City Council - Regular Meeting

It having reached the hour of 530, I am calling the June 9th, 2026 Modesto City Council meeting to order and ask the city clerk to please call the roll.

Council Member Rickey.

Here.

Council Member Bavaro? Here. Vice Mayor Williams?

Here.

Council Member Wright?

Here.

Council Member Scudier-Brayton is joining us remotely from Tulsa, Oklahoma. The agenda was posted at the remote location. I'll now call on Council Member Scudier-Brayton. Council Member Alvarez? Here. And Mayor Zwollin?

Here. Will everyone please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the invocation from Pastor Latricia Beasley-Day, Victory and Praise Church Modesto.

I pledge allegiance to the Father,

Good evening, Mayor and Councilman. Before I get started, I just want to acknowledge and honor the diversity of beliefs present in this chamber and throughout our community. While I pray from my own faith as a follower of Jesus Christ, I invite each person to participate according to their own beliefs, values, and convictions. Let us pray. Creator of all things, source of wisdom, compassion, and hope. We pause today with gratitude and giving you thanks for the opportunity to serve in our community. On this evening, Lord, we ask you to come into this place. Be with us. Cover us, Lord. Cover the councilmen, God, and the mayor as they make decisions about our community. God, I give you thanks, God, for your wisdom, for the integrity of the council, and of the people in our great city of Modesto, California. I thank you for the honor, Lord, to open up with you coming in the presence here and being among us all and being with us, God. In Jesus' name I pray, and I pray that all pray in their own belief. Amen. Thank you.

Yes, Mayor. Just a reminder, public comment is three minutes. There are speaker cards at the entrance of the chambers. In addition, written public comment was received and that was forwarded to the council.

Thank you. I will report out on closed session this evening. The City Council conducted the annual performance evaluation on City Manager Joe Lopez in closed session this evening. The City Council unanimously concluded that the City Manager continues to perform at an exceptionally high standard and the Council looks forward to continued success with the City Manager as we look to the future. Thank you. Next on the agenda is acknowledgements and presentations. I have a proclamation declaring June 19, 2026 as Juneteenth. And I will read the proclamation. On June 19, 1865, nearly two years after President Lincoln emancipated enslaved black Americans, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce their emancipation. This day marked the end of slavery and also signified a new beginning. June 19th became known as Juneteenth. On this day, we celebrate freedom and the progress we have made in our country. This day holds a profound significance in American history and provides an opportunity to remember our capacity to heal, hope, and learn from our darkest moments. Juneteenth is also a time to honor and celebrate the resilience, strength, and tireless work of abolitionists, activists, educators, business leaders, civil rights leaders, and public officials who made it their mission to advocate for change. We honor their profound contributions to our culture, society, and the enduring fight for civil rights. We also acknowledge that the struggle for freedom is not over and continues to this day. The promises of freedom, equality, and opportunity are the core of the American dream, and we must continue forward in pursuit of our nation's founding ideals. The city of Modesto recognizes the importance of this historical event and stand committed to fostering a community where all residents are treated with dignity, respect and understanding. We will continue to choose love, unity and progress to create a better community for all. Now, therefore, I, Suze Wallen, do hereby proclaim June 19th, 2026, as Juneteenth in the city of Modesto, and encourage residents to join in celebrating this important day to honor the history and achievements of black Americans, dated this ninth day of June, 2026. Accepting this proclamation is Renee Crawford, community coordinator from the NAACP Modesto Stanislaus. Welcome.

Thank you.

Please, would you come to the podium? Do you have a few remarks?

Yes. Once again, I am Renee Crawford, the Community Coordinator for the NNACP Modesto-Stansluss County Chapter. And on behalf of the chapter and our President Wendy Berg, we do humbly accept this award. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much for being here this evening. And I will now bring the proclamation down and present it. Yes. Do you have a remark? Yes, I do. OK, please do.

Saturday at one o'clock there's an event, yes? Can you talk about that a little bit?

Actually, I'm not in charge of that event.

Oh, okay. Well, at 1 o'clock, I'll say it then. Yes. 1 o'clock at Crusader Park from 1 to 5 is the event that's going to take place at Crusader Park at 1 from 1 to 5 o'clock, and that is the Juneteenth festivity. And there will be a Father's Day-type celebration as well starting at 1.30. So hopefully those who are in the audience or even at home can participate and come out. Crusader Park, 1 o'clock to 5. Thank you, Mayor.

You're welcome. And I apologize for neglecting to acknowledge Councilmember's remarks. And Councilmember Scootia Brayton.

Thank you, Mayor. I wasn't going to save this comment until Council comments, but I think it's more fitting now. As was indicated, I am in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And being here, I took advantage at that time to go and visit a very, very special neighborhood. And it's a historic neighborhood. It's historic. For American history, but in particular for black history, this historic district is called Greenwood District, and it's better known as Black Wall Street. Learning about both the remarkable success of that community and the tragic events that occurred in 1921, it was a powerful reminder of the importance and the resilience of communities and also to ensure that economic prosperity is accessible to everyone. The story of Black Wall Street, which I didn't know before, and I'm embarrassed to have admitted that, but I learned much about it while here. But the story about Black Wall Street is one of perseverance and hope, and it's one that reinforces the value of investing in strong communities and creating opportunities that allow every community to thrive. What occurred in 1921 to the black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was a travesty where hundreds of people were massacred because of the color of their skin. And it was a community that was thriving beyond any measure, irregardless of the color of their skin. But it served as an example of reinvesting and re-believing in that a community can come up from ashes and fulfill their life's dream again. And it all has to do with support of the community and with families, of course. But anyways, I just wanted to share that. It's a very strong aspect of black history, in particular here in Oklahoma. And I was just delighted to learn more about Black Wall Street and be able to share that observance with you here today. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other comments?

Councilmember Alvarez. Thank you, Mayor. Renee, thank you for all the work that you do. District 2 always has this signature event. I think now it's held at Griseta. Typically it was held at the MLK Park, previous Malice Park. But I commend you guys, Wendy Byrd and the entire NAACP, former Councilmember Tony Madrigal is on your board. And I think that you guys do the work consistently in the UGA you show up. And so I think one of the key things about receiving a proclamation like this is that you're not just receiving a proclamation, you're receiving the responsibility to continue to engage and continue to represent the community, the African American community in the entire city of Modesto and beyond. So I commend you for that work and I'm a partner in community and I continue to be so. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, thank you. This time, I'll bring the proclamation down to present.

Thank you very much. Hey, how are you? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. You're welcome.

Thanks again for taking the time.

Thank you. Appreciate it. Oh, sorry. I think I got it. Jeremiah. Sorry. Perfect.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

All right. Does the city clerk have any announcements?

Yes, Mayor. Just a reminder, public comment is three minutes. There are speaker cards at the entrance of the chambers. In addition, written public comment was received and that was forwarded to the council.

All right. Thank you. To get these speaker cards organized. All right. Do any of the council members have any conflicts of interest?

And I'll go ahead and I'll make a comment here. Vice Mayor Williams will be recusing himself from item 24, and that's related to, it's a property-related conflict of interest, and that item is related to the potential downtown stadium. Given an FPPC opinion, the council member will be recusing himself.

Thank you I will note that. All right, next on the agenda is public comment. Public comment tonight is in person only. Zoom remains available for viewing and for wordly translation. Thank you for joining us. 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 chambers. 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. The first blue speaker card that I have is Kathy Hall-Boyer.

Good evening, mayor and council members. Two months ago, I went to the safety and community meeting and spoke as a private citizen about my concerns about e-bikes. I am now representing the board of Shadow Chase Running Club. We are very concerned with this issue. At the time I spoke the last time, a nurse in Davis was killed when on her bicycle was struck by a juvenile riding an e-bike. And recently in the news is that 81 year old veteran in Southern California who died when struck by an e-motorcycle when the family had been warned. of his illegal activities. Anyway, this is our proposal. We want the city of Modesto to enforce all state bicycle, e-bicycle and e-motorcycle laws. as well as any city ordinances now and in the future. With the exception of ADA mobility scooters, no e-bikes, and this includes e-scooters, e-unicycles, whatever, e-tricycles should not be on sidewalks. On shared use paths, including but not limited to Virginia Corridor, Dry Creek Trail, Tuolumne River Trail, Hetch Hetchy, Staniford Trail, Helen White Memorial Trail, and all other future named and unnamed paths, the following is recommended. Speed limits should be posted and enforced at 15 miles an hour and slower while passing pedestrians and implement community education events, education events, highlighting laws and ordinances, along with bicycle and pedestrian safety, especially targeting juveniles. That's the end of the board statement. But the city of Santa Cruz has done a remarkable job with this education portion. The CHP has been tasked with this job and their local CHP has been doing bike rodeos and events. And while every other city is reporting increase injuries from e-motorcycles, bicycles, et cetera, the city of Santa Cruz has actually seen a decline. Thank you. You're welcome.

Next is Steve.

I am I'm thinking of early childhood education curriculum. They know that it's important that we learn to see patterns. And a lot of curriculum at those early ages focuses on teaching kids to recognize patterns. It's a fundamental intellectual capability or whatever you want to call it. It should just be elemental. There is a pattern of police misconduct, overreach, and political targeting in this town and in this county, and you guys just play games. Basically, you're concerned about your own careers, and you don't give a damn. But what happens is, The problem doesn't go away. It is a systemic problem. There is a culture that allows cops to take a life and so easily get off the hook for it. Shane Harlan was killed by county sheriff's deputies in Waterford under quite obviously questionable circumstance. And I just want to put to you, my so-called leaders, a challenge. I would challenge you to apply fundamental common sense and common decency ideas to when you look at a system and you can recognize patterns and you have a good heart, you don't use your power to play the community like a goddamn fool. the police should be held accountable and should be subject to the will of the people, which is supposedly expressed through your being in office. It's not. But this problem will not go away. It hasn't gone away. There were two deaths in the last few days. It has not gone away. And it basically all boils down to the question of who are you here for? Who are you about? Are you here to protect the status quo, which includes advance your own career? Or are you truly here for the people? But everything I've seen ever since I started paying closer attention in my own community has shown me that you guys do not give a good goddamn about the people. But Shane Harlan did not have to die. It could happen to anyone. And as someone who has been politically targeted by Modesto Police Department, I could be dead.

Thank you. Next is B. Gamez.

Hello. I originally came here to talk about Shane Harlan as well, but I did want to touch on the two lives that were recently lost with the high-speed chase through the residential neighborhood. So a few years ago this happened, if my fellow Modesto residents will remember Mel passing away. He was my neighbor. So I got to watch his wife grow largely pregnant with him gone. She was pregnant when he died. They already had three children. And it was tragic. I watched her pregnancy progress and finally her teenage, her oldest teenage son came and would get the car seat and what have you. He was killed because of police misconduct. High speed chases have been deemed irresponsible. They have been deemed dangerous. We don't do them anymore. We have a Modesto pays millions. millions of dollars for state of the art equipment. We have cameras that literally followed a man around that somebody posted, you guys posted. He robbed something and it literally, it was almost like CCTV. And we're not aware of that. Modesto isn't aware of that because we don't call it CCTV, but that's exactly what it is. So there are many other ways. We had a man in a helicopter, the sheriff helicopter was just taking trips for funsies using taxpayer dollars to just go say hi for kids at parks. You're telling me you guys couldn't use the helicopter to maybe track where this drunk driver went? You could have. So I, as a Modesto constituent, I'm calling for transparency. I wanna know the officers that were involved in that. And then I will take this last minute to, and I will be back on that matter as well, demanding transparency and an independent investigation. I'll take this last minute to go ahead and mention Shane Harlan. I understand that this board is not, has no control over the Sheriff's Department, but I do want to call my fellow Modesto citizens to come out on the 16th at 6.30 p.m. because then we will get to talk to those that are in charge of the people that killed Shane Harlan. And I do want to go ahead and call for transparency and an independent investigation to that as well. And I would like to know all of the names present. I would like the body cam footage, but you guys make it really hard to get that. You guys make it really hard to get that. So if any of you can let me know how to go about that, I would like to demand that too. But we will see you the 16th. Thanks.

