City Council - Regular Meeting

We will come back out of uh close session. Mr. Churcher, can you please read us out of close session? Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um the council did convene in close session. All members of the council were present during the entirety of the session and beyond that there was no reportable action. Yes. Some some of us were early. Um, all right. Can we please rise for the pledge of allegiance and remain standing for the invocation to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you tonight with gratitude for this the gift of the community and an opportunity to serve one another. We thank you for the city of Ripen and its people, its leaders, and all those who labor each day for the common good. We thank you on the eve of Veterans Day for all those that are currently serving and have served to make this country what it is. I pray for the members of this council. I pray for the members of this council. Grant them wisdom, clarity, and unity as they make decisions that impact our neighbors and our families. May there may their work be marked with integrity, compassion, and a genuine desire to seek the welfare of our city. Bless this meeting may be productive, respectful, and guided by a spirit of cooperation.

[clears throat] May we all in our various roles be reminded of the privilege and the responsibility of leadership. In your holy name we pray. Amen. I'm kidding. All right. Lisa, can we have a roll call, please? Council member Leo Zuber, present. Mike Rusha, Dean Uker, here. Vice Mayor Gary Barton, present. Mayor Daniel Degraph.

I am here. All right. Public discussion. This time is provided for the public to address items that are not on the council agenda. If you wish to speak, please come forward. State your name and address and go ahead. My name is Neil, long time reset. I've been gone for a few months. As you leave Ripen, you you learn to love it more. And uh so today I want to read two short poems. Uh, one poem is um if I get my screen up here, one one poem will mark Veterans Day which we celebrate tomorrow or actually people are off tomorrow and uh and it was part of the first it was part of the first trilogy of poems that I wrote when I first was named poet laurate of rippen. I'll read the second and this is uh second of to two veterans of Ripen and Beyond. Three short poems for your long service. This is poem number two. Reynolds, Rodriguez, Smith, Moulder, Von Prague, Netherton. Who is your veteran? When did they fight? The first big war that didn't end all wars. The second one, the great one. The big and little ones, past, present, offforgotten. Where did they serve? Asia, Europe, the Middle East, young, old, did yours survive? Did we remember them when they were alive? Or did they come back to the standard cold shoulder? Speak their names now before it's all over. Ernie Mabalan, Filipino Gerillia, fought off the enemy with a slingshot. FDR offered citizenship to fight beside USGIS. His service ended with the regular army, returned to live and start a family,

worked the fields in the central valley. Honors came postumously in 2017. Winner of a congressional gold medal, Ernie Mabalan. James Robert Amuk, a colonized Filipino drafted into battle in World War I. In France, he won the Qua Deare. He ran a muk for America. On this day, we honor them all. My veterans, yours, our veterans whose service allow us our beliefs, our actions, our freedom. We remember them all more than names on the wall, their mission, their lives, their duty. Walls normally divide us, but not a veteran's wall in ripen where patriotic pride and grief comingle. And uh that was one of the first poems that I wrote the very first poem I wrote. It's been a year that I've been the poet laurate of Ripen. And since there has been no others and no real protocol, I took it upon myself to write a short poem uh which will describe the state of poetry in ripen in 2025. It's like a small version of the state of the union address but in poetic form. So the state of poetry and ripen 2025. Free verse is still free though you may rhyme if you wish. In ripen poetry lives wherever words are applied to elevate experience. What did you see here? Feel a poem makes it all come alive. Our town we see in a different way. Even the recycling place where things are renewed, made useful again. even a city council meeting where poetry is the rhetoric that redeems. So, uh, I thank you for my first year of service. It is a three-year term, I

remind you. And it's not term limited, I don't believe, but I appreciate and it's been an honor being your poet laurate, the first one of Ripen. And as I like to say from the very first time that I spoke to you, there is poetry everywhere in Ripen. Thank you very much.

All right. Anybody else wish to make a public comment? Seeing none, we will move on to approval of the minutes. Um, do we need to do these separately or can we do them both at the same time? Okay, let's uh do them together if that's okay. The regular meeting of October 14th and the special meeting of October 30th to approve. Second. [clears throat]

I can't call for a vote. Okay. Approval of the agenda as posted. Anybody wish to pull anything off consent calendar? None. Okay. Seems rare for us, but um Okay. So, approval of the agenda as posted. Is there a second? Second. Can't call for a vote again. Oops. Okay, that was pretty good.

Um motion to approve the consent calendar as um move second motion a second. I can't call a vote. Seems to be the common theme tonight. Okay. Um as the end of the consent calendar resolutions resolution a resolution council staff to initiate the propos 18 property owner notice this Kevin. Yep.

