City Council - Regular Meeting

I think so. He was here all day working on it.

All right, everybody ready?

All right, good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Wednesday, June 3rd City Council meeting for Morgan Hill. We're glad you're joining us this evening. I'd like to call the meeting to order. If we can have the roll call, please.

Mayor Turner.

Here.

Council Members Vega. Here. Liebers. Here. Iwanaga. Here. Martinez Beltran. Here.

We have the declaration of the posting of the agenda.

Tonight's meeting agenda was duly noticed and posted in accordance with Government Code 54954.2. Very good.

Thank you, Michelle. If you'll please join me as we stand for silent invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. Amen. Now for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Please be seated. Okay, we have a recognition tonight. We have some baseball players and some family members here with them. I'm going to come on down and we'll do a recognition. All right. How are you guys doing? All right. We're going to recognize, and when I do this, I will have everybody can come up. In fact, everybody in the room is welcome to come on up with you guys. We're going to have you guys come up with your moms and dads and coaches. And if you want to come up right now, let's do that. And then we can take a photo, but I'd like to, will you get up here and we'll recognize, yeah, the Toros. Let me get in front. You guys are blocking my view. All right. Tonight, we are honored to recognize and congratulate the Morgan Hill Toros 12U baseball team for their strong commitment, teamwork, and passion for the game. This group of young athletes has been playing together since forming as a nine and under team, competing in more than 200 games while building strong friendships and learning the values of discipline, sportsmanship, and perseverance. Under the leadership of managers Steven Smith and coaches David Rodriguez and Jason Scow, the team has continued to grow and achieve success. The Toros will soon travel to New York to compete in the prestigious Cooperstown 12U Tournament beginning July 18th and proudly represent the Morgan Hill community. On behalf of the City Council and the residents of Morgan Hill, we congratulate the team and wish them continued success as they represent the City of Morgan Hill in Cooperstown. Congratulations. Coach, would you like to say a word or two? There you go. You came prepared.

Yes.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Stephen Smith, coach of the Morgan Hill 12-U Toros, alongside David Rodriguez and my other coach, Jason Scow. First off, thank you, Mayor Turner and City Council, for the opportunity to recognize the players and families. It's an honor to join you all tonight. I wanted to quickly share a bit of background on the team, although Mayor Turner kind of shared a little bit about the team. The Toros are now in their eighth season together. The majority formed when they were eight and nine years old. The team is made up from boys from Morgan Hill, Gilroy, and Halster. However, the team falls under the official Morgan Hill Pony Baseball League. Like the mayor said, we've played over 200 games together in towns ranging from Huntington Beach, Fremont, Twin Creeks, Reno, just to name a few. The team prides itself in playing a brand of baseball that includes doing small things the right way, supporting each other, maintaining a positive attitude and approach, while most importantly, enjoying the game. The team will be traveling to New York to play in the prestigious Cooperstown tournament beginning on July 18th, where we'll compete against teams all over the country. Is it okay if I introduce all the players?

Is it okay? All right.

We'll start out in no particular order. Number two, Eddie the Jet Rodriguez. Number seven, Adam AKB Bedell. Number 99, Brock Jimmy Scowl. Number nine, Charlie Carlitos-Huey, host. Number three, Graham Grambino-Smith. Number 28, Jackson, Action Jackson, Ellis. Number 13, Jax, Cruise Missile Cruise. Number 32, JJ Lil Baby O'Neal. Number eight, Ray, Ray Area, Altamirano. Number 32, 27, William William Post. And last but not least, number 10, Xander Zdogg Skrtalski. We look forward to representing our community in New York in July. We're deeply grateful to the city for providing your support for our players and families. Thank you all. We'll get a picture here.

And where's Jackson? I think Jackson had a few words to say. No, I'm joking with you, Jackson. Well, Let's look on your face, man. All right. Very good. Good luck, you guys. You're sweating, man. I was joking with you. You're sweating. All right, you guys. Thanks for coming up here. Thank you so much. All right, we're going to move on with the agenda. And for the team and the parents, you're welcome to stay. You're welcome to go if you'd like. If you stay, we're going to be here probably until 10 o'clock. And I thank you guys. Thank you for being here. Yeah, that's right. Off they go. Okay, very good. Thank you for that. We are now going to get into our city council reports. And this is a three-minute report by Councilmember Iwanaga.

Thank you for that. I have a few things to report on. And let me get my glasses because I am now. I have reached that point where I need to wear glasses. Sorry, I apologize.

It's OK. The time.

I know.

I'll go fast.

I'll go fast. So I did a few things the last couple of weeks. I participated in our sister cities committee this past Thursday, provided updates. It. The emphasis we had tried to get a grant through the sister cities programs. We were really hopeful. We were actually kind of high in the running, but we ended up losing out to another city. So that was disappointing. But, you know, we might get a second chance. I'm hoping for that. The other thing I did was this past weekend on Saturday, I participated in the South County Disaster Airlift. That was actually really, really cool. I didn't even know that we had this program. So we went over to the San Martin Airport. And they talked to me a great deal about how we coordinate with other cities and specifically the airport. So San Luis Obispo Airport, Watsonville, Modesto. And I think that the neatest thing for me was I got to go up in one of those little terrifying small planes. I think if I had known I was going to do that ahead of time, I might have chickened out and not gone. Yeah. It was thrilling. I wanted to say thank you specifically to the director of DART for setting that up, and then also to my pilot. She was wonderful. Pilot Sandy. This morning, I went to the South County Regional Wastewater Authority meeting, and we... got to do a tour of the facility and that was also impressive and amazing and I wish more people could see actually what's going on and all that goes into providing clean recycled water Well, maybe not to Morgan Hill, but definitely to Gilroy. So that was a fun day. My colleague was with me on the tour, and it was amazing the knowledge base that they all have and the amount of detail that they will need to give you. And then I have an upcoming meeting this coming Friday. It's the Upper Yagas Creek Committee. Probably get some updates on where we're at with the project, closing down Hale. Looking forward to that.

Indeed, thank you so much. Now we'll move on to other reports. Anybody else have anything they'd like to report? Council Member Martinez-Beltran? Thank you. One minute report.

Happy Pride. Today we celebrate our 10-year anniversary raising the Pride flag. Tonight I'll focus on the federal 26.5-year report. $20 million ICE facility lease behind the Gilroy outlets for one and a half years of work with the state, including the Attorney General Bonta, county and local leaders to organize our community and region and educate residents on their rights, constitutional rights. We need to support stopping this expansion, in my opinion. The county and Gilroy are taking action, and we should too. Beyond causing severe fear in our immigrant communities, it violates our agricultural lands, has environmental issues. But really, it also threatens Warrington's economic brand of wineries, tourism, sports, to an ICE facility. County Council's fighting this legally, and I'll keep pushing to help protect South County and bring updates. So for my other activities, please see my social media. Thank you.

Very good. Thank you. Anyone else? Now, I've got a couple of updates here. I have was at a VTA subcommittee meeting, went to the Oakwood School graduation, Voices School end of the year celebration that they did, served out at the Mushroom Festival for two days. And we had a mayor for the day student here with us on Monday. And that was a lot of fun. And then I guess came from a laughable meeting earlier today. So that was my activity. And if nothing else, we'll move on to our city manager's report.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council, the community, my teammates that are here. Just a few things for you this evening. The first is that LAFCO, the Local Agency Formation Commission of Santa Clara, is hosting a community workshop. And so that's in conjunction with Valley Water and the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy. So they have embarked on a countywide water and wastewater service review, and they're looking for input on our water and sewer service in our community. And so there is going to be a meeting on June 8th from 6 to 7. And there's different ways to participate in person via workshop, via Zoom, excuse me, more information on their website. In the youth area, our Youth Action Council is hosting its Youth Leadership Morgan Hill. And that begins June 15th. And that is for teens that are age 13 through 18. Great program. It's really the prerequisite to joining YAC. And so we're Registration can be done online. I also wanted to mention that on May 28th, there was another graduation for our Renaissance Business Entrepreneurship Program. And so there were two cohorts, one in English, one in Spanish. It was an inspiring evening, recognizing the hard work, dedication, and entrepreneurial spirit of the residents who completed the 10-week business planning course. There were 35 participants. And also, I just wanted to mention that with Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, we're going to be working with them for at least another year. Upcoming services include two literacy programs, a food entrepreneurship program, a six-week youth summer entrepreneurship series, as well as an access to capital summit. And with that, I conclude my remarks.

Very good. Thank you, Christina. Now for our city attorney's report, Lisa.

Thank you, Mayor. I don't have a report this evening.

Very good. That's the report we like right there. Okay, very good. We'll go to public comment. Michelle?

Sorry, I was getting ahead of you. Armando Benavides.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council members. I sent you an email regarding my comment. I'm requesting that you agendize a policy discussion regarding the need to establish regulations for large-scale industrial developments, including AI data centers, and provide direction to staff. My email provided the additional details. Proactive legislation action is essential. Waiting until a developer submits an application places the city in a reactive position and creates uncertainty for residents, businesses, staff, and investors alike. The council should establish clear policy directions in advance so everyone understands what type of projects are available, are appropriate, where they may be located, and what standard must be met. The recent approval of an AI center in Gilroy demonstrate these projects can emerge and why it is important for elected officials to establish policy directions before a proposal reaches city hall. In fact, the Gilroy City Council is not going to agendize this item for its next meeting to have a discussion on whether it should exercise its legislative authority to establish standards for future large-scale industrial development. That action recognizes that these policy decisions are best made before an application is submitted now while one is pending. The council positions the legislative authority to adopt zoning regulations, development standards, and approval procedures that reflect Morgan Hill's vision for its future. By establishing these standards now, the city can provide certainty to the public, guidance to the staff, and transparency to potential developers. It will send a clear message regarding what Morgan Hill will and will not accept before significant resources are invested in a project. The Council should also ensure that large-scale, high-impact projects will be reviewed by the Planning Commission and approved by the City Council. Large-scale industrial projects have impacts beyond our city's boundaries. Energy consumption, utility infrastructure, transportation networks, and environmental effects can all be regional in nature. For that reason, I encourage the Council to explore coordinating with neighboring jurisdictions, including Gilroy, San Martin, Santa Clara County, and other affected agencies. I respectfully request that the Council agendize this matter like Gilroy will and begin the process to establish clear legislative standards and approval procedures before the first application arrives. Planning ahead is more preferable to making policies under the pressure of pending projects.

Thank you, Armando. I have no other speakers, ma'am.

Very good. Thank you, Armando. We'll close the public comment. And as we move to the adoption of the agenda, just want to make note to the council members, staff has asked that we remove item seven completely from the agenda. Christina, you want to give us a little background on that?

Yeah, absolutely. So we're requesting that we remove item number seven from the agenda. The reimbursement agreement needs to be put on hold based on new information from the future primary tenants and their need for space at that location.

Very good. Thank you. With that, can I get a motion to approve the adoption of the agenda with item seven being removed?

So moved.

We've got a motion and a second. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? There being none, that passes unanimously. Thank you. And now for the consent calendar, if there is no one requesting an item to be pulled. Council Member Martinez-Belfair?

I want to pull 6, 8, 10, and 11, please.

6, 10, and 11? Right. 6, 8. I'm sorry.

6, 8, 10, and 11.

Okay. Do you have comments, or are you looking for presentations?

Yeah, I want to report on them.

Okay, very good. Then with that, if there's no other, I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent calendar minus items 6, 8, 10, and 11.

So moved.

Got a motion.

Second.

And a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? There being none, that passes unanimously. And now we'll go to item 6. Christina?

Yeah, so item number 6 is... the transfer property to Valley Water for flood protection. And so the city of Warren Hill owns approximately just under 9,000 square feet of property that connects to Warren Avenue to West Little Yagas. And so it's been developed by Valley Water and includes the inlet structure for the tunnel. And then so that's part of the Upper Yagas Creek flood protection project. Since Valley Water is going to be operating and maintaining this infrastructure, the city and Valley Water are proposing a transfer. of this property to Valley Water. We'll retain an easement which will allow us to have access to the section of the creek that is still owned by the city.

Very good. Any questions?

Yes, thank you. I wanted to ask, can you tell us on there what, one, I know that the trails are closed over on that side of Vineyard. So how long is that going to be going on? and then i also wanted to ask about the section between cosmo and edmondson what will be happening there and when will that conclude i was also at the voices um their kermesse that they have at the end of the year and just realizing and looking across and not really wanting to understand what is happening sure i'm going to ask chris gioni public services director to come forward

This item that where that property is is kind of far north of the theory you're asking about.

it's yeah there's the one that's just the first one i'm asking about is the trails just north or sorry South South of the vineyard right where the shopping Center is and then there's the Chevron. From there, the trails are closed. So I'm just wondering, is that going to be, how is that going to complete? Will it be in stages or will the whole thing remain closed?

So, and just to be clear, this is for property that's far from there, but the area down there south of around Vineyard and La Crosse, south of, basically south of Edmondson.

Yes.

So they're doing work there right now. They're widening the channel. So it's going to stay closed there potentially till the end of the year. What they have to do right now and they're working on and you'll see if you go near just north of Watsonville is they're clearing and widening the channel. So they're clearing dirt out of that whole channel. They have to, they're basically going to be, because it's going to be changing everything there, much of the trail is already gone because they've taken it out. So it's not just closed. It's not there anymore. So they're going to be taking all those out, widening the channel. They have to get the widening of the channel done before October. And then they will come back and start working on the trails in that portion afterwards because it's not restricted on time until the end of the year. So it is happening in stages. I don't have the exact part. They're working their way north from Watsonville on widening the channel. And that's where they're at right now. They're working. Yeah. Okay.

