City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. I apologize for being a few minutes late. We are going to go ahead and get started with the Norwalk Housing Authority meeting of August 18, 2025. Theresa, can we have a roll call, please?

Yes. Members Ayala? Here. Valencia? Here. Hernandez? Here. And Chair Perez?

Here. Thank you. All right. Do we have any speaker cards for any item on the Housing Authority tonight?

Nothing on the Housing Authority.

Thank you. There are three consent items for consideration for housing. Can I get a motion, please?

I'll move it. Oh. Or I'll second.

I'll move it. He seconds. There we go. Can we get a roll call, please?

Yes. Member Zayala?

Aye.

Valencia? Aye. Hernandez? I abstain.

Item number 69404. And Chair Perez? Aye.

Thank you do we have a staff report tonight.

Yes chair and chair members of the housing authority. One of the proud moments of tonight is going to be this presentation which we are receiving veteran affairs supportive housing vouchers for our veterans here in the city. And so as we continue to address homelessness and assistance for affordability, these vouchers are a huge, huge assistance for our veterans. And I want to thank Bethany Cardenas, who's going to be presenting tonight for all of her hard work in not only requesting, but requesting again and again that we are making sure that these vouchers get utilized by those in need. So with that, Ms. Cardenas, please present.

Thank you, Mr. Gomez. Good evening, Madam Chair and Commissioners. Tonight, I am happy to present and request your approval of the HUD-VASH Voucher Award Program and related amendments to the fiscal year 26-27 operating budget. The HUD-VASH program is an important partnership between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veteran Affairs. This program is designed specifically to address the needs of homeless veterans and their families by focusing on two things, rental assistance and supportive services. The goal is to provide permanent housing for homeless veterans. This illustration shows how the program works. HUD provides the Norwalk Housing Authority with HUD-VASH vouchers and funding. The VA identifies homeless veterans and refers them to the NHA. If the veteran meets HUD-VASH guidelines, we will issue a voucher to subsidize their rent. The VA will provide ongoing case management and supportive services to help veterans stabilize. Congress has supported the HUD-VASH program with yearly funding since 2008, with vouchers awarded based on PHA need and performance. The Norwalk Housing Authority had to meet eligibility requirements, register our interest to receive vouchers, and collaborate with the local VA. For the Norwalk Housing Authority, the application process began in August 2025, leading to an award of 18 vouchers in March 2026. Funding was officially confirmed in June and took effect on August 1st, 2026. There is no impact to the city's general fund. The program is funded fully by HUD with $313,356 to support the program's launch.

I think the battery's broken, Camille. Okay, there it goes.

This action aligns perfectly with the Norwalk Housing Authority's five year plan and directly supports the city's strategic goals by improving conditions for residents in need and building a more resilient community. Staff recommends that the Norwalk Housing Authority Commission adopt a resolution NHA 177 approving the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's VASH voucher program award of $313,356 and amending the fiscal year 26-27 operating budget to increase revenue and expenditures. and amend the administrative plan to include the HUD-VASH program. These items will enable us to better serve local veterans and their families. This concludes my report. Thank you.

Thank you, Bethany. Tony, you had a question?

Yeah, could you go back to the slide that talked about what they needed to do?

This one?

Hold it right there. Since the VA identifies eligible homeless veterans, does that mean that Norwalk homeless veterans will not be prioritized and it'll just be an open lottery for whoever the VA identifies?

No, the Norwalk, City of Norwalk will always get preference with the Norwalk Housing Authority. So once we have a waiting list and if there's too many than 18, then we'll do a lottery but the Norwalk first. The same that we did with Mercy Housing Norwalk will always be first.

Okay. Sounds good. Thanks.

Thank you. Any other questions? So Bethany, I will just say I remember the day you got the email that this was officially signed, sealed and check was coming. You worked really hard on this. And this is definitely one of those days where The impact far outsees the dollar sign, because I know you are passionate for those that are searching for housing in our city, but even more so for our veterans. So congratulations. I am so, so excited that we get to move forward with this. With that, I'll make a motion to move this item. Thank you. Theresa, can we have a roll call, please?

Members Ayala. Aye. Valencia. Aye. Hernandez. Aye. And Chair Perez.

Aye. Thank you again, Bethany. Congratulations. Hey, Seuss, do we have a community development director's report this evening?

Not tonight.

And again, any additional oral communications for the housing authority? none for housing all right with that this portion of the meeting is adjourned just give us a few moments so we can reset our room All right, we will officially call to order the Norwalk City Council meeting of August 18 2026. Before we can begin, I do have a lovely message that I have to read to all of you. Thank you in our state of California some for some very fun rules. Effective July 1, 2026, government code section 54953.4 requires cities to implement two-way audiovisual and telephonic services to all city council meetings. As such, meetings will be ran differently to include Zoom participants. In-person individuals will continue to submit a speaker card to the Sgt. at Arms. Individuals participating in the meeting virtually through Zoom will need to raise their virtual hand if they wish to speak on consent calendar or other items on the agenda and under public comment once I ask if anybody wishes to speak on an item. Callers will be muted until it's their turn to speak and muted again after they speak. When I ask if there is anyone wishing to speak, this is the time for individuals using Zoom to raise their virtual hand. If you are using the Zoom app or website, there is a feature that allows participants to raise their hands. And if calling in by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand. Each person will have three minutes to speak. Only one comment per person per item is allowed. And no one may transfer their time to others. In-person individuals will be heard first, followed by virtual speakers. Please respect all in attendance by following our rules of decorum. Once again, welcome everyone to our Norwalk City Council meeting. We are going to go ahead and get started as we welcome and honor our friend Pastor Danny Casas from Remnant Church to lead tonight's invocation. Pastor Danny has faithfully served the Norwalk community since 2017 as the lead pastor of Remnant Church. Through his ministry and service, he has built a strong connection to the Norwalk community. Pastor Danny is a dedicated and passionate runner and writer, while at the same time, his goal is to foster growth for the church. He aims to bring hope and healing for spiritual transformation to the people here in Norwalk. We are also pleased to welcome Mr. Lucas Azurin from St. Linus Catholic School to tonight's city council meeting. Lucas is an eighth grade student at St. Linus, and he is proudly serving as the student body president for the past two years. In his free time, which I know for a fact he doesn't have much of, he enjoys playing tennis. Pastor Danny and Lucas, please come forward to lead us in the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. And then we'll invite you both up to come to this front to take a photo with the city council. At this time, if everybody could please stand.

