City Council - Regular Meeting

For a 05:30, I am calling the 05/12/2026 Modesto City Council meeting to order and ask the city clerk to call the roll.

Council member Vicki. Here. Council member Bobaro is absent. Vice mayor Williams. Here. Council member Wright. Here. Council member Scoutier Brayton. Here. Council member Alvarez.

Here.

And mayor Swalen.

Here. Will everyone please rise for the pledge of allegiance followed by the invocation from Mike Gunnarsson with City Ministry Network. Indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, mayor. Let's pray. Heavenly father, we come before you tonight with gratitude for the opportunity to gather in service of the people of Modesto. I pray for this city, for its families, neighborhoods, businesses, and schools, and every person who calls this community home. May Modesto be marked by peace, wisdom, compassion, and unity.

We ask your blessing upon this council meeting and every discussion and decision that takes place here tonight. Grant clarity where there is complexity, humility where there is disagreement, and wisdom where difficult choices need to be made. Help these conversations to be guided not by division or personal interest, but by a a sincere desire to serve the common good. I pray especially for the mayor, this the council members, city staff, first responders, and community leaders. Give them strength for the responsibilities they carry, courage to do what's right, and discernment as they lead this city forward.

Protect their families, encourage them in times of pressure, help them govern with integrity and compassion. We also remember those in our city who are struggling tonight, the hurting, the lonely, the poor, and those searching for hope. Help us all to be people who serve one another with kindness and dignity. May this meeting be productive, respectful, and beneficial to all the people in Modesto. I pray this in your name. Amen.

Amen. Thank

you very much. Does the city clerk have any announcements?

Mayor. Just a reminder, public comment is three minutes. Sir speaker cards at the entrance of the chambers. Thank you.

Thank you. Do any of the council members have any conflicts of interest? Seeing none, will the city attorney please report out on closed session?

Yes, Mayor. The council met in closed session today regarding existing litigation matter. No reportable action was taken.

Thank you. Next on the agenda is acknowledgments and presentations. We have a proclamation declaring May 2026 as National Historic Preservation Month, and I will read the proclamation. It is important to acknowledge the role of history in our lives and the contribution made by dedicated people in helping to preserve the heritage that has shaped us all. Historic preservation is relevant for communities across the nation, both urban and rural, and for Americans of all backgrounds.

This year's theme is all people are created equal. A national effort to highlight locations, neighborhoods, and landmarks that tell the full American story and embody the promise that all people are created equal. It is important to celebrate the role of dedicated individuals who help preserve the tangible aspects of the heritage that has shaped Modesto. We recognize that local historic preservation is an effective tool for revitalizing neighborhoods and maintaining community character. It also instills awareness of the local historically significant buildings and landmarks to the residents of Modesto and surrounding communities.

The city of Modesto established its landmark preservation ordinance in 1988 to identify historic preservation sites and foster community engagement with Modesto history. Now therefore, I, Sue Zwolland, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as historic preservation month in the city of Modesto and urge all residents to support efforts to celebrate and raise awareness for historic places and people. Dated this May 2026. Accepting the proclamation is Harrison Power, Landmark Preservation Commission chairperson. Welcome.

Thank you very much. Good evening, mayors Wallin, city council, and city staff. My name is Harrison Power, chair of the Landmark Preservation Commission, and it is wonderful to be here tonight, to highlight, help highlight the importance of preserving Modesto's history and landmarks. With the proclamation declaring May 2026 as National Historic Preservation Month, we celebrate the efforts by city leaders, property owners, and historians alike to support the protection of Modesto's significant sites. A recent Time Magazine article emphasized this notion that historic preservation is not a refusal of change.

It is a discipline, a way of deciding which changes deepen the meaning of a place and which ones degrade it. The impact of mid twentieth century building policy and re redevelopment efforts in Modesto is evident throughout the downtown area with the loss of many historic structures, irreplaceable architectural designs, and cultural connections to the past. Growing public awareness and reflection on this loss of historic buildings led to the creation, as you noted, to the creation of the Landmark Preservation Commission by the city council in 1988 with a goal of protecting and honoring Modesto's significant sites and resources. The commission continues with its responsibility of advising the city council on the recognition of our city's surviving landmarks for future generations like my two year old daughter, Vivian. And today, there is a very much renewed public interest in protecting our city's notable landmarks, a desire to expand recognition to new sites reflective of Modesto's storied history and cultural heritage.

The recognition of prominent figures, architecture, and cultural sites can have an immense impact on the power of place making, creating an attractive community where people are proud to live and prosper. Landmark designation ought to be embraced as a public good and tool for community building, not just a city service to elective property owners. Preservation can and will make Modesto more vibrant and our community stronger. So again, I leave you with the words of former mayor Peggy Mensinger. Quote, here in Modesto, we lost much of our earliest construction when it seemed demolition was the best way to meet modern building codes.

Given another chance, we might decide to rescue some structures worthy of restoration, and the community might well have been richer as a result. So thank you very much, mayor and city council, for this proclamation acknowledging historic preservation month, and I look forward to future opportunities for stakeholders, the Landmark Preservation Commission, and City Council to work together to support preservation efforts here in our community. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have any comments from council members? Vice mayor Williams.

Thank you, mayor. Mr Powers Harrison you cease to amaze me each and every time you come up to the podium and in the community for a young man who is in his 30s to even desire or even want oh you're getting ready to say something.

Almost 30.

Oh my goodness. Wow. Well, happy birthday early but amazing that we're the city of Modesto is in good hands. Please stay here in this community and continue to do what you do. So thank you.

Council member Ricky.

Thanks, mayor. I just I agree with you a 100% on the concept of using culture as place making. I think that it's very important for the future of our com for our community. You need to have purpose. We need to have places people can go and, you know, get in touch with the community.

What you talked about with with Peggy Mensinger, right? Like, she's absolutely right. We lost that connection to the past when we tore down all those buildings, right? And I think that we need to focus on celebrating our past because it's part of who we are as a community and developing and focusing on developing our culture through place making, I think is really important. So I appreciate all your effort on the Culture Committee. I think it's a very important committee. I don't think it gets enough credit. And I think the bow tie adds at least three

years or so.

Go with that.

Alright, Council Member Scooby Brayton.

Thank you, Mayor. And thank you Commissioner Powers for being here and for representing the Commission and the good work it does. Indeed, is It's our responsibility to preserve our beautiful history in Modesto. And I think your Commission is poised perfectly to do that. And you have our fullest support. So again, thank you for bringing attention to this very important cause.

Thank you very

much. Yes. I appreciate your efforts also. I you know, when I look at those historic pictures, it really is something to behold. And even the 7th Street Bridge, as much as we hated to see that go, but when it's completely unsafe, sometimes things have to be rebuilt. But we certainly appreciate you and your efforts and all that you do. So thank you for being here this evening. Thank you for Abby for being here. Thank you for Vivian for being here. I wish we had more of Vivian.

We have some children here tonight, really delights me. Thank you all for being here. I'll now bring the proclamation down and present. Thank you very much, ma'am. Next on the agenda item two, consider approving the appointments of Shammy Karim with the partial term ending 12/31/2027 and Christian Simon with the partial term ending 12/31/2028 to the city of Modesto, Citizens Housing and Community Development Committee.

Does council have any questions of staff? Seeing none, I'll open item two up to the public. Any members of the public that would like to speak regarding item two? Seeing none, I'll close public comments. Comments from council members?

Nope.

Seeing none, I have a resolution approving the appointments of Shammy Karim with a partial term ending 12/31/2027, and Christian Simon with a partial term ending 12/31/2028 to the City of Modesto Citizens Housing and Community Development Committee. Do I have a motion?

Motion to approve.

Second.

I have a motion by council member Scudia Brayton and a second by council member Wright. Will the clerk please call the roll for this item?

