City Council - Regular Meeting

I'm okay. Okay. Good evening.

Good evening.

I hear welcome back.

We all made it back. Good evening, I hereby call the Palm Springs Regular City Council meeting of August 26th, 2026 to order after a month of being dark. I ask if you can please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Raise your right hand on 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. I acknowledge that the land The land we gather, live, and work on today, currently known as the City of Palm Springs, is the original homeland of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. The sovereign band of Agua Caliente people have stewarded this land throughout the generations and continue to steward this land for all future generations. We honor and respect the many diverse indigenous people still connected to this land. Madam City Clerk, can you please conduct roll call?

Let the record reflect that all members are present.

At this time, we're going to start our meeting with a special tribute to Chief Andy Mills, who is retiring after five years of excellent service to our Palm Springs community. We have a quick video we're going to share first.

If it's ready. Bye.

You're embarrassing me, please sit down.

Chief, we want to thank you for your service and for all that you and your team have done these last five years to ensure that Palm Springs continues to be a safe and welcoming place for everyone. I'd like to give you the floor, Mike, a little bit. This is your last council meeting, and so any wise words of wisdom for us as a city?

Well, Madam Mayor and Council Members, I don't know if I have any wise words of wisdom, but I've never been short on words, so this could take a couple hours. I am really proud of what was accomplished here in Palm Springs from the standpoint of the relationships that were built. And I could not be more happy with the men and women of the police department that are standing here in the crowd and who show up day in and day out, 124 degrees heat or 3 o'clock in the morning when it's freezing here in town. They are there protecting us. making sure that they're doing the very best job they can for the city. And so I could not be more proud of the culture that has developed over the past five years. And a lot of that really goes to Deputy Chief Stern and Lieutenant Torres and Captain Ariza and Lieutenant Viegas, who are all here tonight, and Sergeant Lamb, because they are the ones that are pushing the agenda of making sure we have a culture that takes care of this community. And the mission will continue after I leave. I'm also proud of the relationship built with this community. You all have been warm, supportive loving fantastic in every way we may not always agree on things but i think that the most important thing in a city like this is this level of civility that we see in how we treat each other and i am so proud of the majority of our community the vast majority of our community who is so um who's willing to have an earnest hard discussion but do it in a way that makes all of us proud to be americans And then finally, the administrative staff of the city with city manager as well as city council, each member here, I feel like I have a very good relationship with. I want to thank you for all the support, getting us the resources that we need to get the job done. And it has been a fantastic ride and certainly the crown jewel of my 49-year career. So thank you so much.

Thank you.

And I just want to allow any of my colleagues, if anyone else wants to say any parting words to the chief. Do you want to start us off?

yeah yeah well i think we all have so much we could say and i won't take a lot of time here but chief thank you uh you know we've had many chiefs and and it goes without saying you you're one of one of the amazing chiefs what you've done we thank you for all the things you've done um but i would just say that you know you're always welcome in palm springs and and i think I SHARE WITH ALL MY COUNCIL MEMBERS SAYING THAT YOU AND KATHY WILL HAVE LIFETIME FRONT ROW SEATS TO COUNCIL MEETINGS WHENEVER YOU LIKE. ALL RIGHT? AND THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

Chief, just thank you so much for really being willing to have tough conversations. I think almost all of my conversations with you about things that started with, I don't like this, and you've been willing to sit and listen and talk through every single issue. And we certainly do not always agree, but we've always been able to come to a point of really productive conversation. And it's been really impressive to see that throughout the police department. I've lived in Palm Springs all my life and I've talked to our officers about experiences that I've had in the past or my family has had in the past and it's markedly different today. And I've been impressed with how much it's changed in five years. So thank you for for bringing us to this place where we can actually sit down and talk through things and not just be told too bad. Thank you.

Chief, so I'll second all of that. I also want to mention, you know, I want to thank you for how much you championed your department. I think we're all better and they're better for it, but you are their biggest cheerleader and the biggest fan and you've left us with an amazing team. And I also want to thank you for bringing civility and inclusiveness and community to the department and to the whole city overall. I think we all agree that you really brought Palm Springs together as one. And that legacy will live on even after you leave. So thank you.

Chief, you know, 16 years I've been in Palm Springs in the department and I can certainly say and people who've been in town know That the relationship with the police department Hasn't always been Roses and chocolates It's been a rocky road to say the least but your your arrival was the turning point for a positive shift in how public safety was perceived and is perceived by residents in the community and you've made that shift while fulfilling the duties of a police chief with a very firm hand to enforce law enforcement but with a very friendly approach and an open door. And that is all the difference. The culture within the police department has significantly moved forward into a positive position. Culture within the department changes the perceptions outside of the department and I think there is I don't think there's anybody who can say that the perception of policing in Palm Springs has not changed for the better because of what you brought to Palm Springs. So I appreciate your service. You've become a friend. And in all of my years working with police departments, Kathy is the only power spouse that has ever accompanied the Chief 24-7. You two made an incredibly great team. And Palm Springs is a much better place because of both of you. Thank you.

I just want to echo what all my colleagues have mentioned and you know our city is wonderful because of our residents and because of the staff and our leadership that help steward the community, the culture, the relationships. And as police chief, you've played a vital role in that. And so I just I think a lot about the U.S. police chief and the leaders across our city who help our city evolve and grow and kind of take new shape for the residents and community members and visitors who are here. And so thank you for getting us to this place, for the department, for our residents, for everyone who's here. And if you see us in the news, and it's good things, just know that that's part of your legacy too. And with that, I'm gonna hand it over to our city manager who you know worked directly best and for his thoughts as well.

THANK YOU, MADAM MAYOR. I JUST WANTED TO ECHO THE COMMENTS OF ALL THE OTHER MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL. I THINK PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP THAT A CITY MANAGER HAS IS WITH THE POLICE CHIEF. SUCH AN IMPORTANT JOB THAT HE HAS. THE WORK THAT A POLICE CHIEF DOES CAN BE SO MEANINGFUL IN A COMMUNITY AND WE'VE ALL SEEN CITIES WHERE POLICE CHIEFS HAVEN'T DONE AS WELL. AND WE KNOW THAT THE PROBLEMS THAT THAT CAN CREATE IN COMMUNITIES AND CHIEF MILLS WE'VE BEEN THROUGH a lot of really hard things, just even in the last three or four years. Hurricanes, we've had terrible terrorist bombing, and a lot of other really difficult situations. but we've also had a lot of really enjoyable times. And I know I speak for all 650 of our city staff in wishing him well. All of our departments, our police department interacts with almost every department that we have in one way or another at some point in time. And Chief Mills was always a positive collaborator. A lot of times he was a mentor for some of our younger department directors. He was always somebody who was willing to think creatively outside of the box. And he was somebody that could help other departments sometimes figure out issues unrelated to policing. And that's just a sign of a really good leader. And so As city manager, I'm gonna miss him greatly, but we wanna wish him well, and I think just all the great things. We'll always welcome you back to come back and visit us often, so thank you, Chief.

We're getting directed to take a picture. We are going to move on in our agenda for another presentation from our community emergency response team, the CERT program and emergency preparedness.

Evening Madam Mayor, Council, staff. So I got asked if I could come up with community emergency preparedness slideshow presentation. And so I thought about it and we have over 50 volunteer organizations that are active in disasters in Riverside County. We typically think of Red Cross, Fine Food Bank, so I brought two in, and just while they're here, not counting the red shirts in that row, we actually have other volunteers in the room for all these organizations. Brenda, it's not going. there it is all right so what is voad it's a volunteer organization active in disasters they do all of the things that our police and fire don't do they feed people they provide spiritual and mental health uh help to people they reduce the complications uh and and requirements that that the city can't provide because we're focused on maintaining governance Like I said, we have over 50. I brought in two. They're the ones that are gonna talk, and I'm only gonna talk about our CERT team, unless Council Member Gardner wants to talk about CERT. No? So Palm Springs, we have a community emergency response team. It's a 20 hour class that we bring in members of the community and we train them on how to help themselves and help their neighbors during a disaster. Like I said, when a disaster happens, our police and fire services are gonna be overwhelmed. And so the more people that we have trained in the community to help themselves is just a blessing for us. And we provide it three times a year, every year. It's at no cost to our community. We have a CERT class that's in October. All 40 seats were taken within three days of it opening. And that's how it is all three classes every year. So I'll turn it over to CVDPN.

Thank you, Daniel. And good afternoon, everyone. Madam Mayor. Council and staff city manager. My name is Mitch Brown and I am president of the Coachella Valley Disaster Preparedness Network. We go by CBDPN. I'm joined by my fellow volunteers behind me. We are an all volunteer nonprofit. We exist to help cities train residents to become more resilient and better prepared during the critical first 72 hours after a major disaster. So as opposed to responding, we're the training side of VOAD. So with more residents self-sufficient, the city can instead focus on getting back open and the infrastructure back up and life can get back to normal sooner rather than later. So far in 2026, we have trained more than actually 4,000 people. In the last week, we've added quite a number to our total. and our volunteers have provided over 4,100 hours of service to make that happen. Our impact is solid, but we feel that the more important metric are the outcomes. We surveyed those that took at least one class from CBDPN, and 88% of those that responded told us that they have taken at least one step toward becoming prepared. We are thankful, let me see. There we go, we are thankful for our partnerships throughout the valley, including Palm Springs. Not every city has an emergency manager. We are grateful to have Daniel as a partner in training the community. Some of our newer Palm Springs partners include Palm Springs Unified School District, Jewish Family Services, Greater Palm Springs Realtors, and we are often the go-to resource for News Channel 3 for disaster preparedness stories. Our curriculum is developed from the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, Riverside County EMD, and Earthquake Country Alliance, who created the Great California Shakeout. You could divide our training into three groups. We have personal preparedness, which is our number one program that we take on the road, and we also teach at the conference room at the Regional Access Project Foundation in Palm Desert. This proven model is ready to scale up into larger venues in Palm Springs. People leave this class knowing how to prepare in their home, their car, their place of work, and to be on their own for two weeks. We also do community disaster plan development, and this instructs HOA leaders how to write their own disaster plans and form their own safety committees. They leave with 15 ready-made templates to do so. and the third is health skills and safety workshops in partnership with desert regional trauma unit uh... we teach stop the bleed watch your step hands only cpr and we're addressing extreme heat like today uh... with our program let's beat the heat everyone that comes gets a ready to go bag like this and it's filled with english and spanish information on how to become prepared and build your go bags. And we include things like flashlights, first aid, fire blankets that are provided by private and public grant funding. So what have we done in Palm Springs in 2026? I probably should move on quickly, so I'm gonna show it up there. Daniel invited us to do some training at the CERT class in March. We partnered with American Red Cross to do the Sound the Alarm at the Sahara Mobile Home Park. I believe we've become a catalyst for change at Palm Springs Unified School District. And we've done training at Palm Springs Rotary, the James O. Jesse Center, and the Mizell Center. So it's 384 people that are better prepared to survive a disaster. So we all know that disasters are if, not when. At any time, we could be faced with a major earthquake, flooding, fire, extreme heat, severe wind, acts of terror. Preparedness in Palm Springs has a special importance with a year-round population of 45,000, growing to 90,000 in season, and about 14 million annual visitors. And wouldn't it be nice when a major disaster occurs that a resident knows how to stop severe bleeding, perform CPR, safely respond in an earthquake, prepare for extreme heat, or help a neighbor, like we do in CERT. The city's overall local hazard mitigation plan strategy calls for public outreach, preparing residents to respond to emergencies and increasing education and training opportunities. and CVDPN is already identified in your plan as an emergency management partner. So we're here tonight to offer to expand our partnership, to bring more training directly to Palm Springs neighborhoods, HOAs, senior centers, and businesses. Having a consistent place to hold training and utilizing the city's communication channels to help residents find these programs would be a dream of ours realized. You can call on us to fill any training gaps. And this is what success looks like. We would be honored to strengthen our partnership with the city. And thank you for your time tonight. And you're up, Bob.

Hello, Mayor, staff, and city council. Thank you for having me here today. My name's Bob Uteraldi. I'm a 30-year retired veteran in the Palm Springs Fire Department. When I retired in 2015, I was looking for something to do. And it happened upon these guys. I don't know if you've heard of Team Rubicon at all, but we were founded in 2010 back in the Haiti earthquake. A couple of retired Marines were looking for something to do. They knew that they could help, so they snuck themselves into the country with eight of their buddies. And the 10 of them spent about two weeks down there providing medical care, and they put together the Team Rubicon while they were down there. We operate both domestically and internationally. We have only 140 paid staff. We've got over 200,000 volunteers. We have 1,200 regional volunteers in the Southern California area. We're our 501c3 nonprofit, and we are involved with the Charity Watch and Navigator. So who we are. Like we said, we started with two retired Marines. So we're 50% to 65% of veterans. We run about 15% to 20% of first responders, police, and fire guys. We happen to have another gray shirt in here. And then we we have about 20 to 30 percent kick-ass what we call kick-ass civilians We have about deployable about 38,000 Locally we have in the Southern California area We have 4,200 deployable gray shirts of which a thousand last year volunteered out of state We're over 18 background checked and we do have one online course that takes you about an hour Some of the capabilities that we're able to do, general debris removal. We have a full chainsaw route clearing, house clearing, debris clearing. We're trained to the US Forest Service standards. We also offer heavy equipment, which is the skid steers and the excavators. We do muck outs and tarping. We offer tarping classes. We also do flood fighting. We changed that. That's our sandbag class, but we think flood fighting sounds a little bit more professional. We also offer fire mitigation. We also do response support where we do point of distributions. We've done that for Riverside County quite a few times. We've also assisted in our EOC, and we're able to do shelter setups on par with American Red Cross. So some of the specifics, I'm not gonna bore you with all of our numbers. Some of the things to pay attention to though were the Eaton Fire, where you see it says, well, we fenced 390 homes. That was a first for us. We worked with the County of Los Angeles to fence these homes from squatters, basically. People were moving in and parking on other people's property and taking over property. So we spent a couple weeks fencing homes. The Big Bear fire mitigation, we did one up there in March where we helped with fire mitigating around a local property, and then we were just up there in June where we worked with the US Forest Service and we dropped over 2,200 trees for the US Forest Service. So that was a first for us again. This is the buzzword right about now is the El Nino preparedness. That little graph you see up there on the left is all the weather reporting stations. That's their prediction for the El Nino coming in. As you can see, it's way over what we've ever seen before. So we're running through offering sandbag classes, both internally and externally, channel clearing, route clearance, general debris removal. We've got roof tarping classes, and like I said, sandbag classes that we offer to city municipalities, VOADs, and homeowners association. Basically, that's us in a nutshell, about a two minute run through. We are happy to work with anything you guys need. We are as a phone call away. We were active in the Hillary response for the city of Cathedral City where we mucked out 13 homes in a two week period. So we have some volunteers here that helped out with that. But any questions you guys might have, feel free to send them my way. I believe my contacts in there. So that's us in a nutshell. Thank you.

So the volunteer organizations that we have here in the valley really make my job a lot easier. I couldn't do it without them. They come help teach classes. There's only one of me, so getting to all of our neighborhoods is extremely challenging. So I rely on them to come in and do some of that for us. We didn't use them for Hillary for our sandbagging operations because Cat City needed them more, and I told them that we were okay. So that's it for us. Any questions, Madam Mayor, Council?

Just an incredible fee and commitment to service. So I just wanna say thank you for all that you've done in preparing us and training our residents and community. And just sort of important reminder that El Nino this year is expected to be quite the wet season. And so thank you in advance, I guess is what I'm gonna say. Council Member Garner.

Thank you so thank you for for all of you for being here and talking about this. You know I was mayor during Hurricane Hillary and disaster preparedness is always important, but I got a real different look at it when I was mayor during that time and it's. become really more of a passion of mine to get more involved in emergency response. And so thank you for doing this. I took the March CERT class with Danny and I learned a lot and I got to know other neighbors. And so we have this great network here in Palm Springs of residents who have taken CERT. If you haven't taken the classes, I really highly recommend. I'm forcing my whole family to do it. I have a family member in the October class. And if you're interested, the classes are October 16th to 18th. While it is full, you can always go to the waiting list. Danny will put you on the waiting list. January 22nd to 24th, and then March 5th to 7th. So I highly recommend it. I highly recommend it to my council members as well. I think it really helps you to get a better understanding of how this works. And for anyone looking for volunteer opportunities, both the Coachella Valley Disaster Preparedness and Team Rubicon are always busy. I don't know how many times I've talked to Bob's wife, who's a friend of mine, and she's like, oh, Bob is out doing something for Team Rubicon. I mean, like always busy. And I know Mitch is doing trainings constantly with his team. So for all of you who always ask, where can I volunteer? Those are two groups that will keep you very busy, and it's a very worthwhile cause. So thank you for being here and for sharing this information. Anybody else? Yeah, Council Member Bernstein.