Thank you Mr. Mayor. Uh there was a workshop that we had with the city council on October 30th. At that workshop, we reviewed the uh draft recommendations from the consultant who prepared the water, sewage, and garbage rate study report that's dated November 3rd. Uh now dated November 3rd. Um and that covers what the uh proposed increases to the three enterprise funds uh for the next five years. That's uh 2026 to 2020. uh the results um or the direction from council from that meeting have been incorporated into um uh uh what's in front of the council tonight um in this item. So just a real quick review of the process um to increase utility rates. This is required um under proposition 218. Um like I mentioned there was a workshop that was conducted actually October 30th. Um and then tonight is the approval of the engineers report and um also the resolution of intent to begin the 218 process to increase the rates. Um if there is no majority protest at the public hearing which is set for January 13th, these rates would go into effect for the next five years starting on February 1st, 2026. Uh the staff is also working to send out the notices u to the property owners and customers of record. By law they need to be um delivered 28 days in advance of the public hearing. Just real quick um of the policies of of um the city as it relates to enterprise funds. Um these are the three funds water, sewer and garbage that are operated as independent business type accounts where customers pay for the services provided through these funds. Um each of the funds has an operating fund and a capital reserve fund. U the

operating fund is where the salaries, benefits, electricity are paid, any bonds associated with that enterprise fund. And then there's also a target balance um that's maintained as required for debt service and if there's any emergencies that comes up. Um and then a certain amount of the uh rates collected go into a capital reserve account. This is where um we pay for the replacement of various capital items, trucks, equipment, generators, etc. So we we go through this process every five years um to ensure the financial stability and the consistency of services uh to the public. Uh we also try to do incremental changes um that that are needed every year to keep up with the economic changes um and avoid a large one-time uh increase um um if they're not incrementally done. And then the other um stipulation that uh the council added probably about 10 years ago is these do not automatically go into effect. Um the council does review these each year with a um a financial report to determine if the full rate increase is needed. Um if not, um the council has an ability to um to uh impose less of an an increase. So, I'll go through each of the funds um and what is being proposed. The water enterprise fund over the next five years, a 4% increase is proposed. This would allow the city to collect the necessary rates to keep up with inflation while maintaining the current service levels. And then some of the changes that are incorporated into um the revenue need is there is two um wellhead treatment systems planned on on

two of our wells and then an additional maintenance worker um to um support those treatment systems as part of some of the operational changes. And then transfers. There's about a million dollars a year that's transferred to the replacement of groundwater wells, uh water meters, uh vehicles, and the necessary um maintenance required um to the uh overhead tanks. And in this graphic the important thing also and this is the same on all the graphics the ending balance um the actual ending balance each year is the black line on that figure and then the red line is the target balance. So you can see for most of the years the ending balance is higher than the target balance except the last two years they're they're very close. sewer enterprise fund. Um very similar with operational changes. These are needed um to keep up with inflation and maintaining our current service levels. The one difference with with sewer is there is a transfer that um a capital transfer uh to a reserve account for future wastewater treatment plant upgrades. Currently the wastewater treatment plant is operating under a 1994 waste discharge permit. Uh obviously the uh the level of treatment um on newer permits is much more stringent and requires a more advanced treatment system which which is very expensive. So um the council 10 years ago put a policy in place to start collecting money um to fund um at least a portion of that uh upgrade that's going to be required. Um as I mentioned in that second bullet um the amount uh we started off a fairly low amount and then that amount is increased uh each year by by 10%. At this time it's

projected that 75% of the existing customer share of those um upgrades will be collected. So this uh this fund has 3% increases over the the five years and then uh you can see the ending balance is above the uh the target balance throughout that that period. And lastly, garbage. Um this is one of the funds that has really been impacted by some of the regulatory changes u from the state of California. The biggest being compliance with Senate Bill 1383. This is the legislation that required uh jurisdiction jurisdictions like Ripen to reduce organics in landfills. Every city has taken a different approach to that. We had a lot of discussion how Ripen was going to meet this um this requirement while providing the lowest cost uh garbage service to to our residents. it was decided that we were going to bring the black cans to a high diversion facility where they actually u split the the solid waste into different streams rather than doing a three can system. Um we're we're fortunate because of the proximity from Ripen to this high diversion facility um that that made sense um rather than for us a more expensive option was to do a three can system. Um but this legislation did result in higher expenses specifically in uh disposal fees um where where we're taking the the solid waste to. Um and this started in our last five-year rate study and it really impacted the ending balance. You could see in fiscal year 25 that that first year that that's not in the proposed rate study period, but you could see that the ending balance um is very low. The the problem with this is if an emergency happened um like a garbage truck catches on fire which has

happened a few years ago um the money would not be there um to to replace um a capital item like that um in that type of situation. Um so a lot of discussion when we had the workshop about how to mitigate this. So what is currently in the rate study report is a 20% increase in year 1 and 4% increases for the next four years. What this does is it allows us to make the transfers we need for planned capital replacement. So we assume a truck is going to be needed to be replaced every eight years. Um that's included in the the planned capital transfers. But as I mentioned, if an emergency happened u the way our capital uh fund is right now, there would not be sufficient funds u to pay for a new truck. So um what this rates what this proposed uh rate increases does, it gets you that uh target balance pretty close to it in year number two. In fiscal year uh 26 27 we get fairly close to that number and then you're you're at that number the ne the next year. So this would be a 20% increase in year one and then 4% the next four years.