Council Member Ricky. Aye. Vice Mayor Williams. Aye. Council Member Wright. Aye. Council Member Scuthia Brayton. Aye. Council Member Alvarez.

Aye. And Mayor Swalen. Aye. Next on the agenda is public comment. And our city clerk has an announcement.

For any public comments made in another language, the subtitles on screen will automatically translate into English.

Thank you. Public comment tonight is in person only. Zoom remains available for viewing and for wordly translation. Thank you for joining us tonight. The city council meetings are a place where everyone is encouraged to share insights, listen, and participate in the decision making process that benefits our community.

To ensure a fair and respectful environment, the mayor is responsible for maintaining order and decorum as outlined in the city charter and the rules of decorum posted at the entrance of the chamber. I ask that we are all respectful of all members of the public, presenters, and council members. Anyone who disrupts the meeting may be asked to leave. I appreciate your cooperation as we discuss key issues and make decisions that affect our city. We will now open public comment for items not on the council agenda and you have three minutes to speak.

I have one blue card currently, and, this is for, Elizabeth and Joel Sandoval. So, yes, please step forward.

So I just wanna clarify that of what I'm gonna be speaking about. We only found out about two weeks ago. And so the neighborhood that's involved, a lot of the people there don't know yet. And so we know they're gonna be finding out and hopefully joining to what I'm gonna be talking about here. I wanna say hi to everyone and thank you for listening to me.

Good afternoon. So today, some of us are here to object to a cell tower being installed on 1535 Ohio Avenue in Modesto. No notice was given and no permission was asked. The person that owns the house where it is being installed, he does not even live there. He has tenants there and he's getting paid to let the this cell tower be installed in his house.

This tower is being installed right in front of our home. So as I have understood, people that run these meetings are here to protect us, you know, in a way responsible for our life, for our property, and that's what we're asking to defend us and to protect us. Please. We feel attacked in the worst of ways, endangered. I happen to have some back background experience.

These here, when I travel when we travel on the freeway or anywhere where there's cell towers, when you put it on the RF mode, it'll show how much how much it's receiving. And you know how much is too much. So these meters like this one show how much radio frequency radiation we are getting exposed to. It always shows that it is an excess of it when there's towers around. Also with the phones.

This one, especially when when they're on, you know, if they're on airplane mode, it will not show it. But when they're on with a five g and everything, it'll show that it's too much radio frequency radiation. So this tower, found out calling different places that it'll supposed it will be a five g. And we know from experts it always comes with a four g. And it's gonna be an antenna emitting 10 watts per square meter. These are very high levels according to experts. And that is just baseline because we know that that increases with every phone it connects to.

Okay. Your time is expired. Your time is up? The three minutes? So what we can do is have our deputy city attorney connect with you. Excuse me. Deputy city manager. Excuse me. Connect with you and give you specific information on this location and maybe refer you to the correct resources.

Yes.

Okay? Thank you for being here.

Thank you.

Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone Do want

to take her a card?

Or maybe if you can explain a little bit to them.

To make it clear, I just wanted to get we want to get help for them to stop. Okay. To not put this or else they owe us our house plus all the damages. Okay. Thank move.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

You wanna go to the back?

She's gonna look it up. Alright. Are there any other members of the public that would like to speak for items not on today's agenda? Yes. Please step forward. Thank you.

Hi, everyone here. My name is Erica Guerrero, and I have known Elizabeth Sandoval and her family. So Elizabeth for Liz over, I mean, twenty years, we are close family friends and enjoy visiting their home in the countryside. Spending time there is peaceful and refreshing with clean air. The Sandoval family maintains an organic vegetable garden and raises goats and chickens organically.

They are deeply committed to their health and well-being and take many precautions to create a healthy living environment. For example, they turn off their Wi Fi when it is not in use and limit their exposure to New York wireless technologies whenever possible. The installation of the five gs tower directly across from their property would greatly impact the lifestyle and environment they have worked for so hard to maintain. They are strongly opposed to the installation of this tower and I support them as a long time friend and visitor to their home. Many people are concerned about the health risks associated with these towers, as Elizabeth has already explained.

I just mentioned cancer or not to list them all. The Santobo family never got a notice regarding the installation of this tower. We would like to know how you mayor, Mrs. Duolin, and the city councils will be willing to help us to work with us and to alleviate this matter. We are here because we need your help, missus Dolan, and all of you city councils. You are our representatives, and your role is to protect us and to work for us for the well-being of our citizens. Please don't just go home and forget about us. This is very important for us and this family. Thank you.

You're welcome. Our city manager would like to make a comment for clarification for everyone, but thank you for being here this evening.

Good evening and thank you mayor. Just for clarification, this jurisdiction is actually in the county jurisdiction, so the city does not have jurisdiction over this matter. However, we do have your information. We'll make sure that we connect with the proper county resources and have them get in contact with you to help resolve the issue.

Thank you. Any other public comment for items not on tonight's agenda? Welcome.

Hi, Kevin McLarty, District 1. So I'm bringing up an item that I've brought to you before and that is the no left turn sign on, well, guess it's pointing toward traffic on Jay Street going toward McHenry. So in other words, if you're headed north on Jay Street and you're about to make a left turn onto Needham, there is a sign across the street on the other side of Needham facing you, telling you not to make a left turn there. However, that sign is very problematic. It the way that that sign is angled, it looks like it's pointing to traffic in some other lane somewhere.

And also, the problem with it is that you do not see that sign until you've already begun your left turn. There is no way that you're gonna see that sign as you begin, you know, to get into that into the right correct posturing to make a left turn, and you're waiting for the oncoming traffic, you're not gonna see that. You're not gonna see it until you start to make your left turn. And then it's too late. You've already made the left turn.

I happen to know for a fact that other people, including even a member of the council, have thought that that sign was directed toward traffic on Downey Avenue, telling the people on Downey Avenue in the middle lane that they can't turn left onto Jay Street. So there are different opinions as to who can't turn left because of the way that that sign is configured. Something needs to be done about that sign. And, you know, I I kind of thought about this. Why don't they just put a left turn arrow there?

And that way, they don't have to have a no left turn sign there. If they were to fix that light and make it a left and and put a left turn arrow there, they would not need that sign there. Because it's been I've been told by experts that there's no way that they can relocate that sign, that that sign has to be where it is and that there's nothing they can do. Alright. So if that's the case, let's get rid of this sign, and let's put a left to an arrow there.

But something needs to be done, and I further wanna emphasize that if anybody gets a ticket for making an illegal left turn there, I bet it could be fought in court very easily because of the fact that that sign is very confusing. And I just hope that somebody will look into this matter. Thank you.

Thank you. Again, Alison, if you can connect to make sure that we're connecting on this situation too. All right. Any other members of the public that would like to speak regarding items not on the agenda?

Good evening. My name is Adriana and I live in 1538 Ohio Avenue, which is one of the properties across from 15385 Ohio Avenue where the development of a five g tower is planned. I've only found out about the intended development today, but I would like to emphasize my concern about any life threatening illnesses that this can imply. Given the past cases from the Sprint Tower at the Weston Elementary School located in Ripon, California, I am concerned for all of us residing within the area of such development. I believe this addition should be approved as a community and not only by the property owner of 1535 Ohio Avenue who does not reside in the premises.

In the case that this development is approved, I would like to inform that as of 05/12/2026, the residents of 1538 Ohio Avenue, 29 year old Brolio Garcia Lozano, 28 year old Adriana Yvette Olvera Medina, eight year old Bellamy, a Yorkie, and three year old junior, a Pomeranian, none suffer from any minor or life threatening illnesses.

That would be it. Thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate everyone. Alright.

Anyone else regarding items not on the agenda? All right. Thank you. Will the city clerk please read the consent items? Oh, excuse me. Next on the agenda is consent items. An item may be removed from consent and discussed at the request of a member of the public or council member. Is there anyone on the council that would like a consent item removed for further discussion? Seeing none, is there anyone in the public that would like an item removed from consent for further discussion or comment? Will the city clerk please read the consent items? Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me.