So thank you all for this, and thank you, Danny. All of the contacts and information and cert, that's all on EngagePalmSprings.com?

It is all on Engage. It's all on the city's website. It's all over our social media. We make sure it's out there.

Okay. So that's how people, if they want to find out about Team Rubicon or what you're doing or the CERT classes, they can all go there. Okay. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, guys. um on august 22nd uh we honored devin green and handsome ned they were recognized for their contributions to the palm springs community through their entertaining performances community involvement and efforts to bring people together they were honored for their charitable work and for promoting palm springs through their talent creativity and civic pride so big thanks to them both Our next item is acceptance of the agenda. The City Council will discuss the order of the agenda, amend the order, add urgency items, note abstentions or no votes on consent items, or request consent calendar items to be removed for separate discussion. Are there any requests? And if you could make the note if it's removed for a separate discussion or you just have a comment. Okay, Council Member DeHart.

Yes, I need to recuse on one queue because a payment's being issued to an organization that I'm involved with. I'd like to pull T for staff report, V for staff report, and comment on W. Got it.

Thank you.

Oh, wait. I put you in the wrong spot.

Council Member Bernstein.

Yes, thank you Madam Mayor. I'd like to pull one P as in Papa and one AA as in Alpha Alpha. For a separate discussion. Yep.

Mayor Pro Tem.

Yes, I think you had a question on a question on H, I, L, M, and O. And I

Just questions or do you want a staff report?

Just a question. And a staff report for X and a question on Y and Z.

Okay, so I have a staff report on X. questions on H, I, L, M, O, Y, Z. Yes, thank you. Okay, I believe we are pulling I, correct?

Yes, Madam Mayor, staff would like to request item one I be pulled. We have some more work with procurement to do on that. We'll bring it back at a future date.

Okay, so that'd be H, L, M, O, Y, Z. Council Member Garner.

I just have a recusal from one U.

Let's double check my list.

Which is what?

What is it on?

Oh, yes. Oh, thank you. Yes. Please allow me to recuse on one youth. Thank you for the reminder.

You pulled X. OK. Okay, so we're gonna do... So we have comments on H-L-M-O-W-Y-Z, comment or question. Separate discussion, staff report on P-T-V-X-A-A. recusals for on you for mayor pro tem ready councilmember garner and a recusal on cue for councilmember de hart okay we would like to entertain a motion to accept the agendas presented we have a motion in a second mayor pretend Not loading.

Yes, thank you. Thank you.

Motion carries. At this time, I'd like to invite City Attorney Ballinger to provide a report on closed session, please.

Yes, Honorable Mayor, members of the City Council, the City Council met in closed session earlier tonight to discuss the three items that are listed on the agenda, and there is no reportable action. Thank you.

Our next item is public testimony this time has been set aside for members of the public to address the City Council on Non-public hearing agenda items only two minutes are assigned for each speaker You are asked to please begin your time by telling us what agenda item you are speaking on agenda item or items Testimony for public hearing specifically will be taken at the time of public hearing so if you have to a to be Those will be taken at public hearing. If you do not have an agenda item that you're speaking on, those will be taken at the end of the meeting. If you have anything, if you have any written comments that you'd like to share with city council, we ask that you share those with the city clerk for distribution. Okay. Our first speaker this evening is Ginny Weissman, please.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council Members and staff, and thank you to Council Member Garner for inviting me to speak. I am Ginny Weisman, Founder and Executive Director of Pet Ministry P.S. since 2009. And over the past 17 years, we have found loving forever homes for over 800 lost, abandoned and surrendered pets. And as some of you know, because I've met with you about this project, I've been developing New Harmony affordable housing for seniors and pets. So I was happy to hear that the Allopomp Canyon was pet-friendly and accepting applications. Then I found out there was a one-time $300 per pet deposit and a building described as low-income, over-55 affordable housing. Needless to say, I was shocked. I told Councilmember Garner about it and that I would contact the developer who I met with at the groundbreaking. WHCH was also surprised by the high cost, which was determined by the new management company they hired, and began looking at ways to drastically reduce those fees. And when they called me a couple of months later, I was glad to learn that they hired a new management company for Allopomp Canyon, and the current company charges a one-time fee of $100 per pet. and that can be waived in certain circumstances. So I considered that a big win. The high cost of pet ownership, including pet deposits, especially for seniors and families facing financial hardship in our community, inspired me to create the Pet Relief Fund. and I have partnered with the Palm Springs Animal Shelter and Greater Palm Springs Animal Allies to help people keep their pets in their homes and relieve our overcrowded shelters. There's a startling statistic that one out of three people may have to surrender their beloved pet because of the cost. We are approaching local businesses to install a prompt on their registers and websites at no cost to them for a roundup on a purchase or a donation to help fund our voucher program. Coachella Valley residents will be able to apply for a safety net. which includes the vet care, pet deposits, grooming, pet food, and other pet-related expenses. The pet relief fund vouchers will be paid directly to the vendor and hopefully reduce the overpopulation in our shelters by keeping beloved pets from being surrendered and abandoned due to financial hardship, where our goal is to keep pets and their families together. And we're looking for your support, thank you. Thank you, Ms. Weisman.

Our next speaker is Our next speaker is Dawn, are you Lindsay Rowe?

I am Lindsay Rowe.

Okay, Lindsay Rowe.

I can wait, though.

No, that's fine. I just don't see you.

Well, good evening, Madam Mayor, council members, and staff. My name is Lindsay. I am a year-round Palm Springs resident, a wildlife biologist who's worked on many projects about habitat fragmentation and how that negatively impacts native species and ecosystems. I'm also a science educator whose skills are in translating high-level science to everyday citizens who are curious about the world. I'm here to offer data, just a drop of data and a sea of it, in support of Agenda Items 3B, a temporary ban while also recommending a permanent ban for data centers in Palm Springs. There's a buzzword called closed loop system. That is what these developers are saying that these data centers are using. They are also stating that it's water neutral, yet the Microsoft CEO for AI also states that their previously optimized closed loop sites are consuming large volumes of water. There's a lot of contradiction. A 2023 study by UCR and University of Texas found that just training one model consumed an estimated 185,000 gallons of water to manage that heat, and 97% of that water consumed is drawn from municipal drinking water systems. DESERT DATA CENTERS HAVE TO USE SUPPLEMENTAL COOLING SYSTEMS BECAUSE IT'S HOT, IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW. IT'S TO COMBAT THE SUMMER HEAT AND THOSE MONSOONAL MONTHS WHICH CREATE THOSE WET BULB TEMPERATURES AND IT COMES AT AN EXTREME COST SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASING WATER USE AND ENERGY DRAWS. THE COLORADO RIVER IS IN CRISIS. I WON'T FEAR MONGER. And California is taking deep cuts to that water allotment. So the building of data centers anywhere in Palm Springs or the desert, incorporated, unincorporated, is catastrophic and wholly irresponsible.

Next, we have Hank Bates, then we have Don Soja. Hank Bates here, great.

Good evening, Mayor Soto, Mayor Pro Tem Reddy, Council Members. I'm going to read this because I want to get all my facts in here, so I don't want to mess it up. The opposition to data centers is fueled by some genuine concerns, but also by a great deal of misinformation and by treating every data center as though it were a massive hyperscale facility operated by Meta, Microsoft, or Google. That simply is not the case. Small, appropriately located data centers can operate within existing commercial and industrial buildings and should be evaluated on their actual impact. not prohibited simply because they fall under the broad category of data center. Palm Springs currently has a small data center in operation. What is often missing from this discussion is what happens if communities refuse to accommodate the digital infrastructure our economy increasingly depends upon. With the soon to be open College of the Desert Palm Springs campus, our need will increase. With new technologies coming available, both the City of Palm Springs Fire Department and Police Department will have an increased need as well. Palm Springs has an opportunity to establish reasonable standards while still welcoming smaller technology businesses that can make productive use of appropriately zoned properties. Rather than closing the door on an entire category of modern business, I respectfully urge the council to regulate actual impact and allow reasonable, responsible, small data centers to qualify for business licenses in Palm Springs rather than approve a moratorium that will signal a negative response for future possibilities. Now, we all get to think about the future. We all get to think about where we're going and what has happened. You know, I'm probably twice as old as most of you. I remember a telephone on the wall that was bigger than this podium, and now we have the world on our hand constantly. So everything is changing, and it's changing rapidly, and our needs will change rapidly, especially with our fire departments and with our police departments. So it's important. that we protect our future and not stifle or negate possibilities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bates. Next, we have Don Soja. After Don Soja will be Catherine Kruger. Just remind folks to speak right into the microphone, please.

Good evening council members. My name is Don Soja. I'm running for City Council district number one. I'll be speaking on agenda 3c. I Would like to state that I oppose any and all data centers in Palm Springs and then the entire Coachella Valley our electric grid and our water supply are operating at their maximum and Data centers would be an incredible burden on all of our utilities. We must consider our local environment at all times. The data centers will also add very few jobs. It would be a lose-lose for Palm Springs and for the Coachella Valley. I urge you to vote against data centers permanently. Thank you.

Thank you. Next we have Catherine Krueger. quite a few speakers thank you after catherine will be carl listenberg on deck good evening everyone my name is catherine krueger i am also like lindsay a full-time palm springs resident can you guys hear me okay

Okay, louder for some folks. I would also like to urge the adoption of Measure C-3. I am also concerned about data centers in the Valley. My main concerns are water consumption. As you know, we are in a perpetual state of drought, really. The federal government just cut the access to the Colorado River by 20%, and we have no business putting a data center in a drought stricken area that's going to consume our water table. I'm also deeply concerned about the energy use as a lot of other states are seeing these data centers are not paying for themselves. They are being subsidized quite often by taxpayer dollars. I personally do not want to subsidize a business investment with my tax dollars. I'd rather see that go to the fire department. I would rather see that go to services in the community. I'm also concerned about I'm concerned it's just not what's right for our community. We have people who live here. We don't have the infrastructure to support this thing long term. It's not going to be permanent jobs in the community. They're going to be transient. They're not going to stay here. And I don't know that this is what's right in our community. I hear the need for advancement in the future, and we're still gonna have access to those things, whether or not this is in our community. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Krueger. Next, we have Carl Listenberg. Carl Listenberg here. Carl, no? Okay, after Carl will be Elizabeth Humphreys. Carol, I'm sorry, Carol Listenberg. After Ms. Listenberg is Elizabeth Humphries. My apologies.

I saw two new articles about big tech and AI today. One of them pointed out the corruption of the tech giants. And the other is going to be an article from Bill Gates. He's warning that AI is going to hit hard and fast and destroy a lot of human jobs. He's trying to be helpful and tell us in advance what's coming down. But I haven't read any articles about any of the tech giants warning about the data centers. They are massive. football field sized buildings that support the coming AI. And every single thing that I've read about those has made my hair stand on end. The early ones were built with the promise of bringing jobs to the facilities themselves, but reality has proven otherwise. They build a building and then they run themselves. They squeal through the day and night, creating sound pollution for miles around. They create an extraordinary light pollution. They suck up the water in the neighborhoods, creating shortages for residents and businesses. They drive up electric bills to an unaffordable height. Some people have been told that their current power supply cannot keep up, and they need to find a new source for power in their homes. Air pollution is a problem. If neighbors complain, they're told the data center is too important, and they just have to live with it, or die a little earlier, as the case may be. So no, I haven't seen any articles by people who live near existing data centers saying, wow, this was a great idea. Just as Bill Gates is warning us of a major disruption to our future lives, people who already have data centers are warning us that our lives are going to be hell wherever another one is built. And given that they're being constructed at a breakneck speed without scrutiny by environmental agencies and waivers for the ordinary processes that keep communities safe, you kind of get the idea that those who are building them know they've got to hurry before the pockets.

We are at time. Thank you, Ms. Lichtenberg. Next, we have Elizabeth Humphreys. That was my turn.

Good evening. My name is Elizabeth Humphreys. I'm a resident of the Coachella Valley, a local realtor, and I'm the president of the American Data Center Research and Education Foundation. I'm here today to urge you to pass the urgency ordinance for a moratorium on data centers and to further move towards a permanent ban on data centers in the city of Palm Springs. There are many reasons why hyperscale data centers are unsuitable for any area of the Coachella Valley. They produce heat islands with one study showing a high of up to 16 degrees heat increase over a 6.2 mile radius. They require immense amount of power. They produce 24-7 droning noise and EMF radiation, 24-7 light pollution, air pollution. And last but certainly not least, they use on average 5 million gallons of water per day. And they have a history of contamination for groundwater and aquifers. All of the drinking water that is provided by the Coachella Valley Water District is drawn from the incredible aquifer that we have under our feet. It is that very aquifer that gives Palm Springs its name. You may hear the argument that data centers can use closed-loop systems, reducing water use. However, in Oregon, groundwater has been contaminated by nitrates. Some wells were over 10 times the federal limit for safe drinking water when Amazon data centers were built next to them using closed-loop water systems, closed-loop systems. Even a closed-loop system, the wastewater needs to be dumped routinely. Data center developers and operators across the country are promising one thing and delivering another. We are talking about some of the largest companies in the world. It would be nearly impossible for the residents of Palm Springs to be able to hold these companies accountable without strong state and federal legislation for the damage that they cause. And by then, the damage would be irreversible. Thank you, Ms. Humphreys.

You're out of time. Thank you, Ms. Humphreys.

Is there any...

Is there, are there any other in-person public comments? I don't see any on my list. Have you gotten any other in-person?

So I have a Alan Carvalho. Great, thank you.

Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council. The audio really is not great in here. People have to be taught to speak right into the mic. And some of you up there, need to do the same because I know I'm getting deaf, but it's really bad. You have a great system, but you've got to use it. Thank you. The other thing I wanted to say is what a chief we are losing. Wow. This is a rock star here, folks. You all know it. Every event, he is showing up and his amazing wife, who to me is the first lady of Palm Springs. is we really need to know how wonderful and how lucky we were to have them in our presence. They stood proud to be part of this community. The other thing that you needed to know is that when the chief had to deal with the tragedy of one of the motorcycle police unfortunately having an accident and crashing into the crowds, I'm sure his attorney said, don't address it. There's liability. He didn't care. He addressed it straight on. And that just was such a proud moment because you don't avoid tragedy. You do what he did. You speak and you show responsibility. And that really made me so proud. I'm from Cathedral City and we have three minutes to speak. And please know that public comments need to be addressed at the beginning of the meeting. You don't have the citizens of the city wait until the very end. Please. Audio better. Make sure that our public comments are addressed at the beginning. Give us three minutes. You all have a lot more time than three minutes. And the other one I wanted to say is take responsibility for the sand wall. It's a tragedy. It is the worst. You guys, if you make a mistake, take responsibility like the chief. It is worse. The sand around the sand wall is worse because the sand goes up over the wall and I'm done. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Carvello. You're out of time. we were now going to move to we have one more brandon allen oh thank you mr allen you have two minutes okay good evening mayor council members residents

Okay. I'm here because I think that we need to take a closer look at how traffic safety resources are being prioritized in our neighborhoods. I live near Sonora Road, and there is an intersection adjacent to the park that concerns me. It's a multi-stop intersection in an area where we do not only have vehicles, but pedestrians, cyclists, people accessing the park, and significant pedestrian crossing. I find it difficult to understand this. Just a short distance away within the residential neighborhood, there are stop signs equipped with solar powered cameras and monitoring systems. Yet at the intersection immediately adjacent to the park where there is substantially more intersection between cars, bicycles, and pedestrians, I do not see the same equipment. I'm not here to argue that residential streets shouldn't be monitored. My question is about priority and risk. If the equipment is intended to improve safety, collect traffic information, deter violations, or help the city understand driver behavior, then shouldn't the locations within the greater number of potential conflicts receive priority? There's also a larger traffic issue here when traffic backs up or drivers begin looking for ways around congestion, residential streets can effectively become alternate routes that changes the traffic pattern and creates additional safety concerns for the people who actually live there. So I would respectfully ask council and the appropriate city department to do 3 things. 1st. Conduct or review a traffic and pedestrian safety assessment of the intersection adjacent to the park. Second, explain the criteria the city uses to determine where these cameras or monitoring systems are installed. And third, determine whether that park intersection should receive the same monitoring or potentially greater safety measures based on actual vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian activity.

