City Council/Public Finance and Economic Development Authority/Parking Authority - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome and welcome everybody to the April 20th, 2026 meeting of the Merced Council. We're going to begin with an invitation from uh Pastor Juan Ooah from the Calvary Church here in Merrced. And Pastor Ooa, if you could also be so kind to lead us in the pledge of allegiance after you conclude, sir, everybody could please stand.

Thank you. Let us bow our heads. Father, we thank you so much for the city council members. Father, we thank you for our law enforcement. We thank you, Father, for the great citizens of this city, Father, that make this city as special as it can be. We pray, Father, that you would fill them all with wisdom, with knowledge, God, that comes directly from heaven, Lord, to give them a vision for what you want to do within the city. God, we ask that you would continue, Lord, to fill them up with so with so much peace, oh God, as they're dealing with the issues of the city. We're praying, Father, that you would give them favor everywhere that they go, oh God. And Lord, we just pray, Father, that you just continue, Lord, to be near them as well. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Join me in the pledge of pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Pastor Oo. Appreciate you pinch hitting tonight. Agenda item D. Roll call. Council member Dupont here. Tao present. Harris present. Smith present. Jeang here. Mayor pro Timbo here. And mayor Sado

present. Mayor, I'd like to remind the audience if they wish to address the city council, they must submit a green request to speak form located at the podium in the back of the chamber. Additionally, citizens can submit public comment to the city council electronically no later than 1 p.m. on the day of the meeting. Comments received before the deadline will be sent to the city council and will be part of the record and will be mentioned as part of the written petitions and communications portion of the agenda and will be posted on the city's website. Material may be emailed to city clerk@ cityofmerced.gov And any correspondence received after 1 p.m. will be distributed to the city council and retained for the official record. Also, for those audience members who wish to hear the council meeting translated into Spanish or among, please let our interpreters know. Hi, good evening. Thank you, Ma. In accordance with government code 54952.3, it is hereby announced that the city council sits either simultaneously or serly as a public financing and economic development authority, parking authority, and or successor agency to the redevelopment agency. City council members receive a monthly stipen of $500 by charter for sitting as the city council and the mayor receives an additional $100 each month as part of the adopted budget and resolution 2024-78. The public financing and economic development authority, parking authority, and successor agency to the redevelopment agency received no compensation. Agenda item E, report out of close session.

Uh, tonight we do have a report out of close session. I'll turn over turn it over to our city attorney, Mr. Cornwell.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yes, we have a reportable action on B3 conference with legal counsel existing litigation uh enry national prescription opiate litigation MDL 2804 case number 1 17 MD2804. There is a vote six to one, the one opposing vote cast by uh Councilman Fuzong uh to opt out of this uh settlement pool and the that concludes the reportable action for um close session.

Okay, thank you. City Attorney Cormal Jen. Okay, agenda item F, ceremonial matters F1, Proclamation Arbor Day. Okay, thank you Jennifer. Our first ceremonial item tonight is our annual Arbor Day proclamation. Uh so if we could have uh folks from our public works department uh Mr. Nunees come on up, sir.

All right, Angel, you speak so well. I'm just going to turn it right over to you. And no, I don't want to take any time away from you.

No. Um, you know, on behalf of public works, uh, we just want to thank everybody for for, uh, hearing us out on these Arbor Day proclamation dates. Um, as you guys know, he'll give you the history behind Arbor Day. Um, but my name is Angel Nunees. Um, I work for the city of Merced Public Works. Um, for those of you guys don't remember me from the last time you guys probably saw me, uh, I did lose three pounds, so that's where where it is. So, um, Tony Antonio, uh, he's one of our longtime tree trimmers, uh, in the city of Merced. He's um very experienced in uh within the city. So he sees many of the trees that you guys look at from he probably planted many of the trees that are 40 50 uh feet uh tall now. So he's uh been with us for a long time. Really glad to have him on board. So I just want to pass it on to him. Say something to get us. Okay. his name is Anton. He's been working for the city of for 25 years.

Thank you. 25 years of service. Thank you. How many trees?

Right here. So there are 40 47,574 trees um that we have in the city that we maintain. Um we have planted 386 trees uh including what's going to be planted on Arbor Day. Some of the trees that are being planted in the districts right now um uh through u some of the removals that were done uh through West Coast Arborist. Um we also have uh I think we removed 98 trees in total this year. Uh which is a good indicator for us that we are doing the things that we need to do to maintain the urban lands uh the urban forest. Um, we don't want to remove more trees than we're planting. Um, and the idea is to prune them and maintain them. Um, so that way they can have a long life. They're safe. Um, and then you guys be able to enjoy them. They obviously have a lot of benefits for uh, each and every one of us. Uh, on top of us being uh, a Tree City USA, uh, this is one of those uh, options that we get to be able to participate in. So,

thank you for all your work. 47,000 plus trees. Thank you. 25 years plus. Um, all right. Here's our proclamation. Whereas in 1872, J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees. And whereas this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska. And Arbor Day is now observed throughout the nation and the world. And whereas trees reduce the erosion of our precious top soil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife. And whereas trees are a renewable resource, giving us paper, wood for our homes, and countless other wood products. And whereas trees in our city increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, and beautify our community. And whereas trees wherever they're planted are a source of joy and spiritual renewal. Whereas the city of Merrcett has been recognized as a tree city USA by the natural arbor day foundation for the 45th consecutive year and desires to continue its tree plant tree planting practices. Therefore, I, Matthew Sorado, mayor of the city of Merrced, do hereby proclaim April 24th, 2026 as Arbor Day in the city of Merrced and urge all our citizens to celebrate Arbor Day and to support efforts to protect our trees and woodlands and further urge all citizens to plant trees to gladden the heart and to promote the well-being of this and future generations. Thank you.

Okay. Agenda item F2, City Council Volunteer of the Year Awards. This this is our annual volunteer of the year award and uh we've done this for uh for many years now and it's really a great way to recognize people who don't just go out and do something uh here and there nice once in a while but these are people whose values exemplify service uh whose commitment uh and dedication to our community as a way of life and we really have a special community in so many ways because you know here in Merced more than just having the city you get the community, you get all of us, you get people like yourselves. We're going to hear from a lot of them tonight who care so much about this community and dedicate themselves to making it better. Uh so without further ado, uh we'll get started on our volunteers of the year. Each council member and myself has uh nominated one. So I think we'll just go in order and we'll start uh council member Dupont uh your awardee for district 1, sir. Uh, can I have Dr. Nadine Vilifana join me up here, please? I'll let you hold this. So, Dr. Phil Vilifana um earned her bachelor's degree from San Jose uh University. Uh, and she has a doctorate in clinical forensic psychology. Um, Dr. Vila, it it's great to honor her today because a lot of the time she's honoring so many people in our community, including new businesses, that um I needed to take the time to honor her tonight for all the work that she's doing, not only for District 1 um and the city of Merrced, uh but the whole region. Uh Dr. Vilifa not only um is an entrepreneur and has owned uh many businesses and owns businesses before,

she is uh deeply committed to community service. She currently serves as the president um of Merced County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is a commissioner on the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Commission. Um she has served on the Merced citizen stipen setting committee and um contributes to many community cleanups and the point in time count. Dr. Villaana is a proud wife, mother, and grandmother. And she is passionate about strengthening the Merced community and works tirelessly toward its goal growth and well-being. So again, thank you Dr. Vilifana for everything that you do for the city of Merced. We appreciate um not only you as a resident of District 1 and the city of Merrced, but also for the region because you impact so many lives um and you can see the change that you're you're making in our community. So, thank you.

Yeah. Hey, you guys, too. Come on.

And she puts up with Julian. Yes, 10 award.

Thank you.

Now I'll pass it over Carter Martell. All right, good evening everyone. Good to have you guys join us tonight. Uh, tonight I have the honor to um honor to recognize this individual. Um, let me uh have uh Mike Abbuso, can you come up to the front with me? Let's give him a round of applause. might hold on for this first. Okay. Um, so Mike, you know, um, I wrote a little bit, uh, uh, make sure I forget, but I know you do more than this, Mike. So, uh, uh, Mike, um, has consistently dedicated his time to helping keep our community clean, welcoming, participating in volunteering clean up with, uh, Mayor Maserados. He does it with the uh the Bear Creek Yacht Club helping organize dinner for D Street homeless shelters. Uh he also contribute to local theaters here in Merced. These are just a some few example of meaningful contribution that Mike does to help the community in Merced here. What truly distinguish Mike is his leadership. Okay. He not only gives his time to but also uplift other by organizing recognition dinners for to honor fellow volunteers. So, not only I recognize him tonight, but I also realize that he's been doing this for quite a while and he also recognized other volunteer too. So, that's quite impressive. Uh, the spirit of the service reflect a deep and lasting commitment to our community. Mike continues to volunteer leadership as may a meaningful impact on Merced and we are sincerely grateful for all that he does. So as one quote put it might uh great communities are built to built by people who choose to show up give back and lift

other along the way. So that's Mike. So congratulation Mike. Thank you. I just um uh starting to volunteer in this community is one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. I lived here for a number of years and I saw people volunteering and I was inspired by a number of people I saw doing that and I said, "Well, I'm too busy. I got a couple jobs. I don't have time to do that. But I remember the people who inspired me and um most of all my uh my wife and daughter. My daughter Maya back there. She's a Girl Scout and her group started volunteering about uh seven eight years ago. And I started helping out a little bit there and then they started doing stuff with the community here uh through Mayor Serado's groups and and other groups. And it just inspired me to see kids doing this, you know, and and I met so many people. I've made friends, made lasting friendships in just the last 5 years I've been doing that. And the first person who really inspired me, and it took me too long to get there, um I saw uh mother and daughter um putting up or had just put the finishing touches on a a free little free library in our neighborhood um Silverado neighborhood at Bob's Carpenter Park in front of the fire station where their dad and husband was a captain. And that was um that was 10 years ago. The girl was 9 years old. And I asked them, and I knew them from the restaurant I work at, but I didn't really know them. And I asked, well, whose idea was this? Who did this? And it was all the nine-year-old child's idea. And that just like, wow, why am I not doing something? And being a really smart person, it took me about another five years to do that. Um but that individual um was uh Violet Walker um who many of you know and her spirit as the spirit of so many people who have been in this community over the years and continue to give to this community um I think should be an example to all of us and is an example to me to keep giving and you attract more people and the more we attract people to give to our community the better place it

becomes and it will continue to be. So, I thank you. I'm truly humbled by this honor. It's it's really too much. There's so many I see people here who've done so much more than me in this community, but I am truly grateful and and thank you very much, Mercer and Councilman T. Well, you truly deserve my You want to have your daughter come, please? Yeah. My family. Yes, please. My daughter just came from a softball game straight here. So, she so I'm truly honored by that as well. So, Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Good evening. It's my honor and pleasure to recognize Pastor Juan Ooah, who we met earlier. So, we'll just call this Pastor Ooa Knight. Come on up and join me. Pastor Ooa is the driving force behind something called the Isaiah Project. It's a project that takes at risk youth and mentors them, steers them away from drugs and gangs, gives them a purpose in life, feeds them when they're hungry, and takes care of them as only a community can. Uh he's involved in he'd been involved in that for seven years. and he's also involved in things like uh when there was this recent shooting at Applegate Park. Immediately after he decided they're not going to take Applegate Park from us, we're going to take it back and he coordinated a giant effort to uh with the help of Mayor Sorado and who was a great hot dog cooker um take back the park and he had the Isaiah project out there in full force. So I don't see where he has time to actually do anything else because I always see him volunteering for the community. um say a few words about the project.

Yeah, thank you. Thank you for this honor. By the way, we just do what we do and I guess this is just a bonus. So, um it's an afterchool program that is in South Merrced. It's been going on for about over 12 years after a shooting that took place in our community that ended up um having a young boy uh lose his life. Uh we recognize that there's a lot of displaced youth and kids who are just looking for a place to hang out in our community and we just decided to open up our church doors to be able to provide a safe place for kids to play, a a place where kids could just come and just uh have a compassionate ear for people to hear what's going on in their life and feed them and steer them in the right direction. Um, the reason why I'm so passionate about this is because, uh, I was one of those kids who was looking for a place to eat, a place to be mentored, and it just wasn't available. And it led me to the wrong places. It led me to, um, a gang life. And by the grace of God, um I did not have to uh fully go go through that whole process of uh just um reaping what that life gives out. And uh by the grace of God, I have a chance to be able to steer kids in the wrong d that are going in the wrong direction into the right direction. And uh earlier this year, we lost two kids to gang violence in a double murder who were attending our program. and we just ramped up our efforts and says we're just going to do more and more and more and more and we're just not going to stop. So, thank you so much for this honor.

It's my pleasure. Thank you, Mike. Good evening, everybody. I'm Shane Smith representing District 4. I'd like to call up my friend Aaron Lwick, please. So, as Aaron makes her way up here, I think as a lot of people know, I spent four years on the Merced City School District board and I am a dad of a little girl who's still in school. Aaron and I had a chance to work together when Selena, my daughter, was at Burbank Elementary School. And when it came time to think about volunteer of the year for this year, it just occurred to me that we don't recognize enough what parents and parent teacher clubs in particular do for our community and the Merced school district in particular. I mean, think about it. These are the groups that raise funds and provide support for teachers and school campuses so that all kids can have an experience and talk about embodying equity in our school district. parent teacher clubs do all that, but also just practically, you know, how long is our kid in elementary school or junior high and then a principal scrambling to keep staffing the PTC? Well, I would like to introduce you to Erin Ldwick who's the president of the Burbank Parent Teacher Club. She has served over the years on the PTC's, try to get this right at Chennowith, at Shehy, at Hoover, and

Burbank.

Burbank. Thank you. Well, I said Burbank. Um Aaron has been principally involved in a lot of amazing projects. Some of you have seen these things if you drive down Alexander the mural on the side of the campus by Joel. Did I get that right? Um raising funds to improve the quality of the play equipment at the kindergarten and all kinds of other things that Aaron can talk to you about. So I'm just very pleased to have this chance here in 2026 to present this award to Aaron. Congratulations. Um, thank you very much. When you do I don't want to get emotional. When you do something you're passionate about, it's not a job. It's not a volunteer thing. Um, I was really surprised when Shane called me because I just do it because I love it. I have a lot of kids. So, when I was blessed, I have six. Um, I was blessed to stay home and be able to raise my kids. And with that opportunity that God provided for our family, I was going to be involved at school. And so that's what I chose. And when you do something you love, you don't realize how long you do it for. And so Shane's like, "Well, how long have you so?" And then I had to sit down and I had to do the math. And I like really had to do the math. And they do it based on children. And I'm like, "Okay, Georgia started at Burbank in third grade." And I started to work back. She's 20 now and just going all the way. I have almost a 23 year old as well. Um, and I've figured out for Merced City School District, I've served in PTC in a capacity at the different schools for the last 16 years. Um, I have well at Burbank I have at least another six because my youngest is in TK there. So, by the time I'm done at Burbank, I've been at Burbank for 18 years just at Burbank. So, what happens

when you have a lot of kids, um, it's been a pleasure to serve the kids. My kids are taken care of. My job is to be there to advocate for the kids who don't have a voice or don't have somebody to stand up for them. And if we can do that through community and getting parents involved um and just being there for our kids on campus, our kids are the next generation. They're the people sitting in these seats, you know, in the next 20 or 30 years. And our job is to raise good humans. So, thank you guys very much for this one. I appreciate it.

I with my husband and one is at baseball and then the other's at work. Thank you.

It's okay. I got it. Thank you, Shane. All right. Sarah Bole, council member for district 5. And I am honored to bring up Chuck Herman as my volunteer of the year. You pass me church clothes.

For nearly five decades in Merced, Chuck has shown what it truly means to serve others. A 23-year Air Force veteran, he has continued that service right here in our community through countless volunteer efforts. While Chuck is involved in many organizations across Merced County, which are nine, including the Mercedes Rotary, disabled American Veterans, and many others, what stands out most are the ways he consistently shows up for others. Whether it's the Police Activities League, known as PAL, mentoring youth, or helping serve meals at the D Street Shelter, Chuck gives his time where it's needed most. At PAL, Chuck has become an invaluable mentor to youth, helping guide kids not just in athletics, but in life. He has helped secure grants, contributed his own resources, and even started a water donation program to ensure every child has what they need to be need to participate. PAL director Jennifer Shaw says his passion, generosity, and unwavering support make him a cornerstone of Merced. Chuck Herman is truly a vital asset and his contribute contributions have had a profound and lasting influence on the youth in the program as a whole. At the D Street Shelter, he continues to serve our most vulnerable vulnerable residents with the same care and dedication. Chuck's impact spans generations. He coaches he coached youth sports, led a diabetic support group for over a decade, supports senior citizens through one-time assistant programs, and even travels internationally for mission work, including a recent trip to Guatemala. If there's ever if there's a need, Chuck finds a way to help. One of the most meaningful traditions traditions Chuck and his wife, who has since passed, started nearly 40 years ago, is the annual Thanksgiving dinner at the American Legion Hall, which now serves over,300 people each year. He Yes, exactly. Yep. He also started or he also helped start a movement on his

street to display American flags throughout his culde-sac. A simple but powerful way to bring pride and connection to his neighborhood. And I have personally seen it because when I was walking precincts during 2024 campaign, that's one thing I noticed about their neighborhood is all the American flags. Chuck's dedication, consistency, and impact across so many areas in of our community truly reflect the spirit of volunteerism. Chuck, thank you for your years of service and for your continued commitment to making Mercured a better place. We're grateful for you.

I don't know if I can talk now.

I want to I want to thank uh the mayor and the city council, especially uh Sarah Bole. I keep wanting to say Susan, so I have to put in my head. It's Sarah. And uh, as she said, I well, I've I've been volunteering for years, but uh, the last four years since my wife passed away, I had a choice what I was going to do, and the volunteer has kept kept me going, and it's going to keep me going. I uh I tell people that I volunteer mostly for veterans, seniors, and children. But I will volunteer. My hand goes up for anything really. Uh I still got time, but uh I I get as much as much out of what I give to somebody else as they get. I mean, that keeps my life going. Thank you, Sarah. Yeah, come on down. Chuck said he was going to bring a special group of people that way.

Maybe we'll need to get back. Let's go back. You're too popular, Chuck.

Where's Jen? Jen, come out here. Come here. Oh, here comes Sarah. Jennifer, get in here. Oh my gosh.

Hey, we need to talk. I was I'll I'll make a statement though. Mine can't.

Okay. Yeah, I'll just So, I'm Council Mayor Fu Jang. Um, unfortunately, my nominee can't make it today. Um, so to me it just speaks volume of the dedication and time that all of our nominees have put into community work. Uh, so with that, I'm going to have to keep folks in suspense until next time. So I'll pass it back over to you, Matt. All right. All right. Finally, my 2026 uh honore is the Merced County Rescue Mission. If Pastor Bruce, everybody else, come on up. Bring them all up, too. You have two. Let's start.

All right. This one's for the rescue mission in two ways. want everybody knows how important the rescue mission is to this community, to the organization for all the incredible work it does. As mentioned, too, you guys now take over uh the um uh the Thanksgiving Day and the Christmas Eve dinners that Chuck started way back when. Now, these guys trying to back up Chuck. Yeah, it took it takes this whole crew to do what Chuck did way back.