Thank you, Mayor. Most Heavenly Father, we thank you for your grace, your goodness, your mercy, and we pray for your leading upon the city of Norwalk, your direction. Pray for all our residents, our veterans, our service men and women. We also pray for the unsheltered. We pray for our senior population. We pray for our schools, our churches, and our businesses for your blessing and protection. We also pray for your blessing, Lord, upon tonight's meeting that you would lead us and guide us in all this we ask in the mighty name of Jesus.

Please face the flag and put your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. 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.

All right, and before you leave, Lucas is actually here with, it looks like, his student council student body. So Lyons, why don't you come up and join us for the picture.

Right in here, right in here. Ready? One, two, three. Take care. I want to see you again. I don't know. Just guide him or something.

All right, good evening and welcome once again everyone to our meeting. Thank you to the parents and everybody that came along to support our students tonight. Teresa, can we have a roll call please?

Council Member Zayala? And Valencia?

Here.

Mayor Perez?

Here. Thank you. Arnold, can we have a closed session report? Arnold is no longer with us. John, can we have a closed session report, please?

Good evening, Madam Mayor, City Council. Earlier this evening, the City Council recessed in closed session. There were three members of the council that were there present. Mayor Perez, Council Member Ayala, and Councilwoman Valencia attended in person. Vice Mayor Rios and Council Member Ramirez attended via Zoom. During the meeting, the City Council met to discuss three items in closed session that are listed on the closed session agenda. The City Council was briefed on all three items. Direction was provided to staff, but no final action was taken on it. That concludes my report.

Thank you, John. All right, moving next to council comments, we'll go ahead and start all the way to the right with Councilwoman Valencia. Anna.

all right um i'd like to echo the sentiment of the mayor and welcome everybody here and i asked the students i said so when did you start they said today today was their first day and then they came over here that was what dedication they were just wonderful So I'd like to welcome everyone tonight and also say welcome back to school to a lot of our districts. I started last week and man are we feeling it. It's a great new year, new school year, and I wish a great school year for all of our students, and parents, and educators as well, and volunteers. Mayor, I don't have a whole lot, but I do have to report that Wednesday, August 5th, at Norwalk Park, we had our last summer concert, And oh my goodness, I have never seen so many hats and boots and people just all over. It was wonderful. And the dance floor was packed. It was amazing. So everybody had a great time. But also the different stations that we had was awesome. great national night out. So got to see a lot of our public safety sheriffs and everybody involved and it was just a really good night and as always a really great feel and lots of people visiting all of the different centers. my highlight was taking a picture with the helicopter. I missed when it landed, but I did get to see it there and take a picture, and that was a lot of fun. And luckily, there wasn't a long line when I was there, but as soon as I got out, the line was huge. It was great. And of course, the officers there, sergeants, were just so welcoming to our community members. That was great to see. um then that next day i had the southeastern water coalition meeting and now cerritos is the lead and they had it at the sheriff's conference room in cerritos that was a really well attended meeting you were missed albert but we know that you had some other things and you were well represented So we had some really good information. Shorter meeting than ours. I think we hold the record still, Norwalk, for the longest meeting in this commission. But, you know, still very important items and really good information. Saturday, August 8th, I stopped by the Door of Hope. and friends because it was collective food and resources giveaway. Very well attended, lots of people there, lots of community members. And it's just always great to see some of our friends who are out there just, you know, doing some really good things for our community. And then what was I going to say? Actually, I think that's it. Just welcome back to school and welcome back to the meeting.

Thanks.

Thank you, Anna. All right, I know that Tony doesn't have any comments at this time. So I will be brief. National night out was amazing. Thank you to the entire team that supported the efforts for that celebration. It was great to see public safety, the sheriff's department where we got to introduce our brand new captain. to the community. We also had the fire department out there, public safety. We had our neighboring soon to be Santa Fe Springs Police Department there. They want to work in collaboration with the City of Norwalk. Because we have a lot of touch points with our borders between Santa Fe Springs and Norwalk. It was a great, great event on top of the helicopter and the horses and the riot gear, you name it. It was definitely a fun, fun evening. I want to just thank everybody for coming and participation in the state of the nation. We also had Congresswoman Linda Sanchez here in the City of Norwalk, our combined district chambers of commerce all come together to put on a great event each and every year. And I'm going to say this, led by our very own Ms. Karen Spilsbury, she takes the helm and really really leads all of the regional chambers to all of the events where we are doing a co-hosting together. The Doubletree was sold out. The room was full. And there's a lot of information that was shared, which was great. So thank you, Karen and everybody that attended our State of the Nation. I also had an opportunity to attend The League of California Cities annual installation where we brought in our new board members for the LA division. And the league is an organization where we collaborate together. So participating in those always is a It's an extra night out of the house in the evening, but it's a true benefit to our cities as we collaborate together. So those are my comments tonight. We do not have any special presentations. Yes, you have a, come on, Anna.

All right.

Go ahead. Thank you. I just wanted to report that at the CWOC meeting, Norwalk did request for some letters of support from the CWOC and the WRD so that we can do some work on the wells, and that was unanimously passed. Okay, and then this past Saturday, the Soroptimists had their meetings so that they can plan out the year. It was a very well done and lots of, there's an echo, and lots of fundraisers and so you'll be notified of that. Thank you so much, appreciate it.

Thanks, Anna. All right, moving right on to our city manager comments. I'm gonna turn it right over to Mr. Gomez.

Yes, thank you, Mayor, members of the City Council. First thing is the National Night Out was a huge success. Lots of participation from our residents, and they were all having a great night. And we introduced our newly selected captain at our last meeting, but happy to see him there interacting with the community. So it was a great celebration for the city. SECOND THING I HAVE IS WE ARE GOING TO HAVE LATES AND IT SAYS LEASHES BUT I'M GOING TO SAY EYELEASHES BECAUSE HOW DOGS JUST LOOK AT YOU AND THEY JUST BLINK AND BLINK AND BLINK. SO EVERY SATURDAY 9 TO 12 AT BOB WADE PARK. and it'll be available for all to come and join but the few first 20 lattes will be free sponsored by the city but you can buy a coffee there latte and so forth so that's coming up starting August 29th that's this coming Saturday to September 26th All right Next we wanted to provide an update on Back to school. We just had some students who were back to school today like to have our public safety director Rita Ruiz Provide you with an update on how all that is going here. I think it was last week in this week Yeah both weeks so

Thank you. Good evening Mayor Perez and members of the City Council. Tonight I'm going to give you another update on our ongoing efforts to address our partner schools and school safety efforts. So our objective is to take a proactive approach to school safety by increasing our presence, improving traffic safety, educating our community, and working alongside our schools and our residents to help ensure every student arrives safely each day. Public safety continues to maintain a strong presence around our schools as students and families return for the new school year. Public safety officers are alternating school locations during morning drop-off and afternoon pickups, allowing us to expand visibility across the city while monitoring traffic, pedestrian activity, and overall school zone safety. As a reminder to the community, school safety is a shared responsibility. We also want to use this opportunity to remind residents and community members that school safety is important. We encourage our drivers to slow down, remain alert, avoid distractions, follow posted traffic and parking regulations, and use extra caution around crosswalks in school zones. Next, we'll showcase a short video on our outreach efforts.