So that's why I'm through summer.

Yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure.

Okay. And then there's the two other segments. There's the one between Edmondson and Cosmo.

Yeah. The same thing's happening there, but they haven't even started. They're working their way north to widen that. Those trails will all be gone and then they'll be put back in all the way to Cialino. Okay. Yeah.

So, and then what happens at the property there that's adjacent to Voices?

They've already completed the roadway work and the widening of the box culvert under it. So that road won't be closed. The road that will be closed is Spring. That's where they need to finish the box culvert. They finished the box under Eads and Cosmo already.

Okay. And that will be a large ravine that will go through for... Yeah.

Okay. Okay.

So is there no way to, you know, as you said, they haven't done anything between Edmondson and Cosmo. Is there any way to like stage it so that we have during summer, we have some of that open?

No, they're going to be, in the next couple of months, they're going to be, it's going to be torn down. There's no way. They've given up control of the property to the contractor so they can't have people going in and out.

Okay. All right. Those are my questions. Thank you.

Very good. Any other questions? None. We'll open public comment. Any public comment on this item?

No, Mayor.

We'll close the public comment. And without any further discussion, I'll entertain a motion to approve item six.

Move to approve.

I have a motion.

Second.

And a second. All in favor?

Aye.

Aye. Any opposed? Anybody opposed? There being none, that passes unanimously. Item eight. Christina?

Yes. Item number eight is to award a tow agreement with Dix Community Towing and Transport, and this is for police-generated tow services. And so the contract that we currently have expires on June 30th, and so the city put out a request for proposals, or an RFP, and the proposed term of the new service agreement is five years and would start July 1st and end on June 30th of 2031. with an option to extend an additional two years. The police department issued the request for proposal in February of this year, and we had one tow company submit a proposal, attend the pre-proposal conference, and the Stout report outlines the rate structure of the different tow charges and provides detailed information. So we are recommending that the council approve the tow agreement with Dix Community Towing and Transport.

Questions.

Please. Thank you. So first question is, there was only one contract in this. Is there when we have that, do we as the city reach out and try and get another bid so that we can have some type of competition?

Yeah. So when we issue a RFP, we're putting it out there broadly. And then it's just a process of whoever, you know, goes and submits the proposal. And in this case, just one, you know, you see other projects that come to council and services where it's many more. So it really just depends on what the service or what the project is.

And were we using Dick's prior?

Yes, I believe so. And we have used other towing companies in the past. And any other any others in the recent past?

And the last tow contract was with Dixit Community Towing. Prior to that, we had California Tow as well as Broncos Towing.

Okay. And did we reach out to either of those?

Well, California Tow is no longer in business and Broncos was given notice that we would be posting the RFP.

Okay. All right. And then I wanted to also ask, when it's talking about the holding overnight, could you tell me, Captain, a little bit about, you know, there's holding and then there's the holding overnight and there's these fees. Can you talk about that? Like, what usually do you see? How long is it being held? What is the average cost when that's coming out?

So it all depends as to when the vehicle is towed and then when an individual can come and get the vehicle released for their vehicle. But there are other dynamics that come involved. So if it's a vehicle that's expired, we can't release the vehicle from the police department side. They have to go to DMV, get a moving permit, or get the registration current before we can release the vehicle. So those... uh it's dependent on a lot of circumstances so it's hard to say just for one to answer the question directly that way um on average they stay in the impound probably for a day or two for the registered owner to come get them um if anything stays over that the tow company can place a lien on the car if they mix the 30-day mark

Okay. Let's say there's no violations, there's no citations or issues with the car, and it's impounded. Is there an option through Dick's Towing or in the past with any provider that we've had where if somebody can't get their car out immediately because of financial reasons, there's some type of a payment plan they have or something?

We do not. That's not with us. That's something they would have to work out with Dick's Towing.

Okay, so that's not in our fees contract or anything. Okay. And then before when we were with Rocko's Toying, were the fees the same? I saw that there was a small increase. Is that from Dick's? Is that comparatively? What is that?

So the increase is just based on the escalator over time from when we originally had our tow agreements. The tow fee that currently is set up is agreed upon tow fee that is set by community tow along with... From my understanding, talking with Kimmy, it includes Broncos, it includes Marks, because CHP, they have to get the approval for CHP. So what we would like to now do is have the rates approved by the California Highway Patrol, because they have a strict policy as to how the rates are set. And that will ensure that it's a fair, equitable fee structure across the board.

Okay. So this should be, whether it's highway patrol or us or sheriffs, they should be paying the same type of a fee.

Correct.

Okay. Thank you very much.

Any other questions? We'll open public comment. Any public comment?

No, Mayor.

We'll close the public comment. And without any further discussion, entertain a motion to approve item eight.

Move to approve.

A motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Item 10. Christina?

Yes. Item 10 is to award a street lighting and traffic signal maintenance service agreement to Cal West Lighting and Signal Maintenance. The total of this contract is not to exceed of a million over an initial two-year term. And so the different work will include street lighting and traffic signal maintenance, That includes street lighting, parking lot lighting, traffic signal, bulb replacements, equipment troubleshooting, emergency response services, as well as consultation services. The city did an RFP, which was released on March the 2nd. We received four proposals by the deadline. Three were responsive and they were scored. And Cal West Lighting and Signal rose to the top. And we have been with them for over... 15 years and we've been satisfied with our work. They have 22 years of experience and we're recommending approval of this agreement with Cal West.

Very good questions.

Mary, you can be so disappointed. I can't log into my computer, so I can't access all my questions.

I am disappointed.

Well, from what I remember. Yes. Oh, my goodness. This is so hard. Okay.

Number 10 this is telling it i'm getting flustered this, so this is the lighting contract lighting yeah hiding.

So what I wanted to know was the million I think one of my questions was is the million dollars for maintenance or is that, for what we actually. What what we anticipate to make we anticipate to make changes, or is it for maintenance.

So it's for signal maintenance, and then I did that list of all the different things that are covered under there. But once again, it's a not-to-exceed amount, and it's a million over the initial two-year term.

So I guess then I want to know, what did we spend in maintenance last year and the year before that?

Chris Chione, do you have that handy? If not, maybe, Dad?

I don't have the exact amount that we spent, but I do. You have the number. I mean, so to be clear, we budget far less than the it's half a million a year, right? That it would be because 2 million for two years, we budget typically less than that on the routine and regular maintenance. But this contract has to have a. What you'd say you would not call a contingency, but a higher amount because we don't know what's going to happen because we can have things that are cost recovery show up like significant copper wire theft or people knocking down streetlights. And we don't know how many of those are happen. And oftentimes those are cost recovery. We can get money back for those things either through tax.

our own insurance or people who have caused the problem so this um program typically we we have a higher amount and we don't expect to um use all of the contract I don't know if Carrie you have a total amount how much the exact total amount but I can tell you that we have roughly 140 000 a year budgeted for actual routine maintenance and that's for all the signal lights and the street lights but like Chris said everything above and beyond for is typically cost recovery

okay but you think we're only going to get to half a million yeah we don't think we'll get to the half a million that would be kind of um if there are a lot of unknown things that occur which we have to prepare for because that's what happens in our roadways we can't we can't always control what's going on there um so we would not expect to spend the entire amount each year but it could be something I think we spent tens and tens of thousands of dollars when we had significant copper wire theft that we had to replace, and we have to replace it or else the streetlights won't be working.

Okay. So I guess part of the... And what fund was this from? Is this CIP?

No, this would primarily be funded by the street maintenance fund. I mean, it's in the general fund, which is funded from several sources that contribute to fund street maintenance. It's a general fund expense, but as the council is aware, there's many transfers that support street maintenance overall.

Right so part of the reason why I was interested in looking at this is because, if it is coming from the general fund, then I would like for us, rather than to have that 500,000 cushion like. you know, that could be something we're now not seeing it reflected as part of the general fund. And I think that's really my main.

Yeah. So, so the whole $500,000 isn't budgeted in there directly like that because we have funds that we would use on cost recovery if it, if it comes out. So we are budgeting what we expect in that area. And, but like the contract is an as needed contract. So we aren't, We wouldn't spend the money unless it was needed. And if we can code things to other accounts where CalWest can support lighting and things like that, we would. And they often do when we, for example, it wouldn't be in street maintenance, but they would help repair a... Lights at the baseball fields. Cause they're the ones who can get stuff up there and go that. So, so it's, we use them in other areas. I'm going to be coded in other areas besides just street maintenance, but overall that's the primary primary area.

Okay. So it sounds like you wouldn't be willing to put some of that, take some of that off of that $1 million budget. I mean, that's what I would love to see, you know, some of that saved. Otherwise, it's just like living in our head that that $500,000 is... Is there additional?

So if you reduce the contract amount, if you reduce the contract amount and say you reduced it to only what we think we're going to spend, and then we have a major copper wire theft that we might be able to get money back for or will get money back for, or someone knocks down a traffic signal that we're going to charge their insurance for, that's going to happen. And then we're not going to have enough money to pay them to fix it. And we will have something that's down for a significant amount of time. So we have to... The contract doesn't always equate to us spending those dollars. And in this case, it doesn't unless something's happened and is needed.

Okay.

I mean, we can go a different direction, but we would not be prepared to respond to those emergencies that are required for us to respond to.

Okay, maybe come back to that but Okay, and the other thing is this won't be used i've talked a lot about butterfield being a highway and we there's been you know we can we've done in the past we've done. Looking at how we change the lighting or maintain that increasing that the time so that people can travel faster and more. we've seen lots of accidents there. So I want to make sure that it's also not going contributing to that.

So the coordination of the lights would be primarily coordinated through our engineering staff and potentially contract traffic engineer. Cal West would be the people that go out and program it, but they're not adjusting the programming without working directly with our engineering staff or our engineering staff and contract staff to do that. But again,

Which isn't included in this, anticipating that.

Doing that specific project is not, but programming of signals is something they do. They're the experts at going in and doing the programming.

Okay, great. Thank you.

Okay.

Other questions? We'll open public comment. Any public comment?

No, Mayor.

We'll close public comment. And without further ado, I'll entertain a motion to approve item 10.

So moved.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Being done, that passes unanimously. And now for item 11, Christina.

Yes, this is the monthly budget update. And so this represents the April 2026 financial investment reports. And so basically 83% of the fiscal year is captured in these reports. And so the high level summary is that there's no material change since the last budget update to the council on May 6th. And so we'd be happy to answer any specific questions on the report.

Questions? Yeah, I apologize. I'll just take this to the budget discussion. Okay.

Oh, very good. Okay, very good. Well, we'll need to have a motion to approve. Move to approve. I would open public comment. Oh, I'm sorry. Public comment?

No.

And we'll close public comment and entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

We got a motion. Second. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? There being none, that passes unanimously. And we'll now move to other business item 12. Christina?

Yes, item 12 is receiving a report on our vacancies recruitment and retention efforts and human resources director Michael Horta is coming forward and it's going to provide a report on this item. And while we're pulling up the PowerPoint this is something that is required, based on government code section 3502 and this report needs to be presented to the City Council prior to review and adoption of the budget.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Council, my teammates. My name is Michael Orta, and I'm the Human Resource Director for the City of Morgan Hill. And as Christina mentioned, I'm here to report or do the annual report for the vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts for the City of Morgan Hill in accordance with AB 2561. Are you cooperating?

It worked earlier. Is the mouse working?

Yes. Oh, we'll use the mouse again.

Yeah, just click that one.

Yeah.

