City Council - Regular Meeting

We are going to call this meeting to order. Um, Vice Mayor, please stand for the flag salute and the invocation. Thank you. Let's pray. Father God, we just thank you once again. Lord, what an amazing year 2025 was. We're so grateful, Father, for all the things that we were able to work together to get through together and grow stronger together. And Lord, we're just here tonight with the same expectation for 2026. Lord, I I I thank you for wisdom, Lord, knowledge and understanding as a community, as a council, Lord, that we're able to work through and even become a better city, Riverbank, the city of action. And I just pray, Father, that this platform that gives the public room to share their concerns, Lord, that it would be open and their voices would be heard, God, that the council's working on our behalf. We thank you for our mayor, our vice mayor, and all the council members, our city staff. We just pray that Lord, you would have your way in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Roll call, please. Council member Odbe here. Council member Pimentel here. Council member Call here. Vice Mayor FSY here. Mayor Hernandez here. Uh there are no scheduled or there are no agenda changes at this time. Any conflict of interest. Any council authority member staff who has a direct conflict of interest on any scheduled agenda item is to declare their conflict at this time.

So I have a conflict on item 12.5. All right. Thank you. Uh presentation. So, if we could have the coaches from Cardoozo Middle School's girls basketball team join us up here. We have some recognitions for you.

All right. We are super excited to kick off the first meeting of this new year with you all. Um we had you here last year to celebrate an amazing season and we are so excited to welcome you back for another great season. Good job girls. So we have a recognition on behalf of the whole city and we want to congratulate the Cardoza girls basketball team. In celebration of your remarkable teamwork, dedication and sportsmanship this season. Your hard work, perseverance, and commitment have made a lasting impact, bringing pride to your team, school, and the community as a whole. You have truly demonstrated the power of unity and the spirit of competition on and off the courts. Congratulations on behalf of the whole council. And we would love your coaches to come up and talk more about your season, if you will, because we have some recognitions for every single person on the team. And we'd love to take some photos after with you. Yes. Uh thank you so much for having us. We really do appreciate it. Um Rachel for making uh time for us. Uh we want to thank um our principal uh Miss Avidito. She's here tonight. We really appreciate her support and um our athletic director as well, Mr. Gary Granger. Um and of course my assistant Nick Golding. Um, but it was it's an it was an amazing season. I mean, they haven't lost a game in two years and so that's that says a lot about my basketball. I lost a lot of games, but again, they just demonstrated such uh courage out there. They were fearless. They played uh super hard and and I just love their attitude and how they just they loved each other. They they um I mean it was really exciting to see them um play

every game. The expectations were just high and um every team out there kind of had a little target on us wanting to give us our first defeat. But I was so excited because they just prevailed. They worked extremely hard. They were dedicated and they were just so fun. And at the same time, um, the things they did off to court as well. Um, they're, um, part of some leadership. Um, they're 4.0 students. So, I was really proud of them as well. So, again, thank you so much for having us tonight. I really do appreciate it.

Um, I'm glad you mentioned leadership because it is true in every single one of these girls. I've talked to some of your parents and they've showed me the highlights of all your basketball games. So, it is pretty cool to see. Thank you to the coaches. Thank you to the principal. We have your superintendent here that came out tonight to congratulate you as well. Um, so could we have you come up for some pictures? And if we have the council come down as well or we can sit. Yes, that's better. Happy birthday. Right. Thank you so much. And now we have uh item 7.2, the riverbank rep uh updating on Sansaw's consolidated fire protection district. Do we Who do we have here to update it? Oh, yes. Welcome. Uh good evening, council, mayor, city manager, staff, and members of the riverbank community. Uh thank you for

the opportunity to be here again tonight. It's truly honored to speak with you and share an overdue the work uh we accomplished at Sus Consolidated this past year. This past year was defined by extinorary service, strong regional cooperation, and continued progress towards strengthening fire protection throughout Santa County. Our firefighters, officers, and support staff consistently just demonstrate professionalism, resilience, dedication while responding to both local emergencies and statewide challenges. One of the most significant events of the years occurred on January 8th, 2025 when crews from Stansel Consolidated were deployed to Los Angeles County to assist with the Eden fire. Firefighters from Stanos Consolidated were assigned from with alongside Modesto Fire, West Tennessee fire, Burbank Paradise Fire, Daener Fire, and Turlock Fire forming strike team XST 420 Charlie. Upon arrival in Altadena, crews were immediately assigned to a community experiencing extreme fire behavior and dangerous wind conditions with gusts reaching up to 80 miles per hour. Firefighters work tirelessly to protect homes and businesses, connecting tactical patrols well into the night to prevent further devastation. This deployment reflects the professionalism of our personnel and the strength of regional partnerships that ultimately benefit communities like Riverbank. Uh closer to home, 2025 marked an important milestone as South K solidated fire district celebrated 30 years of service to the community. Since its formation in 1995, the district has remained committed to protecting lives and property fire suppression, emergency medical services, rescue operations, and public education. This commitment continues today as our communities grow and evolve. We also made significant investments in operational readiness and may place a new type one fire engine into service, strengthening our ability to respond quickly and effectively to emergencies. Modern equipment like this ensures our

firefighters have the tools they need to serve the public safety uh safely and efficiently. Training and professional development remains a top top priority. Uh this year MST jointly celebrated the gra graduation of Academy 25-1 that recognized several promotions during the ceremony at the historic state Theater in Modesto. These events reflect our commitment to developing the next generation of firefighters and leaders who will serve communities like Riverbank for years to come. We also took time to dedicate one of our members. After 40 years of service, Battalion Chief Paul Spanny retired from Santa's Consolidated Fire District, leaving behind a legacy of leadership and service. We also celebrated the promotion of Captain John Summers, recognizing his professionalism and commitment to the fire service. One of our most impactful accomplishments this year was becoming fully ALS equipped and advanced life support through our award of an assistant to firefighter grants. This achievement allows our personnel to provide advanced life-saving medical care when every second counts, significantly enhancing emergency medical services for Riverbank residents and visitors alike. Looking ahead, our focus remains on building a strong sustainable fire service for the future. Key priorities include completing a comprehensive standards of coverage study to ensure resources are appropriately deployed and continuing to explore annexations with neighboring fire district to provide consistent and equitable fire protection and preparing for the development of new fire station 25 here in Burbank. This future station represents an important investment in public safety and reflects our shared commitment to meet the need the needs of a growing community. None of this work work would be possible without the support of our firefighters, staff, governing boards, and our local partners, including the city of Riverbank. Your continued collaboration and support are critical in ensuring we can meet today's challenges and prepare for tomorrow's.

I thank you for your partnership, your trust, your commitment to public safety. I am proud of the service provided this past year and confident together we will continue to deliver the level of fire and emergency protection that Riverbank community deserves. And with that, any questions? questions. Thank you so much. Thank you. It was nice seeing you. Um item 7.3 we have a presentation about the parks and recreation financial sustainability study. So mayor and council Mark Michael Patton our director of parks and reciration Michael will provide the staff report on this side.

Nice haircut. Thank you. Uh good evening, mayor and council. Um this is uh nerding out here, but we're excited about this presentation. We have uh for the city council members that are new, um in 2024, the fiscal year, the city council approved a financial sustainability study on the department uh where we looked at the department's financials, how we're doing financially, and how we become more sustainable. So with the money that the council provide us, we hired a consultant uh through one 10% incorporated who specialized in financial sustainability studies for parks and recreation departments across the country. And they analyzed our financials and provided recommendations and how we can not keep bugging you guys for more money and how we can become more self-sustaining and find different strategies on how we can uh increase our revenues but also cut back on our expenditures. And so I hope Frell is online and she'll be doing the presentation. She's our consultant with 110%.

Thank you. Uh good evening, city council. Oh, not yet. Good evening, uh mayor and city council. Thank you for having me and allowing me to um zoom in virtually uh with you to give this brief presentation. Um I will be talking for about 10 minutes and kind of walking you through the process that we work with um there at the city of Riverbank. And so I will share my screen and I'll be talking for about 10 minutes and then um happy to answer any questions that you may have. Farah, if you can give uh Norma a second. She's trying to put up the presentation.

Okay. pull up her um double share her screen. I think we're ready.

Are you able to see that presentation? Yes.

Okay. All right. Well, um, as, uh, Michael mentioned, uh, I work with 110% and I am going to walk you through the financial sustainability project that, uh, we completed on behalf of the parks and recreation department. I think you can all see my first. Okay. Uh, so just real briefly, um, I'll do a quick introduction. I'll walk you through the financial sustainability project and then I'll share with you some key findings and some next steps. All right. Uh this is our team. Uh we are a mighty team of four. Uh our company is 110%. And we specialize in working with local parks and recreation departments uh municipalities specifically across the United States to um become more financially resilient and sustainable and help plan for the long-term future. Um we also do a lot of ethical decision-making in local government and some adaptive leadership along the way. To date, we've worked with about 80 organizations across 46 states. And so, one of the benefits of us kind of staying in this lane and doing this work is although we have a standard process, we make sure that any recommendations and ideas uh are really all decided by each entity and their staff because we know that no two municipalities is created alike and no two communities um is expecting the exact same thing from parks, recreation, and leisure services. One of the components that we often do just like this evening um is we do a lot of our training and it's all rooted in education and so we had the opportunity to not only work with uh several of your staff in the parks and recreation department. We also uh worked with your finance staff a little bit in and team um as well as your parks and recreation advisory board. So, we like to help teach along the way of what are some of the processes, what are things to be thinking about, and how can they implement some of these strategies after

this project completes. When we're talking about financial sustainability, really what we're saying is and what we're teaching and sharing is how can staff um ensure that they're being really the best stewards of taxpayer resources and how do they provide for the community uh long into the future. Uh we know that there is finite resources and as Michael said, we can't always go back and ask for more money although we will. So congratulations. Um but we really want to make sure that we're taking care of what we have in the best manner possible. Um and that we're looking at our expenses, not only our revenues, and we also want to make sure that we're always being mindful. Um cost recovery or financial sustainability is definitely not about pricing people out of the market from being able to participate in the programs and services uh that they want to be. uh this work has really been going on for probably 10 to 15 years and uh municipalities really started paying attention kind of in about between 2010 and I would say um 2015. So this is just one example. Uh this was a study done at um in Portland. Uh and this is specifically with regards to their parks and recreation system. and they were considered one of the creme de la creme one of the top organizations for many years and what they started to realize in the 5-year period that you see is that although their revenues were increasing their expenditures were increasing twofold. So we work with organizations in this type of a situation and we also work with a lot of healthy organizations um whose budgets are doing well staffing is doing well uh and we want to make sure they stay that way. When we talk about money uh in government and specifically in parks and recreation, we know that there's a lot of factors um that are at play affecting budgets. So, you all as council, I'm not

I'm speaking to the choir, but you all as council realize there's a lot of conditions at play when you're trying to balance budgets. Um that's the same thing when people are looking at public parks and recreation budgets. And so we know different communities have different needs, whether it's how a public health crisis might be affecting a community to staffing to environmental impacts. And so we just like to create some awareness around all of the components and all the complexities that really go into city and and local budgeting. It's always our goal to match an organization's uh philosophical approach uh community need um staffing understandings kind of that reality with that policy. Um as I said every organization is a little bit different and so we want to make sure that we're um doing our very best to really create a clean connection uh so that this is a plan that is actually really useful and usable and takes you into the future. I'm going to spend just a couple of minutes teaching you about the process that we use. Uh it was been third thirdparty credibility certified uh 15 years ago and so although again it's a standard process um all the decisions are different uh city riverbank has made decisions best for the city of riverbank um all the information is different data is different etc. So what we do is we utilize what's called a three-step process. We look at service categories, beneficiary of service and then we complete a complete cost of service analysis. Together those components create a financial sustainability strategy or as some organizations would say a tax use investment um and enhancement strategy. The first leg of that stool is service categories. And what service categories are is it's a way for us to bucket every single class, course, event, um anything that's offered to the community that they participate in.