Hello, my name is Celia Sanchez and I'm the principal of Lakeland Elementary from Little Lake City School District. Thank you to the City of Norwalk Public Safety for collaborating with us. We are looking forward to a great year.

Good morning, I'm Mr. Lazo, Interim Coordinator Student Family Services at Norwalk-Palmerado Unified School District. And I just want to say it's been a wonderful start to our first day of school. We've had the public safety out here supporting. We have our wonderful crossing guards out here as well. And it's been a great partnership with our district and public safety. and we're here for you. So welcome back and thank you.

Rita, thank you for having that video, because that really truly shows how active we all have been here with Back to School, and mainly keeping everyone safe. So thank you for doing that, appreciate it. Next, we have the presentation on professional services selection process. I'd like to recommend that we do that at our next meeting when we have a full council, if that's okay. Next, we have a video from our Junior Olympics that recaps the event. We'd like to show that to the community. Those were regions from throughout our nation. they came to Cerritos College to participate to compete to win and so we'd like to share that with the community these are some of the nationally involved events that we've been able to participate here as we did with the FIFA soccer games so with that we can play the video

After nearly two decades, the USATF National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships returned to Southern California, bringing thousands of athletes, coaches, families, and fans to Cerritos College for a week of national competition. The opening ceremony began at Falcon Stadium, where Norwalk Mayor Jennifer Perez and Councilmember Tony Ayala welcomed athletes, families, coaches, and visitors from across the country to Norwalk while recognizing the dedication that brought them to the national stage. Mayor Perez then introduced celebrity host Sway Calloway, who brought energy and excitement to the celebration. The evening showcased the culture and spirit of Southern California through live mariachi music and colorful folklorico performances. Then came the moment at the heart of the ceremony. Athletes representing regions throughout the United States entered the stadium and made their way before the crowd. Surrounded by their teammates, coaches, and families, they proudly represented the communities that supported them on their journey to one of the nation's premier youth track and field competitions. The ceremony continued with a performance of the national anthem and a powerful presentation of the American flag. The city of Norwalk was proud to welcome every athlete, coach, family member, and visitor to our community. Congratulations to all of the competitors who earned their place on this national stage.

The energy was just out of the park. I mean, we were sitting there, and all these athletes were not walking as you saw. They were running, running through the introduction, and just lots of energy, including the two co-hosts. Lots of energy from them, too. And the one thing that I think We have experienced is kind of these large events and being able to prepare for them work in coordination with other agencies and Rita, thank you for taking the lead on public safety and being able to Anticipate the traffic flow like getting them to the parking lot from the off ramps of the freeways So thank you for doing that. I think it went off. Well, so well with that a great event for our the city to be part of. Next, we have the video for the National Night Out that we would like to share with you. You can see what type of events we had in all the people that attended.

This year's national night out was at a new location, Norwalk Park, and the community showed out. With live music from Latin Soul Band and Band de las Angelinas, they kept the dance floor full all night. This celebration was more than just a fun night out. It was a chance to connect with the people who keep Norwalk safe.

National Night Out is important for Norwalk because it's a day where we could build relationships, trust, and open communication with our residents of Norwalk. It's a day where they could come out and talk to us, have face-to-face conversations, and interact with our city officials, with our deputies that are out here. And we have a great DAF that's able to answer any of their questions they may have.

Throughout the night, residents got the chance to meet with deputies, public safety officers, and first responders.

Safety is a shared responsibility. It builds trust within our community, and it shows all our law enforcement partners to be able to collaborate and come together on this day.

This event aligns with goal two of the Norwalk City Council's strategic plan to work in partnership with our community to achieve safe and livable neighborhoods. From safety education and community resources to a bike rodeo and photo ops, this event brought out the best of Norwalk.

I always like coming to the events. They're super nice, super friendly, really family oriented, and the kids love it.

Thank you to the Norwalk Sheriff's Station, Public Safety Team, the CHP officers, first responders, and every resident who came out to celebrate. Together, we're creating a safer, stronger, and more united Norwalk.

It's a great way to have the community interact with Sheriffs and they actually can touch and feel some of their equipment which is I think an excitement for young kids and adults too. and adults too, as we hear from Councilwoman Valencia. So with that, I'd like to also provide a recap of the summer concerts for the summer. Lots of fun and yes, lots of dancing. With music, here we go.

This summer, Norwalk turned up the volume with the Wednesday Summer Concert Series. Over the summer, residents brought the energy, filled the dance floor, and celebrated summer together. The series kicked off on July 8th with Knight Rider, bringing the biggest hits of the 80s and 90s.

I gave you candy, gave you diamonds, gave you pills, gave you anything you want, $100 bills. And I even let you hear the songs I want to sing, because you married me, married me, married me. This sounds so good, Norwalk. Keep it up.

On July 22, Pop Vision took the stage with today's biggest hits and a high-energy performance.

Yeah, Norwalk. All right, guys. We're PopVision. We're bringing you all the greatest pop hits of all time, guys.

Then, on August 5th, Norwalk Park came alive for Banda Night. Latin Soul Band kicked off the evening and set the tone for the celebration.

Sucre, mambo, de vuelo ni a pichica De retorceras entre polos pica

Aplausos para ustedes que ponen el ambiente. That's what I'm talking about, Norwalk. It's always good to be back.

Banda Las Angelinas then closed out the series. Aplausos, aplausos, aplausos. Thank you to everyone who came out, sang along, hit the dance floor, and made this summer one to remember.

Summer concerts, once again. Next we have, we're gonna round it up with the bi-weekly review of all the events we've had here in the city. Please stay tuned and you're invited to all the events. We have lots of events happening throughout the city. And so with that, let's play the video.