Kevin, I just wanted to clarify something. So the working life of a truck is eight years, but we'll be replacing trucks more frequently than once every eight years. Yeah, we always assume 8 to 12 years is is the the working life, but in the in the study, we assumed eight years would be the capital replacement, which would be a worst case scenario. I know you're going to move on to another ch, but I but I like where your where your ending balances are. And the way I would look at 29 and 30 is that excess is kind of some reserve money. Right. Right. Okay. Y [clears throat]

So when you combine the uh proposed rate increases, you can see the cumulative effect on this slide. um in the first year it would be a total of a nine and a half percent increase for for all three utilities and then 4% a year thereafter. So in in the first year it's aboutund for the and we assumed these uh bills based off an average residential customer of using 16 units of water um sewer service and one black can and one green can. So, their monthly bill um right now is about $123. It would go to just under $135 and then you can see incrementally what it does over the next five years. In the last year, if full rate increases were implemented in the last year, um it would be uh $15659. So, one of the things I mentioned earlier is the city council does require staff to come back every year with um with the financials of each enterprise fund to determine if the full rate increase was needed. So, the boxes, the red box is um uh the the five-year rate period uh from 2016 to 2020. During that time, you can see there is barely larger rate increases that were approved during that time. Not all were fully implemented. Um in 2019 um instead of 11% increase for the water fund, there was a 2% increase. And in 2020, the water fund was also approved for uh 2% rather than the 10%. So council uh made those decisions based off the financial data um at at that time. Then as far as the sewer fund in 2018, 2019, and 2020,

um the u the amounts that were actually implemented were were less than what was projected. All three of those years were projected to be 10% increases. What was actually approved was 5, zero, and 2% during those times. um the next five-year period um much less um rate the rate increases were were smaller as compared to the the next the previous year um and it was also u following COVID u but you can see all rate increases were implemented as proposed and then lastly um this graph just compares Ripen's proposed rates to the to cities uh nearby us um this is Escalon on Riverbank, Mantika, Oakdale, Modesto series and Lyra. So when you look at the total utility rate increase for for water, sewer and garbage ripens, what we're proposing um to uh to start in February 2026 is 11% lower than the average of the city surveyed. Our water rate is right at the average. Sewer is 50% lower than the average. And then our garbage rate is 20% higher than the average of the cities surveyed. And that's what I have. Happy to answer any questions. I don't have any questions as a comment, but um I appreciate pointing out that the increases are not guaranteed. They're not set in stone. They're reviewed every year. And um you know history shows that we've made decision not to increase them just because they're there. They're increases are there because we need them.

Appreciate that point. I have a comment.

I appreciate the way you put that together Kevin. I mean this is this is something we need to keep up with because of state regulations and a lot of different things. And you know, we went through a lot of detail at the workshop and before that and you guys have taken basically how do we meet the requirements at the least cost and I think that's what you've done and I think you guys have done a good job and none of us like seeing cost go up but water sewer garba has to pay for itself and so I think you guys have done the best you can and I appreciate that you and your staff. Uh Kevin, since we have the general manager of SSJID with us tonight, maybe just mention um the capital accumulation for future connection with SSJID.

Yeah. So right now um we are collecting funds uh for that project from both new development and then we are transfer part of our transfer um of um enterprise funds the capital is for the SSG connection. Any further comments questions? No. So all we're doing is adopting this resolution starts the process. It starts the process but also approves the the raids as projected as long as there's not a majority protest on the at the public hearing. Then I'll move to approve the resolution. Second.

Properly moved and seconded. I cannot call a vote. All right. Moving on to the next one. um designating city administrator as a hearing officer. Kevin, you want another role? Tommy wants Actually, this one's going to be me, Mr. Mayor. And thank you.

So, yeah, I'll I'll just keep this one pretty brief, but this is more of a cleanup than anything. Um, as you guys may be aware, the city does have an ordinance that regulates dangerous animals and allows the city's animal control officer to issue orders to owners that um impose various levels of control. um over the an over animals that are deemed to be dangerous in order to protect public safety within the city. Owners have the right to appeal these determinations of the animal control officer to the city council or the city council's design. And that's the big distinction here that we're um here to talk about. Typical practice in the past has been to appoint hearing officers that are impartial um to handle these appeals. Uh but what we want to do is just essentially clean up that process and have you formally delegate that authority to the city manager or his designate, sorry, city administrator uh or his design to handle those appeals just to more u just to facilitate efficiency in the council's operations. So um with that, I'm I'm happy to answer any questions, but that's the conclusion of my report.

Makes sense. Need a motion. Any questions? No. Kevin, you want another job? I move we approve the resolution. Is there a second? Second. [clears throat] All right, moving on to public hearings. Um, development agreements. Ken.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, fellow council members. It's that time of year where we do our annual uh development agreement review. Uh the planning commission reviewed all the active development agreements which we have uh six that are considered active at this time at their last planning commission meeting. They did have a uh a u public hearing for that but at that time nobody stepped up to voice any concerns. Uh staff did review all the active agreements and all the developers of those agreements are in compliance uh with their de development agreements. So, this uh is serving as the uh planning commission's report that they've reviewed this to city council. Um it is a public hearing. Remind you of that. And uh there's a recommended action. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Right. Thank you. Any questions from the council? No. All right. It is a public hearing. So, we'll go ahead and open up the public hearing. Is there anybody from the public who would like to speak? Kelly, you got lots to say on this one? No. Lisa, did we receive any public comments online? All right. Seeing no one wishing to speak on this item, we will go ahead and close public hearing and proceed to take a vote unless there's any further discussion. None. Is there a motion to

I'll move to adopt the uh annual review? I can't call a vote. There we go. Okay, moving on to um B zoning text amendment electric vehicle charging stations. Ken, what have you got for us here?

