City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you, Ms. Rush. Next speaker card, please.

Thank you, Ms. Fleckner. Next speaker card, please.

Thank you, Ms. Vargas. Next speaker card, please.

Let's go ahead and proceed with who is in the chambers right now. So who would like to speak next?

Thank you, Ms. McRae. Next speaker, please.

Thank you, Ms. Reese. Next speaker, please.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Matrakos. Next speaker, please. Whoever would like to speak next.

Thank you, Ms. Senga. The next speaker, please.

Thank you, Mr. Benham. Next speaker, please.

THANK YOU, MR. TOBIK. NEXT SPEAKER, PLEASE.

NEW SPEAKER. THANK YOU, MS. METROKOS. NEXT SPEAKER, PLEASE. Seeing none, oh.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Huffman. Any additional speakers? Seeing none in chambers, do we have any online?

Thank you. Next speaker, please. Is that no additional speakers? Thank you. With that, we'll go ahead and close out items from the audience. That brings us to public hearings. First up, we have item 5A, which is related to development impact fee nexus studies. Staff report, please.

Thank you. Does Council have any preliminary questions?

Mayor Pro Tem. When we had this at Finance, again, thank you very much. Great report. There was one outstanding issue you said you had with BIA. I got that resolved.

Great, thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor Patel. Council Member Duggan. Thank you. I see in the presentation that it says the proposed parks fee for a single family for 2026, it says $7.04 per square foot. I think in the actual Nexus study, I forgot the publisher, sorry. I think it says it's $7.27. Can I ask why is it different or which one are we adopting today?

Okay, okay, that clarifies, thank you. Sorry, I have one more question. Let's say for an average, Actually, it doesn't matter. But for a new single-family home, what's the net change in impact fees after the water fee reductions that we're seeing and the reductions? Out of all the increases and reductions that we're seeing, what's the net change for a single-family home? Are fees going up?

Thank you, Councilmember. Any on this side? Councilmember Evans?

Thank you, Mayor. No, staff answered all my questions during the Finance Committee meeting, so thank you. Thank you. Anything? Okay.

All right, we'll go out for public comment. Would any members of the public like to speak on item 5A related to impact fee nexus studies? I see one hand. We'll allow four minutes. Let's proceed. Mayor, it's a public hearing, so we should open the public hearing. My apologies. We're going to go ahead and open the public hearing at 8.07.

Thank you, Mr. Tanner. Do we have any additional speakers on this item? Okay, do we have any speakers online?

Okay, with that, we'll go ahead and close out public comment and close the public hearing for item 5A. Staff, I'd like to get responses to the questions related to library fees and public safety fees in the industrial category.

Understood, thank you. All right, council, do you have any additional questions, discussion, or entertain a motion?

May I make a motion to adopt a resolution adopting the public facilities nexus study and associated public facilities project list. and two adopting an updated charges for the public facilities fees three adopting water capacity nexus study for adopting updated charges for water capacity fees five adopting public safety nexus study and associated public safety project list six adopting updated charges for public safety fees seven adopting park dedication and IN LIEU FEE AND PARK ACQUISITION AND IMPROVEMENT FEE NEXT TO STUDY AND ASSOCIATED PARK ACQUISITION AND IMPROVEMENT FEE PROJECT LIST EIGHT

The lowering of the parks fee from 727 to 704, that happened kind of recently. Would staff, if we approve the 704, would staff still say that new development is paying for their fair share of infrastructure? Yes, absolutely.

Okay, thank you. That was it. Thanks. Thank you, Councilmember. We have a first and second. Roll call, please.

Yes. Madam Clerk, will you please read the title of the proposed ordinance?

Motion to waive the first reading by substitution of title and introduce the ordinance. Second. We have a first and a second. Roll call, please.

Yes. All right. The impact fees pass. Thank you to staff, and we look forward to new development paying their fair share. That brings us to regular agenda items. Item 6A is related to the Cal City's annual conference. Staff report, please.

Thank you. And then just a quick question, who from Council will be attending the conference?

Thank you. Do we have any preliminary questions, counsel?

Yes, thank you, Mayor. Is it still possible for council members to sign up to go or is it closed off?

Are you interested if it's available? Yes. Yeah. I had something to change. Okay. Anybody else? Okay. Just for my questions. So with regard to the general resolution, I just want to confirm that our city policy is such that we would be supporting local control, opposing unfunded mandates, and opposing anything in which the legislature has excluded from requirements placed upon local governments. Is that in line with our policies?

Thank you, Mr. Sanchez. That's also what I would be proposing to be support. But with that, we'll go out for the public for this item. This is item 6A related to the Cal Cities Annual Conference. Are there any members of the public like to speak on item 6A? Seeing none in chambers, do we have any online?

Okay, with that, we'll go ahead and close out public comment for item 6A. Just for... Council's understanding. So I will be going. I'm good as an alternative. You're welcome to join as well. My only concern is that I have a 6, excuse me, a 2 p.m. flight. And sometimes these resolutions, they begin around noon. Sometimes they run late. If they were to run late, I would ask if is staff available to jump in if I happen to become unavailable.