On August 1st, the Norwalk Aquatic Pavilion held a dive-in movie night. Residents in attendance gathered to enjoy snacks, splash around in the swimming pool, and watch Lilo and Stitch. The Norwalk Public Safety Department hosted an Ice Cream with a Cop event on August 5th. This event provided residents with the opportunity to enjoy ice cream while connecting with sheriff's deputies and public safety officers who work to keep the community safe. Norwalk was the host city for the annual State of the Nation Luncheon by Congresswoman Linda Sanchez on August 7th. Mayor Perez and Vice Mayor Rios were in attendance as Congresswoman Sanchez shared updates on her work in Congress that impact our community. On August 13th, Norwalk celebrated a very special milestone as resident Asuncion de la Cruz turned 101 years young. We wish Asuncion a very happy birthday and thank you for letting us celebrate with you. On August 15th, Norwalk's Public Services Department connected with residents from Zones 5 and 6 to share the latest updates on the city's street rehabilitation program. Residents had the opportunity to learn more about the work coming to their neighborhoods, ask questions, and provide feedback directly to city staff.

As you can see, lots of activity here in the recent past. Next, I will finish with the immigration update. Since last city council meeting, no request for immigration related assistance or information have been received through the city's community preparedness resource hotline. However, the city remains committed to ensuring residents have access to reliable information and community resources as needed. On Thursday, August 13th, the Social Services Department participated in the Los Angeles County Regional City Summit hosted by the Los Angeles County Office of Immigrant Affairs. The summit focused on strengthening regional coordination and resources available to immigrant communities. Locally, CHIRLA will provide resource information at the Norwalk Senior Center tomorrow and at the Social Services Center on Thursday from 9 to 12 p.m. Continuing the city's efforts to connect residents with trusted community-based resources. Mayor, members of the City Council, that concludes my City Manager comments. Thank you.

Thank you Jesus before we go to the consent calendar. I believe there was one change on the agenda like to announce that.

Yes, item number 8 if we could. Place that on the next City Council agenda.

All right so item number 8 is going to go on the next Council meeting. I'll go ahead and make a motion to We have a first and a second from one through seven. Three second, we have roll call, please.

Council Member Zayala.

Aye.

Valencia.

Aye.

And Mayor Perez.

Aye, and I will abstain on items that I, check numbers for the city clerk that I will give her for item number three. All right, moving on to appointments.

I have three. I'd like to reappoint Vic Juan. and Rhianna Martinez to the Recreation Commission. And I'd like to appoint Laura Valenzuela to Public Safety Commission.

Okay, I'll go ahead and second that. And you have some as well, Anna? I do, yes. Okay, go ahead.

I would like to appoint Karen Ayala to the Historical Heritage Commission.

And I will second that one as well. Thank you. I believe we have a few of...

I think I might have to...

Did we roll call first and then take the oath, Teresa?

Yes.

Okay. We're right ahead.

Councilmember Zayala? Aye. Valencia? Aye. Mayor Perez? Aye.

Thank you. And the members that, commissioners that were just reappointed or appointed, if you're here, if you can step forward to the podium. Thank you.

Oh, there it is.

You can both go together. If you'd both please raise your right hand, please. I will go ahead and say a sentence you can follow along with me after I repeat. So I instate your name. Do solemnly swear. That I will support and defend. The Constitution of the United States. And the Constitution of the State of California. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance. To the Constitution of the United States. And the Constitution of the State of California. that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I'm about to enter. Thank you. Congratulations.

All right, item number 10, resolution number 26-51, appointing a board member to the governing board of the Los Angeles Gateway Region Integrated Regional Water Management Powers of Authority. Jesus, do we have a staff report, or can we just move the item?

We have a staff report, but you can move the item if you'd like.

I'll move it. May I roll call, please?

Council Member Zayala? Aye. Valencia?

Aye.

Mayor Perez?

Aye. Thank you. Item number 11, resolution number 26-50, authorizing amendment to the fiscal year 26-27 adopted budget allocating $174,700 of the low and moderate income housing assessed fund for homeless prevention and rapid rehousing. Jesus?

Yes, Mayor and members of the City Council, is Alex or Bethany? Bethany will be reporting. Thank you.

Sorry about that. Thank you, Mr. Goldman. Good evening, Honorable Mayor Perez and members of the council. Tonight we are discussing resolution number 2650, which authorizes an amendment for the fiscal year 2627 budget. This amendment allocates additional funding for homeless prevention and rapid rehousing services in Norwalk. The Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program has been a key support system since 2016, funded by the city's low and moderate income housing asset fund. This program provides rental assistance to prevent homelessness and help at-risk residents secure stable housing. Kingdom Causes of Bellflower has been our partner in delivering these services. In April, the city issued an RFP seeking qualified providers, or HPRP. Only KCB submitted a proposal to continue their established roles as program operator. KCB brings over 20 years of experience and a strong track record in homelessness prevention and housing support across Southeast Los Angeles County. Their successful partnership with Norwalk make them a strong choice. In addition to financial support, KCB's model covers outreach, case management, landlord engagement, transportation, and compliance reporting. Services expanded to support foster youth and veterans, ensuring that each household receives a tailored plan to enhance long-term stability. KCB anticipates serving up to 225 Norwalk households with 20 to 60 receiving direct financial assistance depending on need. All activities will be tracked for accountability. There is no impact to the general fund. The additional $174,700 comes from the housing asset fund supporting a total of 250,000 in services from July 2026 through June 2027. Staff recommends that the Norwalk City Council adopt resolution number 2650 amending the fiscal year 2627 budget to allocate an additional $174,700 from the low and moderate income housing asset fund for homeless prevention and rapid rehousing services. and approve an agreement with KCB for an amount not to exceed $250,000, effective July 1st, 2026, through June 30th, 2027, with up to four one-year extensions, and authorize the city manager to execute the agreement and any amendments in a form approved by the city attorney. Thank you. This concludes my report. Happy to answer any questions, and KCB is also here to answer any questions.

Thank you, Bethany. Just a few questions. And I don't know if this will go to you or even to Gabby Regalado. With Kingdom Causes for Bellflower, this is not a new partnership. We've worked with them in the past, correct? Yes. And knowing that, knowing how they work, how do you see, you know, the continued partnership and the extensive care continuing here in the city. Is there anything that you want to share? Because we get a lot of times that we're not doing the right things for the homeless or providing housing resources to those that need the most. And I know we've been working with them for a while. And just share a little bit about what you see and what you both have heard and work with.

Well for me, for Project Homekey, they were very crucial in providing transportation, giving emergency hotel vouchers in between the interim when they thought that they were, Project Homekey was gonna open up. They needed extra days to be housed. They helped with that. They help with the outreach with the veterans that are with the VASH vouchers. They will be helping with the outreach for that, transportation, identifying veterans that we can refer to the VA and also for our foster youth. They will be helping with that.