Thank you. All right. Is there anyone else wishing to come forward to speak under public comment for items not on the agenda tonight?

No, no, no. Please.

Mayor, Council, my name is Harlan Diven. I wanted to touch on what happened to Steve Harlan really quick. Again, this is not something that's under your purview, but MPD, when it arrests, sends its arrestees to the Sheriff's Detention Center. The Sheriff's Detention Center uses what's called the RAP. The RAP is what killed Shane Harlan, so I think it's important to educate ourselves on what the RAP is. So Shane Harlan was allegedly stole or damaged $800 worth of property. He was detained. He was handcuffed behind his back. He was put face down. He was still resisting arrest. So they put him in what's called a wrap. I'm still learning what a wrap is, but it's what it sounds like his whole body is encased. He was left face down. He lost consciousness. He stopped breathing. They left him in the wrap. The ambulance showed they left him in the wrap and surprised he's dead. He's dead, over $800 worth of property damage. And this was entirely, entirely preventable. And this rap is going to continue to cause problems in Stanislaus County. Shane Harland didn't have to die. The next person who's left in a rap didn't have to die. One of the people who was out protesting use of the rap talked to a man who was in custody in Stanislaus County and was left face down overnight in a rap. asking to be let go. Um, that's so dangerous. It's so dangerous. I just wanted to educate the community on what's happening. Um, ask that we, uh, are looking into how we're using this rap in Santa sauce County. Again, this is not MPD right now. This is the sheriff's by, I assume MPD is using the rap as well. Um, so we've seen what happens when people are cuffed and left face down how dangerous it is. So let's not endanger people when we're trying to keep communities safe. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Well, good evening. Madam Mayor, council members, ladies and gentlemen, it's always a pleasure to be with you. It's been a while now, so I guess it was time. Let's start out a little bit easier, if you don't mind. First of all, something I've been wondering about for like five years, and that's why in the world we get a street sweeper once a month? It comes at 7 a.m. Some of my neighbors leave at 4 or 5. Some of them leave at 7.30, 8 o'clock. Some of them work nights. So you watch the street sweeper go down the street, and you get about half of it. It's like a slalom course. Now, you guys make it so people downtown get it on a regular basis, and it gets cleaned because you have signs, but when it comes to, at least the northern area, we don't get that. You know, we barely, you get there before 7 o'clock. But that's not going to go anywhere because it's what you choose to do. It's part of the city manager's staff and good decisions. Secondly, The consent calendar, last September, we always hope to know where the items from the consent calendar come and which committee they've gone through or if they've gone through a committee. Last September I asked, can you tell us? Well, your response, quite honestly, was to take that completely off the agenda. We no longer know. So since you're not willing to tell us, I'm going to be willing to ask from now on. That will take time. All we do is ask for, you know, if we have a transparency, you see everybody looking down? We have a transparency policy here, but we don't get transparent. Last but not least, I want to discuss for a minute, when we were talking about Wood Colony a few weeks ago, we heard this heartwarming story about, I was born up in Wood Colony. I was raised there. But you know, Modesto's residents are the ones that voted for me, and that's why I'm here. Well, I'm one of those, let's call them six percenters, that's what I like, I pay the utility users tax. So I figure, you know, you're responsible to me. But yet, you don't, you charge us for the use of the water of the Del Rio, the extra charges, and Grayson yous, you won't do a 218 and save your people money. You're worried more about Del Rio.

We're worried more about Grayson.

How about Modesto? Simple 218. There's no reason we should be paying for fancy water tanks that only they get because they weren't gonna sue you. Grayson has water they can't drink. I feel sorry for them. But it's not my responsibility to pay for it. You guys spend money hand over fist. You're gonna spend money tonight and you're $15 million under water for your budget. Now that's got to come from somewhere. And my last 10 seconds I'll say, you know it's always sad to me when we pick and choose about our elected representatives, pick and choose about who they're going to come down here and have their picture taken with. To me, what I saw again for what, the third year in a row, maybe more, that was bigotry. I'll say it, I'll say it again. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you. Anyone else under public comment for items not on tonight's agenda? Sure. City Manager has a comment.

I just want to make it clear.

On our agenda reports, there is a specific section that identifies which committee the agenda item went to. It's on every agenda report, and you can see what committee that item went to prior to coming to Council.

Thank you. Any other public comments at this time? Seeing none, Council Member Escudia-Brayton, is there anyone at your location who would like to speak under public comment?

No, there is not.

All right. Thank you. All right. 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?

Item 12, for a question.

All right. Councilmember Ascubia-Brayton, is there anyone at your location who would like an item removed from consent for further discussion or comment?

No, there is not.

All right, will the city clerk please read the consent items? Item two, consider approving the minutes for the June 2nd, 2026 council meeting. Item three, consider calling for the holding of a municipal election to be held on November 3rd, 2026, requesting the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors to consolidate the City of Modesto municipal election to be held on November 3rd, 2026, requesting the services of the Registrar of Voters Elections Division of the County of Stanislaus to conduct the election on behalf of the City of Modesto and Modesto City Schools and adopting regulations for candidates for elective office pertaining to candidate statements submitted to the voters at an election to be held on November 3rd, 2026. Item four, consider confirming the declaration of a non-contiguous city property located at Grimes Avenue, Modesto, California, APN 017-012-012. reverting the property back to the unincorporated status within the County of Stanislaus and authorizing application to the Stanislaus Local Agency for Mission Commission to annex the territory back to Woodland Fire Protection District. Item 5, consider an ordinance amending Municipal Code Section 3-2.104 3-2-1401.1 of Article 14 of Chapter 2 of Title III to determine and designate speed limit changes. Item 6, consider approving the plans and specs for the 2025 restroom replacement project at Sherwood Park and Tuolumne River Regional Park Area B, accepting the bid and awarding a construction contract to Taylor Hose Service Incorporated, DBA, TBS Contractors, Merced, California, in amount not to exceed $607,866. item seven consider approving the plans and specs for the park turf reduction phase three project accepting the bid and awarding a construction contract to superb engineering incorporated of banning california and the amount not to exceed one million one hundred and seventy six thousand one hundred and thirty dollars item eight consider accepting the awesome spot playground phase one a project as complete releasing securities releasing payments totaling eight hundred and twelve thousand three hundred and eight dollars to west side landscaping and concrete incorporated of newman california and authorizing the city clerk to file a notice of completion item nine consider accepting rebid plant structural improvement project as complete releasing securities releasing payments totaling two million seven hundred and five thousand five hundred and nineteen dollars to caliber contracting services incorporated of fresno california and authorizing the city clerk to file a notice of completion item 10 consider accepting the monthly investment report for march 2026. Item 11, consider approving an agreement with T2 Systems Incorporated in Indianapolis, Indiana for parking citation processing and collections for a total amount not to exceed $122,775 over five years. Consider reclassifying one park one parking adjudication program coordinator to one account technician two, eliminating one senior account clerk, reallocating one parking enforcement officer from the public works department to the police department. Item 12 was removed from consent. Item 13, consider approving an amended and restated agreement to provide fire protection services between the City of Modesto and the City of Ceres for a five-year term. Item 14, consider approving the submission of grant application and accepting, if awarded, the Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistant to Firefighters Grant for purchased self-contained breathing apparatus units for fire personnel for an up to $2,910,000 with up to $291,000 of local match requirement. Item 15, consider approving a first amendment with Municipal Resource Group LLC, Elk Grove, California for assistance conducting charter officer evaluations to increase the amount by $150,448. Item 16, consider approving an agreement with San Diego Police Equipment Company, Incorporated San Diego, California for federal brand ammunition for a total amount not to exceed $1,250,000 over five years. Item 17, consider approving a third amendment to the agreement with Research Triangle Institute Charlotte, North Carolina for grant evaluation research and reporting consultant services, increasing the agreement amount by $21,088 through the duration of the agreement and extending the term of the agreement from June 12th, 2027 to June 1st, 2028. Item 18, consider approving the adoption of policy documents governing operations and hangar leasing at the Modesto City County Airport. Item 19, consider approving adjustments to various airport rates and fees for specific activities and services at the Modesto City County Airport effective July 1st, 2026, rescinding resolution number 2025-206. Item 20, consider approving the second amendment to the agreement with HF&H Consultants LLC, Walnut Creek, California for the solid waste haulers audit and performance review, increasing the agreement amount by $106,936 to the duration of the agreement.

All right. Our city attorney has a comment on regarding I consent item five and I'm assuming that's prior to our voting on these items. Okay.

Thank you. Just for the record, because it's an ordinance, it is a motion introducing and waiving the first reading. an ordinance amending section 3-2.1401.1 of article 14 of chapter 2 of title 3 of the Modesto Municipal Code relating to speed limits and just wanted to note that for the record because it's an ordinance.

All right, thank you. May I have a motion to approve the consent calendar as read?

So moved.

Moved by Council Member Wright. Second. Second by Vice Mayor Williams. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Rickey. Aye. Council Member Bavaro. Aye. Vice Mayor Williams. Aye. Council Member Wright. Aye. Council Member Scudia-Brayton. Aye.

Aye.

Council Member Alvarez? Aye. And Mayor Zwollin?

Aye. Carries unanimously. We will go back to item 12, which has been pulled. It is to consider approving an amended and restated agreement to provide fire administrative services between the City of Modesto and the City of Turlock for a five-year term. And we will have a staff report. Correct? by our Fire Chief, Shannon Evans.

Good evening, Mayor, staff. This is just an agreement to amend and reinstate our five-year administrative services between the City of Modesto and the City of Turlock. Yeah, that's pretty much what I have.

All right. Questions from Council? Council Member Wright.

Thank you. Chief, so this is a contract, but the services are being billed out to the City of Turlock, correct? Yes. And we do this because it's a cost savings for us and also a cost savings for the City of Turlock. Yes. Can you explain that a little bit, please?

It's a cost saving to the city of Turlock. It also enhances the services to the citizens with the regionalization that we model that we are moving forward with as we work on these contracts. It allows them to take advantage of such like our EMS services, our fire, our deputy fire marshal services if they choose on this particular update to the amended and restated contract they chose to go with their own deputy fire marshal. So we'll be providing the EMS services and the administrative costs. for a deputy chief so that we supply down there to run the daily operations of the department. And then we provide all the admin support that we need to also run their department.

So those costs that we charge City of Turlock help offset some of our costs that we would have normally?

They do. They do. They help fund the deputy chief. for Turlock and also for Ceres. And it also helps cover some of the training positions that we hold and the, obviously the EMS positions that we do. The EMS positions are getting more complex as time goes on to handle all that goes along with that. Thank you.

All right. Councilmember Scooby, do you have any questions regarding item five? I do not have any questions nor any of the public as well. Okay, thank you. I will now open this up to members of the public if you'd like to come forward again.

So I just, as a citizen, I'm a little confused on this. I mean, I take it that there's going to be one person who is going to be an overall administrator for both departments. If both departments are sharing administrative services, then there has to be somebody who's in charge of the whole operation and I'm a little confused as to how two departments 11 miles from each other work together. I just don't understand it. Is this simply an administrative partnership that is strictly financial or is this actually in the day-to-day running of the two departments. So I need further clarification as to how this works on a day-to-day basis.

Thank you.

So part of the cost savings is that there's one fire chief in charge of all the departments that are in the MST, the Modesto, Stanislaus, Consolidated, and Turlock contract. So with that, we implemented a deputy chief down in Turlock to run the daily operations. If I'm understanding the question correctly, he's asking how we benefit from that. Well, there's obviously cost sharing, but in the regionalization model, the level of service that we bring to the county, we've raised the bar. So when they have a incident down in Turlock, we're able to come and help meet those effective response force down model that we need to meet down in Turlock. we aid them, and then we get the same resource sharing when it comes back to us when we have big incidents that are happening up here in Modesto. So I'm not sure if that answers this question, but on a daily basis, we're constantly working together to raise the level in not only our cities, but also in the county.

All right, thank you. Thank you very much for that.

It's open to the public, correct?

Yes.

I'll use part of my time. I wonder why, is the public allowed to comment on Zoom tonight? Because I thought you said they weren't.

The public is not.

