. Parking is always an issue, but it's not as big of an impact, I think, is what, you know, maybe I read all of the comments pro and for or pro and against rather the uh El Toro Park there. There were some pretty strong ones that were in favor of the ones that were against it. I think they were more concerned about some things rather than say absolutely not. It's going to be too noisy. I don't want it in my neighborhood. So, I'm just trying to bring some balance to the discussion and say that it seems like there there is interest. I guess what my plea would be is for people in that neighborhood to come to a council meeting and the ones that are really passionate about this promo and against have an opportunity for them to speak in front of us. We've seen their responses there. But if you are someone who really wants to have this amenity at El Toro Park, come to our council meeting, put in your blue card, speak your three minutes, make your case, help us understand where the importance of this amenity is. And if you're against it, same thing. Come out, bring your uh your comments and your case and let us hear it. And maybe that gives us some additional information.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, so Miss Deborah Rose or Sean, what what's in the plan right now? Because obviously we have construction plans detailed out. Are the pickle ball ports the only option that we have in the plans that are set right now.

Yeah. So that so the so the construction project is for the original site project which is paving over the sand volleyball courts which is the furthest away from the homes. So uh so uh let me clarify my motion then. Can I put down that at this time we are um receiving and filing the the pickle ball and then you bring it back with some other ideas so we that we can um supplement the the money that we were going to spend for the volume or for the pickle ball and kind of sprucing up those parks a little bit because the fact is that we're we're talking about people out there in Lake Forest. I know cuz my aunt and uncle and many of my friends play pickle ball. My mayor prom plays pickle ball. They would be used but not by the people there. And the noise the impact in the residents in that community would be above our standards here in Lake Forest and so can what what do you want us to I mean we have do you want to come back without that? Well, this that project was in response to a strategic plan initiative which was to find more places to put pickle ball in the city. And so we looked at areas where there were no publicly accessible pickle ball courts. And so that's why where how we arrived at El Toro Park. And then it appeared that the sand volleyball court was underutilized and it was far enough from homes where it was a potential location. I think if the council decides not to move forward with the pickle ball project, that would be the end of it and we would move on to other projects. And then in the next strategic planning cycle, we could come back with a project to relook at El Toro Park and potentially um find other uses for that spot or even, you know, take another look at what's going on at the park. But I I think at this point it's either the council would like to us to come to the next meeting and present the construction project. And at that point,

you could evaluate and vote yes or no. Or you're giving us direction now that you don't want to go any further with this discussion and we will move on. Okay. Well, I guess I'll just take one more kick at this dead horse. Um, in the staff report, it did like what the survey 55% of the people said they didn't in that little area said that that they didn't play pickle ball court or pickle ball. They won it. Yeah. And so that I mean that's that's a overwhelm that's more than that's a m that's a majority of the people there. So I have a motion. Yeah. I have a motion here. Did you have and a second?

So let's vote. And the motion is to receive and file. Thank you. And then we'll just Yeah. Thank you, council members. That motion to receive and file passes 40 with council member Tedmer absent. Okay. Thank you. And that takes us to the city manager report. Madam city manager, do you have anything to report? I have nothing further. Thank you. Okay. Council member Voits or council comments. Comp Council member Voites.

I have nothing further. Thank you. Um happy year of the horse everybody. God bless. Thank you, council member. You happy year of house as well. Thank you, Mayor Prom Serbo.

Thank you, Mayor. So, I just wanted to again remind, you know, folks that are coming here and speaking and ones that are watching from home and just maybe remind everybody about, you know, the business meeting that we have is to hear your first amendment rights on what things that are concerning for you and we take those items seriously. we have a mechanism for receiving your information and as the the mayor indicated we we may be getting back to you if it's something that has something that has merit and worthwhile and is something that we can address many of the things that we have up here and sometimes people want to know about different things that's either evident in our documentation in the staff report or it's something from a legal standpoint that we can't talk about openly publicly and That's state law. That's that's law that we we follow because there's certain risks that we have to to mitigate. So, there's a lot of things happening behind the scenes that residents aren't aware of, but you got to know that we are t what I've experienced in my five years on the council. So, I want to give you the assurance that we are mitigating these things even though it may not be apparent at the time that things are happening. So, silence on issues doesn't necessarily mean that we are complicit. That accusation was made here again tonight. All right. So, I just want to remind everybody if you have issues, if you see things out there, we do have the ALF ticket, the Ask Lake Forest app. You can go on the iTunes store or the Google Play, download that, and if you see things, then say something. You can report those things where our staff does a really good job of getting back to say, "Here's what we've done on that. We've received your report." And it's the best way for us to track homelessness. for example, there are so many resources. We had a town hall meeting here a couple years ago and it was 20 some odd resources that were available for people who had homeless

issues. Our own mayor was the first liaison here in Lake Forest. He's very intimate and knows about this. We have competent staff on on our on our staff to tell people with those resources. We know a lot of people are resistant to that. So my encouragement again is use the tools to help us understand, report things in a in a civil and a respectful manner and we appreciate those things to help us be aware and then be able to take action. So that's just one thing I want to remind everybody and you know we have our different commissions uh Dr. Patel back there too. So thanks Anil for being here again tonight and our commissions do a really good job as well. So, we have a lot of competent staff and and people and resources to address these things because as I always say, the biggest room is the room for improvement and we're constantly looking to make sure that we make things better, you know, for our residents here. Um, and I guess I I was having a conversation with some people. We heard about Minneapolis, you know, here tonight. And then we're talking about how, you know, New York and and Minneapolis are actually exact opposites. I don't know if everybody knew this, but you know in New York they have the big apple. But in Minnesota the mini apple is there. Mini apple is mini apple. Okay. Not my best adjunk, but I'll work on that for next time. Thank you, mayor. I'm sorry. [laughter] So, um I attended the uh the ch the career fair here held by uh supervisor Wagner's office. There was that place was packed. There was a lot of um lot of people offering jobs and a lot of people coming in looking. And a couple weeks ago or a couple Saturdays ago, we did the Southwest SIPs dump day in uh District 5 off of Ford View and Twig. Um

lot of people there. We spoke with a couple and um just to reiterate what Mayor Prom said, if you see somebody yelling and screaming at a bus stop and you just dial 949-7706011. It's the non-emergency uh line to the sheriff's department. They'll send somebody right over or you can submit an ALF ticket. But if you wait to come tell us at the council meeting and it was seven days ago, that guy's probably gone. So just non-emergency line make that call and uh that's all I have and we're turned.