City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to your Patterson City Council meeting Tuesday, August 18th, 2026. Report from closed session. City Council approved the settlement and release agreement between the City of Patterson and Northeast Territories Patterson LLC and VOP 2.1 LLC with a 4-0 vote with one absence. As soon as it is executed, it will be made available for public viewing. And on the other two items, direction has been provided to staff. Your council will now adjourn from a closed session. Public meeting guidelines. City of Patterson City Council meetings are conducted in person at City Hall Council Chambers. As a courtesy and technology permitting, members of the public may continue to participate virtually. However, the city cannot guarantee that the public's access to teleconferencing technology will be uninterrupted. AND TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES MAY OCCUR FROM TIME TO TIME. THE MEETING WILL BE TELEVISED AND AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC VIEWING ON COMCAST CHANNEL 7 ON WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY, AND SATURDAY AT 12 P.M. OR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC MAY WATCH ON THE INTERNET WITH THE VEMO LINK AVAILABLE ON OUR CITY'S WEBSITE. BEFORE WE START OUR REGULAR SESSION, THOSE IN THE AUDIENCE WHO WISH TO DO SO, PLEASE STAND AND BOW YOUR HEADS FOR OUR INVICATION. As we begin our council meeting tonight, we desire to take a moment to give you thanks. We are grateful for each blessing you've given our city. Thank you for the residents who care about our city and get involved. Thank you for our community members who care about each other and volunteer their time to serve. Thank you for dedicated city staff who keep Patterson moving forward. As we consider the items on our agenda tonight, may we do so thoughtfully. Grant us kindness and consideration as we seek the best solutions. We desire your wisdom. We desire your direction. We thank you and praise you for your guidance. And we ask all these things in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen. Your City of St. Patterson City Council meeting will now come to order. Pledge of Allegiance. Statements of conflict. Are there any statements of conflict from the council members?

None.

And your mayor has no agenda conflicts. Items from the public. Any member of the audience who wishes to address the council on a matter not listed on the agenda may do so by raising your hand and stepping to the podium. If you're joining the meeting through Zoom, please use the raised hand feature. If you're calling in by phone, you may press 9 when the mayor announces the item. Council will take no action other than referring the item to staff for study analysis and may place the item on a future agenda. In order that all interested parties have an opportunity to speak, each individual may provide public comment once during the public comment period. After an individual has spoken, they may not return to the podium or otherwise provide additional comment during the same public comment period. This ensures fairness and equal access for all members of the public. Any person addressing the council will be limited to a maximum of three minutes unless the mayor grants a longer period of time. The City Council requests everyone be respectful of other citizens' time and stay within the allotted time period. If, after extending the three-minute time period, the Mayor determines the Speaker will not complete their comments within a reasonable time, the Mayor will request their comments be completed at a later date. Once the Mayor closes in-person public comment and transitions to online Zoom public comment, those physically in attendance may no longer provide public comment. At that point, only individuals participating through Zoom or by phone will be recognized for public comment. This applies to all public comment during this council meeting. The city council fully supports the right of the public to comment freely during the public comment period per the Brown Act. However, all comments must be made respectfully and be not disruptive in nature. The Brown Act expressly authorizes a legislative body to remove from a meeting those persons who willfully interrupt the proceedings. Independent of the Brown Act, California Penal Code Section 403 makes it a misdemeanor to willfully disturb a lawful meeting. Please state your name and city for the record when you step to the podium.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Danielle Morgar. I'm a field representative for California State Assemblymember Juan Alaniz, and I'm here this evening to provide a legislative update. I am happy to report that Assemblyman Alaniz had four of his bills now currently awaiting a vote on the Senate floor. This is AB 1728, which is a common course numbering for firefighter and law enforcement classes. AB 1572, a statewide safety standards for high school sports officials. AB 767 enhances protections from the placement of sexually violent predators. And AB 2282, which is an increased access to emergency health care services here in Patterson. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to our office. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello, Yolanda Magana, City of Paterson. Welcome, Chi Chi, for your first official meeting. I just wanted to bring up, it was, I didn't realize this was actually a municipal code, but 2.16.090 states, residents in the city, for personnel, regarding our city manager, residents in the city at the time of appointment shall not be required as a condition of employment. However, Residents in the city shall be established within a reasonable time after the acceptance of an appointment to this position. I believe it's going on two years now. So I was just curious on why that's municipal code and we're not following it. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council. My name is Greg Nyberg, and I am a supervisor with the Recreation Department. And I want to take a moment to invite everyone to our annual Farm to Fork dinner that's going to take place right outside in the downtown circle on September 26. This event celebrates the rich agricultural history of Paterson by highlighting local produce donated by our farmers to create an unforgettable dining experience. All ticket sales from this event go directly to our recreation scholarship fund, which ensures that all families in Patterson have the opportunity to participate in quality recreational programming. So again, we would love to see everyone down there September 26th, right outside here in the city circle.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, Council. My name is Gabriel Ortiz. I'm a coordinator with the Registration Department. Because of the support from our generous sponsors, we are proud to share that every dollar spent on a front-to-front ticket will go directly to a scholarship fund this year. This year, we have been able to award $15,000 in scholarships to families in Patterson. We would like to extend a special thank you to our presenting sponsor this year, Del Porto Health District. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, Maria Gabriel, City of Paterson resident. I wanted to first congratulate Chi Chi on your new appointment to city council member. Congratulations, it's good to see you up here working with everybody. Second, I wanted to bring up that Del Porto Water District has a meeting tomorrow at 9 a.m. at their office, which is located off the corner of Ward and Marshall. just south of the sports complex. I urge everybody that's against the upcoming plans for putting a dam in our Del Porto Canyon to attend and let them know that you are against it. They are planning to do another EIR, which is an environmental impact report. There's countless indigenous ruins and memorials up there. Many things that we can't find anywhere else in California and it's free to go and visit and look at these things. The canyon is also where the first dinosaur bones in California were found which is a pretty cool fact. We don't know if there's anything else up there but with the dam we wouldn't be given the chance to see or at least research. Many colleges and high school students go up there to complete research on the geography and geological things that we have up there. There is many cool rock formations, many things in the canyon that you can't see anywhere else. There is a microclimate in the canyon where you can't find anywhere else in California, and many endangered species such as the kit fox, which we have our RV park named after, which would be put to ruins if we were to have a non-recreational dam, meaning no swimming, no boating, nothing that we can touch. I urge you all to be against the dam and read into why the dam would not be safe for the City of Patterson residents. It is really on my heart. I like going up there almost every weekend. I go fishing, I go hiking, and it's something that a lot of other people love to do up there. There is a park up there too, Frank Rains. I'm pretty sure that it's not going to be included in where the dam is, but it would be harder to get to. It's a really sacred area. Almost every hill in the canyon has something of indigenous artifacts you can find, such as grinding rocks. You can find acorn holes, everything that they would use to harvest. The old railroad used to go up there too, which is the road that we drive on to get to Frank Rains, which is another fun fact. So I urge you all to be against the dam and to go to the Del Porto Water District meeting tomorrow at 9 a.m. to let them know that they are in the wrong. Thank you.

