City Council - Regular Meeting

God indivisible.

Just wanted to get your attention. Council member colleagues here. Council member Cler here. Council member Stf. Council member Redmond here. Mayor Gloffman

here. Okay. Um, moving on to item number three. Any special presentations or announcements? I don't think there are any for tonight. Uh, we will now move on to item four. This is public comment where if anybody would like to speak for three minutes on any subject not already on the agenda, then please step on up to the microphone, say your name and where you reside. And for first time commenters, I will track your three minutes. When the light on my desk turns yellow, you have 30 seconds remaining. When the light turns red, your time is up.

Hi, half of the Yale movement. Um and also we are officially launching our business networking group. Um we have our first event this Thursday at Clandestino. So we're inviting all business owners, all business owners to be aspiring uh startups, nonprofits even. Um if you're in business or if you'd like to be in business in our area, you're welcome to join. There's no charge for admission to this event. Um of course it's always great if you can patronize the businesses hosting us. Um, but we hope to make this a monthly to start off event to connect our business people. Um, make connections, pass referrals, give each other advice. You know, it's business networking is really important. Um, and we feel like personal connection is something that's very greatly needed these days. Uh, so yeah, we're hoping to start it once a month with the intention to grow it to twice a month. Um, so you may have seen us. We've been walking around doortodoor at all the businesses for the last week or so. So, we've met a lot of people. We've had a lot of great feedback. A lot of people are really excited about this. Um, and then also I I gave you guys a like a sneak peek. We're going to have a like a giveaway or a free membership. Um, we're going to have a membership offering for our business connection thing, too. So, just want to throw it out there and invite everybody to come join us.

Thank you. Thank you. Hi.

Hello. My name is Anastasia. Hi. I want to talk about the Mount Chasta bee um as well as the question of town hall. So Mount Shasta is an amateur paper. I've mentioned here before that I created. I'm working on a second edition right now. If anyone hasn't gotten a copy of the first edition, please wave. I'd love to give you one. Um, oh, I'll give you a wonderful I'll bring that after my time is up. Um, I just want you to know that I've been trying to figure out what stories to write that might be relevant since it's just one person. And um, when I walked around to businesses giving them copies and there's two businesses that are distributing now um, The Spirit of Mount Shasta. So, they keep a copy. People just go in, sit down, read it, and leave it there. And then there's one other one um, which I'm liking the name. I always like the name. It's a familyfriendly bar. I want to say grizzlies.

Deadwood. Say again. Deadwood.

Deadwood. That's it. Thank you. Um, so the stories that I'm working on, one of the businesses said, "I'd really like to hear more about that." And I'm calling it from Yah to Ohana. What uh the heart movement with heart or vision with heart or something like that. So people are curious about what they're doing. So, I would like to add more information for people to understand. There's also some wonderful things happening in Dunmeir related to the homeless. Um, there's a woman named Angie and they're doing a bunch there. So, I want to interview them and find out what they're doing, our neighbors. Um, and then the other one is it looks like I might be able to go on a ride along this week with one of the police officers from the Mount Shots PD. So, if I can get permission, I like to write about that. I think that'd be really interesting for people. So if you have any other story ideas, please let me know. Otherwise, um the other thing is just some of the comments on the next door, some of the issues around contention. I was just curious if there's ever a town hall where people come together facilitated and security based where people can talk about that or is that just too contentious to do? So any comments on that? Um, we'll comment here in a moment during the council and staff comment portion to respond to that.

All right. Thanks so much.

I'm Jean Nell from Mount S. I just wanted to thank all of the city staff and uh people, the mayor that came out to the opening day celebration. We all agreed it was just fantastic. Thank you for your support and for doing that. Thank you.

And if you haven't had an opportunity, go and check out the new exhibit at the museum. Anyone else from the public? Okay. Uh bringing it back now, we will move on to item number five, council and staff comments. Anybody over on this side? How about this side? Okay. Um, staff on the side. I know we've always got some here. All right. If nobody else Oh, please, Chief. Thank you, Mayor Council. You may or may not be aware this uh Saturday uh Mount Police Department, we police department were involved in a critical incident officer involved shooting. Essentially on March 21st uh a WPD officer conducted a stop of a vehicle. He was traveling northbound on I5 uh stopped him near the North Weed offramp for multiple vehicle code violations including unsafe lane changes and uh excessive tent on windows. During the traffic stop, the WPD officer requested a K9 officer to do a the drug sniff. Mount Shasta officer responded with the K9. Um, after the sniff of the vehicle, a search was done of the vehicle and the WEP PD officer located a significant amount of methamphetamine hidden in a uh speaker box in the vehicle. At that time, the suspect was seated in the front seat of the WEP PD uh vehicle. As the WPD officer approached the vehicle, the suspect produced a gun from his waist area, pointed it at the officer, and an officer involved shooting occurred. Uh, as more help arrived, they uh got the gentleman out of the vehicle, and they uh conducted uh our officers did first aid on the uh suspect until he was

transported to Mercy uh his needed help here in Mount Shasta uh where he later succumbed to his injuries. Uh, one officer has sustained minor injuries during a fall during the incident, but there was no other injuries to law enforcement and no injuries to the public. Um, there was a uh, alert put out for shelter in place. Uh, neither WPD or Mount SPD had any involvement. So, if the citizens have questions on why they got that, um, they're encouraged to contact the sheriff's department. They were the ones that put it out. the California Highway Patrol, Northern Division, their major accident investigation team, um, which we have anou with, as well as our critical incident team, which contacted the major accident investigation team since it occurred on the freeway, who was the lead agency, and they're handling the the criminal investigation. Um, both officers have been placed on administrative leave for policy pending the completion of an internal affairs investigation. Um, the suspect's name will not be released by, uh, At this time, the pending notification are next to Ken and that will be done through the SSU county coroner's office. So neither WPD nor mast PD will be releasing that information. And if anybody has any questions or any information they're asked to contact either we PD or Mount Shasta PD um we're very limited on what we can put out um as there is a criminal active investigation.

Thank you. Is there a reason that Mount Chasta was called the Did he not have a drug? I don't know if they had a drug dog or not, but they requested one. We had one question. All right. Thank you for that.