When we bucket all of the programs with this type of lens, what it does is it starts to discourage uh decisions based on special interests or social values. So, for example, if I asked you all, what's more important, kids that can swim or older adults that have lunch and have healthy meals? That would be a very bad debate to be having. Um, we don't want to pit our programs against each other and our people against each other. And so we would actually say both of those are very important and they both help have a healthy community. The third thing about service categories is we want to start to eliminate this idea of arbitrary goal setting or arbitrary price setting. Uh we want to empower staff that if a program costs $25 and somebody says why is it $25? That they know the answer. They know how they came to that $25 price. Um, and so we're setting goals that are realistic uh for for the community or you're setting goals that are realistic, staff are, as well as really understanding what goes into costs of providing a service. So these are service categories. They're unique to uh Riverbank. I won't be going through them in depth, but uh this is one of the components that staff utilized and one of the tools they've created. What staff then does with the service categories is we move into the second leg of the stool which is beneficiary of service. And beneficiary of service simply means and refers to who's benefiting from the program or the service. [clears throat] So each service category gets ranked on if there is a greater community and a common good benefit. You can see the definition or if there's a greater individualized and exclusive benefit. So, we lead staff through an exercise to rank each of the service categories and then we create an average. And we did this with staff. Um, this was an exercise that the parks and recreation advisory board also participated in.

Those categories are then ranked and placed on what's considered a beneficiary of service model. So, programs and services that benefit the community and the common good or have more of a social purpose. um those live in the lower left corner of this type of a continuum and programs and services that benefit the individual more are more of exclusive benefit those who live in the upper right. What we know is that programs and services that benefit the community and the common good more holistically um is that they will have a lower cost recovery expectation and they will have a higher subsidy rate than those at the other end of the continuum. I'll show you that in one second. cost of service and cost of service analysis. Uh what we do with cost of service is we look at all costs. So we look at all of your direct in and indirect costs for one fiscal year. And the reason we do that is we want to really try to capture what is the true cost to providing this service. So we grab any costs we can have from Michael's salary those get divvied out into every program to facility util utility costs um and then all the direct costs as well. Uh the tool that we've created then distributes um all of all of the costs or all of the expense into these different uh recreation service areas and different program areas. And then from there uh we utilize this tool that we've created and then it starts to determine the cost um recovery or the performance. Um and it so it allows staff to see okay how how are these programs performing um based on their expenses and based on their revenues. Um again it's not good or bad. It's just so staff can start to have a baseline of what's happening um and use it as a decision-making tool going forward. All right. So, we looked at um again all of your classes, courses, programs, events, and you'll see those listed

under the service categories. You'll see just the main titles um from top to bottom. Those are then organized by the beneficiary of service. So, open access um are things like your parks, your playgrounds, your trails. Um and so open access means that that is the greatest community good benefit. Anybody can come participate. there's no master mastery of skill necessary, right? Um and so what you can see then going across there is its cost recovery performance is zero. So we are not trying to um we will not be making money. We are not trying to get um cost recovered by people participating in parks and playgrounds. So it's a very easy example to start with. Enterprise services uh for the example and specifically for for Riverbank is your Jacob Myers Park. So that is expected to operate more towards an enterprise fund or a special business service. Um so what you can see there is its current cost recovery, some cost recovery goals, mins and maxes in the midpoint and how close you are to getting there. You can see resale and so on and so forth. Um this tool is about I don't know 30 pages or 30 tabs with like hundreds of line items. So staff have access to the tool uh for tonight's usefulness. Again, I just pulled a clip so that we can kind of move through the process and um catch you up and share some of the findings. All right. So some of the findings again um the current overall cost recovery of the parks and recreation department for the fiscal year that we uh evaluated was about 16%. Um when we do this work um well we've done a handful of organizations in the state of California

and then also nationally. So within the state of California, um this 16% is a little bit lower than the California average of organizations we've assessed similarly as well as a little bit lower than um the organizations nationally. Um we then take a look at removing the open access portion. We know that organizations have different amounts of land that they're responsible for in the format of parks, um trails, and playgrounds. And so again without open space the recreation division uh service area is about 28% cost recovery. Um and then the other finding that we did is we went ahead and created a multi-year financial sustainability strategy and we created one strategy unique for the recreation programs and services. Um and it has a set specific set of characteristics for cost recovery goals and then we set um a unique strategy as well for Jacob Myers Park. And I will show you those in just one second. Does this is actually what the strategy will look like for uh the recreation programs and services. And so what you can see are those same service categories. This is the ranking uh that was created by staff in the parks and recreation advisory board. Again, programs for the most common good to the most exclusive in nature. And then based on that fiscal year study um based on the city's expectations going forward um based on uh current um programming and future programming identifiers. These are the cost recovery goals that staff have identified and set to support their efforts going into the future. And this is those same categories. Uh you saw them move the categories that are removed. It's because that type of programming doesn't happen at Jacob Myers Park. Um but again, these are the programs and services that are uh same beneficiary of service order and

continuum. And then these are the cost recovery goals set specifically for that facility and their programs and services. A couple of key uh focus areas that came out of this. Um one, we are creating a cost recovery policy and that would likely come uh towards and for adoption by the council um with a grouping of other policies and procedures that the parks and recreation department and the city is putting together. So that would be likely forthcoming sometime in 2026. But by having a cost recovery policy, uh it really enables city council and staff to stay on the same page with expectations and to be able to provide services um that have some level of flexibility um towards the community so that as the community adjusts and changes and has different expectations, staff are able to do that as well with programming. Also, we made the recommendation to formalize some level and some sort of need-based assistant need based assistance program or i.e. scholarshipping program um so that the community know what's to what to expect and staff can serve u members of the community that need financial help at the times that they need it. Evaluate rental fees and processes as well as monitor ongoing program offerings. So possibly reducing duplication of service. So um whether that's internal most likely that's with some external providers. Um when we reduce duplication it provides more resource that uh staff are able to utilize in other areas. Maximizing participation. So if we have program numbers that you know can operate from 10 participants to 25 and we're getting 8 n 10 um either maximize those participations or change that program or possibly divest it. And then starting to identify success metrics. So, this is a tool that staff can use and it really creates consistency among evaluating um programs that are being offered and the

longevity and it allows for new programs to happen as well. A couple of the next steps um staff will be identifying their priorities um and implementing the steps continue to work on the policy and procedures manual that again would include the cost recovery policy and then to evaluate the progress in about 24 to 36 months. We know as programs and staffing and um costs and expenses change, it's good to um evaluate what's happening and see how staff are moving towards those cost recovery goals. And we know that it takes a while for some of those decisions to come to fruition. So with that, that is the end of my formal presentation. Um and I will turn it back over to Michael or um I think he'll be taking any of your questions. Thank you, Frell, for the presentation. Um, so, um, Frell and I will be here to answer any questions, comments, concerns that you c have or or the general public.

Thank you. Um, is there any with council at this time? So, I got a couple clarifying if we could pull up that financial sustainability chart with the green arrow kind of going upward. And there's probably a question from Michael. Maybe you can just kind of explain uh so on the low end there for like the open access community events it's saying 10 to 30% cost recovery so if you guys get 10 to 30% then it is sustainable right

uh essentially yeah okay uh so what we look at as far explained we look at common goods so we look at our open space like parks we look at our events like cheese and wine where it's free to the public to attend anyone's invited um we'll have some events that are profitable which is perfectly fine um we also have a handful of events that require some general fund dollars to support because it can't self-sustain. So the idea is that you know if we get in that range of that 10 10 to 30% um overall we're hitting our goal of cost recovery. So we're not trying to make sure every event is profitable. We're not trying to make sure every program is profitable, right? Um but we want to make sure that we're making sure that taxpayers are being used to more for the common good.

Got it. And then Frell for you. Um, so you stated that the the average cost recovery for the city of Riverbank was on the lower end. So what are the some of those contributing factors to that? Just kind of curious.

Um, I would say a couple of the contributing factors a I don't think the city has looked at their programs and services in this manner before before just starting to provide them. So one of the things we looked at was program numbers, participation numbers, and making sure those get maximized. Um the second thing we looked at is at times I think um equipment purchased to try to offer a program might have exceeded the number of participants that could have participated. So it just a little bit imbalanced uh typically from um a more I would say sophisticated system that's been around a little bit longer. Thank you. Anything else? All right. Well, thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you, Frell. Okay, we are going to move to public comment. At this time, members of the public may comment on any item not appearing on the agenda and within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city council L board. Individual comments will be limited to three minutes and time cannot be yielded to another person. Under state law, matters presented during public comment cannot be discussed or acted upon. Uh, Miss Sher Finn in the chambers.