Hello, Janice James, Patterson resident. I'm starting to try to get more involved, and so I know there's a lot of different committees and things that I'm trying to get to, but I just wanted to get a couple things out so that maybe it can be directed to the right committee or council or whatever it is. So two things. I know that there's building planning with the senior housing, a sports park thing. There's been racquet, not racquetball, but pickleball, tennis courts and stuff being planned or wanting to be planned near the high school downtown. And the one issue that I wanted to bring up is that less than a mile down the road on Ward, we have a sports park. And that sports park is not being utilized for tennis or pick a ball or anything like that. And it seems strange that the plans or want to meet plans would be right next to a high school when just down the road, there's lots of land for that, and it's already a sports park. So why would we not put it in there where we have a lot more ample parking availability than right in the middle of a school area and congested area already? So that's one issue. The second issue is that with water being always on the top of my mind, and I know in an agricultural area, water is very crucial for everything. How come we do not have a reclaimed water system in our water treatment plant. Livermore's had one since 1960s. In the 1960s, they've established water reclaimed for all of their city watering, business parks watering, outdoor watering. There's purple hydrants everywhere in Livermore. since the 60s. So here it is, 2026. We still do not utilize reclaimed water. So all of our potable water that we can drink is being diverted to watering grass and watering, you know, agricultural and everything else, which seems absolutely crazy to me. I'm a huge advocate for potable water. Our land has potable water spurting out. So please think about putting reclaimed water into our water treatment plant. Thank you.

Thank you.

My name is Karen Willard, 208 Barrow Street, Patterson, California. I've been on the Park and Recs Commission. I was on it for 10 years when we did the master plan for the gateway to Del Porto Canyon. And we wanted that to be an environmentally friendly way to get up there. If this dam is built, Frank Raines Park will not be easily accessed, the proposed road that they are planning on building to go up through Diablo Canyon has a 10 to 12% grade and there's no water up there. So what happens if someone's dragging a chain and there's a fire? There's no water up there. It's ridiculous. I mean, in the 80s, Los Grandes Baños, they figured out where they could put a 1.6 million acre pool. capacity of water just south of um... san luis reservoir so in the long run if water's going into the california aqueduct if you take it out of here or take it out of there you're still supplying water for all the farmers up and down the valley and and this is ludicrous the way the ERI and everything this has been going on for years and years about the Del Porto reservoir. I think it's a horrible project. It ruins the gateway. It ruins a bunch of historical site. And it's important to me that this would go through. And then the other speaker spoke about the potable water. We are like the Erin Brockovich of the valley. Our water is so contaminated. It's terrible. I live on a street where the well of that fed my house was right off of Salado Creek. Well, gee, guess what? Back in the early 90s, they took that offline and made that only potable water because it was so contaminated. And it's just crazy that we have to be in this position where you can't drink the water in Patterson. It's horrifying, and all the time, work, and effort we, as the Park and Recs Commission, put into building recreational and open space, we need to continue that. It's really important. We need our open space. We need that gateway to the canyon. What do you... You're going to close it off, rebuild roads, do everything? It's not well thought out in a long-term plan. So thank you very much. I hope that everyone could go to the meeting. I think I saw where it was at 8.30 tomorrow morning at Del Porto Water Office at the corner of Marshall and Ward. We need to find a solution, not just put a Band-Aid on things to help a few. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

The mayor and city council and staff and public and again congratulations council member chichi for your new spot there this i'm saying strictly as a resident of the city not in my other roles that people know me as a pastor or the newspaper there's just an upcoming opportunity. It started back in 1985. There was this really bad earthquake in Mexico City. Thousands of people were trapped. And as bystanders were trying to help, at least 100 of them died helping people who were pinned underneath debris. And so this inspired the Los Angeles Fire Department about that time to to start a program called the Community Emergency Response Team, known as CERT. And a lot of people are not real familiar with it, but it's a great opportunity for people who like to be involved in their community to be involved. I was able to be a part of the first graduating class here in Patterson about, I don't know, 13 years ago or so. There was maybe 15 of us, and it was a local thing. It was part of the Patterson Fire Department. and got to know Captain Ambrosino and others. And so over the years, as it's kind of migrated and become a Stanislaus County thing, it's kind of died out here to some degree here in Patterson. And so they're trying to get connected with Patterson again. And the captain of this program, Captain Anderson, they're getting ready to start a new academy. And so there's an informational meeting next Monday night. Everybody here is driven by that big training tower right off the Carpenter-Briggs-Moore overpass. that the fire department uses. And that's where they hold their meetings and where they'll be doing the training. And so for 12 Mondays in a row, starting I think the second Monday of September, they will have a free training academy. Anybody, Captain Anderson said, the qualifications is you have to be 18 and breathing. And so that includes quite a few people, I think. I would love to see some people who love to volunteer go over, take that 12-week training. You get to do a lot of very interesting things, some light fire suppression training. You get in that tower and do some search and rescue training. And probably one of the big ones is the cribbing training, where they teach you how to work as a team using crowbars and plans of attack. And the point being that if there were, say, a big earthquake, they say there could be one any time, it might take a little while before the professionals could get there. And the idea is you would have CERT members all over Patterson. They give you a nice, really nice backpack with equipment in it that you need and green vests and You could be almost like first responders until the professionals arrived. And I think it's an awesome program. I'd love to see a bunch of Patterson people jump in on this new training academy that starts in September. Again, 12 Mondays in a row. It's just an investment of your time, no money. And I don't usually like to try to speak for people, but I think I'm safe in saying Chief Hakala is in favor of this program. He and Captain Anderson are working and trying to tie it closer in with Patterson here in this next round in the months to come. So I just wanted to push some Patterson people to consider getting involved in the CERT program. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

I just want to make a quick comment to that, Tim. Thank you so much for that. I might have been in your class because I took the CERT program as well with Captain Ambrosino about maybe 12 years ago. I graduated with my husband and my nephew. We all took the class. So it's super validating for you to come up and say that. So I'll go ahead and also post about that and give the information out. And thank you for bringing that up. It's super important for us to be part of these programs. Thank you.

Is there anyone else present in the council chamber who wishes to provide a public comment? All right, seeing none, we will now close in-person public comment. Madam Clerk, is there anyone online who wishes to provide a public comment?

Just as a reminder, if you're joining us on Zoom and wish to make a comment, please use the raise hand feature. If you're calling in by phone, you may press star nine. We do have Candace. You can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Hello, everyone. Candace. I rock city of Patterson. I am also feeling validated tonight after hearing a couple of previous people speak about things that I have brought up countless times. So, um. That's really reassuring to me. I do want to piggyback on something that Yolanda said. So I actually brought up that city code about the city manager not having to be a resident here. It was not a mandatory part of offering the position. But then there was a time constraint on when they had to move here. And I understand that thought process. I understand why that city code exists. And it's because there's going to be a sense of ownership if you also live here. So at the end of the day, you go home and you go home to the city that you're managing, there's a higher sense of ownership because your kids, your wife, your kids' friends, they're dealing with the problems that you as the city manager should be dealing with. So I do think that that code is wonderful. When I brought it up, City Attorney Goldstein tried to convince me that the city code was old and outdated, and I don't really care how old and outdated it is. If I don't follow city code, I get in trouble. I paid $12.50 for my garage sale permit. I don't know if you guys remember me complaining about that, but... So if I have to follow the city code as a resident of Patterson, I feel like everyone else should have to follow the city code, meaning everyone else should be required to uphold what it says. So she tried to convince me a little bit gaslighting because that's her favorite thing to do, that it's an old city code and it would be changed. Well, it hasn't been changed. And I was referring to it back when it was Ken Irwin as our city manager. So it has been at this point years. I personally love Fernando. I think he's a wonderful person. I don't think that there needs to be two city managers. I do not agree with that. But speaking about City Attorney Goldstein, which I have noticed she hasn't been here. So part of me is a little bit happy about that. I'm very happy she's not there. But another part of me is sad she's not here because I do have something that I need to ask her tonight. As most of you know, Keystone, who the city is in a legal battle with, has been putting out these irrigator articles every week. And most people, like myself, turn right past it, right? Like we're not really caring what the developer says. But something caught my eye this week, and I'm going to read that to you. The chromium conflict, Patterson can't ignore. So for more than a decade, Patterson residents have raised concerns about chromium-6 in their drinking water. And you could also put in parentheses, Patterson residents, parentheses, Candace, because I'm one of the ones that's been complaining about it. At the city's recent water workshop, frustrated residents demanded answers to the question, why has City Hall failed to act? And our residents being given the full story. Here's something city staff didn't discuss at the workshop. Patterson City Attorney Nubia Goldstein of White Brenner LLP is a registered lobbyist. and her law firm lobbies on behalf of the American Chemistry Council, a powerful chemical industry trade association. They oppose stricter chromium-6 limits IN DRINKING WATER AND LOBBYING REPORTS SHOW THAT WHITE BRENNER HAS BEEN PAID APPROXIMATELY $1 MILLION BY THEM. THEY OPPOSE CHROMIUM 6, HIGHER CHROMIUM 6 LEVELS. WE ARE LITERALLY PAYING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