But it's for what the organization does for the community. also what you do for the people in your programs transforming lives uh finding such value in in in in folks who are going through struggles and I've seen it firsthand how what you do to people and how you turn them into some of the best most valuable people uh in this town. I see a lot of them out there tonight. And this one, even more so than that, uh it's for you guys, too, because uh what you do, uh being able to give back, uh share your joy and all the community service that that you guys do while going through the program is exemplary and embodies truly what our our community is about. and it hard to imagine um you know being able to have this town without you everything you guys do uh taking people in some of the most difficult sit circumstances of their lives transforming them and turning them into into great people who have so much to give and so much value um and it's just been an honor to to work with them and serve with them and also to see the great things that you guys do. So, Pastor Bruce, I'll give you guys a chance. Uh, got a lot of good speakers out there, too. So, uh, get the chance to say a few words. And, uh, again, just want to thank you. Uh, you guys do you so much and and in terms of, you know, addressing homelessness and all those issues, too. Uh, you guys are just exceptional and Merced wouldn't be even close to what it is without you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Matt. Well, I I retired about 16 years ago, and it's been my privilege to just be kind of along for the ride with all of these good people and to be in a wonderful town and city where people work together and and I know that the rescue mission is just a small piece in in the big picture because it's all kinds of organizations that are all working together, each doing our part. And it's only as we work together that we can make this happen. And I've shared with Matt and many others, I think we're well on the road to becoming one of the first counties and cities in California to have a zero homeless population. And that's because of the work of everybody together, not just the mission, but but all of you and so many of the other organizations that we partner with. And we're just blessed to be a part of this. And and it takes a real team to make this happen. And thank you team uh for what all of you do and for what we are able to do together and what we're able to do here in the city of Merced and in the county of Merced. God bless us all.

Thank you.

Bring some of the guys up too.

Come on guys. Everybody's going to Thank you. Thank you so much. Right. If folks want to clear out, now's the time. Got about 10 seconds to make a run for it. If not, you're staying with us for the rest of the night till

Thank you everybody.

Man, I thought at least one person would stay, but everybody's making a run for the hills. See why? Okay. Agenda item G, written petitions and communications. Mayor of the clerk's office received emails from Canton Norat and Ashley Marie Sorz regarding agenda item J2 and an email from Strongtowns Merrced regarding agenda item J7. The emails were received by the 1pm deadline, they were sent to council and posted on the city's website. Any emails received after the 1pm deadline will be sent to council. Agenda item H, public comments. Members of the public who wish to speak on any matter not listed on the agenda may speak during this portion of the meeting and will be allotted three minutes. The mayor may propose a further limit to the time available for all speakers at the discretion of the city council in order to accommodate as many speakers as possible. State law prohibits the city council from acting at this meeting on any matter raised during the public comment period. Members of the public who wish to speak on a matter that is listed on the agenda will be called upon to speak during the discussion of that item. And mayor, I

currently have seven request to speak forms.

All right. Council Smith had a show an emergency with his his uh child. He'll be back quickly, please. Okay. You want me to go ahead and proceed and call? Yeah. If you want to call the speakers. Okay. Okay, if I can get the next or the first four speakers to the podium to my left, please. Um, Agie Freeman, Allison Rodriguez, Eric Serado, and Amanda Day.

Aggie, welcome. It's good to see you back.

Thank you, Mayor Serrano. Good evening, council, staff, and Mercedians. My name is Aggie Freeman. I'm the assistant governor for Rotary District 5220. First, um, please join me in congratulating all of the volunteers of the year, uh, including Rotary Club of Mercedes Sunrise member Chuck Herman and Rotary Club of Merced Sunrise member Pastor Bruce. Um, Chuck and Pastor Bruce, they show us what it means to be leaders and to live a life of service, and we're incredibly proud to see their dedication recognized here tonight. um is also Rotary District 5220 under the leadership of Colton Dennis who serves as district speech contest chair had the honor of hosting our annual district speech contest at the MAC the multicultural arts center here in Merrced. It was an afternoon that reminded us all why Rotary exists, not just as a leadership organization, but as a force for inspiration, leadership among our youth in the community and community service. Eight courageous and talented students representing schools from across the Central Valley took the stage. Each one delivered a speech on the theme uh Rotary International theme that went far beyond words. They shared perspective, purpose, and a deep understanding of what it truly means to serve others. They their reflections on Rotary and the impact of service were thoughtful, powerful, and deeply moving. We are celebrating these young, remarkable leaders. Our first place winner, Olivia Brunette from Lynen High School representing Area 2 and Stockton Sunrise Rotary. Olivia will be speaking

at the district leadership event on May 11th. Each of the students demonstrated courage, preparation, and authenticity. They didn't just compete, they inspired every person who was in that room. They are the embodiment of Rotary's commitment to developing the next generation of leaders. And in this room tonight, there are 17 Rotarians from the clubs in the Merced area. I'd also like to send special thanks for Colton Dennis who served his exceptional leadership and for opening the doors of the MAC to host this event with such excellence. And thanks to Denise Wakausski of the Merced Camera Club for capturing this moment and others so we can continue to share them and inspire long after the event ends. This is what Rotary does. We create platforms. We lift voices. we invest in the future in our youth in our veterans and in our community. And based on what we witnessed at the speech contest, I can say with confidence Merced is in good hands. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Agie. Appreciate it.

Welcome. Good evening, mayor, city council members. My name is Allison Rodriguez. You can call me Ally. I am the deputy regional director for the Central Valley for the California Highspeed Rail Authority. Um, I am new to this position. I This is my sixth day on the job and I just wanted to come out here and introduce myself. I look forward to working closely with you all as we get this uh train rolling. Um, and I'm I'll stick around if anyone has any questions. I don't even have business cards yet. I'm that new. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Appreciate it. I ran out of business cards a while ago, too, and they never refilled them. So, Mr. Serado,

good evening, uh, mayor, council, uh, city manager. Uh, my name is Eric Sarato, and I'm the current president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association. Um, shown up here with gratitude. I'd like to thank the city and the mayor and council member Harris for meeting with DNA last week to discuss our priorities for 2026. Uh there were many, but our meeting focused on three. Uh the first was the implementation of quiet zone on the BNSF line, an issue that's been at the top of DNA's list for nearly a decade. It's no surprise that the blaring horns affect not just the quality of life of downtown neighborhoods, but also suppress neighbors property values, the largest single asset that most downtown neighbors hold. We're not aware of any community of Merced and stature that tolerates this kind of noise pollution. And so we shared with you our promise to mobilize around it. We were heartened by the city's commitment to elevate this and that funds set aside for this effort are not in jeopardy of being shifted elsewhere. We stand ready to advocate at the state level if state delays are what's hindering its progress and to continued accountability. Uh we also plan to talk to other cities and community groups that have have resolved this. A second was code enforcement via what DNA calls its dirty dozen. 12 properties, commercial and residential, that are blight on the fabric of our neighborhoods. Commercial properties, including rentals that are shuttered or in disrepair, are a particular issue for us. For residents such as the elderly or others that find themselves out of compliance, we're also assembling a team of volunteers and some spare tools to help bring their yards and buildings up to shape. At our meeting, we handed over this list of 12 properties, and we're going to continue to track their resolution, but we're also looking closely at what we think are some gaps

in existing ordinances, specifically around owners ability to continue to have boarded up windows and have them stay that way indefinitely without any city response. Lastly, we discussed pedestrian safety, the traffic and sidewalk issues that make our neighborhoods less walkable. A number of solutions were talked about along with the sobering reality of limited resources. We get it and so we're thinking about that too. How can we be the wind at your back to partner up and bring some of those walkways uh into shape. But again, we're here to say thank uh thank you and that we're grateful to the city for its coordination for putting this meeting together. I work in government and I know that not all municipalities go the the effort that you've gone to pull together. Uh we know you're busy people with lots of competing priorities and you still brought all those folks together to talk to us. We look forward to coming back in about a month uh to track progress. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Appreciate your advocacy. Okay. Well, mine is a happy announcement, so don't worry. Um, I'm Amanda Dam from the Kuanas Club of Greater Merrced. Have any of you all been to Kitty Land? Yeah. No. Clap. No. Raise your hands. Okay.

So, I want to announce that Kitty Land's official opening day is Saturday, April 25th. We'll have our official ribbon cutting ceremony at 9:30 a.m. with all our city officials and other important people will be there and our members and local donors. And I want to give a special shout out to Chris Jensen, director of parks and wreck, who's worked tirelessly with the Kuanas Club of Greater Merrced and our president Karen Adams and received calls at all hours of the day. Um, I want to thank everyone who helped Kitty Land along this journey. The park will be open to the public at 10:00 a.m. and will be free to everyone. So, I encourage everybody to come. Invite your friends, invite your families, invite everybody. Um, we will, this has been a two plus year journey to revamp the park and a lot of you have been, you know, when's the train going to be ready? When's the train going to be there? It was a lot of work, but we got our electric train here. We have our new path. We have 16ft fence line. We have our rides repainted. We have new signs. It's going to be beautiful and I hope you can all join us. The park has been there since 1957. So, the park will be celebrating about 70 years next year and you I think you can all agree with me it is like the jewel of Merced. Um, it has been serving the children and families of Merced County for many more generations. I hope that we will continue and I want you to check out our website and follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more events. So, thank you and thank you, Mayor Sado.

Thank you. No, it's a remarkable remarkable achievement.

All right, Jennifer, if I can get the next five six speakers. We'll do three. We'll do the first three. Um, can I get Ashley Marie Suarez? Uh, we have one with no name and Blanca O'Hara. All right. Good evening, Ashley.

Good evening, council. Good evening, council members, mayor, city attorney, and city manager. Um, I'd like to thank the city for its efforts in advancing policies aimed at ensuring tenants will live in safe and healthy and habitable housing. Um, I'd specifically like to aim my thanks to the city attorney Cornwell, to Councilman Smith, Councilman Harris, and Councilman Jang and taking the time to listen and speak with community members that have shared a couple of their stories about living in inhabitable housing um, and their concerns with the proposed repeat housing code violators program. It seems that there's a consensus among decision makers and community leaders regarding what direction this policy will head in. Um and so specifically to hold negligent landlords accountable and protect tenants rights to safe and healthy housing. After several community meetings, residents are asking for the following changes. Number one, requiring that the publicly available list or interactive database, whichever uh way this heads in, of the repeat housing code violators program is updated weekly and that the city manager or their designate prepares a quarterly and annual report detailing more than just the number of properties designated as chronic offenders. Two, that all sections of the policy that state within a reasonable period of time are replaced with no longer than 30 days, just to be a little bit more clear. Number three, the penalties are increased to $1,000 per day or something along the lines uh to incentivize folks to comply with um state law. And four, that there is enforcement of the owner paying for tenant relocation assistance such as code enforcement following up with the owner. Assistance such as code enforcement showing up um with the owner would be super helpful in making sure that that right is um executed. The city has a legal obligation to fulfill its requirements under AB838 and AB548. Tenants throughout Merrced experience severe habitability issues and many of

those uh stories go unheard because of the fear of retaliation or because they know their complaints won't really get addressed or they go unanswered. We are working with tenants living in four different apartment complexes that have mold, lead, plumbing issues, and I'm sure there's a lot more complexes that exist in the city of Merced that uh the city is unaware of. um this is an opportunity to address these issues and to ensure that all of the you know residents in Merced are living in safe and habitable housing. So we hope that the city incorporates resident recommendations um that will greatly benefit the community. Thank you for your time. Thank you Ash.

All right. Good evening.

Uh uh yes. Okay. Lovely to meet you. Um yeah, I echo exactly what the previous speaker had said. In addition to this uh anti-slum ordinance, it has no real uh teeth or penalty when it comes to uh exploitative landlords uh putting them in a in a shame list. They have no shame as long as it affects their uh it doesn't affect their bottom line. And uh echoing um uh the habitability issues um according to your own data through Imagine Merrced and Kalen Vyro Screen uh the EPA um there are certain census uh tracks in downtown Merced uh and South Merrced 1302 1401 and 1502 that have some of the worst childhoodled exposure due to housing. Um, and uh, they're in around the 90 or 89%. And these are more often than not renters as well. And uh, there are a lot of kind-hearted people earlier recognized as volunteers. But we also need those volunteers to put that energy towards uh tenant unionization uh cooperative housing and uh in addition to that um the city council's anti-slum ordinance is already flirting with the idea of social housing by having uh by taking away the businesses or the license uh of the uh extremely bad landlords and having a city manager take over the property. At that point it should be given to the tenants themselves and tenant unions themselves. Uh this is what we should be working towards not how can we please our corporatebacked and private equity firms. Um and this affects our uh our previous volunteers as well. A lot of them are farmers and these same private equity entities do not care about the land. They do not care about the soil nor uh the economic harms or impacts that they have. And so all I just have

to say is this these ordinance uh are not far enough. They need uh more accountability, thorough accountability and not just bowing down to private equity uh interests and Wall Street backed land developers that have a very high recusal rate from what I've been hearing. Um in association with a few different committees and uh councils. Uh but yeah, the the people that do the volunteering and the people that do the work are uh extremely well and they don't really know about the odds and ends of that. But uh yeah, thank you for your time. Thank you.

Okay, if I can get the next three speakers. Uh I believe the first name is Adriana, last name is Milan or M I L Len, um Relle Abil, and Y. Okay, Blanca's first. Oh, I'm sorry, Blanca. It's okay. Good.

Uh, good evening, council members. Um, first of all, I want to say, you know, thank you for for um I know it takes a lot of work to like draft off these these these policies. And so, just want to acknowledge the hard work that you all have done and and putting this repeat housing code violator together. Um, second of all, I also want to echo that, you know, there's there's there's always going to be more. you know, the need is so big and I think we've we've talked about it and you have all shared similar sentiments is the need is so big and the resources are so small or scarce. Um and so with that, I just want to say um this is a really good start and what we're hoping is a really good beginning. Um so we will continue to reach out, continue to meet, continue to lift up those needs as organizers and advocates of folks that have, you know, a lot of needs within the community. Um, so you'll continue to hear from us. And then I I also want to say we've been um meeting with a couple of other council members. I understand, you know, the differences of opinion. Um, and so we want to be able to hear from every single one of the council members and have reached out to some of y'all um and are hoping to get a response soon. Um, with that, we I also want to share that we'll be meet we'll be having a community resource fair at the United Methodist Church this Saturday, the 25th from 9:00 a.m. to about 100 p.m. And um, I heard you guys might be a little busy already with a couple of other events, but I just want to throw it out there if you're able to join us. Uh, we will be lifting up this housing ordinance or anti-slum ordinance at around 11:00. Um, so hopefully if you guys are available by then, you guys can join us. Um, would love to see some of you all there. This is a this is a really good start for our community and we look forward to having some of you there. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss. Next speaker. Good evening. Welcome. Good evening. My name is Adrianne Milan. I live at Brookdale Gardens. I just want to thank you for starting the conversation of the policies regarding um some Lords and I hope we continue to work together. Thank you. Thank you very much.

All right, Michelle. Good evening.

Good evening, mayor, city council members, residents Merced. Um, I didn't know what was going to be at this city council meeting, but to see that we have a lot of volunteers that are doing work in the city, that's awesome to hear. Um, but it it seems like the volunteers are getting all the praise and the city's not doing anything. I'm not saying you're not, but I don't hear any praise going out for the city. So, I think the city's got to step up a little more. you know, the crime rate, the homelessness, all these different things that are going on. The city has to be able to uh attack it. Volunteers can only do so much. And a volunteer is that I volunteered in Merced from 20 uh 2000 to 2015. I loved every bit of it. I'd do it again if we could make the same difference and changes in people's lives, youth's lives, if it had to be. However, the city has to step up. You guys got to find out where you can allocate money to put for youth services. Again, last week, last month, we had murders in Merrced. Whether it be Livingston, whether it be Planata, we are having too many murders in Merced with young people because there's no activity for young people. all the activities going into uh bars, you got getting all kind of tire shops and restaurants. What are we doing for our youth to save our youth? It's evident that there's nothing out there for them. And I'm talking about the ages of 11 to 17. We have to get something for them. They're crying out, but they're crying out in the wrong way. They're giving attention to what is in front of them. So, let's get some positive uh uh activities in front of them. One

thing we did with our youth uh program and match, you know, all about Mojo. We had those youth doing positive things and without even telling them they're doing positive things, they were doing it cuz our saying was if you give a youth something positive to do, what will they do? Most adults can't answer that question, but the youth can and it's positive. So, we got to think strate uh we got to think some some strategy that's going to help do something different because what you guys are doing it's not working. And I'm not saying you're not working on it. I'm not saying you're not doing anything. But we got to figure out something else. Something else that's going to help save the youth. I have a granddaughter here that's going to be 18 in August. I have a grandson that's 20, getting ready to be 21. I have younger grandchildren. We have to do something and and I'm sure some of you have uh grandchildren and children young too. We got to do something. We shouldn't be in fear of our kids walking to bus stops or walking to schools every day or even going to a grocery store.

Thank you. Show Jennifer. Anyone else? Mayor, I do have a request to speak form from an Iran Mendoza, but it doesn't indicate what item they wanted to speak on. Okay. If I see Irvin. Irvin. Okay. No, I don't see him. Okay. So, that's all we have for public comment then. Thank you. Oh, we got might have one more.

All righty. Even Mayor, council, city of Merced. Apologies for forgetting to submit my forget to speak uh my uh request to speak form. My fellow I think I need more coffee. But evening mayor, city council, city of Merced. My name is Karth Prasad here on behalf of Congressman Adam Gray with a quick very quick little legislative update from Washington. Um a huge discussion that's actually happening in DC that's often under reportported is the ongoing effort to modernize our nation's permitting process. A system that's often stalled a lot of projects our community needs. And to that end, uh, last week the congressman helped introduce the create expedited reviews to transform American Infrastructure Now Act, which is a mouthful, which is why we've shortened it to the CERT act. It's a bipartisan bill that would simplify the permitting process for infrastructure development by streamlining approval timelines and requiring federal agencies uh to review all projects fairly and transparently transparently. Previously, the congressman played a very key role in a bipartisan group that advanced another permitting reform bill, the speed act, through the House Natural Resources Committee. Uh however, unfortunately, when the bill reached the House floor, uh that provision, a provision was added that significantly weakened uh the congressman's own uh language on peritting certainty for energy projects. And while the speed act has since advanced to the Senate, it has since stalled. Um, the certain act builds on that language to continue bipartisan biccameal negotiations on permitting reform. And as always, if any members of the council or members of the public present know anyone who has any issues with any federal agency, feel free to send them our way. We're happy to help. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Brasad. Appreciate the update as always. Jennifer, anyone else? That is all we have, Mayor. Okay. On to consent. Okay. Agenda item I consent calendar. All right. Any members of the council wish to have any items pulled for separate consideration? Any members of the public? Uh Jennifer, any request uh to pull items from the public? We do have one from Gloria Sandaval regarding agenda item I5. Okay. It's the Shannon Parcade Elevator uh expense. Okay. And that's it. Just that one. Discussion or a motion with respect to the balance.

Motion second. Boille Dupont. I have a motion by Mayor Prom Bole and a second by council member Dupont. Mayor and councel, please cast your votes. Okay, the motion passes unanimously. Okay. All right, Miss Sandival, uh, taking us to I5, your request to pull the item for questions or discussion and for the public's edification. This is a $431,67363 expense for the elevator and the Shannon parcade. Yes. Good.