Thank you, Mayor Council. I just want to give an update on the Captain Bella uh charges. He has uh resigned from his position with the city of Masta. Uh so he is no longer on the books here. He did that under his own terms until he can figure out the outcome of what's going on for previous accusations. as well as we're working on posting the job description again to try to refill that position as fast as we can.

Thank you for that question. Okay. Moving on.

Okay. I'll try to make this moderately. All right. Um so we uh you know prep for the summer for the 101st uh of the renaming of city mount shasta 250th anniversary of the nation. We have a u branding logo that um uh we're all using at the city at the chamber economic development um visa is involved. We are getting a list of events together so we can get them on u cardboard placard that businesses can put in their window and get a QR code and um potentially looking into uh purchasing a banner sign to stay up hopefully over uh Mount Chester Boulevard. Uh, I've got um dimensions from Ken and SEDDC can put that together pretty quickly for us and so stay tuned. The the we have an RFP written for the landing for master planning. Uh it uh was submitted to Cisco Economic Development about a week and a half ago. It's now with the EPA. They need to approve it uh for us to tap into the remaining 200,000 plus. Um the RFP is is written for not to exceed of $200,000. And so as soon as we get that um okay, we uh will get it out on the street and uh Brian and John Power and Mark and uh uh Mark and Nunio Danist are coming back at the end of April. We're just trying

to work out the details there. Um the uh library expansion and renovation cost estimating is underway. Uh so that's about a two-month time frame that should be coming back here soon. And of course uh the citizen uh grand reopening which was um you know again all the folks over there Jean um it is a um they do tremendous work and that museum is something special. Uh and finally uh you know we had a great conversation uh today with an expert on tiny homes. He's written uh a number of tiny home ordinances u up and down you know California other states. Uh um we're looking at ways to tighten up certain aspects of the ordinance that we have on the books uh you know to be able to to you know call out the difference between uh certain type of homes. One that's stick built has insulation same as any other home. uh you know modular homes and and you know trying to make a differentiation in the code uh about those that have that are off wheels and those that have wheels remaining. The idea is still to keep it that those uh those tiny homes can't be moved more than once a year. And uh you know, we're we're looking to tighten that up to make sure that um we're not creating liability and we're serving uh you know, a certain large segment of our population. Awesome. Thank you.

Okay. Um I would I will address uh the uh question. So your question was about um just people that have concerns on next door. Is that

Oh yeah. Thank you. Sorry. Thank you. Start over or could you hear me? Uh we could hear you. It's more from the people at home. Okay. Okay. But you're good. So just looking at the issues that are being addressed by local people and creating some contention through the channel of next door and wondering because even though the issues are national,

the contention is local. And so I was just curious if there's a structure for town halls for people to come together and I've facilitated some things like that in the past so I could offer to help if there was an interest. So, I'll just address that a little bit. Um, I can't speak for everybody, but um, for me personally, I do pay attention to what's going on on social media, but I generally choose to not engage heavily. I don't think um, as an elected official or frankly as a member of the public, I don't think a ton of good generally comes out of uh, debating things on social media. So that would kind of be but um if folks I I I have been doing uh a monthly um coffee with the mayor event which I did want to say I gave the wrong date for that at the last meeting. I said it was going to be tomorrow. I did not realize there was an extra Tuesday in March. It's just a long month. So that will actually be on March 31st. Uh you're all good. It was it's on March 31st at Thrive at 9:00 am. So if folks I realize that's after the event you are referencing. Um but if folks want to come and uh talk about things then I'm more than happy to address any issues.

And you know the one other thing to add, this isn't in stone yet. I I need to make sure parks is okay with it. Uh but we're planning on another town hall related to the uh public safety tax measure on April 20th and um you know as soon as that hopefully will be coming tomorrow and we'll get that out there and um you know it is about the tax measure and to answer any questions but those events tend to you tend to hear about all kinds of different issues and so that may be a good place to get it out But you're right. I think it's a good idea. Just I think we need to, you know, at least have uh two town halls related to the measure before November be so we can answer everybody's questions. But after that point, I don't you know, when we were doing the housing element, we held a town hall because there were a lot of issues and I don't see any issue with with holding another one.

Thank you. And thank you for bringing that to the chair, please. And then public comment is also the place for people to come about. Yeah. Right here. And it's not a, you know, usually an open back and forth dialogue that we have, but if there are enough concerns, we tend to get to those concerns at some point. So yeah, that would be my suggestion if it's not a town hall centered around those specific issues.

Thank you. Any other council or staff comments? Thank you. Okay. Uh moving on then to committee updates. We've got the downtown enhancement advisory committee, the library tax advisory committee, the beautifification committee, and the active transportation committee. Any updates? I don't. Do you have any updates on the beautifification committee? Okay.

Okay. Um I would like to remind anybody in the audience or watching at home there is a one vacancy on the planning commission, two vacancies on the beautifification committee and one vacancy on the downtown enhancement advisory committee. So, we'd love to get those filled and become non- vacancies. So, if you're interested, please, yeah, inquire with city hall. Cool. Um, okay. Moving on to item seven, the consent agenda. The city manager recommends approval of the following consent agenda items. All resolutions and ordinances on this agenda or added here to shall be introduced or adopted as applicable by title only, and the full reading thereof is hereby waved. A. Approval of minutes March 9th, 2026, regular city council meeting. B approval of dispersements, accounts payable, March 11th, 2026. Total gra growth, payroll, and taxes for the period ending March 19th, 2026. And C, monthly investment report.

Move to approve consent agenda items A through C as by title only. Second.

All those in favor? I any oppose or abstain? Okay. All right. Moving on to item eight. This is a uh item eight. Sorry, background. Uh first five sysu has prepared a proclamation declaring April as child abuse prevention and sexual assault awareness month and April 11th through 17th as the week of the young child. Uh this says Todd you're going to introduce this. Is that accurate?

Sure. Um first by you prepared the proclamation. I can read it or you know mayor do the honors. Oh, sure. Uh did we want were there any questions first or read the proclamation first is what you're saying. Okay. All right. Uh April 20 Oh, sorry. I've got a copy right here if you want. Oh, sure. Why not? Thank you. Thanks.