Okay. So what is AB 2561? This assembly requires that on an annual basis, the public agencies assess and address vacancy rates. My job today is to provide a status of the vacancies at the City of Morgan Hill, the information of the city's recruitment and retention efforts, and the obstacles that the city's policies, procedures, and recruitment activities. Additional obligation would be needed if any of our vacancy rates in the bargaining units exceeded 20%. Fortunately for us, we don't exceed the 20% in any of our bargaining groups today. So with that being said, as a reminder, here is a list of our bargaining units for the city of Morgan Hill. along with our management group. So we have the AFSCME group, Americans, Federation, state and county municipal employees. We also have our community services officers association, our police officers association, and then our management professional and confidential employees. It's important to note that all of these groups were notified prior to today's meeting to invite them if they had any comments or wanted to address the council today or have any questions for me as well. So all of them have been notified about today's presentation. With that, our vacancy rates by bargaining group as of April 30th, 2025. So required to pick a date annually. Last year was April 30th, so we just stayed with the same date for this year. For the asking group, our vacancy rate is 6.32%. CSOA stayed at 0%. Police Officers Association is at 6.67%. The management group's at 5.23%. And overall, the city vacancy rate is 5.57%. So our recruitment and retention efforts, what do we do in recruitment? So this is a brief review. We reviewed this last year and we go through this periodically. But the first thing we do is review job classifications. That includes as a vacancy does come up in the organization, myself, the supervisors, managers, city managers, we review the job classification, see if there's any updates that need to be made, update the job description. If it's a job that needs to be something totally different, we discuss that as well. We also discuss if the position moves forward as it is or is it something that we can hold off for a later date. We streamline our application process. What we've done is we currently, as we always do, have our NeoGov application. application process where candidates apply online we do that we still continue to do zoom interviews when possible so we are encouraging more and more in-person interviews with our candidates but we do know that sometimes it is beneficial at least for our first round interviews to have zoom option especially for those candidates who are maybe traveling out of the area or trying to come in however for our second interviews and our city manager interview we do have them come in person We also, for streamlining application process, for example, for our police department, we have had some vacancies for police officers, and we're trying to get out to bring in more laterals or just more people interested in being a police officer. So what we've done there to streamline those processes is we've... trained an internal recruitment team within our police department that when they go to the academy or to job fairs, they're able to do on-the-spot interviews with candidates that they can interview them on site and then refer them to HR for further background checking or further interviews to see if they'd like to move on. We've created a separate link for that as well, so we know which candidates have been trained met with at those academies, at those job fairs. And then we also still have our police officer general police application that anyone can apply to do that as well. Advertising and outreach. We still continue to do as much outreach as possible. You see it on our social media, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, but above and beyond that, if it is a more difficult to fill position or position that's unique to the city, we do still post on various websites that are related to those jobs or things that may bring a more diverse applicant pool to the city. For as far as competitive wage and benefits, We have done that through the negotiation process. So as you all know, through our MOUs, we try to do some creative things within our bargaining groups to, well, and it also goes into retention to keep people, to bring people to the organization, making sure our wages are still competitive within our county, but also keeping in line with our budgets and our guidelines here. Yeah. As far as retention, again, I mentioned that we try to, again, through the negotiation process, did some things there, but also internally, we still have alternative work schedules available to our teammates. We also try to make sure that we're onboarding all of our teammates from the beginning, doing that with HR one-on-one. We also make sure that they have a good transition into the organization as well. And then creating a positive work environment and quality of life here is one of our number one priorities as an organization. So all of you have seen that. We do both of offices. We try to do team building, whether it's professional and social. So we'll be having, you know, whether it's a barbecue or we have our wow committee who just launched or we just actually just finished our steps challenge through Kaiser Permanente. So if you participated in that, we did a bloom challenge. I'm happy to report that as of the middle, we city of Morgan Hill was number two in the state. We're hoping to be number one. Wow. So our teammates really get involved when it does come to positive reinforcements in the workplace and getting together. And so we're really proud of that. In addition to that, we do still have our health and wellness fairs, our service awards, and all the other events in between. So that's for our recruitment and retention efforts. As far as obstacles... Competition for qualified candidates. I would say that's still not an issue, but it's still something that we all compete against here in our Santa Clara County, really making sure that we're getting top candidates. With competition, it is part of attracting the interest in public sector, right? Making sure people want to come to Morgan Hill, not just working in public sector, but wanting to work for us specifically. So it's what are we offering that other cities don't, even if it's not in salary, is it our work-life balance? Is it those kinds of things? So really making sure we're listening to that and then commitment to public sector. So really making sure we're going out there, building relationships, building opportunities and trust with the organizations. We are going out and combating these things by... We participate in job fairs. We go out and do Rock of the Mock. We just did... a couple of job fairs within the community here with the adult school and then also with the chamber. So we're really trying to make sure we're out there getting people what they need and also having them want to work here. So with that, that's the end of my report. If you have any questions.

Very good.

Thank you for that report.

Any questions by the council? There being none, we'll open it for public comment. Any public comment?

No, Mayor.

There being none, we'll close the public comment. And if there's no further discussion, then I'll entertain a motion to approve item. I'm sorry. I'm going to think I'm on the wrong. This is just to receive. No action. Very good. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate that. Move on to item 13. Christina.

Yes, Kerry Russell is going to be coming forward. This item before you is- Excuse me real quick.

I'm sorry.

I do believe we have a council member who does have a- Yes, I have to recuse myself for this item. So I'll be stepping out.

So this- Down to the audience or does she have to leave the room altogether? Okay, get out of town.

This item is to adopt a resolution ordering annual assessments and related actions for the City of Morgan Hill Landscape Assessment District number one.

Good evening, Mayor, Council Members, Carrie Russell, Maintenance Manager. And as Christina said, here to talk about the Landscape Assessment District and do a open and close a public hearing tonight and also levy the fiscal year 26-27 annual assessments for all 19 districts. There are 19 districts that we maintain assessments. And that usually includes the common areas of the district, which could also include the landscape of the frontage. And then some of the districts also have parks. So we maintain all of that. We are recommending this year to increase five different districts fees. And that includes Bella States, Jackson, Seven, La Crosse, Yagasa, Beta, and Stone Creek, all of which we've met with earlier this year to discuss the fee increase and also get the resident support on that. And with that, that actually concludes my report. So I'm happy to answer any questions.

Very good. Thank you, Carrie. I appreciate that report. Any questions for Carrie? There being none, we'll open public comment. Any public comments on this item? There being none, we'll close the public comment. And if there is no further discussion, I entertain a motion to approve item 13. Got a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? There being none, that passes four, zero with one abstaining, right? Yeah, very good. Okay, thank you, Carrie.

Thank you.

We shouldn't even tell it. We'll just keep them on.

May I recommend a five-minute break?

Yes, we can do a five-minute break. We'll come back here. Let's just call it 6.50. It's a four-minute break.

Yes. Okay.

We're going to call the meeting back to order. We're going to ask our council members to come back to the dais and we're going to move on to item 14. This is the adoption of the, of the budget. So I'm going to turn this over to Christina.

Great. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So this item before you tonight is for the public hearing and the budget adoption for our operating budget for the next two fiscal years and our capital improvement program budget for the next six years. Let's first do a little refresher on our community engagement events. And so back in November, we had budget at Sidewalk Saturdays. And then on December 10th of last year, we did a community engagement meeting where we released the Balancing Act tool. We did a roundtable in March. And then in May, we introduced the recommended budget, followed up by a budget town hall on May 16th, and then our workshop with council and the community on May 20th. In summary, for the budget, the budget is responsive to council's direction to reduce the structural deficit, to conduct a review of budgets across all departments. And we looked at cost containment and operational efficiency efforts through energy savings, strategic hiring controls, reduced operating costs, and deferring non-essential maintenance. Also included in the budget are revenue enhancements, and these include administrative cost recovery as well as fair market facility rental allocations. The structural deficit on average is $3.5 million annually, and the expenditures continue to outpace revenue growth as a theme. And we talked about that extensively at our budget workshop and just the reasons for the increase in expenditures. Public safety remains the highest priority, accounting for 59% of general fund expenditures, and when looking at discretionary spending, 81%. With all of that said, the reserves remain above the policy minimum of 15%, and that's projected through fiscal year 2930. And so this budget presents an opportunity for a phased strategic action for looking at preserving our reserves and avoiding immediate drastic reductions. And so long-term solutions will be required for fiscal sustainability. This next slide captures in numeric order the amounts for the budget. So the big circles are by fiscal year. So the first year of fiscal year 26-27, you can see the $244.2 million. And it's broken out from operations, between operations and capital improvement. And then same for the next fiscal year, $221.4 million. And you can see the operations number there and the capital improvement program number. So included in the budget, some changes in personnel, adjusting the IT director and police captain salary ban, as well as unfunding the principal planner position following the promotion to planning manager. And so one of the steps for the council recommendation is to approve the salary schedules as a result of these modifications. This next chart just summarizes our personnel. And so you can see the change in time of our full-time equivalents as it relates to and as it's compared to our population. And so you can see between fiscal year 25 and 26 and 26, 27, not much of an increase and actually a decrease between years just due to contracting out half a position in that second year. We spent some time at the budget workshop talking about eRAF. Unfortunately, we don't have an update for you. I'm hoping this will get resolved sooner rather than later. But one of the items that is you saw in the recommendations is to allocate an additional $1 million in the event that this does not go in our favor so that we can be fully reserved to the tune of $2 million. This would address the retroactive payments, if required, as well as future revenue reductions. Now, this is consistent with what the county guidance has been to set aside funds for us. This is $2 million in total, and this would help us support long-term fiscal stability. Also included in the budget actions is related to computer replacements. And so these are included in the, we put in replacement purchases in the adopted budget and currently we're required to go to council and specifically have approved purchases. The proposed administrative approval process is to streamline the operations and to streamline agendas by not having those computer replacements that are already included in the budget. This would help us avoid procurement delays that we're seeing and equipment replacement timing. And so rather than bringing forward the specific computer replacements to the council, we would administratively go forward with those if the budget is approved. This would improve the ability to respond to these supply chain constraints and vendor lead times, and it would support the timely replacement of aging and unsupported equipment. We did this two years ago. The council approved this for software in the IT area. So the recommended council action tonight is to open and close the public hearing. The second one is to adopt resolutions to adopt the operating budget, the capital program budget. And then that third step is the appropriations. limit. And so that's a very formulaic driven calculation. It's based on formulas related to indices. And so that's included as well. And then the third item is related to the reserve that we're proposing for ERAF. The fourth is related to the citywide computer replacements. And then the fifth is related to the salary schedules for the proposed changes. And with that, I am happy to answer any questions along with our budget team.

Very good. Thank you, Christina. And I would like to say thank you to you and the team. This is months of work getting to this point. And it's a lot of work that goes into it. So thank you for all that participated in putting this together. And so now we'll look to the council if there's any questions. I'll look to my colleagues. And if there are none.

Sorry, sorry.

No, go right ahead, please. Go right ahead.

I hesitate to keep asking this, but I'm going to anyway. So I know we've brought this forward before. Have we looked more into like an actual projection based on all the projects that we know are in the pike for building, right? Have we done kind of an estimate? So if we build X amount, this is the amount of people that we think... In terms of how it's going to affect our budget with police, with the fire, with roads, have we done that?

Yeah. So you're asking about how do the projections for population factor into compiling of the budget? So what you have before you shows revenues that are going to increase based upon the projected development so for instance property tax so we work with the county we work at what we're seeing you know as far as just increases in assessed valuations as well as new you know residential as well as commercial industrial buildings to go and and be ready to be put on the roll and so revenue goes up for that we don't on the development side the revenue is only included in the projections if there's a known building going in we know it's going in there and it's you know the Very likely that it's going to go in there. We don't we don't put in revenues for speculative thoughts on what's going to happen and what's going to, you know, who the tenant is going to be in a certain building on the expenditure side from a staffing perspective. What you have is really a status quo problem. budget in the sense that we're not adding in additional staffing you know so that you don't have additional administrative staff um nor are we increasing on the on the police side as far as staffing or on the fire side we just opened the fire station and you know that the way we kind of um stack that up over the last few years got us into that transition so i think from a fire perspective you know we're going to have good coverage for the years to come Now, as we mentioned at the budget workshop, we are going to see units going online. I think there's quite a few developments in the pipeline. However, just because they're in the pipeline, they're at different stages, you know, and it's really just going to depend on the economy, how many of those get built. Now, it is true that over time, as our population goes up, we are going to need more staffing and there's going to be more needs. But at this time, from a staffing perspective, it's status quo.

So the numbers that we've been provided in the report, it's based on, we're just keeping it as is.

Keeping the FTEs, the full-time equivalents, the same.

Right. Okay. So just let me add two things. So my concern is we already are short on our police department. So if, you know, I guess I'm just a little nervous about the fact that we know we're growing and it's inevitable. So, you know, maybe guessing like how many more police officers are we gonna need for future once we get to the 50 mark. considering that we're short right now?

So in the budget workshop, we showed and spent some time talking about some of our unfunded liabilities and some of our needs. And one of those areas is police officers over time, right? And so, you know, based on even our population now, we would like to have more officers, right? And so that is something that is going to require additional revenue, right? From existing officers, businesses, existing tax base and that tax base growing, as well as potentially looking at a revenue measure. Now, with all of that said, a couple of things on police staffing. We have, over the last few years, increased the number. Council in the last budget cycle and years before has slowly increased that number. looking at other ways besides sworn personnel, equipment, technology, that sort of thing to help in that area. And then the other factor is getting from a recruitment perspective, getting up to that fully staff level. That's very, very important and is of utmost priority for our police and administrative team.

Okay. And then my final question. So you mentioned a little bit ago that you have thought about, so the projects that are coming down the line, you know, will be garnering some tax revenue off of that because, you know, property tax. But have you factored in some of the projects that are coming in and they're quite large? We're not going to get any taxes from them because they're like builder's remedies. They tend to be in a bracket where we're not going to see that. Have you thought about what kind of financial impact we could have from a city standpoint? Because sometimes there's more needs. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, this was a question that was asked in advance of this evening. And so we provided a supplement that really speaks to that very question. And so from a property tax perspective, the development has to be owned by a nonprofit in order for them to qualify to be exempt from property tax. And so there's some nuances there. It's not all affordable projects don't pay property tax. That's not true. So there's a subset, if they're nonprofit, we will not get the property tax from. Now, with that said, a few things. One is while property tax might not be provided from those buildings, in many cases, they're dense. And so, um, you know, they're, they're, it's a, it's use of that space that brings other sort of, um, benefits as far as like sales tax and other sort of economic benefits. And so it's not necessarily a net negative that, you know, some might assume, um, is how I would respond to that.

No, thank you. I like to have it said out loud. Yeah, I know. Sometimes we think these questions and maybe it's good to have it retold publicly. So thank you for that. And I'm done with my questions.

Very good. There are no other questions. We'll open to public comment. Do you have any public comment on yet?

Yes, Doug Muirhead. I do have a question. Oh, do you?

I'm sorry. Didn't see your hand.

No, I was just waiting. I always go first.

Okay, very good. We actually have more questions.

Thank you. I wanted to ask on the, there's the 1 million that's for the ERA. When do we anticipate that that is going to be determined?

Yeah, so we thought that it was going to be decided by April. And so I actually had it on my calendar. The next day I said, Dad, where are we, Dad? And for me, not yet. So we don't know. We don't know yet.

I mean, is this something that we think they're holding until next year or could be a trailer bill or what?

No, no, no. Dad, would you like to comment?

Yeah, this is litigation. They had a hearing back in April, but currently right now, the judge hasn't ruled in any way possible yet. But whatever the outcome is, we expect that either the state or the county will appeal. So that process will continue to go on for a while, for sure.

Okay, so do we think that's going to be in the next? We don't have any click.