Brandon, thank you. You are out of time.

Thank you.

Madam City Clerk, is there one more in person?

Gail Vasquez.

Thank you.

My name is Gail Vasquez, and I am a resident and a realtor here in Palm Springs, and I'm here today to urge everyone to pass Ordinance 3C to avoid data centers, put the moratorium on all of them, and for numerous reasons that I don't need to repeat to each of you, but I'm here to support that. Thank you, Ms. Vasquez.

We are now gonna move to our Zoom comments. Our first in Zoom is gonna be Leslie Vaza.

Hello everyone. Hello everyone. My name is Leslie and I will be opposing number three. See, like everyone else I was born and raised here in the Coachella Valley and I know what it feels like to live here and I know the desert heat very well. I understand that technology is the future and I understand that cities want more investment, but progress should not mean sacrificing people and resources. We barely have. We live in a desert where temperatures regularly reach over a 100 degrees. Water is already 1 of the most valuable resources. Data centers require enormous amounts of electricity and depending on the systems they use, they can also require significance amounts of water. So we have to ask ourselves why here before approving these projects, we should be asking how much water will they use who will pay for that infrastructure? How will they affect our electricity? How many permanent jobs will go to the local residents? And most importantly, what will the cost the people who already live here? I'm especially concerned about the possibility that these facilities being built near our neighborhoods and schools, our children don't get to choose where they live or where the schools are located. Adults make those decisions for them. So, why would we put massive industrial facilities near schools and then tell ourselves the benefits are worth the risk. I'm not against bringing opportunity to the valley. I'm against taking opportunity away from people who already live here. If development makes our water less secure, puts pressure on our power grid affects our neighborhoods or creates concerns around our children's schools. Then we have to question whether the money is worth it. The valley is not an empty piece of land waiting to be developed. It is our home and I don't want to see my home treated like a resource to be consumed because someone decided the desert look convenient on the map. I want progress. I want good jobs and I want my community to grow, but I want that growth to happen responsibly. I want development that respects our water development that respects our environment and development that respects our families. But most importantly, I want development that respects where. Who were here before the environment opportunity arrived? Because the question should not be how much money can we make by building here? The question should be what kind of community do we want to leave behind? And if the answer is a healthy, sustainable South Coachella Valley for our children.

That's two minutes. Next on Zoom, we have Jane Dodd. Jane, if you can hear us, you have two minutes.

She's not there.

She's not there. Dominic Moonheart on Zoom.

He's there.

Great.

All right, hello, can you guys hear me? We can, you have two minutes.

All right, thank you, Madam Mayor, Mr. Mayor, Pro Tem, members of the council. I wanted to speak on item 3C and 3D, but I'll start with 3D because it's short and sweet. I would like to express my support for an elected mayor, two-year term elected mayor with six districts and have two out of those six districts be a minority majority district. And that's it for item 3D, 3C. I support the item, but I would like to ask if we could modify it to have a permanent ban on data centers within the city of Palm Springs. Palm Springs is water short. It is boiling hot outside. We are very short on water. I have no idea why someone would want to put a data center in here other than to take advantage of our community. um just as a fun fact because a lot of people have said good things already and i second those um opinions um the bellagio hotel and casino consumes roughly two uh 22 million gallons of water just for their water fountain show compared to a danis data center that takes 100 million gallons of water. And if we're talking about a large data center with AI data center, it takes 300 million gallons of water a year. So yeah, I'd rather welcome Bellagio and not a data center. We don't need data centers in Palm Springs. We cannot support it. The fire department can't respond when there's a fire or an emergency situation within a warehouse, let alone a data center. So no on data centers. I support item 3C. I am not going to have 3,000 gallons of water leave our desert just for a data center.

Thank you. You're out of time. They beat me. Next, we have Richard Morris. Is he on Zoom? Richard, if you can hear us, you have two minutes. Mr. Morris, if you can hear us, you can hit unmute and you have two minutes. No. Okay. And then did Jane come back on?

No. Okay. Jesse Nehemiah is there.

Jesse here for one more in person.

Okay, thank you. Good evening, Madam Mayor and city council members. I'm speaking this evening on the May oral position. This city needs a strong mayor. The current role is weak. It is merely a city council member who gets to parade around for a year as a ceremonial head of the city. Those are the main issues. The position as it stands now is ceremonial and temporary. From what I've gathered in the meetings that I had with individual council members in 2024, and from my own observations when I sat, when I sit in the audience there at the council chamber, the mayor's major powers now are to basically chair this council meeting and shake hands. They can have some sort of say over the final council agenda, but even then they are forced to consider everyone on the council on their whims. including when a council member wants to pass a resolution that's based in foreign policy, a realm of government that is truly beyond the reach of the council. Perhaps if this city had a mayor with actual power, the 2023 resolution pledging the city support for the state of Israel far beyond its city limits would not have actually happened. or at the very least, have given the mayor a backbone to insist on public input and discussion. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss. Thank you, Jesse. Next, we have Philip Hodges on Zoom.

great good evening uh council city staff welcome back um chief mills we will miss you immensely um i'm here for 3c and i would also love a bellagio and palm springs um i support the moratorium and i I hope you adopt it. Thanks to Council Member Garner for bringing this forward. As I think you all know, I work in AI and investing, so I'm pretty familiar with the benefits and the extreme costs of the technology. And I'm happy to see the sort of Council moving from just sort of cheerleading AI to start protecting us from the costs. My only concern tonight is the definitions. You have the draft in front of you that's already defined data centers in a way that you haven't given direction for, and that might be sticky. So your report, I think correctly, is all about intensity, environmental and resource cost. But the definition doesn't mention them. Are you planning to prohibit every dedicated data facility regardless of scale? If so, that's reasonable, but that should be your choice. And it could have unintended consequences. I was just reading last week, two months ago, Medford, New Jersey adopted a definition, which I went back and it looks very similar to what you have in front of you tonight. The planning board went through and found it could reach medical offices and cell towers. And one board member said his own house met the definition of data center. So that wasn't in the spirit of what the council directed. They inherited the definition from their staff's moratorium wording. So I just suggest giving staff more explicit direction tonight about what you actually intend to prohibit. I think the answer should be intensity and come back with thresholds built around power, water and cooling at full build out. But please don't let that stop you pass it tonight. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hodges. That concludes our public comments. Our next item is the consent calendar. I would like to entertain a motion to accept the consent calendar without items X, P, A, A, T, and V. And the recusals, as I mentioned earlier, for Mayor Pro Tem Reddy and Garner on U and DeHart, Councilmember DeHart on Q. Motion carries. Let's start with the questions or comments if we can first. Item H, Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Mayor. This is 1H with regard to the Microsoft licensing. Just a question on that. First, the three-year term for a million dollars and the extension for an additional million. I guess since we don't have a termination for convenience in here my sense in reading this is is a contract of adhesion uh the city attorney may want to comment on that uh but on the renewal so my question is is since we're delegating the authority of the city manager to renew this for an additional million dollars for a second term if my request is that the city manager would at least just notify council when you're going to renew that in three years uh since it is a big dollar amount and we don't have a termination for convenience clause in here. So that was my question to the city manager. And he can make a mental note of that or he could note it in the file?

Well, if the item is approved, we'll move forward with the contract and we'll direct our IT department to flag that and make note of it. So when we get ready to consider, if we do want to consider exercising the option, that will notify council that we're going to do that. Thank you.

But shouldn't that be written in the resolution? It could be. I think it should be. The direction should be in writing, not just a verbal.

Then I would move that as part of the motion to approve.

It's already approved. You said it was just, it didn't.

If it's the council's pleasure, we can make note of that in the official record. There isn't a technical resolution, but we can certainly make it part of the record.

Thank you.

Next is item L, Mayor Pro Tem.

Yes, so thank you. And this is, I did get clarification from this, from the city attorney. I just would like to say it for my constituents who are hearing it. This is with regard to slurry seal. Their question is, why is Laverne and Toledo not on there? And the answer is, Mr. Engineer, if you could remind us and let us know that the project is going forward. It's just not slurry seal.

BEING PAVED AND WE'RE WORKING ON THAT SCHEDULE. WE HAVE IT SCHEDULED FOR NEXT WEEK TO START THE CONSTRUCTION ON THAT.

THANK YOU. THEY'RE VERY APPRECIATIVE. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

I'VE TOLD YOU ONE DATE AND IT SLIPPED SO HOPEFULLY THE CONTRACT IS ONLY A COUPLE OF WEEKS.

CAN YOU JUST CLARIFY THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SLURRY AND A FULL PAVING? I KNOW WE ASK YOU EVERY TIME YOU COME UP HERE BUT IT DOESN'T HURT.

YEAH, SO WE HAVE TWO PAVING PROGRAMS HERE AT THE CITY. ONE IS A COMPLETE RECONSTRUCTION OR REPAVEMENT THAT WE CALL. SO IT REMOVES THE ACTUAL ASPHALT AND REPLACES IT WHERE NEEDED. A SLURRY ESSENTIALLY IS AN OIL THAT IS PLACED ON NEWLY CONSTRUCTED STREETS. SO SOME RESIDENTS MIGHT FEEL THAT WE'RE GIVING THEM MORE ATTENTION THAT THEY DESERVE. BUT ACTUALLY WHEN YOU PUT OILS INTO THE ASPHALT IT ACTUALLY LASTS LONGER AND YOU EXTEND THE LIFE. SO THAT'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO.

Thank you Joelle if you could just my question to you is this was one the waste water treatment plant the projects there's a lot of projects there there's significant change orders for large amounts of money it it somewhat shocking but that's the nature of those projects I just want to make sure that you have a comfort level that your review of these change orders are appropriate and there are things that we've required and you have a comfort level that we're doing what we need to do to monitor that

Thank you for the question, absolutely. This particular project has been going on for quite a while and has taken up a lot of resources. But it's the nature of the project itself. It is complicated. We've been digging in areas that have a lot of infrastructure hidden, and we've been uncovering. And as you uncover, you have to react. And the contractor has been moving the project forward. It has a gas flare that we've had issues with the manufacturer trying to get it online so yeah the project is actually very complicated and and we do my entire team reviews the change orders and we're comfortable um this is not the end of the project we're still working on it and my hope is to complete it and if there is another change order bring it back to you and finalize this project but it has been a very complicated and long project to work on thank you next we have item oh uh

Actually, that has been answered for me. I'm good on O. Madam Mayor, thank you.

Great job. Council Member DeHart, you had a question on item W.

thank you mayor not a question just a comment and uh thanks to the police department and everybody who worked on uh this item uh you know we we talked about it months and months and months ago to make sure there was a customer service reporting mechanism uh built into um the resolution and the police department has included that and I appreciate that and next step is just to make sure that the community is aware if they get their tow car towed that there is a channel through the police department that they can provide feedback on their experience with any particular tow company.

so i appreciate that that was followed through thank you thank you next we have item y mayor uh yes thank you mayor on this is the ramon bridge and uh joel you you had indicated that the engineer who designed the bridge has a time frame of i forget the number of days to do the project could you

That is correct. Again, John Montalvo, City Engineer. The Ramon Road project has been designed and started in 2008 and over time it's developed by our design engineers and they come up with a number that they feel comfortable that this project could, based on industry standards, how long this bridge would take to be constructed. Now what we've done and council approved is we hired a construction management team well in advance of actually releasing this to the public for bidding. That construction management team has actually reviewed all the plans. you know if there's areas where we were concerned about we had them fixed and they also weighed in on the amount of time that this project would take so we're very comfortable right now that this project is um the design team has said essentially 24 months to construct and we're comfortable with that timeline and so if you receive construction actual construction bids back to do the construction that's longer than that ACTUALLY, WE DICTATE THAT EVERY SINGLE CONTRACTOR MUST BID ON THE 24 MONTH TIMELINE. IT WOULD BE NONRESPONSIVE OTHERWISE. EXACTLY. WE WOULDN'T GET A TIMELINE SAY WE'RE GOING TO BUILD IT IN THREE YEARS INSTEAD OF TWO. WE WOULDN'T ACCEPT THAT.

Okay, a second question on this project. I had a couple questions from people who use the CV link in that area. They had concerns, obviously, and again, I'm not sure how long it's gonna be closed entirely. Could you address that and if there's any remediation or modifications possible?

Yeah, and so one of the things I would like to point is folks to KESQ, their website. There's an interview with me that came out today where I addressed that same issue. I missed that, Joelle. Could you restate that, please? So yeah, so this bridge, the Ramon Road Bridge, the entire structure from one side to the other is actually going to be widened on both sides. The work required to install scaffolding, the grading, the equipment is of such a nature that we would not be able to accommodate anyone that is not associated with the construction underneath that bridge. It wouldn't be a safe situation. There are areas like if we were to bid this project and add, say, a we would have to construct essentially a bridge around or a protective barrier on this bicycle, it would cost millions of dollars to do so. From the very beginning, the bicycle CV link project was they always knew that the bridge was going to be constructed. We were always talking to CVAG that was constructing the CV link. They requested that we allow them to build a temporary CONNECTOR UNDERNEATH THE BRIDGE KNOWING FULL WELL THAT WE WERE GOING TO COME BACK DURING CONSTRUCTION AND REMOVE THAT CONNECTION. IT WAS CONVEYED TO THEM. THEY AGREED. THEY ALSO AGREED TO ACTUALLY DESIGN THE TRAFFIC CONTROL PLAN ESSENTIALLY, THE REROUTING OF THE CV LINK THROUGH MULTIPLE CITY STREETS TO GET IT AROUND THE CONSTRUCTION ZONE AND BACK ON TO THE BRIDGE.

There's a detour. The C.B.

Link won't be closed. The Coachella Valley Association of Governments agreed to design a rerouting plan. We've taken that plan, we've incorporated it into our plan set and it will be bid and the contractor will install a reroute of the C.B. Link.

Good, so it won't be close to the two years.

Well, it'll take a different route, correct? It's not ideal. It's not unobstructed. It'll be through city streets, but that is part of the project today. Okay, thank you very much.

Also, on the other side of the bridge, there's about 40 miles of the CV link going east.

Yeah, there's a lot of CV link on both sides. My initial thought was, let's close it. And that was not acceptable to CVAC and the CV link users, right? Close it, have them turn around and go back the other way. But they really did not want to do that. So we worked together to create a plan that would reroute the CV link through both cities, Cathedral City and the City of Palm Springs.

Great. Thank you. Next we have item Z. Mayor Pro Tem.

Just a question and Jay maybe you can answer this. Just with regard to it's actually on page 33 of the staff report and again it talks about a lump sum basis for the payment of the contractor but yet I notice in the newer amendment that lump sum is not there so I just want to make sure that's reconciled

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Mayor, Council Members, I'm going to ask Noe Orochiga to address that level of detail. Thank you.

Council. My name is community development administrator. So we might have had a mishap with the two different terms about the lump sum. You said page 33?

But the practice now is not the lump sum. It's under the new. I just wanted to clarify that.

We do not do lump sum. We are a reimbursement based. Understood.

Thank you. Just wanted to confirm. Thank you.

Thank you, Noe. Thank you, Jay. Next, we have the items that were pulled. And we're going to start with item P, Councilmember Bernstein. Can we get a staff report on P?

Hi there, good evening. My name is Victoria Carpenter. I'm the interim executive director of Palm Springs Airport. How may I, would you like a staff report or do we?

I guess you can just, and I could just ask you my questions because this Aviatrix, and so they've had several contract amendments and extensions. So what are we actually paying them now per year versus to do our website for the airport versus what we first contracted with them?

So when we originally contracted Aviatrix in 2023, we had them do a two-year term and that was for website content, so ongoing website content, improvements and maintenance service. And then we did an amendment because there was a requirement to update our website to comply with Title II digital accessibility for ADA. And so we added an additional $72,000 onto the contract. And then we ended up doing another amendment so that we can add $45,000 on there for website accessibility services. So, um, we did do a refresh with the website. And because we had ABA tricks assisting us with our website at Palm Springs airport, uh, we were able to utilize their services to continue maintaining the services. So we do intend on going back out to bid, um, when this contract expires, if council were to approve it, to extend it through 2027, and then we would go out to bid in about may 2027 timeframe.

Okay, so the amendments were for specific additional needs. It wasn't just them coming back as the lowest bidder and then asking for more money throughout the contract.