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, our fellow council members. Uh, I'll keep this one hopefully short here. Before you tonight is a proposed ordinance to create a chapter in the development title, chapter 16.218. Uh, the electric vehicle charging station station ordinance. Uh, this ordinance is required by recent state laws that mandate uh, city streamline the permitting process for EV charging stations throughout uh, through a ministerial review process. uh meaning qualifying projects must be approved without a public hearing uh provided that they meet all the requirements. Um currently city processes processes these uh projects through either a minor site plan or a major site plan that goes in front of the planning commission uh which which no longer meets the state requirements. So uh the new ordinance brings RIP into compliance while maintaining our local oversight for safety access and design standards. Um the planning commission did review the draft ordinance at their October 20 meeting and held a public hearing um and unanimously recommended the city council adopt the ordinances drafted. So staff has recommended [clears throat] the city council uh open the public hearing receive any public testimony tonight and uh then in the next item on the agenda would be ask that you would wave the first reading and introduce the ordinance. So with that I'll turn it back over to you Mr. Mayor.

Okay. Okay. Any questions, comments on this one? So, there's no actual action on this item other than receiving the We don't need to take that. Action would be on the next item. So, yeah, no action on this one. Just All right. Well, we'll go ahead and open up the public hearing on this one. Anybody wish to speak on this one? Any comments received online? Someone's got to say something. Kelly, you got to have something to say about electric charging, electric vehicle charging now. Okay. Oh well, seeing no public comment on this, we'll go ahead and close the public hearing and take those comments and um make our decision on the next item. Thank you. Okay, Ken, explain any further?

Yep. No further. This is the ordinance that we just described. So, so we're looking for a wave the first reading and introduce the ordinance. Correct. Correct. So moved. Have a motion. Is there a second? Now you should have all right discussion items the memorandum of understanding with SSJ ID Kevin

yeah I could give a a brief history and um as you mentioned Peter's here and um I'm not sure if you have a presentation or just available for questions but um a little history on this item SSJ has been pursuing retail electric since 2004 The city of Ripen uh passed a resolution in 2009 supporting those efforts. Uh they did go to LAFCO which required SSGID to allocate 2 and a half% of gross retail revenue or in lie of franchise fees um sub subject to terms um of agreements with the various cities and the county uh to replace that that revenue. So what you have in front of the the city council tonight is a memorandum of understanding that does confirm the SSJID obligation to pay these inl franchise fees. Uh once SSG secures possession and ownership of the distrib electric distribution system um the city will work with SSG to enter into a more formal agreement. So with that, if you want to add anything, Peter or uh council has any questions.

Good evening, council. Um I'll just add a few remarks. I don't have a formal presentation, but I'm here to answer questions and I just give you a brief update as to where we are with our retail electric project. Um, you know, SSG's goal from the beginning with our retail electric project is to deliver locally owned, operated, reliable, affordable, and safe electric service. And in doing so, SSG has remained committed to providing electric service at rates that are at least 15% less than Penme, which will provide millions of dollars back to local residents, businesses, and governments. uh SSGID's effort has now spanned two decades and continues to be an epic battle. Um in summer of 2016 in this very room, uh SSJID held a dayong hearing to consider purchase of Pen's electric distribution assets in what was called a resolution of necessity hearing which was a precursor to an eminent domain case.

[clears throat]

Uh since that time, SS nine years ago after SSJID filed that case, um that case has been dismissed, reinstated, scheduled for trial, and in 2024 deferred to the California Public Utilities Commission, where Pine sought the commission's review of the project. All of this has been an effort to delay the implementation of SSG's project. Good news. Um, couple weeks ago, actually, October 30th, the California Public Utilities Commission issued a proposed decision to dismiss SSJID's or PG's review um application of our project. That means the PUC um will will only consider review now until after the eminent domain case is resolved in Sanwalking County Superior Court, which for us um clarifies what was a very nebulous and could be two to threeyear review period. Um at this point I think that will be um expedited to some extent once m many of the details have been worked out with um the condemnation court or the condemnation case in Sanwank County. Uh that decision reinforced CPU's position and SSG that the court must first determine whether SSG can legally acquire Pen's assets first. Only then will the commission evaluate this the public interest implication of our project. So, barring any appeal by PG& of the PUC's decision, we will find that out by the 17th. We hope to get back to trial as soon as possible, uh hopefully in 2026. regarding theou um SSG as as um your city administrator Kevin mentioned um the plan includes a two and a half percent payment of gross revenues to backfill any loss in franchise fees or

property taxes from the county and the cities within our local jurisdiction. That plan was baked and that condition was baked into LAFCO's approval of our project. Thisou is furthering that commitment more directly between SSJID and the city of Ripen and commits us to future negotiations regarding future SSJID's future electric service within the city. And so, um, we appreciate your support of the resolution, consideration of the resolution. We know it's essential for our continued efforts, especially as we prepare for trial. In the meantime, um we are continuing to update our studies and get ready for trial and eventual trial which will which will hopefully be soon. Um here to answer any questions and thank you.

I have a question. This may be really pre too soon, but a lot of people have been asking me about this for a long long time. I can count the number of houses in my neighborhood that don't have solar. So the question is will that be similar? Do you just assume those solar agreements that everybody has? Do you even know yet? I said I'd ask. And I I believe we will have to um honor those net metering agreements that are currently in place with the solar customers. All right. Good. For the term of those agreements. I appreciate Thank you. I was told I'd ask. So, thank you. I appreciate that. Any other comments?

Thank you for being here. appreciate uh you know adding value and being here to take questions and um look forward to lower rates someday. Thank you. Keep up the good work. Hopefully in our lifetime. Yeah, I plan on being around for a while. So hopefully in my lifetime. Whatever we can do to help. [laughter] We do need a motion to um approve the memorandum. I I will happily approve the memorandum of understanding. I will second.