We don't have any click.

I mean, okay. The reason I'm asking is because that's a $1 million hold. And with the $3.5 million deficit, add in the $500,000 that we're holding for the traffic lights. I mean, we're getting close here to something that could be.

Now, bear in mind, we're setting aside these dollars, but they're still part of our general fund reserve that's earning interest income, right? Right. So in the event that we have to pay it, that would be terrible. But in the event that we don't, we've held on to the money and it still keeps as part of our reserve.

Right. So I guess I'm just wanting to highlight this for myself so that we know that When that does come, right, that means a million dollars is now, if we do get something that's in our favor, we don't have to deal with that. And I know that you have placeholders because I know very well where that is. But, you know, for all of us to be able to contain and have that on the radar, that's a different story. So I just want to highlight that.

Mm-hmm.

Okay um The other thing I wanted to ask about is on the computer replacement, what is that amount. Mary and can you talk about is this everybody is getting their computer like that, can you tell us um.

As you all know, the equipment typically lasts about three to five years. Every year, the IT department has the replacement schedule. And currently, we budget about $100,000 for those annually replacements of these outdated equipment.

I'm sorry, $100,000 annually? Yes. For just total, $100,000 total?

Annually.

Okay. Okay.

As mentioned, the recycle, so each of these equipment could last between 25 years. So we tend to replace it every, you know, once the computer or HR outdated, we replace them and they keep going on and going on.

Okay. And when do we consider that it's outdated? How long do we have that before it's considered outdated? What is our policy on that?

There's no specific policy, but ideally, we want to replace them before they get outdated or no longer serviceable or no longer supported by those applications. So we want to get them replaced, put their hands in the, you know, to employees.

So we're doing this at three years or five years?

Again, it depends. Typically, those equipment lasts between two to five years. But if the director here, I could ask her to respond. But typically, those like laptop, you all know, electronic devices, they last only limited number of years, and you have to replace them. Same thing with laptop for the staff to use.

Okay. So I mean, it would be good in order, you know, to look at something like that. I mean, for me, I'm looking at my laptop and I don't know the last time I got to replace that, you know? So I just... Is there some, can we make, I know we've done that with our fleets. We've done that where we have kind of delayed or postponed things to try and get a little more additional life out of it. If it's not something that's tied, you know.

Of course, like as I mentioned, there's no specific date that we replace them. We tend to replace them at least in advance of, you know, a potential, you know, you know, out of service or potential liability issues because of, you know, you have to use out-of-date equipment, out-of-date applications, there may be potential cybersecurity risks. So we want to jump ahead of those. But again, there's no specific date, whether three or four years. The IT department work on those based on the needs of each of those, you know, employees or the users of those equipment and the serviceable of those equipment.

Okay, understood. I appreciate that. I think because this is part of the budget for me, I would, you know, propose to my colleagues, I mean, I think it would at least behoove us to look at waiting those full five years before we're replacing. Yeah, as I said, I mean, I'm sure we all have, you know, electronics and want to get the newest, latest phone or the newest, latest, but If we can get more life out of it, unless there's something like it's a 911 dispatcher, I think that's reasonable.

And just jump in.

So I want to assure you. I think it would be great if we could look at, if it's three to five years, is it three years or is it five years?

I just want to assure this council that you have a staff that, let me just jump in and the chief wants to add something, that ensures conservative spending, right? We're not looking to get the best and most wonderful model out there and getting a computer, you know, as often as we can, right? But these are the tools by which we do our business, right? And we have to make sure that these tools are functioning and they're not holding our team back because the vast majority of our work is done on these tools. And so we have an IT director over at Chief Palsgrove overseas that's making sure that we're looking at best practices because they're really like fleet is a balance between a replacement schedule. And if you push it out too far, there's a spot you go past that sweet spot and then you're out of warranty. And then you're dealing with maintenance issues. And then you're dealing with a staff that can't complete items on time. And you just heard that we're a lean team. And I can't be without this for very long. And we don't have a heck of a lot of backups. So I can't just go in easily and have a lot of these that are waiting. And so we've really have looked at computers and other types of equipment like fleet to make sure that we're as conservative as possible, but also realistic and reasonable. Chief, is there anything else you'd like to add?

Yeah, keeping in mind that these computers are being used anywhere from 8 to 12 hours a day, five days a week, sometimes on the weekends. The speed is necessary for efficiency. The computer being able to take updates, the memory, the warranty, the security. And we also get government pricing. And to answer your question, we do keep our replacement schedules for five years.

Yeah, I think it would be great if we had a policy that said that, at least for me. I can't speak for others. I would be more comfortable with that. I mean, you know, especially none of the council members have even have a laptop through. I use my personal laptop, right? And I think we're all trying to pitch in here. So I absolutely understand where it's needed and where, you know, where that has to be. I'm just asking that we look at, I mean, we're going to ask all of our residents who face these same challenges to go into their pocket, go into their bank account, you know, and provide us a tax revenue measure. And I just, that's, that's where I'm at. So that's all.

Thank you for that.

Okay.

Very good. Michelle, would you make sure that timer's running? Very good. Go ahead.

So I would like to discuss that as part of this before approving it, at least for myself. Did you want to comment?

Yeah, if you don't mind. I do think that would probably have to be a future agenda item. That's not, that's, I mean, we could have it. I'm okay with that pretty quickly here. So I'm okay with that. Why don't you finish up and then we'll do public comment. We'll come back for council discussion on that.

Yeah. I mean, we don't have to debate it.

Well, I just, you know, I get it. Yeah.

Okay. So the other thing I wanted to ask about was the salary and the salary bands. So if you could talk about that.

What specifically?

Well, I see that there's the salary band adjustments for maintaining market competitiveness for IT. I think that's, you know, obviously to be competitive. But then I also see that there's a bump for management and leadership. And so looking to understand a little bit about what that includes. Sure.

Yeah. So one of the attachments and one of the recommendations is approval of the management professional and confidential employee group salary schedule. Each of the changes that we're proposing are marked in red. And so there's just a few. So one is related to planning. And so our principal planner has been promoted to planning manager. And so you see the principal planner there with an asterisk, which means that that role is no longer being funded, but instead the planning manager is on there. The other two changes, one is related to our police captains. And so as described in the materials, the police captains, we're recommending that we move them up to the director band. Basically, there's a significant market and compaction issue. What does that mean? Well, from a market perspective, we need to look at what they're making compared to our comparable agencies. And more importantly, internally, there's not much of a difference between a sergeant and a captain in pay. And so then you have no incentive for a sergeant to promote up to captain. And so compaction is one of our guiding principles, looking at compaction levels. We shared those with counsel while going through the negotiation process. And so to rectify the situation, we're recommending that change. In addition to that, we're also recommending the move For the information technology director to move that position up just based upon the it profession and market salaries for it professionals.

Okay, there is not. There's not an increase to leadership other than those, correct? Correct. That was the point of, I guess, my question that I was trying to get at. My other question was, let's see. I guess... I guess that's that's probably Oh yes, it was about the capital improvement for the historical society. And I know that that has stayed and I am interested in doing investment in that I do think that it is a gem for our Community, however, am interested in doing that where it's money generating. And so just going back and looking at this wasn't, you know, what I was seeing and just trying to understand how we're looking to move forward with that in the next two years.

Yeah. And I'll ask Chris to come forward to talk about that.

And then we're going to move on to public comment after that.

Yeah, so this is a capital improvement item that's been in the capital improvement for a significant amount of time. We've had similar discussions in the past. So the proposed improvements will not be ones that generate significant revenue, but should be ones that help maintain and lower costs in the long term and allow for some minor revenue improvements. improvement several years ago. We did a study on looking at the site to do it as an event site to generate revenue. The study said that it doesn't really work out as that. It kind of is in conflict with the historical site to do major events there to generate revenue. And there's a lack of space for enough parking to do major events. So the strategy as we went forward was to really look at the site and improving the site for its long-term viability as a historical park. um and make it a park that's easy for the our partners at the historical society to maintain and that's the the purpose of this next upcoming capital improvement program not to get into too much details but one of the big components is adding an outdoor restroom there that can support school groups and make it so the interior restroom set and the historical resources aren't like overrun, which costs more to maintain. So there's going to be some things with this new site that help them with sustainability. They'll have a paved driveway, those sort of things that will help them long term. But at this point, that's where we are with that project item.

Thank you, Chris. I'd like to hear more about those things and then also just get some reporting on what those operations savings will be. Thank you.

Very good. We'll move to public comment. Any public comment on this item?

Doug Muirhead.

Hello. Good evening, council members and city staff. My name is Doug Muirhead, Morgan Hill resident. So how are you doing with your city council ongoing priority to preserve and cultivate public trust? I have observed very little community input received throughout the budget development process. Community engagement efforts are not equivalent to significant community participation achievements. You should at least count noses and report attendance numbers to give us a real feel for how you're doing. The administration claims that the budget reflects a comprehensive review of departmental expenditures, though still no classification of mandatory versus discretionary. and includes strategic means what, hiring controls, energy savings initiatives, reduced how operating costs, deferred non-essential but what are the long-term implications maintenance, administrative cost recovery and fair market facility rental allocations. The administration claims that over the next two years, staff will conduct service level evaluations to define potential service reduction scenarios and inform the community. Note the public is not invited to be part of that decision-making of the trade-offs required if additional ongoing revenue is not secured. Closing on a lighter note for a change, I noticed that the salary schedule for Group 1A executive management lists a funded position for an assistant city manager for administrative services. That position went vacant years ago when Cindy Murphy departed. She is now city treasurer and congratulations on her appointment this morning as Gras treasurer. Is this assistant city manager position needed? You have funded and filled with, in my opinion, very talented assistant city managers for development services and for public services. Thank you.

Thank you, Doug. Any other comments? We'll close the public comment, come back for council discussion. And I want to address at least my thoughts on the suggested policy for the use of computers for a period of time.

And if I may, I wanted to pull it up before I started talking about it, but we do have a computer purchasing policy. And I will inform you that it does have a three-year replacement scheduled, but through the great work of the chief and the IT director spring, we've been able to push that out to five years.

So it's now going to be five years.

Well, no, no, no. The policy says three years, but we do our best. And so the rule of thumb is five years as reported, right? But the policy allows for every three years.

Yeah, and I would suggest we stick with that policy. I think that works. I think if we try to push that out to five years, In some cases, laptops will last three, some they'll last five. But if we then said, you have to hold on to that for five years, it could create some challenges that are just insurmountable. I'm good with the three-year policy. I don't know if everybody else is.

Well, I think we have a policy. That was the first question, and so that's fine. I do think it would warrant discussion, but that's for another time.

Yeah, very good. Okay, excellent. All right, then I'll entertain a motion to adopt, and we can do items 14.2 through 5 in one motion. I'll entertain a motion to approve item 14.

Motion.

I've got a motion to approve.

Second.

Got a second. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? If being done, that passes unanimously. Thank you, Council. Item 15, Christina?

Yes. Item 15, we're going to have James Sylvain come up. He's the Deputy Director of Utility Services. And so this is a public hearing for input on the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan, as well as the adoption of the plan itself and the Water Shortage Contingency Plan. And here with him, we also have a representative from McKell. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, council members. Member of the Publix and teammates that are here, I am Jim Sylvain, Deputy Director for Utilities. Sitting next to me is Tony Akele. He's from Akele Engineering. He has a wonderful report that we're going to talk about today. What I have before you today is our 2025 Urban Water Management Plan.

James, real quickly, I'm going to suggest maybe moving away from the microphone just a bit. The closer you are to it, the more distorted it sounds.

Is that better?

That is better right there. Thank you. Thank you.

So a water management plan is a mandated... by the state that we need to prepare one and submit to the state every five years. The last one that we submitted was in 2020. So 2025 is this year. The following five years, 2030 will be the next one. So with that, I will go ahead and tell you that it's a very brief presentation. Right after that will be available to answer any question you may have. So the goal tonight is twofold. First one is open and close the public hearing. And second, adoption of our plan. So what I want to do is give you a preview or an overview of what the plan is all about. We will be going over the proposed plan. Go over the compliance with water conservation. Discuss our water shortage.