Um I thought I'd I' I'd say a few comments on this item because I don't I it's a 40page, you know, I really feel for you. I have to prepare for the meetings here. But I did not read the whole thing. The thing that attracted me was the, you know, the the amount of money that you're about to spend, $431,67363. But I also focus on another section and um it's on the page nine. Um no, take it back. It's on on the page um 10 that says work not included. And so I was kind of curious that even after that big, you know, um amount that's about to be uh put out um it it went it went on and said that at the time of the initial inspection, the below conditions were satisfactory. Well, it says that there are certain items that are not included in this proposal, many of which must be contemp completed by purchaser prior to and as condition president to TK elevator's performance of its work as described in this proposal. So, it goes on. So, there's quite a long list. So, I was wondering what extra money is going to come out of that. And you know the main thing that I was attracted to is it's an elevator and a parking structure right and I've mentioned this before about Al Capitan Hotel having certain restricted spaces that I've mentioned that I have not found parking there in other times. I have not even tried anymore because I know that if we we do take a space we could be ticketed but yet it's empty. Okay. And I know at the same time El

Capitan also has the valet parking right off of the the hotel. So uh my question is how much of this is going to be covered you know by El Capitan since a lot of the spaces are taken by them. I don't know what arrangements you have with them but that's that's my question to you. Thank you.

Thank you Gloria. Hi. Uh, so I'm Cosmo Dunes, uh, the, uh, manager for internal services. Um the project uh is to bring the elevators up to code essentially um to because right now they're working not working um but to do the work on them they have to be brought up to code. So it's not just the um the elevator themselves uh but it's to make them safer um uh make sure that whatever work is done is meets the modern code because they they somewhat outdated, but any work that needs to be done now has to be updated. Um, as far as the things that are not included, um, I don't have the proposal in front of me, but as far as the work and the funding that's allocated towards that, it should be enough to cover anything that's that's not on the proposal.

Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Uh, is there anything that you want me to cover anymore? uh just it so kind of going back over it was more just to bring the elevators um make them safer and but any work that has to be done has to meet the modern codes now. So um because they're kind of hit and miss as far as when they're working because they're old and components are no longer available. That's kind of why we're trying to do this project, you know, um obviously to help people that can't walk up the ramps, you know, that need to get to their vehicles. um you know not just for the hotel but you know uh for the public as well.

Thank you. Mr. Rig,

good evening. Um I just wanted to uh respond as far as the funding. So the the funding is coming from the parking authority funds and facility funds. And typically the way we receive money with the parking authority is the funding um that Alcat pays for the spaces in the parking garage and then also um the spaces that are rented out on um the Merced garage which is in West America. So that's how we receive funding and so the bulk of the money the 300,000 is coming from those funds. I couldn't I don't know specifically right now how much ALCAP pays as far as the contract. Um but we do have a contract where they do pay for that funding. Um and then the other portion is coming from facilities um fund which is really um uh all departments pay into this fund. Um and so all of the departments are helping to pay for this.

Any questions for Cosmo Venus and Cosmo? just to summarize the um if you could answer if somebody said you know why even make this expenditure what's the purpose of doing this you mentioned earlier about access and those kind of issues but why why is this important

uh it's important because of I'm sure you've been into the parking garage elevators um majority of time are out of service uh a lot of it is due to vandalism so the upgrades will deal with uh uh making uh vandalism um harder with the components that they're putting in, but any work done to that uh has to upgrade the fire system. So, we're upgrading the safety part of it. Um the uh the fire suppression system on each floor um to help with that to make sure that those lockdowns are in in uh in working order. Um, and you know, because of the hotels right next to it and people park there on different levels, um, you know, going up the stairs isn't easy for everybody. So, having the working elevator is essential, you know, for people visiting the city.

Additional questions. Um so just to the point that the speaker made with regards to all the linguish um stating that the purchaser shall provide the following are those items in which the city of Merrced will be doing prior to installation of the new elevator. Yeah, I think it's basically um once they start getting into they're focusing on the elevator, the carts themselves, the hydraulics um outside components uh that they've listed, then yeah, we'll have to uh make sure that that work is completed prior or in tandem with when the work is being done. Is that what are we anticipating any cost with regards to that outside of our normal maintenance or budget for this project that's outside of this contract?

Outside this No. Okay. Additional questions, discussion, or a motion? Motion. Got a motion and a second. If you would like to give a uh comment, you have to fill out the green request to speak form. So, we have a motion. Is there a second? Second.

Okay, we have a motion second. Harrison Tao pending discussion. Uh, one singular question. Um, just how much does or does the elevator actually cost? Like what's the cost of equipment versus labor? Like we we want you to break, you know, make good end, but you know, yeah, I echo the cost sounds kind of high. So accountability and clarity would be preferred. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you for your service. You will answer that briefly, Custom. Um, so I don't have the proposal in front of me, so I couldn't tell you exactly um the cost for parts and labor u to break that apart. I couldn't I couldn't give that. Okay, we can follow up afterwards, too. Elevators are not cheap. Elevators are and they have to work right. So, you have to do them at a very high standard. So, um if not, it could cause a lot of problems. Okay. Have a motion and a second. Okay. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead, Jen.

I have a motion by council member Harris and a second by council member Tao. Mayor and council, please cast your votes. Okay, the motion passes unanimously. Onto our action items. Mayor, if I may, can we take the report item prior to action item? Um, it's a report on SB77 and then one of our first action items kind of is about 707, but it's good to be informed first by two.

Okay. So, on request on motion of the uh assistant city clerk, we'll move our reports, that's K on our agenda, uh and K1 specifically, up ahead of our action items. And we have M. Lucas and Mr. Benhoff.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Madame Mayor Proim, Council members, Mr. City Manager, and Mr. City Attorney Rhonda Lucas. And as promised or threatened, I am back to talk some more about SB77. Um, as you know, we went over this uh two weeks ago. Brown Act applies to local governments and the key to the Brown Act is that all meetings be noticed, open, and public and it ensures the right of the public to participate. Um, under the Brown Act, we're going to go back to this legislative body definition. A legislative body is defined as you, the city council, and a whole host of subsidiary bodies that um you form, including potentially standing committees. um any entity really that is doing uh business on behalf of the city or in furtherance of of the city government. And the reason this matters is because the bulk of last presentation on April 6th pertained to you, the city council, because um SP77 broke out this definition under eligible legislative body. With the exception of the last few slides, everything we're going to talk about tonight applies to all or potentially applies to all of our legislative bodies. So, all of our boards, commissions, standing committees, etc. Um, we talked about the three tracks. Um, we went over all of the fun miscellaneous changes and the elig eligible legislative body changes. And tonight I am back to talk to you specifically about the teleconferencing rules um and changes to those rules

within SB77. Um I want to be clear that we're going to go over these five listed in um pretty decent detail. There are others that we're not talking about because they simply don't apply to the city of Merced. And specifically those are teleconferencing rules for health authorities. That's a very specific definition in the government code. We don't qualify. Neighborhood councils, same thing. Uh community college student body, student associations, excuse me. Obviously, we're not one of those. And lastly, multi-jurisdictional bodies. The city council for the city of Merrced is clearly not a multi-jurisdictional body. I would say that to the extent any of you or any of our other members on other legislative bodies for the city are members of a joint power authority that is a multi-jurisdictional legislative body. So if the joint power authority wants to proceed under the teleconferencing rules applicable to it, I would just encourage you to contact the city attorney's office so that we can do the analysis on a case-byase basis. Um first and foremost, we're going to call it traditional teleconferencing. This is the teleconferencing rules that prior to COVID um we all operated under. Um if any member of the body wanted to participate remotely um the agenda had to be posted at both the city council chambers and wherever that remote participant was occurring. Um, in addition, that remote location also had to be open to and accessible to the public. So, for example, if one of you

were at a hotel doing city business, but you still wanted to participate in the city council meeting, you could as long as we worked with the city clerk's office, the agenda noticed that you would be participating, the room you would be participating from, and those agendas had to be posted. both our normal process and in that for example hotel room and then the hotel room had to be open to the public. Um it says new rule because they made changes so I'm not going to highlight them but it it's pretty much what you're used to. Um remote member participation does not count toward a quorum votes under this scenario. If any one of you is participating uh under the traditional teleconference rules must be done um via roll call on this one. You this city council member participating remotely can still simply call in. You can use your cell phone. It's it's not the two-way audio visual or two-way telephonic with live feed that we discussed the other night. Um, you do not have to disclose if anybody is in the room with you. And um, the public though has to be able to watch the remote participant via a two-way audiovisisual platform or a two-way telephonic service and live webcasting. So much like we do when we have remote presenters, you would appear in the bottom of the screen somehow through Jeff's magical it and um the public could see that you were participating. Not a lot of major changes there. Um but that's our new rules under 707. On to the next one. And again, this applies to

all of our subsidiary bodies as well as you, the city council. Reasonable accommodation teleconferencing in 2021, I believe, might be 22. Um the attorney general came out with a opinion um dealing with how what cities or local governments had to do for a member of the legislative body um that had a disability that qualified under the Americans with Disability Act. SB77 essentially took that attorney general's opinion and codified it at government code 54953 subc. In this scenario, if one of our members of any of our legislative bodies has a disability of some type um as defined in the Americans with Disability Act, we the city must reasonably accommodate their request to participate including remote participation. Um, and the limit on if you're under the reasonable accommodation teleconferencing, you can use that for an unlimited amount of time so long as the dis qualifying disability is still in effect. Um, remote member participation does count toward a quorum. Um, again, roll call vote has to occur. Unlike uh traditional teleconferencing there needs to be a two-way audiovisisual platform. The only exception to this is um for the member the only exception to this is if the disability is such that it prevents you from appearing on the audiovisisual platform then obviously we accommodate that and you don't have to

you do have to disclose. So, let's say I'm a council member and I fall under this. I can do it from my house. I can do it from wherever. It does not have to be open to the public. The agenda doesn't have to be posted publicly. But if there's somebody in the room with me while the meeting is taking place, I need to disclose the presence of anybody in the room who's over the age of 18 and generally explain their relationship to me, the member. Um, interestingly for this one, for the public access, um, we are not required or the legislative body is not required to make remote public participation available under this provision unless we're dealing with you, the city council. So, planning commission, parks and wreck, all of our other commissions and boards would not have to have remote public participation, but you, the city council, do and that is consistent with the heightened requirements for you as an eligible legislative body. Um, on to the next slide, teleconferencing general provisions. So we talked about two teleconferencing rules that were under um the different version of the government code. The government code SB77 then created a whole new government code 54953.8 that has broad teleconferencing provisions for emergency circumstances just causes and eligible subsidiary bodies. These apply to all three of those subsections. And then within the government code, there are subsections under 08,8.1.8.2, etc. that we'll get into in more detail

once we go over the general provisions for teleconferencing by members in either emergency circumstances, just cause or for eligible subsidiary bodies. Um, we have to allow the public to remotely hear and visually observe the meeting and address the legislative body by either two-way audiovisisual platform or a two-way telephonic service and live webcasting of the meeting. Um, we have to on the agenda give notice to the public of the means by which the public can access the meeting and offer public comment in our agenda. So very similar to the notice that is at the top of our agenda now and we have to identify how all persons can attend via call-in option or internetbased service option. Importantly, if anybody um or commission, city council, anybody is participating under any of these three teleconferencing provisions and there is a disruption of service for the feed to the public. So, not the members feed in, but the feed to the public, the meeting has to stop. And unlike what we talked about last time with the tech disruption policy, the meeting has to stop. If the service error or difficulty is not fixed within an hour, the meeting is over. You cannot reconvene and do a finding that the public interest is outweighed by continuing the meeting. um and failing to end the meeting when there is this tech disruption that we cannot resolve within an hour um could void your actions. So if we have one member uh

participating via teleconference and we have a tech disruption, the meeting ends if we can't fix it. And these provisions apply to everything else we're about to talk about. So what is a state of emergency? local emergency teleconferencing if there is a proclaimed state of emergency I think that is pretty self-explanatory also if there is a local emergency so for example um the flooding that we've had unfortunately within the city of Merrced if the state hadn't declared a state of emergency but we needed to meet the local governing body you the city council could declare a local state of emergency that then allows us to proceed all of our legislative bodies under um this teleconferencing rule. Obviously there is oh and the finding of the local emergency needs to be renewed every 45 days if in fact it still exists. Um there's no limit to how many times we can use this teleconferencing provision. Um, again, the remote participation does count toward a quorum. That sort of makes sense. If we're in a true emergency, people probably can't get in. Um, vote has to be via roll call. The method for the member participation has to be 2-way telephonic with live webcast or or no, I'm sorry, just 2-way telephonic. You don't have to broadcast via the web or 2-way audio visual. Again, you have to do a disclosure if anyone is uh over 18 in the room with you while you are participating in the meeting. And um on this one, there is no need for the legislative body to provide a physical location from which the

public may attend or comment. And for the public, we can choose two-way telephonic service without live webcasting of the meeting for public participation. Again, the thought behind this is if we're in an emergency, perhaps those services wouldn't be available and you still need to conduct the business of the local government. Just cause teleconferencing. SB77 expanded existing just cause um scenarios. So the seven listed here are the only situations under which you could have a just cause teleconferencing. um physical or family medical emergency, child or caregiving need, contagious illness, travel with while on official business of the legislative body, and immuno compromised family member, military service obligations that require the member to be at least 50 miles outside the city of Merced's boundaries or a physical or mental condition that wouldn't qualify under the second teleconferencing rule we talked about, the reasonable accommodation. Um the requesting member must disclose to the city and to the legislative body at the earliest possible opportunity why they have feel they have a need for a just clause and the reason must be recorded in the minutes. This one does have a limit. So if we're talking about many if not all of our commissions and boards that only meet once a month, you can only use Just Cause. A single member can only use just cause for two meetings. You the city council meet twice a month. So one of you could uh use this each individual could use this up to five meetings per year. Um your remote participation does not count toward a quorum.

The vote again has to be roll call. The method for you the member to participate is two-way telephonic or two-way audio visual. Again, you have to do that same disclosure. If you are uh remotely participating and someone over 18 is in the room, you have to disclose it on to the public and explain your general relationship. And um with this one, there does have to be a single phys physical location identified on the agenda within the boundaries of the legislative body. So, for example, we would still have to have council chambers open if one of you was participating under this one. The last one is my favorite. Eligible subsidiary body teleconferencing. Not to be confused with eligible legislative bodies. Um, an eligible subsidiary body means a commission, committee, board, or other body of a local agency, whether permanent or temporary, created by charter, ordinance, resolution, or formal action of a legislative body that serves exclusively in an advisory capacity. is not authorized to take final action on legislation, regulations, contracts, licenses, permits, or any other entitlements, grants, or allocations of funds. does and does not have primary subject matter jurisdiction as defined by the charter, an ordinance, a resolution, or any formal action of the city council that focuses on elections, budgets, police oversight, privacy, removing from or restricting access to materials available in public libraries, or taxes or relating related spending proposals.

So, this applies to all of your subsidiary bodies under city council if they meet all of those requirements. And I'm not going to quiz you at the end. I'm going to tell you the ones that we at city council as of right now think or as city attorney right now think uh that to which this applies. For an eligible subsidiary body, they can meet possibly entirely remotely, via teleconference, or some combination of members meeting remotely and in person if you, the city council, authorize the use of teleconferencing for each of the respective subsidiary bodies that qualify and renew that authorization via vote every six months. by finding that in consideration of the circumstances of the eligible legislative body, teleconference meetings would enhance public access to the eligible subsidiary bodies meetings and the public has been made aware of the type of remote participation available including audiovisisual or telephonic. And lastly, the public has been provided the opportunity to comment at an in-person meeting of the city council where the authorized eligible subsidiary body to meet entirely or in some combination of entirely remotely or some combination of remote and in person is considered. For this one, I would recommend the city attorney's office would recommend that to the extent we find our eligible subsidiary bodies making this request to us. You should consider each subsidiary body independently in order to make that finding. The art commission, for example, may have different factual

situations than the bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee. Um, and you need to make the finding for each one individually. Um, again, this finding must be renewed every 6 months and you can revoke this finding and this permission at any time. So, you try it, it doesn't work out, you can revoke it. Um, so what's it mean? If you allow your eligible subsidiary bodies to meet because you've made the finding and they get to meet teleconferency or under these teleconferencing rules, um they could meet entirely remotely or some combination. Then the finding has to be made and adopted by the city council and renewed every six months. Obviously, there is no limit for the remote participation. The remote member participant does count toward a quorum. The votes have to be roll call. The members participating have to be two-way audiovisisual. Um again, the disclosure we've we've seen in every single one. Importantly, a physical location has to be designated within the city's sub boundaries where subsidiary body members who are not participating remotely must be present and where members of the public may physically attend and at least one staff member has to be present at that physical location regardless during the time of the meeting. So even if all of the body is participating from home, the and we use this room for example, it will still have to be staffed. We will have to set everything up and the public can come in. It's just that the members

don't have to come in and be here in person under this um granting of authority. Um and the agenda shall be posted at the physical location. So, in the example here at city hall or in council chambers, but obviously it does not need to be posted at each of the individual members remote locations. Um, if an elected person, you, the city council member, serves on the eligible subsidiary body, you cannot avail yourself to the opportunity of remote participation. Um, you must appear in person at the designated physical location. And if you, the city council, allow any eligible subsidiary bodies to take advantage of this provision, you must then establish and adopt procedures for acting on any recommendation coming from the eligible legislative body. Obviously, we at the city attorney's office have not even begun to think about drafting those procedures for you to consider adopting because we we're going to need to know what eligible subsidiary bodies, if any, you would like to make these findings for. Now, the fun part. What are your eligible subsidiary bodies? At this time, it is the city attorney office's opinion that the only eligible subsidiary bodies are your arts and culture advisory commission, bicycle and pedestrian advisory commission, recreation and parks commission, regional airport authority, and citizen advisory focus group. And let me know if you want me to list those again.

That's the fun world of SB77 teleconferencing requirements and I am happy to take any questions or comments at this time. Thank you, Ron. Any questions for our chief deputy city attorney? Council member Smith. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Miss Lucas, thank you for the presentation part two. Thank you. Um, I guess my first question is kind of a threshold question. Uh, are we sure this applies to us?

What? So, we're a charter city, right? Yes. Yes, sir. I mean, I'm just exploring this with I don't have to be right. But charter cities have supreme authority over their own municipal affairs. Yes. Even as the state law, right? Including how tax dollars are spent, how we operate as a subgovernmental unit. Is there any analysis or is there any push back like from the League of Cities under that kind of a theory?

No. Um, I I think it has been well accepted and established that the Brown Act, broadly speaking, applies to all local governments, including charter cities. This is a revision to the Brown Act. Um, and it applies.

Well, that was the original Brown Act. It seems to me that this is a new thing with the same name. I think that there will be lots of very interesting challenges and legal opinions and and and evolution. We don't have them yet. People are assuming they have to comply and um there's been side conversations I'm aware of, but none of them have gained root. And at this point, the consensus is broadly speaking, yes, this change to the Brown Act applies to everybody.