That's correct.

Okay. And then, so we go out for bid next spring for the RFP? That's correct. So one of the things I want to mention, because this was a case, I remember when they first got it, a lot of local people didn't know about it. Aviatrix just does aviation websites throughout the country and they're not local. I want to make sure that we reach out to local web designers. We have a lot of capable ones in the Valley who can do this. And then the other question is, do we own everything if we change vendors?

Yes, so one of the clauses in the contract specifically states that final products created by the contractor for the public-facing website will be entirely owned by the city.

So somebody else would take over all the code and then start doing it? That's correct. And how do we check for security in that code?

I actually have Jason Underwood, he's the IT Assistant Director, so then he can assist with that.

Hi, Jason Herbert, Assistant Director of IT. Did you ask how we check for code?

If somebody takes over the website that Aviatrix does, how do we know that some person there, disgruntled employee, didn't put in a Trojan horse inside of it?

So as part of the RFP process, that would be included in the requirements, full cybersecurity audit and all of the stuff that goes along with what we do with all of our software requirements from a cybersecurity perspective. Okay. So that would all be vetted before they even got to them.

Are you doing that and vetting everything before somebody takes it over?

Yes.

Okay, that was my question. Thank you.

Madam Mayor. I think council member Bernstein has made a very valid point. Is it gonna be written in the RFP process that staff is directed to do specific outreach to local vendors? I think that's a very important piece that we missed and I don't want it just to be a verbal piece. So how does that get, you know?

So we actually work with our procurement department and so procurement would be advertising this through Planet Bids.

But Tabitha is also here she can assist with that response Hello Tabitha Richards procurement and contracting manager, so we wouldn't necessarily put it in the actual RFP It would be an additional outreach and advertising that we would perform for the solicitation to encourage local responders And then we would include our local preference in the actual RFP so that those that are local that respond get that preference and those points available.

And that all makes sense. That's standard. But this specific outreach to local designers, how do we make sure that that happens?

I mean, council can just give us direction, and then when we come to do that, we would do additional outreach.

Well, I'd like to add on.

Yeah. Maybe we ask that the RFP be on consent, and then we can also make sure that way. Is that an option? That way it doesn't sort of slip by us either.

but I don't want to forget about it either. So I would prefer it would be in writing somewhere.

So to confirm, you want this RFP to come back to council for authorization to go out to solicitation so that you can ensure that that local outreach has taken place prior?

Obviously, we're asking that it be done too. Because a lot of people who do web design are not necessarily looking at Planet Bids or the Desert Sun, but they're very capable and they're local.

Thank you. No problem. Okay, thank you.

We have a motion and a second. Oh, sorry, go ahead. I think we're good, right? Motion carries. Next we have item T from Council Member DeHart. Need a full staff report or just a question?

No, I think, Joelle, you may be able to bypass the full staff report because you mentioned in the other item for the east palm canyon bridge that you have a requirement in the rfp that the job is done with a certain number of months So is that requirement, the timeline requirement, embedded in this RFP? It is embedded in the request for proposal.

So what time? It's in the specifications. For the East Palm Canyon, we're looking at 15 to 18 months, but we're going to specify 18 months, a time frame that the contractor has to meet and everybody's going to bid on this.

So this is 18 months? That's an 18-month project. Oh, nice. Okay, very good. That's all I wanted to make sure. Thank you.

I had a question, Mayor. So I had some questions about obviously the street and you've answered this prior up to that bridge needs repair work you don't want to do the repair work till you do the bridge that makes sense so but that's basically going to be two years off is there something that can be done short of the full rep is some sort of repairs on certain parts of the road before then instead of waiting for two years for anything i guess that's that's the

Yeah, it's a challenge when you're trying to build such a structure that you're using and you're going to have construction activities over it and you're shifting lanes to do certain things. I think it would probably deteriorate faster than what we would want it to. There's also a component where we try not to, what we call scope creep, if you start going further and further and further out, I run out of money to actually do that work. So within the footprint and within what's required, essentially Caltrans will only participate in around 200 feet on either side of the bridge. We look at that, we look at the available funding we have for paving, so typically we'll put that in our paving program. So I have to start judging how far I go out and when I start doing the work. But to answer your question about doing it beforehand, we try not to do that, and that's not typical. We really want to work till most of the construction is completed before we actually put down a smooth road, we stripe it, and then we turn it over to the city to maintain it.

But how far on each side of the bridge would that...

SO I MENTIONED ABOUT 200 FEET BUT WE TYPICALLY LOOK AT A LITTLE BIT EXTRA. THE MONEY THAT I HAVE IS REALLY TO DO THE INFRASTRUCTURE, THE ACTUAL STRUCTURE.

I WAS TALKING ABOUT OTHER CITY PAVING DOLLARS, NOT THIS BRIDGE PROJECT BECAUSE I'M SPEAKING ABOUT MUCH LARGER PORTIONS AWAY FROM IT, CLOSER TO GENE AUTRY AND BACK UP TOWARDS SMOKE TREE.

So you're asking when we're going to get to those pieces, or are we going to try to look to pave?

Are you going to do any of those pieces before this?

Not necessarily. Not in today's program that we're already paving today. And I won't be able to tell you off the top of my head if we're doing that. I HAVE MY PRINCIPAL ENGINEER SHAKING HIS HEAD. WE DON'T HAVE THAT IN OUR CURRENT PAVING PROGRAM BUT THIS PROJECT WILL CONTINUE. WE'LL PAVE IN THE AREAS THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH IT AND IT WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME THE PAVEMENT INDEX WILL DICTATE WHEN WE'LL ACTUALLY PAVE THE REST OF IT.

FINAL QUESTION. LET ME ASK YOU THIS. IF YOU GO FROM 200 FEET FROM THE BRIDGE DOWN TOWARDS GENE AUTRY, THAT PORTION OF THE 111 is in bad shape. That's our portion, not Caltrans. Do you know when we're going to be doing that portion?

I would have to check the PCI and really get back to you. I can answer that question by tomorrow. Yeah, okay. Because that's where I get a lot of complaints. Where it lives in the actual paving program that we have. Okay.

Thank you.

Sure.

We're seeking a motion and a second for item T. Great. Thank you.

Council Member DeHart, you also had item V. Yeah, V. So what's the total expense that we're gonna have with Cassidy Whitmore? And we're talking about $100 an hour increase from where we are today. So what do we pay today and where will that take us down the road with this increase coming in?

Hello, Mayor and Council. Stephanie George, Human Resources Director. We actually don't anticipate a significant increase, and that is because we have changed our structure for 2025. In early 2025, our senior council retired and we replaced that structure with going to an associate. We saw an increase in billing rates because that associate would then go to senior council. So we're actually kind of getting billed both. So we met with LCW and we restructured it back to our previous way and now we have our first point of contact as a partner. And while you would think that would cause rates to increase because the bill rate is higher, it's much more efficient so we spend less time on legal. And that's why we're not asking for an increase.

But where's the $100 an hour increase come from?

So their bill rate for the partner is going to be $100 an hour higher. Their last increase happened in 2022. They typically increase every four years is what we've seen.

So I'm not being clear. Where are we getting the money from to pay for this $100 an hour increase that is going to be tens of thousands of dollars?

Our overall annual costs for LCW fluctuates greatly depending on the amount of litigation we have. We don't anticipate going over what we've already approved in the budget.

Oh, okay.

Thank you.

Yes, Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you. Stephanie, so they're asking for $100 an hour. Would they do less than that, or will they leave us as a firm?

I don't believe they would leave us. And if it pleases council, I would be happy to go back and see if I could negotiate a better rate.

Well, one of the things that might help determine that is I was looking at the staff report. Is there any comparison in what they charge other municipalities that they do?

Yes.

Do they charge the same rate they're charging us?

Yes, we did some research. The two cities we were able to get clear numbers back on, we were right in the middle between those two cities. One was City of Compton and City of Redlands.

Yeah, and I know they do many cities in California. And a couple cities I was associated with, I know their rates were much less. So I think instead of just giving them 100, maybe we could, yes, what I'm asking is, Could we continue this and maybe see if there's something other than $100 just increase?

Absolutely. I'd be happy to go back to see if we could reduce the increase of it.

Yeah, I agree with that. And the second part I had on the contract, and this is on page 12 of the staff report, it mentions, and I don't know if they do this, it says that they review their rates regularly. on an annual basis and if appropriate for them, they adjust them July 1st and they let us know. Do they do this? So they have a right just to increase every July if they choose to do so?

UNDER THAT LANGUAGE, THEY WOULD, AND THE CITY WOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY, OKAY, WE'RE NO LONGER GOING TO USE YOUR SERVICES, SO THAT'S WHY THEY PROVIDE THAT NOTICE, SO THAT THE CITY CAN DECIDE WHETHER IT WANTS TO CONTINUE USING THE SERVICE, AND THAT PROVIDES THE CITY WITH LEVERAGE. I WILL POINT OUT, SORRY TO INTERRUPT, THEY HAVEN'T USED THAT PROVISION CERTAINLY IN THE LAST EIGHT YEARS THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED. THEY'VE COME TO US WITH THE TWO AMENDMENTS THAT THE COUNCIL APPROVES. YEAH. SO WE COULD TAKE THAT OUT, THOUGH. WE COULD TAKE THAT OUT. WE COULD CERTAINLY GO BACK TO THEM AND ASK THEM TO TAKE IT OUT SINCE, AGAIN, THEY HAVEN'T USED THAT.

Well, that would be my request that that clause be removed. Obviously, if they want an increase, they would ask and then we'd go through this process. So the other question then is, you recommend that we proceed this evening with the vote or you want to go back and talk to them and see if they'll?

I've heard from two council, we've heard from two council members. If there's consensus by at least a majority, we can table it and go back and negotiate if that's the council's pleasure.

I say we negotiate a better deal.

How does this impact any work that they're doing with us right now?

They're still continuing to work under the existing rates.

Thank you.

To table it. We wouldn't vote on it.

You're fine with it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Stephanie.

are not voting on item B. Next, we have item X. Mayor Pro Tem, ready.

on which one that was x yes thank you uh thank you mayor so on on this one my question specifically was uh this apparently and and correct me if i'm wrong this is clearly an unfunded state mandate and you're looking to contract with ontario for about you think four hundred thousand dollars and so i appreciate the briefing that you gave to council My question is, part of the reason we're not doing this in house is because we don't have what you think now is the personnel to do it and the ability capacity to do it. I think we probably could in talking with the city manager, you probably had something to work towards. that you'll get there and so the one thing that I was concerned about is that you're not filling two positions that are vacancies and one of the reasons was we don't have enough dispatchers it's hard to get dispatchers keep dispatchers there's people out vacations getting sick retiring so not having enough is always going to be a problem for capacity so If I'm reading this right you're going to pay for this by not hiring vacant positions. My question is I guess wouldn't it be better to hire the positions to always maintain our important capacity there and to build it and then this is an unfunded state mandate we just need to appropriate the money if it's what we have to do.

So that's my question. Mayor Pro Tem, just to clarify that, yeah, we did have some original discussions about trying, do we need to free some positions? We do have our where's my budget director, a management safety fund where we think we can work that into the current budget to help cover most of the costs for this during at least the first year while we're evaluating what the long-term solution is. Do we need to expand out the current dispatch center? Do we need to come up with some other scenario? I don't think we're gonna have to get to the position where we're freezing positions. We've got a number of dispatch positions all ready to fill. We're working on getting those filled. And then if we get to that point, we'll have to have some more discussions.

Just to add on that, Christopher Mooney, Director of Finance. So we do have an emergency response fund that does support dispatch services. There's not a whole lot of money in that fund, but we can use it probably for the first year to get us through. But if it ever comes down to that the police department needs to hire those two dispatchers, we're more than happy to unfreeze those and appropriate the dollars of the general fund at the council's request.

Okay, that's fine, but I'm just going, it says the expense of this will be offset by freezing two vacant dispatch positions. So for the record, we're saying we're not going to do that?

I think that's initially what we are going to do. If the police department wants to fill those spots, we're more than happy to not do it and appropriate the dollars out of the general fund. We're not going to do that.

Okay, so... We're correcting this for the record. We're not going to do that. All right. So we're going to hire all the positions that you have the vacancies for dispatchers because that was part of the reason why you had indicated we can't do this. And my sense is it's going to be a lot more expensive because when you look at the list of all the dispatch kinds of calls that have to be that you're going to send, you're basically going to be sending 90% of the calls, dispatch calls, the medical calls. So that says to me, this number is gonna grow. The best antidote to that is handling it in our dispatch center. And I believe that we couldn't have the capacity to do that. Making sure these positions are hired will be a good first step. I'm just curious, any sense of how long you think until you can come forward with a plan to do it ourselves?

I'm going to defer to police and fire to talk about that, but I think the position, the thought of the administration is we want to give that, let's give it six to 12 months. Let's see how it's going, how we're managing it. And then I think police and fire will come forward and they'll make some recommendations to us. In the meantime, we're going to be looking at scenarios for what can we do with our dispatch center? Can we, you know, we're going to be going into our next two year budget cycle next year. So between now and then, I think we're gonna be doing some work about what that might entail if we needed to expand it, if we wanted to expand it, and bake that into some of the recommendations we might make in the next budget cycle.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Council Members. I would agree with that assessment. Our look is, if we are approved to move forward with the contract with Ontario Fire Department for EMD services, I have a Deputy Chief that would be our liaison between Ontario, the Police Department and the Fire Department here in Palm Springs. And our opportunity is within six months to take a hard look at what the personnel requirements are to deliver that EMD service. what the staffing requirements are, the training, and also what the facility and the IT technology that would be required to bring it back home would look like. So it's really an opportunity for us to take a look at Ontario, how their service delivery is and what it takes to achieve that. So my goal is within six months of this contract going into effect to come back to council and city manager and provide a staff report to you.

Could I ask, aside to the city attorney, in reading through the contract with them, I couldn't entirely get my arms around how the liability is going to work. So we transfer a call to them, dispatch, somehow there's some negligence on the dispatcher there. It looks like any third party that brings a case against them, we're going to have to

hold them harmless or pay half of the attorney's fees no that the language although it's phrased a little bit differently than most indemnifications it's actually probably a little bit more straightforward and it basically says each party is responsible for their own negligence so if if the ontario's dispatchers do something negligent then ontario would be responsible if if our employees do something negligent the city would be responsible it goes on to say if we ever went to trial and a jury you know held one party responsible under joint and several liability, then the parties would be able to seek indemnification from the party who is ultimately found to be liable irrespective of joint and several liability. So I've reviewed it. I'm comfortable with it from a legal perspective in terms of shifting risk to the party who is actually responsible for any kind of damages. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. I just have one thing. This is a really confusing conversation if you haven't read the staff report. So for the public, what's happening right now is that our 911 call center is fairly straightforward. You call. You might say that someone is choking. They're going to send help on the way. What we're changing to now with contracting with Ontario is so that if you call and say, hey, someone is choking, they will then walk you through the steps to help you hopefully relieve that person from the choking incident. That goes for automatic external defibrillator, CPR instructions, childbirth, bleeding control, anaphylaxis, narcotics overdoses. So it's a really... while help is on the way. So walking you through the process, kind of just like you would see in the movies, instead of just saying, hey, help is on the way, they're gonna actually now walk you through those steps. So this is a really important and exciting thing that is happening. And I appreciate that you're taking the time to figure out how to implement that here in this city. And in the meantime, contracting with somebody who's already well versed in it. But I just wanted to explain that to the public, because I think this is a really big improvement in our 911 system. So thank you for that.

And it's required by state law. It is required. So we have to provide this additional services. Yeah, my only additional thought around if and when and how we bring it in-house is really making sure that we're kind of considering this in kind of our capital improvement projects and if it could fit in or just making sure as we're planning in the next budget cycle, even if it's several years out, we really need to think about our physical capacity and where that would fit as early as possible.

I would just note I mean I've never known us I mean we don't hang up on someone currently I mean we do that now we've done that for many many years exactly what this is just formalizing what we've always always done so but I get the requirement okay you're probably going to need a couple more dispatchers to do it because it's going to take longer but in essence we do that now unless we don't

No, you're correct. We do not do that now. Currently our dispatchers do not provide emergency medical dispatch service to a 911 caller.

Well, but that's not what I'm saying. If someone's on the line choking and they need help, we don't just disconnect the call. We stay on the call with them. We talk them through that. That's what I'm saying. Are you saying we don't do that now?