I'm sorry to interrupt you. Can you just go ahead and jump in?

okay yeah let's just go for it all right let's do that uh why do we need a urban water management plan like i stated earlier it is a state mandated and it required not for all water retailers but certain rental retailers that meet certain criteria. What are those criteria? You have to be serving more than 3,000 connections or 3,000 acre feet per year. Just as a side note, One acre feet is over 300,000 gallon per minute, just to give you a perspective on what that is. As stated earlier, we have to update that every five years and July 1st of the following year, which is 2026. In this case, that's when we need to submit it to the state. Okay, why do we actually need to have that particular plan? We want to be certain, or in this case, the state want to make certain that each retailers have reliability for water supply. We want to make certain that adequate water supply is available for future growth within the city. One How can we do that? We do that by promoting policies and programs that encourage water conservation. And we have the contingency plan, which provide the framework for responding to when we have water supply shortages. We follow the state guideline pretty much. And what you have in front of you here is just the outline of all the chapters that made up our water plan. One of my favorite is this slide in front of you. What it shows over the years, we can see that in green going up is our population trend from the 2000 to now. And it also shows water usage during that time period. The beauty about this is that you can see that as our population grows, our order demand doesn't go up. That is fundamental to almost everything we want to do. And I think a big part of that is the effectiveness of our programs and policies that we have in place. That means our conservation water strategies are working. The other part of it is the Conservation Act, which was introduced in 2009. If you can see what the baseline was in 1995, it was 199 gallon per capita, meaning per person on a daily basis. The state mandated that by 2020, that is reduced to by 20%. Again, good news for us. If you look at the trend, we met that prior to 2015 and We trend underneath 159 gallon, which is the 20%. And we've been that way since 2020. And we stay under that threshold until now. So we are doing extremely well. The water shortage contingency plan is what we intend to do in the event we have an emergency, a drought of some sort. What are the levels that are required to alert us that we need to take some actions? As you can see, the state have some recommendation. Valley Water, who manage water basins, have also some recommendation. They have their own level system. And you can see those are in sync with what Morgan Hill has as alert system. So everything that we do is in accordance with what both the state and the water management that overseen both of our basins, the Cahooty basins and the Yagas basins recommends. So for us to come up with those levels, we look at multiple scenarios. During a drought event we look at a one year scenarios and we also look at a five years now years and that's how we. come up with those levels and how we should react, should we need to. If we experience a drop. Now. What we look at next is a comparison between water supplies that are needed versus actual demand. And we'll look at a projection up to 2050. If you look at the table, we look at all the water sources that we use and all what our projected demand will be. And what you will see is that for all those years, we will be under the threshold of what is required. In other words, our demand will be less than our supply. This is just for the Coyote Basin. No, excuse me, this is just for the Yagas Basin, this particular table. And you can see that we are in the 95th percentile of what is required. The Kairori Basin is even higher. better, it shows us at about 70 percentile of what is required. That little graph graphic next to that table, that'll give you an idea of how water is recycled, how we pull water from the basins, who actually is using those basins. We're talking about city of Morgan Hill, city of Gilroy, and private entities, agricultural and people who are outside of jurisdiction. And it also show how we replenish our basins, whether it's through rain, the ponds that we have, surface water, or they are being replenished by valley water, central valley projects that replenish our basins. So that basically the three fundamental ways that water get replenished to the two basins. Next step will be... This showed us how the project gets started, what we have done as far as public outreach, notification to ensure, and every step that you see there is mandated by the state for us to publish in the newspaper to inform the public of when the urban, when the plan is actually published. So today's the public hearing and hopefully the adoption of the plan and the next step will be for us to first submit to the state and then publish the adopted plan 30 days thereafter. so the public can have access to it. With that, conclude my report. And we are both, myself and Tony, is ready to accept.

Okay, very good, James. Thank you for your questions. I'm going to open up to Council. Council Member Martinez-Beltran, go right ahead.

Thank you. Thank you for your report. I've been talking about water a lot today, so we had our SCRAW meeting this morning. I wanted to first, thank you both for your report, but I also wanted to ask, when you're talking about the water usage, and this was something that we discussed earlier when we were at SCRAW, and they talked about how, yes, the water usage is reducing because Before in the 90s, we didn't have all of this water, you know, low flush, low. So we've conserved quite a bit, but we have also had new developments that have been able to conserve water. So it did go down, but now we're seeing that it's going to start rising and. even though we were having population growth, we were not seeing the water growth because we were at the same time that our population was growing, you know, we were having reduction in water use. So how is that going to be impacted? When will we see that start to shift that curve now that everybody's using low, you know,

What is it? Low-flow? Thank you.

And all of the developments have come online. We are now still having population. We've got arenas that are going to be, unfortunately, I have to say they're going to be larger than what we had in the past. How does that work out? When does that hit and at what rate, I guess, are we going up?

You want to take it? Sure. I'll take it. Councilmember, this is a very, very good question. We talk about trends. You're monitoring them. I'm very impressed that you've got so much in terms of knowledge on the demands and the use. You're very correct in terms of demand management measures that have been implemented over the years by the city of Morgan Hill have directly resulted in this graph that you saw that James pointed out, this big drop in use. And that's how we are managing how we use the water. I think you're looking into the future and asking, is that going to rise? Is that going to pick up again? There's no reason for it to pick up because the water is being managed every year. Furthermore, I can tell you that the state is very actively looking at other ways to reduce and manage, further manage the water. So remember, the state wants us to update this every five years, five-year cycle. Right now, they're working on additional regulations to manage how much water we use indoors. They have pilot studies. They have a team that is working and trying to determine What is the pain level indoors that they should apply? 55 gallons per person? 40 gallons per person? Do we go too far? So they are evaluating all these options to determine what is an adequate target to set for us in 2035. For that reason, I expect us to continue to be effectively managing our water. And when we manage our water, it's not a bad thing. This is like a budget. The big word I'd like to use when James was saying supply versus demand, it's budget. We are managing water like we manage budget, like we manage budgets at home. If we have less income, maybe we don't take the next vacation. And those are the levels that we saw, level one, level two. How much do we need to pull back to make sure we have a budget? So we are managing the budget at the local level. Morgan Hill does the evaluation every year. So the water shortage contingency plan also provides us with a plan that lets us evaluate every year where we are and then scale back when we have to or not scale back. This is a very effective tool that the state is mandating, but it's providing us with a way to manage the budget.

Okay, so I hear that you're saying we're managing it And so what I'm translating that is that we will have enough water, but isn't our water use still going up?

Can I help with one question? Because I was at the meeting with you this morning. We talked about that. So it's kind of two different things. So the meeting we were talking about this morning was the flow to the wastewater treatment plant. which is kind of different than the demand for water. So that flow is typically coming from houses and restaurants and all the improvements on getting to low flow toilets and everything like that. Those have been made. So they're seeing that increase. They're guaranteeing that increase in the wastewater demand. It's a little different for water. So water, we still have a lot of new things that are going to come up that the state's demanding. We've been, a big one is non-functional turf, right? So we've been reducing non-functional turf. The state has requirements in upcoming years to reduce that non-functional turf where we've been trying to work with our community members and organizations to do it ahead of the state mandates. But in 2027, 2028, there'll be mandates that require them to not water that grass. So that's another way that water demand is going to get pushed down. It's new development comes in, highly efficient new development. So we're not in the same exact situation on the water demand side as the wastewater flow side. So it's a little bit different. And Tony got to that point. But I just wanted to add that because I was at the meeting this morning with you. So it's a little different.

Okay, thank you. Understood. But at some point, I mean, when you can no longer take turf, when you can no longer do low flash, when you can no longer. Yes. At some point, I guess my question is, when do we have any prediction at what point that is? Is there 2050? Is there, you know?

I think I'm glad that Chris added the perspective. On the wastewater, we are expecting that, you know, on the wastewater side, flows did scale back, and now it's going to pick up. And based on growth, so more people are still going to generate more wastewater. On the water side, per person, remember we mean per person, that number is managed per person. So even if we have more people, we're still managing. There will be more water use. there'll be more water use. The city will be using more water because there's more people, but per person is still going to be managed. So you'll see that it is managed. And at the end of the day, we projected through 2050. That's what the state requires. That wants to go at least 25 years or 20 years. We went all the way to 2050, 25 years to demonstrate that with our projected growth to support the general plan policies, We will have enough water and we will be able to manage the water during normal years. We will be able to manage the water during drought years and up to five consecutive years, like James mentioned. So we are ready. We have a plan. We won't panic when that happens. We hope it doesn't happen. We hope it doesn't happen. But we are in California and these things do happen. And when they do happen, we have a plan in place. And your staff will be coming here and saying, because they evaluate it every year. They'll be coming here, the same mayor, council members. We have a drought year coming up. We need your help. We are going to declare a certain level scaling back maybe to level three or whichever level, or if we're staying on the same level, no action needs to be taken.

Okay. I'm going to leave this one, but I appreciate all of the explanation. That's very helpful. Thank you. I also wanted to ask how much do we pull from the Yagus basin compared to the other basins? As you showed a graph there talking about, well, we do this with the Yagus basin, that's 5%, and so.

On a yearly basis, we pull a total of about 7%. billion gallon of water. And it's shared as I take that back 2.3 billion gallons. And about 35% of that is using the Coyote Basin.

That's what I want. Thank you.

okay i think that's uh that's what i have for now very good thank you anyone else council member iwanaga so thank you for the report um i was also at the scrawl meeting this morning um and some of the things that we talked about and i'm curious in terms of the plan so i and i hear and can appreciate that it sounds like more regulations for individuals but have has there been any talk or contingencies regarding some of these larger scale companies that are going to be using a lot more water like the amazon project that's going to be happening in gilroy or there's talk of you know um something going on in Coyote Valley, you know, those larger companies use a lot of water for cooling, you know, data centers we know use a ton of water. So how have you looked at that?

For those large scale company? I would imagine at some point in time, instead of using treated domestic water, we might see more use of reclaimed type water being used. And one thing that we need to keep in mind as well, a lot of other areas, mostly in Europe currently, A lot of their water is being what they call advanced or augmented treated water that basically turned wastewater into potable water. So I think in the future, we're going to see a lot of that. So that might help with the concern we have currently about drought. And we know that water is a finite commodity, so that might help as well. But I don't know of any regulation for these big companies.

I think to add, I think kind of your question was, how are we planning for it within the plan? So the plan that it looks at our land use. So that's what Tony's looked at the land use. We have planned for future use works with our planning department. We put it all together. So I don't know that. replacing all the industrial uses with all data centers would work out to what we've planned in the plan. But so when a new development comes in, working with our planning team, then comes to engineering, if it's something that's way outside what we've planned for, they have to do a water capacity, wastewater capacity study outside of it to look at it individually. And because this is something that's emerging for us, it would be something that might not be totally reflective of us putting all data centers in. But before we put a data center in, And in that industrial area, we would have to go through that specific to say, how does that affect and change what the planning is that we have at this point, which could change significantly. And we could say, you know, in any type of development, we haven't planned for enough water to do this. And that's what we would look at before we'd have to do it because we need to see what exactly that specific data center would do as far as usage goes. I hope that helps answer like our planning part.

Thanks, Chris. And I guess my last question, because you mentioned that you do participate in trying to come up with policies for how we can manage water and better prepare for the future. So one of the things I know that we talked about, again, a little bit this morning, just touched on it, was recycled water. And Morgan Hill right now doesn't have that. Gilroy does get it. So I'm curious as to how maybe you advocate or do you advocate for that? us to get things like that here in Morgan Hill.

I'll answer that. So basically, Gilray has the proximity to the wastewater treatment plant. And so because of that, they're able to use the recycled water from the plant. Unfortunately, to pump the water from Gilray for our use for reclaimed purposes is just not feasible. And we would have to have a separate plant. And the cost of that is significant. But studies have been done.

Yeah, and Valley Water has an ongoing study to look at recycled water. In addition, I know you heard this morning that Amazon and Gilroy is looking at recycled water from the plant. If they expand there, that would be taken into account in the study that we're doing, the whole South County-wide study that Valley Water has a grant from, I believe, the Bureau of Reclamation to look at this in detail. And part of the two things that they're looking at is the primary one is expanding the recycled water down in Gilroy. But the second part of that grant funding is looking at what are the options for bringing it up here? Whether, as Christina said, we do think through a lot of the preliminary work, a plant up here would be very difficult. There may be some opportunities to bring water back up here, but that's what's going to be looked at. So we are advocating for it. And I believe the members of the Joint Water Resources Committee will get a report out on that potentially at the next meeting as well. So it's something that's on our radar and we're going to continue to work on for sure.

Thanks, Chris. That actually makes me very happy to hear. Thank you. Thank you for the report.

Thank you. I've got some questions before anyone else goes at this point. One of the questions I had, which you've basically answered, is do we expect to see additional mandates to reduce water usage below 159? And obviously, that's yes. There's no, to my colleague's point, there is no way we can build thousands and thousands of housing units and believe that water usage is going down. That's not happening. Water usage is going up. You call it managed water usage, which basically is, that is residential mandates. and individual mandates that will be coming down from the state. So we're probably looking at, like right now, the commercial turf is having to be taken. We're going to look at residents who have grass in their backyard. That will eventually go away. State's going to tell us how much water we can use in our shower, how many times we can flush our toilet, how many times. So that's where we're headed. based on the usage of managed water. So it doesn't sit well, I think, with a lot of us up here. And again, this is probably the frustration, and I'm gonna get off course here just a little bit, but I'm just gonna do that. This is the frustration that we're feeling when the state is cramming housing down our throats that we can't manage here and then they tell us you're going to cut water and you're going to increase housing the two don't the two don't mix many things don't mix with that sort of those sort of mandates and it's going to be frustrating for us we're going to have to deal with this uh More regulations from the state is what we're going to be facing. I appreciate your presentation. I'll get off my high horse here and see if anybody else has a question now that I've just went forward here. Anybody else? If not...

I was just going to say, yeah, we feel the pain. Yeah, so... We'll see what happens. And, you know, it's a vicious circle. Thank you, though, for your report. It's very thorough. Thank you. I like looking at the graphs, too.

Yeah. Okay. Any public comments on this item?

Yes. Doug Muirhead.

I think we have another gentleman there also. Armando, you're no gentleman. Sit down.

I'm still Doug Muirhead, still from Morgan Hill. Staff says a comparison of the city's future demands and available supplies indicates that the city will have sufficient water supply to meet its demands, even during single and multiple dry year events. But in a multi-year drought with little or no imported water available to recharge our groundwater basin, which is our only source of water, just what are the demands being met? How severe will the restrictions on water use be on each of our residents to satisfy the city's definition of demands to be met? The water shortage contingency plan focuses primarily on limiting landscape irrigation, vehicle washing, and denying new water connections. While the city does not currently have access to recycled water, the claim is advocating and partnering with Valley Water to support the future delivery of recycled water to Morgan Hill. In 2015, the South County Recycled Water Master Plan was released and provided for recycled water in Gilroy, but none in Morgan Hill. In October 2020, Valley Water published the Countywide Water Reuse Master Plan with three alternatives for Morgan Hill, none currently planned or funded. In May 2024, Valley Water published the South County Recycled Water Master Plan update with six potential alternatives for Morgan Hill, none currently planned or funded. I find the 2020 and 2024 references misleading in that I believe those potential projects are superseded by the South County Joint Water Resources Committee development of a federal Bureau of Reclamation feasibility study. That study will identify a preferred and an alternative project, which will position project partners, the Water District, Gilroy, and Morgan Hill for future implementation funding. But because the Joint Water Resources Committee repeatedly cancels its June meeting, my formal opinion has not been confirmed. Sorry, my opinion has not been confirmed. Well, we finally have a formal, three-year planning effort with hard target dates. There is no sense of urgency. But please consider that while many say recycled water is very expensive, having no water is even more expensive. Thank you.