Yes. Very quick. The same street where we all live, cars speeding so fast all day every day. And that's a nice street. People go in the afternoons with their pets and walk. But there is usually, all the time, especially in the summertime, motorcycles. You know, the racing motorcycles or cars. It looks like they just get off of Carpenter and try to find a place where they can taste their cars or something. So, we might need more, like, signs or stops or or what is those? Bumps? Uh-huh. Bumps. That that's it.

Got it. Thank you. You very much for Alright. Your Now we are on to consent items.

Yes, Mayor. Item three, consider approving the minutes for the 05/05/2026 council meeting. Item four, consider approving final adoption of ordinance 30 eight-thirteen CS, approving the Modesto Police Department's military equipment use policy, policy seven ten in accordance with California Assembly Bill four eighty one, and approving the purchase of additional equipment that qualifies as military equipment in fiscal year twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven and rescinding ordinance number 3,794 CS. Item five, consider the draft budget as submitted by the city manager with the mayor's final budget modifications and combining the documents into the proposed budget for the fiscal year twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven and noticing a public hearing to be held on 06/02/2026 for council's consideration and adoption of the fiscal years twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven proposed budget and related actions. Item six, consider accepting the community cleanup and employment pathway grant in the amount of $575,000 to expand the Modesto Mo Beautiful initiative.

Item seven, consider accepting the regional water recycling facility Jennings Campus Corrosion Control Measures Project as complete releasing securities, releasing payments totaling $3,938,960 to TCB Industrial Incorporated of Modesto, California, and authorizing the city clerk to file a notice of completion. Item eight, consider accepting the Sisk Road Signal Coordination, CML5059264 project as complete, releasing securities, releasing payments totaling $769,144 to Bear Electric Electrical Solutions LLC of Elviso, California and authorizing the city clerk to file a notice of completion. Item nine, consider accepting the rebid Carpenter Road area soccer complex phase two project as complete releasing securities, releasing payments totaling $1,294,183 to Frontline General Engineering Construction Incorporated of Tracy, California and authorizing the city clerk to file a notice of completion. Item 10, consider approving a sixth amendment to the agreement with Property Specialists Incorporated, DBA CPSI, now known as InterWest Consulting Group Incorporated for additional right of way services for the State Route 132 West Freeway Expressway one project, increasing the agreement amount by $199,801 plus $19,980 additional services if needed for a total increase of $219,781 and a total not to exceed amount of $4,178,975. Item 11, consider approving the auditor's reports and schedules of Measure L program revenues and expenditures for fiscal year end 06/30/2025.

Item 12, consider approving the agreements for the furnishings of commercial cannabis inspection and financial audit services to Hinder Leiter, De Yamas and Associates, HDL Companies, Brea California, and Booth Management Consulting LLC, Columbia, Maryland for a total combined amount not to exceed $924,475 over five years. Item 13, consider approving an agreement for the furnishings of document storage services to Pacific Storage Company, Modesto, California for a total amount not to exceed $330,805 over five years. Item 14, consider approving the purchase for six fleet additions and six fleet replacements in a total amount not to exceed $3,924,616 Item 15, consider approving an addendum to the memorandum of understanding with Yosemite Community College District YCCD for oversight of the fire and emergency medical services, public safety program to support YCCD's establishment of a paramedic program and include the provision of a paramedic subject matter expert to assist in the development and implementation of the program. Item 16, consider approving a first amendment to the agreement with Final Cut Media Modesto, California for education and government broadcast production services, increasing the agreement amount by a $124,001 through the duration of the agreement and extending the term of the agreement from 06/30/2026 to 06/30/2027.

Item 17, consider approving the resolution of intent to consider franchise agreements with Gilton Solid Waste and Berdolotti Modesto disposal for solid waste collection services and setting a public hearing on 06/09/2026 at 05:30PM. Item 18, consider approving the agreement for Rockwell Rejuvenation Services to Fox Lumis Incorporated, Sacramento, California for a total amount not to exceed $2,871,991 over five years. Item 19, consider approving the agreement for Sewer Root Control Services to Duke's Root Control Incorporated, Syracuse, New York for a total amount not to exceed $747,601 over five years. And item 20, consider approving an engineering services agreement with Woodard Woodard and Coran of Sacramento, California for the preparation of groundwater recharge and storage feasibility study phase two in the amount of $142,040 plus $7,110 in additional services if needed for an agreement total amount not to exceed $149,150

All right, may I have a motion to approve the consent calendar? So moved. Second. We have a motion by Council Member Wright, second by Council Member Rickey. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Rickey.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Williams. Aye. Council Member Wright? Aye. Council Member Squethia Brayton? Aye. Council Member Alvarez? Aye. And Mayor Zwolland?

Aye. Carries six zero. Thank you. Next on the agenda is council comments and reports. Do any of the council members have comments and reports? Council Member Alvarez.

Thank you, Mayor. I'll be brief. I just want to highlight what members of the public mentioned today about the cell tower installation and their opposition to it. It is, as the city manager mentioned, it is in fact the county jurisdiction. That's right across the street from District 2, the district that I represent and I actually have an uncle that lives on Ohio.

So, I'm more than happy to speak with you guys to connect you with supervisor Terry Withrow. I actually just conveyed to him the importance and the urgency that you all conveyed tonight. So I'm hoping that we can work together to connect you all with the right folks and I'm more than happy to take the initiative to connect you with the supervisor.

Alright. Vice Mayor Williams. Thank you, mayor.

The few things that I want to mention today, Councilman Alvarez and I had the opportunity to be a part of tomorrow's Modesto graduation, which he and I were able to hand out certificates to some of the deserving students. It is an effort outside of the Manasseh City Schools and other school districts actually hone in some of those young men who need the additional help. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, it was about 35 or 40 of them that graduated from the different schools in our area, and it was held at the State Theater. And so I was happy to be there with councilmember Alvarez. Today was kids day and I spent about two and a half hours on five points raising money for the Salvation Army Kids Day.

It's still happening. If you want to give, you can always go to salvationarmy.com and and get your donation in before midnight. And, of course, say it came from this way so that way I get credit for it. No. I'm just kidding on that. But just please send money to the Salvation Army for Kids Day. It only happens once a year. Had the opportunity to hang out for a green business ribbon cutting. They were just talking about the environment and things of that nature. And through the Modesto gospel excuse me, through the Modesto business organization here in town, I can't even come up with the name at the moment.

However, they offered that. And what was striking to me, Mayor, was that Crystal Creamery has been around in this community since 1901. That is a very long time. And so we salute businesses like that who have not only done well but always and continually try to strive to be more energy efficient. Also, at Wednesday was the peace officers memorial.

I know that councilman Wright and I had the opportunity to be there. And if I'm somewhere, I'm there to represent each and every one of our council members. A lot of us can't go to those things. So at least one of us are there to represent the entire city council and that is what it is really all about. It is definitely not about me being there but it is about me being there representing my colleagues.

And so the peace officers association was very well attended. Unfortunately, you know, those it is for those who lost their lives in the line of duty, and, we always wanted to make make sure we pay respect for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect us here in the city and far and beyond. And the public's public service day was a couple of Wednesday, I believe, where the city of Modesto celebrated its its public servants and with a pancake breakfast that was held across the street at the plaza parking lot, which is always good. Even the good book says give honor to whom honor is due. And that's what the city of Modesto has done for them and they really truly appreciate it.

Last but not least, a good friend of this community and a friend of mine, Ron immersion, passed on just a few days ago. And we won't be doing a moment of silence for him unless you choose to, mayor. But other than that, I just wanted the public to know that Ron Immersion who worked for the gallows for many, many years and was a staple in the community when it came to community affairs. And he will be missed. And my condolences goes to his wife and his family, Janice and their two sons. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you. Council member Ricky.