We do not have trained dispatchers to provide any type of choking instruction for someone calling 911. Currently. That requires a whole level of training, ongoing training, quality assurance checks. We currently do not provide that service. And that's why Assembly Bill 645 is requiring that. They realize that dispatchers are often the first critical link for anyone calling 911 before paramedics, firefighters even make contact with that patient. So having dispatchers that can provide callers immediate life-saving instruction that may help stabilize the patient or improve outcome has been proven in those six areas. No, I agree.

I agree with that. But at some point, I presume our dispatchers will have the ability to do that. That's what I'm asking. They would have the capacity to do that.

Once we contract with Ontario, Ontario would provide that service. Then it would be our job to look internally, how do we provide that training? How do we bring that in-house? But currently, Mayor Pro Tem, we do not provide that service to a so-called 911. We do not have that medical expertise.

Well, not that level of service. But what I'm saying is we don't just disconnect. If someone's asking for help, we don't just disconnect the call.

Currently, I'll turn this over to the chief Stern, but my belief is there is no instruction given beyond that point.

Good evening, everyone. Deputy Chief Kyle Stern from the Palm Springs Police Department. Mayor Potembradi, you're correct. Our dispatchers are public safety professionals. If they're dealing with a medical emergency, they will do everything in their power to provide good advice while our professionals from the fire department are responding. But this new requirement from the state mandates that they cannot leave that call while they're answering it to meet this EMD requirement. Given our current state now, if there were other emergency calls and other things coming in, they would, in theory, have to say, potentially, in dire circumstances, fire's on the way, try to do this, but if there's other 911 calls coming in and there are only two, three dispatchers at a time, they may have to disconnect that call. This mandate requires that we cannot do that to meet the EMD requirement. and our staffing just may not, we can't meet that need right now.

Understand, understand. And again, I'm not disputing, this is all important. I just raised the issue that why I think it's important for us to have the capacity to do it inside, because when we've gone through switching calls in the past, that always opens us up to, hold on, we gotta transfer you. One, two, three, maybe a call gets transferred quickly, maybe it doesn't, maybe they pick up quickly, maybe they don't, maybe it gets dropped. We've all had that experience. So all I'm saying is at some point when we can get it in house, it's important to avoid that issue. And number two, I think it's probably gonna be more efficient on the cost side.

Yeah, and Mayor Pro Tem, if I could just add and reiterate Council Member Garner's comments, we're really excited about this because this is an enhancement for our residents to the services that they're getting now. So our police and fire folks are really interested to get this going. It is a state law, but it is an enhanced level of service that we're going to be able to provide to our residents while we're trying to figure out that long-term solution that you're talking about.

So we're all saying the same thing. Thank you.

We have a motion and we have a second.

My concern on this item was what has been mentioned and that is that we don't jeopardize the success of the program by Freezing two positions. That just isn't acceptable for me. And I want to make sure that this is in stone, that that's not going to happen. That those two positions, we're still going to aggressively fill those positions and find funding in other line items to pay the Ontario bill.

That's correct, Councilman. We're going to move full speed ahead using the emergency management fund that the budget director talked about.

Beautiful.

Thank you.

Motion carries. Next we have, thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Next we have item AA. Councilmember Bernstein, would you like a staff report?

Or I can just tell you my concerns. I'll just say what my concerns are, okay? Because this is what we had asked with Oakview to come back on the local brands and community nonprofit element of the food and beverage contract. My first question was the definition of a local brand is here, vendors, suppliers, producers located in the Coachella Valley, which to me doesn't really seem accurate because Ralph's could be a supplier, but we wanted a local brand that is based here and not just a distributor or a vendor. And not that we don't want things like local farms and things like that, obviously we do, but what we're trying to do is expose our visitors to local flavor and uniquely Coachella Valley brands like they brought up before, Coachella Valley Coffee, Gambino's, Gelato Granucci, Brandini Toffee, whatever it is, that's what we want to do because there's a benefit not only to the local business but also it promotes something that's unique about the Coachella Valley. So that was the first part of my question slash concern.

Do you want me to go to the next one? Should I take them one at a time? What's your preference?

One at a time, please.

Okay. So, Mayor, Member of the Council, Seth Merowitz from the City Attorney's Office. The Councilmember is referring to the local brands, which is Exhibit A1 before you. In hearing that concern, we have discussed with OVGH, who is represented here tonight, to add, after producer, to add the language with its operational base or corporate headquarters. So we're going to have the vendors, suppliers, producers whose operations are here or whose headquarters are here to try and respond to that concern. And that's language that is acceptable to OVCH.

I still don't know if that covers a brand. I mean, you know, let's just say Cisco, which provides lots of food to lots of places, and their headquarters now is going to be in Palm Desert. I don't think that's what we had in mind of the local brand. It's a local supplier, which is great, and it would fall under our RFP thing as a local preference. But our goal here was to have local brands that a customer of the convention center will recognize. I don't know, I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know how best to describe this, but.

I wonder if representatives from OHV might talk about what they do.

And just to clarify, I believe this is what they were presenting when they came to us. We had a lot of them speak to us. And so that's what I thought it was in sync with that.

Good evening council Chris Morgan from OVG hospitality ovations fanfare Thanks for having me again Here at Council. Yeah, that's the intent of it the way that it's written You know one one of our concerns is that let's Coachella Valley coffee, although I don't think that they would ever move their office to another location, you know, happens fairly often that somebody might, you know, open another location and relocate their office, but they still are making the product here. So we're trying to hit all of that in that the terminology there. But the intent is, you know, we're buying from brands like the ones that have come up here and spoken in front of you and many others. that are located here in the greater Coachella Valley.

But you still have in there vendors and suppliers. And that's where I guess that's where I'm getting confused because a vendor or supplier, they don't have to necessarily supply local brands. They could be based here. That not right? They could, I guess, yeah. I don't know where, like Cisco, which is a big food distributor and supplier, I don't know where they're located, but if they were located here in the Valley, I would say they do not count for what we're trying to do with this.

Yes, again, the intent is not to count anything that Cisco, in your example, they would not fall into what we're classifying as local vendors.

Well, what I'm talking about, the definition says vendor, supplier, producer located here. What I'm talking about is the actual brand name. is based here. And so, because that's really what we're trying to get at with the local flavor and the sense of place. It doesn't, you know...

I don't know if... The thing, you know, there could be, I don't know, let's say a paper goods supplier that is producing, let's say, napkins, right, here in the Coachella Valley. that we wanna use, they're not necessarily a brand. So then we would run into conflicts, right? If we're trying to utilize our products and count them towards this committed spend that we are presenting could create an issue.

And you're trying to include the local napkin supplier as part of a local brand in this?

Yeah, they're here and they're producing something here their money is going back into this community, right? So I don't know a local napkin provider here.

If there is one, they can feel free to reach out. And I'm all for support local businesses. What I'm saying is that our goal at one point discussed was also local brands. And that's a little bit different than a producer or supplier or vendor.

You know, we've committed to using what you would call brands, right, on our menus, right, and really pushing those. Again, we've shown through our operations out in Palm Desert how we've worked with those local brands, and we intend to do that. They would fall into, you know, this 7% that we've committed to here.

Okay. But you could also include the local napkin supplier? Yes. Okay, I actually don't think they should. I think it should be a local brand name because I think the idea is to have, it's the same as like what we've done at the airport. We want to have Las Casuelas and Coachella Valley Coffee there and, well, Trio, but, you know, that is different than saying the napkin supplier for, you know, Joe Schmo stores.

I just want to add into that, though. But these are both very important things, right? Because we want to keep allow money to come back to the Coachella Valley. So somebody that produces a good here in the Coachella Valley, asking for you all to purchase from someone here, one, it's more sustainable because it's coming from directly here in the Valley. But also, again, the money is coming through us and staying here. So I think that I hear you on the brand stuff, but also if we exclude other businesses that are not branding but are providing goods that we need at the convention center, I want those to be included as well. I think that is also important. I wouldn't want to leave that out because then we're leaving money on the table that's not coming back into our community.

And I don't think, yeah, and that was, I don't think, I think that is all good. The same as like a local farm makes a lot of sense. And so, but we may not have the local brand names, which has, which has an, both are important. The local brand names has another issue just in terms of promoting ourselves to people who say, I went to Palm Springs to the convention center and I had Gambina's Creperie, because it's a great local brand. And so that serves as added promotion for us as a city and our tourism, which is, it's still really good to say our convention center used a local napkin company, but our convention goers aren't traveling the world and telling people about this wonderful napkin company.

But again, it's a sustainability thing, and it's a community thing. It's not picking and choosing. It's not unimportant. Yeah.

I think they're both valuable in different ways and providing an economic value in a different way. So it's not one.

Valuing one doesn't mean the other one isn't. Yeah. I'm not saying it's, and that's what I'm saying. This local, we have a percentage of local brands that are being used, which is, what, 7%? And so I wanted to make sure that those are food and beverage suppliers located in the valley.

Council Member Bernstein, or DeHart, sorry.

The intention was very, very clear. And this council has never said anything different. And it's that sense of local experience. And that's the language that the vendor has used, is you're giving customers of the convention center that experience of Palm Springs. So I just think, Seth, It's just changing some words. But we can't say what we're saying here because that's not the intent of what council asked for. Council asked for the local brand experience to be to the customers of the convention center to be exposed to that to create that sense of place for visitors in the convention center. And that's this doesn't say that. And the vendor is going to order the napkins regardless. So that example, they're gonna go where they're gonna get the best opportunity there. So I look to you on how do you say that properly?

Maybe the addition, in addition to with its operational base or corporate headquarters located in the greater Coachella Valley, but we could add with its operational base or corporate headquarters, to highlight its location in the greater Coachella Valley. So part of it is not only the purchase, but also to highlight the use of local brands.

Isn't it, I mean, I'm not a lawyer, can't it just be a local brand name who is based in the Valley? of a food and beverage brand name i mean is that i don't i don't know how to say it exactly that makes it but but that would cover like all of those people who came before us the you know the popcorn people and the um the brandinis and and the and the crepe people coffee people those are local brand names based here

Can that be drafted? Yes, that can be drafted. I think we're seeking direction from the council in terms of, because I'm hearing two different interests that are slightly different. One is general economic development and kind of keeping money local. And then I'm also hearing a more specific one about branding that's unique to Coachella. And so I don't know if we've heard from the entire council in terms of what is exactly the council's interest here.

Mr. Attorney, this line item has never been discussed about local economic impact. It has always been discussed about making our local... giving the local provider the opportunity. And it's the local restaurant, the wine maker, coffee maker, popcorn. So that has always been the conversation.

And I think that that is actually reflected in the agreement 4.2.6.4, where it talks about local products and vendors, whenever reasonable, located in the greater Cholla Valley that are unique to Palm Springs and will provide a, quote, sense of place, unquote, reflecting the city's diversity and culture when operated in the convention center, such as restaurants, food trucks, and other products, quote, defined as local brands. This exhibit is just making it operational. What's the objective? What's the measure? And what's the penalty if they don't achieve it?

Why can't we use that same definition right here?

No, that is in agreement. So it does say local brand fair. It absolutely does. And so I think the language is in the contract. What we tried to do in this exhibit A1 is just say, okay, what does that mean? Being objective, how much, and what if you don't do it? What's the remedy?

Why does it hurt repeating the same language in exhibit A1?

We can absolutely repeat the same language.

I think that makes it very clear.

I mean, really what we're trying to establish is 7% of local brands of cost of goods sold, and if it's not achieved, the penalty that's here. So I think that we can simplify it by removing words I mean, we're not changing the contract.

Oh, you referenced the other section in the agreement. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. That makes sense. I think we've got the concept. Remove this altogether. Vendors, suppliers, located. But 7% of its total food and beverage as defined in that other section.

Yeah. Local brand, 7%, and then the same penalty. So I think we can just simplify it because I think your concept is in the contract. Okay. This was just meant to put a number and a penalty if they don't achieve it.

So we're going to take out this reference to vendors, suppliers, producers.

Remove the local vendors because we already have defined local brands. We don't need to, okay, great.

Okay. There's another item. There's another section. So for the community nonprofit use, this is where we allow, and I just want to give some context. What we had said is that we've allowed for certain community nonprofits, Palm Springs-based ones, to use the convention center But there's very strict limitations. So they can book a year in advance, but three months ahead of time, the operator can cancel it if they have a revenue-producing event. So we created this scenario so that our local Palm Springs, not just Valley, local Palm Springs nonprofits could use the convention center when it's otherwise not gonna be used for a revenue-producing thing, producing a conference, convention, or meeting. So what we had asked for last time was that we come up with an allowance so that these local nonprofits could bring in their own food, which would be less expensive, presumably, than what the standard convention center. We do have a caveat in there that the nonprofits get the absent administrative fee, 24%. But, and I don't know what Oakview's prices are. I know previous operators prices, a box lunch absence of the 24% could still be $40 a person. So at 750, you're really talking about like a board meeting that is not an event. And I think the goal was that if a community nonprofit wanted to have the convention center, they still have to have AV and security and cleaning, whatever else they need, but they could bring in food up to a certain amount. $750 seemed is like probably what we have for lunch for 20 people at City Hall, I don't know. So I propose that it should be what they can spend up to $7,500 with an outside person. Or I actually had said up to 20% of a total spend, whichever is greater. So if they buy a $50,000 lunch from Oakview, they can spend $10,000 and bring in townie bagels to bring in bagels for breakfast. The 750 doesn't really make any difference. And so that's where I would like to change it to set of 750 to make it 7,500 outside spend. And again, this is not replacing a general revenue producing event for Oakview because most of these nonprofits, if they can't do it, just will not do the event.

So we've heard your concerns, Councilmember, and in the discussions with OVG Ovations, they have agreed to increase that number from 750 to $2,500 as that threshold by which they don't have to use the catering provided at the center at all. So that's what we've been able to achieve, is moving it from 750 to $2,500, the logic being $125 box lunches.

so okay so 25 for a box lunch if that's what oakview but that's not what they would charge.

No, this is if you're bringing it outside. You can bring in from whoever you want, local vendor, up to $2,500 without having to engage OVGH's food and beverage operation.

No, I had said $7,500. They want to do $2,500. This is just me. I don't know what council thinks. And I guess there is one other potentially way this could work. They could spend $2,500, but the vendor could choose that's whatever they want to charge.

I think in practice, the idea is that there would be a receipt presented to show this is what we spent. And ideally it's, you know, $24.99.

So if, let's just say it's Townie Bagel says, okay, we will provide bagels and we would, you know, but we'll only charge you $2,500 for we want to help support the nonprofit.

Better example is we just had the State of the City ice creams donated. I'm not spending $2,500. Then you could do it.

So that would be, the answer is. Do you have a problem donating? Then I would be okay with the $2,500, I think.

Not city use, non-profit use, non-profit. If ice cream is donated for a non-profit use, the bill that they're presenting is less than the $2,500.

That's not the intent here is for a group to go out and get $30,000 worth of product donated and say, look, it's $0. We're trying to balance providing some goodwill to these groups with also protecting the business, which is, of course, your business, right? Under this arrangement, we've been working closely with the venue management team and looking at all the events that currently happen that could fall under certain nonprofit groups that use the center right now and what their spend is and then how that could affect current business. So, well, I appreciate that we're looking forward at a group that maybe needs a space for three weeks from now, and maybe they can't afford to do a $15,000 lunch. you know, there's existing groups that are part of, were part of our pro forma and were, you know, part of the existing business that was contributing back to the overall fund for the convention center.

In that example, which is a very good example, the nonprofit wouldn't be able to go in because the space is blocked.

So it... Yeah.

they wouldn't have that opportunity. They would have to pick another date where you don't have business already on the books.

So it's... Yeah, so we're talking, you know, Chorus wants to have an event for 200 people and give out box lunches and they can get them for $2,500. And so they're only $5 each. I mean, I think they're not going to come in, you're not losing any business because if you come to them and say, no, you can't do it, it's going to be... $25, $30 a person, they're just not going to go there. I mean, that's historically what has happened with our nonprofits. It was not before you were there, so I'm not, there's nothing to do with you. But they often just said the convention center is too expensive to use. And we want to, it's our building, it's our community's building. The community is going to spend a lot of their Measure J money to upgrade this building. I think it's viable and reasonable to say we want to give maximum use to the community without taking away from real revenue producing events in any way. And listen, if Oakview from the operator point of view comes in and says we've got revenue producing events 365 days a year, this may not be an issue. So most of these people are coming in at off times.