CAN YOU FINISH YOUR COMMENTS, PLEASE?

WE'RE PAYING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO A CITY ATTORNEY THAT KEEPS GETTING US INTO CITY LAWSUITS AND IS ALSO ACTIVELY WORKING AGAINST OUR BABIES HAVING CLEAN WATER. And I will lose my mind if we lose another child in this community to cancer because I know that the water is the cause. Thank you.

Thank you.

There are no other comments online, Mayor.

All right. So seeing there's no further comments online, we will now close the public comment period. Consent calendar. All items are approved by a single action. any item may be removed from the consent calendar for separate discussion upon request remember the public staff or council member consent calendar items five point one to five point one four are open for consideration for approval are there any items be pulled for discussion by council members I had requested item five point one four to be removed city manager are you going to remove item five point one four

Yes, Mayor. Item 5.14 will be removed from tonight's consent calendar, and it will be brought back to council if appropriate at a given time.

Okay. Item 5.14 has been removed. Are there any other items that need to be removed by the council?

I'm sorry. I just need to interject that in order for an item that is agendized to be continued to a meeting of a later date, we do need the council to actually vote on that, and it can be by consensus, but it has to be a council action.

OKAY. AND CAN WE DO THAT RIGHT NOW?

YES.

OKAY. SO DO I HAVE CONSENSUS OF THE COUNCIL TO REMOVE 5.14 COMPLETELY FROM THE CALENDAR AND BRING IT BACK AT A LATER DATE?

YES. YES. YES.

ALL RIGHT. SO MOVED. ANY OTHER ITEMS TO BE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR BY COUNCIL MEMBERS? SEEING NONE, ARE THERE ANY ITEMS TO BE PULLED FOR DISCUSSION BY STAFF OR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC?

YES, I WOULD LIKE TO PULL 5.13 JUST TO PROVIDE A CLARIFICATION.

Okay, item 5.13 is being removed. So item 5.13 will be pulled from the consent calendar for further discussion. Do we have any additional items to pull from the consent calendar? All right, seeing no additional items to be pulled from the consent calendar, do I have a motion to approve consent calendar items 5.1 to 5.12?

No motion.

All right, we have a motion. Do we have a second?

I second.

Okay, the motion has been seconded and requires a roll call vote from the council. Council member Mora?

Aye.

Council member Norm Jack?

Aye.

Council member Hernandez?

Aye.

And your mayor votes aye. The motion to approve consent calendar items 5.1 to 5.12 passes with a 4-0 vote. All right, so point of clarification from the city attorney for item 5.13. I'm so sorry.

I'm new here. Before we move on to that, I will have to tell you that the Brown Act does require you to take public comment on the consolidated consent calendar before you take a vote. I was unable to interject before it happened, but I think that it would be prudent to see if there's any public comment on all of those items that were just approved. And then we do need to take public comment on each of the ones that were pulled as well.

OK. All right so what we'll do since we just approved 5.1 to 5.1 to we will go ahead and put that portion of the consent calendar open to public comment are there any members of the public present the council chambers who have a public comment on consent counter items 5.1 to 5.1 to. Right seeing none in the council chambers man workers anyone online who is about a public comment on items 5.1 to 5.1 to.

Just as a reminder, if you're joining us on Zoom and wish to make a comment, please use the raise hand feature. If you're calling in by phone, you may press star nine. No comments, Mayor.

All right. So seeing none.

We actually do have comments now.

Okay.

Candace, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Hello. Sorry, this will be quick. I did have a question on 5.6. Okay. Is there a reason that it has seemingly been an endless road of that road being shut down, Zacharias and Rogers? Are we doing that? Is it a contract? Are they upholding their contract? Because I feel like it's been months of it being basically untravelable.

This is director Rodriguez. I'll respond back to that The item the item the traffic control road closure that's on the City Council agenda for this evening is actually for a separate section of road So the item before you this evening is going to be a road closure on Zacharias Starting from Rogers Road and going west it's only only one resident will be affected and the developer and city staff are working with him as well and To address your other concerns as to why Rogers Road is an open. This is a developer driven project We've had issues out there with TID PG&E we've had procurement issues City staff is working closely with the developer to get that open as soon as possible another issue they had when they wanted to do the intersection improvements at Rogers and Zacharias and They had to get an encroachment permit from Caltrans for the road closure signs that needed to be on Highway 33. So that encroachment permit process just takes its time with Caltrans. And so just a combination of all of those things. We're hoping to have the section of Rogers Road that's closed now open by the end of this month.

Any further questions or concerns on that item?

She didn't raise her hand anymore. Okay.

And is there anyone else online who has a further comment on those items?

We have Rob. You can go ahead and unmute yourself. Hi.

I'm on Rob's phone. This is Kat Ritchie. In regards to, I think that in 5.2, there's payments. So this is in regards to the TID payment that's inside that portion of it. From my understanding now, we're at like $436,000 payments to TID. And I believe that I'm just going to ask again as I do every meeting and haven't gotten any updates on it. I UNDERSTOOD THAT OUR STAFF WAS GOING TO CREATE AN ENERGY TEAM TO ADDRESS OUR ENERGY ISSUES AND HAVE AN ENERGY PROGRAM FOR THE CITY. AND I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE CITY'S ENERGY TEAM AND ITS WORK. AND THIS IS A FOLLOW-UP FROM AN E-MAIL THAT HAS NOT BEEN RESPONDED TO.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. To answer the question on as far as what we've been doing with the energy efficiency or the lack thereof of a committee, I am working internally with staff. We have not created an actual with actual individuals, but with staff members. But right now, what we're doing is working on items right now with our existing solar systems, identifying where the gaps are on our existing solar and getting a better understanding of really the energy consumption that we use, what we have with solar and where the gap is on what we're trying to accomplish. We have not constructed or put together an official per se energy efficiency or solar committee, but it's something that we have been working on. We will continue working on and we will develop through this process. We are going to develop a A COMMITTEE OR INTERNAL STAFF COMMITTEE THAT GETS DEDICATED TO BRINGING ITEMS LIKE THIS UP TO NOT ONLY TO DEPARTMENT HEADS IN MY ATTENTION AS A CITY MANAGER BUT TO ALSO PREPARE UPDATE REPORTS INFORMATION REPORTS TO COUNCIL AS WE MOVE FORWARD BECAUSE WE DO UNDERSTAND THAT HAVING A ENERGY EFFICIENCIES AT CITIES IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR NOT JUST FOR THE CITY OF PATTERSON FOR FOR ANY CITY AS WE HAVE AS THE AS WE CONTINUE TO GROW OUR CONSUMPTION CONTINUES TO INCREASE AND DEFINITELY OFFSETTING THE CONSUMPTION WITH MORE ENERGY SOLAR PANELS OR OTHER ENERGY EFFICIENT MATTERS THAT WE CAN LOOK INTO IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE LOOKING WE ARE GOING TO BE LOOKING INTO BECAUSE WE we're at a point that we are going to continue to grow and as we continue to grow, our energy consumption is going to continue to also grow with that.