And I think what is great to know is that they are already participating in our resources here in Norwalk, which complements the question that Tony had earlier, Norwalk first. We want to take care of those that are here.

Correct, and with the Housing Successor Fund and also any CDBG-related federal funds, always is for Norwalk. All the other cities get their own appropriations. So anything that we have, grant-related, Successor, the funds, they're always Norwalk. They have to be, that's how they qualify. And we do audit and monitor them.

Wonderful, thank you for that. Any other questions? All right, I'll go ahead and move the item. Can we have a roll call, please?

Councilmember Zayala. Aye. Valencia.

Aye. And Mayor Perez. Aye. Thank you. Moving on to item number 12, project number 7921, award of contract construction, construction management and inspection services for Alondra Boulevard pavement rehabilitation from Gridley Road to West City Limits. I've been waiting for this report. Jesus.

Yes, and so have many others have been waiting for this project. And with that, we'll have Mr. Albert Mendoza present the staff report.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council Members. Item 12 of the agenda tonight is Project Number 7921, the Oral Contract for Construction and Construction Management for the Alondra Boulevard Pavement Rehabilitation from Gritley Road to West City Limits, Resolution Number 26-44, Budget Amendment with Engineering Report Number 26-33. I'll start with a brief background. On May 29, 2026, staff solicited for construction bids for the Alondra project from Greeley Road to the West City Limit. The scope of work included improvements to the asphalt concrete pavement, cross gutter improvements, spandrels, curving gutters, sidewalks, ADA compliant ramps, traffic striping and signing. On July 14, 2026, the city received seven bids, which were publicly open. Two bids were found to be non-responsive. The responsive bids were as follows. The number one responsive bidder was Gentry Brothers with $2.3 million, followed by Sequel Contractors, Onyx Paving, RJ Noble, and CalMix. Part of the project also includes the removal of seven trees along the Alondra Boulevard. These removals are necessary to prevent any additional uplifting of the concrete. All removed trees will be replaced with new trees at designated locations along the project limits. Our fiscal impact, following is an estimated construction breakdown of the total project costs with construction. Construction costs at 2.3 million, construction and landscaping contingency at 586,000, an additional 400,000 for construction management inspection services, 20,000 for design support for a subtotal of 3.3 million, with a total estimated cost at 3.4, 490,000. Project expenditures are currently funded with Prop C, RMRA, and TD Article III funds. No general funds monies are used for this project. Staff recommend City Council adopt Resolution 26-44, Resolution of the City Council of the City of Norwalk, authorizing an amendment to the fiscal year 26-27 adopted budget and to deobligate funds for the project number 7921, Alondra Boulevard payment rehabilitation from Greeley Road to the West City Limit in the amount of 600,000 and award a contract to Gentry Brothers in the amount of 2.3 million with a contingency in the amount of 586,000 for construction services and authorize the city manager to execute the contract and any amendments within the contingency on behalf of the city in a form approved by the city attorney. That concludes my presentation. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Albert. Can we go back to slide number, I think it was six. I just want to see the slide that says no general fund monies were used for this project. thank you this this is long awaited i know council member tony ayala made the same comment there was a lot that went into the overall project the there was utility work everything going on this is a big day to see this getting approved any other comments questions i think i think of all the contacts i've gotten from the public

I think this probably rates as number one. for the last few years, and I live close by there, so I'm riding over those streets, and it feels like you're on a dirt road, and people are waiting, and waiting patiently, I mean, but it is, it's like Jennifer says, I mean, this is huge, and as everybody knows, Alondra has a main artery. It comes through town, and there is a lot of people driving it, so I think this is great news, so thanks, Steph.

All right, with that, I'll go ahead and make the motion to move this item. Get a second?

I'll second.

Thank you. Can we get a roll call, please?

Councilmember Zayala? Aye. And Valencia? Aye. Mayor Perez?

Aye. Thank you. Moving on to item number 13, the International Friendship Commission approval of proposed travel and activities. Jesus, can we have the staff report, please?

Yes, mayor members of City Council. I'll be presenting this item to you tonight. This is the International Friendship Commission and their work that they're proposing to the City Council. So the International Friendship Commission was first created in 1961 to expand citizen diplomatic relationships and exchange cultural differences with other countries. Since its creation, there have been various sister cities in Mexico formally adopted by the city council. These include Hermosillo, Sonora, Fresnillo, Zacatecas, and Morelia, Michoacan. The city has shown successful implementation of programs and partnerships through its sister city relationships. The commission began a pen pal program and then welcomed Fresnillo for a visit in 2023. The commission has had discussions and decided that they would propose this to the city council that they would like to continue exploring connections with other cities in Zacatecas by serving as ambassadors on a trip to the state. Below is the travel information. and those dates would be September 11th through September 17th. They proposed the maximum amount of people that would go, but I can share with you that as of today, only one commissioner is able to go. We have Vice Mayor Rios, who has shown interest in going, And so even though there's seven, there may be less individuals, but we wanted to provide you with what the commission would want to see attend. We also have an invitation from the Chamber of Commerce to see if they can have a representative also attend and two staff members. The cities that will be visited will be Xalpa, Jerez, and Zacatecas, and they're all within no more than an hour drive from each other. The group will meet with elected officials, meet business leaders, attend various traditional dances and ceremonies, and participate in different tours. One of the primary goals for having the Chamber join is to be able to have the contacts with the business community, in the hopes that those businesses and their connections here in Los Angeles may be interested either in the walk or on Front Street for businesses here locally. The commission is seeking a friendship city, which is a relationship that is less formal than a sister city. A friendship with Zacatecas can broaden understanding, strengthen relationships, identify programs and best practices that can be brought back to Norwalk to improve city services the proposed budgets including flights hotel transportation and daily expenses is 17,800 that would be the max like I said that's for seven individuals so far there's less now flights are budgeted round-trip departures from LAX to Zacatecas, although discussions have had that the commission has had is that some commissioners have also indicated that they are open to traveling to Tijuana to board direct flights from Tijuana International to reduce travel costs. And some have family in San Ysidro that travel frequently from Tijuana Airport. So the anticipated fiscal impact would be the 17800. Funding will be provided through multiple sources. The International Friendship Commission budget will contribute approximately 5,000 for commission of travel expenses plus additional 2,500 for the Chamber of Commerce representative the City Council will travel the City Council travel budget will cover the proposed to two council members for and the administration budget will cover the two staff members that are proposed by the Commission and so with that we recommend that you approve this We don't know what members or the amount of individuals that will be going, but this would be the max. And so we will provide you with an update on the individuals that are prepared to travel and join the the exchange of the trip.