Okay. Do you want to say something?

I was just going to preface a little bit um before we started. As you guys probably know that um April is child abuse awareness month. be plus these guys are on time along with these lovely pen wheels. This is all an awareness effort. If you guys are interested in receiving some or you know anyone that is, we'll be going around businesses. We love to get your information. In this lovely packet, we share a lot of information about all kinds of stuff we're getting up to. Um, so the best way to reach us right here is got our office number, good contact email, and yeah, our address as well, but we're not a public office. Um, so see, if you guys don't mind, I'm going to share a little bit about some of our programs. So, sherbase awareness month, one of the biggest things we want to emphasize is um family bonding and strength. We're trying to build strong communities to help prevent child abuse. And the best way we can do that is by having lots of fun. So, if you guys want to open your packets, you can see a little bit about some of our programs we get up to. There's some uh there's some information in there about our playbook attendance, our parenting class attendance, um our family fun events, which we have just kept to what we do in Manchester specifically, but we are all across this county. Always looking for more partners, always looking for more events. Keep us in mind if you guys know of anything. If you think of anything, give us a call. Uh we also do professional development trainings helping educators, helping professionals expand their skills. Um also would love to introduce you guys to a partner celebration. Um this is going to be a little bit later next month, actually next week. Um and so that'd be a great time to come see everybody that we work with, share ideas about

other ideas that we can get involved with the community and how we can best strengthen these relationships. And with that, I won't take too much more of your time. Um, I'll be here if you got some questions. Please reach out. We're always looking for more stuff. And Casey, if you'd like to read the proclamation, that'd be awesome. Thank you. Yeah, please. Question. Yeah. Hi. Hi. What was the part about the like posting that at our business? What is

Yeah. So, this is um it's all awareness raising. So, the the blue represents the young child and it's all about um the abuse prevention. There's a little bit of information in the packet about why specifically blue, but the pin wheel is a national symbol. So, you'll see that in the head starts, you'll see that at the schools. Um and it's just a way of showing like solidarity basically. Um, and I believe if you go around time, there's still there's time to just have them up year round, but we try and do it specifically for April just to really Yeah. get that going. So, if we wanted to post something at our business, do we go through you? Yeah, just give us a call. We'll we'll set up. We can come bring you some.

We we spend a lot of April just traveling around, giving out stuff, going down doors. Yeah, just give us a call. We'll we'll work it out. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. Thanks, Any other questions? Okay.

I can absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. April 2026, the Syscue Child Abuse Prevention Council Collaborative Proclamation. Whereas to become healthy adults, all children deserve to live in safe, stable, and nurturing homes and communities. Whereas children are vital to Syscu Countyy's prosperity and future success. Whereas the people of Syscu County believe in the celebration of life, inclusion, and hope through our children and deplore and condemn acts of violence committed upon the children of our communities. Whereas the lives of children who have been hurt or lost to child abuse are honored by studying their stories in order to prevent future abuse and protect the innocence, health, and lives of all our county's children. Whereas child abuse, rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment impact our society. Whereas child abuse, neglect, and sexual assault prevention is a community responsibility affecting both the current and future generations. Whereas research has shown the enormous impact that positive parenting practices have on a child's social, emotional, and intellectual development and future success. Whereas communities that understand the importance of prevention and support for the well-being of citizens thrive and prosper. Whereas effective child abuse and sexual assault prevention succeed because of partnerships among citizens in all sectors of the county. Whereas April is the month to focus public attention on the needs of all children and prevention of sexual assault. Whereas with leadership, dedication and encouragement, there is evidence that we can be successful in preventing child abuse and sexual violence in Syc. Therefore, we hereby proclaim April as child abuse prevention and sexual

assault awareness month as well as April 11th through April 17th, 2026 as Week of the Young Child. We call upon all citizens, community agencies, faith groups, medical facilities, elected leaders, and businesses to increase their participation in efforts to support families, thereby preventing child abuse and strengthening families in the communities in which we live. Thank you so much. Uh my name is Karen Pots and I have the honor to be the executive director for First Five Syscue Children and Families Commission. Many of you know our work over the years and I've been part of this um over the last two years. I think some of you may know um we helped start the family resource centers and as their focus shifted or the services that shifted towards the adults over the last two years we uh I'm pleased to share that the commission has really taken the lead in working directly with community partners um to provide services and supports and programs and we're very very excited to have two of our grantees actually here uh the museum um the parters partnership with the museum as well as our partnership with the hospital. Um, in addition to that, uh, we've been able to provide multiple programs and services. Um, Mount Shasta is a beautiful place to live, right? And it it's a it's such a phenomenal resource, a wonderful place to raise children, and we're we're fortunate to be part of that effort of creating spaces where families could come and be a part of the community. T I'm super excited about the 101st uh celebration. Please think of us uh for any kind of any way that we can support the effort. Um oh this is since July 1

uh 2025. Um we have provided 14 family fun events and if you've seen one of the family fun events you'll see how phenomenal and interactive and fun it is truly for families. It's an evening often times or an afternoon. um sometimes on weekends where we provide some kind of a family activity, dinner, uh most of the time hosted by a Mount Shaspa supermarket and lots of great connections with families. So since July 1, we've provided 14 family fun events and and 758 parents and their children have benefited from it. In addition, if you haven't been to our play group at Regenerative Arts Center, it's every Monday. Um and just since last week, so every Monday from 10 to um 10:30 to 12, uh the play group is there and please just walk in and see the fun that happens there and the learning that happens there. Um in addition to that, just two weeks ago, we started a new mom's group there and again today I think there were seven or eight parents um already participating. Um I also want to acknowledge the wonderful partnership with the schools um including Golden Eagle. We provided 13 sessions of since July 1, 13 sessions of uh parenting education classes. As you know, one of the best ways to prevent child abuse is to increase parents knowledge and um 86 parents and their u their children participated in these 13 parenting sessions. Uh finally, thank you for being such a supporter of literacy uh with us and also uh nurturing the love of reading uh through the uh read across syscue events. Uh we're pleased to be fair share that today 120 children uh have signed up for

in Montgrapha in our zip code 120 zero to 5 year olds participate in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. And so um uh and it's thanks organizations and our schools and community partners that help support those efforts. Uh we encourage you to consider partnerships. Um the best gift that we can give to each other is to strengthen our work together on behalf of uh children and families. Um we're a we're not a nonprofit. We're we're a special district and however uh we work with multiple organizations that leverage first five dollars um and show their budget and show us in their budget, you know, anywhere from $50 to whatever that we can do to contribute to the um to the value of uh offering these programs and services. But most importantly, we welcome human resources. We welcome all of you as volunteers for any of these events. Um we want to thank you again for this opportunity to be here. Thank you for um uh for the support and the time that you offer each year to uh first price. It's an honor to be here and it's an honor to call Monstrum our home. Thanks.