Thank you, Fernando. I just want to remind everybody that in March and April, we were assured that we were going to address this issue. And this started in December of 2025, and it is now August, so it's eight months later. I appreciate what you're trying to accomplish. I really just hope we actually start doing the work to do it and create that team. I'll be on here every two weeks asking where we are. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, is there anyone else online who wishes to provide a public comment on consent calendar items 5.1 to 5.12?

There are no other comments, Mayor.

All right so seeing none and that the council has approved 5.1 to 5.1 to we'll move on to 5.1 for an open that item up for public comment is there anyone present the council chambers who wish to buy the public comment on item 5.1 for. Right seeing none you know. Step forward sir.

I'm mark these on a city of Patterson. So good evening, Mayor, staff. First and foremost, I want to clarify that my comment tonight is not about the city clerk personally. I don't know her personally and have only a few email interactions with her. She has been very pleasant to deal with. My focus tonight is on the fiscal responsibility that city staff and the city council needs to be conscious of. considering the current economic climate that is affecting everyone globally. A few months ago, staff proposed a 1% sales tax increase to help cover some of the services offered in our small town. The council unanimously approved this proposal and was added to the ballot. Asking your constituents for an additional sales tax indicates that we have a budget shortfall and that this increase is necessary to balance the budget or ensure that current services can continue. I find it in poor taste for staff to propose this increase, especially a 5% increase given the economic conditions. I understand some of the companies are not even giving annual raises just to say a float. And here we are asking for a 5% increase. Let's assume that if the salary increase is approved and we do not see an increase in tax revenue, what would happen then? Would staff be willing to give back the raises that were approved in the past years to ensure the services for the community would not be affected? I would expect the answer to be no. If you tell me that we have promising opportunities to increase sales tax revenue, I might understand it. However, since moving to town a couple of years ago, there have been minimal changes. The Delta marketplace looks promising, but it seems to have been delayed for months LIKELY DUE TO A LACK OF TENANTS WILLING TO OPEN BUSINESS. I DON'T WANT US TO REACH A POINT WHERE WE ARE FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE AND ARE FORCED TO ACCEPT BUSINESSES LIKE DATA CENTERS INTO THE TOWN BECAUSE WE ARE DESPERATE FOR ADDITIONAL TAX REVENUE. TO CONCLUDE, I URGE THE COUNCIL, PARTICULARLY COUNCIL MEMBER HERNANDEZ AND MAYOR CLAUSEL WHO ARE BOTH RUNNING FOR MAYOR TO REJECT THIS PROPOSAL. This would demonstrate your concern for our community's financial well-being and prevent us from approving additional expenses when our revenue is insufficient to support them. Growing up in a family that instilled in me the value of living within one's means, I hope our elected officials exercise prudence when handling taxpayers' money. Your decision is not solely yours. It's a decision you're making on behalf of your constituents. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Hey, everybody. Marco, City of Paterson. Mark and I just met. We finally shook hands. We've been communicating over social media for quite some time now. I think Delta Marketplace topic was one of the videos that we were able to connect on. However, I am a strong believer that we could be opponents on policies and topics without being enemies. I shook his hand. I enjoyed him. Maybe if we wrap up quick, we could go to Old Water office and get a whiskey. But I think 5.14 has a couple of topics that we got to dissect. The 5% increase, I think, is valid. And I don't think it's going to... I don't find it fiscally irresponsible. One thing I would love city staff to share is we touched on tax revenue increases, right? To my belief that our current Amazon facility is our number one contributing tax revenue business. Is anybody able to confirm that for me? Oh, did I make it up? One of the greatest? Without a doubt. Without a doubt? Okay. Yes.

I'll take it. As far as the revenues, I don't know the numbers, but yes, the Amazon is one of the greatest contributing tax revenues. It is one of the biggest contributors, absolutely.

And then we approved two different options for a developer to create what could arguably be called a mega Amazon while we're still keeping this other Amazon, meaning even more tax revenue. And then I know everybody asked for a second McDonald's in Patterson, but it's positioned right in an area where receives high traffic, high traffic, foot traffic, vehicle traffic from I-5 of people who will also be contributing to this additional 1% tax increase. Money that we are able to use, whatever we decide to use it for, and I know that's up for debate. Whatever we decide to use it for, it's a 1% tax revenue that I'm probably not going to be paying. Majority of us are probably not going to be going to that McDonald's. It's going to be passerbys paying almost like a toll towards our projects. water project, many other projects, things that we... I'm an advocate, if you guys haven't noticed, for that 1% tax increase, not because I feel like we're bleeding money or anything, but because we come up here every day and we ask her every other week and ask for so many projects to get done. dog parks, fixing the water, fixing 9th Street, which I believe we just approved something to move forward with that. And I'm a big advocate of that 1% tax increase, and I do not feel that this 5% salary increase is going to affect any projects in the future. And then on a personal note, I love you, Araceli, and I think you deserve anything that's coming your way. So that is all. Thank you.

Thank you sir. Is there anyone else present the council chambers which by the public comment on item 5.1 for.

Again just citizen to benefit all but I feel totally comfortable with the 5% increase without getting into all the details or any of that but as a citizen I don't have any problems in fact I I'm in favor.

Thank you sir. And under you making your way over okay we will wait for you. Yeah, no problem.

Okay, so I thought it was my understanding, well, 5.414 had a couple different things on there. So one of the things that was on there was another IT position, correct? I'm just wondering, I thought we were having hiring freeze because I remember someone saying that in another council meeting. And then my question with IT was, is that person A new position, actually, one of their job duties is going to be recording all of the commission meetings. Because right now, just the planning commission and the council commission, or council, is doing the recording. And I feel like our community is being left in the dark with all the other commissions that are equally as important as the planning. So that was another question. And then... As far as the 5% raise, I just want to bring to people's attention that they received a 2% raise already, and several years ago, $30,000 of a raise. That's a lot of money, and it says being competitive or comparable, but Riverbank is comparable to our population, and they're only getting 161,000 we're paying highest Even Turlock series is way bigger than us and we overpay what they're paying their people And I just feel like a city of this size. That's a lot of money and I would have to disagree with Marco that that 9,000 adds up and we have a lot we can be getting money from stop paying staff top dollar and actually reallocate those funds to things that we do need. Because I'm a huge proponent of bringing more things to Patterson. But we can be pulling money from other areas. So that's kind of my other notes here. I think that was it. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else present in the council chambers who has a public comment on item 5.14? All right, seeing none, we now close the in-person public comment. Madam Clerk, is there anyone online who has a public comment on item 5.14?