Okay, we'll leave it at that for now. Um, this reminds me a lot of the pandemic days when I was on the Merced City School District board. Um, and two and three hours of public comment online was, I don't think, very constructive. But your reading of the Brown Act, is it that all the usual provisions apply that if you're going to allow public comment, it has to be equally applicable to everybody?

Actually, yes. Unequivocally, um, you still have, consistent with your questioning from the last meeting, you, the city council, still have the ability to set limits on um public comment. For example, if you have so many speakers, you can go from 3 minutes to 2 minutes or 1 minute. I would advise you to do those well in advance. But but whatever limits you place have to equally be applied, council member Jeang, to your question to both the in-person participants and the remote participants. So, for example, you decide you're going to limit public, and I'm just making this up. This is just a hypothetical, but you have a policy in place that says if we have more than 15 speakers, both remote and um in person, we're going to limit general public comment to 30 minutes. You can do that, but you have to then divide that 30 minutes equally between 15 for private or 15 for in-person, 15 for remote.

Yeah, I mean, I would expect it to be equal between the two groups of participants. It's good to know that we still at least have some choice in what the limits are for everybody. So, I appreciate your presentation. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank anybody else. Okay, Jennifer, anything from the public? We do have one. Um, they did not put their name on the green request to speak form, though.

Did I not? It doesn't look like your handwriting. We have two. We have two. Oh, so I did one. Not for I don't have one for you. I have one for J1. This is for K1. Oh, this is K. Yeah. Oh, my bad. Sorry. It was for J1. No. Okay. But I did put one for for J1. J1. Sorry, I was outside. No, it's okay.

Uh, thank you, city's attorney, for laying that uh presentation out pretty clearly. I just have a few questions. Um, is there any language that uh would uh uh limit how long it takes for regular rescheduling due to tech issues to prevent uh council from just cancing a meeting um and never rescheduling it to the public? Uh, another one, what constitutes an emergency or state of emergency that would allow them to have uh full say over what happens into the city council without entering for the public? uh you mentioned it was renewed every five or 45 days. Um also during the state of emergency is public uh guaranteed virtual accessibility because even in times of emergency we want to have transparency and accountability. And then what are some reasons to revoke said finding cuz you had mentioned a few different um councils that you suggested as the city attorney would should be accessible to the public and arts and culture, biking, rerecks, airport and the citizen advisory focus group which particularly focuses on uh equitability and land development in Merced. So yes, a lot of questions but excited to hear the answers. Okay, thank you. Ashley had a comment on this one as well.

Yeah, I might as well. Sorry.

Good evening. Um to uh the point that was made in the presentation regarding um limiting time or you know as a council deciding um to equally apply any restrictions for in person and remotely regarding the number of participants. I wanted to just acknowledge that a lot of community members that would like to be here but aren't here because of language barrier reasons or because of their busy schedules or their fear of public speaking would definitely like to participate virtually whether that's you know submitting a comment online or participating by speaking you know on you know their end over the phone um and would greatly benefit from having the complete threeinut aotted time. And so we're asking that um council not move forward with limiting the time for residents to speak remotely to less than 3 minutes. Um and that that also doesn't is not impacted by their right to the allotted time regardless of how many people are present because I think this would greatly encourage participation remotely and that is something that this council could definitely benefit from. Um, also, you know, just making sure that folks feel comfortable and confident participating in and being civically engaged is super important. And, um, I just wanted to address, um, Councilman Smith's comment about how it was a little not constructive to have so many folks, you know, call in either by voicemail or participate online and feel like there's just a overwhelming amount of comments. But that's the whole point of being involved with um community and representing your uh constituents, making sure that you're taking the time to listen to all the folks that have something to say. Um and I understand that there might be like a reason to restrict comments to 30 minutes and then leave the rest to the end of the meeting, but just like you all are tired and would like to go home, there's probably going to be a lot of people logging off if you restrict comments

instead of staying at the end of the meeting to make their comment. if you do limit that time. And so I just wanted you all to be in consideration of that. Thank you. Thank you, Ashley. Jennifer, any other public comments? I don't believe so, mayor.

Okay, Jeffy Lucas, do you need anything from us? Um, at this time I think um I would ask you if you have any questions or want more details, reach out to us, use us. That's what we're here for. And keep in mind Jeff's about to present in very short order. Um, some of what we know we have to do in order to meet the July 1 deadline. um on a tech side specifically for the you the city council. We went into this under the assumption that um you would meet the requirements of SB77 i.e. the remote participation requirement would apply to city council uh because that's the only one for which it's required for every meeting. If there is a desire on the part of city council to go above and beyond what is in 707 requirements, um, just keep in mind, and I know Jeff's probably going to speak to this, that depending on what it is, could change our ask. It could change our technology needs. It could change, frankly, the cost associated with this. So robust dialogue at every step as we all try and um train our staff and and get ready for um the new world of 707 compliance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you. Thank you. All right, Mr. Benny Hoff. Uh we're just going to switch presentations here real quick. Any call it or anything? Yes. Yeah. T's right there. K1.

No, you're good.

Uh, so I'm going to kind of piggy back on where Rhonda left off. We're going to talk about the technology components required to implement SB77 and all the items that kind of go with that. Uh, so with that, I want to bring forward what am I asking for tonight. So, what I'm asking for tonight is the authority to purchase the required uh technology items, get your direction on the optional technology items, and then the authority to purchase it. So, that would be waving the bid due to standardization and cooperative agreements, but also approving a supplemental appropriation and include and doing a change order for a contract and adding dollars into a contract that was already approved in July. Uh so with this this was a five vote item and it's affirmed to five votes not five notes that I actually I just see. Uh so A flat, B, C, C sharp and D. Uh the notes. Um uh so the items that were required to purchase I'm mainly going to focus on the optional. The required items that we need to purchase are remote registration and Q management system. So this is what's going to allow the remote participants to be able to dial into the system and speak on a particular item. They want to speak on item J1, K3, I4, or they want to speak on multiple agenda items. So we need a way to cue those people in a logical order and put them into acute so then they we can bring them in to the system remotely so they can speak. One of the other components that we need to buy is we need to buy equipment for offsite use. So town halls are a component of SB77. So we need to enable the remote participation at town halls which will require additional equipment. One of the other required items is we need a mechanism to maintain and monitor the stream. So if we do have a technology disruption failure that the IT department can inform the clerk's department to inform the chair that we need to take a recess. So these are kind of the required items to meet the bare minimums of SB77.

And with that, you kind of see where there says a PEG fund and support services fund. I'll get into that a second. And then the optional items. So there's a whole bunch of optional items. We are not required to do these items. These items will just make the meeting run more efficiently. And you can choose to b do any number of these or none of these. So I'm kind of seeking is council would like to do any of these things. And so with this, so there's two components of funding that we're using. We're using PEG fund, public education and government fund. This is a very specific fund that is used for audiovisisual technologies only. So to to enable audiovisisual systems for example in the council chambers that's the sole use for this fund. The support services fund is the internal service fund used by the IT department, the HR department, the insurance department is the internal service fund. So we're kind of breaking out the costs across these two funds. And Rhonda was mentioning an impact perspective. So for my department, the impact operationally to implement SB77 from a staff perspective is actually really dimminimous. We're talking about $1,600 a year in overtime cost to my department. All of the costs that I'm going to talk about are really capital expenditures that that need to be implemented to be able to use these technologies. So with that being said, I want to mention that that's it cost. There's going to be a separate depending upon what you choose to do, a separate potential cost on the clerk's side. So, I just want to make sure that we're clear. This is my staff cost related to overtime. So, the total cost if you guys choose to move forward with all the required items and all the optional items is $123,000 and some change of which $100,000 approximately is in PEG funds and 21,000 is in support services funds. So, I'm going to kind of go through some of the optional items now one at a time. So, kind of tell you about each item. Do

we want to do these items? So, the first item is um to make the council chambers, this room available to third-party government organizations that may have SB77 compliance themselves. MCAG, MID, the California Transportation Commission. We host those third party entities in this room from time to time. Some it could be six months, it could be a year, it it varies dramatically in terms of the other governmental organizations. So the currently the technology in place we don't have a way to facilitate them to be able to have SB77 compliant meetings. So we would need to expand approximately $17,000 of PEG funds to be able to enable them to do that. With that being said, we do not have a recovery fee currently to recoup those costs. With that being said, we could choose to change the policy if you would like to recoup those costs on those government entities. Um so this is kind of the first item of the optional items to to for SB77. The next one is an asynchronous public comment portal. So what do I mean by that? So this is a a mechanism so cit citizens can go to the website and they can see the agenda. So this is a mechanism where they can post written comment kind of like how we currently do email but it's going to flow into the agenda system. So it's a little bit more exposed per agenda item extend instead of on the website being a separate external link that has the email comments. So it be inline written communications and this would allow people that were couldn't make the meeting or has a conflict or maybe doesn't like to do public speaking to do written comment. Uh so this is a $1,900 cost. Uh video production and streaming systems. So, as we're making all of these changes, we have a project coming up next fiscal year to replace the video streaming system. Uh, that's a $48,000 expense. It's reaching its end of life. So, we'd like to, if we so choose to do

these other option items, we probably want to do this item to do the projects at the same time. Uh, agenda item display system. So, this is a component to allow the remote party and in person to know what agenda item we're currently speaking on. So, if we have somebody, we have 50 agenda items and we have a remote participant and they come into the meeting at what time is it right now? 7 o'clock, let's say. They don't know what agenda item we're on. They don't know when they're when they're going to be able to speak. So, this will put an item on the agenda, uh, YouTube stream, Granicus stream, cable TV stream to say we are currently on agenda item I, uh, what are we on? J1. So, then they'll know, oh, I'm the next up. I'm the next agenda item. So, then we'll put them next to the TVs. So that people in room will also know what agenda item we're on. So this will facilitate them to know okay my item is three items from now. So they can know which item is coming up next. Uh the remote public countdown timer. So this is another optional item. So currently when we have a person that were remote speaks they do not see the countdown timer consistently. So the three minute clock for example for a public comment. So this will make it so it's consistently appears for the remote party to know how much time they have left to speak. And then it'll also make the buzzer integrate into the system. So when their time is up, they'll actually hear the buzzer to know that their time is up. And the last one is to enable the SAM pipes room, which is the room directly below us, to meet the minimum obligations of SP77 remote. So if we need to do construction in this room or maintenance in this room or we have a double booking in this room that we can facilitate another SB77 meeting downstairs. Now that meets the bare minimum qualifications. It's not going to be the the high quality video that you see the high quality audio video streams. It it's what will allow us to

meet the bare requirements. Uh but it will facilitate us having that meeting. So with that I these are the required items and the optional items. So I want to just reiterate that the support services fund versus the PEG fund. The PEG fund is exclusively used for audiovisisual technology. It can only be used for that purpose and to install capital related to audiovisisual technology. That is the sole use for this fund. That's and that can cover $87,000 of it. The remaining part of this project would be $21,000 which would come from the unreserved unencumbered fund balance of fund 7008 support services. With that, I'll kind of stop here and let you ask questions that you maybe have about the optional items and kind of see do you want all the option items? Do you want options 1, three, and five? Uh to kind of seek direction in terms of what you'd like to see in terms of optional items. Okay.

Thank you, Jeff. Thank you for your presentation. Thank you for your hard work uh on this topic. Council Harris. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Jeff, for your presentation. Um, two questions involving the use of the council chambers for other groups. Um, why would it be different than if we were sitting here? What makes it different when another group comes in? So, we need to use the technology in the back room that's set up to allow us to stream on our social media feeds. We wouldn't want third party governmental entities using our technology that could potentially stream on our channels. So, it's kind of separating that level of service between that system and a separate system to allow them to stream to their social medias to meet their compliance obligations.

Okay. And I think the amount was around 16,000. Uh, correct. 16469 and that's a one-time cost. Correct. That's Thank you. Out of all sorry, out of all of these, there is only one reoccurring cost. That is the asynchronous public comment portal. Uh, that's that's 1901. That that's a prrated cost. The annualized cost is I believe 2801. Right. Thank you very much. Okay. Council Dupont. Thank you Jeff for the presentation. Um to the council chambers's third party use. You had stated that we currently don't recoup funds for them using the facilities. Is that correct?

That's my understanding. Okay. And we would have to change that policy to rec recoup those funding. um or those funds used to use the third party. Is that correct? If we wanted to charge for room rental room reservations. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Council Smith. Thank you, Jeeoff. On the same topic, um do we have outside government agencies that use our our council chambers? It's been a while. The last one was the California Transportation Commission. Oh, probably about six months ago. Um, MID, MCAG use it intermittently. I mean, it is infrequent, but it does happen.

Well, MCAG regular meets with the county. Um, I just I wasn't aware of that. I mean, to me, this seems like something that's good to know about, but unless we know there's demand for it, I'd be hesitant to spend the cost unless you say it has to be purchased now with everything else. No, absolutely not.

Okay. And that we're not talking about the policy. I mean, it seems to me we don't need to make this shouldn't be a revenue stream, but if we're going to be good neighbors, and we can find some help for the 17 grand it's going to cost to to outfit it. But, um, I tend to hold that one back on this purchase. What I want to ask about, well, first of, let me step back. Having lived through this, I think a lot of these ideas are very good ones. I give you credit. I give the clerk's office credit. you know, anything that stages the remote participant so they know what's going on. They're ready and they're available to comment when it's their time um is going to help their participation is also going to help us.

I mean, I don't know if you guys had the same experience on council during the pandemic, but how many times did the mayor, whoever it was, have to say, "Caller, are you there?" Takes a lot of time. Um what I don't see is sort of like an operator. I don't know if there's going to be a human or some kind of machine assistant queuing of callers, so to speak, but is there a system in place so that somebody can kind of triage callers, get them waited, situated in a waiting room, and then when it's their green lights on, they get a a nudge to go?

So, operationally, we haven't considered that. We've talked about it internally kind of doing a concierge service for the first three or four meetings to kind of get people familiar with the system, but uh the system is going to allow the person to register remotely. Say for example K2 when that item comes up they're going to get an email and the system will outbound call them to connect the call to merge the clerk will have the ability to merge that call into the room so then they can start to speak. So there is some technology components that will facilitate that but it's still I would say most cities are still kind of clunkily doing that and that's getting better over time.

Yeah. I mean I'd encourage you in the clerk's office to think about this. Um pro maybe that's hiring another staff person but I mean what happens is it's great that you can cue people who know in advance they want to talk right that's a lot of our frequent flyers right they're invested in the council and the issues right

but what happens is on the live feed you know council member Smith will pick up myself says something provocative and all of a sudden five people want to respond to it because all I got to do is pick up their phone and so that's all coming into the council chambers immediately they're, you know, it's it's disheveled. People don't know when it's a time to speak. So, I think anything we can do to to ease people's on-ramp to participation, the better, and I think it's going to be worth the cost and efficiencies down the road. We're we're working on that component now.

Okay. Um, no. I mean, you're the the main of your proposals. I support um I tend to support the Sam Pipes room backup if for no other reason than as Miss Lucas explained to us. There seems to be some pretty drastic repercussions if we lose the feed. So, it would be nice to not waste a council meeting on everybody's schedule if we can do that. And $6,000 seems like a good use of that funding. So, I appreciate all the very hard work that I I know multiple people put into this presentation. Thank you, sir. Jennifer, anything from the public? I do have one from Ashley Marie Sorz. Okay. Ashley Marie.

Good evening. We are encouraged by the city doing its due diligence um on preparing for the implementation of legal requirements of SB77 by the July 1st deadline. So, thank you very much to the staff that worked on this um to find the best conference technology to support the public in being civically engaged. It's great to see the city make some effort beyond state requirements um including the asynchronous public comment portal, a digital countdown timer, and the tech to support the display of an agenda item council is hearing at the time. We really appreciate the implementation of the asynchronous public comment portal which residents can submit written comments in advance of the public meetings. It'll ensure that residents regardless of location they are able to participate in the democratic process and help guide policy and programs that impact their everyday life. Public participation is a crucial component for the council as it makes decisions impacting the entire city. And so one recommendation is to clarify if there's a deadline to submit comments so council can get them beforehand similar to email or if these comments will be read by clerk staff during the live meeting. Additionally, we urge the city to provide interpretation services for non-English speakers so that they can also be engaged in the democratic process. Will any additional technology be required to make this feasible as um interpretation services are available here in person? The response to these questions and recommendations would be helpful to know for future meetings. In addition to the uh SB77 requirements, um like I mentioned earlier, please ensure that the upcoming plan does not decrease the speaking time and that a minimum of three minutes per person is allowed and that any public member has the right to their allotted time without limits the number of speakers per agenda item. We look uh forward to seeing the council move forward with these recommendations for the sake of public engagement and urge council to recommend additional suggestions that address my questions. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you, F. Anyone else?

Thank you, ladies. All right, Mr. O'H.

Good afternoon, council members, um, and city staff. Thank you so much for putting this together and letting us know that we now have multiple ways of participating, uh, for the council meetings. I know it's a little hard for folks to make it out of their house and come every night. Um so this just facilitates that process and so thank you so much for spending some time to look this over and and I just want to echo a little bit of um you know what the speaker before me commented on. I was thinking as I was listening to all of this about interpretation services. I know um it can be very challenging for folks who don't speak the language and then also just to facilitate you understanding callers calling in who speak uh various different languages. I think that this definitely facilitates the process of uh more community involvement but also considering that we had a diverse community and um a diverse community that speaks multiple different languages just to consider that as you move forward. Um, we hope that that makes it into the budget as as we do believe that that will help promote participation. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Additional public comments. That's all we have, Mayor. Okay. Bring it back to council for uh additional questions, discussion, and direction. All right. Uh Mr. Mr. Benny Hoff, the video production replacement, the $48,000 cost seems to be it's obviously more than half of the optional items. Um, you think that's going to have to be done at some point in the near future regardless?

Yeah, absolutely. So, uh, traditionally what we do is we take the video production system that we use in town hall and once that's kind of reached closer to its end of life, we use that for the excuse me, the council chambers, we use that for the town hall. So, we kind of funnel down the technology to make sure we get our longest use out of it. Um, so this equipment at the town hall is ready for replacement. So we'll replace it with the one from the council chambers to extend its life. Okay. All right. Uh, additional questions from council. Okay. Discussion. So Jeff, tonight you need uh us to make decisions on the $89,278 of optional items if there's any we want or any we don't want.

Correct. And it's a as we're doing a supplemental appropriation, this is a five vote item. Okay. All right, Council Member Jo. Um, just with regards to the optional items, um, are they can we purchase them at any point in time? Sure. Uh, certain items have, you know, quote deadlines. So, and costs may change. So, if you didn't choose not to do them, they may need to come back to ask for authority, but we could certainly come back and do that. Okay. Thank you. And then um for one of the speakers comments with regards to languages um how are we handling that if you don't mind me asking?

So I'm going to bring up Rhonda and Rhonda correct me if I'm wrong. Our requirement uh for that is to facilitate the ability for a public for the technology for a public person to provide translation services themselves is the requirement uh which we facilitate here. Uh we currently do have translation services for the city council and everything else is optional. Is that correct? Yeah, that's correct. So it would be optional what we choose to do from there. Thank you for now.

Thank you. What with respect to uh city council as an eligible legislative body, um if a member of the public requests interpretation interpretive services prior to our city council meeting, we have to make reasonable uh efforts to accommodate those requests and we have to accommodate them with respect to the SB77 required language which is Spanish. Um, as we talked through this, um, we also assumed you, the city council, would like us to also extend that for Mong since that's essentially what we're doing now. Um, so that's the only addition to what Jeff said.