On the front page of your agenda, it says they will be if you have a council member participating through Zoom. I'm just pointing that out. I guess we say one thing and do another.

I'll ask for clarification from our city attorney on that account. I don't want to lose time.

You can answer in a minute. Secondly, when we roll out our equipment, do we get to charge that $500 that we charge our own residents when we roll out a fire truck? I mean, we're charging the insurance companies right now, and if they don't pay or if they do pay, that comes out of our pockets eventually, because insurance people aren't gonna do it for free for any length of time. I know my guy will pick up the phone and call me really quick. And thirdly, I've never heard of an agenda report in my life. If it's not on the agenda, it's not on the agenda. Did you hand me one tonight, the agenda report? I mean, I'm looking for the agenda.

If the agenda reports are on our website, you can click on any item and then you pull up the agenda report, resolution, all the attachments associated with that. No, no, no, no, no.

That's not the way it works. It should be on the agenda. People can't wander around your website. Please, it's my time. We shouldn't have to wander to find information. Should you go to two different locations? I got to tell you, your website's getting really hard to use. And I thought I was pretty good at it. Every time I get the hang of it, you switch it up again. Try tracking down the donations. All of a sudden, you have to work for a while before you find out your 460s, where they're at. It used to be one click, and there they were. So I expect, I think the public would expect the information that belongs on the agenda on the agenda. Now, we can argue it each time, or I'll pull the entire consent, and we'll talk about them one at a time, and I'll sit in the far corner. It'll take me a while to get up here. It makes sense for the public to have all the information they need at one spot. If I want to go back and look and see what department it is, or excuse me, what committee went through it, there's no way to tell. I have to find another report. Put it on the agenda. That's where people look. We don't have a lot of time to sit around and try to figure out what the heck he did. I'm telling you the options. You choose. The people of Modesto would like to see that.

If you want to argue that, I'm willing. Mr. Drake, if you go to our website and you pull up our agenda that you're reading in the back today, there is a hyperlink on that agenda that takes you to all the materials.

So you go to a second place. Why play the game?

I'm not going to discuss it. If we were to put all the materials on the packet you're looking at, it would be over 500 pages every meeting, and we couldn't do that.

First of all, the only information I'm trying to seek that you're not providing is, it's like four words long.

Whatever the committee is... And it's on the agenda report.

Yeah.

I will be happy to show you where... It doesn't matter.

I'm not going to take a second leak. We're going to have this conversation week after week. I've got time to spend. I'm retired. You just said you don't have time.

Now you have time. Okay. Excuse me. I'm going to have time. Thank you very much. All right. I forgot, Mr. Drake, what the first question was. Would you please repeat it?

It was about agenda, about the council member participating... Yes. I can answer it.

Okay, thank you. That's right. All right.

Very good. Thank you very much. You're welcome. But I'd like the response.

That will be forthcoming. All right. If we can have the response to the first question about remote participation, please.

Yes, I hear you. The agenda does list that members of the public will be allowed to provide public comments through Zoom if a council member is participating remotely pursuant to the provisions of California Government Code Section 54953.8.3. That Government Code Section allows council members to participate under certain circumstances without posting the agenda at their location. The other option is to, as in this case, Councilmember Escutia Brayton did have the agenda posted at the location that she is participating. Therefore, that provision does not apply because she did post the agenda at her location.

Correct, and the laws will change on July 1st.

That is correct. With Senate Bill 707 on July 1st, that will open up the remote participation for the public as well.

Yes, and we will follow the law accordingly. Second question for Chief Evans regarding how residents are charged for services when they call.

I'm not sure what services he's talking about, but we don't have a service charge for the fire component. So we do have a cost recovery that they've tried implementing to the insurance company items, but it's specific items only that they would try to initiate that.

All right. Thank you. Next, regarding agenda items on consent available to the public, we're more than willing to assist any member of the public to find those items and help them with that. All right, any other members of the public that would like to speak? This is actually, we're on item. Consent item 12. Any other public comments regarding consent item 12? Seeing none, I'll reiterate with Council Member Scooby-Brayton. Is there anyone at your location who would like to speak?

No, there is not, ma'am.

All right, thank you. I will close public comments. Are there any comments from council members regarding item 12? Seeing none, I need a motion for, excuse me. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see your name there. Councilmember Rickey.

Thanks, Mayor. I just want to say I really appreciate the work by the chief here in working with other cities to try to mitigate some of these expenses and cooperate together to lower all lower overall expenses for all of our cities. This is a symbiotic relationship that we've created to regionalize a lot of our fire services and it's just a good direction to go. It's a value for taxpayers and it's an overall win for everyone in our region.

All right, thank you. Any other comments from council members regarding consent item 12? Seeing none, I need a motion for a resolution approving an amended and restated agreement to provide fire administrative services between the city of Modesto and the city of Turlock for a five-year term and authorizing the city manager or his designee to execute the agreement.

So moved. Second.

Motion by Council Member Bavaro and second by Council Member Alvarez. And will the clerk please call the roll for this item?

Council Member Rickey? Aye. Council Member Bavaro? Aye. Vice Mayor Williams? Aye. Council Member Wright? Aye. Council Member Scudia-Brighton?

Aye.

Council Member Alvarez?

Aye.

And Mayor Zwollin?

Aye. Carries unanimously. Thank you. Next on the agenda is council comments and reports. Do any of the council members have any comments and reports at this time? Vice Mayor Williams.

Thank you, Mayor. I want to go over a few things that took place in the city of Modesto. A couple of them I kept forgetting to mention, and I do want to shed light on it. The Awesome Spot had their second annual fundraiser. It happened on May the 9th. at Beyer Park. It was successful. They are still raising money for the Awesome Spot Park. For those who do not know about the Awesome Spot Park, please go to Modesto, citymodesto.com, and you will see the timelines on some of the improvements that are taking place so i don't have to take the time to do that today also on may the 5th i want to shed some light on parks and rec and along with others who had wreck fest and wreck fest happens just below 10th street over by the tuolumne river they had tents set up for different types of excursion, well, different types of things that you can do at this particular park over by the bridge, Ninth Street Bridge, underneath the Ninth Street Bridge, how it fans around to another park, It was a great day to be there and to learn more and more about that area. Also, this week, starting tomorrow, Park and Shine is going to be happening in the plaza. This is a car show that will happen tomorrow. If you are in the area tomorrow, and of course you work here or you're coming downtown, please know that the streets will be closed off at 3 o'clock. it will be very very difficult for you to get in because there's a park and shine and because of that also with that there is a opportunity for those who have done a lot of good things for the cruise and the cruise committee has put together a kind of a star like LA has a cruise star for those individuals who have participated in the in the graffiti from way back when until now. Also Friday is the cruise on McHenry and the streets again will be closed at three o'clock. So if you're needing to do anything downtown you may want to do that ahead of time. It will be closed from three o'clock to about nine o'clock and that is on McHenry starting at 530, they are starting it earlier than it was. Used to be six to eight, now it's 530 to eight. And the only cars that can be on that route are those who registered and paid their fee to be there because it is a, private event, but it's open to the public for viewing. And then Saturday is the, not the parade, but the car show. The car show will be at West Campus MJC. There is a nominal fee to get into the car show. It will happen at MJC, like I said, starting from nine to six on Saturday, and then from nine to three on Sunday and again I already spoke about the Juneteenth festivities with Celebration of Dads being a part of that and also food and informational booths, crafts booths. It will be a great event if you have time to visit that as well. And then also Saturday, Mayor wanted to mention that we just completed or talked about or had Memorial Day and there is the second annual Women's Veterans Gala at the Veterans Center at 3500 Coffee Road. This is their second annual event and they're honoring women veterans. If this is something you want to go to, there is a cost and if there is, you can pay at the door. And that is 3500 Coffee Road in the city of Modesto. The time is from 10 to 3 o'clock. That concludes it at this point. Mayor, thank you very much.

You're welcome. Councilmember Scootia Brayton.

Thank you, Mayor. I am currently at the National Association of Regional Councils Board of Directors meeting and conference. There's several hundred professionals from around our nation here, but representing our region at this national level provides us with much valuable opportunities to learn from communities across our country and discuss best practices and strengthen partnerships that can help bring innovative solutions and resources back to our region. many of the topics that we've discussed at these meetings at this meeting have revolved around transportation we've talked about economic development we talked about housing about regional collaboration i'm grateful to have had the opportunity to talk about modesto's successes and our best practices um to all the meeting participants and and and to bring back to modesto all the great ideas and experiences that i've gathered that i've learned here But the most of all that they can all go towards helping us to continue to build a stronger and more inclusive Modesto. What happens in one region is very cyclical. It frequently happened in another one. And so by learning from each other, by sharing with each other our projects and our successes, it's just a good thing to do. And I'm glad to be able to do that for the city. and for our region and for all of our organizations. But I will be glad to go back to Modesto to celebrate all the Juneteenth activities and looking forward to participating in the graffiti activities as well as the parade. So that concludes my remarks.

Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Rickey?

Thanks, Mayor. Modesto needs to create an entertainment zone in downtown. An entertainment zone would open the door for more downtown special events, from the sampler to comedy nights, music festivals, food events, and more. Part of Modesto's path to a more vibrant future is to have more entertainment choices. And an entertainment zone is another way we can create a more friendly environment for promoters and organizations to create spaces to gather and celebrate in our city. Being able to afford rent or purchase housing in Modesto is a huge challenge today. Between high prices and higher interest rates, it often feels like an impossible mission. I appreciate that the City of Modesto is partnering with Valley First Credit Union for a discussion on June 25th on different ways to build an ADU, aka Granny Flat, and some of the loans and interest rates that are available just for properties here in the City of Modesto. ADUs can create extra income, add more housing to our community, and increase your home's value. So it's a great opportunity that's worth considering. And finally, Enslin Park's struggles with homelessness are well known in my district. Much of this is being driven by the choices made by service providers. There was a time where there was nowhere for the homeless to go and to be safe. And so our parks kind of became like shelters. And Enslin Park really was an epicenter. Unfortunately, that's no longer true. Modesto has a homeless day shelter coupled with multiple sheltering choices and bridge housing. We're on the right track, and now is the time for volunteer organizations to also adjust to the new and improved reality. Residential neighborhoods aren't the right place for these services, and Modesto now has a solution. So let's use it. Thanks, Mayor.

You're welcome. Back to Vice Mayor Williams.

I forgot to mention this today. I took the opportunity to go over to the Sherwood Forest area to show my support and give my condolences to those individuals who live in that neighborhood who had to experience that situation, that tragic situation. I wanted them to know that we care about our city. Fortunately, but yet unfortunately, it was not anything to do with Modesto Police Department or any of anyone in that area. It was a CHP situation. It was unfortunate. However, just wanted to let the neighbors know that we care about the situation and we definitely pray for the families that are affected by that situation and that tragedy. Thank you, Mayor.

You're welcome. I attended the Volt Institute graduation in open house on Wednesday, June 6. It's approximately 50 graduates. And this is a local. vocational school that provides fast-paced hands-on training for high-demand careers in advanced manufacturing and automation, such as industrial maintenance mechanic and career accelerator programs. And it was really inspiring to see how this will affect the lives of the the men and one woman that graduated and to see that they will now be able to get jobs that are needed and support their families. I also attended the Modesto Garden Club summer luncheon and the room was probably, I would say about 200 people. We have the largest garden club in the United States of America right here in Modesto and the work that they do is just incredible to beautify our downtown to plant the flowers And I really appreciate them and was grateful for that invitation. I Participated in a youth in the loop podcast with Rudra Patel one of our high school students. It was engaging he asked really good solid questions and we have a great experience together i haven't heard the end result of that podcast, but I'm looking forward to it. I was also invited to do the mayor's choice to kick off Graffiti Weekend last Sunday morning for my classic car award, and I picked Little Darling, a 1953 custom Chevy, and that was fun, and it's really exciting to go to McHenry Village and see All the members of the community walking around, this is free to observe, and the cars are like jewels. They're just so beautiful, and I appreciate that effort that people put in to make their cars a beauty. This morning, I attended clergy council. I believe it's the 13th year. Modesto Police Clergy Council, we meet monthly, where we talk about timely situations in our community and what we can do to improve those relationships. Any other comments from council members and reports? Seeing none, does the city manager have any comments or reports? All right, not tonight. Next on the agenda is hearings, item 21. You're hearing to approve an amendment to the permanent local housing allocation five year plan and acceptance of PLHA year five allocation in the amount of $637,206. Welcome, Jessica Hill.