I'm here to speak for the people of Riverbank who are being priced out of basic survival. People who did not did nothing wrong except trust their government. What is happening with our city utility rates is not just unfair. It violates California law. Under Proposition 218, residents cannot be charged more than the true cost of service. We cannot be forced to pay for mismanagement or for the infrastructure required for new development. Riverbank continues approving new housing, commercial projects, and industrial facilities even though the sewer system cannot handle the growth. Instead of making developers pay what the law requires, the city has shifted those costs onto existing residents through repeated rate hikes. That is not just bad policy. It raises serious legal and ethical concerns. And the people paying the highest price are our seniors and single inome families. Seniors living on social security don't get raises. Single parent and single inome households don't get bonuses when the city makes bad decisions. But their utility bills keep going up. They're being forced to choose between paying a city utility bill or paying rent, groceries, or buying needed medication. This is not a budgeting issue. This is a moral failure. No senior should ever have to choose between running water and medication. And no single parent should have to choose between feeding their children and flushing a toilet. No working family should be one utility bill away from eviction because the city refused to plan responsibly. People in this community are using the word corruption. Whether it is intentional or recklessness management, the result is the same. Residents are being harmed to cover decisions they did not make. If these rate increases violate Proposition 218, Proposition 26, and state fee laws, they are illegal. and any and if any and if they continue, the riverbank is heading towards lawsuits that could financially devastate the city. The citizens are demanding the city to stop all rate increases immediately, reverse utility bills back to the levels before these questionable increases began over

10 years ago. This is not radical. It is lawful. It is fair and it is necessary. And one more issue cannot be ignored. While families are choosing between their utility bill and medicine and food, the city has approved massive pay increases, some as high as 300% for employees and officials. That alone demands investigation. If residents are being overcharged while government pay explodes, something is deeply wrong. If laws were broken, they must be there must be consequences. If mistakes were made, they must be corrected. And if trust has been abused, it must be restored. Riverbank deserves leadership that protects its people, not leadership that prices them out. Tonight, you will go home full and comfortable. And somewhere in the city, an elderly person will go to bed hungry because of what you decided in this room. Leadership is not eating well while your people starve. That's not leadership. That's betrayal. Mr. Timber. Was it Sorry,

Mr. Tim Reed. Thank you. I am here to oppose the sewer rate increase and proposed treatment projects based on numerous Proposition 218 continuous violations as well. Prop 18 is meant to stop hidden taxes, protect property owners and residents, require fairness and transparity transparency and make government prove its charges are lawful. Drawing your attention to the last two, have each of you on this panel and it's any management, have you done that before you make these decisions? The core legal rules of Proposition 218 says you can only charge what it actually costs to serve you. the seniors that that Miss Finn talked about, I don't believe are [snorts] are getting the services that you're offering. It also says, "No profit, no padding, no covering unrelated cost, not funded unrelated expenses. Using utility money for general government, new development, mismanagement, employee raises, or budget gaps is illegal under Prop 218. For example, to compare some numbers, a city manager in the city of Riverbank is currently making with benefits $294,169 where the median citizens are making the median. Now remember, these other folks are making less, $90,216. The city manager makes three and a4 times more than the median person does. For a comparison to where we are with other cities, Ripen for the same timeline of billing charges $52.40. The city of Riverbank charges $16260. The city of Ripen offers a senior discount for $420, ladies and gentlemen. $420

versus your 16260 with some kind of a difference. Each of you are tasked with the trust of the citizens and managing the city business and functions. As so you are also professionally and personally liable for unlawful and/or immoral decisions you make when you are aware of the improprieties. Trust me, the jails do not care who they book, nor do civil attorneys care who they sue. Make sure each of you are on solid legal footing before committing to anything you know is wrong. Thank you, Diego Hernandez.

Happy New Year, council. I did a public records request 25-203. You guys can look it up. Um, concluding the fiscal year ending on June 30th, 2022. The 106 sewer fund had seven employees. Some of them were five of them I believe are declared to be full-time employees, two of them partial. June 30th, 2025, there are 32 employees receiving partial benefits or full-time salaries from the 106 fund. That's you guys using the sewer fund to cover structural deficits. I'll give you a number. The actual figures for the fiscal year in 2022 for salary payroll benefits from the sewer fund were 587,000. Three years later, they're 1.8 million. These are the actual numbers. Could you guys explain that? Have you guys did you guys know about that? I've spoken to a few council members and they were unaware of that. I understand that sometimes the city bends the rules a little bit and covers employees that do maybe accounting work, clerk work that's in the finance department for the sewer, but 32 employee IDs are attached to the sewer fund. 32 employee IDs. Um, and like I said, it went up from 587,000 to 1.8 million in 2023. I understand that there was an amended budget and you guys also took out a loan. This was a loan from the ARPA fund and that year alone just transfers out from the sewer fund was $3.46 million. Now before I understand from talking with Tammy, the city would transfer out funds from the sewer enterprise to the general fund. I did the public records request to find out exactly where they were going because I wanted to see the they're identified as 999.00. Those are the transfer outs. Before we

could see where they went. We could see if they were CIP bond or they were management fee. In previous years, those management fees may have been as much as $800,000 to a million dollars. Right? So, these are fees that are leaving the sewer fund close to a million dollars using $999. Designation. It's the last designation on the account number for the fund or any fund for that matter. Right now, we're spending $1.8 million just on payroll. That's a 300% increase in three fiscal years. And I believe that's what Sher was speaking about. Um, I can go through all the employee IDs. I was kind enough when I did the public records request not to ask for the employee names so that way we can publish the information so the public can see it without having to see the employees names. They did nothing wrong. But there's 32 employee IDs now attached to the 106 fund. Not to mention there was previous transfers in the millions that went out of the fund to pay for other things. So, if you guys would allow me, I'd like to do an audit of ARPA and also the loan that was associated with ARPA, the $2 million loan. If you guys can work with me,

Mr. Michael Christie. Michael Christie. Good evening, Mayor, council, and city staff. Hope you guys had a great holiday season. It's good to see you. Um, first of all, I hear everybody's frustration in here about the rates, but please be in mind that over half of these council members along with city staff were weren't even around when these rate increases were voted in. Um, this the wastewater treatment plant is something that should have been addressed years ago before any of them were involved. So, please have a little bit of kindness and grace towards them. Um, and then the other thing I want to talk about is public safety. Last night in Riverbank and in Oakdale, I talked to a few friends on the council in Oakdale. Um, major breakins, cars breakins. Um, a lot of trades people lost their tools and equipment. So, my heart goes out to them for their frustrations. You know, by the time they file a police report and do the insurance claims and they're trying to do their jobs without tools, that's tough. So, please um get the word out to your um constituents to lock their cars, put their tools inside if they can, and let them know that this didn't just happen here, that it was a big thing. I believe in Escalon, too. I haven't confirmed that yet, but Riverbank and Oakdale got hit really hard last night. Um, so, um, and on a and also in terms of public safety, I'm looking forward to hearing the council and the chief's present upcoming presentations on what we can do to support them to get another officer um, and then get that um, community service um, resource officer position filled, too. So, I look forward to that um, the next in future meetings. Um, lastly, a polar bear plunge looked like a lot of fun. Um, sorry I didn't attend. Um, but I did uh make a few phone calls to some family and business associates and uh we have a real soft

spot for the Children's Crisis Center. So, we'll be spending about we'll be sending about $500 over their way. So, we're real it's really good to see the council members jump in the cold pool, but I was in my nice warm home working from home then. So, [laughter] um great job guys and great for a great cause. Um thank you very much. Josh,

hello. Hope everybody had good holidays. Um, I just wanted to talk and say we need to hold off on spending any more money on this water treatment. We're already in a hole. Need to stop digging. We're just getting worse and worse. Economy is not good right now. I've been doing this for 20 years. Done all the water treatment, done sewer. I know how this goes. It is not a good time. Not a good time to spend money. Seniors are getting hit. Everybody's getting hit. We got tariffs raising prices. We got AI taking jobs. We got a lot of people hurting right now. And this is not a good time. And there's other methods. So, we should hold off until we get that study back and see if there's any different alternatives and then we can proceed with different options. All the developers I work with, some of the biggest in the world, they they either build their own retention, they do a mail. There's so many different bio swells. There's many different options. So instead of spending more money and hurting the seniors or just hurting the American people, this is getting tough for everybody. And I think a leveling is coming where the housing market is going to take a dip. I see it front line. I see developers that, you know, Lenard, all these big guys, they're holding off. You know, it's getting it's getting pretty pretty bad. And if they want to build, that's on the developer. They need to cover the cost. Not the people that have been paying all these years supporting our city, but it's just getting too expensive. And we're going to stop losing people coming here because other cities have more attractive rates. I mean, my grandma retired and she's widowed, unfortunately, and she can't even survive anymore because we got insurance raising their rates crazy amount. I mean, everything's just it's just too much, you know? I mean, even for me, my every time my bill just going up and up and up, and I remember when I first moved here, the bill was it was great. And now it's just getting ridiculous. And I think we need to just kind of ease off a little bit until we get the study back and see what they say and see if there's other alternatives because there is alternatives. There's 100% different alternatives. All these other developers

do it. So, why are we getting foot with a bill? You know, I just don't feel it's right. I feel we should just kind of ease off a little bit and see what the economy is going to do. So there's a lot of global tension. There's a lot of things going on right now. So it just to me it say makes more sense just to wait a little bit. See what the results say. See how the economy is even make sense to build or anything like that and then let's see what the developer wants to front. Thank you for your time.

Thank you Olivia Arabella. Good evening, Mayor Hernandez, city council members, staff, and our residents here in the audience. Um, I'm Olivia Rambla. I am broken and owner of Timeless Real Estate here in Riverbank. But tonight, I'm speaking to you on behalf of our Chamber of Commerce as our director of community events. Um, we have a few events coming up. So, we just want to invite everybody and let you know what was going on. We have Friday, January 16th, we have our um chamber installation and citizen awards dinner. That's going to be at 6 PM. Um, in that meeting we have people that were nominated to be citizen of the year for Riverbank Chamber Business of the Year and Riverbank Youth of the Year. So, come and see all these nominees because it they were nominated and they're going to be attending and then see who was selected. Um, I don't have all the answers of that because I wasn't on part of that committee. Um, part of it. Yes. Um, then the chamber planning meeting that we have is our first meeting for the new board after the installation dinner. That's going to take place on Thursday, January 22nd from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. We're going to plan out our new year. Um, we're going to hold that actually at Timeless Real Estate here in Riverbank right down the street. Um, we have our first event of our new chamber will be the chamber lunch and learn on Wednesday 25th from 12:00 p.m. to 1 p.m. That also will be held at Timeless Real Estate. Um, we're going to be doing vision boards planning for our 2026. We did that last year and we actually had a lot of people and it was fun. We're going to do it again because we've been asked for that. Um then we have our first chamber meeting. Our times are changing somewhat um and our days. And then we have um that next meeting for chamber will be the first Wednesday of the month, which is going to be February 4th. And that's going to be from 11:30 a.m. to 100 p.m. And that's going to be board of directors start off and then we join everybody else from chamber after that at 12 to do that 12 to 1 meeting. that's going to be held at the Riverbank Industrial Complex here in Riverbank.