Thank you. Okay, thank you. Moving on to item nine, the Citizen Heritage Day proclamation. Uh staff has prepared a proclamation declaring April 2nd to be Citizen Heritage Day in honor of Justin Hinckley Sison's contributions to the founding of the city of Mount Sassa. And I can now read that proclamation. All right. Whereas Justin H. Sison was a pioneer in settling and promoting the area in and around the city of Mount Jasta. And whereas the city of Mount Jasta was originally known as Sison, a name that endures as a testament to his foundational role in the community. And whereas just Justin H. Sison and members of his family are interred in the local cemetery, maintaining a permanent connection to the land he helped establish. And whereas Sissen Elementary School bears his name, honoring his legacy for future generations. And whereas historic landmarks, artifacts, and cultural heritage of the region remains synonymous with the Sison name. And whereas the birth date of Justin H. Sissen was April 2nd. And whereas it is fitting and proper that the city of Mount Jastaster recognize and celebrate the contributions of Justin H. Sissen to the history and character of this community. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor of the city of Mount Dasta, California, that April 2nd of each year is hereby designated as Cisenheritage Day throughout the city of Mount Jasta. And be it further proclaimed that the city of Mount Jasta encourages its residents, businesses, and institutions to observe Cisen Heritage Day each year on April 2nd with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities celebrating the rich history and heritage of the city of Mount

Chasta. Signed and approved this 23rd day of March, 2026. Sure. Well, any questions up here real quick? Okay. Public comment, please, please step over to the microphone if you don't mind. Thanks, Jean. According to our records, this was done in 2018. It was it's a it's a reaffirmation and um we love it. You know, we all thought this would be a good idea especially. Yeah.

Given the wonderful re we are reproclaiming it. All right. Okay. All right. We will move on to item 10.

Yeah. Um, so the next item is the proclamation of the city council to proclaim April as Parkinson's awareness month. Um, the request came from uh the mouse sh Parkinson's disease support group. Uh there are a number of people that I've I've spoken to um in this community that are dealing with this affliction day today and um thought it would be appropriate um proclamation.

Okay. Um a proclamation proclamation number CCP-26 01 a proclamation of the city council of the city of Mount Shasta to proclaim April as Parkinson's awareness month. Be it resolved by the city council of the city of Mount Shasta as follows. Whereas Parkinson's disease is a chronic progressive neurological disease and both the second most common neurodeenerative disease in the United States and the most rapidly growing globally. And whereas over 10 million people worldwide, over 1 million people in the United States, and well over 100,000 people in California are living with Parkinson's disease. And whereas the symptoms of Parkinson's disease vary from person to person, and can include tremors, rigidity, difficulty with balance, walking, chewing, swallowing, and speaking, as well as cognitive impairment, mood disorders, and a variety of other non-motor symptoms. And whereas research suggests that the cause of Parkinson's disease is a combination of genetic and environmental factors not yet fully determined, even as 2024 saw the identification of a biioarker for earlier, more accurate diagnosis and the passage of the national plan to end Parkinson's disease act to accelerate the search for a cure. And whereas volunteers, caregivers, nonprofit organizations, medical professionals, and researchers are striving to improve the quality of life for people with Parkinson's and their families through outreach, education, and greater access to resources including Parkinson's specific Parkinson specific exercise programs and care partner respbit grants. And whereas James Parkinson who was born on April 11th described the symptoms most commonly associated with Parkinson's disease over 200 years ago leading to the naming of the disease and the designation of the month of April to wear to raise awareness. Now therefore,

be it resolved that the city council of Mount Jasta hereby proclaims April 2026 as Parkinson's Awareness Month and encourages all citizens to participate in raising awareness, supporting research, and creating a compassionate community for those impacted by Parkinson's disease. Dated March 23rd, 2026. Okay, moving on to item number 11. As part of the required CDBG closeout process, HCD requires grantees to hold a public meeting to present program results and oh, sorry, this is the senior snow removal program or maybe I said that. uh to present program results and provide an opportunity for public comment prior to submitting the final closeout report. We have a report from Todd.

Uh yeah, uh Bry's going to uh from Great is going to speak, but this is a grant that we've had for the last three years. Um it was we served a lot of people and I'm sure Brandy will will go into that, but it's the last year of the program. Unfortunately, you know, uh, snow did not bless us this year, but, um, you know, the previous two years we had, um, you know, a significant amount and we were able, as Brandy can attest, um, for a lot of seniors.

Yes. So Brandy with uh Great Northern Services Community Development Director. Um we have to you saw me a couple a month or so ago, no couple of months ago to do the for the grant application and now we have to do one for the grant closeout. Um, so this was uh to serve um elderly and um those that were disabled that didn't have an able-bodied household member who were under the age of 60. So um it was for that demographic. Um it met the national objectives. So I have to go through these. is part of what I have to do for the close out uh to meet the national objective which was uh to serve limited client uh clientele and that was to serve people over 60 and those with disabilities. Um these participant relied on the program to maintain safe access to their homes during winter storms. Um, over the three-year grant period, the program served 395 households representing 544 individuals. There were 170 unique households with an average of 181 individuals served per year. of um those served of the 544, 244 204 of those individuals were above the 80% um America uh average median income but qualified under the program because they met the age requirement of being 60 or older. Um so we couldn't deny them services. Um services were pro provided during the winter season. Of course, it's snow removal. um which generally is November 1st, November 15th to March 31st, but last year the previous year we did extended to April because we had that um storm in the middle of April