Thank you, Mayor, City Council. So tonight we're going to be speaking about the permanent local housing allocation and the acceptance of year five funding as well as a recommended plan amendment. So for a little bit of background, the permanent local housing allocation or PLHA was funded by SB2, which added $75 recording fee to certain real estate documents to fund affordable housing. What it has done is really provided state funding directly to local jurisdictions to help provide both affordable housing and homelessness funding. So we were approved for a five-year award starting on July 14, 2020. So in order to receive the funding, the jurisdictions must complete a five-year plan and apply each year for the funding allocation. So we've already approved this five-year plan. Part of our five-year plan encompasses alignment with our housing element programs, highlights investment that increases housing for households below 60% of the area median income, as well as helps prioritize the community's needs. So as part of the five-year plan, we are here today to accept year five funding. And so in the notice of funding availability this year, the city was available to receive $637,206, which brings our total up to $5.6 million. So we are also proposing an amendment and primarily due to the affordable owner occupied workforce housing. So in October, 2024, HCD and the state actually released, um, the NOFA, which introduced requirements to jurisdictions to help, uh, also fund, um, homeownership opportunities. And so with that, we need to commit at least 40% of our formula to affordable owner occupied workforce housing activities. So what we're proposing is the amendment, which is gonna be to year four and five funding. And so we're proposing actually to defund activity one, which is multifamily rental housing development and help fund our permanent supportive housing development as well as our ownership opportunities. And so you can see those changes on the screen and table above. So following the next steps, the city has conducted our five-day public comment review period, and we'll be encompassing any comments received today and be submitting the plan to HCD by June 30th. What we'll do is after the funding is then submitted to HCD, we'll be releasing a request for proposals for the affordable housing projects in order to issue that funding back to the community. All viable projects will go through our standard process and go back through committee and council for formal approval. on the recommendations. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you for your report. Does Council have any questions of staff? Seeing none, I will open up to the ‑‑ excuse me, this is a public hearing. I will now open the public hearing. Are there any members of the public that would like to come forward regarding item 21? Seeing none, and I do not have any blue speaker request cards for this item, I will close public comments and ask council.

No public comments in my area. Oh, excuse me.

I'm sorry. I was to ask you that question. Thank you. I will now close public comments. Are there any comments from council regarding this item? Seeing none, I'm going to ask for guidance from the city attorney if we're able to do one vote.

Yes.

Okay. I have a resolution approving an amendment to the permanent local housing allocation five-year plan and acceptance of the PLHA year five allocation in the amount of $37,206 and authorizing the city manager or his designee to negotiate and execute any program agreements required for implementation and acceptance of the PLHA program. A resolution amending the fiscal year 2025-2026 annual operating and non-capital project fund budgets to establish a project and applicable revenue, expenditures, and transfers in the amount of $637,206 to appropriate the year five permanent local housing allocation grant funds. A resolution authorizing the application and amending the PLHA plan for the permanent local housing allocation plan. Do I have a motion?

So moved. Second.

Second motion by Council Member Wright, second by Council Member Rickey. Will the clerk please call the roll for this item?

Council Member Rickey? Aye. Council Member Bavaro? Aye. Vice Mayor Williams? Aye. Council Member Wright? Aye. Council Member Scudia-Brighton?

Aye.

Council Member Alvarez. Aye. And Mayor Zwollin.

Aye. Carries unanimously. Next is item 22, a hearing to consider approving restated service agreements for solid waste collection services with Bertolini Modesto Disposable Incorporated and Jilton Solid Waste Management Incorporated to become effective July 1st, 2026. the solid waste rate adjustment to the maximum rate schedule for city solid waste collection services provided by solid waste haulers to become effective July 1st, 2026 and rescinding resolution number 2024-290 and resolution number 2024-291 and the update to the schedule of cash security deposits and fees for self-haul residents and businesses, rescinding resolution number 2024-292. And we will have a staff report. Welcome.

Thank you, Madam Mayor and Council. Patrick Crowley, the interim director of public works. And with us is our consultants, HF and H, Phillip here. He'll partner with me to give the presentation. So I'll let Phillip run through it for us.

Thank you to the Mayor and members of the Council for having me here today to speak. So I want to provide some background on the current hauling situation and the new agreements that we've negotiated. So currently Modesto contracts with two private hauling companies, Jilton Solid Waste Management and Bertolotti Disposal Services. These agreements were signed in 2006 and 2007 respectively for the companies, almost 20 years ago for one and 20 for the other, which resulted in a lack of financial protections, reporting requirements that are congruent with regulatory requirements, and customer service standards that are found in modern agreements. The agreements back 20 years ago were 10, 15 pages. Now they're easily in the 150 to 200 pages. There's just a lot more in them. Additionally, in 2024, in August, it was presented to the city council, a performance review of the agreement and the haulers, and there was a recommendation to renegotiate and amend the agreement, along with seven other specific recommendations, which were addressed and we'll get into. Additionally, the goals of this negotiation were to establish a fixed term length, increase transparency and accountability, and reflect the state laws that have evolved significantly in the last 20 years. So the existing agreements with Jilton and Bertolotti were signed in 1997 and 2001. Jilton was amended in 2006 and Bertolotti in 2007, as I mentioned, approximately 20 years ago. And they currently have a 10-year automatic renewal for Jilton and a seven-year automatic renewal for Bertolotti and Evergreen. So every year, an additional year is added to those contracts unless you trigger the Evergreen, in which case it would wind down the term. So through the negotiations, We've proposed restated service agreements. Obviously amending a 10 page agreement to 170 is a lot of different changes. So it's much easier to just have a restated, amended and restated agreement. So the first priority was conformance with local and state mandates. I'm sure you've all heard of Senate Bill 1383 and the requirements of organics and recycling along with lots of reporting. It's 150 pages roughly of requirements for the city. but you can use direct service providers. So that was one of the main goals. Financial audit requirements, which they will be having third party auditors. We'll get into that during the rate adjustment process, but also the city has the right to perform performance reviews and auditors. Increased transparency and reporting, fixed term lengths, new rate setting methodology, which will protect the rate payers, local purchasing preferences to help support local businesses and potential tax revenues, multifamily bulky item collection to help reduce some illegal dumping and provide that service that's available to residents currently, increased insurance and performance bond requirements that are congruent with Modesto's standards, and clearly define liquidated damages if there are performance issues. So currently there's two zones. Jilton is the blue that you see on the map and Bertolotti is the gray. There are no change to the existing service zones. Should the city annex an area from the county, the current service provider in that county zone, if it's Jilton would get it, if it's Bertolotti they would. If it's a separate third party, Turlock-Scavengers, it would be at the city's discretion how that would be divided or who it would go to. So as I mentioned, we have a fixed term length. It's 10 years, which is pretty standard for industry. It aligns with capital cycles. There's also four five-year extension options upon mutual agreement. So the haulers can't give you a termination notice during that 10 year. But with four years left on the agreement, you'll get to negotiate with them. And that's when you would go into negotiations to talk about extension if you mutually agree upon it. We determined four years was appropriate because you could go into negotiations. If you reach an impasse, it would still give you time to do a competitive procurement. So initial term, it'll be in year six that you start those discussions with your hauler. And in the extension years, it'll be 11, 16, and 21. So still four years left on those to make sure you have adequate time. And the existing evergreen clause has been removed. As I mentioned, there's up to four performance reviews included in the agreement at the city's discretion, which can be handled at any time. And there's a charge that's to the haulers of $82,500 is the maximum that they would be recouping you. So they will be paying for those if you wish to enlist a third party's professional service firm. There are also 40 detailed and defined performance standards that have liquidated damages associated with them. which is essentially a charge to them for non-performance. This allows you to hold them accountable if there's performance lapses. There are cure periods for the majority of these liquidated damages. If there's property damage and it wasn't fixed timely, there's an opportunity for them to fix it. Not all of them will have a cure period. There's 19 clearly defined events of default, things like defrauding the city of Modesto, refusing to perform any of the services they've provided, things like that that aren't recoverable or fixable. And we've also increased the performance bonds to $1.9 million for Jilton and $1 million to Bertolotti. And the reason for the difference is because of the portion of the city they serve. So it's essentially a 65-35 split, roughly. So that's why those numbers are chosen that way. So under the old methodology for rate setting, it was a cost-based analysis of the prior year and whoever was the lowest cost hauler, that would be the new service rates. And so that was a cost plus arrangement and there was no benchmarking and there wasn't much accountability for industry standards and efficiencies. Other than the two of them, whoever had the lowest, so you wanna be efficient. So under the new adjustment methodology, there's gonna be a cost-based adjustment in year one, three, and seven. So the year one is already, that's what we're presenting today. Then in three and seven, there would go in and there would be an audit of the hauler costs We received not only their costs of performing these services, but also their operational statistics. So we could look at the number of lifts per truck per week to see if that was within the standards. We looked at things like number of maintenance supervisors to maintenance workers or route supervisors to route trucks and benchmark those to make sure that they were efficient and congruent with industry standards. And then those are the types of things that we would be looking at in those cost-based years to see have those change along with the costs. In years where there's not a cost-based audit by a third party, there would also be a multi-index adjustment. So the rates are adjusted by certain factors. So fuel, employment, CPI, disposal, processing, and that's all specified and it's mechanized. So it's pretty third party CPI, third party adjustments. So that protects you, I guess, from people just raising their rates. So currently there's basically two parts of the rates. There's the base rate, which is adjusted based on the cost of service being provided. And this captures the operational costs for the service providers. And additionally, there are city fees that are layered on top of that. It covers costs such as the drive up drop off events, some of the landfill maintenance. So the rates haven't been adjusted in over two years, and we've reached an agreement to an 8.3% increase, which is essentially congruent with a compounded CPI over that period, but typically the trash and recycling industry outpaces CPI. Additionally, we have added a lot of features to this agreement, things like increasing the insurance coverage and the performance bonds and additional reporting, drop-off events that all increase the cost of service. Commercial is also a proposed 8.3% rate increase. And then for the industrial sector, which is 10 to 40-yard roll-offs, the larger containers, that's a 4.6% increase. So maximum rates for that are increasing by $23.13. Additionally, the city has a self-haul program. So for those who not elect to use a service provider, they can self-haul their own material. They have to place a deposit as well as provide receipts from the facilities where they're delivering the materials to prove that they're not illegally dumping it in your streets. So the self-haul deposit will need to be updated to reflect the new service costs. So that's for residential, it's going from $3,295.80 to $3,570.60. So this is an 8.3% increase congruent with the residential rate increase. A formula is also used to bill the 89.39 fee and the maximum monthly rate is set forth in the schedule of maximum rates. The annual residential fees will increase from 65.26 to 70.70 and commercial fees will increase from 85.74 to 92.88 per cubic yard. Again, concurrent with the other increases you're seeing in the residential and commercial rates. So now I'll get back to Mr. Crowley for the recommendations.

So we have four recommendations on this. So the first is to approve the restated service agreement for solid waste collection services with Jilton. Same thing for the restated service agreement for Bertolotti. Then we have the maximum fee for collecting, so the resolution approving that rate adjustment based on the new methodology that we've calculated. And then the last one, again, is approving of the self-haul security deposits from our residents that choose to not use the service provider. And on that, we're more than happy to answer any questions.

All right, thank you very much for your presentation. Does Council have any questions of staff? Council Member Bavaro.

Thank you, Mayor. On your April 17, 2024 recommendations, the seven recommendations to the Council, Because Jilton was using allocation of costs, has that been consolidated now just to the city of Modesto for a financial statement?

They still have an audit at the company-wide level and they have a compilation for the city of Modesto. The city of Modesto also has the ability to go in and audit those compilations and the third-party audit that they are getting.

So we can integrate with their software system? Correct. Okay.