We have put forward a 24% discount, far above what an industry standard for nonprofit discounts. If you go to a hotel, you go to other convention centers, you're going to find 5% to 10% discount for them. So we've put forward a 24% discount for them. We've included this carve out. We've gone up to $2,500 for this carve out that they wouldn't pay a buyout fee for and they'd be able to bring in those box lunches up to street value of $2,500. That's what we've provided. We believe that this is in the spirit of what everyone's trying to accomplish, but also making sure that we're fiscally responsible for us and for the city.

Yeah, and we want you all to be, you know, to take that route. So can you walk through, I'm going to buy a $100 product. What am I charged? So I start with a $100 box lunch. So what is my plus, plus, plus?

Are you talking for a normal convention?

A nonprofit group who's booked.

$100, we can use that number. It's nice and round to do math. Sales tax.

Okay. That's it?

Correct, we're getting rid of- No commission, city commission, no- We're getting rid of the extra plus, right? All the prices typically in our world are plus plus, and that's tax and administrative fee management charge. It's no longer called service charge because of legal reasons. But yeah, so here we would have a 24% management charge. We are taking that away. That is the discount that we're providing for the qualified local nonprofits.

Well, I think if we go for a year at the $2,500, it's worth trying to, you know, gauge it and see what the groups say.

I think so. I mean, you know, the street value is a little bit weird because they also get to take off their plus plus and whatever else. So, you know, and to use that $2,500 worth of bagels is a lot if you are hiring them to do a full catering setup and tax and gratuity, it would probably be more than if you go to Johnny Bagels and buy it. And I'm just using that as an example because it's a local brand. And I think it's worth trying it. I just want to be very clear, like, if we don't want to hear that local nonprofits feel precluded from using our convention center and the convention center ends up being empty. And so that's really the concern. I mean, if you're booking a money-making event, much rather have that for, you know, paying for the convention center.

So I'd move that we adjust.

I have, before we motion, have you all thought about raising from the $2,500 and having that be kind of part of that 7% of local commitment to our brands and businesses? If the intention is, We want our nonprofits to use it. We also want to support our local businesses. Is there a way that those can be a little bit coordinated?

Administratively, I believe that would be very difficult. And we want to make sure that when it comes to that 7% that we're able to present a report every year and show that. I think if we co-mingle these two, they're could create issues and a bit of a burden accounting-wise for our teams to keep track of that. So I'm not sure that that's something that we wanna entertain right now.

could offer madam mayor we we did discuss that as a potential option and ovgh has said we don't need that so essentially they're committing to the seven percent spend on local brands and not counting any non-profit vendors that come in and don't use ovgs food and beverage against that so the city is essentially getting more that was something that we were offering to them as a potential carrot and they said thank you but we don't need that We're getting both. The proposal I think you offer would reduce the amount of local spend.

It should also potentially reduce the number of nonprofits who can use it.

Yeah, we don't have a lot of experience with what Oakview charge. We have no experience with Oakview charges because you haven't started doing it yet. So, I mean, I think Council Member DeHart is right. We'll see within a year or so if nonprofits come and say, you know they're not their box lunch is a hundred dollars for each person then then we have a different subject to you know a different conversation because it goes significantly different how we want to help local non-profits use the center i mean i'm willing to try it as long as we understand the intent is is so that we are not precluding a local nonprofit from being able to use the Convention Center for a non-huge event, really what it would be when you'd otherwise be empty.

Can I make a motion now? Yes. So I move that we accept the staff recommendation with the change that Oakview's offered from $750 as the cap to $2,500. And we try it for a year. And I think we truly, I appreciate Oakview's willingness to see, Can we create an opportunity for the local nonprofits? So I appreciate you all increasing that figure there.

If I could read in the proposed technical changes into the record for your consideration in exhibit a 1, the 2nd line. after each accounting year from, we would strike vendor, supplier, producer located in the greater Coachella Valley area collectively, and then have local brands, period. Okay, so we're using the same definition from the contract, and then in the and strike vendors. And then in the second paragraph, second line, strike vendors, replace it with brands. So that, I think, are the technical changes that meet your goal. And then on exhibit A2, it would just be replacing the 750 with 2,500 in the two places that it exists.

Motion the second and the motion carries.

Thank you very much.

Thank you Good for moving public hearing guys need a break.

Okay, let's keep going

Next item, thank you all, appreciate it. Next item is item 2A titled conduct a public hearing under section 53083 of the California government code to approve a hotel operations covenant between the city of Palm Springs and the WR Palm Mountain Resort. Pursuant to the city municipal code of the city's hotel operations incentive program.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, members of the Council and public. My name is Dean Grubel. I'm the Business District Administrator for the City of Palm Springs. I'm here this evening to, the item before you is involved in opening a public hearing pursuant to Government Code Section 53083 to consider approval of the Hotel Operations Covenant with WR Palm Mountain Resort LP for the 142-room property located at 155 South Bellardo Road. If I can have slide two, whoops. Thanks, Brenda. There we go. The property owner completed a qualifying phase two renovation last winter. The improvements included a full interior renovation of all guest rooms, new furnishings, and installation of a new roof on one of their buildings. These improvements met the municipal code requirement of a minimum investment of $5,000 per room. Under the City's Hotel Incentive Program, the City would rebate 50% of the incremental Transparent Occupancy Tax above the stipulated baseline. The rebate would continue for up to 10 years or until the eligible project cost of $6,469,870.24 have been reimbursed. Whichever occurs first following the period, the city will retain 100% of the property's TOT revenue. The operator would also participate in the Committable Rooms Program, applied to two rooms per month for city official use. The Palm Mountain Resort and Spa recently completed its initial 10-year participation in the program. Whoops. Ann Suffolk County began significant improvements throughout the property to qualify for consideration under a new application. And thanks to Councilmember Bernstein for pointing out, I just want to make a note of correction on the per key amount. Instead of $52,000, that should read $45,562.47 that they invested per room of the hotel. THE STAFF RECOMMENDS THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING, RECEIVE PUBLIC TESTIMONY, AND IMPROVE THE HOTEL OPERATIONS COVENANT. I WILL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE. STAFF. I HAVE A QUESTION.

DEAN, WHAT'S THE BASE ON THEIR TOT THAT YOU'VE CALCULATED?

THE BASE WAS 600, IT'S IN HERE, LET ME LOOK FOR YOU. It was 600 and some thousand. I'm sorry, I don't have that right in front of me. I apologize for that. 690,000.

Is that in the staff report?

No, 692.99.

I didn't see in the staff report. So I'm sorry, it's... 692,999.51. Okay, so they're going to receive their rebate on any increment over and above that for the next 10 years? Correct. Just want to confirm that. Okay. Thank you.

Any other questions?

Just to confirm, this is under the old or the new incentive program, or doesn't it matter?

This is under the old code, municipal code 5.6226, not the current one, which is 5.27. However, if it did fall underneath 5.27, it will still fall under the tier one.

of the new code okay and so just to be clear so if they i mean they're put in six million something into this to get their all their money back they basically need to triple their tot for 10 years so um but either way they're going to improve it They get half of the increase and the city still gets half of the increase as well as the base of what we always would have got.

Correct.

So it's a perfect win-win. So, well, I'm glad that they invested in upgrading their property.

If you have a chance, please go by and take a look.

One final question. I presume, Dean, that they provide all the contract information. It's in the file of their expenses. They're actually paid.

Yes.

And we have these are the after pictures I presume you have the before pictures in the file as well? Yes. Okay great thank you.

I want to know why Dean doesn't get a lower third on this monitor. His name up there that he doesn't get his name up on the screen. That's okay. Next time.

This is a public hearing, so we do have to open up the public hearing for public comments. Any other questions before we do that? No. This time I'd like to open up the public hearing. The public is invited to speak on this matter for two minutes. Madam Clerk, I have two. I just want to confirm that this is for public hearing.

No, we don't have any speakers for 2A.

They're listed here. Okay. So we'll get to those. Any other additional questions? Items? No. Seeing none, I'd like to entertain a motion. It's frozen on me, too. I think the Wi-Fi's frozen, or down. Can we just do a voice vote? Thank you.

I'll take a voice vote. Get a motion and a second?

I'll make a motion.

Council Member Garner? Yes. Council Member DeHart?

Yes.

Council Member Bernstein? Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem ready?

Yes.

Mayor Soto? Yes.

Motion carries 5-0.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dean. Next item on our agenda is item 3A, titled Approval of a Resolution of Intention and a Resolution Preliminarily Approving the Engineer's Report for Proposed Old Las Palmas Underground Utility Assessment District Number 1. Can we have a staff report, please, Joel?

Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the City Council, Joel Montalvo, your City Engineer. The following two items, 3A and 3B, are essentially the same items. So the staff report before you is for the proposed Old Las Palmas Underground Utility Assessment District number one to adopt two resolutions that will initiate formation of an assessment district to finance undergrounding of utilities in Old Las Palmas under requirements of Proposition 218. Approve the assessment engineer's report that describes the methodology of determining the proportionate special benefit for each property within the proposed district and resulting share of project costs to be assessed. And initiate the formal balloting process and set the time and date for a public hearing to open the tally and tally the ballots. RESIDENTS OF OLD LAS PALMAS CONTACT THE CITY AS EARLY AS 2021 WITH INTEREST IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD UNDERGROUNDING UTILITY PROJECT. SINCE THEN, THE CITY COUNCIL HAS ADOPTED TWO ORDINANCES THAT SET THE UNDERGROUND UTILITY DISTRICT GUIDELINES AND SET THE PUBLIC PRIVATE RESPONSIBILITIES IN RELATION TO THE UNDERGROUNDING DISTRICT FORMATION. The guidelines for assessment district formation and utility undergrounding projects are carried out in five separate different phases. The first phase is the exploratory phase where the neighborhood committee is formed and data is collected and get preliminary cost estimates. The second phase is the petition phase. This is a non-binding show of support for undergrounding utilities and participating in the assessment district. It must be supported by at least 60% of the proposed assessment area to advance to the next phase. This step has already occurred and the community did get more than 60% approval. The next step is the step that we're here today to get approved is the assessment district formation. and a formal balloting phase. So in August 26th, today essentially we're trying to get the resolution to preliminary approve the engineering report and approving the information of the district. So if approved today on October 28th, we'll have a public hearing to open the ballots and tabulate the results. If the result is approved by majority, 50% plus one, weighted by the assessment amount of the assessment district, the district is formed. So future phases and next steps, if the balloting is approved, then they will calculate the payment and assessments. It'll be a 30-day cash payment. We'll give a 30-day period for a cash payment for the full assessment, or it actually can go into a financing through bonding, assessing of any of the unpaid portion against the property. So the final step is actually going into construction, getting the public right-of-way. In the fourth phase, you actually also start doing the design. I jumped ahead a little bit. And the fifth phase will actually go into the construction of the system. So that, sort of in a nutshell, is what we're attempting to do today. That concludes my report. Happy to answer any questions. We do have the assessment engineer here, NV5, Jeff Cooper, to answer questions as well. So happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Any questions from staff? No? Can we vote on both of these at the same time?

Or is it an individual?

I think you can do one public hearing for both of them. I would recommend two separate motions for the two different resolutions. It's a business item. Oh, then yeah, you can do both at the same time.

Great. Mayor Pro Tem, ready? Council Member DeHart?

Yes.

Council Member Bernstein? Yes. Council Member Garner?

Yes. Mayor Pro Tem, Mayor Soto? Yes.

Motion carries 5-0.

Thank you.

Madam Mayor, can I comment? on are we done yeah i just want to tell you're good uh... i i just you know there there's sometimes you know people don't think change can come from uh... effort from a small group of in uh... invested citizens and chuck norse is in the audience and and uh... applaud uh... the effort from the neighbors the neighborhood and and all of chuck's work uh... to uh... to shepherd this project and uh... good job and good example of what can come in a community with a few people that are dedicated to the project. So thank you so much.

Our next item on the agenda is item 3C, an adoption of an urgency moratorium ordinance to temporarily prohibit the acceptance, processing, or approval of data centers. Hi, Chris. Can we have a staff report, please?

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and members of council. I'm Chris Hadwin, your planning director, and I'm here to present to you item 3C, which is a draft urgency ordinance which would establish a moratorium on new data centers within the city. The moratorium would allow staff and consultants time to thoughtfully consider this rapidly evolving land use, evaluate their impacts, and develop appropriate regulations should the city want to consider them to locate here. We've included a definition in the draft ordinance that would identify data centers as a structure or site used primarily for the storage, management, processing, and transmission of digital data and that houses computer or network equipment, systems, servers, appliances, and other associated components related to digital data storage, processing, and related operations. DATA CENTER USES INCLUDE DATA STORAGE FACILITIES, SMALL DATA STORAGE FACILITIES, SERVER FARMS, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TRAINING OR PROCESSING, IMAGE PROCESSING, CLOUD COMPUTING, EMAIL SERVICING, AND OTHER SIMILAR USES AND OPPORTUNITY FACILITIES. questions from a few of you and certainly some comments tonight whether this definition is too broad and whether it may capture some unintended uses such as servers and hospitals or telecommunications for example we've developed with the city attorney some additional language that we can offer to council to consider when we get to comments and questions which we think would address that concern so we can come back to that later on While this definition is consistent with other such ordinances throughout California and nationally, again, we've come up with other language that we think can address concerns that have been raised here tonight. Of course, data centers are increasingly the focus of a national debate about their role in our communities. Many argue that they play a vital role in the advancement of technology and remote work, and others, including many here tonight, have raised concerns about their potential impacts. As the municipal code and zoning code are currently sort of silent on these uses, do not define them and do not establish regulations, there is ambiguity as to whether and how they are permitted, which is why we are bringing this forward to you tonight. Next slide, please. Thank you. In terms of some of the concerns being raised, we've categorized them into three broad categories here. Environmental concerns, of course, are well documented and relate largely to heavy demands on water and electricity needed to cool and power many of these facilities. For us, especially I think in Palm Springs, we have questions about their impact on our ability to diversify our employment uses and industry. We have a very limited land base here on which we can develop large scale employment uses. And many data centers consume vast amounts of land with very few permanent jobs. So that's something we would like to work through and better understand. Finally, there are questions about their impact on local infrastructure and services, such as fire and police, with potentially very little tax revenue being generated by them. So that's something else we'd like to better understand. As I mentioned, these are issues that warrant further investigation and consideration. Next slide. As I mentioned, we're not alone in raising these concerns and taking steps to pause while we work through understanding them better. You can see here that Indio, Coachella, and Desert Hot Springs have all taken steps to limit data centers in some regard. So we would be joining other valley cities if you all decide to move forward with this tonight.

Next slide, thank you.

Touching on the process, state law does allow you to adopt an interim or urgency ordinance to prohibit land uses where we are studying or intend to study such uses. We are, of course, in the midst of an update to our zoning code and believe that that is the appropriate forum to study these issues further with the assistance of our zoning consultants and so that we can also engage with the community to hear how and if they would like to regulate these uses. Procedurally, the initial ordinance can be adopted by four-fifths majority for initial period of 45 days, that's what's before you tonight. You may then act to consider extending the ordinance so that it would total a period of one or two years at your discretion. Should Council adopt the ordinance tonight, we would return, and if you wanted, we would return at a meeting next month for consideration of such an extension. In closing, staff are recommending that council find that the uncertainty surrounding the impacts of data centers and lack of regulations to mitigate those impacts pose a current or immediate threat to public health, safety, or welfare, and adopt an urgency ordinance establishing a moratorium on entitlements for those uses for an initial period of 45 days, and that is language that comes from state law. That's the finding that you need to make. That concludes my presentation, and I am available for questions.

Thank you so much, Chris. Thank you to staff for kind of putting this together. This is a topic that's getting a lot of attention in our community nationwide. It's everywhere. It's every podcast, it seems like. And, you know, I appreciate Council Member Garner suggesting that we consider a moratorium as well and making sure that this is something that aligns with Palm Springs values and our economic development goals. I ALSO REALLY APPRECIATE THE FLAGGING OF HOW THIS IMPACTS OUR ZONING ANALYSIS THAT WE'RE UNDERGOING WHICH I THINK IS A LITTLE BIT UNIQUE COMPARED TO OTHER CITIES IN THE VALLEY WHERE WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY, WE HAVE A PROCESS IN WHICH WE CAN rigorously discuss this as a community to say we want this we don't want this we don't want this ever we want this maybe small here you know those are the discussions that i think are so important to have as a community um because this does have significant um uh impact on our environment but you know just the fabric of what our community could look like. So I just kind of want to flag specifically to community members, you know, every city is kind of trying to figure out what timeframe kind of makes sense. At least for me personally, I would be in supportive of a two year. So that way it gives. us that time frame especially in our zoning code discussions to have all the discussions that we need to have. And so we are going to make sure we can do that as thoroughly as possible would be my recommendation. So I'm in favor of the moratorium as presented for the urgency for 45 days and would hope we can come back for two years.