which was fabulous um for some of us. Um Great Northern was a sub recipient. We administered the program and the grant and coordinated with the city um and the applicants were um required to provide proof of residency um that they lived in the city limits because it was for the city limit limits only and to um document their age and disability if they had a disability. Um the snow uh snow removal contractors were um procured under an RFP. The lowest bidder for each route there were generally about 12 10 to 12 routes per year. Um the routes changed per year and um so the lowest lowest bidder for the route um got that route. Um, so clearing the driveways ensured that the emergency personnel could safely access homes if needed, allowed residents to leave their homes for medical appointments and other essential needs during storms. Um, and uh that's that's what it was all about. And unfortunately, we couldn't apply for this this year and probably not for the next year or two because of the way that CDPG is going to um do the funding. Um, our final snow removal date is going to be um uh March 31st this year. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there's going to be any snow in the forecast. It looks like we're still in the mid to high 60s for the next week or 10 days. Um as I said, 395 households were represented for um 544 individuals. Um, we are going to disencumber about $270,000 of the $500,000 grant. When we did write this grant, it was a particularly we had two very large storm years where we were literally spending $100,000 a year. Um,

so I was like, $500,000 that would be good. Now we can't actually apply for that much. So if we would apply for this again, it would be 300,000 and we wouldn't have had a problem expending more than 50%. So lesson learned on that. Next time we'll just if we have large decents it'll cut the program short. So and then I can take any questions and I do have handouts for the audience if you would like them. I have a question for you if you don't mind. Um you mentioned that going forward so we won't be able to apply next year just because of the grant cycle. So that

it's what what HCD is doing, the state agency is doing is that they're going to from the state plan. I believe Kim is going to be um participating or participated in participated in this last um Thursday. Um the state was taking um comments about the state plan. in their state plan for the 26 27 year is that they're proposing that only public infrastructure and public buildings and housing programs move forward in the coming year in the coming fiscal year. So um unfortunately public services doesn't fit in that. And one other question too. You mentioned that uh when we are able to apply again, we won't be able to apply for as large. Is that because the program itself has changed or because we didn't expend?

No, it's that's the state limit. They changed it to 300,000 instead of 500,000. So I think a lot of people had been disencumbering funds from public services. So understood. Okay. Uh let's see. Anybody any public comment ask about this? All right. Thank you. Thanks, Brandy. Thank you very much.

Okay, moving on to number 12. Let's see um background here. After developing a cost recovery methodology, staff is seeking further direction. Uh so this one's going to go over to our finance director or

just an introduction. Um, you know, we've had a a working group uh meeting uh which includes the mayor and uh former mayor Redmond um and uh a lot of work from staff especially from Melissa and um you know we uh in putting this together we have um the all-in cost if we were to recover uh all of our our cost as a city. Um, and you know, that was direction uh from the subcommittee and so that's what Melissa is presenting tonight.

Thank you. Thank you, mayor and council. Um, as Todd mentioned, uh, we were asked to go over and look at the fees for the city. Um, the fees hadn't been looked at in many years and were very, um, segregated. um within types of fees. So, uh we had an ad hoc committee that met several times. Um our focus for the committee was to um review all the fees, review um the different types of fees that um exist in the city which MD3 types basically set by some statute um set by a market rate or set by a cost recovery time study. Um, we went through a methodology that looked at a total cost recovery for all expenses in each department that would be performing the service provided to the community. Um, we did look at ordin the ordinances and where we needed to update those potentially. Um, we looked at comparables. Um we looked at a few different cities uh nearby and then a little broader range as well. Um we did have a special meeting with the full council to review the methodology and um the draft schedule just to see make sure we were on the right track to what was um what we were you know going to be moving forward. Um so we have included here uh the draft fee schedule. Um uh it includes all city fees at this point so that we can have a comprehensive one-stop shop hopefully. Um some fees changed, some fees didn't. Some fees weren't proposed to change. Uh we we just kept as is. uh and then I can go through an example of how we went about um coming up with the fee if that's how

you'd like me to proceed. Um and from there you can answer questions or however you want to move forward with that. Um the example of what I included in the packet was an example of a burn a burn permit. It's a pretty basic fee, so I thought that would be one that would be somewhat easy to look at. Um in the burn permit basically the the customer comes in to the front desk. Our staff uh help from the front desk. They review the rules with the customer. We accept their payment, issue their tag and then we is we record that information on a log which is then provided to the fire department and the fire um department some needs to know where those burn permits are issued in case they need to respond for some reason and they may choose to inspect if they have an issue or concern. So we are we're using this methodology to describe each task with in the fee that we're presenting to recover cost on. And to the best of our ability, we used an estimated time and average time for each task that was provided. So you can see there that the accounting assistant spends roughly about 12 minutes to provide service to the individual that comes in for the burn permit. And then we um went from there and we said, "Well, how much does that cost?" So I included in the packet the accounting assistant um cost recovery um methodology. Uh we decided we at the committee level um decided to use blended rates when we could um and productive hourly rates. So uh productive hours in a typical work year you work 208 hours and people are mostly familiar

with that. Um but Obviously, all of those hours aren't specifically productive. In other words, we have to take breaks. Um, we have vacation time, sick time, time when we're not able to be productive for that job. So, we discussed that. We decided yes, we would like to use productive hours. Each department head went through and reviewed the amount of training, travels, things like that that reduce the amount of productive hours per staff. And then I took each cost component and came up with an hourly rate for the productive hour. So if you look at the accounting assistant, there's all of the um expenses for payroll. So a person who is in a $25 an hour rate, $25.17 an hour rate job, when you reduce that by productive hours and then add all the costs onto that, that gets you to $46.72. And then we look at the additional costs that the city has to pay to support those positions to support the operations to support the materials needed for the different types of things that we do. So I broke those down all into a productive hour hourly cost. And so for accounting assistant that's in the finance department budget and utilizes software and liability and all of those things. Um the hourly rate is $60.70 or $1 one per minute. So then when you take that and you add that to the time spent that um comes out to adding in some of the fire time a cost of $19.30 for a burn permit. We're currently charging five. So our proposal would be to move that to

a $20 burn permit for a regular burn permit. Um we do also have an egg burn permit which I didn't include. Um just one other example, similar process. Um encroachment permit public works director went through t we talked director planning we all put down what we thought the time takes to do an encroachment permit. We had three last week. Um and so uh the same methodology and then broke down each staff component with all their different fees as well. So that was the methodology that we discussed multiple times at the ad hoc committee. I think we all were in agreement that that was the route we wanted to move forward for the time based um fees. Obviously there's fees that are set just by a market rate. Um there's a few of those included in that fee schedule as well. Um, and then there are several fees that are um uh that are provided to us through either a state or uh law or whatever. And we've included those here just so it's clear when somebody looks at the B schedule, it's comprehensive. Here's where I go for the information and it's all laid out there for them. So, I don't know if Todd, do you have anything else to add or