We'll be reviewing all of the allocations. We'd be looking at labor buildups, all of that for the city of Modesto. How many drivers are here? What are their hourly rates, the overtime, the benefits, all of that. So that would all be built up and verified for the city of Modesto. We also got from them a list of how many drivers, vehicles, all of that, that are specifically for the city. So we can verify that that's accurate.

On your second recommendation, you recommended that the city consider a separate rate for contaminated organic material and looking at, was that included in the base rate or where is that? Because I don't see a separate rate for contaminated organic material.

That's established in section 4.3 and it's $150 per ton that the hauler would pay.

Thank you. So all seven then have been implemented? Correct. Okay. With regards to... Year one, three, and seven. Three and seven, you're going to be using, or excuse me, in the non-cost years, two and whatever it is, six, you're going to be using CPI. Is that the western urban CPI that we're going to use?

We're using multiple indices. So we're using a western fuel index based on the fuel type they're using. We're using an employment index for the service industry on the employment portion of their P&L. And then I'll have to confirm with you in the agreement right here what the CPI is. But it was tailored to the city of Modesto. It's local to you, but also we compared it against other CPIs for what was the most beneficial to the city.

And does that CPI that we're going to use within their economic buckets, do they have a fuel bucket separate in that CPI?

That's a great question. We chose a bucket that had no energy costs in it. So it's essentially a CPI basket of goods that does not include fuel or energy.

So that's why there's no duplication of costs. Correct. OK. Thank you. Sorry for the delay. May I have some notes here?

Oh, no, that's all right. Take your time.

On this Mo Beautiful fee, we were getting grants that were paying for that in the past, correct? On the beautification, I guess, where we have, what is it, four times a year? For dump-off?

Yeah, drive-up, drop-off events, and they've been funded by ARPA in the past.

How about prior to ARPA?

We do not have them prior to ARPA.

Okay, so we're just adding that to cover that cost, and it's $0.14. It's not a lot, but it's still there. It adds up. Thank you, Mayor.

You're welcome. Any other questions from council members regarding item 22? All right. I will now open the public hearing. Are there any members of the public that would like to come speak on item 22? And I have one blue speaker card, Teresa Gamboa.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, members of the staff, and members of the public. Thank you for allowing me to speak on this item. My name is Theresa Gamboa. I'm the chairwoman of Woodland West Community, which is part of Modesto Neighborhoods Incorporated. I'm here to humbly ask you to reject the rate increase before you tonight. Our city is deteriorating. I see your frown. Woodland West community used to have a beautiful landscape We took pride in our neighborhood It is one of the safest neighborhoods in the city every time there is a rate increase on the utility bill fewer people are taking care of their yards and As a result, trees are dying. They're falling down in wind events, in storm events. One of my best friend's tree in her yard fell just today. Foxtail lawns are everywhere and all over the city, not just in Woodland West. Before you decide to raise rates, did you explore ways to mitigate the cost? I realize it's more complicated than I thought before I came to this meeting, but have you looked at alternatives? It's not that much, but it matters to struggling families when costs are up across the board. inflation, utility bills, all of it. And we need to find ways to offset some of these costs instead of just passing them off to a struggling population. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Any other members of the public that would like to come forward?

Good evening again. Emerson Drake here, a 39-year resident of Modesto, paying taxes the whole darn time. You know, I made the, not this year's meeting, but the last one regarding these raises. I was at the committee, and there were several people in the audience. I was surprised how many people showed up, quite honestly. And they had some very good ideas, but one of the things they kept getting beat about the head and shoulders is they have a 10-year cycle for paying for their trucks. Now, for some reason, we're supposed to pay attention to that. You know, I've got a young neighbor down the block, and we were talking, and he'd just gone to a job interview where they told him he had to have a car. Well, you know, I hear that, and I understand the need in transportation, but He can't turn around and tell them, well, you know, I'm going to take a four-year loan on it. You've got to guarantee me four years' worth of work. No, but we do that with our garbage companies. And there are people out there. I mean, the city was just bleeding its trees. They bled to death, actually. You know, I've got in our neighborhood, and it's not a bad neighborhood. It's a nice one. Sometimes there's 8, 10 houses in a row that don't have the city tree, or they have the dead one, or they have the... The mistletoe, that's our biggest crop, I think. Blows everything else away. And I know that's not your problem. I mean, you're doing your best to get back. But there's people like the young lady, the woman just said, at 73, I have a tendency to say young woman to everybody. I apologize. People are hurting out there. You see people that can't not only maintain their lawns, they can't even try to maintain their lifestyle. But thanks to the Chamber of Commerce and some people that just don't make a lot of sense to me, we seem to be insistent that they maintain theirs. Well, they gotta have a certain percentage of profits. Can't somebody else bear some of that responsibility? I mean, I haven't seen a rate, at least that I don't recall, seen a garbage rate turn down. I hear it argued, and I heard it argued semi-successfully in that last committee meeting that I attended, but then that came up, that 10-year rule. Then you got the 10-year and then you got the five-year. There's always something going on. Why is it the resident's responsibility? I mean, we're paying for their trucks anyway. It's up to them how quickly they want to do it and how long a loan they want to take. I don't see why that enters into the situation at all, but when you attend those meetings, you hear that. We didn't hear it tonight, but you hear that coming up. We try to hold costs, but it's 10 years. We just can't negotiate. Well, I'm thinking there's somebody else out there that might be interested in negotiating. Maybe the 65-35 should flip. And Councilman Alvarez, I appreciate you encouraging me to come to meetings more often. I'm a big Yankee fan. I'm missing them tonight, but I'm recording them. But you know, just to help you out, I'll continue to come back more. Hold the line on costs, or at least pretend you are. Help the people out there. Thank you very much for your time.

All right, would someone address the question that was asked by Teresa about, we've explored ways to mitigate the costs. I feel like we heard that in your report.

Yes, we did explore ways to mitigate costs. That's one of the reasons we chose the 10-year term because that's the best amortization period. If we had a five-year term, then they would have stranded assets on the back end, which no garbage company is going to do that with a contract this large. So they would just increase the price for that. So we were looking at what's the best term length to amortize things and leave the prices lower. We also talked over all of the supervisor ratios and the maintenance supervisor versus the number of maintenance workers. We looked at every operational statistic we could to make sure that they were performing efficiently.

All right, thank you very much. Councilmember Escudia-Breaton, is there anyone at your location who would like to speak on this item? Sorry, we couldn't hear your response. No, there is not. Okay, thank you very much. All right, I will close public comments.

there any comments from council members council member wright thank you mayor i think one of the reasons that rates keep going up is the more restrictions we get from sacramento on what we have to do with our garbage and how we have to sort it out so it's uh i agree with um Teresa, I almost forgot your name there, Teresa, for a second. I agree with Teresa that we need to try to keep the costs as low as we can. And I think, you know, we've worked hard to look at what we can do, work with our haulers and then with the new laws that have come down from Sacramento on helping to keep the costs low. And I will support this tonight. I think it's the best of what we can do to help keep our costs within reason. Thank you.

You're welcome. Council Member Bavaro.

Thank you, Mayor. Question for staff. Can you share with Teresa and Emerson the financial hardship for those? Do we have a program where people can get financial assistance in paying their utility bill?

We do through utility billing. I know definitely there is a hardship that they have to apply for. They have to show documentation to accommodate a payment plan.

Okay, so we do have something where people can... going to the city hall or go online or whatever and apply?

Yes, sir.

Okay, great. This is comment time, so I'd just like to say, number one, I'm going to be voting for this item. At the heart of this new contract, which we have been discussing for the last three and a half years, has been the evergreen clause. That has been the most complicated and difficult item to get passed. And it is to the city of Modesto ratepayers advantage, I shouldn't say advantage, in fairness to the ratepayers that we go on to a new model where it's a 10 year contract and a five-year renewal with four times to be able to renew it. And if both parties cannot come up with an agreement, then it will go out to bid to a competitive bidding process. Having the new methodology, creates, as you said, accountability, efficiency, and the involvement of a independent third party to be able to come in in that third and seventh year to make sure that we are meeting the financial requirements. The hauling rates are complicated, very complicated. You have labor costs, you have fuel costs, you have insurance. Just the cost of doing business in this environment today is extremely difficult and especially for operations like Jill who's been servicing Modesto for almost 80 years, the family, and for Bertolotti who's been serving Modesto I believe for more than 50 years. They are very complicated contracts, but the The decision tonight to vote for this actually is really based around eliminating from our contract the evergreen clause. This is a step forward to, as I said, accountability and efficiency. And I wanted to acknowledge the work by our city manager and our city attorney who are able to bring all parties to the table and get this done. This has been going on for the last three and a half years, trying to find a pathway where it would be beneficial to the haulers and beneficial to the rate payers. And it's been very difficult and the city manager and the city attorney got it done. They got it done for the city of Modesto and I just have to acknowledge them for their work and their leadership as well as Public Works Department. I can't leave you guys out. And for our consultant who came in and was able to make sure everything was tied together. So with that, this is a... a good evening for Modesto and I know it's going to be a good evening for the haulers who do an excellent job for our city. Jilton covers my area. I have never heard from anybody in my district complain about garbage hauling except for the blue cans. The blue cans were kind of peaked out, but Never have I had a constituent in my district complain about the service. And myself personally, I had gone through Jilton's service modelers in his office. And I didn't say this is Nick Bavaro, the councilman. I just said, this is the Bovaro family. We just moved. My black can is all beat up, and I need a new can. And they made arrangements. They came out and delivered it on the day that they said they were going to do. And then they followed up with a phone call asking if everything was OK. So that's the kind of level of service that that I see with Jilton, and I'm sure the same as maybe council members here can speak about Bertolotti. I know Chris could probably do it. But anyway, I'm rambling. This is a good evening tonight for all parties on our hauling garbage in the City of Modesto. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Council Member Rickey. Thanks, Mayor.

I also want to just talk about some of the issues that Council Member Wright and Council Member Bavaro also talked about. I share Council Member Wright's concerns about the unfunded mandates that the state has delivered to us and thus to our residents. We're seeing a continued increase in costs as a result of those choices at the state level. It's not fair, but we do have to pay for them. I also think that the current inflation and gas prices has had pretty dramatic increases on the haulers' expenses, which I think you guys probably found. I had quite a good experience with my hauler Bertolotti when my can disintegrated. They had a new one to me the next week. It was really, it was great because when your green can, as we all know from this experience over the last few years, if your green can is messed up it creates real problems. And so mine disintegrated and they brought me a new one. It was wonderful. But yeah, I'm also going to be in support of this. I think that this new deal fills a lot of the holes we had in our blight abatement program as well. I like how it funds the dump days, which I'm positive is going to reduce our overall blight in our community. I also really appreciate how this new deal allows bulky item pickup at apartments and multifamily units. This is one of the main places that we would see blight because people would move they're more like people that live in those units are more likely to move more often and when you move a lot of stuff gets thrown away and they were not given any sort of uh choice on how to get rid of their stuff their big bulky stuff um And now they have that. And that is going to dramatically improve our blight situation in this city. So I appreciate both the haulers and our city staff for being able to negotiate that deal. Thanks, Mayor.

Vice Mayor Williams. Thank you, Mayor.