Okay, so I would move to designate myself as a voting delegate and Council Member Bedoya, if attending, as an alternate voting delegate and the city manager or her designee as a second delegate for the League of California Cities 2026 Annual Conference. I have a second from Councilmember Evans. Ms. Nygaard, is that okay with you?

Fantastic. We have a first and a second. Roll call, please.

Yes. Thank you. Was there any council opposition to the policies that I briefly discussed with staff earlier? Okay, so with that, I would move by motion to authorize whichever appointed delegate to vote under the conditions of supporting local control, opposing unfunded mandates, and opposing anything in which the state legislature is excluded from the authority of local governments. Second. We have a first and a second. Roll call, please.

Thank you. And just for the, is the third motion separate than the first motion? Oh, I would move to adopt a resolution designated the PREVIOUSLY DESIGNATED VOTING DELEGATES AS THE ALTERNATE VOTING DELEGATES FOR THE LEAVE CALIFORNIA CITY'S ANNUAL CONFERENCE. SECOND. WE HAVE A FIRST AND A SECOND. ROLL CALL, PLEASE.

ALL RIGHT. THE ITEM PASSES. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE. LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU ALL AT THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE. That brings us to item 6B regarding council compensation. Staff report, please.

Thank you, Ms. Castro. Council, do we have any preliminary questions? Mayor Patem.

Just to confirm, although we're allowed... Although we're allowed, we do not get any... I just want to make it clear, we don't get compensation for the commissions that we serve on.

Right. And then secondly, if we... If we don't do anything, we can vote tonight to say we just want to stay where we're at and it's done. You don't have to bring anything back. Is that correct?

Thank you, Mayor Pertem. Any questions this side? Okay. And then just wanted to confirm, have we calculated what the total annual salary would be for the second compensation category for cumulative inflation?

Okay, do we have numbers or do we just know the percentage?

Okay, understood. All right, that answers our questions. I'm going to go ahead and go out for a public comment on this item. Would any members of the public like to speak on item 6B? Okay, I see... Three hands, so we'll allow four minutes. Who would ever like to start?

Thank you, Ms. Howell. Next speaker, please.

Thank you, Mr. Tanner. Next speaker, please.

Thank you, Ms. Flechter. Do we have any additional speakers in this item? Seeing none in chambers, do we have any online? Okay, with that, we'll go ahead and close the public comment for item 6B. And I'll return to council for discussion or entertain a motion. Anyone like to start? Council Member Evans.

Thanks, sir. Thank you, Mayor. So I opposed the raise two years ago, and I'm going to oppose this one too. Personally, I like the idea of public service being to represent the best interests of the community. And I understand the arguments against that. But in the end, I don't want our constituents thinking that that's why we're here. And I also really don't like the idea of anybody being able to give themselves a raise. It seems inherently wrong. And additionally, money is finite. The city only has so much. There's only so much to go around. And whatever we take doesn't go into the roads. It

Thank you, Mayor. I'm kind of neutral on this. I didn't run for this position for money either, but I will go with the consensus of the dais because I do want to make sure that we all feel that we do hold some value up here. And I commend all of us this last 18 months of the collaboration that we have been able to have on this dais and the work we have been able to accomplish. and I look forward to many more months ahead. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Nygaard. Council Member Bedoya. Thank you. I supported what I call correcting council compensation two years ago. I think it's currently fair. Going forward, I think it would be a good idea, or at least to think about tying it to something objective like Social Security COLA. Yeah.

Yeah, as I previously stated, I don't support taking it. I'm didn't sign up to get paid, and I'm fine with what I am getting compensated with. Thank you.

Thank you. As for my comments, I would just be consistent with what I've said in the past. I think that I want to make sure that we're reducing barriers to participate in local governance. And I would note that the New compensation would only be for the next council, not for this council. A majority of this council is up for election. So we don't know who will be sitting in these seats. So I would generally support some moderate raise. I just want to confirm with regards to the compensation B category for cumulative inflation. Essentially, is that COLA adjustments? Would Ms. Castro even answer

So just to confirm, that's 7.75% over two years? Okay. So with that, kind of similar to what Council Member Bedoya was stating, I would be comfortable with attaching it to something. I think it would be fair to attach it to COLA. So I will go with the consensus as well, but I would be supporting attaching it to a cumulative inflation basis. Any additional comment?

No, I was just thinking it through. I'm not opposed to the idea. I am opposed to an increase at this time. The last increase was, you know, percentage-wise was very high. I think it was, I can't remember, somewhere in the neighborhood of 79%, 80%, something like that. I don't mind that idea of attaching it to something like CPI because... I guess theoretically that takes it out of our hands. And that is one of the things that I stated. I've never been comfortable with that idea of us giving ourselves raises. So I guess if we attached it to CPI, that would be... Is there a way to lock it in and

For me, I think I'm just... I think in the future... That will make sense. I think it's a good idea. For me, the salary is a little high for my taste, so I would say maybe in the future at some point I could support it.