Thanks, Mayor. Since 1901, Jeremiah, that's a lot of milk. A lot of milk, man.

That's called the Cowbale Prize. Indeed. Indeed.

Yeah. Well, I wanted to talk a little bit about our new baseball team, the Modesto Roadsters. They have their exhibition game coming up this Friday. It's a big warm up for the big opener on May 19. Tickets are just $5 and the Roadsters are taking on the Oakland Ballers. So it's going to be a great opportunity to check out the park. They've done a lot of work to it. It looks great. So go down there and check it out. And like I got some inside info. The concession prices are like way down. So no more $14 beers. I can't wait to check it out. So I think it's going be awesome. Moving on to something I've talked about a lot, but I think I need to talk about it some more.

We need a consistent and strong spay and neuter program from our Stanislaus Animal Services that covers Modesto and Stanislaus County. We need them to set up proper fees and collections and set up their budget in such a way that it actually addresses the animal crisis that our community is suffering from. And we're never going to slow this crisis down until our animal services agency is properly funded and they accept their responsibility to manage the impacts of animals on our public health. And finally, I want to thank our Parks Department for all their hard work. We're seeing a ton of payoff from all the work they've been doing over the last couple of years.

I don't know if you've been to Mary Grogan Park out Northeast Modesto lately, but the new play equipment is just like rocking and the kids are loving it every weekday afternoon. I know that Sutter Park is in my district and it's looking great. I drove by that the other day and I was blown away by how many kids were there. So it's just building and they will come. And I know this department isn't going to stop. They're going to finish up 4th Street Park. They're going to finish the all new MLK and they're going to make progress on the awesome spots. So this city, we deserve nice places for our kids and I'm just really proud it's happening. Thanks, Mayor.

You're welcome. Councilmember Scooby Britton.

Thank you, Mayor. I don't have too much to report given that I'm only recently back from an out of country mission trip. It was a medical mission trip that I went with my family. It's an annual trip. But I do wanna take a personal moment to recognize my husband Paul Brayton on our anniversary today.

Yeah, so the work we do is very taxing in time and commitment and our family members and our loved ones often aren't given the credit they deserve for their love and support and sacrifice that they also do when we are able to do our jobs. And that certainly is him and I'm only as good as he supports me and my family supports me. So I want to thank him and just extend my love for our anniversary. So that's it. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Alvarez.

Yes, Mayor. Just briefly, I want to clarify and I had forgot to mention it, but Vice Mayor Williamson mentioned it. So last week, him and I had a chance to participate in the Improve Your Tomorrow graduation ceremony. So Improve Your Tomorrow is a nonprofit, it's nationwide, but they have a Central Valley chapter and they also have a Modesto chapter. So what they do is create opportunities and pathways for black and brown students, high school students and junior high students to get on career and college pathways.

So we saw approximately 40 young men of color graduate from Modesto City Schools on the pathway to career or job. That's just, I wanted to clarify that and it was amazing to see all the families turn out. And I wanna give a shout out to Improve Your Tomorrow's Central Valley chapter for all the work that they do to get young men of color, particularly black and brown students from high school onto careers and college. Thank you, Mary.

I'm especially grateful for the families that are here tonight and especially for the children. It means a lot to have you here, and we welcome you, and I hope that you will continue to come and to listen and to participate in city government. It's really important, and it means a lot that you would take the time to be here this evening. I wanted to comment on one, it was the final superintendent's key communicators meeting for the end of the year for Modesto City Schools that I participate in every month, where we discuss situations that connect the city with the schools, and what we can do to help them, and what they can do to help us and work together to make our community better for everyone. Also on Wednesday was a tour with our congressman, Adam Gray, and council member Alvarez and I were delighted to tour the, real time crime center in the police department with our police chief, Bram and Gillespie, as well as several other members of the Bonesto Police Department, and also fire station one with our fire chief who's they're both here tonight, this evening, Shannon Evans, and Congressman Gray was gracious enough to be here, but he also has provided and helped get some funding for those two areas to work on the encryption side of the police department and for the improvements that we need in Fire Station one.

There was a very special event in Modesto that happened last Wednesday, it was called Drive the Boat event. And this was a reenaction of a of a cross country drive that two women did in 1916 in an old car called the Saxon. And the goal that year was to obtain support for ratification of the nineteenth amendment, which recognized women's right to vote. We could not vote then. So these women did a cross country tour, which was reenacted last Wednesday with a Saxon.

And I want to mention the woman that was driving the car. She used the crank to start the car. She pushed it actually herself a little bit to get it in the right place. But her name is Susan Norse, and now she is going cross country. She just she recently retired as chief of police of Freeport, Maine.

She served in the department there thirty six years, the last four years as chief. She her degree was in music. She was a music teacher, and she started as a dispatcher and became chief of police. So this was stated in a piece about her. Thirty six years wearing the badge, packing heat, breaking up fights, and an occasional glass ceiling along the way.

After those many decades in uniform, Norse said her favorite part of the job wasn't fighting crime, but inspiring youngsters to prevent it. I thought that was pretty profound and takes me right back to the youth that are here tonight and how important you are to our community. We appreciate you being here. That's it for me. Does the city manager have any comments or reports?

Thank you. Next on the agenda is unfinished business. Item 21, consider approving the acceptance of the Homekey Plus program award amount of $18,689,375 The Stanseless County Community Services Agency award amount of $922,837 in homeless housing assistance and prevention, the behavioral health and recovery services award amount of $500,000 and the approval of the grant agreements and the community development block grant loan in the loan amount of $3,007,163 to El Capitan Homekey LP. And we will have a staff report. Welcome, Jessica.

Thank you, Mayor City Council. Jessica Hill, Director of Community and Economic Development. So for a little bit of the project background, Homekey Plus, the program actually supports permanent supportive housing options for both those veterans and people who have a mental health or substance use disorder. What Homekey Plus encourages, to really do the rapid development of new housing and helps with acquisition, rehabilitation of permanent affordable housing options. So in February 2025, Council authorized staff to submit a HomeKey Plus application to acquire and rehabilitate El Capitan motel into 48 affordable housing units.

And in September, the city was notified that HCD did award the El Capitan project for a little amount over $18,600,000 So the project itself is located at 1121 Needham Street and there's sufficient parking on-site to accommodate that. Some key things is it's very close to Modesto Junior College, as well as 0.3 miles away from Greseda Park and then 0.3 miles away from Golden Valley Health Center. It's also very a great location for public transit as a bus stop is available in front of the property. So overall, we're looking to do a motel conversion into 48 units of permanent supportive housing and one staff unit. So this rehabilitation will include to ensure to have a bedroom, a kitchenette, air condition, refrigerator, bathroom, and internet service.

We're looking to target 24 veteran units and 24 behavioral health units. Again, with the one on-site manager units and the ongoing supportive services will include on-site case management, peer support and mental health services. Our project partners for this project is primarily Upholdings, which is going to help us with the development and operating partner. We also partnered with the Stanislaus Community System of Care who helped provide funding for capital and operating expenditures. Stanislaus County is committed to also provide funding as well as the supportive services for the behavioral health clients.

Then we're also working with the Stanislaus Regional Housing Authority who provided project based vouchers for those veterans associated with the project. So overall, the project is a $23,000,000 project, 18,000,000 is for acquisition and rehabilitation and 5,000,000 to be set aside for ongoing operating reserves. We received just over $18,600,000 in the Homekey Award. The city is looking to contribute just over $3,000,000 in CDBG funds. And then you can see behavioral health submitted $500,000 The community system of care was able to award just under $1,000,000.

And there is a developer contribution. So for our next steps, if approved tonight, we'll proceed with predevelopment activities and escrow closing in June 2026. Construction will then begin and continue for twelve months. And so we'll start working with our operating partners, both the VA, BHRS and Catholic Charities to start working with those who will qualify for the project itself. We'll ensure that throughout construction, the city staff will be in compliance with all state and local laws for full occupancy for fall twenty twenty seven. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you for that report. Any questions from council members? Vice mayor Williams.

Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Jessica, thank you for that presentation. How can a person apply to be a part of that once it's completed? Can you give us that information to the public? Thank you.

Yeah, absolutely. So project referrals would be specifically through the Stanislaus Regional Housing Authority for the veterans and Catholic charities, but also behavioral health and recovery services. And so what they'd wanna do is actually contact their case managers that we're working with to say that they're interested in that and start working on the process in order to do so.

And if they don't have a case manager, how do they acquire one?

Yes, they're absolutely welcome to reach out to here at the city. We can help refer them, or they can work at the access center that's also on 9th Street.

Thank you. You're welcome.

All right, council member Wright, now questions? Any other questions from council members? All right, I will open this item up to the public. Any members of the public that would like to speak regarding item twenty twenty one? Seeing none, any comments from council members? Council member Wright.

Thank you, mayor. Jessica, I just wanted say you and your staff and city manager is doing a great job on getting funding for all these projects. I know over the last five years, we've received hundreds of millions of dollars from state and federal sources in order to help homeless and help our working class families and our veterans. I had a meeting today with a representative from one of our congressional offices and they commented how well our city is really using the funds and going after funds that are available to help our citizens here. And my hats off to you guys. You're doing a great job and just keep up the great work. Thank you very much.

Council member Ricky.

Thanks, mayor. I also wanna echo council member Wright's sentiments here. I think that the work that the city of Modesto is doing to help people that are struggling with housing is really admirable. We've done a great job of getting that grant money and giving people some options. There's a lot of work to do, but this city is relentless, and we're not going to stop until we, you know, until we solve this problem. So I appreciate the effort of staff, and I appreciate it's good that that we all support this really important work.

All right. Thank you. Council Member Escobia Brayton.

Thank you, Mayor. Indeed, thank you for the hard work, Jessica, that you do and your team. It's some that may not be informed might think how wonderful they're getting money and they're able to spend it. But it's not easy as it sounds. It's challenging and it takes a lot of time and energy and know how to develop the packages that are required to solicit this money and be successful at receiving this money.

And then knowing how to invest in our community the right way and we definitely do just that and we all benefit immensely from the great work that our team does. So thank you for your role in making that happen. Appreciate it.

Alright. Council Member Alvarez.

Thank you, mayor. I'm going to echo the sentiments of all my colleagues here and just kind of tip my hat to Jessica and her her department, Edgar Garcia, and others for the relentless work that they do. I mean, we're in a housing crisis here in California. That's not a secret. But Modesto, we have a vision to try to bridge the gap of housing units available the amount of versus the amount of people who need housing.

And we're not perfect but we slowly chip away at that gap and give folks who are on the who need an opportunity for shelter, for safe shelter to have a chance to get that. And so these motel conversions, I mean I've lost count, we're entering probably a dozen of these conversions since I've been in office, and I think it's important to highlight the fact that we're not going to stop, there's a lot more work to do, but I to highlight the tireless work that Jessica Hill and her department do in housing economic development. Mean, it's comical, there's some folks out there saying that we're not doing enough with housing. That's literally funny. These are uninformed folks.

So when you really look at the facts and the numbers here, we're chipping away at this housing crisis day by day, week by week, month by month, and I'm happy to be a part of this administration that takes this seriously. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you very much to you and your team. Appreciate all of you. This is quite a long reading, but it will be one vote. I have a resolution accepting the Homekey award in the amount of $18,689,375 and approving the Homekey regulatory agreement authorizing the city manager or his designee to negotiate and execute an agreement with El Capitan Homekey LP for the development of 1121 Needham Street.

Resolution approving a community development block grant loan to El Capitan Homekey LP for a total not to exceed $3,007,163 and $350,000 in active delivery activity delivery, excuse me, and authorizing the city manager or his designee to negotiate and execute an agreement with El Capitan Homekey LP for the development of 1121 Needham Street. A resolution approving an agreement with Stanseless County Community Services Agency for the acceptance of homeless housing assistance and prevention program funding in the amount of $922,837 and to issue a grant the amount of $922,837 to El Capitan Homekey LP and authorizing the city manager or his designee to negotiate and execute an agreement with El Capitan Homekey LP for the development of the 1121 Needham Street. Resolution approving an agreement with Stanseless County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services for the acceptance of funding in the amount of 500,000 and to issue a grant, the amount of $500,000 to El Capitan Homekey LP and authorizing the city manager or his designee to note to negotiate and execute an agreement with El Capitan Homekey LP for the development of 1121 Needham Street. A resolution amending the fiscal year twenty twenty five-twenty six annual operating and non capital project fund budgets to establish the revenue, expenditures and transfers for project number 11101644, fund 1346 in the amount of $23,119,375 to appropriate the community development block grant, homeless housing assistance and prevention program and behavioral health, and recovery services funds for the development of the 1121 Needham Street and authorizing the city manager or his designee to take the necessary steps to implement the provisions of this resolution.

Do I have a motion?

So moved. Second.

Moved by Council Member Wright, second by Council Member Alvarez. Will the clerk please call the

roll? Council Member Rickey?

Aye.

Vice Mayor Williams?

Aye.

Council Member Wright?

Aye.

Council Member Scuthia Brayton? Aye. Council member Alvarez. Aye. And mayor Zwolland.

Aye. Carries six zero. Next on the agenda is hearings. Item 22, a hearing to consider an ordinance amending compensation for the mayor and council members salaries pursuant to the citizen salary setting commission's final recommendations pursuant did I say that correct? Yes. To Modesto's charter section seven zero three, and we will have a staff report.

Thank you, mayor. I'll go ahead and I'll give the staff report for this item. And, Scotty, can you help me with the slides when I move forward, please? The the item relates to the changing of the salary of the compensation for the mayor and the council member. Now, the city's charter sets out the process for how compensation is adjusted for both the mayor and the council members.

It the charter does require a citizen's salary setting commission to be established by the council. That that was done already. The actually, the salary for the council was last updated pursuant to the charter in on in 2024. There are some requirements the commission can only meet on even number years. So only on even number years can the compensation be increased.

The current commission met eight times, including two public hearings, which are required by the charter. And the public hearings happened on April 6 and April 13. And of course, when they pursuant to charter, when they finally give a recommendation, which that happened on the April 28 to the the to the council, the council then is sets set the the recommendation cannot be adjusted by the commission anymore. Next slide, please. Now the charter does have limitations or caps on the salary for the mayor and council members.

The salary for the mayor, at least the cap, is set to be no more than 50% of the salary for superior court judge in Stanislaus County. That currently that amount for the the judge is $248,368, making the cap for the mayor's compensation of up to a $124,184 For the council, and this is the charter that sets these salary caps, it can't be more than 50% of the median income for the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area. Currently, that amount is $79,891 meaning that that cap would be up to $39,945 Next slide, Scotty. Now, adoption of for adoption of the new compensation, pursuant to the charter, the compensation must be adopted by ordinance and that ordinance is required to have a twenty day noticed public hearing. The ordinance is in front of the council for consideration.

As I mentioned earlier, on April 28, the salary setting commission, the chair, and the vice chair provided their final recommendations and the notice was scheduled in the paper for the hearing for tonight's meeting. Now the council may adopt after receiving the compensation, the recommendations for the compensation. The council may choose to set a lower amount, but in no case can the Council decide to go above the recommendation from the Commission. Next slide, please. The Chair and the Vice Chair of the Salary Setting Commission were here at the April meeting where they explained their what they looked at, their their recommendations, what they they based it on which is also attached to the this item is their recommendation itself but they did look at population of comparable cities, but they looked at population, city expenses, so they looked at budgets, they did look at the median household income, the increase focusing very much on CPI of what the CPI increase has been in the area.