I agree with all of my colleagues. And technically, Council Member Bavaro took all of what I was going to say. However, I do have... Oh, I do have a few things I want to add to this. First and foremost, it has been three and a half years of negotiation. And I want to give credit to, credit is due, and Bill Sandu, who retired, who's not with us now. He's still alive, but he's not here. And to Patrick for taking over that ship. And it was a big ship to be able to deal with all of this. Fortunately enough, we still kept the same consultants to be able to help us navigate through it. What I see tonight, as has already been said, it's really not so much about the rate increase. It's about the new deal, the better deal of not having an evergreen and going to a 10-year contract instead of it just being forever and ever and ever, which is And I'm glad that that changed. But lastly, I really, really want to say thank you to Jilton and Bertolotti. I have both of their services. My company downtown, we have a dumpster with Bertolotti. And in my home, we have Jilton. And they've always been what they needed to be. I've never had a problem with them. body in the community has had a problem with them. I'm sure it wasn't repeated. It might have been a situation that was one-off but the point that i'm making today is thank you jilton solid waste management for coming to the table and then also thank you bernalotti bernalotti disposal services for coming to the table working with us and working out something that is good for not just the company not just the city but for the residents of the city of modesto thank you mayor you're welcome council member scudia brayton

thank you mayor i'm not going to repeat what most my council colleagues have already stated eloquently but i will be supporting this agenda item um for again many of the reasons already stated but it has been a very long call no actually pun intended um but i wanted to thank absolutely everyone who has really invested quality time into being just making the right decisions for our community. Everyone has been very fiscally responsible in really trying to keep the rates as reasonable and fair as possible. And fair is the key word in all of this because both our haulers do a wonderful job for our community, but it's a business for them and they they needed to win in this deal as well. And I think at the end of the day, we all persevered through this negotiation. It was very thoughtful and it was very detailed. It was very transparent and very fiscal responsible. And I appreciate everyone that contributed to it. In terms of the council, I want to thank Council Member Bavaro I know he was the biggest champion of this issue from the start and just latched onto it and did not let go of it until a fair compromise was reached, which is before us here tonight. So thank you everyone for contributing to putting us in a better place than we were before.

Right. Thank you. My only comment tonight is I appreciate the people that do the work. that drive the trucks, and they are the eyes and ears of our city. And I'm grateful for them. I will also be supporting this tonight. So we thank you very much for your presentation and for listening. I will read each resolution separately. It will require four separate votes. I have a resolution approving a restated service agreement for solid waste collection service with Bertolotti Modesto Disposal Incorporated to become effective July 1st, 2026 and authorizing the city manager or his designee to execute the agreement. Do I have a motion?

So moved. Second.

Moved by Council Member Bavaro, second by Council Member Alvarez. Will the clerk please call the roll? Council Member Rickey? Aye.

Council Member Bavaro? Aye. Vice Mayor Williams? Aye. Council Member Wright? Aye. Council Member Scudia-Braton?

Aye. Council Member Alvarez.

Aye. And Mayor Zwollin.

Aye. Carries unanimously. I have a resolution approving a restated service agreement for solid waste collection service with Jilton Solid Waste Management Incorporated to become effective July 1st, 2026 and authorizing the city manager or his designee to execute the agreement. Do I have a motion? Move and approve. Motion by Council Member Rickey.

Second.

Second by Council Member Wright. And will the clerk please call the roll for this item?

Council Member Rickey? Aye. Council Member Bavaro? Aye. Vice Mayor Williams? Aye. Council Member Wright? Aye. Council Member Scudier-Breton?

Aye.

Council Member Alvarez. Aye. And Mayor Zwollin.

Aye. Carries unanimously. I have a resolution approving the rate adjustment to the maximum rate schedule for city solid waste collection services provided by the solid waste haulers for an increase of $4.58 per month for residential services, an increase of $6.01 per cubic yard for commercial services, and an increase of $23.13 per pole for industrial services. to become effective July 1st, 2026 with billing changes implemented at the new rate upon the next billing cycle and rescinding resolution number 2024-290 and resolution number 2024-291. Do I have a motion? Second. Moved by Council Member Wright, seconded by Council Member Alvarez, and will the clerk please call the roll? Oops, I'm so sorry. Missed that.

Vice Mayor Williams. Look alike.

Will the clerk please call the roll? Council Member Rickey? Aye. Council Member Bavaro? Aye. Vice Mayor Williams? Aye. Council Member Wright? Aye. Council Member Scudia Brayton? Aye.

Aye.

Councilmember Alvarez? Aye. And Mayor Zwollin?

Aye. Carries unanimously. I have a resolution approving the update to the schedule of cash security deposits and fees for South Hall residents and businesses to become effective July 1st, 2026, rescinding resolution number 2024-292. So moved. Motion by Councilmember Alvarez? Second. Second by Councilmember Scudia Brayton. And will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Rickey? Aye. Councilmember Bavaro? Aye. Vice Mayor Williams? Aye. Councilmember Wright? Aye. Councilmember Scudier-Brayton?

Aye.

Councilmember Alvarez?

Aye. And Mayor Zwollin? Aye. Carries unanimously. Next on the agenda is new business, item 23. All right, excuse me. We will take a break. It is now 716 p.m. We'll take a 10-minute break to 726 p.m. Thank you. Well, I guess 20 will start. It is now 7.26 PM, and we will begin again with item on new business, item 23. And this is consider approving one of the three recommended names for the park located at 615 Sierra Drive following completion of public input and culture commission review. And we will have a staff report.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening. My name is Jeremy Rogers. I'm your Parks Recreation Neighborhoods Director. And we are here to talk about the renaming of Cesar E. Chavez Park. A little too fast there. I'll give you a brief recap of how we got here. The public brought concerns forth to the Culture Commission. The Culture Commission scheduled a special meeting on March 23rd. At that meeting, they directed staff to begin an official review of the name. Following all city policies, we did a 30-day input, and that started on March 24th. Submission options were available both online and in person. We also held a town hall meeting on April 9th. The input period closed on April 24th. Once that had closed, we had received 474 recommendations. We took the top 10 recommendations we took to the Culture Commission, and out of that, they chose three names to go before the City Council. Those recommended names, in no particular order, are 4th Street Park. This name recognizes the park's historic identity and longstanding neighborhood memory. The next one, Si Se Puede Park, reflects empowerment, cultural heritage, and community unity. And then the third one that the Culture Commission has recommended for consideration is Farm Workers Park. This honors the contributions of farm workers in Modesto and the region. I will note that there is a fiscal impact to this, to changing the name. We will have to replace the signs that are there at the park. This will be about $10,000 and will be absorbed in the Parks Recreation Neighborhoods budget. Staff is recommending to City Council a resolution improving the renaming of Cesar E. Chavez Park, located at 615 Sierra Drive. Staff are asking the Council to select one of the following recommended names. Again, Fourth Street Park, Cissé Play Day Park, and Farm Workers Park. And I'll be happy to answer any questions that the Council has.

All right. Thank you very much for your report. Any questions from Council members? Council Member Rickey.

Thanks, Mayor. I did some just anecdotal surveying of my social media audience, and of 535 responses, I found that 85% of respondents wanted the name Fourth Street Park. with about 4% wanting Farm Workers Park and Si Se Puede Park less than 1%. My question to you, Jeremy, is do you have any additional city research based on the names that you can compare to the research that I've done in terms of the public's opinions on what the name should be.

The top three names that the public, the 474, I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but the top three, number one was 4th Street Park, number two was Sisay Puede Park, and number three was Farm Workers Park.

Thank you.

Right.

That was my question. I wanted to know.

All right. Mine too. everyone needs to raise their hands i still see council member ricky's name there vice mayor williams questions that was my question too okay thank you any other questions from council members all right seeing then i will open this item up to the public uh i'll ask members of the public to come forward i have two uh speaker cards catherine zagoni

Good evening, Mayor, Council. Thank you for your time. As a commissioner for the Council, sorry, I'm really nervous. As a commissioner for the Culture Commission, I'm happy to come before you. We were in the meeting with the grassroots, with the people from the neighborhood when we approached changing the name of the park. And with all due respect, Facebook is one thing, but being there with the people is another. I would like to put forward Si Se Puede Park because it not only embodies the spirit of the farm workers movement and the Latinx community, neighborhood that the park would serve, it is an ethos that reminds us that we can make a difference, that we can stand together, that we can be part of a community, that we can work in harmony towards a greater good, and we can be there for our family, our friends, our neighbors. and in an environment where we see a lot of division and disparity, let this park serve as a reminder to us, to the neighborhoods, and to the families it deserves that, yes, we can move forward. So without further ado, we recommend or I recommend Cissé Pueblo Park. Thank you.

You're welcome. Next is Shannon Stevens.

Hi. Thank you, Mayor Zwelen and City Council. So I just want to, I'm also on the Culture Commission, sorry. And I would like to just open by saying that we name our parks for a reason. We do that to show pride in our neighborhoods and also to honor those who make a difference in our communities. And I think that's an important thing that we do as cities, as communities. Si Se Puede is the name that I want to talk to you about. That did come up from the ground at that initial meeting. And then the folks in that community had a meeting and put forth lots of names. As Jeremy told you, that was number two. So the reason that I am supporting this name is that it is in line with the original intent of the women's group who named the park after C.J. Chavez, but they did that to recognize the incredible sacrifice of the United Farm Workers, the marchers, their political activism. That name allows us to continue to recognize our Latinx brothers and sisters, our neighbors, as well as the activism that changed the lives of farmworkers forever. And it does so much more. It is a phrase that uplifts, that encourages us to face myriad challenges, that reminds us that we are stronger together. Finally, and this is less heavy than the other things that I've been talking about, but I just can't help smiling at thinking about the summer marketing materials from Parks and Rec with Si Se Puede. I can do anything. I can bike, I can swim, I can play. Together, we can accomplish anything. And I think that is a really powerful statement for the city of Modesto to put forward, to put a... something that was so upsetting to us in March, something so dark, to push that part aside, but remember all of the wonderful positive things that came out of that movement and continue to uplift our city.

Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other members of the public here in person that would like to speak? Welcome.

Hi, my name is Raleigh Valenzuela. I'm Chair of Culture Commission. Good evening, Council. Good evening, Mayor. I wanted to let you know and also thank you to everyone who engaged in public comment and interacted with us. We as a Council set out with a goal not to advocate for any particular name, but to make sure that people had a chance to engage with the renaming. So I just wanted to make that clear. We didn't go in with an agenda. We looked at public input. We looked at historical context or information. And then the community that was immediately around there. So that was how we came to those three names was it was informed. And that was our job to you to give you that historical context. And with that said, we do have the three names. And you've heard from the two names. Si Se Puede possibilities. There was the farm worker park discussed briefly. And then just to round it out so that it is fair, prior to Cesar Chavez Park, it was Westside or 4th Street Park. That's what the community around their neighborhood, that's what they call it. And so That is just context for the historical significance for the site and the community in Modesto. I just want to put that forward to you. So I know that naming is, we don't want to keep renaming and redoing. It's hard on our city and hard on our citizens, but this is actually a return to our history from the original, the women who created the park and its locale. That was the thought behind that. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Yes, please come forward.

Hi, good afternoon. My name, Mayor, members of the City Council. I was here for the last item, but since this topic did come up, I want to just reiterate that the renaming of Cesar Chavez Park is very important. just for historical context and based, I don't know what the planning commission has come up, but the Mexican-American community, not the Latinx community, has said that, you know, it's better to honor the farm workers because this movement was a movement and it doesn't, it shouldn't, one person should not, you know, This shouldn't be about one person, I'm sorry. And I feel like people like my grandfather and many other people in Modesto who have worked hard in the agricultural fields of Stanislaus County should be honored with that part. But I feel like at the end of the day, if the residents of that neighborhood and district want to go back to the 4th Street, naming of the park, it'll be better. So that's just my opinion. But I'm sure whatever name you guys come up with will definitely rewrite the rights of history and rename moving forward. People could embrace this park in a new light. So thank you.

Thank you. Any other members of the public that would like

So I also followed this on social media quite extensively and the basic rationale for renaming it Fourth Street Park among almost all of the social media posts that I saw was that that's what it used to be called. So we need to go back to that. Well, I don't think that's enough of a rationale for going back to that name, Fourth Street Park. I mean, originally The park was named the Cesar E. Chavez Park in honor of the farm workers and the farm workers movement. And then because of allegations that were made about Mr. Chavez after he passed away, years after he passed away, the proposal was made to change the name. But I don't think that justifies taking away the honoring of the farm workers. And so I think that the Si Se Puede name honors the farm workers and also the cultural diversity that it represents. And so I would recommend choosing that name and it'll add a sense of culture to Modesto and people will say, well, why is it named that? And then there will be a story behind it, just like when people say, well, how did Modesto get its name? And then people tell that story. And so it'll be something that will forever be something for which people are telling the story. And then the story and the legend will move on. The legend of the farm workers and the contributions they made and the sacrifices they made. That will continue that story for generations. And I think that's much more of a better rationale for changing the name to that than, well, let's just rename it Fourth Street Park because that's what it used to be. I think that's a very poor rationale for renaming it. So I suggest that we rename it the CC Puede Park. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other members of the public regarding this item? Item 23. All right. Councilmember Scudia Brayton, is there anyone in your location who would like to speak on this item?