All right. Thank you. Before we go to questions, Theresa, I do know that we received a comment for this particular item. Is there anything that needs to be read or just noted on the minutes?

no it was just a resident they didn't leave their name they just indicated they had some questions regarding spending the funding and just questions i think that they were hoping that someone would address for them um but then there's also a couple people on zoom tonight and i don't know if either of them wants to speak on this item i don't see any hands up but now would be the time now would be the time if you'd like to speak on item number 13 please raise your hand at this moment So if either of the individuals that are participating in our Zoom meeting would like to speak, please raise your hand virtually.

All right, seeing none, we'll go ahead and bring it back to council. Antonia, you said you had a question.

Yeah, you know, I know you know this, Jesus, but I was the liaison to this commission for many years. And I know that typically when we would send city people to one of these events, that it would either be entirely hosted or partially hosted by whoever the city was that was making the invitation. And I see we've got listed like the full on cost, you know, in the budget for this program. My question is, are they going to be offsetting this?

Yes. Council Member Ayala, we budgeted a full travel expense. It is typical for them to offer to host the city that, but we don't have any specific confirmations like what meals or what transportation, you know, ground transportation will be provided. We haven't confirmed that. So that's why we wanted to budget the entire amount.

will the uh will the commission be attending uh informant yes okay and that's a formal well you can explain i don't

Why don't you explain what an informal yes, so that's the formal presentation by the make the mayor and or governor of second pick us where they provide kind of their it's kind of the state of the city for the. The community the state and so we've been invited to attend.

and now we as a city and that will be facilitated by somebody from their palacio right that is correct okay now i think that's real important because those those events were so frantic that if you don't have somebody actually from city hall facilitating that our commissioners and our staff can get and get lost in the in the shuffle i guess like i said i i've I was a liaison to this for many years. I think what it's, you know, there may be some sticker shock on this item, but I think it's important to remember that back when I was doing this, basically it was an exchange of sports teams and of course cultural stuff, but it was very, the programming was more of friendship, just friendship. I think the thing that's important here to realize, and I hope you expand on this a little bit, is this is actually an investment in our economic development future. I know you mentioned Front Street. So I guess what I'm trying to get a sense for If we're going to be investing in some of these things, what do you figure a return on investment would look like? Because that's what people are gonna ask. It's like we spend this amount of money, you ask for this amount of money, what can we expect in return? Can you give us just some idea of what that would look like?

Yes. So one of the goals and the reason why we have the Chamber of Commerce participating is we have development here that there's lots of relatives that live there and live here in Norwalk. There's a lot of connection. what we'd like to be able to see is to see if we could get the some of those entrepreneurs to be part of our economic development program either on Front Street or the walk or in vacant places here in the city but but the focus would be Front Street and the walk so yeah it'd be a sales tax driver is that what you tell me Yeah, a sales tax, property tax, and availability of a different type of business for the community.

So would it be fair to say the amount that it would cost to do this visit Pails pills in comparison to what our potential return on investment as yes, yes for sure yeah, I'm just saying people are people need to know that that this isn't just a let's G let's go to Mets go, you know this is I know the staff has worked on choosing and selecting key locations and what not that have shown some sort of interest in that in that kind of thing. And I know with this various type of product, you know, that we've seen, of course, you know, I'm not advocating alcohol or anything like that, but the reality is is that there is a lot of small batch tequila that's being imported, that's being imported to the U.S. And if you're looking like at a type of Lahara, you know brewery type thing you know where you have these small batch folks because i think that's the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that we need to have out there because not everything is going to be a huge development you know the what's included in that is our business people that are here now you know they're still a top priority you know the people that come in Some of those are gonna be big, and some of those are gonna be small. So we just have to be cognizant that it's a big tent, and everybody's invited to participate in that. And we need to, as the city of Norwalk, we have to make sure that people have that opportunity. Thank you.

Thank you, Tony. I don't have any additional questions. I want to thank the team and really thank Councilmember Ayala for appointing the first commissioner for the International Friendship Committee last year to be able to revamp this particular program and bring it together. A lot of our neighboring cities are doing similar similar trips and relationship building within different areas of the country and out of the country to really build this program and continue it from what it was like way back when. I don't have any questions, so we'll go ahead and make the motion to approve this. Thank you. Can we get a roll call, please?

Council members Ayala. Aye. And Valencia.

Aye. And Mayor Perez. Aye. Thank you. Moving on to acceptance of the 2025 Water System Master Plan. Jesus, I'm looking for a short report on this one.

Yes, we have Mr. Alper Mendoza, who will be presenting and introducing our consultants. And it should be a short report.

It's the Albert show tonight.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Good evening, Madam Mayor and council members. Item number 14 on the agenda tonight addresses the 2025 water system master plan. I'll start by providing a brief background for the master plan and then turn it over to our consultants, that's an engineers who are experts on preparing master plans like these and who are here tonight to walk through the council, the plan and to answer any questions you may have. Jeffrey Hesley is here. He's the project manager, as well as Stan Chen, the project engineer, who are here in person. And we also have Chi Yo Ching Sang, who is the engineering supervisor, who will be joining us on Teams tonight to assist the team with answering any potential questions that you guys may have. And to begin, as the city council is aware, the city owns and operates the Norwalk Municipal Water System. It's a water system enterprise that serves portions of the cities of Norwalk and Artesia in a small and incorporated area of Los Angeles County located within the city of Cerritos. As you soon see the upcoming presentation, the city's infrastructure consists of nearly 60 miles of water mains ranging from four to 16 inches over 5,500 water service connections, three groundwater wells that get their water supply from the central groundwater basin. Water master plans are typically updated on a rolling five-year to a 10-year cycle. The previous master plan was completed and adopted by the city council in 2015. These plans are extensive in nature and can take time to update and align the agency needs. The frequency with these plans are updated depends on several factors that may include operational needs, infrastructure conditions, changes in regulatory requirements, and economic factors. So with that, I'm gonna turn over to Stetson.