They did spend quite a bit of time on on this. They did meet, as I mentioned several times, in the in the two months in order to provide the the recommendation. The recommendation is listed here having the mayor's compensation increase from currently the $50.54, 0 annual a year to 57,348 per year. For council members compensation, the commission is recommending an increase from $30.00 a year to $31.08 60 a year and again, that really those recommendations are really focused on they focus a lot on CPI increases as well, and again, looking at comparable cities. Next slide, please.

So the recommendation here for the motion council is the first reading, the introducing and waiving the first reading of the ordinance, which an ordinance to be in effect, of course, requires two readings and wouldn't be in effect until thirty days after the actual adoption of the ordinance. Happy to take any questions, Mayor.

Alright. Thank you for the presentation. Any questions from council members? Council members could be a brief.

Did the committee look at any other aspects to benefits to the mayor or

council roles? The commission actually had a discussion regarding benefits and health care benefits for example And I know that and I'm sure our HR directors here will correct me, but the council is able to participate in health care benefits. They would need to pay for it themselves, I believe, as far as the health care. But they did they did discuss the that and other benefits. The the actual charter limits, you can't have retirement benefits as a council member, so there's that limitation in the charter. But they did discuss that.

Did the committee explore the compensation given to their respective councils from other like municipalities? And what did that look like if they did?

They they did and I know that they created they did create a spreadsheet which is attached to the item today regarding what they looked as as comparable by population and expenses for for compensation of the councils there. So they did they did look at that. Now, again, when you're looking at cities, and they did note this as well, but you have general law cities, which obviously there's less flexibility regarding compensation to charter cities where the charter really a lot of times, the charter dictates how those salaries are set. But they did take a look at at several cities, they included charts in their recommendation.

Were any of the cities that they researched charter cities?

They did. They did look at at at some charter cities in the area. There's not many you're looking at. Stockton, for example, is a charter city, but they did look at several charter cities as well, depending on, obviously, population, location. They also kind of looked at the location.

So what did they I'm still unclear as to when they looked at them, did they see as compared to what they're recommending?

And again, it's it's

really Am I looking at the same thing you are?

No, it's from last meeting.

I I don't have anything else.

The chart the chart, I have the chart from last meeting. I can't remember if it was actually attached to the to the item itself. No, it's not on there. It's not on there? They they provided and again, council member, you were you were not here at the at the meeting. So, I apologize if it's not attached as as.

Maybe you could just verbalize at least one example of a light city that is a charter city.

So for compensation, for example, they did take a look at well, here they looked at compensation for population of for salary of they have a list for council members. They have they ended doing Glendale. I don't have the list of the charter cities they looked at, but they looked at Modesto, Burbank, Santa Rosa, Sunnyvale, Huntington Beach, Glendale, Modesto being 30,000. You had Burbank at 23,000. Santa Rosa at over 17,000.

You had Sunnyvale at 38,307. Huntington Beach at 22,147 for the salary of council members. Glendale, 17,160 thousand. And there, they focused on by population with that comp those compensations.

But those cities that you decided their salary, is their compensation limited to only salary, or is their compensation inclusive of salary and other benefits?

That they didn't list in their chart, but they listed as salary. So I'm assuming that it's just salary, not including benefits benefits if they receive benefits. That's not, that's missing from the. Yeah. From the chart of that.

I wouldn't make that assumption but thank you for sharing that information with Absolutely.

Any other questions from council members? All right, seeing none, I'll now open the public hearing. Are there any members of the public that would like to come forward regarding item 22?

Yes. I'm a little confused as to something that mister Sanchez stated, if I may. You said that the mayor's salary cannot be more than 50% of what a superior court judge makes. But then you also said that it could not be more than 50% of the average per capita income in Modesto, or median income in Modesto for a family, which was $79,000 So half of that are a little over $79,000 and so half of that would be $39,000 So I'm a little bit confused as to which hallmark you're looking at here, the one the 50% of the superior court judge's salary or 50% of the average median income in Modesto. Because there's quite a discrepancy between the two figures.

And so I'm a little confused as to which one we're looking at. And then also, when you were looking at these comparable cities, were you only looking at population, or were you also looking at per capita income? Some of the cities that you mentioned are a lot more prominent. I mean, I just happen to know for a fact that they have much higher per capita incomes than Modesto does. And some of these cities are Bay Area cities.

And so I'm wondering, did you take a look at cities that not only had the same population or similar population, but also had the same socioeconomic levels as Modesto per capita income? And what were the results of those comparisons? Thank you.

Alright. Thank you. Yes. Please address me.

Maybe I could answer some of those questions regarding the the limitations, and I apologize for the confusion. There are two caps that we're talking about. We're talking about caps for the mayor's compensation, and then we're talking about a cap for the council member's compensation. The cap for the mayor's compensation is can is no more than 50% of the salary for a superior court judge in Santa Sauce County. Superior court judge currently, according to statistics that were received by the commission, that's the 248,368.

Half of that is the $124,184. Again, that's for the mayor. For council members, the cap under the charter is shall be no more than 50% of the median family income for the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area. That number is a 79,891, meaning that 50% for the cap is the 39,945 for council members. That's the distinction. Apology if that wasn't clear.

Thanks.

And and I'm just looking at the and we'll we'll we'll take a look at the as far as the item goes. Council Member Spudier Braden regarding the the recommendations. Happy to kind of provide you additional information from the from the commission. There is an attachment to the to the item on the council meeting today, which is the salary setting commission final recommendations. There is where it lists those charts.

It's one of the attachments to the agenda report that has the different charts of what they looked at and their conversation. Because as part of the charter, they not only provide their recommendations, but they provide the reasoning for the recommendation. And that's the document they prepare. Staff assisted in providing some information, but they really took it on and really went out and did a lot of research themselves as well.

Alright. Any other members of the public regarding item 22 that would like to speak? Oh. Alright. I will close public comments. Are there any council members that would like to make a comment? Council member Scooby Brayton.

Thank you, mayor. I do want to applaud and and I'm grateful for the investment of time and commitment that our citizens put into being on this body. It's a great amount of work and time and sacrifice and for a noble cause. I highly respect not only their work and their recommendation, but the confines that they've had to work under, which is the Charter. And the Charter dictated the boundaries in which the end result was going to be.

So if anything needs to be looked at, perhaps more closely and considered to be amended, it's potentially the Charter. This process would not be the process to do that, but perhaps at a future workshop, the Council can consider exploring this section of the Charter and making sure that it represents the best interest of our constituency. But in terms of the work that this group did, again it was very significant. The work we do is very significant. It requires a lot of time and devotion and sacrifice by ourselves and our family.

So the compensation needs to reflect that in a fair way. And I think this body did that really well with a lot of, they did that to the best of their ability, and I do appreciate that. Public service should never be done because of compensation or money or benefits in any capacity. It should be done because we are civically compelled to give of our time and devotion to make the city we live in better. But nevertheless, this process gives us an opportunity to ensure that there is a fair and equitable and a process that allows the public to participate in this.

And this is what has happened, so I'm grateful for that. But more importantly, because this process should allow government and governance to reflect and look like our community. With a compensation packet that allows a diverse group of people to serve their community in the capacities that we sit in. So again, I'm grateful for the work of the committee, and thank you for the time to speak to it. I appreciate it.

Sure. Any other comments? My comment is similar to council member Escobia Brayton's. At our last meeting, I believe there was a very thorough report on the process of how this works regarding the charter and I do and regarding comparables and all the research and work that they did, they took it really seriously. So I just wanted to make it clear that it's not us, the council that makes this decision.

We do not make this decision. They I mean, ultimately, we vote on it, but they did the work. And I wanna recognize them for that and thank them for that. Our our city attorney, graciously gave the report since it is, governed by the charter, and I appreciate his efforts for that. But I wanna sincerely thank the commission members, as well as our clerk, Diane Mayers Perez, who assisted them through the I believe it was eight meetings that was described.