No, there is not, Mayor.

All right. Thank you. I will close public comments. Are there any comments from council members? Council Member Alvarez. Thank you, Mayor.

First, I want to preface my statement by acknowledging, you know, the farmworker history, farmworker contributions to not only District 2, but Modesto, California, American Society, and I mean, my grandpa, my grandfather immigrated from Mexico in the 60s. Before that, he was working as a migrant farm worker throughout the Central Valley. They settled in the west side of Modesto around 1969. Been here ever since. I think it's important to highlight that and to not forget roots, but I'm Mexican-American. I haven't spent a day in the fields working. It doesn't take away from my history, my family's history, my roots. So I want to pay respect to that. I think oftentimes you get the advocacy coalitions advocating for farm workers, And that's respectable. I mean, a lot of, probably even our city attorney has a background in that too. I mean, we've all been acclimated and ingrained into American society. And oftentimes we carry those memories, we carry that pride in all of our work. But I think the larger ethos of District 2 is more aligned around 4th Street Park. Even if you name it Dinosaur Park, fourth street park is not what it was it's what it is people still call it that regardless of cesar chavez regardless of whatever name you want to put there colloquially is known as fourth street park so i want to acknowledge and appreciate the city's approach in handling this process and the city acted swiftly and deliberately by convening a special culture commission meeting as was mentioned followed by a community workshop in partnership with the west modesto community collaborative And we had an open public input process and period. And that effort, along with the formal solicitation of community feedback, reflects a commitment to transparency and to ensuring residents had a meaningful voice in this decision. The Culture Commission ultimately narrowed down, as was mentioned again, to three names, Four Street Park, Chesapeake Park, Farmworker Park, each reflecting a different dimension of our community's history and values. After reviewing the input and reflecting on what best aligns with community identity and continuity, I support the name of 4th Street Park. I grew up boxing there at the Maddox Youth Center when I was like 7 to 13. I call it Maddox. I don't even call it park. I call it Maddox. That's what I personally know it as. And my reasoning is simple. This is the name the community has already used for generations. Long before the park was renamed in the early 2000s, residents referred to it informally as 4th Street Park. So restoring that name does not erase history. It grounds the space in a geographically neutral, locally rooted identity that belongs to everyone, regardless of perspective or background. I don't just represent District 2 as a Latino district. I represent District 2 African Americans that live there. We had the NAACP here today. Cambodian folks that live there. Caucasian-American people that live there. Latinos, first generation, second generation, third generation like me, fourth generation, Mexican-Americans, not just Latinx or whatever term. While I respect the significance behind the CSIP Weather Park and Farmworker Park, I believe Fourth Street Park best reflects the true ethos and practicality of how this space is known. And it offers a stable, inclusive reference point moving forward. So I'm in support of 4th Street Park, but I also want to take this moment to thank staff, the Culture Commission, and all the residents who participated in this process. This has not been easy, but the structured public engagement demonstrates a strong model for how the city of Modesto moves forward together as a community. And I also want to highlight what my colleague, Councilmember Rickey, explained earlier about the overwhelming support for 4th Street Park on social media. Social media is the new public square. A lot of those folks that attended the Culture Commission, I thank them for taking the time out of their day to participate in that in-person process. I mean it's the people have spoken and I think we're trying to dance around it but the reality is people call it 4th Street Park and you can have a small group of folks who know how to have communications tactics and strategies overwhelmingly perform overwhelmingly louder than 12,000 silent people or people who don't have a platform and I think The organization behind the other two names, it's valid. But I think that was a coordinated, organized effort from a coalition that meant well, but that doesn't take away from the reality that the true ethos of the larger community has known it, knows it, and likely will continue calling it 4th Street Park regardless of what we name it today. So I'm in support of 4th Street Park, Mayor. I appreciate my time. Thank you.

You're welcome. Councilmember Escudia-Brayton. Thank you, Mayor.

I'm just really appreciative and very impressed by the tremendous amount of public participation that this process had. People didn't have to participate, but they did. And they spoke their voice. And through any means, whether it was social media or in person, they took their time away to express their opinion. And that is wonderful because that's what this process should be about. I personally really do like all three names. I identify with all three names very, very much. grew up and was able to go to college because of the revenue brought in for my farmworking family. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have had that opportunity. So that really draws, comes home to me and gives me a sense of connection. I really like the simplicity, the practicality and the inclusiveness of Fourth Street Park. I do add, as has been mentioned, it has been called Fourth Street Park before. I like the simplicity of that. So for that, I do also like Fourth Street Park. But si se puede, at a time right now when our country and our community is so divided and there's so much political unrest and hatred and misunderstanding, how nice would it be to have a sign, a park, a space where everyone feels that goodness is possible, where all is possible, que si se puede. And I think having that name, having that sign, having that name, every child that goes by, whether they know English or Spanish, know that the meaning behind Sisa Puede and feel a sense of inspiration that all is possible. We need to be uplifted right now and to have a name that symbolizes that I think works and we need to feel that everything's possible. We need to feel that things can happen, that the future is bright and I think Sisa Puede in those exact words, do just that. And it puts us in a more positive place. So I will be supporting si se puede.

All right. Vice Mayor Williams. Thank you, Mayor.

And I want to thank my colleagues for all of their comments. I also want to thank the Culture Commission for being here throughout the entire council meeting today. And it was a little longer. However, thank you for being here. Thank you for navigating and working through trying to work with the community to come up with a name. I also wanted to thank those names that were mentioned, Farm Workers Park, Cissé Prete Park. But in 1980, I moved to the city of Modesto, and I live right across the street from 4th Street Park. And 4th Street Park has been a strength for me. It has been a foundation for me. It's just not a number of a name of a park. It built me. And not only did it build me, being in that area for 20 years, before moving in 1998 to North Modesto, it not only built me, but it built the Alvarez family. It built people, it built not just Hispanic, but there were African Americans there, there were Caucasians there, there were people from all, all nations there, Cambodians that were there when they lived off of Paradise in the 80s. And they took that whole particular apartment complex, but we would always go after school to the Maddox Youth Center, the Youth Center. Why? Because there was a man there who worked for the city of Modesto named Bruce Lockhart who made a difference in our lives. We stand here, we sit here, as grown men, and not just grown men, but I would say in my own right, successful men, both of us, because we came from a place that we called 4th Street Park. There were all kinds of venues there. We had celebrations, barbecues, car shows. It was the mecca for West Modesto. It's not just a number of a street. It is Four Street Park. Memories go back many, many, many years. I took my children there when I lived in West Modesto on Robinson Road when I had a family because I wanted them to get the same experience that this was a safe place. This was a safe haven. This was a place where you can come and there wouldn't be any beef. There wouldn't be any issues because it was the Four Street Park. That's my whole feeling about the matter. As you can tell, I'm a little passionate about it. And I appreciate, again, the Culture Commission coming up and working with community. But all of my old friends that grew up and went to Modesto High School, they have so many memories of 4th Street Park. That's why 85% of the people, Chris, colleague Chris Rickey, wanted to go back to 4th Street Park. It wasn't just going to 4th Street Park because it was something that sounded good. It meant something and means something to me to this very moment. It's 4th Street Park for a reason. And a lot of the dynamics that took place there, like I said, propelled me, helped me, strengthened me, and made me into who I am today because of a place that I can call a safe haven, and that was Forest Street Park. And I'll end with this comment. The comment also, leaving that community, I never left that community. Anytime there was anything that would take place in that community, whether it was salsa dancing, whether it was It was Laura with the dancers, her mariachi dancers. We would go back to that because you can still feel that place of community, that sense of community, and that feeling of community because that is what 4th Street's all about. It's just not a street name. It is embedded in my heart and will always be. My vote will be for 4th Street Park tonight. Thank you, Mary.

All right. Councilmember Rickey.

Thanks, Mayor. I do agree with Council Member Williams and Council Member Alvarez here. I did not grow up in that neighborhood. But as a representative, it's my job to listen to the people who do live there and the people that have lived there. And the amount of passion and just love that people have for the memory of calling that place Fourth Street Park is why we're here. And so I think we as a council have a responsibility to listen to the people who that park is part of who they are. That is part of their identity. It's part of their neighborhood. And so I'm going to be supporting Fourth Street Park.

All right. Thank you. Council Member Bavaro.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor. I as well, like Councilman Rickey, was not raised on the west side and had really no involvement with the park. But I will support the naming of Fourth Street Park because the councilman who represents that district supports it and I will back him on that decision and also Councilman Williams who was raised there supports it and out of respect to his desires I will be supporting that. Thank you, Mayor.

All right. Thank you. Any other comments at this time? Seeing none, my comment is to begin with is to thank the committee. This is our culture commission. When you signed up to be on the commission and applied, I doubt that you ever imagined that this situation would present itself, but it did. rose to the occasion and immediately went to work to help the process go so well in the city of Modesto. And for that, I am really grateful for each one of you. I love all three names. This is really a very difficult situation for me because I see benefit and certainly value for all the people that are represented and for those of us that relate to each of the names in various ways. I know that my father that was born in 1925 and went when he was born to 1926, excuse me, to Merced Avenue and lived right down the street from the park and his entire life spoke so fondly of the neighborhood and the area that he grew up in and was so proud of the area. So I have a very soft spot in my heart for the area and for the park. also know that the work that is being done in the park currently in 2026 i firmly believe is going to make the park a destination for residents in our community. And it is going to revitalize West Modesto. And that, along with, as we can see, the improvements at Modesto High School, the improvements in the area with road work and construction and underground work and sewer and water and all these amenities that are being brought to the area, and eventually with the old municipal golf course. as well i see this as a destination area so for me it is it's much much much more than um just the park although i'm so excited to see everyone enjoy those water features I will support the name, when all is said and done, of Fourth Street Park because I think that that is what will attract people to the area. We won't have to explain where the park is. With these incredible water features, they will know where it is with the name. It's very simple, but it will help tremendously with getting our residents to the park and knowing where these incredible water aquatic opportunities are for the children and skateboarders and people, we resume boxing and all the various things that are going to be there. It's gonna be an incredible destination. So that's what I will also support. So do we have more comments from Council Member Bavaro? No? No comments? All right. All right, so for item 23, I need a motion for a resolution approving the renaming of the Cesar E. Chavez Park located at 615 Sierra Drive to whoever makes the motion.

Motion, Mayor. Second. Fourth Street Park.

All right, motion by Councilmember Alvarez to Fourth Street Park.

Yes.

And we have a second. by Vice Mayor Williams, and will the clerk please call the roll for this item?

Council Member Rickey? Aye. Council Member Bavaro? Aye. Vice Mayor Williams? Aye. Council Member Wright?

No.

Council Member Escutia-Brayton?

Aye.

Council Member Alvarez? Aye. And Mayor Zwollin?

Aye. It carries 6-1. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next is item 24. Consider providing direction regarding the potential extension of the letter of intent with the United Soccer League LLC and the construction of a downtown soccer stadium and ancillary development. And we will have a staff report.

Great. Thank you, Mayor, City Council, Jessica Hill, Director of Community and Economic Development. So for a little bit of backgrounds, the council did hold a special workshop in August of 2025, and at that time they directed staff to look at a couple different options. They wanted staff to look at the downtown site north for a stadium and practice fields at the municipal golf course. They instructed staff to analyze the fiscal feasibility of both sites and bring back additional information for future consideration. So since that period of time, there has been some transitions with the USL. So the USL model has changed. The USL, in their changing of their model, now will not be the master developer.

Excuse me. Oh, excuse me. I'm sorry. We need to excuse Vice Mayor Williams at this time for item 24. Would the city attorney like to make a comment? OK. All right.