All right, we have a motion and a second. All right, moving on. Sound King Partnership. So, Kevin, do you need any introduction? No. Okay.

Yep. Okay, we'll let him have at it then. Thanks for being here. as if you didn't have enough to read already, we brought you some more reading material. What this uh folder uh is a part of is all the different partnerships that we are associated with uh different sectors uh that we are teamed up with whether it be the iHub or GOJ which is our training program that we're helping to administer and then also uh with San King partnership and then our newest publication it's coming out in December but this is start our volume two which is just wrapping up and there's some significant data in the report that we'll share tonight that shows the touches and the other areas that uh we're impacting with getting out the voice of Sanwankin County which includes RIP. So we'll go ahead and talk about that as well. But uh first I wanted to thank the mayor and council for having us here today and Kevin thank you for the opportunity to be here to share our message. Um, I'm going to start off with a quote that I recently read. Sanwank King County offers a vibrant blend of opportunity, community, and natural beauty, making an exceptional place to live, work, and grow a business. With its strategic location, skilled workforce, and a support for innovation, and entrepreneurship, the region provides an ideal environment for families and and companies alike. That's going in volume three of our

newest publication of livability which will be released December of this year. That quote came from your economic development director, Ken. Ken, thank you for that comment. I think it embodies everything that we are working towards and have been for the last couple of years. Ken did cap off the quote with Ripen is proud to be a part of the thriving area where quality of life and economic vitality go hand in hand which we totally agree with at the Sam Kim partnership and we did provide a slide some slides and I don't know if you can go to those you'll see our mission statement to enhance the quality of life for our communities by recruiting and retaining good paying jobs in San King County. It's been an ongoing theme of ours and mission uh since we began 34 years ago. Go to the next please. Our vision statement to develop and promote a highway high quality of life and high wage jobs for the residents of Sanwin County. We do this regularly by looking at investment opportunities from businesses. um whether it be the residents of Ripen that benefit from that because they live here and get to work in our community or whether it be a new business that's coming in the town that we want to recruit and retain here and also provide training opportunities or training growth uh for their employees. The Sanw King partnership looks at two different customer types. of course our members like you, cities, counties, businesses and organizations. And then of course our wouldbe clients, site selectors, brokers, businesses, businesses of interest, and convention attendees. And I'll get to that last one here in a second. This is our board of directors as it currently stands. We're looking for a secretary if one of you would like to join the board and become that. Happy to have you there. But uh this is

encompassed of all the municipalities here in San King County. Of course, the board of supervisors, the board of Stockton, and then Lewis Gale who was our chairperson from University of Pacific, Mary Elizabeth, who's our vice chair, and Susan Dloso, who's our prior chair. And Gary, thank you for being a member of the organization. Council member, thank you. This is our team. We have myself as the interim CEO and president. And then we have Reine Dasha who coordinates messaging with the city on a regular basis. He's our chief operating officer. Then we have Ed Wankit who's done a lot of work here in the Ripen region. Uh Ed is our director of economic outreach and industry relations, a job we created about a year and a half ago. And then we have Brad Eer who also does a lot of work interfacing with the city and also our site selectors. He's the director of client services and real estate. our partners like I indicated that are in the folder here. We have the IHub of Sanwaqen. We talk about innovation, it starts with the IHUB. Um we've been a a member of that organization since it was founded in 2013 and we continue to serve on that board as the treasur of the organization. But most importantly, it allows us the opportunity to be discussing and involved in innovations in construction, health care, uh, agriculture, things that matter to the residents here of Ripen and those in San King County. So, we spent a lot of time, uh, working with different organizations to promote that, whether it be educational institutions or trade organizations. Uh, we also, uh, hold an innovation summit annually. Uh and that's been trai traditionally held here in South County. Uh the last two were in Mantika. Uh and this next year uh may be in Stockton in March. GO SJ goj was founded out of a need to

market CTE programs here in San King County. It wasn't for a lack of programs. It was for a lack of marketing that would be trainees didn't know where to go and get the answers for the skill sets they were looking for. whether that be an electrician or a machinist or some other um you know EV charging station uh providers. Uh all those were considered when we were looking at all the different training programs that were in San King County. So, we got together with some of our other partners, the the Delta College, Worknet, County Office of Ed, ourselves, and we decided to develop a website that reflected all those different programs and created a one-stop shop for folks to go into one portal. So, they didn't have to search all over the place by Google. They could go to goss.org and find all those programs. Then those programs go straight into their own portals where the trainees can go ahead and access the program, get set up in the cohort. Uh, and then we get to track the data for the students that go through that program. So we can answer the call for industry and business to see where those students may need a job. So we really do the handholding from the education and the marketing side to also getting them a job. We've been co-branding GO SJ with the San King partnership for the last year since it was developed so that we could go ahead and promote that to site selectors. One of the key indicators for site selectors right now is be able to not only do you have the workforce, but you can you train a workforce. Can you train a workforce for the industry that I'm trying to bring to your region? And this really gives us that vehicle to do that. North Valley Thrive is a threecount region organization. It was developed out of California Jobs First or formerly known as SURF. For those that you've been following this for the last couple of years, uh the organization has materialized into being able to afford grants into our region, some here in Sanwaqin. Mainly about $2.5