Just as a reminder, if you're joining us on Zoom and wish to make a comment, please use the raise hand feature. If you're calling in by phone, you may press star 9. We do have a couple comments. Candace, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Candace White Rock City of Patterson. If this is like a character witness situation, I have not a single bad thing to say about Araceli. She has been nothing but a professional city clerk. I dealt with her very closely during our previous mayor's recall campaign that I led, which is just a friendly reminder to all of you that I know how to do that. And I want to state that if this is about her personally and her work, she's fantastic. And I think she deserves a 20% raise. But when I look at the financial situation that the city is in right now, I can't help but think like, why are we still trying to give raises when we don't have money? And then I remembered that this very likely, and I'm not saying it is, I'm saying it very likely could be, a small nod or thank you to her for not making a big deal out of the fact that our mayor, previous councilwoman Romero, and our city attorney, who is not you, ma'am, the other city attorney, Nubia Goldstein, the three of you, along with city manager Fernando, tried to make her look like she had somehow messed up her job because you guys didn't want an energy project to get passed. So as someone who has to look at the city through a critical lens these days, because I don't trust that you're making accurate decisions as a mayor and sometimes as a city manager and for sure as a city attorney, I have to think, Is this us giving her a raise to say, hey, thanks for not being a jerk and going public about how we tried to embarrass you and act like you weren't doing your job right when really we were just trying to kill an energy bill? Of course, that's where my brain goes. I'd like to think that you guys have more ethics than that. I really would. But how can I not think that when you guys literally gaslit me in front of an entire audience full of people and let me look like I had made up that there was not anything wrong with the PDF, literally. And you all just sat there and let it happen and then argued with me. And then I went to the source, the person whose job it is to be ethical, and I got the truth and she was quiet about it. She could have embarrassed all of you guys. And she didn't do that. So part of me is like, oh, I get it. We're trying to give her a raise because she was a good sport about you guys being corrupt. But other than that, honestly, she's fantastic. I think she does a great job. But I do think that the city should be looking at things through a fiscally responsible lens these days because you guys are not in a good financial situation. And that's disappointing. So thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Is there anyone else online who would provide a public comment on item 5.14?

We do have another comment. Rob, you can go ahead and unmute yourself. Hi, it's Kat again.

So I know the item's pulled, but I just want to share my thoughts in regards to the, in RSLE, I do feel the same way as everybody else does. You are, you have always been very honest and I think we all appreciate that. um my thoughts in regards to the city clerk's new role though and an assistant to the city manager role which are both inside this item um you know i kind of think about this as like running a team we've always had one head coach running the city and we hired a tremendously nice man fernando is beyond the nicest guy to coach this team, but he had no coaching experience. He had a lot of desire. So we still expect that nice coach to be capable of leading the team. If you know, a little bit after that, we were asked to give him, you know, some help and get another head coach in here. So we brought in the assistant manager. So now we have two head coaches running this and we only had one before that. That means that our expectation to get a return on, you know, these two managers is like, it's a higher, um, But now when I read the packet, what I'm seeing is the descriptions of these two jobs are basically assistant to the city manager. And then under the new description that our city clerk would fall under, it says to be the assistant to the city manager role, support the assistant city manager and the city manager. So I guess my comment is we went from having one person on the team to now what you're telling us is we actually need four to get the job done. And because you still have to backfill and you'll still have to do those things. I'm just hoping our city looks at what we need to do to be better and, you know, and revitalize things and organize things better and just make things, you know, better from that perspective instead of us trying to, you know, fund and finance every, especially all of our senior staff. It just seems a little bit rough to have to go from one city manager to two city managers and two assistants. Where does it stop? And I don't mean this in any bad way, but If the day comes when we don't have Fernando as our city manager, Mike, I think I almost have, I think I have a few more seconds. But if we don't have a, if we don't have Fernando as a city manager, will all of this infrastructure that we've built around this office be necessary anymore? Because it's going to be there. That's it. Thank you so much.

Thank you, ma'am. Is there anyone else online who wish to provide a public comment on item 5.14?

We do have another comment. Jessica, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Hi, Jessica Romero Patterson.

I heard- Jessica, we lost you.

Okay. I heard my name come up during the topic of making something up to the city clerk based on my time as council. I don't appreciate the defamatory comments coming out of someone that has never spoken to me or gotten my side. And I just wanted to set the record straight because I kept my mouth shut after the resignation letter and stayed out of everybody's way. And I really would appreciate the same courtesy because I won't be a scapegoat. for the bad decisions in the city, and I will speak up every time that I feel like I'm being blamed incorrectly. So thank you for your time.

Thank you, ma'am.

We have Diana. You can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Hi. Oops, hold on. Let's try that again. Can you hear me?

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you. Diana, City of Patterson. I just had a comment. Well, one question and one comment. The 5%, is that in addition to a COLA or does that include the COLA?

City Manager Yola?

The 5% would be in addition to the COLA. The 5% is more of the salary bracket adjustment for her job position. The COLA is a cost of living that It is incorporated but not part of that. What you're looking at on that item specifically is a salary schedule adjustment bracket that puts additional 5% into her salary bracket.

Okay, thank you. And just the comment that I wanted to mention. So, I know that. Some public works or workers have not received any type of increase in. Some in 1 to 2 years and have been told that there is no money or funding for a Cola for them as well. So, just would like to say that everybody should be considered. I don't know about the role for city click or anything or clerk like that. So I'm not going to comment on that. But just want to mention not to forget those workers that are out there actually doing the job in the streets and in the parks and throughout the city to keep it what it is and what it looks like. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. And there are no other there are no other comments all right so seeing no further online public comment on item five point one four and since it was already consented to move on to another agenda will close that item and will open up item five point one three so deputy city attorney christina pritchard you have floor.

Thank you I just wanted to make a slight clarification just in case it caused any confusion with the public or the council. The staff report for item 5.13 has a typographical error, which identifies that the Patterson Firefighters Association IAFF local 4577 salary schedule would become effective July 1, 2026, but the correct date is as agendized on the actual agenda. It will be effective if approved October 1, 2026. All right.

Thank you for that clarification. So now we'll open up 5.13 for public comment. Is there anyone present in the council chambers who wish to provide a public comment on item 5.13? All right, seeing none, we'll close the in-person public comment. Madam Clerk, is there anyone online who wishes to provide a public comment on item 5.13?

Just as a reminder, if you're joining us on Zoom and wish to make a comment, please use the raise hand feature. If you're calling it by phone, you may press star 9. We do have a comment. Kat, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

I just have a question so is that 2% cola is that also for all of the like the I know that there's three different levels in the city is this cola also does it apply to our executive staff as well.

City manager Yola.

Yes, the 2% COLA is a cost of living raise provided to the bargaining groups and as well with the unrepresented.

And then I just have one follow-up question for you then. Do you think it's fiscally responsible after receiving raises for your group receiving raises that are in the 30 to 45 percentile in 2023? You think that it's fiscally responsible based on where we are for all of the senior staff, executive staff to additionally get 2% COLA when our public works guys haven't been able to get anything? Just curious.

The 2% cat I'm not sure if you're I guess your question that their public works is not getting anything everybody on this item through the bargaining groups in on represented on what they have. Equivalent when. Bargaining groups get a call of the unrepresented also get the same. Equal razor cola that any bargaining groups I get into their contract.

Are there any further questions?

No, thank you. I appreciate that. I do wish that our staff that received these substantial raises would take it and show in good faith that they don't accept these, the 2% COLA. But I know you guys won't do that because you won't. But the city manager, I want to take note that you are accepting this. And I think it's horrible because you guys all know what you did in 2023.

Thank you.

You're welcome, ma'am. Is there anyone else online who has a public comment on item 5.13?

No further comment, Mayor.

All right. And with that, we will close the public comments section on item 5.13 and we'll bring it back to the council for their direction and action. Do I have a motion to approve consent calendar item 5.13? I'll motion. All right we have a motion on the table do we have a second.

I second.

The motion has been seconded requires a roll call vote from the council council member Mora.

I.

Council member Nonam Jack.

I.

Council member Hernandez.

I.