Thank you, Neville.

Our next speaker is Armando Benavides.

Well, I will tell you that. Don't worry about housing. You're building houses, but that's not the concern. It's the big AI, high impact projects that are coming our way. We have a 1,000 megafacility being built in San Jose to transmit millions of kilowatts of electricity. We have a big, gigantic battery factory right there on Coyote Valley. And i'm going to tell you the Ai facility in Gilroy once it gets operation is going to use 20,000 gallons of water per day okay imagine that 20,000 gallons of water per day, so we really need to be really careful because. I mean, the infrastructure that's being built in Santa Clara County basically is to push and pull all these AI centers. And I'm glad that the council member right here raised it because it is a really important. One of the things that's happening in Gilroy right now is that the public is really mad because they've been told to conserve. Let's cut water shortage. Let's go ahead and, you know, you need to cut back and conserve. And yet, You know, here we are. They approved a large-scale project that's going to use up a tremendous amount of energy and a tremendous amount of water. 20,000 gallons of water per day is a tremendous amount of water to be pulling out. That equates to about 7 million gallons of water per day. And I don't even know if you guys got consulted, if there was any coordination or anything. But I do have some concerns when I hear that, oh, you know, we got to wait to see it until we, and see if somebody, if we get a project moving along our way, and then we'll kind of look at it and figure it out and see what, no, this is the time for you to act. This is the time for you to take the stance. That's what happened when they passed the shoe palace. The city, the city's- Armando, this item is on, is on-

Water, water, water.

I'm just saying. I know. I'm just saying that the same thing that happened with the shoe powder. We were asking for ordinances and to control that. And what we're saying the same thing is in water. Water is a very precious resource. We have been asked to conserve for 10 years now. My pool is empty, my water is empty, and I'm just saying that we need to be very, very careful as a city council when we do not pass and consider projects that could potentially use up a tremendous amount of water from our citizens. And I think that You really should agendize an item to look at large scale industrial projects that are going to suck up a lot of water. So you can think about it beforehand and not have to be thinking about it reactively as the project comes in and now you have to be, oh, what are the standards we've got to do?

Thank you, Armando.

Appreciate that.

Anyone else?

No, Mayor.

Sir, did you have? Oh, okay. Very good. If there's no other public comment, we'll close the public comment, bring it back for council discussion. Yeah, Council Member Martinez-Beltran?

I just want to thank you again for making your report. This is interesting. We did have lots of conversation about this, and we had some prior, and I actually shared with Mr. Bienavides that I do have a future agenda item around this because of the data centers, because of the energy that's been coming that I'll be proposing tonight after. But looking at... you know, just, it is very concerning thinking about, and I'm one who's asked about data centers because we've been trying everything, you know, economically, but having to look at this benefit and figure out what works for us, I think, I think housing, I think, you know, data centers is really something we have to look at. We have to we have to consider everything, all of the built environment that is going to impact our environment. And so I guess my comments for the urban waterfront is that plan water management plan is that we are also including that, you know, as we're looking forward, just maybe trying to identify those trends that are coming on board and figuring out how that might factor into it. Because we know that these are real, they're being built everywhere and we all use data. And so I don't know, you know, what that means for the impact that it will have on us. And then too, I wanted, Doug, Mr. Muirhead was talking about the joint resource committee and i i understand the frustration i get you know can also with that we've talked about the plan it was cancelled i asked why it was cancelled and followed up on that and so hoping that there's also that connection happening with what you guys are doing here with batley water just to make sure that that's all coming you know full circle because recycled water i don't know how we get there it is a hurdle that we're looking at ahead of us we've you know there's been lots of studies that have been done and trying to figure out what our way forward is so anything that is helpful that you can inform us is great thank you though for your work because this is critical to morgan hill so thanks very good there's no other comments i'll entertain a motion to approve to prove i think there's a resolution or two resolutions that we need to work on here So I'll ask the city attorney.

I'm sorry.

I didn't hear you.

Yeah, I didn't hear you.

They can be taken in one motion.

Okay, very good.

I'll move to approve.

Very good. I've got a motion to approve. Got a second. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Being none, that passes unanimously. Thank you. Now for item 16, the Leadership Morgan Hill Class of 2026 Project Proposal.

Okay. Thank you, James.

I don't have precision.

You can just pull those up. I'll just get started to keep us moving. Michelle's pulling the presentation up because I'm going to be really brief. Chris Chione. Thank you, Council Members. Tonight's presentation is primarily going to be given by Leadership Morgan Hill, Class of 2026. And as Council's... seen many times before on an annual basis or pretty often Leadership Morgan Hill brings a project forward for approval by the city council. So I'm not going to tell you what the project is because they're going to do that. But what we're really looking at tonight is just an overall approval from the council. A lot of the specific approvals will be granted through an encroachment permit or private property owners because some of them will be a private property. And city staff would work out the details to those little individual properties. locations and signs that will be put in as they'll talk about. But really, the task for the council is tonight is to give an overall okay to the project. And then city staff would follow up with the individual permits needed for them to move forward with it. And with that, I will turn it over to the class of 2026. Thank you, Chris.

Ladies, you can use the mouse to scroll through your

Okay, thank you. Thank you, Chris. My name is Heather.

Hold on. Is there someone talking?

Yeah.

We're going to have to ask.

Thank you. Hello, my name is Heather Gallegos, and I'm here with Anya Hamilton. And we are two of the 16 members of the Class of 2026. And our project is to create a new self-guided history trail for Morgan Hill. It's a combination of locations that will be walkable in downtown as well as drivable. And they will be all unified through a partnership with the Historical Society to have a hosted website that has additional stories that include audio stories, photos, any other artifacts that we have that would be accessible through a QR code on plaques that are at each of these locations. So you see here in this map a high-level view of the locations in black. And then, is it a click?

You can scroll, I think, because it's a PDF. Okay, it's a PDF. Okay.

And then here's a high-level view of the 19 spots that we are currently working with to reach out to each of the owners if they're privately held. So about 98% approval rate so far through the sites that we're looking at. So it's a combination of buildings, of homes. of governmental locations, of churches, Memorial Park, each of these telling stories about the history of Morgan Hill and the people and the families behind our growth and the building of our great city. and here would be an example of the brass plaque so this would be repeated through those spots and they would be permanently affixed to the size of the buildings or signage depending upon each site and then we will have the ability to have the the qr code and that goes back to the website and as well as audio storytelling for folks to be able to to read as well as listen

All right. So the trailhead sign would be at the center of the city. It would be on the 3rd Street Plaza. And the current concept here places the sign really quite at visible location, accessible to both residents as well as visitors to the city. The sign would provide an overview of the map. and the trail and all of the sites that people could be visiting as part of the trail, and they could explore additional sites throughout the city. The design concept you see here would be basically showing the sites, it would have the sponsors also at the bottom of the sign, and as well as a QR code for visitors to go on the website where they could then view the content. The final design would of course be adhering to the city signage regulations as well as the location we're still finalizing together with the city. And now, you know, this really creates a starting point for the visitors to go and explore our beautiful city. And now I will briefly cover the plaque specifications that support the long-term durability.

Yes, I'm sure you've studied it all ahead of time.

Yes, yes. And then, so just briefly, so the plaque that we're proposing is an architectural grade cast bronze measuring approximately 16 inches wide and 6.7 inches high. It has a raised mountain motif, so the city of Morgan Hill motif would be part of the bronze design, a standardized typography, and then a recessed QR code. as well as protective coating designed for long-term outdoor durability of the design. So we really, in those specifications, brought together both aesthetics, longevity, and maintenance considerations as well. The specifications will be incorporated in the procurement package for vendor quota attainment. And finally, I'd like to show you the implementation timeline. The timeline demonstrates the work that we have already completed, as well as the work that we're hoping to continue after the city council approves the project. So major completed milestones for us have been site selection with the Historical Society, the design development, coordination with city staff, and then the LCAC review and recommendations. The next step following council approval would be for us to finalize the property owner approvals for those that are privately owned properties, vendor bidding and selection, fabrication of the plaques, trailhead sign construction, and then the installation and inspections as well. Our target is to complete the installation in August, followed by a ribbon-cutting event and a ceremony to celebrate project completion and the opening of the trail. And the project is designed to be completed well ahead of our class graduation in September. And in closing, on behalf of the leadership Morgan Hill class of 2026, I'd like to thank the city staff. I'd like to thank LCAC, the Morgan Hill Historical Society that we've been partnering with on this project, and also the many community members that have been supporting this effort. We believe this project will create a lasting community asset that preserves Morgan Hill's history. It strengthens civic pride and provides an educational experience for future generations. So we respectfully request the council to approve this project of the Morgan Hill class of 2026. And we'd like to take any questions.

Very good. Great presentation. And I think a great project. Well done. Any questions council member Maryland neighbors? It's been so long since it's been so long since I've seen you every time. It's your name. Council member Maryland.

Thank you ladies. I absolutely love this project. Thank you. And I've approved a lot of them through the years, but this is really a good one. I wanted to ask you about your funding. Okay. I know. Don't you have a limit through leadership? Okay. And are you staying under that limit or.

Yes, we have a limit of $15,000, and we've raised probably two-thirds of that to date, mainly through business donations. And we still have space for additional trailhead sponsors of $1,500. They will have their logo permanently affixed on that main trailhead and as well through all of our websites. We also have been accepting in-kind donations. Our installation will be done by –

um mg construction and so that's helped um maintain our costs as well very nice very nice um let's see i have one more question um so you've got the funding taken care of and have you ever thought about partnering partnering with the trolley to do historical do you know anybody yeah i might know it's not an aid actually um so

In my other life. I know. I'm one of the co-owners of the Morgan Pullwag Trolley. And absolutely, it was a part of the genesis of this idea. Good, good. Terry Johnson and I have been communicating and working out a plan to offer a historical mobile tour on the El Toro Trolley starting in September. I love that. So that we'll be able to kick back off on Sundays. And that will not only visit these spots, but probably a plethora of other spots that the Historical Society will be the docent and the tour guide for.

That's lovely. Thank you. I really think that's going to add to, you know, the curiosity of the public to go and see these sites. I did the farm tour and it was fascinating. So this is going to be even better. So thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Maryland.

You're welcome.

Anyone else?

Mayor Turner.

Council Member Martinez-Beltran.

Thank you. I am so excited about this project. I think it's a really great opportunity to just glorify and, you know, really raise up Morgan Hill and everything that we want to do. And the wine trolley, you know, millions of people have asked you that, or, you know, run around and do the trail with the trolley and everything. I mean, I just I couldn't be more excited when I heard about this at earlier in this year. And it just really hats off to you. It's a phenomenal project. I think it can elevate the historical society to get more active and exactly the things in the hopes that, you know, that I have for that. And I know so many other people do because it really is a gem that we want to create. Lift up, so thank you so much to everyone who had apartments and I know there were a lot of very much the team effort. Yes. Yeah. So I did want to ask about the locations and kind of how you decided those. And then I see some of these are just with letters. I don't know what does the number mean? Are these not all set or something? Or what is the number versus the letter?

I'm not sure where you're seeing the letter, but in terms of the selection, we were looking for a comment. Our criteria was pretty... focused on four main categories, to keep me honest. I remember it was a historical nature. Some of it had cultural significance. We definitely wanted to talk about the, not just things that had happened after, like, 1850, but also history of, you know, the native populations. And we will have, because there isn't a specific, like, artifact that we can visit within city limits we will be highlighting um indigenous stories in multiple different locations murphy springs is one area that we'll be highlighting it but we have points of interest that will be cross-linked so it's like a click down they get to a site if there's something of interest like poppy jasper we'll talk about poppy jasper we'll also talk about you know the Yeah. El Toro and as well as things that happened thousands of thousands of years ago in the area. And so we wanted to, you know, cover all those different sort of high level criteria.

Yeah. Awesome. I mean, you have a bunch there. One I did want to mention was the Chickatech. And I thought that would be a really great place. It's, you know, just on Watsonville Road. I didn't see it on the list, but it's rich in indigenous history. It preserves the legacy of the Ohlone, as you've talked about, who hunted in the Uvis Creek area for thousands of years. 100%. So hoping that you can look at maybe doing that that's already established and we can get people out there. We've got wineries by it, the whole thing.

I think we were limited with the city. It's just the physical location of it and the highlighting of it and the advertisement of encouragement of continuing the story is 100% supported by the Historical Society and the leadership class of 2026. I think when we had to really get down to what are we funding and what is our scope within the organization and the Historical Society, that's where it sort of started. It didn't meet the qualifications as a stop, but it will be, we will be telling stories of indigenous cultures throughout most as well. There'll be click downs and cross references throughout.

Okay. And I think that's a county park. If they, you could get some funding on it. Do you think that could be something to look at?

You know, I don't want to speak too much for the historical society, but they feel like this could be a potential kicking off point of additional stops. So if we have a playbook, a blueprint that, you know, how much would it cost to add additional stop? They would know exactly what to do and how to set it up and have vendors to set it up. So that I think is part of their plan, but I don't want to speak on their behalf.