Okay. Thank you, Ron. Anybody else? All right. Initial thoughts on the optional items. I can jump in. Council Smith, thank you. I would hold back on the retrofitting the back room for third party use until we know more that people actually want to take us up on it and get a chance to get our reimbursement policy ahead of it. But otherwise, I think these are all prudent moves and the video production replacement is the priciest one, but it's going to happen anyway. It'll be a reason why our meetings are going to go down. Yes.

And you're going to laugh if we just spend $450,000 on an elevator. So, you know, put in perspective. So, I would I would be in favor of all but the third party use. I would counor uh I would join in that as well. Um the optional items don't really seem optional to me uh other than the council chambers third party use just for the efficiency of meetings. Um so I'd be in agreement with that. So, if that was a motion, if not, I won't force the motion.

All right, we have a motion for all optional items except the council chambers third party use of $16,0004 16,469 expense. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Motion from council Smith, second counc any additional comment or discussion. All right, seeing no one call for the question. Okay, have a motion by council member Smith and a second by council member Dupont. Mayor and council, please cast your votes.

Okay, the motion passes unanimously. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Jeff. Going to get some new toys. All right. Agenda item J2, adoption of a resolution of the city council of the city of Merced, California, rescending resolution 2026-17 and establishing inspection procedures for multi-unit substandard buildings policy.

Mr. Mayor, city council, um this is an item I I brought back. uh it was before you uh I believe a meeting or two ago where there was discussion that at a particular part of the policy this is dealing with uh multi-unit substandard buildings policy there was a a point where we mentioned uh reasonable uh time council went on to adopt the policy and asked that uh staff bring it back for a specific time. um which I have which I have done and added the language not to um not to go further than 30 days. um after discussion with um the police department um we thought that would be a reasonable addition. Additionally, we have um on this topic, we have received correspondence from the attorney general's office as well as today we um got a letter from leadership council and there's been um another proposed supplement. Uh the city attorney's office does not have a opinion on these additional uh comments at this time. Um

those came subsequent to uh our discussion on the dis. Um, and that is why this item only has the replacement of a specific time period. Um, and I'll take, you know, questions or concerns at this time. Okay. Thank you, city attorney Cornwwell. Any questions for our city attorney? Congo. Oh, not necessarily a question, but a statement in this case. Um, so I was under the impression when I made the request for this item to be brought back that I was going to, as we typically do with regards to bring putting items on the agenda. Um, I thought I was going to be the one that was going to make some edits to the resolution and then propose that back to council. And so that's why my version doesn't match u the city attorney's version of the document. And so I'm I'm surprised we went this route, but um definitely open to discussing the dates here. Um again, the one date that is added here was 30 days. My understanding from prior conversation was that there was two dates for us to add um and not one with the second one being with regards to the time frame in which to make corrective actions. Okay. Allow city attorney coral to offer an explanation if desired. If not, we'll probably questions now. We'll get into we'll allow for public input before we get into discussion and direction. Um, anything to add at this time?

No, I'm No, I believe there was a discussion regarding um time period for work to start or yeah, for work to initiate. I think there were two time periods. Okay. But I'm as well open for discussion.

Council Smith on the procedural issue. Um maybe we all have a different memory. So, um, I've seconded Foo's request during future agenda item to give the two of us a chance to come back with some further thoughts around the three time limits or the three three timesensitive actions in section D, which is the first one that the city attorney has picked up on. the time within which the code enforcement officer has to give notice that a violation of the tenants. Then there's a second one at the bottom about notice to all tenants within the building and then a third one in D on the last page which is the time frame to schedule a re inspection. So I think that council member Jang is correct in that respect although I thought we were going to work together on that but that's he and I can talk offline. I'm more than happy to do that. Um, so I think that if you want to talk about what the two of us had asked for council support for and I seconded, then the discussion is broader than what's before us today. Um, I would still be open to having the discussion about the agenda change, which I think is the only one that we can fairly make. And then in the future, I want to get your thoughts, Mr. Cornwall about why we're rescending the resolution not just amending it but you know maybe in 30 days or something there's a agend item agendaized for action where we potentially amend the resolution or not as opposed to rescending and reddrafting because I think there is a tendency to maybe go further than just those three items that I talked about which is right now what I think is only fairly at issue. It's it's a um I'm responding to the

rescending. It's a city attorney um uh preference for historical purposes so that you don't have multiple resolutions um controlling and that you always you end up having one resolution that that is the operative resolution. So any changes to a resolution, the latest change has every information instead of having to pull the history. I hear you. Um, and I'm not going to substitute my judgment there. I do think that we probably want to amend this ordinance and get it out there and not have to worry about under undermining actions that code enforcement might take in the interim. Um, but I'll I'll defer to others on that one. I would be, like I said, I'm happy to talk about the one change that's before us, but I think that council member Jang is correct that there's a little bit more, although maybe not as much as reflected in his red line, but there's a little bit more that we had opened the door to the last time we talked about this.

Sorry, Mr. Mayor. I don't know where that leaves us, but Jennifer, anything for the public? We do have five requests to speak forms. Okay. Can we go ahead and call them? Yeah, call them. Okay. Can I get Gloria Sandival, Ashley Marie, uh, Y, Oilia, and Rosio to the podium, please.

Miss Sandival. Hi again. Hello,

Gloria Sandival. Um, you know, I I I read through um both the rescended copy and the other and it just doesn't seem to be specific enough. Um, one thing that came to mind, uh, was, uh, I was doing a a wellness visit on a on a a woman who had had cancer and her steps going up to her apartment were so unstable. You know, I I don't know if that would be like an additional thing to maybe add. You know, there's sometimes too like the there could be, you know, issues of of flooding from an upstairs and you're getting it on your ceiling. I mean, I don't, you know, I don't see that kind of a dangerous situation being addressed. So, I really do feel that it's got a little bit more work to be done, you know, um possibly to to well, hopefully some of the people that are present will give um more suggestions on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Gloria. All right, next speaker.

Ashley wanted me to go first because I'm going to try to keep mine quick. Okay. um if that's all right with council. Uh so yes, this is just to address um getting more uh clearer uh criteria and standards and definition for health hazards as outlined by the health and safety codes. Um and using context from the census data as mentioned for uh previously some of the census tracks in Merrced suffer from uh some of the worst childhood lead exposure due to renting and most of them are our bipok and workingclass communities that uh live in some of these uh terrible apartments. Some of them actually connected to HUD funding. Um but uh that's a it's another story. Um, another big one would be uh as mentioned by uh a couple council members and and highlighting um the need for notice for inspection for uh uh and uh clearer timelines on that. So when the first inspection is completed, that has to be a notice to the owner as well as the tenant, written notification um as to when the uh the inspections were done and what are the issues and then should reasonably attempt to have the owner and tenants sign it within a week um of those violations and again yeah and the language as mentioned previously not to exceed 30 days regarding the timeline code enforcement um and drafting notices of violations. Uh, yes. Thank you. Thank you for your comments.

All right, next speaker. Alvarez.

Okay. Hi, my name is Oelia Alvarez and I come from the Good evening and um I come from the community of Merced the north side. I am not in agreement with the policy. The policy is not clear and it's not specific when the inspectors come back to inspect again. Thank you.

Thank you. Good evening. Mercific. Okay. So, she's saying because we had it written here, but we're going to go ahead and go with it. She's saying that her name is Lucio Pñena. She's from the community of the north side of Merced. She is not um in agreement with the policy that is written and revised.

Um I used to live uh before in a house in a unit in a housing unit um on our street. really where the housing unit um lived. I mean, it smelled really bad.

The owners told me that there was no budget so they can fix the the housing unit that they told me that if I wanted to rent it like that in those conditions, sadly So they they are um renting homes where probably there was um being there was drug usage there and sometimes it smells really bad and just that way in that condition they are renting them.

I would like for at the time of the revision or the inspection of the homes for them to be at a at a shorter um timing like maybe two weeks

so they can really sometimes they don't sometimes they rent when they have them already fixed. Without having them fixed, sometimes when a person has an urgency to live because I'm not going to live in the streets, but they do need to fix and if there is an inspection at a shorter timing, shorter um lapse of time time frame.

That's what I wanted to tell you guys. Gracias. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Good evening again. Um I come with a couple community members tonight uh to comment on this item, the multi-unit building inspection resolution. Um, thank you to City Attorney Cornwell for listening to a couple of the suggestions that we've had in previous conversations. Um, however, as mentioned in our uh, comment letter that we submitted in February, as well as some of the things that were uplifted in the attorney general's letter um, regarding a couple of housing policies, we still believe that this new policy does not address the concerns on uh, adequately addressing habitability complaints from tenants. The new policy does not incorporate community feedback that has been uplifted by tenants for years, not just in recent conversations. This proposed change, although that appears to have been some miscommunication, only proposed five words uh to change, which is not to exceed 30 days. And this is in regards to time and code um the time code enforcement has to draft a notice of violation and to share it with the owner and the responsible or appropriate parties. And so although this now defines a time standard for code enforcement to notify the required tenants, it does continue to fail to comply with AB548 and truly address residents concerns. We have been working with residents to identify some changes needed to improve this policy such as making sure that their criteria for substandard conditions reflects health and safety code standards 17920.3 17920.10. um for it to list out specific factors instead of categories that should be considered for the determination to inspect other units such as structural integrity, plumbing, and mechanical and electrical um systems that serve multiple units as well as to just give notice to the landlord within 3 to 10 business days for non-emergency violations. and that emergency violations actually trigger immediate on the spot notices to the landlord, such as if there's no heat, no water, or roof collapsing. Um, and so we made additional recommendations via the comment letter that we submitted before the 1 p.m. deadline today. Um, so we

urge you to please reference the redline version that was attached um as attachment A with community feedback and if there are any questions, I would be more than happy to discuss the letter and the comments that I made this evening. Thank you. Thank you, Ashley. Anybody else?

Good evening, city council members. Um, I think Ashley covered it really well. Um, so I just want to reiterate, um, as currently written, the city's multi-unit building inspection resolution does not meet some of the requirements. Um, it specifically fails to set a standard for the criteria that would be used to determine if the existed existed substandard conditions and if those substandard conditions could reasonably affect other units. It also fails to specifically identify a reasonable time in which the code enforcement officer must produce notice of the violations, remedies, and the date of the reinspection. Um, just reiterating, but thank you so much for your time. Okay. Thank you, Bunk. Additional comments, Jennifer.

I believe that's it, mayor. Okay, bring it back to council for discussion and action. Council Harris. Thank you, Mayor. Um, seems we have several choices here. We can approve what's in front of us and continue to work on it or we can continue this item to the future and still continue to work on it. I'm in favor of of that option. Uh, I would also offer to join uh, Council Member Jeang and Council Member Smith in working up another version of it. All right. Councelor Dupont.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, I would agree, especially since we did receive uh, from Council Member Jeang a redline version of himself. So, which the public has not been able to see at this point. um at least I'm assuming so so that um continuing this to a new date I think would be appropriate so the public has an opportunity to look at what council member Jeang has or what will be now the three council members will put out to the public. I do want to uh put out a disclosure because the attorney general did provide a letter and u not only did she send it to the council members which uh the city council and the council members are clients so it's a little concerning but also um Miss Warner served as the directing attorney for leadership council um in her previous position. So, not only is that uh what I believe is a conflict of interest, uh it's hugely concerning coming from the Attorney General's office, um and I may be requesting a public records act request based on communications between the attorney general's office and leadership council uh due to a possible conflict. So, thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Okay. Okay. So, options as council member uh Harris outlined is one uh to essentially two-step it uh vote tonight and then work on the changes later or the other option he suggested um which was his preferred choice was to just uh uh postpone and work on it all together and come back at once. Council member Smith, let me try to give voice to what I'm hearing here. So under our new council policy C8, I I would suggest that we impanel an ad hoc limited time advisory subcommittee of council member Jang, council Harris and myself along with the city attorney to study the issue and come back with a suggestion whatever that might be um and do so within the next we're in budget season with 60 days.

Sure. April suggestion. Okay. Um 60 days would be put us right at final budget in June. So we could do that or we could also do the first meeting in July. Okay. Is is that a motion to uh to do all that and come back first meeting of July? I'm trying to do the head nod straw poll. I'll make that motion. All right. Is there a second? Second.

Okay. Any discussion? This is uh we're going to move the item to first meeting in July. In the meantime, council member Jeang Harris and Smith will be an ad hoc subcommittee working on it with city attorney Cornwell. Council Jean, your comments, sir. Um so my understanding with this being continued, um I understand last time there was an urgency to pass this. So I'm assuming that with the continuence of this the original resolution as was passed before is still standing. Is that correct Mr. Coral? Yes, that's correct. Okay. Thank you.

And sort of that just to clarify again that eliminates the need for the urg. So that that takes care of the need for the urgency and coming back in first part of July for these limited issues will be a good course. Yes. And if I could um just make a comment. Yes, sir.

There are uh terms being thrown around. Strike that. I won't say thrown around. There are there are terms being projected um not in compliance with the law, tenant complaints and advocacy. And they are in my opinion being mixed and put together into one sort of complaint. Um, it is it is my opinion and I want to be clear on my opinion. Council adopted a resolution that that um stated a policy for code enforcement consistent with state law. And um while that I believe has occurred, it is not the only time that this policy um is going to be before you there. We may want um to add to the policy. I'd also want to remind council and the audience that code enforcement has supervisors and department heads and they are also um weighing in on how they do business. Um, and I will parse out uh between now and when we reconvene this item the

proposals that are referring to the state law. um with proposals that are advocacy with proposals that are about uh tenant complaints and what they would like to see. So that that would be in the best interests of my client and the city and we can also move forward uh doing the best doing the actual work for uh tenants and um get away from uh word smithing. So thank you for that for that time. No, thank you sir. I think certainly involving uh police department and code enforcement is essential uh you know making sure that everything uh works with how they manage their schedules and how they operate. All right. Anybody else? Okay. We have a motion and correct. We had a second.

Yes. Okay. We have a motion second. Harris. Smith. Harris. All right. We'll call for the qu any additional comments. We'll call for the question. Jennifer. Okay. Okay, I have a motion by Council Member Smith and a second by Council Member Harris. Merit and council, please cast your votes. Okay, the motion passes unanimously. All right, on to three. Did anybody need a break at this time or should we keep going? Keep going. Break. Pl through it. All right. On advice of our city attorney, we're going to keep going. Pl through it.

Okay. Agenda item J3, adoption of an emergency ordinance establishing a temporary moratorum on street closure encroachment permits pursuant to California government code section 65858.

Mayor and Mayor and Council, uh, tonight's item is a short-term urgency ordinance to stabilize how the city manages street closures. uh recent enforcement efforts of our existing rules has exposed uh gaps and inconsistencies in the current framework. The proposed 45day uh moratorum pauses new approvals while allowing limited safetybased administrative exceptions that give staff time to return with a clear consistent structure for parades, community events, and other uses of public spaces. So um there is a government code section 65858 that allows for a 45day moratorum on an urgency basis. So the adoption of this ordinance is effective um uh immediately after the um approval vote. It would require five votes and then um the code then allows for a um extension if needed of 10 months and 15 days which would make um which would make a year of this um if if necessary which would allow then for a public hearing. um for comment and um we would present reasons for an extension. But this allows for an immediate um an immediate uh stop to enforcing the

uh current ordinance. And we also have some antiquated uh administrative policies uh that we need to bring up to date. Um, and we can allow for administrative approvals of events in the meantime under the criteria that's listed in the um in the item.

All right. Yeah. Number of exceptions that were I can um see if I can get to Administrative approvals under this section shall be limited to applications that meet all of the following criteria. No material adverse impact. The proposed street closure will not impair traffic circulation, emergency vehicle access, or public safety operations, and will not create conditions that would adversely affect the safe and coordinated use of the public rightway. Uh, spacing and concentration controls. The proposed closure will not occur within 30 days of another street closure in the same or adjacent area unless the city manager makes a written determination that sufficient spacing exists to avoid an excessive concentration of cumulative impacts. Operational feasib feasibility. The proposed closure can be accommodated with an existing city staffing, traffic control capacity, and public safety resources without creating strain on city operations by requiring extraordinary measures or reallocation of critical services. Then we are also requiring a staff review. The closure has been re reviewed and approved by the city's planning, police, fire, engineering, and public works divisions, including verification of emergency access and traffic control measures.

And finally, that there would be a written determination. Each administrative approval shall include written findings demonstrating compliance with this section and consistency with the public health safety and welfare. That is the list of um sort of the the rules of engagement during this moratorum um while staff is working on a um amended ordinance. Okay. questions for our city attorney. All right, Jennifer, anything from the public?

I do have two request to speak forms um from Patric Patricia Pratt and um Irvin Mendoza. Pratt, Mr. Mendoza. Hi, good evening council. My name is Patricia Pratt. I am a resident of Merced and downtown business owner. Um, I do help coordinate uh different street closures in downtown Mercured and this has been an issue since uh January. I am in support of changing the ordinance to make it easier and more accessible to community groups that are trying to do wonderful things in Merced. Um, with this new proposed 30 days, I think that that's a step in the right direction. What concerns me is that the exceptions are being determined by city staff and managers and I don't understand the criteria for that because um if currently it's at 60 days and there are no exceptions which what is what we were told for the festival that we're holding. Um I would like to note that the street was closed on Canel on March 21st, April 18th and now May 16th. none of those are 30 days apart. And so I would um urge council to make sure that there is criteria being followed and that things are being met because on Saturday there was an event on Canel Street and public ride ofway was blocked. The sidewalks were blocked and customers did not have access to businesses. the um

street was closed at 10 a.m. for an event that started at 6 pm. Um shutting off access to parking for 8 hours for something that isn't happening yet is very very disruptive to the downtown community. So I would also urge besides just meeting with organizers of events downtown that you speak with businesses and see what will help them because if a event is happening that blocks off businesses and doesn't allow attendees to also go to these businesses which is why why we love having events downtown because it brings people to our business right but if people cannot access our business who are from the event people cannot access our businesses from the general public. We're we're hurting downtown. So, I would strictly um you know, just like when you rent Bob Hart Square, if your event starts at 2:00, you're allowed to set up at 1:00. So, there needs to be something there that um that we're not blocking streets all day for something that's happening for a few hours and affecting a small group of people as opposed to the community at large.

Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Rendoza.

Uh, good evening, city council. Uh, I'll try to keep mine short. Patty did a good job explaining everything. Uh, I appreciate you guys trying to make this ordinance uh, well, trying to amend this ordinance uh, making it urgent just because um, like I mentioned the last time we uh, we were here, you know, ever since we got the title of the multicultural art district, it's very important for us to be able to continue to establish that we are very much uh, you know, trying to create cultural events. And unfortunately in the past uh almost 6 months the ordinance that we've been you know trying to enforce now has been very much not letting us do that. And uh this is something very important not only to downtown but also to obviously artists and entrepreneurs here. Um, you know, again, I think we're in the I think we're making a a move in the right direction and hopefully, you know, the the rest of this year we're we're able to uh execute some of these potential events that we really want to showcase talent here because uh you know, Mereda is very much on the rise and I think we all know that Mercedes experiencing a very very uh I always say a renaissance of arts but you know, something like this has been a little

difficult. to proceed with stuff like that. Um and um and that's pretty much it. You know, I can't wait to hear what the city council and what the city manager and uh uh we'll propose later on. And uh we appreciate your hard work. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate your comments, Jennifer. Anything else from the public? That's all we have, Mayor. Okay. Might have

Oh, looks like we have one more. Uh thank you council and thank you for all the arts departments as well and downtown businesses that uh make Mercer what it is. Um yeah I just have a quick one uh for notice. It mentions distinctions between parades, community events, and uses of public right of way. So would that also instill uh um like the Bob Hart Square uh in into that sort of criteria as well? um such as needing to go through all the different staff reviews, police, fire safety, etc., etc. for any events that are happening at Bob Hart Square as well. Just point of clarification. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. All right. Jennifer, anything else? I believe that's it, mayor. Okay. Do you want to answer the Bobart Square question? Thank you, Governor.