million has been invested here in Sanwank County to promote uh the bioircular economy for example that would help our agriculture community here in Ripen and surrounding areas. um and other innovations in climate resilience and also um when it comes to electrical vehicles and things of that nature. Uh we also have the training programs that are promoted through this as well through Volt Institute that's just in south of us in Modesto. And for those that don't know, Volt Institute has a program called Volt on the Go, which allows for industry professionals and employers to reap the benefits of certification problem programs that they put together right on site for their own cohorts. Goiz and the governor's office of economic development. We spent a lot of time with gobiz looking at opportunities for San King County. Uh again that may not be reflected directly towards Ripen and Ripen properties that may not have enough industrial lands to work with to be competitive in that sense but we do have residents that live here and we want to make sure that they have adequate jobs and high skill wages to go with that. Team California is an organization that we're a part of. We're on the board of directors for Ed Winkit holds the board seat for that on our team. It's a statewide organization that markets California. We spent a lot of time and you'll see in the slide deck when you get a chance to review it um all the different locations that we go to as a result of being a member of team California. So RIP is always represented when we go to those uh events uh because we're wearing the badge of all the cities and the county here in San King County. CALED allows us to great to understand best practices when it comes to economic development new regulations as you were talking about before even when it comes to you know utilities uh we get to hear firsthand how those are going to impact the economy locally uh whether it pertain to jobs or to industry so we try to be ahead of the curve most recent one that we did um

that start was born out of the city of Stockton actually became a statewide ordinance was related to warehousing um and so we spent a lot of time advocating advocating for the development community uh and those folks in industry that were going to be impacted by that uh and we were able to come to some good concessions as a result of that. The Central Valley Economic Development Corporation, this is a long-standing organization, eight counties wide from Kern County up to Sanwaqin County. It's a one-stop marketing uh um organization that reflects the Central Valley's needs and industry. Um and we've been a part of that organization uh for the last uh 12 years. California Forward, this is a really unique opportunity for Sanwaqin County. Um we just held the first California economic summit uh hosted by Cal Forward in our local regional committee that I was able to chair co-chair with the other two counties of Stannis Law and Merrced. and we brought about 800 uh professionals here to Sanwankin County uh over a three-day period. We were able to give them tours of Sanwin King County. We held tours at the Port of Stockton uh the airport which is our regional airport here for the county. And I'll get to that one in a second as well. And then also down to Stannis uh with Beam Circular and um Vault Institute so folks could hear more about what they were doing there in the bioircular economy. New California Coalition is a statewide organization mainly of business associations and um elected officials throughout California. Uh they look at policy that's impacting the business community. Uh they try to advocate for the needs of both small business and big business that are looking to promote jobs and that are impacted by the economy whether that be out of Silicon Valley or here in the Central Valley. Um we bring host on uh monthly to talk

about budgets uh that are happening at the state level. So we've had the state budget chair on the line in the past. We've got policy makers that have uh influence on the areas that we benefit from. Three years ago we started to do a strategic planning session. Uh this is a great opportunity to hear from our membership and our board of directors as to what direction we're going, what changes could be made, what tweaks could be made, and what's working uh in the organization and what's working out there in marketing, what we're hearing collectively. Uh so we focused on a couple of main priorities that I wanted to share today, which are of course board engagement, ensuring that our board is up to speed and knowledgeable about what we're working on. of course the services which are in your packet this evening uh that we provide as an organization in economic development uh funding streams we'll get to that in a second again but your traditional funding streams are through membership and investment uh we're looking outside the box now to look at other ways to uh fund the organization's uh mission and uh produce results for our members industry engagement and collaborative partnerships that's exactly what's driven us to uh groups like goj to be developed as well as as well as North Valley Thrive and California Forward in order to have our economic summit here in Sanwaqin County and of course marketing and events which is where we spend a lot of our time uh around the country going to very industry specific um conferences to learn more about how to bring new types of business here not just industrial and warehouse although we are the logistics heart of California and Northern California we like to look at research and development opportunities we're looking at drone own companies that are in agriculture, air mobility, and others to help build the innovation around Sanwin King County and promote new businesses. As part of the IHUB, one of the other benefits that we focus on or we have as being part of the

organization is to be able to grant dollars from the IHUB that are from the uh Accelerate California grant that we receive annually. We're on our fourth year uh in this next year in 2026. we will receive another $250,000 to be able to grant out to the community and this goes to incubators uh and organizations that help promote small business and build small business. Uh and we've also contributed to Beam Circular uh who again is one of those innovative groups that's being funded by VC organizations in Silicon Valley and that we highlighted at our recent uh innovation summit. Stop me if you have any questions. A lot of information. Um, a couple of things that we are a part of that, um, just want to, you know, make sure that the council is aware of and, uh, that we share. Um, we have an industrial asset management council uh, event that we attend every year. Um, we've been a part of that for several years, decade and a half I believe. Um that is an invitationonly organization in which you have uh major employers and investors from around the country and even global ones that are uh providing research and data and shared practices uh and then also creating uh relationships and and networking opportunities. We attend that with team California um but we attend as our own member. Uh several um members are from San King County and only two other that are here and Leyup and Tracy I believe now but uh we are our own member as a Sanwi partnership so we represent you in that regard. We also attend uh the team uh team California meet the consultants event which we just wrapped up this last week was in Contraosta County again a hands-on uh networking opportunity with professionals that deal with site selectors and business organizations that we can help promote the region in