Your mayor votes I. The motion to approve consent calendar item five point one three passes with a four zero vote. Moving on to city staff reports appointment of up to two city council members to participate in consultant interviews for the city attorney services feasibility study receive an update regarding the city attorney services feasibility study request for proposals and appoint up to 2 council members to participate in the consultant interviews staff report city manager your.

Thank you mayor and council on this item I will refer over to our progress manager Johanna for a to provide you a update in the briefing on this report.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council. To get started, I'll just give a quick background on how we got here tonight. In May, City Council authorized staff to prepare and release a request for proposals to do a feasibility study for our city attorney services. That feasibility study will look at alternative legal service delivery models So that's going to look at keeping our current model, which is a contract service Doing a hybrid of contract and in-house legal services or bringing that completely in-house we released that request for proposals at the beginning of June and that closed June 30th at that time we had four proposals and So at that time, city staff reviewed the proposals and scored those four proposals. The scores came very close. All seemed to be very qualified for this kind of work. And so our next step is that we want to interview all four proposers. And as this did come from council, as a request for staff to do, we'd like to provide an opportunity for council to participate in these interviews. So we'd like to turn it back over to city council to appoint two members to be on that interview panel.

All right. Thank you very much for that overview. Do I have a couple of volunteers to participate in this feasibility study?

I'll volunteer.

Okay. We have one volunteer. Do we have a second?

I'll volunteer.

All right, we have two. Councilmember Hernandez, you want to put your name in the hat? Yep, and neither do I. I think we're good to go there, but we'll go ahead and put it out for public comment first, and then we'll bring it back for a vote. All right, any other questions or concerns from the council at this time before we go to public comment? Can you volunteer someone? Sure. And is it up to two, or can we have three?

We can only have two.

Yeah. Understood. All right. So can we get a consensus from the Council as to who we want to have on there? We have three names on the table.

I'm okay with Chi Chi and Kendra.

Okay. All right. So we'll settle it there. It'll be Councilmember Nonum, Jack, and Kendra, but we're going to go ahead. If there's no further questions or concerns, we'll put it out for public comment. Is there anyone present in the Council chambers that has a public comment on item 6.1. All right, seeing none, we will close the public comment period. Madam Clerk, is there anyone online who has a public comment on item 6.1?

Just as a reminder, if you're joining us on Zoom and wish to make a comment, please use the raise hand feature. If you're calling in by phone, you may press star 9. We do have a comment. Kat, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Um, just for clarity, um, I just want to know how we, so it is, is our legal legal staff involved in any way, um, in, um, developing what this, um, looks like, or are they, um, in any way helping to determine like the questions that were asked of or developed to that bid RFP?

So White-Brenner is in no way involved in this feasibility study or anything having to do with any kind of discussion of internal city attorney services.

And you also did not participate in the RFP itself?

No.

Okay. Thank you very much.

Thank you, ma'am. Is there anyone else online who wishes to provide a public comment on item 6.1?

No other comments, Mayor.

All right. So seeing no further comments online, we will now close the public comment period and bring the item back to the Council for their direction and action. It seems like we have two names on the table, so I will just go ahead and see if we have a consensus for the Council to recommend Council Member Nodem Jack and Council Member Mora for appointment to participate in the consultant interviews. Do we have a consensus of the Council for this action?

Yes.

All right I also believe that that's the proper choice so it's so moved and we'll go ahead and close item six point one and move on to item seven public hearing consider an interim urgency ordinance number eight nine zero extending the temporary moratorium on the approval of new land use applications for data centers for ten months and fifteen days and issues of a written report adopt by at least a four fifth vote of the city council Interim urgency ordinance number eight nine zero extending interim urgency ordinance number eight eight nine for an additional ten months and fifteen days through july fifteenth twenty twenty seven and receive an issue the written report attached as exhibit be describing the measures the city has taken to alleviate the conditions that led to the adoption of interim urgency ordinance number eight eight nine as required by government code section.

65 858 subdivision d staff report deputy city attorney christina pritchard thank you on july 16 2026 the city council adopted urgency ordinance 889 establishing a 45-day moratorium that the city of powderson should not approve any application for a data center land use The moratorium was enacted in response to growing concerns regarding the threats that the data centers, unknown threats that data centers may pose to the public health and welfare, including water consumption, utility consumption, health risks, health impacts, operations on land use, air emissions, noise, environmental quality, community aesthetics, among other things. The unknowns are too large, and in 2017, when the original ordinance regarding data center land uses was enacted, it was largely unknown the impacts that they have on the surrounding communities, and it is important for the city to study those impacts and be prepared for those uses or prepared to address those uses. Since that time, since Ordinance 889 was approved, the staff has worked towards reviewing existing regulations research of best practices, including looking at what other cities are doing, reviewing local guidelines and resources available from the California League of Cities, Urban Land Institute, American Planning Association. They have contemplated the best practices for public engagement. The city has also received substantial testimony and correspondence from the public. They have started a public safety evaluation, infrastructure and capacity considerations, considerations of potential environmental risks, They've started a zoning analysis and they've been coordinating with leading legal counsel on all of the above as well as a potential framework for regulations. The city council is being asked to extend the moratorium by 10 months and 15 days which is allowed under the government code in order to allow this research and analysis to continue and to come up with a proper regulatory framework for this type of land use. It is not possible in the last 45 days In the very near future to pass such a regulatory framework as at a minimum even when we come up with such a plan It takes a planning commission to City Council meetings at a minimum and as we know Sometimes it takes even more meetings just to contemplate and come up with those those plans And the public engagement portion will also be important and will require more time as well so tonight we ask that you pass the proposed ordinance and That would extend the current moratorium by 10 months and 15 days in order to allow the additional analysis research and planning for a regulatory framework that works for this community and this city.

Thank you, City Attorney Pritchard. Questions, comments, or concerns from the council?

No, I have none.

All right. Your mayor has no questions, comments, or concerns. So we will open up item 7.1 for public comment. Are there any persons present in the council chambers who wish to provide a public comment on item 7.1?

I'm sorry, just one more thing for the public's benefit and the council's benefit. I want to make sure it's known that the narrow consideration here is for additional time to review this issue and to continue the moratorium on that land use in order to allow that time. and it is not on a particular solution to this problem, is that we are in the very early stages of identifying how to deal with this type of land use and the impacts of it. And so I want to make sure I notice that this is a very vibrant public with lots of questions, and the council and staff are not going to be able to answer specific questions on exactly how data centers are going to be dealt with at this time, because we just need to do more work and research and analysis to figure that out, and that's what this item is. Thank you.

Any feedback or concerns on Council's statement?

My only concern is just whether we need more information and instruction going forward.

One quick question. We had mentioned a committee. Is that what you mentioned with the community input?

So internally we were just discussing options on how the community will be involved in the public outreach. I know there has been some input that committee, whether that's ad hoc committee or a task force or advisory committee, we just don't know yet. We need to figure out the best course of action under the time frame that we have. Because like I said, 10 months and 15 days may seem like a long time, but when you're talking about four to five months, once you actually have a plan in place to get something approved and in place before the moratorium is up, It really isn't that long, and so we need to make sure that we're coming up with a strategy that keeps us within the confines of the timing that we're allowed.

Thank you. May I? I will also include that we get the community involved, even if we have to send out some survey. But I think there has to be a lot of communication within our community, and to get their input and their concerns, and just make sure that their voices are heard.

Any further comments or questions or concerns for council? Seeing none, we will now open item 7.1 for public comment. Is there anyone present in the council chamber who wishes to provide a public comment on item 7.1? All right. Seeing none, we will now close. Go ahead, sir. No problem.