Yes. Um during this moratorum, the city um and I really appreciate the comments that highlight the the need to um coordinate um the various parades, uh events and also public space rentals. Um we need work to in that area to make them all um easy to understand, up to date um and also u in the interest of public safety. So we would be working on all of that including uh Bob Bob Hart Square as well. And if I had just have one quick comment, I want to give um I want to acknowledge uh Council Member Dupont, who I was for some reason talking about California government code. Um as lawyers sometimes do. Uh and he said, "Well, why don't you use it for street closures?" And I said, "That's a very good idea. Why don't I?" So, um, that, uh, conversation led to the item this evening. Thank you.

Perfect segue to Council Dupont. Thank you, Mayor. Um, as to the Bob Hart Square question, if I could have director Jensen come up just to ask some questions, clarifying questions if I could. Is there a difference between Bob Hart Square and say if someone wants to use the space of Bob Hart Square and if they want to use the space of Canal Street?

Yeah. Um earlier that Thank you, M council member. Um earlier this year, this council adopted a fee schedule set um that included Bob Hart Square as a public utility that was available through parks and recreation um on a reservation or first come serve first basis. Um we have similar venues and other open spaces such as Applegate Park, the moat and indoor rentable facilities as well. um including this in a um a broader ordinance. Sounds like it's the direction of the city attorney, but earlier this year um there was a a designation by this council to the include that as a rentable facility that did not include street closure permitting.

Does So does the street closure ordinance impact the ability to rent out Bob Hart Square? It does not.

Okay. Um, and thank you. I appreciate the the answers. So, I think we we also want to take this time to work on coordinating our efforts between the public um and ourselves. And we we've spent a lot of money in updating Bobart Square and moving some of these um events from our public rideaways and hopefully utilizing Bobart Square. So hopefully that coordination, that discussion will continue um in that limited fashion. It's not a a free-for-all at this point. So thank you. I appreciate um the city attorney taking this on. I think it's an important issue on both sides, both for the business owners um and for the community events. Um so thank you.

Thank you, sir. Just quicker. Did you have to jump in or do Mike first? He answered I was gonna respond to the question there. He did. Customer Harris.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm a little confused about the public access issue. Uh I was there for Saturday's event and I was able to walk freely down each side of the street that was already blocked off and the event was in between those barricades. I saw people at Cigar Monkey and people at O'Reilly's who were not part of the event. You had to have a wristband to be part of the event. So I don't know unless the event people were restricting entry into that area without without the wristband. I don't see where the public access was uh impaired there at all. There was plenty of room. Okay,

Mr. McBride, anything to add or say? Good.

Thank you, Mayor. Actually, uh, Council Member Deont kind of, uh, uh, answered the question I was going to answer, so I don't think I need to address it. I I I think that the reality is Bobart Square is set up, that system is working. The issue has been the the the rightaways, the other spaces. And so I think there's a reason why the policy wasn't getting followed. We tried following it and you see what happened. It was not easy to navigate. We had to work with the fine people here that are in the audience to try to get their their event on May 23rd. Is that right? Or 24th. And we had to try to be very creative about it. And so there's a reason why no one followed the uh ordinance for a decade. It was just too hard. didn't work. Uh we also saw what happened when you didn't follow the ordinance. Last year we had nothing but complaints about uh affecting businesses. We heard it tonight. We got to make sure our business uh clientele is served. We also have residents downtown now that we didn't have years ago. So it's a difficult situation. So uh I commend uh everyone involved in bringing this urgency ordinance forward tonight. I think this is practical. It gives us some some relief. Now I can keep working on the proposed updated ordinance to get something that will work for the community and we go about to uh engaging the uh the public and the community to operate the way we have been in a way that makes sense. Uh safety is first and foremost providing a good opportunity to invite people to uh the community into our downtown area. Uh we'll find some good solutions that will kind of balance all the issues.

Okay. Thank you, sir.

Yeah. I think as as has been been mentioned, we have two really important goals that we have to pursue. One uh supporting downtown businesses uh two uh supporting the community events too that add so much life and vibrancy that are so beloved in our community as well. We have to uh tailor our ordinance to do both. The city can uh the city can do a lot. The city has to I believe and and can do a lot to promote vibrancy to promote these community events. do it in the right way, too, so it doesn't hurt or injure downtown businesses or other interests as well. I think, you know, to Scott's point, the the current ordinance is a disaster and and we need to uh amend it. We're working on it. Uh I know there's community meetings coming up as well. There's been outreach. So, uh hopefully we're in the process of coming up with something better and um looking forward to the result. We have, again, as was mentioned, you know, our city is now one of the 24 California recognized arts and culture districts. Our downtown is we need to to live up to it. one and two, I think, you know, more and more people are willing to embrace that and people are willing to do more and more. All of you out there, so many people here who who've played a huge part of that. Let's continue to do better and make our downtown better and make our city more vibrant. So, uh, with that, I think this is the right course. Uh, thank you to Council Member Dupont for suggesting it. City attorney working on it as well. Um, kind of hit a pause a little bit, get this urgency ordinance done, and then work on something, uh, better. That's an improvement of the current ordinance. All right, Cong. Um just kind of repeating one of the speaker um their point with regards to the 30 days and the review process. Scott, do you mind walking through how the review process could work so it eases the speaker's mind on this? And then just for the rest of council up here, is there any way to reevaluate that 30 days to a shorter date? So, I haven't really put a lot of thought into how the process is going to work for the 30 days, but I mean, in past practice, we we will take the

application in. We're going to look at the safety needs. Uh we have a lot of departments that weigh in. Um you know, we need to make sure we've got uh fire lanes we get through for apparatus. We got to make sure that we've got uh uh safety from vehicular traffic. So, we've got some type of a a separation. So, I mean, if we've got the the criteria to kind of effectively manage the event um practically so it's not a hazard, I don't see a need uh to to not, you know, to to deny it. Um, does that answer your question? Are you more worried about some something else? I I think that works. Um, I think I was also thinking in terms of of time periods. Are we at all thinking of if we have multiple events in the same week? Um, is that something that's going to prevent community from having an event or closing the streets?

I think Good. I mean, yeah, go ahead.

Yeah, obviously city manager under this current framework is his discretion, but there a lot of factors to take play or a lot of factors to consider. you know, the timing of the event, uh, you know, what day and time. If you're talking, you know, Canal Street 8 to 5 during prime business hours where you're going to block parking from other businesses, parking is the, you know, it's like sunlight and water to to these businesses. They need people to be able to park right there in front. So, that's one thing. If it's after hours impact parking less, it's different. Um, so I think there's a lot of factors that would go into it. All right. Anybody else?

Additional thoughts, comments, questions, or a motion? Move to approve as presented. Second. Okay. Motion to second. Additional comment. No. Call for the question. J. I have a motion by council member Smith and a second by council member Dupont. The motion will include the adoption of ordinance 2590, an urgency ordinance of the city council of the city of Merced, California, establishing a temporary moratorum on street closures pursuant to California government code section 65858. Mayor and council, please cast your votes. Okay, the motion passes unanimously. J4. Okay.

Agenda item J4, consideration of recommendation of the recreation and parks commission to honor the request to name the stage in Bobart Square Plaza Merrced Rotary Stage. Dr. Jens.

Good evening, council. Uh, Mr. Mayor, community of Merced, Chris Jensen, City of Merced Parks and Rec Director. Um, tonight we are bringing before you a recommendation by your recreation and parks commission. Um, this has been a long time coming. We had a proposal submitted by Merced Rotary Club in November of this year. Um, we're going to take this opportunity to kind of discuss a little bit about the history of Bob Hart Square and what got us to this point today before we review their application in detail. So, a little bit of background. Um Bob Hart Square renovation was part of a downtown main street revitalization project. Um it was a multi-million dollar investment to add infrastructure underground and above ground utilities that made this area uh a downtown anchor for events as was discussed earlier. Um there was also an effort underway by the city and its partners to establish downtown and this corridor as an art and cultural district designation. And later on, uh, the park and wreck facility naming policy, um, was reviewed and a proposal was submitted by the Merced Rotary Club in, uh, consideration of naming the Bob Hart Square stage. Earlier this year, we broke ground on this renovation of Bob Hart Square. Uh, what you see here was what was projected at that groundbreaking with our community partners. Many of you were in attendance. Thank you very much for the ongoing support from the get-go. This was a ARPA funded investment in our downtown. It included uh taking events off of public um rightway to capitalize on the additional parking investment made downtown, reduce the number of required street closures for downtown events, and to create a community anchor

for events and celebrations that are ongoing in this area of the community. The work uh took a long time. Um it included the traditional area of uh Bob Hart Square as well as the uh canal culde-sac off of 16th Street. Um and the goal was to add again a large enough venue for events to be taken off of Maine and into the heart of Bobart Square. Uh what you see here is from the stage looking into the traditional area of Bob Hart Square. Um the plaza is distinctly different than the common area which is traditionally used before the plaza was built. Uh it it was a alleyway or a pass through into a culde-sac of canal. What you see here is just a progress photo of the stage. Um, some of the summer sunsets we can look forward to moving forward with Bob Hart Square implementation. Vegetation and landscaping being added this winter. Um, the installation of a home of a future art component to be center to the stage. the arch uh designated Bob designating the namesake Bob Hart Square for the plaza. Another image of the installation of the the final touches on the square and where we ended up with today. Um we've had several community events in this location to this point of the year. Um last weekend or excuse me last Thursday we had the formal ribbon cutting which many of you were able to attend. Thank you very much again for the ongoing support. Um the sound Chief Wilson and I were um having uh late lunch before council. We were talking about the the way that the sound carries

during performances through this plaza. It's a fantastic event space. We're really happy with the outcome and we look forward to continuing to be able to create an amenity and a venue that um artists and cultural celebrations can capitalize on. a little bit about what it took for the downtown designation. The state of California has made strides in supporting arts and cultural districts over the last several years. These districts from 2026 to 2030 um include a total of 24 state recognized districts. That's the goal. Um, downtown Merced was one of 10 recently designated as a state recognized art and culture district and Bob Hart Square was one of the many highlights recognized as well as several of the vendors that have spoke to you about downtown event importance this evening. Um, and we were awarded that designation. So, congratulations again to the city and their partners. Earlier this year, as noted, uh, our recreation and parks commission had a proposal submitted to name the stage. Um, that proposal was submitted by the Merced Rotary Club, and their proposal includes renaming the stage or formally naming the stage Merced Rotary Stage. A little bit of history about this club and its significance to the city of Merced. Uh, they've been in operation for just over, I believe it's 100 years, uh, 104. um specifically in downtown Mercured focusing on supporting local downtown business uh and also recreation amenities. Um often known as the downtown Merced Rotary uh major supporters of these businesses, they continue to look for opportunities to make a significant investment in downtown spaces focused on arts and entertainment. Uh they have proposed a one-time commitment of funding. I would like to note that the commitment although um

appreciated is not required per policy. Um historical contributions in many forms and fashions are what's considered when reviewing proposals. Uh this was just an additional um offer by the Rotary. They have committed uh a proposed, excuse me, a commitment of one-time funding and $50,000 um towards the plaza and the stage to support additional amenities moving forward. Um and they've also discussed ongoing supportive funding for city sponsored performances uh such as the Bob Hart Square downtown concert series. Uh those agreements are not before you today about any additional ongoing commitments. Uh but they have offered that opportunity moving forward. A little bit about your city policy to name recreation facilities. Uh policy A-20 outlines a process to be used when excuse me when WHN reviewing proposals for naming such facilities. A review committee has to be formed made up of uh our recreation and park commission. On March 3, we held a public hearing and no opposition was presented to the proposed naming of the stage and your commission recommended moving the nomination forward to city council as proposed. So up for council consideration tonight is a motion approving the proposed facility naming application submitted by Merced Rotary Club to name the stage in Bob Hart Square Plaza the Merced Rotary stage and to accept and appropriate the $50,000 from the Rotary to parks and community service projects to be determined for Bob Hart Square Plaza U additions. And that concludes our presentation. Um, in respect to the naming proposal, um, happy to answer any questions council

may have. Questions for Director Jensen, Council Harris.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Chris, for the presentation. Um, I don't see anything here about uh signage. What's the What's the plan for that? Uh the application submitted requested that um the city work with um current practices and uh what we've discussed to this point is plaques indicating um the name. So we we usually use 24x 24 size plaques. Sometimes it's 24 by 36 size plaques. Um, we've also had discussions with the Rotary Club about what was done um with Mo and Modesto Rotary um and their outdoor concert um plaza outside of the Gala Arts Center uh which would include insignia on either the flat work in front of or on the stage

and flashing lights. No flashing lights. At least I don't think that's part of the proposal. Thank you. You're welcome. Councelor Dupont. Thank you, Director Jensen. Um, the 50,000s uh 50,000 will be going to parks community services for projects to be determined. Can you give us a little idea of uh what those project to to be determined could be included but not limited to? Let me let me not limit your

Sure. No, I appreciate that. So, um, as you heard this evening, there's been, uh, multiple activities that have already taken place in the plaza. One thing we haven't had the opportunity to do just yet is vet its utility, um, and the capabilities in our hot summer months. So, I would recommend that we wait and let Bob Hart be you, this plaza and stage be used for several months, kind of pilot how it's used, best practices, things that we're hearing from vendors and the community that they would like to see added, and we use that input moving forward to dictate how to best use those funds. Question Council Joe,

Chris, could you remind me how much ARPA funding went to this project? Um, Mr. Jordan might have a better number or Mr. McBride. Um, it was a few million dollars. It also included the underground utilities that were required to be replaced that support all those businesses along that main street corridor off a canal. So, the plaza itself, I'm not um certain off a hand, but I know that several of the ARPA dollars were from the cost of the project were allocated towards underground infrastructure to support the utilities. Okay. Just several millions. Yes. Thank you.

Yeah, several. And I think the one point I forget the exact number 1.3 was the water line underneath if I'm not mistaken. But that wasn't I should have asked the mayor. But that wasn't our I believe that was from another fund, not our I think there was. Yeah. Additional dollars. Mr. McBride has some detail information. Okay. Any additional questions? Jennifer, anything from the public? We do have one from Barbara Ward.

Miss Ward, welcome. Thanks for hanging in there with us till after nine o'clock. Uh I am the president of Merced Rotary this year and um as always we are always looking for community projects um that stay with Merced and Mercer youth and um love this idea with the arts council so or with the arts uh stage. So we would hope that you would uh agree with us and work with us in um coming up with signage for it. Okay, wonderful. Thank you. All right, Jennifer. Anything else? That's all we have, Mayor.

Okay, back to council for discussion and action. Motion. Second. All right, we have a motion for council member Harris, a second council member Smith. Council pending discussion. Council member Jean.

So, I I'm against this. Um, the reason being is that this took a lot of ARPA money that was meant for folks that were struggling with COVID with the pandemic and I rather see the stage be renamed in honor of that talking about the public or something with regards to the pandemic uh, and really having that as part of our history. Um, so yeah, that's how I see this. So, thank you. Okay. Additional comments or call for the question. Okay.

Have a motion by council member Harris and a second by council member Smith. Mayor and council. Please cast your votes. Okay. And the motion passes with council member Jeang voting no.

Okay. Thank you, Jennifer. Thank you, director Jen. Thank you to the downtown Rotary for your support and your generosity. It's it's much much appreciated. Looking forward to a great project. Thank you, Barbara, Brenda, Mary. Thank you all. Agenda item J5, approval of a first amendment to the deposit and reimbursement agreement with University Vista Master Plan LLC relating to the University Vista Vista annexation and annexation number 22-02 to annex 290 acres of land located at the northwest corner of Belleview Road and Lake Road to the city of Merced and approval of a first amendment to the professional services agreement with Environmental Science Associates. Good evening, mayor, city council members. Uh again, I come up to the dis and council members leave. I think it's starting to become a little bit of a pattern. Um so uh ESA uh sent a request for a uh for deposit deposit and reimbursement agreement uh as well as a professional service agreement of $49,76 uh for the University Vista Master Plan project. So, giving you a little bit of a history on this project. Back in September 20th, 2021, city council reviewed a pre-annexation for this project. And then, uh, in December 6th of 2021, we're able to get into contract. Uh, the initial sum for the project was $855,000493. Uh the reason why ESA has submitted for the request to amend the project is because during that time when they signed the professional service agreement there was some extra work that was done during that time uh which was uh I believe uh fire wildfire impacts and cultural and then there was also a change to the notice of preparation uh changing the the project description for

instance the housing went from 4,000 76 to 5576. And then they also changed the square footage of 479 uh 472,957 for their uh commercial square footage to uh 1,817,000 square ft. So there was definitely some changes there that needed to be under evaluation. Uh so those evaluate those analysises required uh more monies for them to be able to complete the environmental impact report. There was also some uh stoppage within the project. So when that does occur uh the uh consultants do have to go back um refamiliarize themselves with the project and continue on moving it forward. So uh that is the reason for the uh amendments. Is there any questions?

Any questions for Mr. Rashet? Jennifer, anything from the public? We don't have anything. Oh, we do actually. We have two requested speed forms. One with no name and I think this one's actually for J6. Okay.

Thank you, council members. Um I just would like to bring up a law that was passed in uh SB 379. It requires all cities and counties to include a climate adaptation and resilience strategy into their safety plan for general plan. In addition, I would like to oppose um any future development on this acquisition due to the fact that um that is actually a sensitive habitat and a threatened and endangered species uh endemic to only Merced. Out of the entire planet, twothirds of them exist solely in our community. and with the development um that uh even if it is uh considering the environmental impacts, if it doesn't have uh truly uh sustainable and uh intentional development, it will genocide uh the let's say the fleshy occult grass, the vernal pools uh or the vernal pool fairy shrimp, um the California tiger salamander, which is an endangered species, and I'll just read a little bit here. So um several plant and wildlife species have received protection under the federal state and endangered species acts and receive special consideration for protection underneath the California environmental quality act and this occurs within special air specific areas uh specifically in the annexation and this has to do with the preservation for our California cal California tiger salamanders, the Sanwaqin kit fox, the southwestern pawn turtle, western spadefoot, western n burrowing owl, south uh swanson hawk, monarch butterfly, uh valley elder bear longhorn, uh beetles, vernal vernal pool fairy shrimp, uh conser conserancy fairy shrimp, and the vernal pool tadpoles uh and like previously mentioned, the hairy occult uh grass, the Sanwaqen Valley

occult grass, and the fleshy owls clover occult grass. All of these are uniquely um like I mentioned only to Merrced and uh it we real estate the agency for doing housing development, land development, but when it's backed by private equity and land developers that aren't actually building intentional and sustainably green communities, it is perpetuating the I I mentioned genocide because these are endangered species and their only home is Merced. And by developing on these lands very unintentionally and in the hands of the land developers, it will erase them from history. And so you I don't know how many people are on this council. You guys have the decision whether to another species enters uh uh the or is erased from human history. Um I believe you guys are religious people and I would say that uh think about the more than human relatives, our plant relatives, our animal relatives. Uh we're all interconnected and we all call Mother Earth our home. Thank you.