All right, good evening. Is this on? Good evening, honorable Mayor and members of the City Council. Thank you for inviting us. My name is Stan Chen. To my left is Jeff Helsley, and we also have the video conferencing Xiaojing Zhang. We're all with Stetson Engineers, and we prepared the city's water system master plan, and we're here to provide a brief presentation on our approach and findings. This slide, the following shows an outline of the presentation. We include the goals and objectives, an overview of the water service area, our analysis and approach for the master plan, a summary of our findings, and also a short-term over the next five years and a long-term over the next 10 years, recommended capital improvement projects. The map here shows the city's water service area. It's important to note that the water system serves a total of 2.1 square miles, but over seven non-contiguous service areas. There's a area to the north. There's the main three areas in the central part, which are the central west, the central, and the south. over to the east, there's the east and the southeast, and then also to the lower part of the system is the Artesia area. The service area serves about 20,000 people, 5,540 connections, and the water demand is about 2,000 acre feet per year. Not shown on the later slides, the city includes three groundwater wells. Two of them are located in the central west. One of them is located in the central system. And then there's also an imported water connection with Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, also in the central. service area and the central west and the central and as well as the south system are all interconnected and can receive all of those groundwater supplies. The remaining service areas to the north and to the east and also to the artesia system all rely on water purchased from other water systems. Last but not least, the Artesia area is currently under, is in the process of being sold, but the information from the Artesia area is also included in the master plan. Here's a picture of Well 4, located northwest of Norwalk High School. There are some operational and water quality challenges. We'll visit those in the following slides. Well five is located at the southeast corner of Norwalk High School, and again, there's some operation, physical and water quality challenges. And the third well that the city currently operates is located at the northeast corner of Norwalk Park, and it has some water quality issues with that. The The goal of the master plan, as Albert mentioned, includes a comprehensive evaluation of the city's water distribution system. It provides a roadmap for planning and development for the city's system over the next five to 10 years. The objectives include identifying water system demands and projected future water demands, any water quality requirements and treatment, any system deficiencies under existing and future water demand conditions, and it also provides a a cost-effective enhanced future improvements to enhance the city system to allow the city to reduce its reliance on imported water supplies to the maximum extent possible. The city currently produces groundwater and has groundwater rights to the central basin. of over 2,200 acre feet, which currently exceeds the city's water demands of about 2,000 acre feet. So the city can use groundwater, but just currently doesn't have the ability and would like to maximize that use. And last is to prepare a future CIP capital improvement plan with costs. That's part of preparing the master plan includes like various steps, including these seven items. The first one is to conduct site visits to inspect all of the facilities. The second one is to identify system water demands, including peaking factors and future water demands with potential new developments included. Third item is to conduct a water quality analysis to address any water quality issues and treatment requirements. Fourth is a condition assessment, reviewing condition of facilities, capacities of the different equipment. service life analysis and an energy efficiency review. Fifth item is a condition assessment of the underground pipelines, including review of leak records, a risk-based analysis to prioritize and to determine the most at-risk pipelines. The sixth one is a hydraulic model which identified hydraulic deficiencies, fire flow deficiencies, head loss. And the seventh item was to wrap that all together and provide a capital improvement both short-term and long-term. This is the first of various slides that provide a summary of the findings. As mentioned before, the city's existing water demands are about 2,000 acre feet per year, projected to grow, to increase to about 2,400 acre feet by the year 2045 over the next 20 years. There's a bar chart below. It shows a breakdown in the past 10 years of the city's water supply sources. The blue represents groundwater and the rest of the colors represent either purchased water from neighboring cities or purchased imported water from metropolitan water districts. So majority of the water supply is coming from purchased water supplies. This slide summarizes the water quality challenges. The city does have PFAS contamination at two of its groundwater wells, wells number four and five. The city will need to, as pursuant to the EPA, and the PFAS contamination is detected over the maximum contaminant levels, the city will need to complete the monitoring by 2027 and install treatment by the year 2031. 1.4 dioxane has also been detected at the city's wells, both at wells four and five, and above notification levels. And then at well 10, the city has benzene contamination above the MCL. The city, well 10 has been out of service for over the past several years. The city is currently um planning to or it has designed um treatment for that as part of one of the recommendations the city has um has designed plan has has plans designed for for gas granular activated carbon gac treatment at well 10. the other recommendations are to install one four dioxane treatment and pfos treatment at wells number four and well number five Some of the condition assessment findings, well four has had intermittent problems with the electrical system starter and there has been a knock when the well runs. As a result, the city has only been able to operate the well once per week in recent years. For well number five, a recent video log of the well casing shows that there are significant casing damage. And then the well casings for both wells four and five, these wells were drilled or constructed in the early 1950s. They have a remaining service life estimate of about two years. So the recommendations are to rehabilitate both of these wells. wells four and five. In addition, well number five, based on a review of energy pump tests conducted by Southern California Edison, Southern California Edison identified well number five as operating inefficiently. So in addition to the rehabilitation recommendations, it is also recommended to install a new well pump for well number five. including the recommended rehabilitation of well four, well five, and also the treatment for well 10, the city would still require an additional well to meet the objective of reducing its reliance on imported water supply. So there is a recommendation to install a new 2,000 gallon per minute well at Hermosillo Park, which is in the south part of the south service area. The master plan included the hydraulic model, which identified hydraulic deficiencies, head loss deficiencies, fire flow deficiencies. Out of the 59 miles or so of water system distribution pipeline, hydraulic model identified about 1.3 miles of pipeline which had hydraulic issues. And the bottom part of this slide indicates that the city currently requires additional imported water supplies to meet these three central areas, the central west and the south systems. This particular slide shows the locations of the hydraulic deficiencies. It's a little bit hard to see, but the orange color and the red color pipelines, the blue color pipelines show the distribution pipelines. The orange and the red are the locations of the hydraulic deficiencies, most of them occurring in the central, central west and the south service areas. The hydraulic model also, as part of the hydraulic modeling, a future enhanced system was reviewed to see how to include well four, well five, well 10, and well nine, and to connect additional service areas, including the southeast and the east systems to connect them all. to again, reduce reliance on imported water supplies and to connect them all so all these service areas could just rely on groundwater supplies. This figure shows the enhanced system, which shows the new proposed well at Hermosillo Park over at the south system. And then above the south system, there's the central west and the central systems where the existing three wells are with the proposed treatment facilities and also the well rehabilitations. There's also proposed new pipelines to deliver that groundwater over to the east and the southeast service areas. The north system, it would still be served by neighboring water systems, but that system will be addressed at a later time. The city water system pipelines, the distribution systems were mostly installed in the 1950s and 60s. And most of the pipeline materials are made out of cast iron and asbestos cement. So there's a summary table showing the breakdown of all of that. And finally, the master plan for the water system distribution pipelines included a risk-based analysis. I'm not gonna go into too much detail, but this slide summarizes the approach. There's various criteria, likelihood of failure, like based on the age of the pipe, the material of the pipe, and also the consequence of the failure, the financial consequences of that pipeline breaking, where the pipeline is located near critical facilities, hospitals, things like that. These criteria were used to prioritize all of the city's distribution pipelines to rank the risk of each individual pipeline segment within the city. And this figure shows a summary of that. The majority of the city's pipelines fall under the medium risk, and those are all in the yellow color, I believe. The next two slides just summarize all of the pipelines with the hydraulic deficiencies and the pipelines with the highest prioritized risk. And the master plan includes an appendix with many, and it provides a five-year water main capital improvement program with details for each of the specific pipeline projects that are recommended. This slide is a summary of the capital improvement projects. There's a lot of costs associated with these. Items one through 10 are the short term over the next five years. The long term over the next 10 years are items 11 and 12 of every single pretty much every single year does include a pipeline replacement item and that cost is used for replacing up to about a mile of city's water system pipelines. There are also substantial significant costs for the different treatment facility recommendations, the PFAS and 1,4-Dioxane treatment facilities at Wells 4 and 5. as well as the rehabilitation and also the new well number nine. These costs are very important to ensure that the city is able to continue operating the system, providing water supplies to its residents. Finally, the water system master plan, it was developed to identify needed water system improvements and as well as to provide the estimated costs. The water master plan is available currently on the city's website. A water rate study separately is currently being prepared by NBS to evaluate the city's water rate adjustments potentially that are needed to fund the improvements that are recommended in the master plan. But in addition to that, the city staff is proactively continuing to identify potential available funding opportunities and submitting grant applications where applicable. And those activities and opportunities are summarized on this final slide. That said, I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have.