I don't. It was just a really heavy lift. uh um on staff part and want to thank everybody um especially Melissa on this and the time that the ad hoc committee uh spent uh on providing guidance.

Okay, I think thank you Melissa for that and and cos for all the work putting it all together of course and to all the department heads that you worked with for all of that as well. And and to be sorry and to be clear um we're seeking direction again tonight we've got you know hard numbers and um find out if we're on track uh and or any other comments about this. Yep.

Um I'm part of the ad hoc committee so I've seen these before. I just wanted to say again how I mean this is like how much data you put into this makes it really hard. argue with the methodology. So, good job with that. And I also like how, you know, it's not just fees increasing. A lot of them are going down, too. So, it's it's really a fair price based on something. So, I appreciate that.

Oh, please.

This is a lot. Um, first of all, thanks for the and you clearly worked a lot to put this together and all this time this being the first time I'm really starting to see all of this. It's the logic about making sure we're covering our cost that's as you noted is inescapable and and fair. Um there are again just because I don't understand my first time through this I look at the general review points for instance number two on cannabis tax um you focused on a need for a discounted fee and based on these discussions the maximum fees are imposed as proposed but they seem to double triple and quadruple the costs and I didn't understand the difference between we're focusing on a need for a discounted fees and huge increases.

Yeah. Um I was speaking to uh in that report I was speaking to the cannabis cultivation distribution and manufacturing taxes. Um those come with a range in the ordinance. uh and are were pretty low in some of the areas. Uh and so when we had the conversation at the ad hoc committee, my memory was that we were saying why would we discount those rates and so we included I included those. Now the time study ones, those are based on the time that it takes here and you're right, they're going up significantly. I don't know how these fees were developed prior. I don't I don't know how a $90 ation fee was derived. Um but the c the application fee proposed by the planning director is based on the time she expected to spend her herself to spend for that. So um you know many of you probably have guessed uh in smaller rural communities that uh don't undertake this kind of effort. What they tend to do is compare uh other jurisdictions that are about the same size and are charging the most when they need to raise fees and then um and charge that. This is the first time we've gone through to figure out our actual cost. Understand that general approach and of course that that makes sense and I And pardon me, I'm still just trying to wrap my head around.

I guess I should start with with big picture view of this for me going in seems like if you're in the manufacturing business in this town and you're manufacturing, growing, and distributing cannibis. other business in this town was imposed this level of fees in taxes, they'd immediately go out of business. I'm I mean, I'm just looking at the simple ones as I'm trying to grasp this. Just because you're in manufacturing, we're going to go from a buck a square foot, you got a 2,000 square foot place, you're paying $2,000 a month. Now, you're going to pay $10,000 a month just for existing before we get into distribution fees and nursery fees. And and I again, I'm just trying to go I don't understand.

We specifically didn't talk about cannabis. We didn't we we didn't talk about cannabis. Cannabis and we specifically said that we weren't going to it was my recollection. I'm sorry.

No, that's it's been so long to be honest with you. I that was my recollection on on those fees. Um so I'm not sure how it worked here uh in Mount Chasta or for sure in California. I'm very familiar with this process from Oregon. I'm a little bit confused at the moment about um where we're where we're heading. My understanding is that we do need to have a public hearing. So that would be where we would deliberate on the fees. Um and so I I I think that's where I am also looking for some direction. I'm a little unclear as to exactly where we're at in this process.

To the chair on that point if I could. uh just as far as these fees go because yeah this is all sticker shock on the cannabis part. We had discussed not doing anything to cannabis that way let alone imposing from $90 to 4420 that way or 40 4420 that way. And I I was hoping we were going to have one more ad hoc committee to go over this before we presented it to the public to do a little line by line that way because this some of this is not what we talked about and I was hoping that we through one more meeting, we could all get on board to make sure these numbers are in agreeance before we do get picked apart by the public on a hearing. So, you know, if we got to table this till then or just still move forward with a public hearing, but I whatever we got to do, but I yeah, trust me, Jeffy, these numbers are surprising to me from being there because yeah, we haven't met this all year. So, I just want to I think we need to just meet one more time to all get on the same page together.

We we certainly can. I um didn't understand we were having another ad hoc but we certainly can. One of the things though that was uh clear from this the start at least from my perspective is that um you know the intent was to put out there what full cost recovery looks like for the city and not that these are hard and fast. This is where it goes. This is a point where uh council you know, and we can take this back to that ad hoc. Uh, discuss what is a bridge too far

because I mean, the only only business in town that can survive these kind of numbers is the crystal shops. So, you know, we've been, you know, making them, you know, get them on board with it. I I it um yeah uh the rest of it and I do want to reiterate I mean the rest of it I do think um in terms of the methodology and stuff I think it is solid as well. Um just my recollection was the last meeting we had we hadn't touched the cannabis part yet and I think we were but um not disputing the numbers here. That being said I I think before we go to a public hear or to a public hearing um I think another ad hoc meeting if if uh Council Member Redmond and and the rest of staff are are on board with that.

Sure. Just go ahead.