And we want you guys to save the date. This is going to be a fun time for all the kids families. Um we have our our second annual but second annual with the chamber. Um our riverbank Easter egg hunt um and vendor event that's going to be brought to you by parks and recck um is collaborating with or we're collaborating with the parks and reccks and chamber. That's going to be on March 28th. Um we will get applications out um probably by February 1st to make sure that the uh food trucks, food vendors, and any uh craft vendors or anything else like that that would like to join and be a part of it can be participants. We had tons of kids out last year and it was a great event at the sports complex here in Riverbank and all the donations of eggs. We thank everybody. We'll be asking you again. So um and and more. So, uh, we did have a great fun time and everybody who came out, you guys, thank you and help you. So, um, thanks for helping us and, um, just look forward to some good events this year and please feel free. These these meetings are open, um, for the most part. The director is not, but everything else is open. All the events are open. You don't have to be a member. So, come and participate with your chamber. Thank you.

Um, that is all the comment cards we received. I'm not sure if there's anyone in the chamber that wish to have a general public comment. If not, we will move on. You did 10.1. You wrote item 10.1, but if you'd like to come up, you can do so at this time. Okay, come on up. right now is just general public comment on items not on the agenda.

Okay. These are not items on the agenda. Correct. Okay. Um the Jackson Park site where we're going to build a park right now. The weeds there are about this high. And what's the irony is the place next door where they have weeds are all mowed down. So I wish somebody would take care of that. It really looks bad. Um the uh historical society and the Riverbank women's club will uh be paying Alexandra Riddle, the muralist, to refurbish and to refresh the ballet focalorico uh mural that's sitting over in um the Plaza del Rio that we we've talked about for over a year and a half, two years and nothing's happened um because you don't have a budget for that. Um, okay. Um, we need to really install and consider installing some charging stations. My daughter has a Tesla. She came down for Christmas and she says, "Dad, I got to charge my car. Where's the closest charging station?" And I said, "Well, to my knowledge, the closest charging station is in Oakdale City Hall's parking lot." So, she had to go over to Oakdale to charge her Tesla. So, that to me means that we have to look at either the commercial or we've got that parking lot down there which in some ways doesn't meet our normal city standards where we require certain amount of trees and other things to green up a black top uh area. So, there's some things that need to be done there. Uh, finally, the Riverbank Historical Society is having its installation dinner at Perkos from 6:8 p.m. on February 6, Friday night. I

would invite all of you please to come share. Uh, this is a great group. We're doing a lot of good things planned for this year. Uh also people in the audience are welcome to come and learn about the historical society and uh the things we keep the history of riverbank in my era from 95 to 2011 when I was city manager. Important times and I was not nominated for citizen of the year and boy am I ticked. [laughter] Thank you. That's all I had. Um, any other public comment in the chamber? U mayor, that is all we have and there is no one on Zoom wishing to speak. All right. Thank you. We are going to move on to our consent calendar items 9.1 to 9.4. Is there any discussion or consideration? So, I'll make a motion to approve the consent calendar as is.

Second. Roll call, please. Council member, yes. Council member Pimementel, yes. Council member Call, yes. Vice Mayor FSY, yes. Mayor Hernandez, yes. Motion passes 5-0. All right. Item 10.1, a resolution to approve a contract change order for value engineering for the regional recycled water project phase one for KSN and authorize a budget appropriation amount of $194,310 from the sewer fund 106.

Mayor and councils, this item along with 10.2 um was requested to be tabled and brought back um for further consideration at this meeting. Uh so we do have some additional information to share and so Cody Bridgewwater our director of public works will provide that report.

Good evening madame mayor members of the city council. So we will go through 11 point sorry 10.1 I mislabeled my slideshow [laughter] 10.1 and 10.2 that like Marisella said were tabled uh from a previous meeting. So 10.1 is the KSN contract change order for the value engineering phase and project management. Uh in summary, the city of Riverbank has successfully completed preparation of the 60% design documents and staff is looking to continue progress with the value engineering phase of the design. Value engineering is a systematic process utilized to develop alternative and lowerc cost solutions. This value engineering study will identify cost savings opportunities for the project and will be performed in close coordination with Brown and Caldwell assessing potential impacts to overall design or the operation of the facility itself. The scope of work also includes a third party opinion of probable cost for the riverbank regional recycled water project. KSN submitted a proposal at a cost of $194,310 to begin the value engineering. This is a crucial time being that we have not yet entered final design and it allows us to easily make changes to the design without excessive wasted costs altering the final design. Based on preliminary estimates, approximately 14 million can be saved with minimal effort. Staff hopes to extend those savings through this VE portion of the project design. So here are some just quick highle items that were found in the initial review of the 60% design where we could save some

money. Uh examples being equipment pre-selection a savings of.37 million elimination of a secondary clarifier approximately 5 million earthwork and site civil changes about 4 million hypocchlorite feed system removal of that would be.7 million uh moving from a dual headwork screen to a single headwork screen approximately 300,000 savings there site piping mod modifications uh 900 00,000 emergency storage alterations another 900,000 and the reduction of the size of the recycled water storage tank which is approximately $2 million. So just a quick overall look is 14.17 million off the top. So the scope of work from KSN includes the coordination and leading of the value engineering kickoff workshop that would include city staff Brown and Caldwell who's the design engineer on the project and Euing construction services that's the third party consultant that was uh spoken about previously in a couple of slides. So the development of the VE recommendations to be considered by Brown and Caldwell, assist in the coordination and leading of the VE workshop to review recommendations with the design consultant in the city and preing preparing a VE recommendations report summarizing the recommendations for implementation into the project based on the decisions made by the city KSN Brown and Caldwell and ECS. Uh KSN's proposal, which is actually two parts, is broken up as follows. Part A, which is $84,440, includes both KSN and ECS as reviewers and BE support. And part B, which is optional at $109,870, is the third party opinion of probable

costs, which is an engineer's estimate that would be developed by ECS. the EUING and KSN portion. Uh there's coordination in leading the VE workshops, development of the recommendations, the recommendations report and UN construction services would be included in all of these meetings. The third party opinion third party opinion of probable construction costs includes pricing the work based upon the built-in design constraints that are identified during the review of the plans and specifications and constructibility considerations based on ECS's construction industry experience. So the difference between the ECS estimate and Brown and Caldwell's estimate is ECS as construction experience. They know what it takes to build these projects. Where Brown and Caldwell, yes, they're experts on design. When it comes to constructibility and methods of construction, that is not their forte. So they just use previously bid projects and numbers from those to develop their and when I say they Brown and Caldwell to develop their engineers estimate whereas ECS actually is in the construction industry and knows the actual cost of construction and methods to do so. So, I apologize for the size of this, but in the original 90% scope breakdown that was brought forward, I believe was in September of 2025, KSN had this included as their tasks and hours associated with the 90% scope. This was their VE portion of that 90% scope. So you have approximately 166 hours of work on KSN's part for a total of $42,126.

Moving into the actual VE scope that we pulled out of the 90% and brought forward as a standalone, you can see KSN's hours went from 1666 to 231 with their new price being 56,662 in rel as previously was 42,000 in the 90% scope. So you have an increase of about $14.5,000. The other increase comes having from from having ECS as a third party consultant. That's where that additional $137,000 comes from in the total project cost of the $194,316. So by utilizing ECS, yes, the cost increases, but you have a third party point of view that has essentially no buyin to the project whatsoever. They're looking at this project as a project that they would be quote unquote bidding and providing the best opportunity for them to win that job. So, they're going to look at it with a fine tooth comb and they're actually going to look and see, hey, you guys can make, you know, a $2 million savings by moving this equipment from this location over to here. It'll save you in electrical. It'll save you in uh piping. You can change the depth. can change, you know, how you're moving your soil, where you're getting it from, things like that. They have the experience. So, they can bring that knowledge in and really tell us where we can find savings in the project itself before we go out to bid. So, the total cost of the element, which includes option A and option B, option B being the opinion of probable construction costs, is $194,310. that would be appropriated from the city's sewer fund 106. And it should be noted that these funds have been

collected via the five-year sewer rates implemented by city council in 2022. Another note is uh the city staff and two council members had a meeting with Blackwater Engineering. We had our kickoff meeting for the feasibility study. Uh we asked Blackwater how important this value engineering stage would be to their study and they said that they would very much like to be a part of these meetings when we are having them so that they can get the true cost of the project and work that into their feasibility study. So they are very intrigued to hear what the results of this value engineering phase are so that they can give the city the best possible alternative whether it be the riverbank recycle water project or another project itself. It is staff's recommendation that city council award the contract change order for the value engineering phase of the design for the riverbank regional recycled water project phase one to KSN and to authorize the city manager to execute a contract with said firm in the amount of $194,310 and authorize the budget appropriation from sewer fund 106 for said contract. And I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. And we also have Elizabeth Beckinston with KSN on Zoom if you have any technical questions that you may have for her.

Thank you. Uh we'll start with council. Are there any comments or questions this time? Okay. So, so Cody, so you kind of touched on a few actually my first question. So, uh, hypothetically approving this, would this support the results of a feasibility study regardless of where that feasibility lands? Right? Whether it's the recycled water treatment portion of it or a secondary treatment portion of it, would this support that?

Correct. Okay. Yes, there's elements to the VE. It's going to look at the whole project altogether. Um if there was an alternative found that say maybe recycled water wasn't the route for us to go, maybe that we're going to do a secondary treatment system um to reduce costs both for infrastructure and operations and maintenance. Um there are elements to this say the clarifier for example clarifier would be used in a secondary plant just like it would in tertiary plant. So by removing that, yes, items from the VE study can be translated into another project.

Okay. Okay. So I just wanted to clarify that if if we did support in funding this that that the money is not going to go to waste uh regardless of where because we're trying to do a full and comprehensive study of what's going to be the best option for for the site and for and for the residents, right? And so this would be part of that full and comprehensive study, right? Um and thank you to our vice mayor, uh Sydney FSY. Uh so during that uh kickoff with Blackwater uh so we did focus on looking for uh you know a comprehensive study of everything all available options uh including like the satellite facilities expansion and mo and modernizing uh the approaches there. Uh we we did highlight uh between uh me and Sydney FSY here uh the importance of Riverbank staff being present and engaged in uh the meetings with Modesto staff to make sure there's uh communication, there's alignment there uh and the interests of Riverbank are fully represented throughout the city, right? In all of the meetings. Um and then we asked the timing of the value. So this is a three-month turnaround, correct? Correct.