I'll open it up to my colleagues.

Council Member Garner.

Thank you so much for your work on this, Chris. And can you just clarify my understanding that you will be addressing this in the zoning code update?

Yeah, it was certainly something that we were already looking at, and our zoning team was looking both throughout the state and nationally. I saw no less than four articles on this just today alone. This is really becoming quite a national conversation. So it's rapidly evolving. I heard some of the comments tonight saying, do we want to limit large ones, small ones? And I think that's the work we need to work through with the zoning team. If we were to consider these where, how, how big, um you know what are the energy needs what are the water needs do we want to restrict those that have high water usage so i think those are all questions that we need to answer and that our code team was already looking at and i think hearing some of the comments tonight i do think it's something that we should engage with the community on at our next round of open houses on the zoning code

Thank you. And so can you just explain a little bit for the zoning code? Where are we in that process and what are you anticipating for completion? Yeah. Or bringing back to council, I should say.

As you all recall, we had some very good engagement with the community in the spring, particularly around heightened density issues. Our code team has been going back and looking at how we can modify some of the zoning maps. that we had prepared to look at how we can better refine that and address some of the concerns that were raised through that engagement. At the same time, they've been working on writing the actual rules themselves because I think in the next round of outreach, it's important to talk not just about height and density and where we might allow it, but how it might actually work and how we can actually provide good transitions to our low density neighborhoods. So I think that conversation needs to happen together, probably at some point later this fall. So we'd be looking to engage with the community again this fall. But it's not something that would be before the Planning Commission or the City Council for vote before probably spring of next year.

Okay, thank you. That's helpful. Yeah, I appreciate this coming back. This is something I asked for. I was grateful for my colleagues support to bring it. You know, There's so many different technological advances, and it's really important that we are cautious and thoughtful in our planning for all of these. And as we've seen in other communities across the country who have not had that happen, there are really huge detriments. And we don't need that to happen here in our community. We're fortunate that that didn't happen, or not just in Palm Springs, but anywhere nearby. And I really think it's important that we're really having these conversations that you said, like you said, we're having conversations with the community. making sure that we understand the needs of everyone, understand the needs of the hospital, understand the needs of existing facilities that might have quite a lot of computing equipment. But again, what you're looking at here is massive large scale, which is far and beyond what DESERT HOSPITAL HAS, RIGHT? SO CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE DEFINITION THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT FOR DATA CENTERS? YOU MENTIONED THAT EARLIER.

YEAH, SO IF WE COULD MAYBE GO BACK TO THE SECOND SLIDE IN THE PRESENTATION CONTROL ROOM JUST SO WE CAN THROW THE ORIGINAL DEFINITION BACK UP ON THE SCREEN. right there. So, you know, go back one, right there. So there it says data centers and we have the definition there. What we had worked on adding, I think, to address some of the concerns that we might have heard is a clause that would follow that which would say, This definition does not include computer, server, or telecommunications equipment that is secondary and customarily incidental to an otherwise permitted principal use on the property, such as servers or IT equipment serving a hospital, office, hotel, or other business located on the same site. So we think, again, we're focused on sort of the standalone data center, the large scale data centers that are really just being used to house AI or the other kinds of things that are in the definition, not a data server for the hospital, for example. So we think that adding that clause would add clarity to that.

Thank you, and just for the public, the difference is vast. My father used to work in IT at Desert Regional, and the server room was not even close to as big as this room, and that was for the entire hospital. So it's very, very different sites. Yeah, I'm very supportive of this, and I look forward to having good discussions, continue to have good discussions on it during our zoning code meetings. And I'd be happy to do the two-year as well just to make sure that we're not running into any issues by limiting our time.

and maybe just to add some clarity on that so if you were to uh to extend this to two years when we come back with it um and and of course the goal is for the zoning code to be adopted well before then you could rescind the urgency ordinance or the moratorium at that time and let the new zoning code take effect depending on where it lands perfect thank you yes councilmember bernstein

Thank you, Madam Mayor. So yeah, and I just want to be very clear where I'm coming from. I don't think there's any uncertainty that we need to move forward with and should move forward with approving this moratorium. But it also doesn't mean that we're anti technology or closing the door on innovation in Palm Springs. It's just that the rate of change, as you said, is moving faster than we've ever seen. and technology is so powerful, and this is why how we govern actually matters. And we heard this morning in the news, and we had public comment today about what happens when things get ahead of us. now being settled for $17 billion because they designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive. And we know data centers are some of the physical infrastructure behind this type of technology, as well as other uses like hospitals and things. And Bill Gates has come out and talked about the, who is a big technology person and continues to invest in it, that we have no coordinated plan to deal with what's happening. Much of this needs to come from the state and federal, but a lot of it needs to come from local cities like Palm Springs. So you mentioned that because it's not specifically permitted, that it's not prohibited, right? that it is prohibited because it's not specifically permitted.

And I think the point we're trying to make is it's a bit ambiguous because sometimes they come in and they say, well, we're just a warehouse. And is there an argument there? Could there be a legal challenge there? We would take the position with the city attorney's office that they're not permitted, but others may make an argument different. There are also processes under our code today where they can go to the planning commission and seek approval of what's called a determination of similar land use. So this would just give everyone a little more certainty.

So I mean, I agree. We have zero definitions. We have zero standards. And so we have zero leverage if somebody changes something. And we don't even know what's really around the corner with a lot of this stuff. And so we need to keep on top of it. And so I want to raise something with my colleagues that I brought up before. So you mentioned different cities are doing different things. To me, I think we really need to keep looking at this as a regional approach because these real environmental dangers, I mean, we can say no, but we're surrounded by unincorporated land, by other cities, and we can't control what everybody does, but we can still have the conversations with CVAG, Coachella Valley Association of Governments, and the county, and Southern California Association, and Greater Palm Springs Economic Development. And we also have experts. We heard today from Philip Hodges, who is expert in AI and technology. And we can lean on people in our city to help advise us. so that when we are defining a data center, when we are going to the zoning code, that they can help us. And I think a lot of them want to. We had a letter today from Oswit who urged us to incorporate, to move forward with the moratorium, but one of their board members and a lot of their members are tech people. and so we'll get really good information from them and and i think if we collaborate with others with others in our region it can be a lot stronger and we can share knowledge so that you're not trying to figure everything out on your own and um and and so i think we might we have to move forward this um i do have one question though for you chris there's very little jobs that are created he said there's some tax revenue There's a lot of potential dangers. Why do cities want these?

I mean, that's a great question. I mean, I think that they do generate property tax. They do generate a lot of impact fees. So they are generating some revenue for municipalities. And I think that there is excitement around what other types of uses they may attract to municipality. Does it sort of bring in other tech uses that may want to sort of piggyback off of it? I think that's one of the questions we need to dive deeper into but I think it's probably some amount of tax revenue for a lot of cities as well as kind of excitement about you know what it might mean in terms of moving into the tech field okay well I think you know again part of the conversation with the rest of the valley be important to understand what what everything that's going on as much as we can and we can rely on our neighbors absolutely thank you yes Mayor Pro Tem

Thank you for the definition modification. That's important. I just want to make clear, you didn't mention, I want to make sure College of the Desert, the new campus, isn't going to be caught in something. We mentioned the hospital. I don't know if we need to call that out specifically or you comfort that it would not affect the college.

For two reasons I don't think we do, because one, I think they would be captured under this definition, and two, because our zoning code doesn't apply to College of the Desert, so they operate under state regulations.

So we're good there, okay, thank you, just wanted to clarify, thank you.

Councilmember Attharp.

Yeah, Chris. So we had a public comment on the words. And in Section 2, we say issue or approve, but the staff report is recommending the moratorium on acceptance, processing or approval.

If I could weigh in on that, state law allows us to adopt a moratorium that stops the issuance of approvals, but state law does not allow us to stop processing applications. So if somebody wanted to submit an application, state law would require us to process that, but this moratorium ordinance would allow us to not approve it if it completed that application. So that's a fair point for clarification. Okay.

And then the other one that was brought forward was, you know, what are we defining as the current and immediate threat if we don't even have an applicant knocking on our door? What's that public health safety?

I would go, if I could, I would go back to what Mr. Hadwin said in terms of the ambiguity in our ordinance and the possibility that somebody could come in and apply and essentially argue that no discretionary review is required and therefore a building permit is all that's required. That, in my opinion, provides sufficient facts for the council to make that finding of urgency.

Yeah, thank you. We have comments later right? So I think you know I want the public to be very clear you know yeah I support the moratorium you know we it's it's a wise step for us to take and it's going to give us time to to really study bring experts to the table and answer these questions that that that are all over the board, the statements that are being made and the horrors that come with data centers. So I think it would help us teach the community, the local residents, it would help me learn, I asked to learn. But council very specifically at our June 24th meeting did not ask for a draft urgency ordinance to come back. And I wanna make it very, very clear. We did not ask for this. We asked for a study to schedule a discussion on the topic. And I get it, the city manager has discretion to bring something forward and he did. But we asked to have a discussion so we could learn more. But we did not ask for or authorize an urgency ordinance to come forward. So I just want to set that clear for the public who was listening to our meeting on June 24 that even though council said one thing, the staff had authority to bring this draft ordinance forward for us to consider tonight. And at the end of the day, I think we're hearing wide support for a moratorium. It's just process and procedure that I'm pointing out that I'd like to make sure that we adhere to down the road.

Any other comments? Yes, Council Member Garner.

Thank you. A couple of things I forgot to mention. So one thing I did ask for a draft I don't I think either it was a long meeting so I think there was absolutely you're right no I'm not done that there was some confusion at the end of the meeting on what the council as a group agreed to do so I'm with you there we have to be clear on. making sure we have those three. But I did ask for a draft ordinance there at the top of that section. That was my original ask. But we should be very clear on process in all of our meetings and do our three votes. Okay. So I wanted to just mention again the zoning code process here because we did get some calls from people to ban this. What I think the nice timing here is that we are doing this big zoning code update and it covers so many things. And by making sure that we're addressing this within our zoning code, I think it really makes it very clear. It's not a standalone ordinance. combined with our zoning code, it's in this thoughtful process, and I think that sends a very clear message. And however that decision ends up, I don't wanna speak for my colleagues, but I think it's the appropriate method and it's the timing lines up. The other thing that I wanted to mention in this is that I know, city manager, that you're working on a city-wide AI policy and I just wanted to flag that. That's been raised at one of our other meetings And I look forward to that because I think, again, when we're talking about data centers, we're also talking about AI. And it is the Wild West out there, which is why there's all this uncertainty about, can someone bring a data center? Can they not? And we need to be able to be having regulations. And that includes regulations within our own city on how we use AI and if we're using it, being clear on how and when, et cetera. And I think that's something that I hope that we'll see kind of at state level, federal level, that we're really digging in on the use of this type of technology. So thank you for bringing this. Agree, we need to stick to our policies. And I'm excited to vote for this. Council Member Bernstein.

Just a couple more comments. So I agree with Council Member Garner on the policy issue and I actually did raise this earlier because as part of the Microsoft deal that we it includes AI software with our things that we're buying for the for the staff and so I think Mr. City Manager we are actually working on that at least in some sense for some areas is that right?

That's right, Councilman. And a lot of cities around the country and California here are trying to come up with policies also just to govern how we operate as staff, how you as council members operate, how we interact with the community, how our programs work i mean there's just a myriad of of of issues that we're not even thinking about right now but we're trying to uh look at some other cities look at some best practices of what's been done in some places and we anticipate bringing that uh ai policy back to you pretty pretty shortly here something that we can dig into look at and consider

So one suggestion I would make, when Council Member DeHart and I developed the economic development strategic plan, and when Mayor Soto and I are now working on the implementation, one of the things that we have recognized is that we have a tremendous amount of talent and experience here that want to help. And I would look into tapping into that. They're offering free advice, and they care about our community as much as we do. We know a lot of them, and I think they're available to help if we just want to tap into it. One question for Chris is, what is your timeline now for when we think the zoning code will be completed?

I would like to say first quarter of next year, but I think it's just going to depend on how the outreach this fall and early next year goes.

So whatever we're doing in the data center and the zoning code would be incorporated to that, which would be... within a year of now? Certainly yes.

I say certainly but these public processes sometimes drag out but the goal is certainly the first half of next year.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you. Mayor I think what the city manager said he's working on an AI policy so we can assume and comfortably know that we won't be up here as council members talking to avatar city manager and staff any time soon. NEVER KNOW? I HOPE NOT.

I CHECKED INTO A HOTEL WITH AN AVATAR. IT WAS A NIGHTMARE.

WE ARE LOOKING AT THINGS ALSO LIKE PERMITTING AND HELP SPEED UP THINGS AND HELP THE PUBLIC BUT WE DON'T WANT TO USE THE HUMAN OVERSIGHT.

COUNCIL MEMBER DEHART.

YOU KNOW, IT'S REALLY when the impression is given when I speak in these chambers that I'm misrepresenting facts. I did not speak to misrepresent facts. I shared with you factual information. Every single one of us except Councilmember or Mayor Pro Tem said specifically, the Mayor specifically said I want a discussion. Councilmember Bernstein said I want a discussion. I was very clear when I said I want a discussion. I want to learn more. Councilmember Garner's last comments, her last words that she spoke, I see I don't have support from my council and if all I get is a discussion, I will support that. I'm speaking facts. I'm sharing facts with the residents and my constituents. And it's just tiring when those facts come across as being questioned. And everybody has a right to question. But when the counter statement is being made that is incorrect, that's when I have an issue. And I'm happy to support the motion and vote.

Council member.

We're gonna go all night long with this.

No, I think it's important that we have these discussions. I also think it's important that we are, making sure that we are not misconstruing things, which is why I said I agree that we have to be careful with our processes. But I also didn't want it to get lost that the very first thing that I had asked for was a data center moratorium ordinance draft. So I'm just providing clarity. That's all. So that's what was occurring just now. And again, I agree with you that especially when our meetings are very long like that one was, that we need to make sure that we follow our processes. And I do not disagree with that. And I do not disagree with how that ended up at the end. But just to clarify that that's why it was confusing for staff as well, because that was the very first thing that I did ask for. So that's it. But happy to vote on this and move forward.

I actually have a couple questions. City Attorney, just to underscore again, do you have any discomfort for how this item has been presented tonight based off of the direction in June?

No, I don't.

Thank you. City Manager, do you have any discomfort with how this item was presented based off of our discussion in June?

No, no.

Thank you.

And he shouldn't because he's the one who brought it forward. So like I said, this can go all night long. I don't want the public to think that this is a wishy-washy council. We've been working very hard to be very clear in our direction so staff understands where we're at, and the transcripts are very, very clear. Councilmember Garner asked for a moratorium. She said she would settle for a discussion because she wasn't getting support from council. I'm talking process. At the end of the day, we're where all of us want to be, and that's to have a moratorium. I spoke on process and we're not wishy-washy. We made sure it was very clear at the end of that meeting. And I hope we continue to be very, very clear so staff understands the direction. Anybody can look at the transcript and see the direction that council gave was very clear.

Councilmember, you're being very clear now. We hear you and I appreciate the guidance of our legal counsel and our staff who have also been very clear. With that, do we have a motion and we have a second? We're ready to vote. Motion carries. Madam City Clerk, can you read the ordinance please?

In urgency ordinance of the City Council of the city of Palm Springs, California in accordance with California government called section 6, 5, 8, 5, 8. Enacting a moratorium on the approval of any land use entitlements. And or permits to allow the operation of data centers in the city of Palm Springs. Thank you.

Next item on the agenda is item 3D which is the discussion of city mayoral position and report from the ad hoc subcommittee. May we have a staff report please or are you all giving an update?

The update is that the community meetings will begin again soon. The next one is September 17th. No, I'm sorry. September 15th. I'm sorry. No, that's September 16th. September 16th at Cahuilla Elementary School is the next meeting. All of the dates are on Engage Palm Springs. We look forward to the public participating. And then I turn to my colleague for any other comments and questions he has.