Thank you Jennifer. Anyone else? That's all we have. Mayor. Okay. Back to council for uh discussion and or additional questions or action. Move to approve. Okay. Is there a second?

Okay. Second. Okay. Motion from Council Member Dupont. Second from Council Member Tao. Discussion. Okay. Seeing none, we'll call for the question. Okay. Have a motion by Council Member Dupont and a second by Council Member Tao. Mayor and Council, please cast your votes. And the motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ret. Okay. Agenda item J6, City of Merrced, letter of uh comment to the draft 2026 business plan and technical supporting document as published by the California Highspeed Rail Authority. Deputy City Manager Quantero, please. Thank you.

Why do they do it? Good evening, council members. Tonight we have the opportunity to talk a bit about the 2026 draft business plan produced and published by the highspeed rail authority. What's required is every two years the highspeed rail authority uh must publish a plan and submit it into the authority their board and then ultimately to the legislature. The business plan was adop first published on February 28th and the comment period will officially end on the 29th which will be next Wednesday. Uh we are hoping to get a letter in early to the highspeed rail authority. So it will be contained in the packet that will ultimately be published. Subsequently um staff along with assistance from our lobbyists along from subcommittee draft a letter of comment uh to from the city to the highspeed rail authority. the f this gives us an opportunity to focus on the content that is within the business plan and it also gave us an opportunity to make a comment on the technical supporting document. Much of our discussion has focused what came from the 2025 supplemental project update which questioned about the location and whether or not Merced was going to be bypassed. We've had several discussions with the highspeed rail authority with board members themselves. Uh and the question still remains ultimately where will the station be located? Currently it's in the downtown area but based on the technical document that was reviewed

uh there's description of it ultimately moving to Highway 99 Mission Avenue adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad. The letter of comment focuses on these points along here, the station relocation because obviously with only one line now going to the current station, there won't be the need for the multiple lines since Amtrak won't be relocating there and it will be several years before we see Ace Altimont Corridor Express locating at the station. So, they're downsizing the station with the opportunity for it to grow as the demand for ridership increases. Much of what you'll see here, we sent in a letter back in February to the highspeed rail authority board where there were questions on to do some of these changes. It would require updates to Senate Bill 198 which calls for the station to be located in the downtown area along with service from ACE and Amtrak. Also in August 2025 and is was also contained in the business plan was a suggestion to start using tax increment financing such as an enhanced infrastructure taxing base uh to help with some of the improvements that would be required to support a new highspeed rail station. There's also been highspeed rail suggestion that there be land use control within a half a mile from radius from the station that was proposed. Uh we have sent a a letter again in February and this letter the draft letter contains the city's concern about um the state having land use authority whether it's within the county area because currently it's outside the city

limits or if it's ultimately annexed taking that land use control away from local jurisdictions period. There's suggestion also in the business plan to focus on an encroachment permit process. While we understand the need to move encroachment permits quickly, we just want to make sure that as valuable infrastructure and streets are put in that our particular rideways are protected by this encroachment process. There's also a call for shared benefit costs and that looks for example at grade separations. It may also be looking at other infrastructure whether it be related to uh power generation, broadband, water, sewer, etc. We had the opportunity to meet with to meet with highspeed rail staff a couple weeks ago and start reviewing utility and cooperation agreements. They will be coming back to do an overtheshoulder review so we can get a further in-depth understanding of what was actually being proposed. Other factors that we've talked about is we are currently under a grant with highspeed rail to complete a downtown station area plan. Those plans have been put on hold. We've spent about $268,000 of that grant and we're hoping that the remainder of that grant will be able to be used on focusing on a downtown vision as should the station ultimately be moved to mission and highway 99. We are also working we have been working with consultants such as Stan Stantech Aup Foster and Smith on engineering from Merced to to Madera along with focusing on the infrastructure that would be underneath the potential station. Uh we

are in the process of doing a general planned amendment comprehensively throughout the entire city. So we would turn to highspeed rail to assist us to expand that study to the Mission Avenue and Highway 99 site. Again, the site is outside of the area. So between the city and county, we have to weigh the benefits of a potential annexation. We have also uh indicated in the letter back in February that we would want and reserve the right to explain the type of facilities, infrastructure and improvements that would be needed should it come in within the city limits and how it would be served again if the station moves there. And then of course funding and agreements which we talked about a bit uh earlier. So what we are asking of council tonight is a you have the opportunity to approve the letter uh of comment to the highspeed rail authority which includes comments on the technical document authorizing the city manager to submit the letter to the highspeed rail authority. You also have an opportunity to revise the letter uh and you can assign that to your highspeed rail subcommittee and another form of letter could be drafted. Are there any questions of council?

Questions for our deputy city manager. Okay, see none. Jennifer, anything from the public? I do have a request to speak form from Alex Curo. Okay. Welcome Alex.

Good evening. Um I'm Alex Cro, a constituent of Merced Council District 5. In addition to the letter the council is adopting this evening uh tonight I'm coming up to the podium to make sure Merrced gets its share of the billions being invested in this infrastructure project. If you love Mercer as much as you say you uh you you do then we must invest in the future generations of our community. I asked the city council to join the Merced County Association of Governments in opposing Senate Bill 1411, which allows the highspeed roll authority to invest in other parts of the state instead of prioritizing downtown uh Merced to Bakersfield line. This is another example of how Sacramento and Los Angeles politicians continue divert funds from the central valley for uh those urban communities. Note that SB1 1411 is set to be heard this Wednesday, April 22nd, in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. The changes being proposed uh by moving the station out of downtown and passing SB1 1411 will have detrimental uh impacts to our community. Cumulatively, the relocation of downgrading of the station will result in fewer visitors and less revenue for local downtown businesses, fewer amenities and accessible to residents in downtown and South Merrced, loss of sale and property tax revenue to the city, longer travel times for local residents to travel to Madera to connect to other transit lines, and less work and wages for local workforce. on the screen you actually see an image that I think many of us who have been in conversation with the authority and at different meetings u what was being proposed in the plans I actually took the time to review them as well they're proposing something like

this this is an image of Daener Turlock it's actually what's being proposed is a lot smaller than this by 100 ft and so this um I would like to also note that The supporting concept letter that you all had adopted has given rise to the assumption used in this business plan. The business plan clearly identifies the winners and losers of the proposed changes to highspeed rail system. Central Valley station hubs in Merrced in particular will lose a great deal. Thank you.

Thank you, Alex, for your comments. Blanca,

good evening. Um, council members, um, I, as I was listening to the update on the highspeed rail, I was a little confused as to why we would move this um, away from downtown. And so I just I want to make sure that I you know insert my comment in there and um also state what the speaker prior to me had mentioned is I don't think that this is actually doing a favor to Merrced by by um you know doing more urban sprawl and spreading a place that should or I guess the functionality of of this highspeed rail which should be downtown. Um it would attract more people. It would it would create more investment. um therefore investing more in our own local downtown areas and businesses. Um yeah, just wanted to make sure that I I let that be known. Um we should we should try everything we can to keep this downtown. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker.

Good evening, council and mayor. Uh, simply put, I don't think we even need high-spe speed rail. This project is being pushed by the state, local developers, investors, and realtors who will all profit from it. And this project really is mainly going to help Caliers create funds for their astronomical retirement funds and nothing else. I want to know if a study has been done to where we can help the existing Amtrak station be better prepared for people or we can help it. uh such things as lighting and uh access for physically disabled people to get around it. Uh I want to know is do we really have that many people coming from Bakersfield to Merced? Because if not all those those businesses out there aren't going to prosper because there's going to be not that many people coming. We already have a train. Maybe if we invest in that a little bit more it'll be better and it'll help the downtown association. We're going to help to start another area of concern before we've helped to better the area we already have. All right. Uh, one of the problems with highspeed rail is it's so far over budget, we don't even know where the billions are being spent. We have no idea how much of it has been uh misallocated, missing, or simply stolen. Sacramento and our governor have written a bill of resolution, a bill or resolution. I'm not sure which that may have already been passed that censor citizens from getting answers to where the money went, thus providing themselves with an ability to act without impunity. Essentially, a license to steal from taxpayers, taxpayers such as you and I. Uh I know we have a new person here, new uh spokeswoman who's going to be for uh highspeed rail. I'd like to know. She knows where the money went. And are we going to be ripe with future fraud? Okay, I know people that might want to

laugh about that, but uh we don't need the highspeed rail. We need to invest in Amtrak and what we already have. We have our own problems such as uh we need drinking water south of 99 on uh Martin Luther King. Have we even put in the sidewalk yet by Golden Valley High School? We have a lot of concerns and maybe if we circle around what we already have and put our energy into that instead of going into this new highspeed rail that may not even take effect one day because we don't know about the funding. Let's worry about us before we worry about highspeed rail. Thank you for your time. Thank you, sir, for your comment. All right, Jennifer, anything else?

I believe that's all we have, mayor. Okay, bring deputy city manager back back to council for additional uh discussion andor action. Before us tonight is a relatively narrow action. It's just uh whether or not to approve the letter uh to be sent to the high speed authority. Council Dupont. Uh a couple things. Um I I'd kind of like to hear from our subcommittee um first to kind of set the stage. I think there's a lot of information in this letter that I'd like to comment on but like to hear from the subcommittee first.

All right. Council Smith, Mayor Pro Tim Bole want to go ahead. Council Smith.

So thank you council member Dvont. Thank you deputy city manager quero. Um, let me know if I don't touch on an issue you want me to to raise. I think deputy city manager did a good job of kind of laying the framework for it. You know, um, this letter was authored by basically all of us initial draft by our consulting firm at CPPG. Um, I'm sure Frank weighed in. Uh, I provided some language. I think others provided some language. So, this is a group effort. What I would point out a couple of things. You know, one, we're we've not had better communication with the authority. On the other hand, things are still being disclosed to us and first through public channels, not to us directly. So, some of that is reflected in the comment letter. I'll point out a couple of things that I had picked up on. Uh, it's not so much the draft business plan, but its technical appendix that has the most interesting information. I would say that that appendix had the most um succinct identification of Mission Avenue as the new Merced Station location. There was some additional detail around that that had been discussed in meetings but was not divulged to us as being part of the plan. You know, things like energy farms around the station. And so, number one, um I think we do need to kind of spot the issues. as an attorney, you appreciate that, but I think the the depth of treatment is appropriate. This is sort of setting out a list of talking points. Um, there's also the tone, and maybe the council wants to talk more about that. So, I don't want the letter to be coming across as unprofessional or strident or ungrateful or uncooperative, but at the same time, at the time the group is drafting this letter, some of these details, like I said, we only saw in the technical appendix. And so it is very true that authority

staff have reached out to us and started an open line of communication. I think the reality is that what what's happening on the other side is happening so fast that uh I'm going to say that's why I think that this is happening that information is first hitting the press and not us. But the reality is that we don't know to pick up the phone and ask the questions if we don't know what we're supposed to be asking. So part of it is wanting to make sure that Merced is first and foremost in this discussion. As far as I'm aware, we're the only um regional partner who's issuing letter of comment, although I could be wrong. But also, it's important to note that, you know, the meetings we keep having with members of the legislature, the governor's office, and others, it's pretty clear to me that we're on our own. Everybody has looked to us and said, "Well, what do you want?" And I think as a as a committee, we want to know what the proposal is so we can not only come to our own judgment, have a conversation with you and with the community. So, uh, this letter is both pointing out the talking points, trying to establish the tone that we need to make, we need be respectful partners who are communicating, but also letting the community know that we're not just backing down. And but this is going to be a process. So I probably spoke more than I really meant to when I first started talking, but you know, I think those are the three big issue areas. Anything else? Um, Mayor Sado, Mayor Prot,

thank you. No, Council Member Smith, I think you said a lot of what my thoughts are. Um the communication I think for us has been first and foremost the most important because we can't make decisions unless we know what's going on from them. Um even tonight finding out from my colleagues that some of the uh authority staff contacted them last week and over the weekend I have not heard one thing from them. So it's just across the board not fair even to our staff. um they're just I know it's in the letter, but I think first and foremost um a lot of times we don't know how to uh proceed without that open communication from their side. Um but this item on our agenda is for us to send a letter. I think this justifies as something that um will go on record for us and I think it's appropriate for us to send it. Yeah. Similarly, I think we we've had uh we've had a lot of communication with the the highspeed rail authority, both uh members of the authority and the board. No doubt about that. Um I think you know in many ways they've made tremendous efforts to to uh be accessible to us to communicate with us. We've had probably a dozen meet I can't tell you how many meetings. We have a lot of meetings but there's a lot of information. Things are moving fast. uh they're trying in to an extent to their credit they're trying to to move fast. I think the letter to an extent is a product of us kind of finding out some things and maybe some things we maybe misinterpreted a little bit or misread a little bit um in the um the technical document feeling that there was a lot of things that were kind of decided but then were kind of buried down in the document. So, but again there's a lot of uh details there, a lot of technical details which still need to be ironed out. Again, the big decision for us is

going to be, you know, to what extent we weigh in on on the station and whether or not we um endorse the idea of having we've discussed it before. I think we've all made our positions uh pretty clear, relatively clear um as to where we prefer to have uh the station. Um but again, there's a lot of um there's just there's a lot there. There's a lot of technical details. Things are are moving fast. Again, I I think it would be dishonest to say we have not had a lot of communication with the authority, but still there's a lot more there. It's just a big topic with a lot of of information and a lot of other things as well too. So we need to all of us need to keep doing a better job us and and you know obviously we expect and need a lot from the authority because you this project is so uh big for Merrced and it's so important to Merrced that you know any little thing that the authority does affects the future of Merced. So I think you know it's incumbent upon the authority to realize that that when they uh make decisions it has uh re reverberations down the line for us that you know it really can affect uh our future. So, the good open line of communication is important. I think it's there, but we all need to do better. Um, and uh I think obviously uh echo the comments of my colleagues as well. Councilor Harris. Thank you, Mayor. I agree with the intent of the letter. My issue is with the tone of it. I think it needs to be reworked. I can see the frustration in it and I see the frustration as a responsibility that we have without a decision making power. We don't have that control and that should be natural for anybody who's married. It's a daily event for us. But I would I would like to see the um the

letter just held back and have the subcommittee work on the tone just a little bit. Okay. Councilor Jup.

Thank you, Mayor. I struggle uh I I struggle because I feel like I'm saying the same thing over and over when we're talking about highspeed rail. Last time we had this discussion, I said, "I don't trust highspeed rail one bit." And it rings true because actions speak louder than words to me. When we were having these highspeed rail discussions, Mr. Whippy was here and I was asking questions about station location, about what the station will look like, about community involvement, about taxes and property taxes and local control of permitting. And it all the answers were we don't really have any plans. It's not going to be a platform. We're not trying to take taxes away from you. On and on and on of pure lies. I think the tone of the letter is accurate for what we're dealing with. Our letter on February 2nd said, "I'm writing to express the city's support in a collaborative review of the concept of moving the Merced highspeed rail station to Southeast Merrced. Now, to me, collaboration means we're going to talk about what this means to moving to Southeast Merrced because we haven't made that determination yet." But here we are with a technical document that's telling us basically we're moving the project to Southeast Merrced. It's going to be along East Mission Avenue. One two page

51 of the technical document provides a somewhat expanded summary of the revised Mercured station indicating a new southeast Mercured station location and a significantly simplified design consisting of an atgrade station with a single side platform with a small support building. I mean we just had this conversation in February. So either they're moving very fast, which I commend them, or they already had a project design in mind. Let's continue talk about taxes. They want to do the EIFDs. Our letter states this approach would effectively divert future property tax revenue growth away from the city. Moreover, the proposal represents a shift in local control. Third, the authority envisions that local agencies will jointly invest in certain infrastructure improvements made necessary by the highspeed rail project. What does that mean? That means our citizens will be paying for this project. not the billions of dollars that we've already spent, but they're requesting us to be a part of the solution to the mismanagement of their funding. I for one represent the city of Merrced and I cannot put that burden on my residents. And lastly, they said that they would have public comments and a public review, an ability for the public to provide input in this project. This is not it. This is not public input. This is we are going to do what we want to do. And this the same mold, same mold from Sacramento.

And I haven't really heard any discussion on we're we're we have discussed the SP 198 issue which if they want to move to Southeast Merrced is going to have to happen which means it's going to have to be in a trailer bill because the ability to provide legislative bills has already passed but we haven't had that conversation and May revise is coming quickly. These are the issues that I'm talking about when we talk about tone of the letter. We need to protect our city. We need to ensure that our comments are being heard and that it's a true collaborative review and not the highspeed rail authority just continuing to tell us what they want to do with the project and having no public input. All right, additional comments. Council Jean, look corn. I see you thinking about it. Go. I'm I'm in support of the letter. Um support of the tone. I think it's Well, let's say it this way. Last time we spoke about this topic, I wanted to see community input, right? I wanted to see a town hall letting community know that, hey, we're redesigning the whole station. We're moving it here and none of that happened, right? I think it's important that we actually engage community. Um, last time you see Merrced talked about survey, right? about where community actually wants this station, that they actually do want community engagement, that they want to

be part of this process. Again, none of that was taken into account. And so I I I think this letter is appropriate in expressing not just our concerns and frustration, but the community as well. And so I'm supportive of it. All right. Additional comments. Council TA. So, um I know

I'm sure everybody wants um highspeed rail and Merced, but as of now, I'm sure that a lot of uh resident in Merced here including a lot of council here are pretty unclear the future of the direction of highspeed rail. But other than that then you know I do want to thank the successes you know deputy uh man city manager and city manager for all the hard work you you guys put on this um this letter. I reviewed it and I think it's a good first step for us to really you know submit this letter and this comment to have some feedback back because we do want to have a clear idea of what highspeed will really how they going to build a station here in Merced so we can make a clear decision on it too. So I do support this letter.

All right. Thank you, sir. All right. So we have um at this point uh the it appears to be the authority I think to their credits looking to move fast. I think you know to us too it's a difficult thing because you know there's a lot of uncertainty in particular surrounding the the station location. Uh the authority right now plans to issue a uh a bid a request for bid uh for the Madera to Merced leg which hopefully they'll award by the end of the year. So that'll be a big milestone potentially if that can get awarded. Um the construction package goes to doesn't include a station but it goes to uh the uh mission to 99 location. So, and then, you know, obviously this council at some point, I think there's going to be there's going to have to be a process, but we'll, you know, if we if we so are so inclined, we'll have to uh, you know, weigh in on where we prefer the station location to be, but I think that's certainly a decision for another time. Um, so I I support the letter as well. I think, you know, it's obviously it's been released already. Um, let's get the letter out. Let's continue uh uh good communication with the authority and let's keep working on uh this project because I think you know council member Tao stated that Merced wants highspeed rail. It's just that that's the thing. I think we all everybody has differing opinions but the majority of people here want that project and I think it's going to be a huge benefit to Mercer no matter what. So let's keep that in mind, keep working on it. um you know support the authority in their efforts to to deliver the project faster and then fight for what's best for our community in terms of station location and other decisions as well.