Right. And so the and so we asked about the timing of this value engineering uh would it be appropriate to push it, you know, would it be of value to you guys if we were to move it forward? And they emphasized um that they've had they've done this in other cities and it's and I'll quote them, it was ideal for them to kind of have this extra information to make sure that we're getting a full full scope of everything. Right? So regardless of of the route we were going uh Blackwater they did explore uh they want to explore each viable options right so this is kind of what the the the path forward for them um and advance them to approximately a 30% design level uh and then from there and this is information for the council they they anticipate holding a workshop around March uh so they're going to and then to pick from those uh 30% and then to move those uh those better options to that 60% level, right? So, uh, so I think that this structured approach allows us to make informed datadriven decisions. Uh, and that's kind of what the residents have been asking for. So,

of course, I have comments. I don't want to disappoint you. So, um I think at the core of all this, a lot of citizens understand that we've been wanting to build a recycled water plant. Do we really need one? Well, I contacted uh Scott Osborne at the waterboard to talk to them about what enforcement actions or directives we have with the city of Modesto or I'm sorry with the city of Riverbank because Modesto did have a directive to go to recycled water based on what they needed to meet. Riverbank does not have that. So my concern is we're looking at doing possibly a recycled water plant, but we can't afford a recycled water plant. If we do this value added study, we would save $14 million. That's only 12% of the 124 million right now that this plant would cost. And that total is not what your sewer bills are right now. That total is from an $80 million projected cost. And as we've heard tonight, sewer rates are too high. People are having a problem. I'm retired. It's tough for me. So, I know exactly what you're all seeing because I'm living the same dream. Um, so I'm concerned that we're looking at doing value added for a project that we can't fund. So, why are we funding $400,000 right now for a project that we most likely will not build? And I'm going to add to it that we don't need. We can do other things that the feasibility study will find that are less cost less costly and more effective

for our pl our city. And so, I urge my fellow city council members to not move forward with this at this time. Let's see what happens with the feasibility study. The feasibility study is to discuss alternatives. It's not to evaluate how we can reduce the recycled water plant. It's to look at alternatives. Thank you.

You could refrain from the applause just to continue the conversation amongst the whole council. Thank you. And so just to clarify, so so if the best option in the feasibility study was the secondary treatment, this would break it down as well though.

The feasibility should find that in it. But why would we do this now at this cost when we're paying to have a feasibility study done and then they will build that project? So, so this goes into depth as far as on a base level secondary treatment probably will be the route we go and so this would break it down and so because we don't know yes the brick grant is now in play. We don't know what's kind of going on with that. Uh recycled water may still be in play but on the base level we're trying to find out all our all of the savings all of the cost all of the true costs for all of the projects. Right. So for all of the options and so this would this would this this would give us the breakdown for the recycled the tertiary and the and the secondary. So

yes it would. But right now um recycled I don't think should even be in the plan because we can't afford it. Can we afford half of what's in this project right now? No. We need to wait till the feasibility study is at least 30% to see if it's even a viable project. I believe that we can get something done that brings us into compliance. Um when I when I talked with Scott, they're getting ready to do a monitoring and reporting program um to add some additional um monitoring which will change our WDR in a few years and they're very much aware that we are doing the feasibility study in fact he tal we talked about that he's um wanting to see it which I sent it to him. so he knows what we're moving towards right now. They are not telling us, they're not doing a directive that says recycled water. They are not doing a directive except to maintain the monitoring that we're doing now and staying at those constituents that we need to stay at. My request is that we don't move forward. Thank you. So, it's a lot to unpack and I understand that it's a lot to unpack unpack because not only am I a resident, but we're also paying rates as business owners here in Riverbank as well. So, I understand it in several other ways than just being a resident here. So, everyone asked for a feasibility study. Council asked for a feasibility study. Our constituents asked for a feasibility study. We approved it. Initially, it was presented to us that would be around $50,000. Ended up costing us $200,000 for the feasibility study. Additionally, it was in the feasibility study, we're exploring all options and connecting to Modesto was potentially an option, which I think we're continuing to explore that option. Correct. And in the presentation, it was said that Modesto

would pay for half. They're not paying for half. We're paying for the complete $200,000. The feasibility study, the point of the feasibility study is to explore every single avenue. $14 million with just the naked eye is what we could potentially save with the value engineering. Blackwater, they're a business. You can't call someone in four months and say, "Oh, by the way, we decided to change to value engineering. Let's just add that on." They're doing the work now. They've already started doing the work. They recommended in the meeting from my understanding with Vice Mayor FSY and council member Rebe, they recommended the value engineering to make sure we can explore all options in the feasibility study. Whether we save 14 million or we save 10 million, whether it's 12% or 10%, it is savings and that is what we're looking for. So, in my opinion, if we're going to get an accurate feasibility study, we need to explore all avenues. So, I'm curious what the public has to say. Obviously, I want to hear it, but we're doing our best up here to deliver the things that you're asking for. A feasibility study was asked for. We're delivering it. Value engineering came up four months ago, I would say, in a meeting. The public asked for it. we're delivering that. So, we're trying to do what you're asking us to do. So, I really I want to understand why now it has changed also. So, maybe we can get some more input on that as well.

I agree. I agree with Vice Mayor and call. We're trying to see what's best for the citizens. And when I hear about seniors choosing between utilities and medication, that's not what they come to, you know, for Riverbank to live. And but we have to look at the entire picture and see what's best for the city of Riverbank. We might have to spend some money, but yeah, we have to do it wisely. So, we are taking this into consideration and we hear your concerns. Thank you. Um I I think there's a a fundamental misunderstanding or or just different perspectives on what the feasibility study was meant to be because personally uh to me it felt it was exploring different options outside of the current project. Um and now the conversations are kind of going towards including it as part of um as part of the op or as part of the options where originally for me it's it's where the plan as of this point uh but we have to explore different options. So to me they're separate um and not not one and the same in terms of what the RFP or the request for proposals was asking for. Um that being said, as I'm looking at the value engineering, I am would be more inclined to approving option A for the value engineering itself because we're not at the construction period yet. Um, and with that being so dynamic in terms of cost, it feels like it would be more appropriate should this project move forward that we're assessing that closer to an actual um beginning groundbreaking. So again, to me, it's separate from the RFP, from the options that we're assessing, and yet the value engineering I feel like would be um beneficial, but not the construction piece of it at this point.

Um, did you want to add something? I would love to just get some more clarity as far as if we were to delay if we were hypothetically to approve option A and then delay an option B, what would that kind of look like? Uh, I would have to take it up with KSN, but I'm sure that wouldn't be an issue because it is basically an ad alternative to the scope itself. So, um, you can have option A without option B. That is that is totally within your realm of choice. Uh we will move to public comment. Come back to councel. Um yeah,

we do have uh public comment in the chamber from Mr. Rich Homer. And I want to remind our audience there's a ton of uh varying opinions in here and uh we want to be really respectful of every single one of them. So if we could refrain from applause at this time, I would really appreciate that. It would help the flow of our conversation. I always like applause. Um, you know, first of all, you hired Blackwater to do the feasibility state. You didn't hire them to do that. Now you want to spend $300,000 more or something around that, which to me is a cart before the horse. And what we have here, and I I talked to Louise about this, is it's called the sunk cost fallacy. And and and what you do is you hire all these um folks who are sort of experts in their field and you start throwing good money at them and you after a while you're pouring bad money and you're um throwing good money after bad money. You're you're it's a the sunk fallacy occurs when a person or group decides to continue action because of the prior costs even when the present and future costs exceed the benefits. And that's what you're doing here. You're you're giving these if if Blackwater couldn't do the tertiary, why did you hire them and take a look at it? Why did you hire them that? They should be able to to look at that along with everything else. You'll have this another consultant here, another consultant there. How many consultants do you need to do this? You hired somebody to do this. And by approving this $300,000 until the feasibility

study is done is complete example of how this fallacy of the sunk cost fallacy works. Um, and I am against this what I consider to be a very irrational decision. You've got your consultant. Now, you want to have two more consultants and you don't know what type of plan it's going to be. You know, if you did if if if Blackwater can't provide that, then why are you hiring two more consultants to do this? It makes absolutely no logical, practical sense to me. And you're talking to people whose um rates are being raised. Uh they're going to be raised for the next couple years as I know and what comes after that. So I think you need to hold off on these until Blackwater has our study. Then maybe you need these folks to come in and do something. But Blackwater should cover that without their assistance. If not, why did you hire them? Thank you,

Mr. Michael Christie.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. Um, my first question would be for Mr. Bridgewwater, if it's okay to for the council to ask him, is with all this recent rain we've had, probably 10 inches since since October to now, um, how the plant is doing currently with with how the capacity is. Um, and I don't know if that's appropriate to discuss that tonight. And then the second thing is, um, does the council and the city manager continue to go to Sacramento and look for any kind of assistance? I mean, for Christ's sakes, they just had a $250 million ele special election. We can't even get a million dollars of help from them. I mean, do do we call Sacramento? Is any do we can have we been doing that? Do we ask for help up there? I mean, you know, the $250 million election and we can't get a million dollars from him or something. I mean, I spend $7,000 a year to rent my house from the state of California. I want to be able to flush my toilet and in the middle of the night or when I get home from work, okay? I want police protection. Okay? I'm tired of going to a damn ATM machine and getting harassed at nine o'clock on a Monday morning, broad daylight in a busy street. I get harassed when I do my banking. Okay? Again, I'm spending $7,000 a year for one house. Okay? I go to Nevada, my home's up there, $2, $3,000 for the same size homes, and I don't have to worry about this. Utilities are half the price. Okay? So, I just want to make sure that we're talking to people in Sacramento, and we're putting pressure on them. And maybe a group of us from here need to go to Sacramento and, you know, make a case. Thank you,

Mr. Diego Hernandez,

the same company that gave us an estimate. Let's take a look at the estimate. It's dated um September the 8th of 2022 with the construction midpoint day of August, excuse me, July 18th, 2025. Timelines don't matter. We blew through the timeline a long time ago. Also, looking at this with the 15% contingency, the total estimated project cost was $90 million. These are the same people you guys want to hire and pay more money to go back and try to save their skin because the project's not working out and they failed to find the funding. We're not going to waste money on that. Cindy's right. Why would waste money just like Richard Homer said, why would we continue throwing good money after bad money for a failing project? Also, any additional funds that you guys are putting toward this project, let's assume that they save the 14 million and the project cost from 136 million goes down to 122 million. Right? Don't forget he added for the first time a grant that may be eligible for 15 million. He didn't do that before. Only reason he's adding it on now is because when Eric Heglesen with Brown and Caldwell did the rate study, excuse me, Bord Wells and Associates, when they tried to do the rate study to find a way to pay for it, they added 6% for four additional years. That would take the rates from the original projection of $109, let's say $110 to $150. That is as of mo most recently as of September of 2025. That is the most recent information that the city has in their possession as what it would take to pay for the project. Maybe. And the reason that I say maybe is because I had a conversation with Eric and I spoke to him and I requested that the city ask for the tables, ask for the computational tables to make sure that it makes sense. On the original rate study when the bill was 88 million, there was two additional rate

increases beyond the five years. You guys are aware of that, right? 4% and 3%. After the 3% increase, the this is called debt service coverage ratio. This is basically where you're barely covering the cost. The limit for bonds is 1.25%. Barely. I'm a lender. I'm a broker. I can't lend anything lower than that. the city with the two additional increases that with the projection at 88 million was 1.34 meaning he was barely skimping barely barely finding a way to make it work even at the onset when they presented this in September 2022 now with the price increase going up to 136 we had a phone conversation he says uh I think it's about 1.4 four with the 6%. So, we can't even pay for the project with the 6%. We're barely skimping by. So, what did I do? I pulled up Bartle Wells and Associates, their rate studies from any other city. I didn't find anything below 2%. I think I found one at 1.78 for one year. Do you know how I guess my time's up. It It's not feasible either,

Mayor. That is all the comment we have for cards in the chamber on this item. We do have one on Zoom. Miss Ares, can you please unmute? Yes. Are you able to hear me now? Yes, please go ahead.