No questions, but just to update the community, the working group is going to meet. They've scheduled a meeting that is prior to the September 16 date, so they will be getting together to meet for the first time through the summer break. and they also uh there was a discussion at their last meeting that and i don't know how we deal with this um but councilmember gardner and i haven't talked about it but they they had a discussion in their meeting about not having legal at every meeting but only having legal when they asked to have very you know have that expert advice at the meeting um so i I don't know why we would need to have legal at every meeting.

I think if they don't need it, then they don't need it. It's not a big deal to me.

So I think I would like so if we could give that direction to Jim that the group will ask every time if they want to have legal counsel. And hats off to the working group. I think they're doing a good job. They coordinated a really good first meeting. And I think they've set a positive tone for collecting this community feedback.

Can I ask a question? I don't know if we have the answer. Are all of the meetings having, are there already two council members attending?

I think most.

ASSIGNED. WE'VE SET A SCHEDULE, I BELIEVE, AND YOU AND NAOMI AND THE MAYOR PRO TEMP WILL ATTEND IN THE ABSENCE OF GRACE OR I IN YOUR DISTRICT. SO WE'LL STILL ONLY HAVE TWO, BUT YOU ALL WILL BE ASKED TO ATTEND THE ONE IN YOUR DISTRICT FOR SURE.

OKAY. AND IN YOUR DISTRICTS BOTH OF YOU ARE ATTENDING?

I THINK SO.

We can send that around. City Clerk, if you don't mind sending around the list for Council of just who's attending which meetings and for the public this is a process that we have to follow.

But you can do that and there are obviously several meetings that council member to heart and I are both at where if you wanted to go to an additional meeting one of us could Whoever was not moderating could step step away Yeah, and I'm happy if another council member wants to go to district 1 in My place and I'm sure council member yarn would be the same if somebody wanted to go to district 3 Just let us know.

Okay. Thank you NEXT ITEM IS PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS. THIS TIME HAS BEEN SET ASIDE FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO ADDRESS THE CITY COUNCIL ON ITEMS OF GENERAL INTEREST WITHIN THE SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION OF THE CITY. WE VALUE YOUR COMMENTS. HOWEVER, PURSUANT TO THE BROWN ACT, WE CANNOT TAKE ANY ACTION NOT LISTED ON OUR AGENDA. YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES. I have Elizabeth Smith as our first speaker here. I might have left. OK. Brandon Allen here. Two minutes? Nope. Carl Lindstrom, vocal. Dana Ann Denton.

I can't see the first three rows.

So we just have Zoom. Is there any? Don, are you here for non-agenda item? Yeah, I just want to confirm. Don, are you here for non-agenda item, public comment? Yeah. That's what I'm asking, yes. No? Okay. Gentlemen in the back, you can come up.

Hello council members, mayors. My name is Andrew Figueroa. I'm a lifelong Coachella Valley native and I'm here to speak about Flock Safety. Flock Safety is a private company that controls AI powered cameras like AOPRs and PTZ cameras to capture data about vehicles and put them in a mass database that anyone with access can view. now cameras have always been around but what flock does is different i want to reiterate that to you guys they use a search that anyone can put specific features on you know give you a mass feed of cards that are similar to that description which raises concern for our privacy there's been over a dozen instances of officials abusing his power to locate family members exes and even as far as to use 83 000 cameras to track a woman in texas to make sure she didn't have an abortion statewide so they use different areas for that But you see, that's not the only issue. FLAC has also had a high error rate, 33% according to LA County, and they actually canceled with FLAC, if you guys know. This has led many people to be falsely marked by cops, which leads to them harassing normal bystander, and in crazy cases, even caused people to be jailed, like Hugo Paro from San Diego, where he was falsely held for a month. I think we can all agree we're all for safety, especially here in the Valley. But when safety has impending issues and privacy concerns, our Palm Springs shouldn't be its testing grounds. I've seen these cameras be pointed at homes near my home. And I just want to ask, do they get to say what these cameras can see? Do they get to say what these cameras view because they see their home every day? They don't. And again, I want to reiterate that even one of the vice presidents of Flock has been caught abusing his power when he was exposed using the system to search up a kid's gymnasium in Dunwoody, Atlanta. And when confronted with this, he said it was for a sales pitch. Does that sound normal to you guys? And it seems like it's a reoccurring issue. I'm just concerned for our safety of the people of the valley and how many cameras there is here. And I do know our police chief is positive on the system and good luck on your retirement. But I want to state that even he removed predictive policing AI in Santa Cruz when he was chief because it had mistakes like flock. I'm going to be finished. But again, last comment. We all want the same thing as us.

Mr. Furrier, you're out of time, but thank you very much for your comment. We have a few Zoom comments. Jane Dodd, is she on? Jane, if you can hear us, you have two minutes.

My name is Jane Dodd, and I support moratorium and ban on data centers in Palm Springs. As of February, the U.S. has 4,000 data centers, 10 times more than any other country. China has 365, roughly 11 times fewer than the US, with a population four times larger than ours. This isn't so you can ask AI to create a graphic or summarize a meeting. Data centers are for military use and to analyze unwarranted surveillance of your private information, which is sold to the highest bidder to any number of private corporations. AI is used in predictive policing and uses predictive threat intelligence to identify indicators of a malicious intent, a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment through unwarranted searches and seizures of your private information. When people like Larry Ellison, the billionaire, say citizens will be on their best behavior under constant AI surveillance, this is exactly what he's talking about. The main tool for this data collection and creation of surveillance state is Flock cameras. They track your phone, identify who's in the car, and map any Bluetooth device. Flock owns the cameras and can share your information with anyone they deem worthy. If a camera misreads a license plate, Flock's liability limit is $100 per occurrence. Who will be sued instead? Your city with your tax dollars. If that's not creepy enough, TOCA, an Israeli cyber intelligence firm, reportedly offers something far stranger than surveillance. Per Heret's reporting summarized by Truthout in the New York Post, TOCA's product suite lets government clients locate network cameras in a targeted area, hack into them, watch live feeds, and alter or erase both live and recorded footage without leaving forensic traces. Mass surveillance is not public safety. It is power without accountability.

Thank you, Mr. now we have Dominic.

All right Hello, can you guys hear me?

Yes, speaking here you have 2 minutes.

Thank you madam mayor. I just wanted to come on here for a agenda item comment to congratulate the police chief on his retirement. He is 1 of the best police chiefs I've dealt with. For for since I've been following city politics, he's he has taken care of the community. He's very transparent along with his wife and we've had some really cool conversations about policing and I've even. pressured him to run for sheriff of riverside county he kindly declined but uh he he he's well trusted and we're gonna miss him a lot and i know um that he um i i i know a lot of people would trust him if he was if he were to rent for sure but that's uh not happening but that's besides the point we're gonna we're gonna miss you uh we wish you a well retirement I also want to leave my condolences to Council Member Bernstein after the passing of his husband. So my condolences go to you, sir. And that's all I have for public comment. Thank you.

Thank you, Dominic. Next, we have Richard Morris. Still not there.

Okay.

Any other last minute public comments?

I think I got Jesse Nehemiah Romero.

Thank you.

Even though I no longer live in Palm Springs, this became my second hometown over the almost 20 years I lived here. And I am very much still invested in this community. That is why I'm here again to speak out against the October 2023 resolution that was passed. Council Member DeHart, I met with you in February 2024 about the resolution. You were disinterested and very much showcase how uneducated you are when it comes to modern history and politics. I can now say with full certainty that you merely met with me to check a box. You had no interest in learning anything in that meeting. Council Member Bernstein, I learned very early on after meeting with you and seeing you on the status that you were intellectually dishonest, cannot follow logic when confronted with a question or an issue unable to form a coherent thought, and have absolutely no clue in the potential Pandora's box you created when you pushed through the resolution at the behest of a part-time resident. Council members Reddy and Soto, you were not sitting on the council in 2023, but you inherit the issue. Dr. Reddy, I'm disappointed in you as I'm a graduate of CSUSB's public administration program where you teach or taught. Not sure if you still do. After meeting with a friend of mine, you declined to take up the issue, even though the resolution sets a bad precedent. Council Member Soto, you are merely a continuation of your predecessor's disinterest in the opinions of residents of District 4, where I once lived. Your vote at the last meeting displays that. Council member Garner, you were the mayor when this was passed. You told me and others that you felt you had no choice in the matter. You shared with us in multiple meetings and conversations that you felt shame and regret in your vote to support the resolution. You promised us that there would be some sort of action eventually taken or it could be brought up again when the council met, but nothing happened. You basically led us on. You told us you needed to keep peace on the council. In the end, you have displayed mere cowardice in keeping quiet. And FYI, there is plenty of social media chatter on this resolution again, and I know many of you have been tagged in those posts. So I know you're fully well aware of it.

Madam City Clerk, are there any other public comments?

No further commenters. Okay.

Deputy Chief Stern, I think you had a comment that you wanted to add, a response to public comments? No? Okay. Jeff, do you have a comment that you wanted to add then?

No, I just wanted to make the mayor and council aware that under the Brown act, a brief responses to public comments are allowed. It can be a discussion, but a brief response from either the council or staff is allowed to clarify any misinformation that might get out there. Got it. Okay. Thanks.

Next item on the agenda is the city council and the city manager's request for the upcoming agenda development.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Members of Council, I think if we pull up the screen here for the tentative. Upcoming meeting schedule. We're trying to get back into the swing of things. You'll see on September 9th, we'll have another hotel incentive agreement coming back for the Riviera Hotel, historic designation property at 550 Palisades Drive. We'll also be a public hearing. We are, at council's request, we'll bring back the discussion of the community workforce agreement for for your guidance to us. We also will be bringing back an update on the Dream Hotel project. and an update on the Caravansary Small Business Program that Council supported for ongoing funding. We're gonna talk about that program, what their plans are for the future, how we're going to support them, along with a discussion on the mayoral position, as always. You've asked, on September 30th, we've talked about the Desert Water Agency's Turf Conversion Program. We've got that on the books. I will mention to you that the legislative platform update we had on for the September 9th meeting, but as we were looking at things and all the other consent items, we felt it might be better just for the length of meetings to move that to September 30th. We'll put it back on the 9th if council really wants it there, but we think it'd be better positioned on the 30th. So we've moved it to the second meeting in September. And I don't think there's anything pressing that will leave us in danger of anything for that extra two weeks Yeah, I mean it's just it's been delayed Already because we were supposed to do it in June So I mean it's fine if we want to do it, but I don't want to get it delayed again We debated moving it to the 30th We can leave it on the 9th if you really want it there and just we were just thinking of the kind time constraints of the meeting.

I mean I think it's you know I don't know the timing of all the stuff that's happening and I just think that's important um you know and and some of the issues quite honestly you know we have there's elections coming up and it'd be a good time to be lobbying people who are you know, make them aware of what our priorities are. But I understand if we gotta do the 30th, we just have to act very quickly.

We wanna be aligned with council. So if you really feel strongly, you want it on the 9th, we're prepared to bring it back on the 9th. And we know our lobbyists from Townsend will also be here on the 30th, I believe also. Okay. So, okay. And then on the 14th, we'll have a presentation by the Hunger Food Month by Fine Food Bank. And I know council was interested in having the vacation rental ordinance related to the event houses come back. So we have that coming back first meeting in October. That's all I have, Madam Mayor.

Okay, any other? Requests anyone comments on the schedule?

Nope That's my word heart Thank You mayor I'd like to ask that we have an agenda item to Have a discussion on the flock cameras and You know get some feedback from PD on Successes what their concerns are How have things worked since we've had the install? I think it would be worthwhile for us to be able to give just an update to the community on where we're at with the flock cameras if there's support for that.

I support that.

Just to clarify, do you want a discussion from council or do you want a presentation on how we're using it and like a summary?

Update from PD. on-flock cameras and that update can lead to discussion but just like a business item yeah um the the other thing if council will support is the uh you know we're going to come up on our q1 of the first quarter operations under the new food service agreement and because that is such an important agreement we spent a lot of time on it I'd like to ask that the city manager works with Oakview and provides us with a first quarter update on how the transition has gone, what their current planning is, are there challenges that they're addressing, how has the equipment buyout have gone, where are we at with sales, but I think we need to LEASH SO WE CAN MAKE SURE WE'RE OFF TO A GREAT START. SO HAVING AN UPDATE FOR Q1 WHEN THAT TIME COMES.

JUST, COUNCILMAN, I THINK WHAT I HEAR YOU SAYING IS A Q1 UPDATE ON THE OVG MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT, HOW THEY'RE DOING ALONG WITH ANYTHING WE WANT TO ADD. FOOD AND BEVERAGE.

FOOD AND BEVERAGE. IN PARTICULAR.

Okay.

Yeah.

No.

So just the hospitality. Yeah.

But when you talk about sales and other things, I'm hearing we also want to talk about the larger management agreement and how OVG is doing.

We can do that.

Yeah. For the first time.

That would make sense.

Yeah. Okay.

And just to council members talk, when we did the management agreement, I think we asked them to come back every year and talk about their promises and let's see where we're at. I agree, the timing would be good for both.

And I think they'd be happy to do that, actually, to come back. They're off to a good start from the management end of it. I think they'd be happy to come back and talk about that.

Yeah, I think it's just a nice update.

Just so I understand, timelines on the flat camera discussion, what's the expectation of Council on how quickly you want PD to be back here?

when there's time in the schedule. It's not an urgent thing for me.

I think sooner than later is nice because it is a topic that people are wanting more information about.

If I could also use this time to ask, because I know the last meetings you had at the police department, the smaller ones were very well attended. And there was some requests we had from the community to have ones after regular working hours for residents who work. And if we could do that, schedule some of those, I think that would be helpful. And I also think it's going to be on the 1PS agenda next time as well. So I think they're using several ones. I'm not disagreeing, but I'm saying the community ones the police did, we should do those some evening ones to allow for residents who work.

As opposed to during the day?

The three that they did before were all during the daytime. So somebody who works was not able to attend, and we had a few people who said, can you do one after 5 or 5.30?

Works traditionally.

you know, after traditional work hours. And I asked the police when I was there and they were open to it. I just want to remind them.

Yeah, from the position of the police department, we're open to talk about this continually at any time. We are absolutely open to hosting more classes on the weekend, during the evenings. We are interested in being as fully transparent about this technology and how we're using it in every capacity possible.

So still an update to Council on the status of LOC. The last item for me, Council, is, you know, on May 9 of 2024, I asked Council to agendize a resolution to require that the City no longer take positions on foreign policy-based issues. We have a different council today. That request didn't get acceptance when I asked in 24. So I'm asking again tonight that council agendize a discussion and draft a staff resolution to keep city council meetings focused on municipal issues that directly impact the city of Palm Springs, preserving public time, resources, and council responsiveness for local, regional, and U.S. matters. And there's a great ordinance that's been in place since 1979 in San Jose that the staff could use as a great starting point. So bringing the discussion and if staff wants to present a draft resolution for us to look at and discuss, I think that would be worthwhile. If there's council support for that. No, no, focus on local, regional, and U.S. matters.

And more specifically as to whether the council wants to bring that back, not deciding it tonight whether you want to bring it back.

Yeah. Right, right, discussion item. Right, you're talking about, right, I'm all for city and state affairs. You're talking about we're going to, a resolution, a discussion of a resolution to prohibit international discussion, international actions. In effect, yes. Fine, I'm fine with that.

Only two? So I will certainly try again if we don't have support from three people.

Yeah, I think it's why it is processing all of the different things on this, but as city attorney reminded us, we cannot have that discussion right now.

So the request is to. Yeah, I think is obviously early in September's full, but we can give staff some time to put a staff report together. End of the month in September is perfect. So we're crystal clear. I'm asking that we agendize the discussion to adopt a resolution that keeps council meetings focused on municipal issues that directly impact the city of Palm Springs and preserving public time, resources, and council responsiveness for local, regional, and U.S. matters. And a draft ordinance can be looked at that was passed first in 1979 in San Jose. And I think we got three nods. Thank you.

I WOULD JUST NOTE THE DRAFT ORDINANCE IS JUST AN ATTACHMENT. IT'S NOT ACTION. IT'S JUST PART OF THE STAFF REPORT. OKAY. THANK YOU.

A DRAFT ORDINANCE OR I THINK A DRAFT RESOLUTION.

DRAFT RESOLUTION. THANK YOU.

ANY OTHER REQUESTS FROM COUNCIL? NO. OKAY. OUR NEXT COUNCIL MEETING WILL BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH AT 530. WE WILL SEE YOU THEN.