And then just to confirm, I believe this is on for an informational update, or is this I'm asking for a motion for direction today?

Okay. So you need a specific motion then? If possible, yes.

Well, if I made a motion to not do one, that's what I would do right now. I make a motion that we maintain the current salaries as they are.

We have a first and a second. Roll call, please.

Yes. So that takes care of council compensation. And that takes care of our regular items. At this time, we have another items from the audience. Would any members of the public like to speak on an item not on tonight's agenda? All right. The time is yours. We'll have four minutes.

Thank you Mr. Duby. Next speaker. Seeing none in chambers do we have any online? Okay with that we'll go ahead and close out items from the audience. That brings us to staff items.

Thank you, Ms. Lightwood. That brings us to council items. Do we have any council items on this side?

I'd like to get support for bringing back the nature park just to get a better understanding of what how many phases we're talking about what's the bandwidth available to move forward with that what the overall costs are just some more I think I was unfortunately I thought when I saw it on the line item it said nature park and we got eight million I thought that covered the whole nature park I later found out that was just phase one. So if we get some clarification on that, and then also if we were to move forward, what it would cost. And if we even have the track going in the aquatic center,

I'll support that. And I'll take a third on that.

Right. How we're, yeah, we're, How many phases we're talking about the cost? Do we have the availability to even move forward with phase one right now because of staffing doing all the other things they're doing that more of an update? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the support.

Council Member Padilla, anything? A brief item when you get a chance. Cool. Okay. I just wanted to add that the climate adaptive tree planting request is really good news for Tracy. I work directly with Abram Diaz and Assemblymember Jesse Gabriela's office on the city's $2 million request. So I'm very glad to see the full request, including the state budget bill. There's still a process to finish, as was stated, but this is exactly the kind of outside funding that we should be working to bring home to Tracy. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Evans.

I think, Mayor, so I wanted to bring it to staff and make a request. Mr. Dobie earlier mentioned multiple people potentially living in Lincoln Park and that he's been requesting us to look at that for over a year. Given the amount of progress and effort that we put into ensuring that our parks are clean and safe, I want to understand the full extent of what's going on. I can take some time and walk out there with Tracy PD, if that's what it takes. But I want to really understand, we put a lot of effort into the park ordinance. We spent a lot of money, a lot of the public's money on a shelter.

Yeah, I think the concern is just what's going to be done on a temporary basis for Halloween. And I'm sure my colleagues would like that update as well. So if you could make it to all of us, I'd appreciate that. Other than that, just had a great time at the Veterans Breakfast on Saturday. Lots of great events around. I know there was a car show, and so hopefully folks are getting out there and enjoying all the great things, concerts in the park, just a lot of great things happening. So thanks, everybody. Have a great night. Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Nygaard.

Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to actually address the urban forest management plan. I was actually on the Environmental Commission back in October of 2023 when this was actually approved at the Commission. I do not believe it has come back to staff, to Council. So I would like to see if we could have it return, support to have that brought back, and then to have a presentation so this council will know what the urban forest management plan actually curtails.

Thank you very much. Also, I just wanted to, I attended this weekend the car show. Congratulations to the organizers of that event. I think Tika was involved. Great attendance. It was just packed. So it was really exciting to see kind of that flair, the Bean Festival flair come back. Just everybody downtown, beautiful weather, lots of families. So just congratulations and kudos to all of the organizers that put in for that. But I wanted to bring an important issue that is still prominent in our downtown streets as well as in the city of Tracy. And that's I would really like to have a consensus

And then also, one of the items that we had in our consent calendar was, you know, about stormwater basins. And I would really love to see if we could bring this item back for discussion on how we could actually have a discussion on, one, more multi-use of our storm basins, possibly recreation areas, but more importantly, how we can capture that stormwater possibly for other, you know, maybe our purple pipe. I think it would be a really good discussion to see what we could do to improve the use of our storm basins.

Third. Thank you very much. And last, I love Interfaith and the amount of just the diligent work they do to help meet the food need in our community. Because of the track construction, they utilize Ritter Park as their receiving space for, I think there's hundreds of clients that actually go through on a daily basis. They utilize the residential area to go across and into to go to Parker. Um, I live on that street and I've had many of my neighbors come to say how, um, how, how, how cars are speeding. We did have PD actually have a, um, a, uh, those, um, traffic where they measure your speed, a

Thank you, Councilmember. I'll just keep it brief. Just thank you to staff for all your work. We're back from our vacation, so let's get back to work. I just want to wish everyone a happy Labor Day. Hope you have a long, safe weekend, and we'll see you all at the next meeting. Do you have a second? Second. I heard a second from Councilmember Evans. Roll call, please.

Yes. We're adjourned at 8.56 p.m. Good night, everyone.