Thank you. I'm still confused about why it would take not one but two consultants to do this value engineering portion of the project. And I also am confused as to why this can't be put off until after the feasibility study is underway and you are in a position to start narrowing down which um alternative makes the most sense for the city and the rate payers. And if you are at that point looking at a lower cost option, it might be so much significantly lower that it won't matter if you can save 14 million. That sounds like a lot, but that's only 10% of the nearly $140 million um top-of-the-line expansion project that you ultim you originally considered. Thank you. Thank you. U mayor, that is all we have for public comment on this item.

I'll bring it back to council and to um answer this last comment going backwards. Um they're not related so decisions can be made tonight. Um and then based I'm just going to put it simply because I'm not the expert here. Um, Euing is the construction value engineering. Um, and then, uh, what and then the former consultants are for the architecture and design. Is that correct?

So, KSN is the city's wastewater consulting engineer that we have on staff. They will be facilitating the entirety of the value engineering phase of the project. and then Uing construction services is sub a subconsultant to KSN for the construction portion of this. So their their expertise comes into the actual building of the facility where costs can be located there that can be saved. Like I said an example of moving structures from one area to the other, changing this pipe size, changing this depth, things of that nature.

Thank you. Um, any further conversation with our council?

I just want to clarify a couple things. Um, the feasibility study was originally sent out with prevailing wage. I would like to have gone it back out where it didn't have prevailing wage. Um, as a member of council, we approved going forward with the existing one, which is why the cost was higher. Um when that was received um it was a discussion with the city and they decided at that point not to talk with Modesto to share those costs which is our prerogative. Um and also I just wanted to clarify for Michael the consultant that we currently have doing this project even though he's at 60% he is still looking for monies. I mean that he doesn't stop. um anytime they see monies available, I'm sure he's talking with the city and making sure can we do this? Can we do this? Is this rebate? Is this So, they're always looking because it's in their benefit to find money for us. So, I just wanted to let you know that. Okay. Thank you.

Other comments? Sorry, mayor. We just had a comment pop up on Zoom. I don't know if we have a delay or if they just realized I don't know if you want to take it. Um, yeah, we can take it. You're right. There may be a delay online. Well, the phone number ending in 3108, please unmute. Phone number ending in 3108. Can you please unmute?

Hello. Yes, please go ahead. Yes, go ahead. Yeah, I just have one quick question. Given and I've asked this question several times at different ones. I've never got a straight answer. Given that these fees that we're paying on our on for the sewer water for the sewer for this thing, it's prop 218 and Prop 218 says that they have to be property related. Can somebody please tell me how all this stuff was raising of these rates that you're putting over here for this two-stated proper to our properties? Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Homer. Uh so the rates are related to the utility that services the property and this uh treatment plant would be part of that utility system. So it those funds would be available for this

you um all right. Um I I mean I will say like I mentioned before that my uh intention personally with the RFP was to look beyond the existing project. Um, and so if my memory serves me correctly, my intention was also not to make decisions around this project until we had the RF or the, uh, response to the RFP in hand. Um, what is the timeline right now? Again, I know we ask every meeting.

So, um, as mentioned earlier, um, this was a discussion as part of our kickoff meeting. So their intent is that in March, April, that time frame, we would bring forward sort of a full scope um high-level evaluation of every single potential option that there may be. From there, council will have an opportunity to workshop that and we'll sort of refine that list down to those that are the most feasible and then those will kind of move on to a second phase evaluation. So part of this um project in reviewing every single option um did include the recycled water project. So the RFP that went out um for the consultants to reply to did include this specific project as one of the options that would be evaluated.

Thank you for the clarification. Um any other comments or questions from council at this time? So we're doing a workshop in March and then the value engineering will be ready should it move forward when? Uh March, April.

So those are around the same time. So how does this evaluation fit into the Blackwater feasibility study if we're doing a workshop to review those at the same time frame? So the work can be completed simultaneously as Cody mentioned earlier. um they would be part of those discussions that would be held with regards to the value engineering. So they'll already have information in advance of the potential savings that are going to be looked at. Um and that obviously would be refined if we were to move forward with the probable cost. If not, then it's the highlevel evaluation that they would take into consideration for that refined scope. Um there's no further discussion and we have uh a few options. Um the the staff recommendation um I'm highly considering moving forward with option A and not B at this time. Um but at the same time I think you brought up a valid point that the the timelines don't seem to align but uh and and yeah looking at in general having some uh forwardlooking cost savings I think we can get a a semi clear picture at this point of where we would move with the options in hand and um the project that exists now. So, um, it open for more discussion or a motion.

I make a motion that we don't approve at this time. And I'll second. Can we get roll call? Council member Rebea? No. Council member Pimentel? No. Council member Call? No. Vice Mayor FSY? Yes, Mayor Hernandez. Yes. Motion fails 32. Thank you. Um, we are going to move to item 10.2, resolution to approve a contract change order for value. Sorry, a further motion can be made on that item. Just kidding. All right.

So, I will make a motion to approve 10.1 with option A. Second. Roll call, please. Council member Rebe, yes. Council member Pantel, yes. Council member Claw, yes. Vice Mayor FSY, no. Mayor Hernandez, yes. Motion passes 401. Thank you. Okay. Now 10.2, Two, a resolution to approve a contract change order for value engineering for the regional recycled water project phase one for Brown and Caldwell and authorize a budget appropriation in the amount of 138475 from sewer fund 106.

Mayor, members of the council, uh this is in relation to item 10.1. This is for Brown and Caldwell's portion of the value engineering phase. Again, Brown and Caldwell is our design engineer who has facilitated us through the 60% design of the project so far. So in 2024, council approved the 60% design phase for the facility. And now that that is complete, staff is looking to continue progress with value engineering. With the concern of the total project cost being approximately 136 million, it's vital for us to look at the possibility of eliminating some costs while still being being able to meet our goal of producing highquality recycled water for the purpose of resale. This process will help determine a final project that can be evaluated as part of the wastewater treatment plant expansion feasibility study. Brown and Caldwell submitted the proposal at a cost of $138,475 to begin value engineering. And in an effort to reduce overall cost, save design time, and avoid the massive redesign due to value engineering at the 90% level, staff is proposing to perform the VE phase. Now, and again, this these are just uh some very quick highle modifications that can be made to the existing project that would net a savings of approximately 14 million. So Brown and Caldwell's scope of work would be prepare and maintain the VE decision log. uh quality assurance and quality control review of the 60% design as related to the VE study. bi-weekly coordination meetings based on VE decisions and design support. Internal VE brainstorming session in preparation for VE study and workshops and then VE

workshop attendance and coordinate and address comments with the VE team and incorporate them into the design evaluating design justifications and estimation of the viability of the suggested changes. So here is a value engineering scope comparison from the 90% design that was brought forth in September of 2025 and the VE proposal that was presented in December of 2025. So you have an initial 90% design. They had a price of 62,49 and the VE proposal was 138,475. You can see their total hours did increase. You had 48 for the VE workshop on both proposals. The VE prep study and review went from 144 hours to 260 hours. The VE workshop stayed at 16 hours a piece. And then response to 60% comments that this was not included in the VE task in the initial 90% design. Uh but we have that here at 56 hours and project management team coordination for VE support. uh we have that at 66 hours. So some key differences in the scope is the original 90% design incorporated project management into the project management phase and would have addressed 60% comments as part of the 90% design progression phase. But for the veon only proposal, these were added as standalone tasks. Value engineering support in 90% design proposal was more focused to honor limited value engineering effort that could evaluate highle VE concepts that were previously identified in the scope which were the items that were presented in the slide previous and then would progress to 90% design. So for the veon only proposal, Brown and Caldwell bolstered the hours for the VE review to include more time to engage senior Brown

and Caldwell experts and also allow more time for key disciplines to collaborate to review VE concepts which include civil structural electrical process engineers and cost estimators. And due to the unknown v natur nature of the ve concept and evaluation that may be requested by KSN Brown and Caldwell will only use what is needed to support the process on a time and materials basis. So this is a not to exceed number. So whatever hours they accumulate they will bill for but it will not exceed the 138,475. The cost element of this portion of the project is $138,475. It would be appropriated from the city sewer fund 106. And it should be noted that this scope fee is presented as a time and materialsbased fee, which means that should all of the hours proposed not be needed, the total will be less than the proposed. These funds have been collected via the five-year sewer rates implemented by council in 2022. And I also have Mike Harrison with Brown and Caldwell who has been the lead engineer on the project. He is on Zoom if you have any questions for him that he may be able to ask or answer for for you. So staff's recommendation is that the city council approve the contract change order for value engineering for the regional recycled water project phase one to Brown and Caldwell and authorize a budget appropriation in the amount of $138,475 from sewer fund 106. And I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

You uh council any comments or discussion? None. We will go to public comment. Mr. Diego Hernandez

by agreeing to advance more monies to KSM and Euing. You guys have just signed on for more rate hikes. So you guys should let the public know that that's what you guys signed on. John, Stacy, and Luis, you guys signed on today, continuing to advance the project for more rate hikes because we can't pay for it. Even if they save $14 million, they're still going to have to continue to raise the rates. And that's what they just signed on for today. You, too, Rachel, you should have held fast. You should have voted no, but you didn't. So, you guys just signed on for to raise the rates. When are you guys going to let the public know that you guys they're anticipating more rate hikes? And when are you guys going to request more calculations from Bartle Walls and Associates so they can confirm the figures that they proposed in September of 2025? When are you guys going to propose those? The payroll for the sewer fund has already increased 300% in three years. I've already discussed this with some of the members here on council. It went from seven employee IDs to 32 employee IDs. The expenditures went from 4.2 2 million total and then now we're spending 6.8 million as of the last actual figures on the sewer. Cody can tell you that the influent flows have remained consistent during this time at 1.65. At one of the budget meetings when Tammy got up here, he said, "Oh, well, uh, and we may be considering adding another waste waste operator in training." Immediately, Luis, you got up here and you're like, "Okay, I'll approve that. I'll approve that." You remember that? You got up there and you approved it right on the bat. Cody wasn't even asking for it right away. You guys are so quick to spend money from the sewer fund without even auditing it to figure out where the money is going, how the money's being spent. Like that's crazy. How does payroll

salary go up 300%. I know how it goes up. It's utility rating. You guys are shifting employees out of different funds to the sewer enterprise so you can cover structural deficits. That's exactly what's been going on. And there's been structural deficits recorded for several years since 2023 on the sewer enterprise. That's shameful. Like we're going to go up toundred and what's the schedule? $110 and then as of the last and latest projection that they provided us, we're going to go up to $149. That's $150 per month. That's $300 every two months. Do you guys know what the city of Ripen is paying? The city of Ripen is paying $26.20 per month. Each bimonthly bill that we make as a Riverbank Riverbank resident, we're going to be paying the amount that a riponite would pay for the entire year. That's how bad this is. It's just it's malfeasants at this point. and you guys voted to advance the project further knowing full well that you guys are going to have to continue raising the rates. Richard was right. It's a sunk cost fallacy. You guys just can't let it go. There's interest. People told me Stacy has interest with Richard. She's going to vote for the project and she's going to vote for the Riverwalk. Somebody actually called me to vote for you and they said, "Hey, vote for Stacy." And we had a conversation.