one voice see many of you in DC every year which is always a pleasure uh you know beating the drum for Sanin County our infrastructure projects that are definitely needed to have an e economic benefit an impact to to our county. We like to be the voice of that that benefit uh and express what that will do to our region in terms of commerce uh and support that. The California Economic Summit I already went over as well as the other two that were listed here. So, I've already gone through some of these things, but you know what's in it for RIP? Well, as a member of the organization that you've been for several years, you have voting rights on the board. You also get a de a delegate and an alternate. So, if one can't make it, the other gets to attend and do that voting practice. I get clients uh client updates from Go Biz and site selectors as they come up. And we always put RIP [clears throat] in the packet. Even if they don't have properties, we always have the data of Ripen in there so that folks can look at maybe our employees want to live there, maybe our executives want to live there, maybe they want to look at quality of life as another opportunity for their business decision. We also provide government affairs support for funding requests uh on local and regional projects. So if you ever have a need up in Sacramento or in Washington DC, um we're happy to do letters of support to make that happen. We're also the industry liaison. We have been uh through the last couple years uh for California jobs first in North uh North Valley with North Valley Thrive. And uh that allowed us to engage with industry u and companies that are here in San Lincoln County already, but understand again the byproduct of GO SJ is because of those relationships and that engagement. Marketing programs. Um we've got some great marketing programs that are going on right now. We're going to be launching some new ones as a result of the California Forward Economic Summit.

We got some great videography and some great uh photos that were snapped there both from our reception, our tours, and then also from the event the week of. Um we'll be showcasing a lot of that again in livability. Uh as you said, as I said before, Kim was gracious enough to provide a quote for us. We had every city provide a quote. Why Sanwaqin was the banner in which that uh particular piece was written under. So, we encourage you to take a look at volume two that you have before you and also look at volume three when it comes out in December. We'll have that both electronically and uh printed and give you an idea of some of that looks like from a data perspective which is also in the packet here. But with the total uh data set that we have here, we had over 26,000 views from the website. We had 24 and a half thousand social engagement opportunities. We had 292,000 impressions and 310,000 total reach. Uh so all these numbers are up from volume one. Uh you can see with total reach we're up by 37,000. Uh for impressions we're up by 45,000, website views by a,000. social engagement by 13. So, we're definitely having an impact on getting the message out about why Sanwaqin and what we have to offer here. Some of the highlights uh that these articles were able to see on Facebook and LinkedIn. Uh the first one for Q2 in 2024, five reasons to move to Sanwalkin County. Q3 was celebrate the international flavors of Sanwaqin. We did a big feature about all the different food operators here in Sanwan King County. Uh family friendly, fun things to do in San King County for Q4 was a top rated. Um eight things you

must do in Sanwank County. Explore Sanankin County's beautiful waterways with these fun water activities. And finally, International Festival in Sanin County. So, we're definitely doing a doing a diverse representation of our county. Uh like I said before, Ripen is always a part of that conversation as being part of the cities that are here in San King County. So, we look forward to continuing that partnership building upon it. We'd love to see you guys in it and livability next year with a more of a feature fe uh piece. Uh just to give you an example in this uh piece that's coming out, Mantika did a whole three page spread on their fez that they've been promoting which turned out quite well. So you know Ripen's got some great areas in its city. Uh you know you've got Main Street, downtown, you know, the homes and the developers that are here. Um we've done that for other developers in Lyre, Stockton, and Tracy. We'd love to see you guys uh in there as well getting showcased for being affordable and beautiful all at the same time. So, with that, I'll turn it over to the council and mayor. Thank you again for any questions.

Any questions, comments from council? Yeah, Bob, thank you. Um, just a general question. what is your sense of the temperature of economic activity uh and potential for additional uh growth in the industrial base of our of our county.

So that's one of the reasons council member, thank you for the question. That's one of the reasons why we're diversifying our portfolio services is because we do see that trend um lightning at the moment. A lot of it has to do with tariffs and the cost, but we're seeing a little bit more interest [clears throat] in food processing and manufacturing at the same time. So, we can't say that it's all a wash. Uh, but we can say that uh it's slowed down a little bit in recent months. Anybody else? No. Um, I would like say thank you. Some It's been a while um economic development committee meeting that we have monthly. It's been a while since I've been on that, but um it was always interesting to hear the different programs that Ed's working on. Um and the availability of these programs for training the workforce and you know, while it's maybe not relevant to some of us, it's um and the businesses we have, it's relevant to people in our community that work in the businesses they're getting trained for. So, um and appreciate the reminder on those things. I there's a a lot that goes on that maybe don't know that's out there and sometimes it's um you know, we're not looking for it, so we're not seeing it. Um but I think yeah the only that's the only comment I would have is um do more to reach more people uh I know there's a a lot of ways to reach people these days and um I know you're obviously the slide the amount of engagement you have on the things that you have been shared so appreciate that and um yeah thanks for coming.