Okay, well, so that would be one. I think Galvin Park, as part of the Latino culture, would be another. You know, lots of people will gather there and have celebrations there for years. I think that's really important to reflect somehow our Latino culture that's been such a big piece of our population here. You talked about Poppy Jasper. I know I've gone with my kids hunting for Poppy Jasper. Yes, yes. Um, I think El Toro with, with the new trail that's being built, it would be great to get a plaque there with the trail. That would be fantastic. And, you know, just entice people to come and take that, that, I mean, so many of us taken a million times. I also, you know, anybody who grew up in Morgan Hill, if you don't know where the bridge is on the way to Henry Co, you did not grow up in Morgan Hill.

Yeah.

So I thought that is something that's really, you know, fun and interesting. And then also the little railroad bridge just over Monterey, the old piece of it. That was another one. So those are some of my thoughts. Thank you so much. Keep those in mind.

Thank you so much.

Very good. Any other questions or comments? We'll open it for public comment.

I'm not seeing any, Mayor.

We'll close the public comment. And if there's no further discussion.

want to add one thing.

Sure, sure. Go right ahead.

I just wanted to say again, I really like this project. And I think this is really going to add to our tourism for our city too. We need to link in with them because A lot of people like history tours. And did you hear that? I wasn't on. Yeah, we heard it. Anyway, so I just wanted to add, you know, don't forget the tourism part of it. And I know we haven't replaced the tourism part. Lady, have we? Yeah. So. Not just. You know, that's someone else you can connect with. Because I think that's a really good.

tourism thing.

So thank you. Don't ever change.

I agree with you, Council Member Maryland. No, but I think you're right. There really should be a connection to visit Morgantown. And I think beyond what the project is about, others, I mean, these connections are going to occur. And I think it's just great, great project, excellent job, which we're all very excited about it. Thank you. One more comment. Yes, yes, yes.

There's one more comment, and I'm with them. I love this idea. I'm a walker, so I think it's going to be kind of fun to see if I can find all the locations. One question, I noticed there's two churches on there. Obviously, the one on Monterey, that's an obvious one. What was kind of your criteria for picking one? the churches themselves. And would it ever be a consideration in the future to have plaques at some of these other churches? Because we have a lot of churches that are very active in the community and they provide a lot.

This is historic, right? Historic, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Only. OK. Yeah. But for future, would that ever be because some of them have been around for a long time?

That would be definitely a question for the historical society, because they I mean, the leadership criteria for the leadership class is that our work begins. happens and ends within a ninth month period. So there are the stewards of this moving forward will be the Morgan Hill Historical Society. They will be hosting the website. They will, you know, and additional stops would be at their behest. And I think they'll be very open to adding and expanding on the history trail as we get more understanding of the volume of usage. That's the other sort of nerd topic of the URL codes. As we can see, we'll be able to track the volume of people who are interested in the stories and the spots and to be able to then make decisions about expansion. And so I think those are very valid points. But our criteria really was, which was the first, right? I think these are the first two churches that were present in the 1800s. Perfect.

Thank you. Thank you for clarifying that. And I still think it's a really cool thing. Thank you.

I do have one last comment. If you're a fan, we will be also extending invitations to you all on Easter. Oh, yes. For the ribbon cutting. So we would love your support for that. I love that. We will be marketing at that point with a PR campaign, working with the local trade newspapers, whomever is in the role of Visit Morgan Hill, reaching out to the PIO as well to help promote this as an opportunity of something else to do that's enriching and aids all ages for Morgan Hill.

Very good. I'm looking for a motion.

Smooth to approve.

I've got a motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? There being none, I pass unanimously. Congratulations.

Thank you. Thank you. Outstanding. Okay.

Item 17, Christina.

Yes, this item is going to be presented by City Clerk Bigelow.

And if you don't mind, I'll just stay here. Good evening, Mayor, Council, community members. Thanks for hanging out with us this evening. We've got a lot of interesting topics. Tonight I'm presenting to you on our policy regarding disruption of telephonic, audiovisual, and internet service disruptions. As a part of Senate Bill 707, which was parts of it were put into effect January 1st and other parts are going to affect July 1st, it requires that cities offer remote meeting access to provide two-way remote public participation during council meetings. One of the requirements of the new law is that we have to adopt a city council policy that addresses disruptions to telephonic, audiovisual, and internet service that could prevent members of the public from participating remotely or observing remotely. The proposed policy in the staff report establishes procedures for responding to those disruptions, including pausing the meeting. So the law requires that we have to pause for up to an hour to attempt to restore service. and making good faith efforts to restore that service and outlining how the council may proceed if service cannot be restored. So for example, should an hour go by and we're not able to restore service, perhaps council reviews the agenda items to see if it makes sense for something to be moved or continued to another item. Or if we're going to continue to wait and see if we can fix it, maybe we're another 10 minutes away from being able to restore service. So that will be something council will discuss should that happen. It also clarifies the distinction between system-wide outages and individual connectivity issues. And so this is really about our ability to allow people to connect. So if somebody's up in Holiday Lake Estates and their internet goes out, we don't have to stop the meeting because they're not able to connect. It's really if our internet goes out or if there's an issue with Zoom, which we have had in the past, sometimes our connectivity. So as you all know, we already provide live streaming and remote access through Zoom. So adoption of this policy is just the final step needed to ensure compliance with SB 707 before July 1st. So we recommend you adopt the policy as presented, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Very good. Thank you, Michelle. Appreciate you doing the research on that and providing the information tonight. Any questions? Council Member Martinez-Beltran.

Thank you. Does it matter, I guess, how it's interrupted? Tell me more. Well, does it matter if it's our error that we're not able to, you know, stream or there's an interruption here in the council chamber or...

So if I'm understanding you correctly, no. So let's just say the charter internet stops working and nobody can connect and we can't boot Zoom. We still have to stop. So that's affecting our ability to allow people to participate remotely. If our internet's continuing and let's say yours at home and Roberto's trying to watch at home, yours goes out, we can still continue the meeting. Or if our Zoom is acting up for whatever reason, we have to pause. Right. If we have AV issues in here that are preventing us from allowing people to connect, observe, or participate, those are the types of circumstances that we would pause the meeting, make a good faith effort to restore those services, explore what it is, maybe call our vendor depending on the circumstance. And we're required to pause for up to an hour, for an hour, to try to fix that. And then at the hour mark, if we haven't been able to remedy it, then council will have a discussion about how they want to move forward.

Okay. And... If we interrupt it for that hour, do we have to continue to complete? I guess we would decide if we had to complete everything still.

Correct. So after that hour mark, let's say we get it up. It's been an hour. We've made magic happen. We're working again. Council then can decide, do we still, maybe there's only three items left. Maybe there's 12. And so at that point, council can have a discussion to say, do we still want to continue with the agendized items or does it make sense to move a few of these to another meeting?

Okay. And then if something like that does happen, we usually have different ways that people can tune in. So do we have to have all of those ways? Is it just one of those ways? How does that work?

Yeah, so it's just Zoom. So Facebook, YouTube, those things don't count. Those are ways they can watch, they can observe. But it's really the ability for them to come into the meeting remotely, which we use Zoom for that. If we were using a different tool, for example, Teams, we don't use that. Most cities do not for council meetings for a variety of reasons. But it's just our ability for them to connect through Zoom. So if our Facebook, if we're not able to stream to Facebook or YouTube or the website, those don't impact it.

Okay. And then the other question I had is right now we don't allow for general public comment. Correct. this requires that we do allow for general public comment, correct?

Correct. So when we come back in August, so August 19th is our first meeting back after the summer break. And so at that time, public comment will be allowed for public comment on items not on the agenda, as well as all of the itemized agenda items.

Okay. So if we can put out some kind of announcement for that to let the public know, because many people, you know, can't, can't do a public comment if they're not here in person, I think that would be good to let them know that it's finally been restored where you can do a general public comment. I think those are my questions.

Very good. Any other questions? There being none, we'll open a public comment.

I am not seeing any, Mayor.

Then we'll close the public comment and look for a motion to approve item 17.

Motion to approve.

We've got a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? There being none, that passes unanimously. Item 18, Christina?

Yes. Item 18 is to provide direction to the team on proposed future council-initiated agenda items. And so we have two items that have been brought forward from council members from prior meetings. And so the first is to consider establishing a formal policy that for intergovernmental agency and organizational briefings. And the second item is whether we want to come back on evaluating banning class two e-bikes operated by minors. So as mentioned earlier, We have this process under Council Policy 9701. Council members bring up the items and then they present a write-up. And then after the write-up, we then agendize it to determine if there's going to be another discussion on these topics. And so included in the packet are the write-ups from the council members on both of those items. And so we're seeking direction from council on whether to formally agendize these topics for future meetings. And so with that, our process would be to turn it over to you, Mayor, and then you'll turn it over to Council Member Martinez-Beltran on the first item, and then after that to you on the second item.

Very good. Council Member Martinez-Beltran.

Yes, I am trying to get into this. I'm sorry, Mayor. My computer wouldn't let me log in again. Is it five years old? It's much older. So I keep, I just changed it. So I'm trying to like message myself to figure out what was it?

Could flip order here if we want. We could flip the order and maybe do the second one. Oh, okay. The banning the e-bikes.

No, I'm... Yeah, do you want me to go ahead and I'll... Sure. Okay. So I think you've all read that. I can go into a lengthy explanation. I can just... What do you think? Are you guys interested in having a... Okay. Well, again, if you're interested in doing this, we don't need a presentation. I'm about efficiency. If you're if you feel like, yeah, let's let's have the staff go forward and bring back a. That's pretty good.

I mean, I'm open to have the discussion, too. I do think banning. I don't know that banning bikes is good for us in Morgan Hill because we're tourism, recreation, blah, blah, blah. But I think we should certainly have the conversation.

Yeah. And again, it's about this is specific to certain people. And again, that's what we'll come back. But it's specific. You know, the thing is, we've got we've got a group of and it's maybe a small group, but of teenagers. We take advantage of the ability to do aftermarket adjustments to these bikes and they become something that they weren't intended initially. And they're creating, you know, this is about not only are we trying to be a bike friendly community, but we also have to be a pedestrian friendly and also automobile friendly when these kids are riding in and out of traffic. So at some point we have to take more firm action. And that's what this this report will come back and present to us. So.

So staff will be presenting on this?

Yeah, assuming that three or more of you want us to come back and we'll agendize this for a future agenda. And it will just take some time on staff's part to do the research on what is a class two bike versus a class three bike? What are other cities doing? And that's right.

Yeah. As you know, you and I both are part of South County Youth Task Force. And that's been a hot topic for our group. that task force. So I'd be interested for staff to also reach out to any conclusions that have been made with that actual group too, because that involves the sheriff's department, police department, schools. I mean, it's a massive committee that we are a part of. So, and they were working hard on it. So I would like staff to include at least looking into that and presenting what they've come up with if they have. Okay. Thank you.

I'd like to see if we're going to go forward with the report. If there's been studies now on how many accidents are occurring, specifically to a certain age group, right? Because we're looking at youth. And I just speak from experience from the hockey families that we grew up with. A young boy here in town suffered an accident. deadly accident. So I'm curious to see what what is the percentage that is being seen, if not locally, maybe statewide, if that could be added. That's all the stats. Yeah.

Okay, very good. I think we have just thumbs up. And if we do a formal vote, thumbs up.

I think we've got and I just add to that. I mean, I think, you know, as I've said, I don't I even though it's age, I just think that banning for a recreation tourism, you know, family style, lifestyle for kids, seniors, whoever, I think we should probably look more, I'd like staff to look at it more as solving, you know, that problem rather than banning. So I think there's lots of other things to look at and how people use the bikes and all that good stuff. And we want bike riding. We know that e-bikes are going to be the future. So we also want to capitalize on that.

Keep in mind, however, what I'm asking for is information on banning bikes, e-bikes for 18 years and under on the type two. So all of these other things can be included.

Well, that I'm specifically talking about the type two. Yep. And part of that, while I'll give you that to think, you know, I'm very familiar with riding e-bikes. I have one and I've ridden one with my parents, with my kids. And I can tell you for different reasons, they're very heavy. If you haven't rode an e-bike, they're very heavy. So for seniors, you know, we had to actually switch out their bike because their knees are, it was hard for them. If you stop or you're going, there's a little bit of raise or you go through a curb, it's really hard to get that first traction. And so we had to go back, return the bike and get a different one that had the acceleration so they could take off. With the kids, same thing. They're very heavy. And so, you know, when they stop, they'll have to give a little bit of punch sometimes if there's some incline. So that's why I think we should, I mean, certainly not for people, you know, we want to be safe and all of that.

That's why I'm saying that I want us to- Yeah, again, I think it's including all of what we talked about, including what I'm asking for is to consider a ban on type two for kids under 18 years old. That has to be part of the-

But that's something we'll be voting. Correct.

That is part of it.

But to have the conversation, I wouldn't support.

OK, I think we're going forward. Thank you. Next item, Council Member Martinez-Beltran.

Yes. The next item is I basically am asking for us to have a discussion on having intergovernmental organizations and organizations who request to come to council so that it's not a sole discretion that we have them come and present the information. And I think... you know, it's great for us to provide that to our residents. There has been an instance where there's been requests to come and they're not able to come. And I do think that that's something that we as a council should all be looking at and getting that information that our residents should be getting that information. And then everybody can make their decision how they want to do that. So, you know, for example, this one is with VTA. And I know that we all have a lot of interest in working with the Transportation and how transportation impacts us. And so that's just 1 of many different reasons that I think that we should all be. I mean, I certainly have lots of input on it. I know the mayor has lots of input on it, but I know that others have their ideas and things they'd like to share too. And I'm sure that would be the reverse, you know, maybe on the habitat where I might have something that I want to share with as well. And I think it's important that those intergovernmental organizations have the opportunity to come and hear from us as a collective legislative body, what it is that our priorities and needs are.