So this has been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve as mayor, and I would do it for no compensation whatsoever. I'm committed to the city that I was born and raised in, but I do agree that it's important to look at this, and I'm glad the charter dictates it so that many people will have the opportunity to, serve in this position if they so choose to do that. So, I will, read the the motion. I have a motion introducing and waiving the first reading of an ordinance amending sections two dash one dot 24, compensation of mayor and two dash one dot two six compensation of city council members of chapter one, city council organization and procedure of title two administration of the Modesto Municipal Code to increase the salaries of the mayor and city council members pursuant to charter section seven zero three and the recommendations of the citizen salary setting commission of twenty twenty six. Do I have a motion?

So moved. Motion by council member Wright.

Second.

Second by Council Member Ricky. Will the clerk please call the roll for this item? That was not that I'm sorry, I did not catch that. Second by Council Member Alvarez. Will the clerk please call the roll for this item?

Council Member Ricky. Aye. Vice mayor Williams. Aye. Council member Wright. Aye. Council member Scuthia Braxton. Aye. Council member Alvarez. Aye. And mayor Zwolland.

Aye. Carries six zero. Next is item 23, the hearing to consider approving final adoption of ordinances repealing and replacing chapters one, two, three, seven and eleven of title nine of the Modesto Municipal Code to adopt by reference to 2025 California Building, Plumbing, Electrical, Mechanical and Existing Building Codes. We will have a report. Jessica Hill.

Thank you, Mayor City Council. Jessica Hill, Director of Community and Economic Development. So overall, a little bit of background, the California Building Codes operates on a three year triennial cycle to update all the title 24 code of regulations. And so what that means is the state looks at these building codes every three years. And once the state then instills these new codes, local jurisdictions are required to adopt them in that three year cycle.

So what's new for this cycle? We have master plans that are approved now for ten years, sleeping lofts added to dwellings, island receptacle requirements, surge protection expansions, and wiring changes. So for master plans, they were previously approved for a two year period of time. They are now extending the period of approval to ten years. What this does is creates more stability for developers, as well as allows dwellings to be built in those previous code cycles.

For sleeping lofts, sleeping lofts were only previously allowed in accessory dwelling units and not any other type of unit. So they're now allowed in both single and multifamily units. They shall be less than 70 square feet of overall the sleeping loft and shall not exceed seven feet for more than half of the sleeping loft area. For island receptacles, previously islands and peninsular countertops were side mounted receptacles were allowed. However, they can allow for toddlers to pull on those small appliance cords.

So the code now reflects specifics for top mounted receptacles to mitigate that cord pulling hazard. As we look at surge protection, surge protection are now required for multifamily dwellings, dormitories, guest rooms and suites and nursing homes. Previously, were only allowed for single family dwelling units. And what this does is it protects sensitive electronic devices, such as computers, TVs and smart devices, and it applies to all services and replacements of those service equipment. For wiring changes, for the first time, 10 amp circuits are allowed, which helps reflect the efficiency of our technology changes.

Our previous minimums were 15 amps, but it does allow for smaller wire sizes which help reduce costs overall. So we do have a recommendation today to adopt those changes. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Alright. Questions from council members? Vice Mayor Williams.

Thank you, Mayor. Jessica, thank you for that presentation and the bringing us up to scale on the new codes. One of them is the bedroom. So is that loft, would that be considered a half bedroom or bedroom?

So it wouldn't be considered an additional bedroom. It would just be considered in the the sleeping area or sleeping loft.

Okay. So that's it. Alright. Thank you.

Alright. Any other questions from council members? I actually have a question. Alright. Council member Scooby Brayton.

And I'm sorry. Didn't push my button. It's alright. Required. Alright.

Got

it. Do these new policies and laws take effect once they are approved here tonight or how?

So the state requires local jurisdictions to put them into practice 01/01/2026. And so they would have, they already are in practice, but this is now ensuring our municipal code aligns with that. And so

any

modification to a home or a new development done after January 2026, these would apply? Correct. Anything before, that was built before, it doesn't apply even if the building is modified?

So it would be applied. So it's essentially when the building permit application was submitted. So as long as the application was submitted prior to 01/01/2026, it would be the old code cycle.

I see. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome.

Alright. Any other questions? Seeing none. I'll now open the public hearing. Are there any members of the public that would like to come forward regarding item 23?

Seeing none, I will close public comments. Any comments from council members? Alright, seeing none, this is five separate votes. Motion approving final adoption of ordinance 3,808 C. S, repealing and replacing chapter one building code of title nine, building regulations of the Modesto Municipal Code to adopt by reference that's 2025 California building code. Do I have a motion?

Motion.

Motion by vice mayor Williams.

Second.

Second by council member Scooby of Brayton.

Will the clerk please call the roll for this item? Council member Ricky.

Aye. Vice mayor Williams. Aye. Council member Wright. Aye. Council member Scudia Brayton. Aye. Council member Alvarez. Aye. And mayor Zwolland.

Aye. A motion approving final adopt oh, that passed six zero. A motion approving final adoption of ordinance 3,809 C. S, repealing and replacing chapter two plumbing code of title nine building regulations of the Modesto Municipal Code to adopt by reference the 2025 California Plumbing Code. So Motion by Vice Mayor Williams.

Oh, did

it. It was written.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I'll second it.

Motion by Council Member Wright, second by Vice Mayor Williams. Will the clerk please call the roll

for this item? Council member Ricky. Aye. Vice mayor Williams. Aye. Council member Wright. Aye. Council member Skookie Abreta. Aye. Council member Albrecht. Aye. Mayor Zwolland.

Aye. Carries six zero. A motion approving final adoption of ordinance 3,810 C. S, repealing and replacing chapter three electrical code of title nine, building regulations of the Modesto Municipal Code to adopt by reference the 2025 California Electrical Code. Do I have a motion?

So moved.

Moved by Council Member Rickey. Second. Second by Council Member Wright. And will the clerk please call

the roll? Council Member Rickey.

Aye. Vice Mayor Williams. Aye. Council member Wright. Aye. Council member Scuthia Brayton. Aye. Council member Albert.

Aye. And mayors Welland. Aye. Carries six zero. A motion approving final, excuse me, adoption of ordinance three thousand eight and eleven dash c dot s, repealing and replacing chapter seven mechanical code of title nine building regulations of the Modesto Municipal Code to adopt by reference the 2025 California Mechanical Code.

Do I

have a motion? So moved. Moved by Council Member Wright, second by Council Member Alvarez. Will the

clerk please call the roll? Council Member Rickey. Aye. Vice Mayor Williams.

Aye. Council Member Wright. Aye. Council Member Scuthia Breiten. Aye. Council Member Alvarez. Aye. And Mayor Zwolland.

Aye. Carries six zero. Motion approving final adoption of ordinance three thousand eight and twelve C. S repealing and replacing chapter 11 existing building code of title nine building regulations of the Modesto Municipal Code to adopt by reference the 2025 California existing building code. Do I have a motion?

Motion to approve. Second.

Motion by council member Scoutia Brayton, second by council member Ricky. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council member Ricky.

Aye. Vice mayor Williams. Aye. Council member Wright. Aye. Council member Scoutia Brayton. Aye. Council member Alvarez.

Aye. And mayor Swalen. Aye. Carries six zero. Next is item 24, hearing to consider approving the twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven annual action plan and the acceptance of the twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven annual HUD allocation in the amount of $2,816,391. I love the staff report.

Thank you, mayor city council. Jessica Hill, director of community and economic development. As an entitlement community, the city of Monestos eligible to receive HUD funds by a formula based method each year. These funds are used to assist low income households and then help to develop viable communities. So in order to receive these funds each year, the city needs to adopt an annual action plan that speaks about how we are going to utilize the funds in the next fiscal year.