Okay, so since the August special workshop that was held, there has been some transitions with the USL. USL was previously willing to be master developers in jurisdictions that were looking to have a USL team. And that model has now changed. Justin Papadakis has left the USL organization and they've really changed their real estate expansion strategy away from real estate expansion and more just to the traditional franchise model. The USL will consider additional locations and franchises once an owner is identified. And so with the addition of private equity actually coming in with the USL, again, shifting away from local jurisdictions to actually identify an owner and approach the USL to have a future team. And the USL will help with owner conversations. The owner still should be local and previously in their prior model, the USL would act and take lead as an owner and a backstop if this wasn't identified on the front end. Due to the changes that they had, this is no longer an option. The local jurisdiction would have to identify an owner on the front end prior to approaching the USL. So for part of the analysis, the city brought on Cosmont companies in February to help determine the feasibility of activating both downtown and the municipal golf course. As part of this work, Cosmont reviewed prior studies and examined the stadium size location and the probability of the adjacent development. They also worked out and developed preliminary performance to assess the financial feasibility of different build-out scenarios for the stadium and how much each scenario could support. So as part of their initial findings, the current real estate market does not appear to support many of the land use elements that were previously contemplated as part of the development of the stadium and the ancillary development downtown and the golf course sites. So some key things they noticed was multifamily residential with structured parking was not seen as a supportable in the current market. However, viable residential product appears to be more of the three story garden walk up with surface parking. OFFICE RETAIL AND OTHER USES DON'T APPEAR TO HELP DRIVE THE RESIDUAL LAND VALUES, BUT THERE IS A MARKET FOR THOSE. AND WHAT THEY ALSO RECOMMENDED, IT MAY BE BENEFICIAL TO LIMIT THE ANCILLARY LAND USES IN THE STADIUM DEVELOPMENT AND FOCUS ONLY ON THE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS. SO WITH THE REDUCED FOOTPRINT, COSMON ESTIMATED COSTS TO BE ABOUT 95 MILLION TO BUILD THE STADIUM, AND THAT WOULD BE 90 MILLION STADIUM COSTS AND 5 MILLION IN LAND ACQUISITION COSTS. Then what they did is they took and estimated how much funding could be generated from the stadium and the municipal golf course. And they looked at stadium event activity, the mixed use development, the housing retail and office, and the hotel generated activity for the stadiums and visitors. They estimated the potential revenue that could be generated is approximately $51.6 million, which would be $30 million from the downtown stadium proceeds and 21.6 from the municipal golf course. What it does result in is in a 43.4 million funding gap. However, there may be more opportunities for development at the municipal golf course site that provides more community amenities that are desirable at this location. so here's kind of the overall picture of this again taking into account the total potential cost of 95 million showing that we could potentially generate revenue of 51.6 million but really showing that gap of 43.4 million that the city would have to identify private funding to help support that So some of the conclusions of it is the current market conditions don't support many of the broader mixed use elements as we previously anticipated for the stadium surrounding development. The city would have to dedicate 100% of revenues to pay for the development of the stadium. So we were anticipating all the funding that would be generated by the new development and by the stadium itself would have to be dedicated for the ongoing debt service. If the development did not occur as anticipated, the city would have to cover the gap for the debt service and most likely with the general fund. Private funding would be needed in the amount of 43.4 million to fund the full cost of the stadium. And then lastly, regardless of the council decision tonight regarding the USL partnership and potential stadium, the municipal golf course would still be redeveloped to create much needed amenities for the area and produce additional revenue for the city. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Council Member Bavaro.

Thank you, Mayor. At our public workshop in March of 25, wasn't the cost estimated around $125 million? That is correct. So with the tariffs and the cost of labor and all, how did they come up with... you know, $90 million, so much less than what was originally projected.

Yeah, when we originally look at the $125 million stadium, it was encompassing a much larger stadium with a much larger footprint in our downtown, we wanted to really encompass a smaller footprint, which would not need as much land acquisition. And so that's kind of where the assumptions were based off of.

Okay, thank you. Thanks.

Right. Any other questions?

Oh, one more question, thank you. That $43.4 million funding gap, should the council move forward, and that actually would be the gap number, where would revenues come to offset that deficit?

We would be looking to different private sources in order to help fill that gap.

Would we then be also looking at general fund?

If the private sources weren't obtained, it would be the responsibility of the general fund, correct?

Thank you.

What is the result if we choose not to renew the letter of intent? What would be the result with the USL?

In our conversations with the USL, this certainly doesn't close the door. They're open to still having conversations about it should private funding become available, an owner comes forward with additional cash as well. They indicated that we're still open to have conversations should that come to fruition, and we will always take their call if they're wanting to have that conversation.

All right, thank you. Any other questions from council regarding item 24? Council member Scooby Brayton, is there anyone at your location who would like, oh, excuse me, that's public comment, sorry. Questions, do you have questions?

There's no one in my location that has any questions.

All right, do you have questions? Sorry, we're still on questions from council.

Okay. Thank you. So I will open this up to the public.

Are there any members of the public that would like to come forward regarding item 24? And I have one blue speaker card. Alexis Chavez. Welcome.

Good afternoon, mayor and members of the city council. My name is Alexis Chavez. And my only I had prepared a speech for you guys. But, you know, before coming to city council meetings, I recommend the public to do your research and find out about context. And thank you to council member Chris Ricky for informing me. So I changed my mind on my opinion. So whatever you guys decide and see the the best interests of the constituents and the taxpayers, I'm all supportive of you guys. So thank you and have a good night.

Thank you. Any other members of the public regarding this item?

So, Mayor, I'd like to know from Jessica, how much smaller of a stadium are we talking about? I mean, in terms of seating capacity, what was the seating capacity of the original one, the larger one, as compared to what it will be for the smaller one? And also the parking capacity in the parking lot. Will a smaller stadium meet the needs of all of the people who are going to be coming from other cities to watch these games? Will it meet all of their needs, their seating needs, their parking needs, and so forth? Or are we going to fall short with the smaller stadium? Thank you.

All right. Thank you.

Okay, so some of the questions Mr. McLarty had was really what the assumptions were of the prior stadium versus the current stadium. The current one is what we were looking at was 8500 people. One of the key things that we looked at with the stadium is the same also included a lot of ancillary development around it. So it included having the convention center within it, the parking garage connected, and those items were removed. So in regards to parking, parking was not part of the overall costs that were anticipated in this $95 million cost versus the $125 million cost. And I believe that was all his questions.

Seating capacity of the smallest stadium.

It would be 8,500. So the seating capacity was staying the same. It was actually kind of the layers of the stadium itself was encompassing more uses versus what we were looking out to having more ancillary use around the downtown as well.

Thank you. Any members of the public?

Good evening again, Madam Mayor, Emerson Drake. You know, I hate to speak out for fear of jinxing it, I'll be honest with you. I should go opposite of what I want you to do. But it seems to me pretty cut and dried. There's a massive funding shortfall. We could play Red Lion again and we'll not go bankrupt and put our money behind it. And then the city, well, I won't suggest they'll go bankrupt, but we don't have that kind of money. You've got the shortfall coming up already. We know that this isn't gonna work, it's too bad. This company that did their prospectus, if you will, they wanted to sell it to us. They made it sound good. The financial situation and the numbers just aren't there. I'm trying to find a nice way to, you have to be crazy to go for it. It just doesn't work. I don't know how you can pretend that it might. I've got a concern, quite honestly, I'm wondering if, I don't see a reason to continue it. If they come and knock on our door again, we'll open up and have a conversation. But to leave it hanging, does that stop us or preclude us from doing something else with that land? I mean, one of your own nonprofits is just dying to put another hotel in there. That's the first thing he did when he established it. Oh, we need a hotel there. I don't believe in that either, but it would have been nice. It truly doesn't make financial sense. And if you're looking to invest your money, I've got a prospectus for you if you go along with this program.

Thank you very much.

You're welcome. Anyone else that would like to speak on this item? All right. Councilmember Scooby Brayton, is there anyone at your location who would like to speak?

Not at this time, Mayor.

Thank you. Thank you. Excuse me. I will close public comments. Are there any comments from council members? Council Member Bavaro.

Thank you, Mayor. During a public workshop in March 2025, I said to the USL representatives, this is a council that works well together and is focused on getting projects like this done. Today, in my opinion, this council still works well together and is focused on getting projects in our city done. And under the direction of the city council, city management worked with the USL to get this project done, but discussions changed. And they changed since a year ago. The financial due diligence just doesn't add up. The calculus was potentially putting the city in such a risk that general fund monies may be necessary to offset the debt. And I know that this council would find using general fund dollars unacceptable. Another huge change or game changer was USL changed their focus away from land development and the discussion of USL getting a soccer team owner changed to where now it is the responsibility of the city of Modesto to recruit. A year ago this was a great discussion and it was worth the city to explore. and look into it today. There are so many changes in our discussions and the models that we talked about are just not gonna add up financially. And so I will be opposing any further discussions at this time on building the stadium, soccer stadium. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Council Member Scooby-Brayton. Thank you, Mayor. Sadly, this project has changed quite a bit since it was first introduced to us. It's not the same anymore. So I do appreciate the fact that we have all along maintained transparency and kept an open dialogue with our community, informing them with as much data that we had on the subject. took a lot of their information in, made decisions as we went along with the information we had before us. I like that we still maintain a good relationship with the USL. But currently at this time, because of all those reasons, I feel that it's not prudent for us to move forward. And I do feel that at this time, at least, we should hold off on building a stadium. You know, it just makes no sense to invest into something that's going to incur generational debt. And why would we do that to our children, to our families? So again, for those reasons, I won't support moving forward with this. Thank you.

You're welcome. Council Member Rickey.

Thanks, Mayor. I also agree with Council Members Escutia-Brayton and Council Member Bavaro. When we started talking with USL, there was one set of parameters. With their recent ownership changes, there appears to be a new set of parameters. And I've always advocated for if we're going to go forward with this, it needs to be a good deal. I want to thank Cosmont for their hard work on this. The data that you gave us is helping us make a good decision here. not incurring that generational debt is an important priority for me. I've got kids here. I don't want them to have to pay for something that's a bad deal. It just doesn't make sense. So I'm not going to be supporting continuing this for now. If USL has another ownership change in the future or a new strategy to give us a deal that makes sense for our community, then we can talk again at that point. Thank you, Mayor.

You're welcome. Any other comments from council members? Council member Alvarez.

Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I just, I recall a recent survey basically that the Modesto residents revealed that, a recent survey revealed that Modesto residents don't view a downtown stadium as priority. So with that being said, I believe we must remain focused on projects that have already been identified as a priority. One such opportunity is the redevelopment of the municipal golf course. That project has the potential to generate economic activity, improve a valuable city asset, and provide benefits to residents and visitors alike. So I would like to see that effort receive the attention and prioritization that it deserves as we evaluate future investments. Ultimately, my position is straightforward. I support exploring opportunities that grow Modesto, but I will continue to insist on fiscal responsibility, meaningful private sector participation, and protecting taxpayers from assuming an unreasonable financial burden. So with that being said, I oppose continuing negotiations at this time.

All right. Thank you. Any other comments at this time? So would someone be willing to make a motion providing direction regarding the potential extension of the letter of intent with the United Soccer League, LLC, and the construction of a downtown soccer stadium and ancillary development?

I'll make a motion that we do not extend the letter of intent with the USL Soccer League.

All right, so I have a first by Councilmember Wright and second by Councilmember Alvarez. I will just make one brief comment that while I am disappointed in this, I was really looking forward to soccer, both men's and women's, coming to Modesto. I know that we are still open to any opportunities and I want to make sure that that's clearly stated abundantly that if people are interested in bringing soccer here and the numbers work out, that I am certainly open to it. So I have a first motion and a second. Will the clerk please call the roll? Council Member Rickey.

I'm sorry. Can I just get some clarification? Is an I saying we're going with the

And I would be saying that we are going with the motion to not extend the letter of intent with the United Soccer League and the construction of a downtown soccer stadium and ancillary development.

Council Member Bavaro? Aye. Council Member Wright? Aye. Council Member Scudia-Brayton?

Aye.

Council Member Alvarez? Aye. And Mayor Zwollin? Aye.

Carries six zero, well six. Six zero one recused. Six zero one recused. Thank you everyone for being here this evening. Are there any matters too late for the agenda? Seeing none, I am calling this meeting of the City Council to be adjourned.