Yeah, and I agree to a certain degree with that. But what we're talking about here and what the council member is referring to is with VTA, this is specific to SB 63, which is a tax measure, much like the county wanted to come and present about a tax measure. Open Space Authority would want to come and present about a tax measure. The reason I've been saying no to these presentations is because we ourselves as a city are considering a tax measure in the future. And I think what more importantly, the governor, if I only could, right? The mayor, I think it's necessary for the mayor to have some of that authority to be able to say, no, we're not gonna put that on the agenda. The way around that is, well, we're gonna bring it forward for a future agenda item. And that's how it gets discussed by the broader council. So I think by removing that authority, from the mayor and really that communication goes between the mayor and the city manager to make that determination. We've had presentations from other agencies that have not had to do with tax measures at a time when the city itself is looking at a tax measure and trying to figure out how we're going to do our revenue measure. So I think what it says to our community is, hey, we're into every tax measure. And by the way, at some point, we're going to ask you for one as well. The one in particular, VTA in particular, well, it's presented as a, hey, we're interested in your priorities. I sit on that board. I know what the CEOs... strategic plan is about. We've reviewed it recently, and one of those plans was to get to every city and present for SB 63, a tax measure, and to be able to tell us, this doesn't pass. Oh, woe is us. And that will, in fact, be the case. But They also then look for us as a council to be supportive of those tax measures. Well, we say to our community, hey, support open space authority, support the tax measure for VDA, support the tax measure for the county. And oh, by the way, we need one too. And I just think in those situations, the mayor needs the ability and the authority to be able to say, no, we're not going to do it on this one. And again, the way around it is to come back and say, well, we're going to add it to a, for a future agenda item. So that, that is the, the checks and balances that I think is needed for the council.

Yeah. And council member, you want to respond, right? I do. But if you'd like, I'll defer to you. Actually, it's a question. Um, Is this similar to what Valley Water has? Because I attend those. They have it over at the community center, and they're well attended. It's specifically about the dam, okay, and the progress. So is that the type of presentation you're talking about?

She's talking about at the council.

I know, I know, I know, I know. But I mean, is the kind of presentation they do, you haven't probably attended yet. So it's informational only.

VTA's specific request was to come and they have an agenda item tomorrow for the VTA board. And they have gone to all the 15 cities in the county. and ask for their priorities and needs because they have an investment plan that they are presenting to the board tomorrow. They were asking to come to councils to get feedback from the council members on what they felt that their priorities and needs were so that they would then make recommendations after they met with all of the different cities. They would then make their recommendation, staff would include that as our staff does, and they would then make recommendations to the VTA board to vote on. Now, we were one of two or three that did not participate. And everybody else gave their feedback as to what their priorities and needs were. And that is why, you know, in particular, I'm concerned with that. I mean, first of all, we shouldn't be going through this whole debate. I'll just say that because this is a future agenda item. I feel like, you know, we're now getting into quite a bit here as we did the other item. But I do think For me, it's important that we all have an opportunity to hear that. What are they doing? Tell them what our priorities are. I mean, I have mine, but I'm sure we're all going to have one. And collectively, then with government, you need to get on the board early, right? So now you've got 13 cities who've gone in their priorities and their needs, and staff has heard them. And then the board meeting happens tomorrow. And down the line, we'll get a chance to now say, oh, but we want this or we want that. Or maybe the mayor says something and I might say something. But we are not on the docket. And that is what I worry about. And I also think that it's, you know, somebody tells you something, it doesn't mean that you're going to run out and vote for it. But our voters need to be educated either way, whether they agree or they don't agree. I mean, I think that's fine for them to hear the information. I certainly think it's good for us to hear the information. We're all very busy. I mean, my schedule as I'm sure, I mean, couldn't even, you know, we couldn't even find a time. It's very, Compact, so here we are, we're all sitting here at council. I think it's a great opportunity for us to have the information presented to us. A future agenda item can go three months out, as we've seen. Timing is not of the essence with that. I think we should just schedule it. These are intergovernmental organizations. We are a governmental organization, and I don't think that it provides the best advocacy for our residents.

The thing is, at the same time, like you did with the county and others, is we made available even to vta we'll make space available for you at the community center just like valley water valley water you can come in and do a community presentation So it's no, it's no different than what you might do here. And I'm just trying to protect the integrity of what we're trying to do as far as what we would be looking at down the road. So again, but I think, I think the mayor needs that discretion to be able to do that. Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. First of all, it is not the same as coming to the council with your legislative body, going to the CCC and having a presentation there. We are not all there. We are not all asking questions. Um, that is for community members sometimes that you heard from Mr. mirrorhead, you have 3 to 5 people show up. This is televised. It's live streamed. So, well, and the difference here being is the fact that it's also on the record what it is that we're putting forward these cities.

And I, again, these, these priorities are not going to get funded. This is a, this is a way for to come in and present a tax measure. that I understand that they're putting, and I get it, totally get it, but that's what this is about. I'm gonna go to Council Member Evenaga,

Sorry, so one of the comments that I just heard was that now we're not on the docket because they don't know what our priorities are. But if you sit on the board, are you not speaking up for our city to begin with? I would think that if you're a board member or part of that committee, you would be speaking on behalf of Morgan Hill. Am I not understanding?

I'll answer that question. And the answer to that is yes. When I spoke with their... Government Relations, Jonathan Perez. Yeah, Jonathan Perez. I told him, hey, look, we're not likely to do that. He said, it's not a problem. You can always get that information in later. Wasn't required, wasn't necessary to have in on before July in the meeting tomorrow night. That's an indication that it really isn't that significant. And while they gather information from all these cities, there is no possible way VTA can fund all of these priorities. We can still at any time forward those priorities. I've got an email from Jonathan Perez right here indicating that it's not a problem. We can forward it. We can do it at any time. What is voted on tomorrow is not going to become something that now gets funded. So, again, I think I think the mayor needs to have that ability to make that decision. And again, it can be gone around based on the policy we have for future agenda items.

I disagree completely. I think I'm not willing to lend over my advocacy. If you are, Council Member Iwanaga, and you don't feel, do you feel that the mayor can encompass all of the, you know, everything you have to say about transportation? I mean, that's perfectly fine. That is certainly your prerogative. I think that when you have an intergovernmental agency ask for priorities and needs so that they can include that in a recommendation to the VTA board who has an investment plan, whether A, they get funding, millions of dollars to invest in South County, and we want to say how it is that we want to invest that, or B, they do not and they are now looking at cuts, as we've understood, and we want to decide and talk about where we would like to see those cuts. I certainly do not think that that should be delegated to one person. And I will tell you that I don't think any staff member is going to have an argument respectfully with a mayor. I mean, I don't think that that's something that any staff person would want to do. So of course- Well, the only staff person is- Talking about VTA staff.

Right. Well, no, no, no, no. They actually, they're, they're better than you think.

I think they're great.

I think they're, well, I wouldn't, I wouldn't, uh, I don't have any, they don't have the ability to speak to one of the board members or to the mayor.

I'm not saying they don't have the inability. What I'm saying is that I don't think that they're going to, you know, if that's how you feel, I think they're going to just say, sure. Okay. I mean, that sounds pretty, you know, that's probably what they're going to do.

I mean, if they really wanted to reach out to us, we're a public figure. They have our information. I didn't get a call from them. And just because we won't give them space on city council because it's competing with something that we're trying to do, they should still reach out to us because they can. Our phone numbers are publicly listed or our emails are. So, yes, I understand in some cases we should have them do presentations here. But if it's competing against something that we want, like a tax and they're talking on taxes, that's something that we're trying to do is competing what we want. So I think we should choose pick and choose what presentations come out and the presentation should be neutral. It shouldn't be trying to get something. in our community to agree to something. If they're going to come to us, we're all supposed to be bipartisan, right? And so they should be really neutral when they come to presentations and no hidden agendas. And if it's competing with something that the city wants, then it's going to affect us because our citizens are just going to be hearing taxes, taxes, taxes, or a hidden agenda. So yes, I understand they should do presentations, but they really want our input. They could have called us. I didn't get called. Did any of you guys?

You can't have a Serial Brown Act meeting. And so that's why they would come to council to speak to all of council. That's illegal.

That's not a Serial Brown Act if they call for information. What I do want to do...

And I would ask, and since we've had that discussion without agendizing it, I think we should agendize it because this has already been without notifying the public that we're going to discuss.

The topic that is being discussed is whether we want to move forward with some sort of policy. To the extent we want to talk about a particular event or a particular potential application of that policy to help frame the contours of a policy, if any, that the council wants us to move forward with. You know, that conversation, I think, illuminated that. But I think we've beat that topic.

Yeah.

We're going to move to open public comment.

I, I still have some comments.

I think at this point we do need to go public on we're coming back for council discussion. So we'll have more there.

I have Joe.

Well, this is pretty interesting. So. The story we had for not considering a tax measure in 2026 is, well, the residents, we didn't have the information we need. We're going to have this robust, open, transparent, give all the information we need, build trust. And yet the reason that being told that residents shouldn't hear about critical issues at the county level is because, oh, no, we don't wanna, shh, don't say anything, be quiet. We don't wanna scare people. Let's try to fool the residents into thinking that we just got our own little world in Morgan Hill. This is a great start to that transparency. Council Member Martinez-Beltran, You have it absolutely correct. Residents have a right to, we're not little kids. We've seen this game before. When the county is giving the city the opportunity to have inputs, And like you said, whether it's because they have future dollars or because they're going to make cuts and we're saying, oh, no, no, let's not. Let's let's stay quiet. We've got our own little problems over here. All I can say is it's so typical. Thank you.

Anyone else?

No, Mayor.

Very good. We'll bring it back for council discussion. Council Member Liebergs.

So all we're voting on is whether we bring it back and then we want more discussion at that point.

Yep.

Okay. Thank you.

That's right. Again, you know, I think that it, we have to be very clear and what is clear. And I, I asked a few times to have a scheduled meeting with BTA and was told that it was being worked on. And then I, you know, understood that we were not included in the cities that had been presented to. And I really feel that this is a disservice to our residents. It is also a disservice, I feel, to my colleagues, whether or not, you know, you quite understand or feel that way, to include your input. I know that some of you have talked quite a bit about transportation and how it's so very important to you. but yet you're not interested in sharing our needs and priorities. And that is what VTA has said that this is for. And I think we need to trust in our partners that we are also going to ask for help if they are coming. I know that they have done presentations at others. And as I said, to staff and leadership, we could certainly limit it. We could say to them, why don't you come and present And, you know, we would really like to focus on providing our needs and our priorities. And we could certainly tell them that's what we would like for you to include in your presentation. And I'm sure that they would. I'm sure they wouldn't insist on doing something other than that if that is what they're looking to do is get feedback on their local investment plan. And again, I think it is really critical for us to do that. Not only with this, you know, Measure D is another one. Morgan Hill stands and Thankfully, you know, that went, but this Morgan Hill stands to gain the most from Measure D than really, quite frankly, any other area because we have so much land that's conserved here. And I think people... deserve to understand what is it about. I got a lot of requests, people asking me, what are you endorsing?

Why are you endorsing it? What do you think about this?

I do think it's important. If I may, we can just bring it back to a discussion of whether we move forward with some kind of policy and to the extent.

This is about whether or not we move it to the next level. And so They're going to do this. Who's willing? Who's not? I'm saying no.

I'm going to go ahead because I know we're going to go back. I say no. I don't want to go forward with this.

Three no. Go forward. It fails three to two. Very good. It does not go forward. Okay. Next item is future council initiated agenda items. Is there anyone looking for an issue? Yeah, Council Member Martinez-Belgram.

Yes, we have an agenda item. As I just alluded to, I would like to have something come back to the for future agenda item, which basically is just looking at, sorry, getting back here. Um, I want, I want to look at something that looks at the, the use of these facilities, such as, I mean, I don't want to name them, but we've talked about some of them that are really having some environmental challenges for us that are doing zoning challenges for us. And I think that we need to look at a policy that kind of fills in those gaps so that we are protected. going forward. And so we'll provide that more. I'm sorry.

No, that's okay. Similar though to what Armando was talking about earlier. Exactly.

Yes.

Okay.

So for the minutes specific to I think it was to do data centers and battery.

Data centers, battery.

Yeah, I don't want to, I'm not trying to limit, I'm trying to say something that is challenging the environment, right? I mean, as we've heard with all of our water

are in environmental ag lands with our- Could you say real quickly, could you say data centers, battery plants, et cetera, and then that's kind of all encompassing?

Well, I don't want to- But I mean- Zoning code as it relates to environmental challenges. Environmental challenges, yes.

But in your write-up, you can include all of that as well.

Yeah, I will include that. I really don't want to narrow it because I don't think we see the data centers coming down the pipeline as much. As I said, I was interested in them coming, and now I'm seeing how many challenges that that may cause for us. And it's starting to get a different perspective. I'm so sorry.

No, that's all right.

I changed my password. I can't get it.

1, 1, 1, 1.

Oh, my God.

Okay. Well, but you'll put that in the write up. So you'll have that. Yeah. You'll have all of that laid out. Michelle, does that work? Yeah. Good with that. Okay. Very good. If there's no other future agenda items. We are adjourned. Oh, yes.

No, just when is the next meeting? The next meeting is on Wednesday, June 17th.