So for this year, we are receiving about $1,800,000 in CDBG that helps with public infrastructure improvements, public facilities, public services, as well as housing acquisition and rehabilitation. About 166,000 in emergency solution grant funds, which is helping with homeless individuals with both homeless prevention, rapid rehousing and emergency shelter operations. And then last up is the Home Investment Partnership program, or otherwise known as HOME, which we're receiving just about 790,000, which helps with the construction and rehabilitation of new housing. So some ongoing or upcoming projects for the next year. So as part of our public services, 15% of our CDBG application can be utilized to assist with public service funding.

And so we did receive the following applications for public service funding and they have been approved. So some highlights are Children's Crisis Center, Project Sentinel and Family Promise. Next up, we do have our CDBG homeowner rehabilitation program that helps with health and safety repairs for homeowners. And so mobile homeowner, mobile home homeowners, there we go, are eligible for up to a $25,000 grants and single family homeowners are eligible for a twenty year deferred or amortized loan with 20% of actually being able for grants. And so it needs to be within the city limits and they must be able to meet our income requirements.

One big project we talked about today is El Capitan, we're which allocating just over $3,000,000 in CDBG funding for 48 permanent supportive housing units, 24 for veterans or 24 with behavioral health conditions. We have Seventh Street Village, which is a partnership with Visionary Home Builders, which we are contributing $2,000,000 in CDBG and $5,000,000 in home funding for 79 total units of affordable housing. The project is currently underway and scheduled to be completed by the 2027. Some products we have in the pipeline. So we do have McClure Meadows, which we were able to contribute $500,000 in ARPA funding, which are going to develop 38 single family homes for first time home buyers under 80% of the area median income.

This project's on track to be completed construction in winter twenty twenty seven and fully occupied by spring twenty twenty eight. Next up is Morris Village, which is a partnership with Self Help Enterprises as Stanislaus Equity Partners. We're still working on securing total funding for Morris Village. And so we're still applying for state grants and to leverage our city funding, but our unit composition is 45 units. So 39, one bedroom units and six, two bedroom units.

So as part of the annual action plan, we do have a public engagement process. And so we held a series of in person meetings, of last meeting being tonight, our city council public hearing. With that, we do incorporate any comments that were received from the community into our annual action plan, and then those will be submitted as part of our submittal to HUD. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much for your report. Any questions from council members? Vice mayor Williams.

Thank you, mayor. And Jessica, thank you for your presentation. For the first time homebuyers assistance, is that for all citizens of Modesto or is that just for a particular program?

McClure Meadows, which is going to be for first time home buyers Mhmm. Is going to be for people within the city of Modesto.

For that project only, so I'm on your third category on the HUD funding allocations on the very bottom, first time homebuyer's assistance. So they don't necessarily have to be a first time homebuyer for The Meadows. Right?

So McClure Meadows does have to be first time home buyers and they have to be under 80% of the area median income.

That's what this one is, this first time home buyers

for? Correct.

Okay. So it's not what we used to have back in the day where first time home buyers, There was a down payment assistance program for them?

At this point, McLaurin Meadows does not have that. Staff is kind of reviewing a down payment assistance program and hope to bring something forward later in the year.

Perfect. Okay. And then secondly and lastly, on the Morris Village, this rendering, is this pretty much spot on on what it's going to be next to the the car wash and then the other facility or little apartment complex?

Correct. This is the current rendering rendering of what we're applying for funding for.

Yes. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome.

Alright. Councilmember Scooby Brayton.

Thank you, mayor. Mhmm. Thanks for that report, Jessica. CDBG Homeowner Rehabilitation Program, with your mobile homeowner being eligible, sometimes people use these two interchangeably or get confused. Is a mobile home the same as a modular home or is that different in this sense?

So these will be mobile homes that reside within mobile home parks. And so if they did not have a permanent foundation, which are in the mobile home park, that's that's what we are specifically calling out in that. But we do help fund modular if they have

a permanent foundation as well. So this CDBG program would support also modular homes? Correct. Beautiful. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Alright. Any other questions from council members? Seeing none at this time, I'll excuse me. I will now open the public hearing. Are there any members of the public that would like to speak regarding item 24?

Seeing none, I will close public comments. Any comments from council members? Seeing none, I have a resolution approving the program year twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven annual action plan accepting US Department of Housing and Urban Development program funds awarded through the program year twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven annual action plan is required by HUD and authorizing the city manager or his designee to negotiate and execute any related program agreements, contracts or other documentation required for implementation. Do I have a motion?

Motion to approve.

Motion by council member Scoutier Brayton,

second by council member Wright. Will the clerk please call the roll. Council Member Ricky. Aye. Vice Mayor Williams.

Aye. Council Member Wright. Aye. Council Member Scoutier Brayton. Aye. Council Member Alvarez. Aye. And Mayor Zwolland.

Aye. Carries six zero. Item 25, hearing to consider receiving an informational report of vacancies, recruitment and retention efforts to comply with Assembly Bill 2,561 and we will have a staff report. Welcome.

Good evening, mayor and council. Christina Alger, director of human resources. All right. So just a little bit of background. This was signed into law by governor Newsom on 09/22/2024. And so last year was the first year we brought an informational report. This will be the second year that we've done this. So it's required that we report on job vacancies. And so the reason why is because they feel that job vacancies in local government pose a significant problem. High vacancy rates can result in things like public service delays, heavier workloads, understaffing leads to burnout and turnover and such things like that.

Requires public hearings, so that's why we're here tonight. I'm here to report on job vacancies, recruitment and retention efforts, and bargaining units may present during this hearing, although I did reach out to our bargaining units and they declined. So this just gives you a little snapshot of our workforce. So as of right now total full time allocations of fourteen thirty five. And this also shows by department how many allocations we have in each.

This slide shows the vacancy rate by department. And so I do want to make a couple of comments here. Smaller departments, it's a bigger percentage. And so some of the smaller departments may have only one or two vacancies. But because their staffing is a small number of people, it tends to be a larger percentage.

But this is a little snapshot of the citywide and this was just as of about six weeks ago. Citywide we are at 9.1% vacancy rate. We do share information among cities. And so the average that I have for similar cities is about 10.43. All right. I'm sorry. This one shows vacancy rate by bargaining unit. And so rates range from 2% to 22.8%. MPNSA being the 22.8%. Some of this vacancy is due to what we have police officer recruits.

These are pass through positions that aren't meant to be filled permanently, but help to kind of feed the police officer ranks. And so there is a little bit of that in there. And so when you remove those out, MPNSA ends up being about 20.3%. So vacancy classifications. And since we have a little bit of a higher vacancy rate in MPNSA, a little bit of information So community service officers are 10 of those vacancies.

Park rangers are five. We also have some vacancies in our police support specialist roles, police technicians, and crime intelligent analyst. Recruitment efforts here include open house events, targeting, advertising, job fairs, expediting the hiring and pre hiring and onboarding processes also as well as hiring incentives. The other union that we have classification recruitment challenges with are engineering classifications as you're probably well aware. We do have 10 classifications in the engineering series that are vacant at this included in that we do targeted recruitments, postcard invitations.

We did do a wage alignment to help try to recruit in that area. So a little few statistics for the city. So our turnover rate for this last year was 9.5%, which is actually a very good number. Anything under 10% is considered pretty good. Our retirements were up 4.5%, but I will caveat that with it was only one more retirement than the previous year.

We had 22 versus 21. And then voluntary resignations are down 9.1 which goes to the recruitment and retention efforts, as well as our staffing levels being up 69.9%. So this really shows our time to hire. So our average time to hire was ninety seven point four days overall. But you will notice that, police department typically takes

Do I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Council Member Wright.

Do I have

a second?

Second.

Mayor Williams. Aye. Council Member Wright. Aye. Council Member Squethia Brayton. Aye. Council Member Alvarez.

Aye. And Mayor Zwolland. Aye. Carries six zero. Are there any other items too late for the agenda? Seeing none, I will call this meeting to be adjourned.