Diego, if you could keep your comment related to the item. It's first amendment. Right. That's just disrespectful what you guys are doing. What you guys are doing right now. You guys are going to be raising the rates again. Thank you. Um, and that is all we have for uh comment cards on this item. I don't know if there's anyone on Zoom. If there's a delay,

I would just like to make a comment, just a general comment. What we decide today, whether I vote for or not, comes out of the wastewater fund. and it's funds that have already been collected that does not approve the project as it stands now. It simply allows us to explore and do the feasibility study. Once the feasibility study is done and we have our workshop and we discuss it is when we will be talking about what we're going to spend. But please don't make assumptions that what we just approved or they just approved, I just approved is not going to change your rates right now. The rates will not be changing until we have a final project. We're months away from that. Okay. Just want to make sure everybody understands that. Thank you.

Thank you. I was going to add a comment to that effect. And um with this item, Cody, if I can bring you back. Um, could you explain to me like I'm five years old what the difference is between this item and the previous item?

So, Brown and Caldwell is our design engineer. They're the ones that have brought it from 15% to 60%. They're the ones that will be making the actual changes to the project that are found by both KSN and ECS. So Brown and Caldwell's portion of this project is we will all get together and discuss, okay, we want to say remove a secondary clarifier. Okay, Brown and Caldwell, what does that do to design? Okay, where we're going to have to shift piping this way. Yeah, we can make a cost element savings there of approximately say $4 million, but you might have a small increase here because you're going to have to increase piping to this area. So what they will do is they will take the information from the VE workshops and put that into the design so that we know what the project looks like.

And are you referring to multiple design options? Right. So secondary and tertiary or is it just the recycle water?

The the difference between second secondary and tertiary is you can have a secondary plant and add one process on the back end and that makes it a tertiary plant. So it it's the level of treatment that takes place through the plant. So primary treatment is typically sedimentation. Um you'll go through the headworks, you'll remove solids that aren't supposed to be there, whether it's eggshells, rags, you know, we have a really big issue nowadays with quote unquote flushable wipes. So that stuff is removed so that it doesn't get further into the process. Then it goes into the secondary process. The secondary process is where the biological treatment takes place. That's where the actual removal of the fecal matter and the urine, those wastes take place, right? And so after the secondary treatment, which is the biological process, a tertiary treatment system will typically have filtration that removes any fine suspended material that's in the water and then moves it through disinfection that presents. And the disinfection allows us to do multiple things with the water after it's treated. whether we're going to send it to the river, whether we're going to, you know, land apply it, whether we're going to use it for irrigation, we're going to sell it for, you know, crop irrigation, we're going to use it in Jacob Meyer Park for irrigation for the grass, whatever the case may be. So, that tertiary portion of the project, you can have a whole facility like the facility we have now, you can cut the tertiary portion off of that and have a secondary treatment treatment plant that's already basically designed It feels like um are there any other comments?

Two things are true. Flushable wipes are not flushable. And um we I think based on all the comments we've made like we're we've taken a slight pause if for lack of a better term on moving forward with the regional recycled water project to be able to look at uh different options. I mean including the value engineering that was just approved. Um it feels like for me this this portion does not need to move forward either. Um along with the euing uh construction portion and so um I'm just I'm going to go ahead and make a motion to not approve the item uh at this time until we receive the response from the feasibility study. Um

that's my motion. I second. Roll call, please. Council member. Yes. Council member Pimentel. Yes. Council member Call. Yes. Vice Mayor FSY. Yes. Mayor Hernandez. Yes. Motion passes 5-0. All right. Thank you very much.

Right. Um public hearing. So we have item 11.1 first reading by title only and introduction of a proposed ordinance amending chapters 150 building regulations and 157 water efficient landscape and irrigation of title 50. What is that? Roman numeral Gen Z. Um, land usage by amending and adopting by reference the 2025 edition of the California Building Standards Code, California Code of Regulations, Title 24, parts 12, 2.53 through 6, 8, 10, 11, and 12, including identified appendices.

Uh, thank you. Good evening, mayor, members of city council. Joshua Man, director of community plan, uh, community development. Uh, as the mayor mentioned, tonight's item 11.1, it's the adoption of the 2025 California building standards code. Wanted to go through a quick background. The, um, about how we got here tonight. So, the building standard codes, uh, sometimes referred to as just the California building codes, are laws governing the construction of residential and non-residential structures throughout the entire state of California. These codes are generally updated every three years. And that that's where we are tonight. Um the state agency that's responsible for kind of maintaining these codes and standards is the California Building Standards Commission or the CBSC. Um in terms of the code adoption process, the CBSC adopted these 2025 codes on or around um January 1 of last year. These codes are then published um by the 1 of July and then the codes um would take effect 180 days after that or on or before or on January 1st, 2026. The city is then mandated by state law to adopt these codes. Now, the city does have an alternative to amend these codes for specific local issues. They're unique to um the particular jurisdiction. um Riverbank, although is not proposing any local amendments. Tonight, I wanted to walk through the code adoption process real quick. So, the public hearing held at tonight will be to consider a city-wide ordinance for the adoption of these codes. Our department will then file the signed ordinance with the CBSC and then the adopted codes become

effective. I just wanted to also point out that all projects that were submitted prior to January 1st of this year are subject to the previous adopted codes. Um, all new projects that are submitted after the first of the year are now subject to these new building codes. Um, real quickly, I wanted to go through um some of the major changes that we'll see in the 2025 codes. Um, these include updates to the Wildland urban interface area. Um they also include um additional um restrictions and requirements of heat pump systems. Um EV infrastructures further expanded. Um there's also some um changes to the building envelope and indoor indoor air quality um requirements and these mainly hit on the insulation and performance standards of the building itself. Um there's additional um items that have been added for accessibility and sustainability.

Josh, just out of curiosity, how are they enhancing the insulation?

So, some of it has to do with the solar requirements and how the building is reviewed in in terms of like energy efficiency. So um different um I I want to say different techniques or methods of insulation are now recognized within there. Um one other thing I wanted to point out is AB130 um and how this plays into the building code update. So AB130 was effective June 30th of last year. Um what this uh how this plays into the building codes is it had some requirements that the building code would freeze um for residential construction until the 2031 um code update. The the other parts that it hits on is uh it limits local amendments to building codes, although as I mentioned, we're not proposing any local amendments. And then it also hits on the model home rule. This would be for new home builders. Um it basically states that approved building plans for a model home remain valid for a period of 10 years. And then what this means for Riverbank tonight um is that as I mentioned again is that the city is required by state law to adopt these 2025 building uh building codes. Most changes are statewide mandates. They're not typically local policy choices. And then also adoption ensures that Riverbank remains compliant and able to issue building permits. Um, and while I bring this item tonight, I just for transparency, I wanted to mention one thing that I noticed when I started here about a year and a half ago, and that is our building permit valuation table um had not been updated, I believe, since 2015. So, just to um this is typically an administrative process that the building official handles. Um but as I brought this item

tonight, I just wanted to be transparent and mentioned that we will be updating our permit valuation table. And this is a valuation table that's could be updated semianually. The IC who issues the valuation table does provide semianual updates. Um, again, I just wanted to clarify that this is an administrative act. It's not going to create any new fees and then permit fees are still subject to city council approval by resolution. And in terms of SQA, the adoption of the 2025 codes is considered SQA exempt based on the common sense exemption. And then um as outlined in the staff report, uh staff recommends that the city council introduce and pass to a second reading an ordinance amending chapters 150 and 157 of title 15 of the Riverbank Municipal Code to adopt by reference the 2020 2025 edition of the California Building Standards Code. That concludes my presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you very much. Um, any comments or questions from council? All right, this we're going to open up for a public hearing. Any public comment? Any online? Mayor, we did not receive any public comment cards on this item. And there is no one on Zoom wishing to speak. All right, we are going to close public comment and bring it back to council for consideration or discussion. Motion. So, I'll make a motion. Go for it. I'll make a motion to approve item 11.1. I second. Roll call, please. Council member, yes. Council member Pimement,

yes. Council member Call, yes. Vice Mayor FSY, yes. Mayor Hernandez, yes. Motion passes 50 for the first reading. you. We have item 12.1, a resolution approving the adoption of the pension pension stabilization trust participation and member agreements with benefit trust company Inc. and the chairman of the board of authority. Mayor and councel, our assistant city manager, Tamiel Cantor, will provide this report.