Thank you appreciate it. We want to make a motion. Yeah. Anybody like to make a motion? Yeah, Mr. Mayor. I'll I'll move to approve the uh partnership fee for this year. All right. Second. A

motion in a second. It actually lets me call the vote and then wait for a second. So, all right, the motion passes. So, thanks thanks for being here. Appreciate it. Um, Lisa, audited financial statements.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. The audits for the city of Ripen and the money purchase thrift pension plan for the fiscal year June 30, 2025 have been completed by Price Page and Company. These audits are completed to fulfill requirements placed on us by state agencies and our bonding agencies. We use an independent third-party audit firm to ensure we are in compliance with all the laws. They review many of our transactions, our internal controls and other policies um to form an opinion on the financial statements. The city of Ripen audit is a combination of all the finances of the city of Ripen. So um in the packet for the meeting this evening and to make the audit easier I have provided a staff report um that's a high level that gives a high level financial summary um of our position as of June 30th. Um if you want more detail you can read um in the audit what's called which is called the management discussion and analysis and if you still are not um completely fulfilled you can continue to read into the audit for further details. Um there is no action required this evening. We will um include a resolution to accept both these audits um on the consent calendar at the December meeting. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Anybody have any questions? Just quick comment. Um thank you for the summary. Very helpful. And the audits say present fairly. That's all I care about at that point with your summary. Good job. Feel like Mike usually has more to say about this, but anything else? No. All right, we will move on to um reports department heads chief.

Yes, honorable city council. Uh I did want to report out on some future developments at the police department. I was going to wait till a future date, but based on some recent conversations, I did want to let you guys know. Um in the near future, we uh I have decided to assign one of our patrol officers to serve as a full-time motor officer. Um this is based uh due to increased uh as you guys all know volume of vehicular traffic and hazardous moving violations. I think it's going to be a wise allocation of resources. Uh they will also concentrate on ebike uh motor scooter golf cart violations and other other traffic uh enforcement problems that we have throughout the city. Um, traffic enforcement remains one of the number one requests from our community and they will also be assigned uh this unit will also be assigned to handle uh traffic collision investigations. And one of the one of the real uh significant things in this position will uh they will be responsible to pursue traffic safety grants and that will help fund equipment such as possible police motorcycle uh radar trailers and DUI checkpoint resources and other traffic related um items. So and other than that I have nothing else to report.

Good. I think from about 3:00 to about six o'clock, they can sit on the Second Street in the overpass and write tickets all day long. So, that's good. [laughter] Can you say who that is going to be or is that quiet for now? Oh, that's fine. Yeah. Um, yeah. Did you ask if it was going to be Who is it? Oh, no. We haven't We haven't actually assigned it yet. I I have a date in mind, but we and I'll keep you by as a prize of that, but um yeah, we don't have the exact person yet. But, good question. [laughter] Any other questions? No. Guy, nothing. Ken,

um, just really quick, we have, uh, one item that the planning commission will be considering on next Monday night. Uh, we are looking at a potential reszone on a couple buildings on Main Street, uh, near Robert Avenue and Main Street. So, if you'd like, come out and join us. All right, James.

Yes. Real quick, two quick things. The um water usage for the month of October was 20% lower than our 2024 number. Uh we have switched over to one day a week watering. So even addresses are on Saturday, odd addresses are on Sunday. And then our uh free brush pickup is is ongoing to January 7th. That's it. Excellent. I just have I realize we've only been into the new schedule for one week. I still find it. I drive around town and there are a ton of yards that are soaking wet on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

Yeah. And this is a big people haven't switched over yet, right? And we've actually added patrols. We've got uh public works employees going out at night. So, we'll be doing that for the next two or three weeks um to hopefully get their timers. What time will they be in Leo's neighborhood? [laughter] Come anytime you want. Yeah. Thanks, James. Tom, Kevin, Mike.

Yeah. The only thing I want to say is tomorrow's Veterans Day. Thank a veteran when you see them. And we'll have an event at the we there will be an event at Veterans Hall tomorrow at 10:30. So, anybody that can come and show your respect to the veterans would be appreciated. Leo,

I have one thing. I have one thing. It sort of builds off of what Chief. Uh talked to I'm glad we're getting into the traffic because [cough] I was going [clears throat] to bring up golf carts. Um, there are more of them around and there are measurable number of times that what who I see driving that cart versus the age that they're supposed to be causes me to wonder. We're having the same I have a place up in Arnold and they're having the same problem there. and they sent a reminder to us about what we're and I was surprised because there's one sentence in there. It says, "Under California Vehicle Code, golf carts may only be operated on public roads under very limited circumstances, specifically within one mile of a golf course and only on roads designated by local ordinance with speed limits of 25 miles or less. So, if we're going to get it under control, we may be looking at writing another ordinance because places I've seen people riding golf carts don't fit within this. That's state law.

I thought our existing law or our existing rules already were in line with that. Is that not the case?

You put me on the spot as far as the city's ordinance. Fortunately, I have the entire municipal code memorized and ready to regurgitate verbatim. Uh, no, I am aware of that state law. I've actually had to present on this for other cities. Um, and uh, Council Member Zuber is correct. There are uh, vehicle code that provisions that trump state or sorry, city uh, provisions, though the city does have um, a window um, within which it can regulate in this area. But, um, yeah, that that's something that we could obviously bring before the city council at its discretion for a future meeting. That's all.

It's good. I mean, I see it, too. But, yeah, [laughter] Gary. Yes. Um, in the minutia of our report, uh, I just wanted to, uh, make mention of Michael White and Councilman Rushia for donation to the police department for new badges. It's much appreciated. Agreed. Um, yeah, thank you all for being here. Appreciate it sitting through this uh, lengthy meeting for us. So, um, glad you guys stuck it out. Um, yes, it is Veterans Day tomorrow. So, thank a veteran. Thank them all. Appreciate their service. With that, good night. Thank you. Meeting a journ.