Good evening, everyone. Ryan Segoviano, City of Patterson. I just want to start off by saying congratulations, Chi Chi. I know you're going to do great work, so I'm so happy to see you up there. And I just wanted to speak to this. And there has been a lot of concerns about this moratorium um and i just want to urge the council to continue that moratorium i agree with council member jack's proposal to get the community involved this is something that's super new to a lot of people a lot of cities are dealing with a lot of the nuance to all of this and so i think it's important to inform the public about the issues um you that these data centers can bring, particularly when it comes to pollution, especially here in the Central Valley. We have some of the highest air quality pollution. We have some of the worst groundwater pollution here in the Central Valley. And that's important when we're talking about data centers who, where as we look at cities on the East Coast that have built these things, they have had significant issues with their air and their groundwater. And so I think it's really, really important when we're talking about having a town that has clean energy, clean water, clean air. And so I would just like to encourage the council to, I've spoke with a lot of residents around Patterson and THE MORATORIUM TO CONTINUE TO LOOK INTO THIS, SOMETHING THAT'S VERY WELL NEEDED, AND I KNOW YOU GUYS WILL DO THE RIGHT THING, SO THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, SIR. NO PROBLEM, MA'AM. STEP FORWARD.

I'm Janice James again. So I am also very, very concerned about the data center issue. And I definitely need you guys to have a longer moratorium and more investigative into how this is going to impact the community if it does go through. And hopefully it will not. Because literally, Amazon already has purchased property with the Project Zack out on Rogers Road. They already have it designated for just another distribution center. However, Amazon is the company that does back these data centers and produce these data centers. So, again, I'm extremely leery of Amazon saying, oh, they're just adding another fulfillment center to that area and that's all it would be. but now that they've already purchased property and I'm doing that so I'm just really it just sounds really sus that they're putting an additional building to do the exact same thing they already have here so there might be a little smoke and mirrors going on with Amazon so please Make sure you have as much time as you can to put in mandates or put in things that will make sure that the community is heard and follow all of the guidelines that will hopefully be put in place that if we don't want a data center, it won't be just because they've already purchased property. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. Is there anyone else present in council chambers who wish to provide a public comment on item 7.1? All right. Seeing none, we will now close the in-person public comment period. Madam Clerk, is there anyone online who wishes to provide a public comment on item 7.1?

Just as a reminder, if you're joining us on Zoom and wish to make a comment, please use the raise hand feature. If you're calling by phone, you may press star nine. We do have several comments, Mayor. Kat, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

So I'm super happy you guys did the moratorium, obviously. I have questions in regards to we're at the 45-day-ish kind of mark, and My concern is that the comments that I've heard so far about where we are sound very much like where we are with the energy team that we're putting together and that does concern me. So I guess my question would be, would the city at some point be willing to share with us, the community, kind of where, truly where you guys are, because I know that nobody in the community has been reached out to, as far as I know, I haven't seen anything for that committee. And then my second question would be, I understand you guys are already meeting. And so what's the data center size threshold that you guys have started to look at in regards to the definitions for the zoning that you're going to study. The reason why I asked that is because I spoke with and had a conversation with the developer and it sounds as though it's not your typical size. So I would like to just understand where you guys are, if you can.

So on that last part, there are data centers of VARYING SIZES DEPENDING ON THEIR PURPOSE AND DEPENDING ON WHERE THEY ARE AND WHAT THE USE IS AND RIGHT NOW WE'RE AT THE VERY EARLY STAGES AND ALL OF THEM WILL BE LOOKED AT AND CONTEMPLATED IN SOME MANNER BECAUSE I THINK WE HAVE TO ASSUME THAT THE CITY IS SUBJECT TO any type of data center developer coming in and wanting to put their business here. So there is no specific threshold being looked at at this time. Nothing is being excluded at this time. Like I said, it's very early, and I think we're trying to wrap our arms around the full scope of what we're looking at and strategizing how we're going to address any of the potential uses related to data centers in general.

I appreciate that. And by the way, I really like your presence way more than the last lady.

Thank you.

It's okay. Don't say anything, but I do. Thank you. If we can look at, you know, just to keep something in mind, the size that they're looking at to develop here is of a smaller size. They're building thousands of them across the nation instead of these mega ones now. This is not their, you know, so... it's small, like, and I'm not saying small in the size of like how many megawatts, but it's like, you know, 20. And so what comes with that is a closed loop system, right? And what will come with that is, so, you know, the water requirements are not as much, but the noise that will be created from these is not going to be the loud noise that everybody is going to be upset about. And when we have noise ordinances, we keep it at a certain level. Well, these ones will just be very loud fans that run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it'll be below your typical ordinances. So I would hope that you guys do take some community input so that way it could be helpful in how you do your studies. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

We have Alyssa. You can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, ma'am.

Hello?

We can hear you.

Okay. Awesome. Hi, this is Alyssa Holman resident of Patterson, California. And I am very obviously for the continuation of this moratorium. I think it's really vital that we have plenty of time to gather the studies and all the information required. Um, You know, we've all been through the health issues, the noise, the fact that these data centers damage foundation, cause cracks through homes, killing livestock. They're giving birth to stillborns. Plus, it guzzles water and electricity. So we definitely need this continued. But I wanted to ask, is this moratorium Does this apply to Project Zach? Because there's been a known issue throughout the United States that a lot of data centers are proposing themselves as warehouses, getting built, and then, gotcha, we're a data center, and we're going to sue you to get the water and get your electricity. This Amazon warehouse is ginormous. It is way bigger than the one that we currently have. And Amazon is funding a lot of these data centers. So I want to know, are we going to cease the production on that? Is the moratorium going to apply? Or does Project Zach just kind of slip through? Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, and thank you, Alyssa Holman, for your comments on that. As far as what we have approved right now with the Amazon, it is a bigger building, but it's a different product that the Fulfillment Center has currently, the existing one. So their whole goal is what they're coming into. this existing or this new warehouse that is coming in. I don't believe they call it fulfillment center, but it doesn't replace the fulfillment center that we have right now because it will carry different product, a different size product than what the existing fulfillment center is. So it is another warehouse to distribute more product out, but a different product of what our existing fulfillment center has. That's what was approved. through Planning Commission and through City Council on the items of what the specific items for the new warehouse was coming to be.

And is there going to be any repercussions on if they go against that and it turns out to just be a data center?

If they change use on any type of the warehouse it has to come back to city approval our community development director can most likely speak more closely and in more detail of what that entails but what went through planning commission as an approval application what they submitted and then ultimately what also what approved by city council was a warehouse for distribution and nothing about A data center or portion of a data center. If they change use, it changes the permit that the active application that was approved through planning commission and then ultimately through city council. Therefore, it will have to be resubmitted as a new use. under that building of that which is currently not approved for so at that point then it does change the aspect of how we propose it in currently that we're moving forward with a with we have a moratorium in place and then if if council so chooses how to move forward on tonight's action it will reflect on how we move forward on any item if for some reason the amazon was to change their use and come back with a different application

That answers my question, thank you so much.

Thank you, ma'am.