Thank you so much. Before we go to questions, Theresa, do we have anybody wishing to speak on item number 14?

I do not see anybody with their hand up.

Great, thank you. I never realized that sitting at the dais in this position, you would learn so much about things like water. And I know, Anna, you mentioned earlier you're sitting on the committee representing the city. It's a lot. And then when you start throwing in all of these acronyms and everything in there, and you've got to realize that a lot of this, the pipes, the wells, Sometimes it's out of sight, out of mind and you don't think about it as long as you're turning on the faucet and the water is coming out. That's where we have great partners like yourself and our Public Services Department to really look into this a little bit more. The master plan, like you said, is on our website. It's 192 pages. Should you feel like you need some light reading in the evening and you can't fall asleep, please take a look at it. Thank you for this information. And I will say, I just recently saw a report, Jesus, and I will send this to Selby and to Albert and to you tomorrow. Laura Morgan-Klessler from our lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. reported out that 44% of the funding available in 2025 through the EPA was not awarded. So there is money that is out there for projects like this. And it's really like letting the government release it so that way it's not coming from general fund or special funds, anything of that nature. There is money there that through earmarks and community grant programs like you had mentioned will get done. It just takes time. And a perfect example, we talked about the Alondra Boulevard project. There's no general fund money there. And it's because of the staff and the team that we have that go after these types of funding resources to make these projects a reality. So I think with having a completed master plan, which would be approved by the Council, we can have a better chance of getting some of those awards and some of those grants to make these changes possible so thank you for all the information anna or tony any questions comments yeah i have one question but i must start off with this because i'm the one in charge of norwalk history nobody cares about

And cast iron pipes seem like really old, but when they're replacing water lines here on Norwalk Boulevard by City Hall, it was actually wooden water pipes, and quite large ones. And they brought them into City Hall. God knows what happened to them. But I think everybody was kind of surprised that Norwalk at one time, their water pipes were made out of wood. The second question I have is I know what benzene and the other is. What is dioxin or dioxane or whatever, however you pronounce it?

Yeah, 1,4-Dioxane is a real common chemical. It's in a lot of different things like paint strippers, greases, dyes, and it's a chemical that's used to stabilize those.

So is it like a solvent then?

It's in solvents. It's one of the components to stabilize the components of the solvents.

Okay, so it kind of has a similar origin as benzene then, right?

Somewhat similar. Both organic carbons. Benzene's usually associated with gasoline. What other petrochemicals, organic type contaminant?

Okay, well, you learn something every day. Thank you.

Anna, anything you'd like to add?

You know, just echo your comments. So much is involved with water. And it's what we're mostly made of. It's what this planet is mostly made of. And so we really need to conserve it and find ways of making sure that, you know, we have fresh, clean water then to our residents. So when you mentioned, oh, when, you know, we don't really think about it outside out of mind, and when you open up that faucet, and as long as you don't see that brown water, and if it's clear and everything, we're okay with it. Or that if it even comes out because we've had some scares, yes. But the bottom line is that it is a very expensive commodity and getting more so. But the fact that you mentioned in the US nationally why there is money there that was unclaimed, that was not used. And something like this, I think, is great for us to tap into so that we can take care of our wells, our water, and that our residents, you know, have this. Thank you.

All right. With that, I'll go ahead and make a motion to accept our 2025 water system master plan. Can I get a second, please?

Second.

Can we get a roll call?

Council members Ayala. Aye. And Valencia.

Aye.

Mayor Perez.

Aye. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Moving on to public comment. I do have one in-person speaking card this evening and that is for Paki.

Paki Mataele.

Paki Mataele.

You know, Xi Jinping, President of China, Xi Jinping, he's 25% DNA Polynesian. They call it explanation. Because his mom come from the Hakka area. Hakka mean war dance. because Hong Kong was, our area is facing New Zealand and Australia. It's not in the middle of China. It's ours. You know what the Cantonese people with tattoo all over, right? And what happened, they have this boxer running around When you don't obey our law, you're gonna cut your head off. Running around with sword. If you watch that 55 days movie, Peaking, you have the warlord called, A law, young law, it's a tongue of name. Law mean ants. King Solomon talk about that. And Shiloh, that's name of Jesus. Shiloh. Shiloh, wrong. It's in here in America, the name. And you know, the Philippine God, they have the names all over there in Asian country. So it was not at all Asian who run around with the knife. It was our people. What do you think of that? Don't disobey our law. You know the guy Tua, it's a Tongan word. Tua means wrestling, the sumo wrestling. So when you disobey our law a long time ago, They'll send 10 people, five people, I tore a pretty stone in that movie, cut him down. There'd be five people, 10 people, 20 people, run at you with swords this long. When they finish with you, you are a vile of nothing. I may be a vile of shit, I don't know.

But I think that's what happened.

That's why I tried to tell you. We are descendant of Ishmael. Abraham call him live by the sword, a man who live by the sword. And Joseph, a prince. I found my descendant lead to the house, the city, forbidden city. That's why Tonga was.

Thank you. Thank you so much.