Yeah. Yeah. That way we can talk to Kim about the planning numbers around $4,400 compared to 90. That way to get a little better understanding on the math on that. Yeah, I think it's um while I pro I don't actually dispute what those numbers are, it's less about the accuracy of them for me. They probably are accurate. I'm guessing it's more about the businesses that have been operating under a certain rate for x amount of time as to Jeffy's point and to throw that at them and we knew a lot of this was going to be um that but those ones in particular do seem please again I don't want to sound like I'm like I'm picking on this I'm I'm just literally trying to understand Um like we have and help me understand because I haven't kept up with this. We have three growing facilities in town, manufacturing facilities in town and you know they're they're already here and and bluntly there aren't any more licenses to add anymore. So applications fees in and of themselves really aren't aren't I mean I'm I'd love to see Kim director numbers on how he went to 4200 or whatever it is but more concerning for me is the existing businesses we have here in town and if I'm reading this correctly and I don't know how to divvy this up if you're growing cannibis one rate for the flowers, one rate for the leaves, one rate for the plants, and then another fee for just having the facility itself that that quadruple from

went up five times from $1 to five. Then you are also in the distribution business because you got to move the product. So that went from zero to 5% of gross receipts per month. Think think of any business that you blocked off 5% off the top. What that would do to a business? I don't understand the maybe this is a good thing. I don't know. Can I can I suggest that we all take a deep breath? Um and what we are doing is uh coming before you uh to lay out what it costs to actually provide these services and um we knew it would be sticker shock. Uh we can table this and we can have continued discussions. But what we put out there um you know we put out good numbers. uh you know verifiable uh best methodology and um through the ad hoc committee and through council it you know we need to determine when we become uncompetitive

yeah just to answer your qu one one question that you that you brought up the reason it went from 90 to what it is now the 40 is the 90 was not done through any sort uh methodology like this. It was just chosen arbitrarily. So it's not saying that like the cost of it went from that to this. No, that I get but yeah, go ahead.

I also I just want to reiterate being careful because I know there's a lot of work going into this and we need to make sure we are covering our costs. Um I'm And maybe this isn't the time to have more lengthy detailed discussions. No, sorry to cherry. That's where I was hoping we could table it just to even even till just the 13th of April in three weeks just to so we still meet the June deadline for everything that way. You're on that committee, aren't you, John?

Yeah. Yeah. So, I'm I'll be quiet now and and say thank you. support your neighboring decision if you support that. Sure. Just for clarification sake though, what we're doing right now is not approving these numbers. We're right. So we are simply saying this is what was used these are the what those numbers would be. So we are at a point where if we if we as council don't like them or we think they're not appropriate, we can discuss that now and change them. Yes. No, you need to have a public My understanding I'm sorry I My understanding is that you need to have a public hearing.

We we can have another ad hoc committee of course we can review where we want to land to propose the fee from there. Um, and then once we land, then you need to have a public hearing where you hear from the public and then you deliberate and then you change and you make your decision about, yeah, I want to only charge 10% of that or or whatever. And at that point, you know, I think there probably a variety of ways you can do that. You can go line by line, you can go group by group. I mean, you know, we we it will be a process that we have to go through is the way I would understand it to me. Yeah, it's um just you know so thinking about this as the bigger picture, you know, we are going out for a tax measure uh in November. Um you know, we realize that uh we're about as tight as we can possibly get and getting tighter as we lose additional sales tax revenue. The intent is to put out, you know, the all-in numbers and see what we can do uh through the master B schedule to bring in um you know, money that you know to a point that you guys decide. U so we're capturing some of our cost and we're in a better fiscal position. But you know the intent is to get guidance and we you know you don't have to say anything beyond like you said for us to you know gather the intent. So we'll table it and we'll go back and we'll bring it back.

Okay. So the committee and staff that were involved with this did anyone consult with particular business categories actual businesses in this city about what the effect of the increases would be. Did anyone talk to them directly? No, just in all in Okay. So, I think you should do that and you might find it very thing to do meaning that they will go out of business. They will move

and you might have heard a lot of people a lot of people a lot of people a lot of businesses are leaving California and there's a reason. there better deals in other states and there might be better deals in other cities in California but there are definitely better deals in other cities in other states and if they can leave they will leave and so then you're going to be taxing the people that you know maybe retailers that that need or want to be here and do the best they can but yeah I the construction fees you you got to talk to construction people about the effects of that the cannabis. I think he probably but

well then I'll make a motion to table this for three weeks. We haven't gone to public comment.

It's not a question. It's a request. after public comment. All right. So, we'll take this to public comment if anybody has. Okay. Oh, wait. We got one.

His bones working on me. That wasn't good. Uh AA Thank you for what you guys are doing. Uh this is a good topic. I appreciate all your work. appreciate ad hoc and all their work and honing it down to hourly and what you did on the budget even in layman's terms I can follow you so that's super good I know that we're just trying to get research together so that we can hit our cost because I think our fee schedule for a long time was lower then and we question mark mystery box of how we even came up with it and so we're just trying to use math and saying this is what it cost us today and then we got a couple little bit more talking to do with ad hoc and revise a couple other stuff. And so, um, overall big umbrella. I think we're all heading in the right direction. Just overall, I think we're all doing really good cleaning up some stuff that should have probably been cleaned up a little while ago. And these are all really good topics and discussions on the left side and the right side. So, I appreciate all of you guys effort. That's it. Keep it up. Good job.

Thank you, All right, bring it back now for discussion. Before we uh before we table this, just a request that can be met, which is a number that says in particular the cannabis arena. Here's the taxes our current fees bring in. And moved it to the proposed piece. What would the total number moved to? So, kind of a before and after so we get a frame of reference for what ballpark of of change we're proposing. No, no matter what the committee decides, we just have some idea the before and after total picture. That's all. So I'll make a motion to table this bill to April 13th.

Second. All those in favor? I. Any opposed or abstain? Okay. Thank you very much for that. All right. Moving on to item 13 and this is on page 61 in the packet for those looking. Uh this is the approval of water and wastewater rate study. staff has solicited a free proposal from Pace Engineering to perform a financial analysis and to study the city's water and wastewater utility rates. Ken or

Todd? Uh Todd will be presenting this. So uh knowing that uh we need to undergo a 218 process here soon for uh water and fuel rate and um it's been some time since those have been increased. Uh we asked PACE to provide us uh cost estimates um for the completion of both rate studies uh totaling $60,000. And um for the public, the intent here is uh with a firm like PACE is to come up with a number. Uh so uh that shows what our costs are to provide these services when we enter a 218 process. When we enter a 218 process, we cannot charge uh more than it cost us to provide water and sewer services, but we have to have hard numbers to back that up. And um you know there's a long process where uh we inform the public uh of um the 218 process potential rate increases and within a 45day period we have to hold a public hearing and um you know we can explain those rates then uh and beforehand uh at other meetings. Uh but um then those rates go into effect unless we receive uh a protest vote that exceeded um you know the number of people uh receiving the service.