Candice, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Candace Myrock, city of Patterson. I would also like to say that our current city attorney is much more bearable than the previous one that was sitting there. So I'm very grateful for that. I don't know if it's permanent or if it's just maybe she's on vacation or maybe she's in D.C. lobbying for higher chromium six standards. I don't know where she is. But I appreciate her. I feel like she kind of understands that it's her job to protect the city while also giving the community their legal opportunity to speak against whatever it is that's going on. So I appreciate that. I would like to state that my previous statement about the data centers still stands. So everything I said before, I'm not going to repeat it. You guys remember what it was. and that I really think that as a community, this shouldn't just be on the shoulders of the people that have been elected or the people that are sitting in these city official positions. I think it really does come down to the community because in two years or for some of you in one year, you might not be here. In two years, you might not be here. So I just want to say that. I also want to clarify something. I actually reached out to a former council member, Jessica Romero, after her comment, that was not directed at her. I brought her up to remind everyone about the sidebar that happened with the city attorney. I actually did have a conversation with Jessica about that situation after the fact. My comments were strictly directed towards our mayor, our city manager, and our city attorney, and specifically to our mayor because he had previously bragged to me about giving raises to city employees and like, you know, They better do it. You know, that's why we gave him the big bucks or whatever comments he had previously said. So that's why I thought this conspiracy theorist in me thinks that it's possible that this could be their way of saying thank you, Araceli, for not making a big deal about how we tried to embarrass you and make you look like you were at fault. when she was not at fault. So I just wanted to clear the air on that. I know it's not related to what we were talking about, but I did not want her to think that I was referring to her. She's not even here to vote for this. So it had nothing to do with her. I was just bringing up that event. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Next speaker, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Is that me?

We can hear you.

Hi, good evening, everyone. Mayor, members of Council, welcome. Miss Chi Chi Jack, excited to have you on board. So Siobhan Alves, resident and former city council member, want to thank you all for considering to extend this data center moratorium. We know all of the risks, and including those closed cooling systems, we know that the water doesn't go and never, It gets pumped back into the groundwater. It's not used forever. They have to re update the water, even though it does use less water and it creates pollution among all of the other factors that we're all well aware of. Since the moratorium is temporary, I am going to continue to implore everyone to try to establish that citizen stakeholder team, not just Google forms or something online or public comment, but something where we're working together and staying in the loop because the community is scared. this is something that we should we work together on and that would be important furthermore what concrete protections guaranteed that projects are the proposed 120 acre five-story facility is truly just a distribution center thank you fernando for describing um what has went into place already and um where we are with that i i did get word that tid is moving the building is at that site. We know a standard distribution center does not require that. We need transparency and protections, and I appreciate you all for helping us navigate this situation, and I have faith in us in finding the right way to address this with all of us working together. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

There are no other comments, Mayor.

All right. With that, we will go ahead and Close the public comment period on item 71. No problem.

Regina, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Hi, thank you. My apologies for the last minute. For the most part, my questions were asked by other members of the... Or other citizens, I should say. But I did have... Similar concerns with regards to Amazon. I have two concerns, one being my concern over something that Marco brought up with the tax revenue that we're getting from Amazon. And my concern that our city will be heavily dependent on whatever revenue we get from them. And that may cause us to be more lenient with what they do or don't do on their properties. The second thing that I had a concern about had to do really with a comment I vaguely recall the mayor making, but I'm not sure if that was the case. I don't have it clear in my mind. It seemed to be one of the other meetings or maybe on social media somewhere. But the concern being that once a business or owner purchases a property, that they really can do more or less what they want with it. And so I do still have some concern about businesses, companies, et cetera, coming in and kind of changing their mind or doing whatever they choose to do. And we also have to, I think, really be diligent about even our property owners, because we do have several that own a lot of land and a lot of property and that they don't end up selling to someone who does the same thing. So I'm definitely in favor of the moratorium. Certainly we can do whatever studies we need to do, but I want to emphasize again that we don't, Mortgage our future for the sake of some tax dollars and tax revenue now. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. Is there anyone else online who wishes to provide a public comment?

No other comments, Mayor.

All right. Seeing no further comments online, we now close the public comment period and bring the item back to the council for any final thoughts or comments in their action. right any further comments questions or concerns from the council on item seven point one. And do I have a motion to adopt interim urgency ordinance number eight nine zero extending interim urgency ordinance eight eight nine for an additional ten months and fifteen days to july fifteenth twenty twenty seven and receive an issue the written report attached as exhibit be describing the measures the city has taken to alleviate conditions that led to the adoption of interim urgency ordinance number eight eight nine as required by government code section six five eight five eight subdivision d so move all right i have a motion on the table do i have a second all right the motion has been second and requires a roll call vote from the council council member more i council member norman jack i council member hernandez i your mayor votes i the motion to adopt interim urgency ordinance number eight ninety extending interim urgency ordinance number eight eight nine for additional ten months and fifteen days through july fifteenth twenty twenty seven and receive an issue the written report attached to the describing the measures the city has taken to alleviate the conditions that led to the adoption of interim urgency ordinance number eight eight nine as required by government code section six five eight five eight subdivision d passes with a four zero vote with one absence. item seven point to continue to september fifteenth twenty twenty six regular city council meeting approved property to be leaned for unpaid mistletoe abatements since i was going to be continue to sever september fifteenth and was agendized we need to open it up for public comment are there any members of the public present the council chambers who have a public comment on item seven point two right seeing none will now close in person public comment Madam clerk is anyone online wish about a public comment on item 7.2.

Just as a reminder if you're joining us on zoom and wish to make a comment please use the raise hand feature if you're calling by phone you may press star 9.

No comments on my name all right so seeing no further comments on item 7.2 now close the public comment period and close the item and it will be continued to the 7 September 15th 2026 regular meeting. All right moving on to city council items. WE HAVE FOR APPOINTMENT TWO MEMBERS TO THE PARKS RECREATION AND BEAUTIFICATION COMMISSION FOR THE TERM OF MAY TWENTY TWENTY SIX TO MAY TWENTY TWENTY EIGHT. IT IS THE RECOMMENDATION WE APPOINT OR LINDA PEREZ AND ADOLPHO VIRGIN TO THE PARKS RECREATION AND BEAUTIFICATION COMMISSION FOR THE TERM OF MAY TWENTY TWENTY SIX TO MAY TWENTY TWENTY EIGHT. ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS CONCERNS OR QUESTIONS REGARDING THE RECOMMENDATION. ALL RIGHT. SO DO I HAVE CONSENSUS OF THE COUNCIL TO APPOINT ERLINDA PEREZ AND TO THE PARKS RECREATION BEAUTIFICATION COMMISSION FOR THE TERM OF MAY 2026 TO MAY 2028?

YES.

ALL RIGHT. AND I CONCUR WE HAVE A CONSENSUS OF THE RECOMMENDATION. SO IT IS SO MOVED. ALL RIGHT. CITY COUNCIL ITEMS MOVING ON. COUNCIL MEMBER HERNANDEZ.

NO UPDATES AT THIS TIME.

ALL RIGHT. COUNCIL MEMBER NOTAM JACK, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING FOR THE COUNCIL?

Well, I just want us to just continue to engage with our community in our various districts and just make sure that whatever information that we have, we're being transparent and staying in communication with them and just let them know that we have a listening ear with an open mind. So if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask, and we're here to support you.

Thank you, ma'am. Council Member Moore. this time all right and uh for myself we have the stancock meeting tomorrow night in modesto other matters all right well i have one uh this past saturday council member known jack and i attended the night at the museum to celebrate not only our wonderful museum and raise funds for its reservations but also to celebrate the wonderful accomplishments of linda jackson briggs She served the Patterson historical society in our city for decades maintaining our museum and our most precious artifacts so I just wanted to bring that up and bring it to the attention of the community she has been just an absolute jewel for every single one of us. So with that I don't have anything else and if there's nothing else from the council will move for German. All right awesome. May the Lord bless our sheriffs are firefighters. And all our first responders, may God bless you. May God bless your families and our beautiful city. This meeting is adjourned.