All right, additional comments or a motion. Move to approve. Okay, is there a second? Second. Okay, I have a motion by council member Dupont and a second by council member Tao. Mayor and council, please cast your votes. Okay, the motion passes with council member Harris abstaining. Okay, thank you everyone. Thank you.

All right, we got a request for a 5m minute break from our city manager. We'll come back almost 10. We'll come back at 10:05. That's it. I talked like

All right. 30 seconds. 30 seconds. Uh bring the meeting back to order. Take up uh agenda item J7, goals and priorities. Agenda item J7, approval of the city council fiscal year 2627, goals and priorities, including the following strategic priority areas: public safety, quality of life, infrastructure and transportation, economic development, parks and community services, fiscal sustainability, and governance and engagement.

Mr. McBride,

Mayor, thank you. Uh, we're going to be pretty brief. I know it's getting late this evening. Um, first of all, I wanted to thank Jennifer and all the staff uh for their hard work uh to get us where we are tonight, but also wanted to thank the council for your support. I know we had a pretty ambitious schedule. We went through this. I know uh January was a lot of work for everybody uh the community as well. We had a lot of good community outreach, good community meetings to help us prepare for this. Um, I would just say that I think we had a very productive um, meeting when we did our goals and and goals and priority setting and I hopefully I believe it's reflective of what you see here tonight. Um, I think what you see tonight is different from what you saw last year and so um, keep in mind we're we're open to to changing whatever works for you for the council, right? the these are things that we want you to understand reflect what the priorities are, how we're going to be planning our work and our budget going forward. Um, you know, what we prioritize every meeting, every month, they're going to change, but these are high aring high arching issues that we're going to be working on throughout the year. And I would just say this as well. I know that I saw a comment come in today on one of the um letters. Uh, we also feel that issues are still cumulative, right? We're not going to abandon things we've been working on. So, quiet zones doesn't go away or Bear Creek doesn't go away. Um, issues that we've got funding for, we still have funding for, we still want to complete them. And I think that reflects true of some of the comments we heard from the council that we didn't want to abandon things that are already priorities. We just want to make sure that we address new things that come up. And I think uh you tried to reflect that by not trying to add too much new work product for us. Right. So, um, one thing you don't see here this year is a lot of projects, but if you wanted us to add that, we're more than happy to do that. We can add as an as an addendum or something else and come back through it.

So, I'm going to walk through it pretty quickly. Jennifer said five minutes. I could probably do it in four and uh, kind of visually look at it, get your feedback, and we'll we'll take comments and go and go from there. Okay. Tell us when to start the stopwatch. Okay. Well, we we got three minutes right here. You want to put four up? All right. Yeah, we're serious here. All right. Do I have three or do I have four? Jennifer is your host. Let's do four. Okay, we got four minutes.

All right. So, the first slide here, this is your uh your your cover, your goals and priorities. And down here at the bottom are kind of your your strategic priority areas. You see six of them there, and those are reflected on the slides that are upcoming for you. Uh so, the first one is obviously public safety and quality of life. And so we tried to put some some focus areas. We know that uh providing for your fire station uh working through uh facilities for fire also uh maintaining your your current service levels are very important. And so one thing that we are adding this year which I think came about through um uh somebody's goals and priorities when you provided your information back to us was looking at performance measures and we really like that idea. So we tried to add that in. And so I think you see that reflective what we put together for you. Also did a little bit different too. We also added some objectives. So we tried to think of some things that we thought we we could measure. All right. Next one infrastructure and transportation. So again um we tried to main you know at the top here you kind of see departments that would be involved. Uh we've got some ideas here about things that were touchstones for critical items and then objectives to your left and some measures again on your right. That little detail you see there is actually the u the keypad for the um the zipper. And just so you know, the mayor has not been checked out on and he cannot operate the zipper. We will not let him use it at this point.

Couple things though. Uh we all know that roads pedestrian safety are are critical importance. New thing that came up a lot this year and I talked with several of the council members was drainage systems. It's actually interesting. We do not have a master drain system for the city of Merced. Uh I know Juan's wrong so he can't correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that to be the case. One thing I'll just add to this too is you know we have been working on uh ATP plan communitywide to get feedback. I think that ties back directly into pedestrian safety. Okay. Uh this has got a lot going on on one page, housing, economic development. Obviously, a lot of critical issues in this area. And so, uh we just continue our investment in affordable housing as we have for many years. I also talk about uh downtown revitalization. What's downtown going to look like now that we've completed the oneway? What are we going to focus on going forward? And so, um I think there's a lot of interest in kind of working closer with workforce development. We had a great partner here earlier tonight. Mr. Sado was here this evening. Uh no relation mayor. And so, um, I think there's partners in the community that we can work with and maybe work on some new strategies to try to take the next step. I would just point out too, if you look there on the performance measures, uh, events, we talked a lot about maybe creating some new events. So, you took a little step tonight and giving us some relief on, uh, some arcane ordinances we got to work around. Parks and community services. A lot of really good work going on in this area. Um, one thing that came up throughout though is talking about safety, lighting, responding to needs uh in parks and facilities. Uh, conditions are very important. We're obviously working on CP42 Applegate Zoo. Going to be a lot of good investment coming up in this very, very soon. Fiscal sustainability. We're budget season. Um, we've done a lot of really good work this year. We have a lot

coming up. Um, we could talk about this for hours. This is a really abbreviated slide. Uh, but I know Venus loves to talk about uh five-year forecasts, all the good things we are doing, but think about just some of the things we've taken initiative on the new CFD, business license updates, um, development services fees. There's there's things that are working on some one-time funding things, property transactions, for example. Last slide. All right, four minutes. Smooth. Well played, sir.

So, mayor, council, again, the these are here perhaps to tea it up to to to think about if you'd like for us to make some some changes, if you'd like for us to perhaps add some uh project slides to it. Um, you really gave us a lot of really good feedback when we started out this year's uh session. Uh, the fact that we walked out at like 11:20 was impressive. I mean, we've been going into the early afternoon, so I commend you for the good work, which I think made our job a little bit easier. Um, I think you've also got uh the trust of your staff. I think you see that we're doing the work you want us to get done. Um, we can talk about what priority we should be working on at any one time. Uh, I'd like to see us maybe come back more frequently with some uh feedback. come back to get you kind of understanding where we are and some things I know Darl and I are working on. We want to talk about roads coming up. I think the roads uh is kind of been a significant issue and it's really about funding, right? It's not about the will or the commitment. We want to do better for the roads. We want to make them better. We want to make them safer. It's the same issue we always have. It's about the resources, right? So, how do we kind of spend our our resources in in the way that gets maximum impact? And so, um let's talk about the next wave of projects. We've got some that are coming out for bid soon, but what's the next ones beyond that? And let's talk about some guidance. Um I I know that this summer we're going to kind of reboot the uh um subcommittee work and that'll kind of get us back to where we were before, but I think we probably can't wait on roads. I think we we we've got to get moving on it. We got some exciting things happening in the fall with like McKe. Um but I think it's it's a valuable conversation to have, I think, with the whole council and kind of talk about that next step. So, um, it's 10 o'clock. I'm here to listen. All right.

Question, anything for the public. I do have two. Okay. Want me to go ahead and call them? Ashley and No. Yes, you are correct. The only two left. What?

Good evening, council. As the city moves forward with developing actions to support housing and community development, we urge the city to consider facilitating the development of affordable housing alongside market rate housing with inclusionary zone policy to promote truly integrated communities and address the legacies of segregation. Uh the city's current regional housing needs allocation unit production plan is a step in the right direction. However, the inloo fees does not generate enough funds to further assist the development of affordable housing in areas with high resources. um and that lack diversity of race, income, and wealth. We urge the council to reconsider increasing the percentage of affordable housing units per development in this unit production plan to also increase the fees because there are different fees established by different areas within the city of Merced and to also expand the policy's applicability so that it doesn't just apply to annexations, but it also includes infill development um as well as expansions. Two, on a similar note, residents of South Merrced have urged council to prioritize policies that will facilitate a grocery store in the southwest area of Merrced for years, especially with the surge of pre-anexations and council's general support for other annexations in South Merrced. We're urging council to do outreach to grocery developers and develop zoning requirements that will facilitate the development of a full service grocery store to increase access to affordable and fresh food in South Merrced. Lastly, additionally, as city moves forward with the proposed repeat housing code violator program, we urge council to consider establishing a special revenue fund that collects the penalties um for unresolved violations and use that money to support the advancement of tenant relocation assistance in the event that an owner does not pay or chooses not to pay. And then the city can then pursue collection or pursue recouping those funds however they wish. But the goal is to address the displacement tenants may face if their unit is issued a notice to vacate for habitability issues and the owner chooses not to pay or doesn't have the funds to pay at the time. Um, and this

is particularly going to be affecting folks that live in these multi-unit buildings or apartments, right? And so as a recap, improving Reena production plan, facilitating grocery stores in Southwest Merrced, and establishing an advanced tenant protection assistance fund mechanism through fees that will already be collected. Um, so I'm looking forward to facilitating further conversations about these issues between you all, decision makers and residents. And so I welcome any further communications or discussion. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, city council members. Uh, I'm just going to read off SB 1000 uh passed in 2016. Cities are cities and counties are required to address environmental justice in their general plan through an envirmentmental justice element or through their goals, policies, objectives, integrated and other elements. And so, uh, environmental justice for those that do not know, according to the California EPA, also has to do with, uh, uh, poverty, um, housing accessibility, um, contaminants to a particular area. You've heard about the childhoodled exposure to a lot of our workingclass and black and brown communities of Southside Merrced. Um, so I'm going to list a bunch of stuff, but at the core of what you need to do and what we're asking to add on to this could be as simple as adding a an word equitable financial sustainability, equitable governance and engagement, sustainable and or sustainability, environmental sustainability under quality of life. And so that you've heard about water water quality issues. You've also and you should be able to invest particularly into sustainable architecture where are the very very diverse amount of funds and grants available to cities and counties that invest in housing cooperatives uh community land trusts and native land trusts. So you don't have to be bought by private equity. Um this is Yokut Wamni and uh the Chumash land. Uh we need to invest in third free third spaces on the south side of Merced. Uh you me you brought how there's crime increase, murders, gang rates. This this isn't existing in a vacuum. This is connected to lack of environmental, economic, and job creation um and uh equitable opportunities for people and the youth of Southside Mered. Uh you mentioned about addressing the lighting and infrastructure on the sidewalk. South Merrced particularly needs to be

centered because there are areas that still have to deal with this high level of crime and without lamp posts. Uh so that doesn't really make sense. There needs to be investment not just in uh industrializing the south side of Merced and shoving all of the pollutants um and cancer-causing chemicals to the people of the south side of Merced and the working-class communities contributing to environmental racism and environmental classism. You need to invest truly not in these huge corporations, but in small local entrepreneurs and local businesses because those are the people that create local businesses here in Merced and they stay in Merrced. When these big corporations are attracted to the industrial zonings, they use us up. They pollute our town. They poison our people and then they leave out of here when it's no longer profitable. We need more student and community civic engagement opportunities on the south side as well that has language equitability and language justice and workingclass time and accessibility. So I go back to the Brown Act that got passed earlier. Um yeah, we also need native and plant animal sanctuaries. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. All right. Anybody else? Jennifer, that is all. Mayor, back to council for discussion and or additional questions, discussion or a motion. Council Harris. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, city manager McBride, for the presentation. Personally, I thought this year went much better than the year before. I like the format. I'd like to keep that format. Uh, and I'll end with a motion. Okay. Council member Smith.

I first of all, thank you for the presentation. Thank you for leading the team. That is still a lot of information. Um, and I agree with Council Member Harris. You know, it's funny. You and I had a disagreement about the format, but I agree. It actually went a lot better. And I appreciate the discussion to find um the path forward. You know, I think I know that this is going to be some kind of a guide stone for the budget process. Yeah.

You know, others may have similar views about different things. I still see some things that made it to goals and priorities that didn't really have four votes or a consensus, at least in my memory of our meeting. I don't want to go through the list, just, you know, kind of reserve my right to push back as we get to to budget. But there's a lot of really good stuff in here and I I like your lens that we want to finish the the food on our plate even as we put some new stuff on. So Sure. Uh good job to everybody on the team. Thank you council member Smith. Mayor Pro Bole.

Thank you mayor. Thank you Scott for putting this all together and also I want to uh agree with my colleagues the format this year I think just streamlined it. I think for some of us it might have been the first time, second time, I don't know how many times you've done this, uh, Mayor Sorado, but um, I think we also had we have the perspective that there are a lot of projects from previous years that are still ongoing and so we're mindful of that, but work's never done. And um, I think we might not have a lot of quote unquote projects, but there's still a lot of work to do. And um just that was it. Oh, and Scott, thank you for bringing up the quiet zones cuz that was on my notes to talk about and it is not forgotten and it is part of district 5 as well.

Council Dupont.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Scott, for uh and staff for the great work that you have done on this. Um, one thing that I I will say in kind of the public safety and quality of life is um, objectivewise would kind of be the the code enforcement piece. I think it's highlighted in key focus areas, but uh, I think as the town halls and a lot of communication through strategic planning, something objective wise focused around code enforcement. um going into budget would be appreciated. I'm not it's not my necessary request for the motion, but something to put the forefront of our mind going into budget. Um I appreciate the good work. I appreciate bringing up the quiet zones. I know Mayor Pro Tim brings that uh up often. Um so it is not forgotten. um the project list that you did bring up at the beginning. I think that's a good way to inform the public on projects that we are working on and what phase of the project we are in because it just provides more information and the potentiality of what projects are on the horizon. And uh I think that's a a good tool for us to use uh not only in our discussions with the public but also as a a guiding document um over the years. So thank you. I appreciate the hard work.

Anybody else? Cris was Did you make a motion? Did I catch Okay. So there's a motion to approve as is. Is there a second? Second. All right. Additional comments, discussion. Okay. Seeing none, Jennifer will call for the question. We have a motion by Council Member Harris and a second by Council Member Smith. Mayor and Council, please cast your votes. Okay. And the motion passes unanimously. Okay. Agenda item L, business L1, request to add item to future agenda. On my right, Mayor Pro Tim Bole, anything for a future agenda? Not this evening. Okay. Sorry, nothing tonight.

Council Jean, nothing. Council Harris, nothing tonight. Council Smith, nothing. Thank you. Council Ta, nothing.

I had I had one thing. If somebody will give me a second on this, uh, come back. There's been, um, you know, obviously a big concern around town about, uh, some of the the bicycle riding and some of the public safety hazards that presents. Um I know police has spent a lot of time dealing with that issue. Um some cities have passed ordinances I think series Mantique in particular other cities as well uh to try to better address this. I would just like to explore some of that uh probably come back maybe after budget July or something. So if anybody else be willing to either work with me on that'd be great or else if anybody would willing to support mayor go ahead. Would that include ebikes as well?

Yeah. any at least any type of bicycles. I I'll second that. Okay. All right. So, we'll come back probably we can uh yeah, I'll come back is probably in July or something. Maybe maybe sooner if we can. Um and then yeah, the request at that point will be to work with the police department, look at other what other cities have done uh both on bikes and the ride outs and people blocking traffic and then also ebikes. So, I know the state has some pending legislation on that as well too. I'm not sure what exactly is sir. What about scooters? Okay. So, microobility. Yeah. Okay. And we could all we could all work on it too together and stuff. Yeah. Just you just signed up for some work.

All right. All right. So, we'll come back. We'll all we'll discuss and we'll come back at some point. Agenda item L2, city council comments. Comment starting on my left. Council Tap. No comment.

Council Smith. I'd like to raise up a conversation I had last Thursday evening with our youth council. I think council member Dupon spoke with them recently. Others might have sort of an innovation of the mid 2010s that seems to have gotten away from its mission. Um I got to tell you, I sat down at Sam Pipes with a pretty exceptional group of young people who are student leaders at their respective high schools. Um, I think that they could get more out of the program, but that the youth council is kind of it's now a solution and looking for a problem. I mean, I'd like to after we get past budget, you know, I intentionally let agenda item go, but I think it's time to really talk about um formalizing this internship program and the opportunities that we can give for youth at different ages, all of us. Um, I can tell you the youth council was very excited by the concept of working with some of us directly and being more involved and I think it would take the take a burden off of parks and wreck to try to figure out some things for them to do and give the students involved a more meaningful enriching opportunity. So, I would, you know, put that a bug in her ear. We got some really good kids who are who want to learn from us and I think we need to find a better way to make that happen. Council member Harris,

the last two weeks,

two great two great events. Um the Bob Hart Square ribbon cutting I think was was great even though the cold weather might have kept some people away. Uh the entertainment was good. People were people were buying food all over from downtown bringing it to the square. Uh lot of lot of great potential there. and the um burgers and brew. Um saw a lot of people that I've never seen before. A lot of younger people there. Uh I know everybody's younger, right? Uh the food the food was excellent. Um and it was uh it was very well organized. It's good year for that. So sorry you all missed out. I looked for you. I kept looking for some tall guy and never showed up. He's looking for tall guys. Councelor Cup.

Uh I also was at Burgers and Brews. Great event uh for downtown. I was there a little bit later. Had a eventful Saturday. Um, also want to highlight Hilton Garden um, in grand opening um, on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Um, I also want to say a early birthday to my wife. Uh, won't say her age because that'll get me in trouble. So, but happy birthday to her. Um, doing a lot of good good things for our family during this time and I I appreciate every everything she does. So, uh, happy birthday to her.

Thanks, sir. Mayor Po, nothing tonight. Real quick, Chief Wilson, I want to thank you and and everybody at the fire department. I had a a six-year-old or mother of a six-year-old girl girl reach out to me. She said her daughter wanted to be a firefighter. Sorry, guys. She said maybe a She said maybe a police officer, too. But firefighters number one. So, the chief and everybody there, they were gracious enough to have her uh come to the uh station and really showed her around and gave her the time of her life. She was extremely excited and you guys made her day. So, thank you guys for all your work there and uh just just know you have a lot of support in this community. Be a firefighter should get more rest.

All right, that was it. Uh the groundbreaking of our fuller uh that pre what was previously the Habitat for Humanity on 19th Street yesterday and then or on Saturday and then also on um yesterday, Sunday, uh new new barber shop, grand opening. did a great job throwing a kind of a small block party out there uh about Maine and O. So, we're starting to see some growth out there as well too, which is exciting to see downtown expand uh not just from Main Street, but or Main Street out to the west towards R2. So, that was pretty cool to see that uh that little center getting going as well too with some other businesses. Right. Agenda item endurement. All right,

Frank. Uh you had a request. you had a request to uh if you want to come up real quick.

Nearest microphone. Sorry, he made the request. Thank you, Mayor Sado. Uh last week we learned that our former public works director John Rajio passed away. Mr. Rajio was with the city of Merced from 1996 to 2008. So I'm respectfully requesting that we adjourn in his honor and memory. Please motion as stated.

Second. Okay. I have a motion by council member Harris and a second by mayor prom. Mayor and council. Please cast your votes. And the motion passes unanimously. All right. 10:33.