Okay. Thank you. Ken, did you have anything to add to that? No. Okay. Bring it back for council questions. Okay. Public comment. Anybody got anything to say about uh great studies?

All right. Uh we'll bring it back for discussion questions debate. All right. All right. I'll move to authorize the city manager to execute a professional services agreement with Pace Engineering of Reading, California for the 2026 water and wastewater utility rate study update in an amount not to exceed $60,000. All those in favor?

I any oppose or abstain? Okay. All right. And moving on to item 14. here. Uh, this is a letter of support for AB 2517. Staff has prepared a letter of support for assembly bill 2517 which would provide for greater municipal involvement in the creation of fire hazard severity zone maps.

Okay. Um so you know that uh um the state fire marshall issued uh you know new maps and uh the entire city's now in an extreme fire hazard area. Uh one of the things that um this bill addresses is a lack of transparency. Um and the fact uh from a number of communities that have said that um it's clear that certain things had not been taken into account in terms of land use changes. It hasn't taken into account the lakes. It hasn't taken into account uh you know larger parking lot. It hasn't taken into account places like Mount Chasta which has a lot of wetlands and were built on aluvial plains. And um it uh provides the ability uh over a five-year period for there to be a back and forth and a public outreach process and the ability to appeal some of these designations which of course uh may help with um some folks that uh are getting dropped from fire insurance. I can uh you know speak from my own experience. Um, the new mask. I live in Shasta Lake. I have no trees within 200 feet of my house. Um, and everything is trimmed down. I have a fire hydrant in the back and I have a fire hydrant in in the front. Then I was dropped. Um, that kind of stuff. So, uh, this it passed. Um well, you know, we we are in a rough place for wildfires, but uh you know, we

shouldn't be excessively punished uh meaning homeowners um and communities uh if what the state fire marshall is designating for us does not reflect reality. Okay. Thank you. Uh questions here. Public comment. All right.

Um, we are pushing really hard with alternative housing. We are pushing and growing. We probably have five friends right now that's really into that hemprete and aircrete kind of thing, which is kind of bioer resistant. Um, you just Ariel just sent me over some other architecture that was organic architecture, building houses using concrete and building it into a hill and somehow that's way more. So, pretty much our whole future design of alternative housing is highly on top of fire prevention. Highly, highly, highly. And the biggest part here is that generational the biggest biggest biggest problem. It could be a tiny house on wheels, which is about as fire insurance as you can make it because you just hitch it and you leave. That's that's about as safe as you could possibly get fire insurance and still uh qualifying for grants with fire stuff. I mean, in my world, all of our college kids that's graduating cannot even afford a house unless you show proof of having insurance ahead of time. Period. We're screwed. That means our high school kids that's going to go into our college and we means our elementary kid that's going into high school. And that's why I'm so passionate about the unspoken and the unheard especially inside of this this topic. So, uh coming off a little bit emotional and passionate, but I am definitely for uh helping this discussion uh get better and get more customized because it is yeah, we got a lot of snow and we have a lot of water everywhere around us and we're not like

a typical place for this broad thing to happen. And then you know in my world if we had a tiny house on wheels and it was made out of concrete and it had hemprete in it and it could leave. It's still too hard for all of our kids. And so, uh, I don't know what other options we can come up with, but we're trying to brainstorm options. So, yeah, I am pro for this discussion that help our next generations as we need it. Thank you. Appreciate you. Thank you.

Anyone else? Okay. Okay. I'm going to move to uh have the council approve the attached letter of support for AB 2517. Okay. All right. All those in favor? Any opposed or abstain?

Okay. Item 15, the appro an approval to award contracts for installation of EV chargers at City Yard. In 2025, the city obtained a grant funded by the California Energy Commission for 26,000 for the installation of level two of level two electric vehicle chargers. Okay. Uh basically what we have here is uh we had to go through several iterations of uh design for EV chargers, level two EV chargers down to Cityard. Uh we finally came up with a design that we could uh and we went out to bid with and we got numbers down below the $26,000 grant level we had. Um it's taken us a while to do that. Uh we're ready to proceed. uh the community in charge state funding group it's uh tentatively we can get an extension until miday for this installation. I am just still working on trying to get that verified. Uh reached out to them several times in the last two weeks and having a hard time getting a communication established with them. But so what I'm asking the council to do is give conditional approval for us to uh enact these contracts for a total of roughly a little over $13,000 which is about what half of the grant amount. Um, then it would not be that we would not enter into the contract until we got verification from the state that we do have the extension. And and the bigger picture here is while we've got the grant money available, we're getting ahead of the state mandate that um, you know, we move towards fleets of electric vehicles.

Okay. Conditional approval just appending the verification from the state that we have the extension. All right. No questions then public comment. Okay. We'll bring it back for discussion then over here.

Okay. All right, I'm going to move to approve the conditional conditionally the contracts for the purchase of and installation of two Autel maxi charge ultra AC dualport chargers. These are level two EV chargers at the city yard pending the California Energy Commission's approval of an extension of the grants regarding this purchase. All right. All those in favor?

I I Any opposed or abstain? Okay. All right. Moving on to item 16. Council reports on attendance at appointed or outside meetings.

Meetings tomorrow. Okay. All right. And I will be doing another uh coffee with the mayor 9:00 a.m. at Thrive on a week from tomorrow on the 31st. I didn't realize how many days were in March. That's on me. Um, okay. And then, uh, number 17, future agenda items. We've got the master fee schedule review, which we will certainly be doing, the combination of wastewater and drainage funds, mobile home rent stabilization, and the 2026 sales tax ballot measure. What are there any other future agenda items that people want on there? Okay. Uh, moving on to item 18.