Good evening, mayor and councel. Um, tonight I am bringing back an item that has long been spoken of um, uh, regarding our pension stabil uh, sustainability plan. So um, tonight joining us on Zoom via Zoom is Mike Meyers with NHA Advisors, uh, Rosalyn Washington with Keenan Financial Services and Scott Ranken with Benefit Trust. Um, so I will give you a little bit of background. Um, the city's current unfunded acred liability regarding our pension funds is a 10.2 million as of the fiscal year 2024. So that is based on the most recent actuarial valuation by Cal PERS. Um and for 2024 25 investment returns um were 12.1% which is a a nice note to have on our pension fund and it may reduce our ye um unfunded um acred liability um potentially up to maybe 1.5 million. A comprehensive CalPERS presentation was presented to the city council at our meeting on May 27th of 2025. Um there were several cost management strategies were discussed and analyzed and then council did give guidance um and provided um direction to establish a section 115 trust to mitigate rapidly rising unfunded acred liability payments. So, the city evaluated several section 115 trust options and we are currently recommending utilizing Kenan. Tonight's approval would allow city staff to move forward with the creation of the trust

and investment um asset of assets and um based on prior approval from the council the initial investment would be a 1.5 million. So the benefits of a section 115 trust um is a separate trust solely decided dedicated to pension funding. So when we set these monies aside they can only be used to fund our pension pay our um unfunded liabilities. Um funding the funds can be leveraged in a variety of ways to address rising pension costs. We can smooth out peak and payments. So when there is a drop in our um investment returns with CalPERS, our um UAL payments can go up. We can use these funds to keep that payment level um and not having to dip into additional reserves with the city. Um we can accelerate our UAL payown by paying extra to helpers. Um, and we can use this to help make a normal cost UAL payment in case cases where we might have some extreme budget pressures. So, if we have um some tight economy and making that full U payment is going to be a burden on our budget, we could potentially decide to use these funds. Um, and then while we keep these funds in there, they are in investment accounts, so they have the potential to grow over time. So during our evaluation process, we evaluated three section three of the section 115 trust providers um interviewed um they were interviewed as part of a part of a comprehensive eval evaluation process. The three were Kalpers, Keenan, and Pars. Each of the

selected candidates are considered highly qualified and experienced in managing public agency trust. The evaluation included detailed reviews of provider qualifications, their fee structures, their investment options, and historical returns and their management teams. In addition to these re res results, interviews were conducted to assess the approach, responsiveness, and ability to meet the city's long-term objectives. Key variables examined were cost competitiveness, portfolio diversity, risk adjustment performance, and experience with similarsized agencies. So our recommendation is to move forward with Kenan. Um they had the strongest investment returns over a 53 and one-year period. They had the second lowest fee structure um when compared to PARS and CalPERS and they had the most investment options. So they have eight portfolio options um that also included active management or index. Keenan does partner with benefit trust who would be the trustee of the funds and Greystone consulting consulting who would be the investment advisor. So the documents being approved tonight is a resolution our participation agreement and then a member agreement. Um and the resolution would give authorization authorization for staff to move forward with establishing the trust. I am available or our consultants are available for any questions you might have you. [clears throat] Are there any questions or comments from council? Any public comment?

Mayor, we did not receive any comment cards for this item and there is no one on Zoom wishing to speak. Bring it back to councel. I make a motion that we approve item 12.1 and I'll second it. A roll call, please. Council member, yes. Council member Pimementel, yes. Council member Call, yes. Council me Vice Mayor Fley, yes. Mayor Hernandez, yes. Motion passes 5-0. Thank you, council. And thank you to our consultants online.

Item 12.2, nomination and appointment of the vice mayor to serve for the year 2026, which I'll just take. Okay. So, you're introducing me or something. All right. Um, for those that don't know, um, there is an ability for the vice mayor to rotate every year. Um, and and that is appointed by me. Um, there's many considerations around this and um prior administrations made them for uh various reasons I think are weren't true and and I say this respectfully true to the way that we want to function cohesively as a council and so um my recommendation tonight is to uh appoint council member Pimentel as my vice mayor um so that we can continue to foster relationship. Um, you are newer to the council and I want to be able to place that trust in you so that we can work together and grow, you know, your skills and our skills as a council as a whole. And um, I would love for you to serve in that capacity. So, I would like to nominate council member Pimentel and if there's any discussion with council or questions.

No questions. Congratulations to John. We're not making a motion on this one. Correct. We are making a motion. Okay. So, is does that count as a motion or do I make So, I'll make a motion to appoint John Pimement as vice mayor. Second. Roll call, please. Council member, yes. Council member Cindy Fy, yes. Council member Call, yes. Vice member, yes. Mayor Hernandez, yes. Motion passes 5 to a point. An awkward one. Thank you. Yeah, I was. Sorry.

Um All right. So, congratulations. I'm excited and and I know we're all super excited um to move forward this year. So, item 12.3, adjustments to the 2026 council meeting schedule. Mayor, Council, um, for tonight, we have the annual consideration of adjustments to our regular city council meeting schedule. As you can see up on the screens and in front of you, I printed out a calendar of what our regular council meetings look like. They are the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. They are signified by a red star. And then our holidays are in blue. Not all holidays are up here in blue, but the ones close to our meetings. And then the proposed canceled meetings are in a magenta circle with the X. Um so uh every year we consider uh adjusting the meetings in the summer to help with um summer schedules and vacations. They also do um help with uh election year. This is an election year for district 1 and district 3. So, um the July and the August meetings that we're proposing to council do help with um allowing for that nomination period for for myself. Um this year we are proposing that the May 26 meeting be cancelled just because it falls right after Memorial Day. Um, we know it's a kickoff to the summer and we're not sure if some of you council members would like to schedule summer vacations or want to go off somewhere um and not having to prepare for a meeting, right? Um, we also have the November meeting, cancelled the second one just because it falls in that week of Thanksgiving and then the second meeting in December for uh Christmas holiday vacations. Um, those are the proposals that we have. Um

if there's any discussion or any changes that want to be made um we can discuss. Thank you. Council comments and question.

So as a mom uh my schedule coordinates with my child and for me personally July and August July definitely makes sense. It's middle of summer. Kids are back in school by August 11th. So that date doesn't make sense for me personally to miss that. And then that last week of school is still going on, end of May. So that doesn't for me personally that date isn't really a game changer for me either. Um so I would like to see spring break off to be able to take my son somewhere for spring break. Um, so March 24th, I would like to council to consider us missing that meeting and replacing basically coming back May or August. And it would also break up some of the time and not have two months in a row, July, August if we did pick the August date. But I would like that consideration.

You any other council comments or questions? So, I know we typically will cancel about four. That's typically how we've done it. Um, so for the May 26, I I I don't see a valid reason to cancel it because September, we're we're doing the exact same thing there for the 7th and then the following day, we're having a council meeting there. So, I don't um I don't know if we need to cancel May 26th. Um um I I am okay with the July, the August, obviously the November, the December. I'm good with um March. If we delayed the the Marches, uh Council Member Call, uh how heavy would it be because that's kind of the timeline of some of the stuff we kind of approved today. The 30% for Blackwater, how heavy are we looking for April

at this I mean it's kind of kind of speculative, but just an idea. Yeah. Same as when we cancel the July and the August, it just rolls over to the next meeting. So scheduling wise, that actually helps us to be able to make sure that we're scheduling it at an appropriate time versus planning for it on one date and then it turns out that we're cancelling it. Um so it would be just like any other agenda item.

Okay. So so I'll be I'm comfortable not cancelling May 26th, uh cancelling August 11th, November 24th, and December 22nd, July 14th. I'm good either way. If the majority of the council wants to uh help out council member McCall here with her uh her vacation, I'm I'm for it as well. I know we need uh time away as well too. Some breaks are are are nice as well. So throwing in a march I'm okay with.

Um I'd agree with the May one um for sure. Um, I think we're seeing today is a little heavy because we've been we've had the November December meetings council, but um, yeah, I'd be open I'd be open to it as well and to to help a friend out, but um, I'd be I'd be a little worried about the the present we'd set, you know, future councils and all of that to um make it difficult to to weigh these items. But, I mean, that's why we're having the discussion on this. I um thinking of Gabby and staff

um think that the 26 should be canceled because Memorial Day weekend is typically a very long weekend and that's pretty close to the meeting that we have the two weeks before. So I can understand that one. Um however August 11th I don't see a problem can I I think we should be here for that one. Uh and I'm okay with March 24th. Uh could you give us the justification for the August one because I know I mean that's you'd be busy.

That one would be the one we would prefer to handle for the summer schedule because that is the closest to the closure of the nomination period for district 1 and district 3 candidates. Um as a reminder because we do have the initiative on the ballot this year, ballots will have to go out to all of the districts. Um, so even if we were to only get one um, candidate, we would still have to send out ballots. So there's still that work that um, the city clerk would have to do. Um, so we would prefer to cancel the August. And if we needed to hold the July, we are perfectly fine with that one. Just an FYI, I I might have a problem with July 14th because I'm looking at going overseas, but if I have to miss meeting, I'm missing.

So, if I can chime in, the May 26th was only suggested suggested just because again, we weren't sure if council wanted to plan vacations or take time off or they were going to be o away. Um, for me the July 14th meeting and the August would help tremendously with elections just because nomination period starts July that week of July and it ends that week in August. So those two meetings having them cancel both would help. If we need to keep one, I would prefer that we keep July um and we cancel August.

Okay. Um, what if we don't cancel May 26th and add March 24th, but keep July and August, November, and December? Well, so you just I I'm okay with cancelling May 26th,

noting May, the swapping March and May date. Yes. Yeah, that would for me. Cancelled. canceled. Correct. Okay. So, we're swapping March 25th with 24th with May 26.

You need a formal motion. Yes. So, I'll make a motion to approve 12.3 with the adjustments of swapping uh May 26 with March 24th. I'll second. Roll call, please. Okay, bear with me. It's my first roll call with the new vice mayor. Council member, yes. Council member Puffy, yes. Council member Call, yes. Vice Mayor Pimementel, yes. Mayor Hernandez, yes.

Motion passes 50. Thank you. Item, lost myself here. 12.4. Annual consideration of city council appointments to intergovernmental boards and committees and appointments to inter internal city committees for the year 2026. City clerk will provide this report.

It's our annual review of inter intergovernmental committees and boards and I still can't say it. Um this is the uh the last time we adopted this list was on January 14, 2025. Um when last year we had nine intergovernmental committees. Um as you saw in my staff report, I recommended that we remove two. Um the friends of Jacob Myers Park is no longer a committee. Yeah. Um and then we have three internal city committees because we added um one. So, um, like we did last year, if you're okay with that, if we want to go one one by one on the committees, um, and if anyone wants to volunteer to be primary and alternate, um, we can just have discussion on who would like to take those roles. Um, the slides you're going to have um, come up are the ones that we have currently um, in those positions. And I think it'd be great to have just a small opportunity to quickly give an update on those of us who sit on the different um committees as well as you introduce them.

Yeah, that would work. Okay. Um, so the first one we have is the League of California City Central Valley Division Executive Committee. We currently have Council Member Call and Council Member Luis as the primary and alternate. Um, the new meeting dates for this year. Um, they've already set those. Um, they're up on red. Um, and then they have the annual conference as well up there. Um, I don't know if member call wants to go over a little bit about this committee. So, I enjoy this committee because it's a very collaborative committee. You're at tables with other mayors, council members, city staff, and other jurisdictions. So, I enjoy the committee. I'm not partial to it by any means. So if someone else wants to sit as the primary, I'm completely open to it. Uh but however, if I am chosen to be the primary still, I have no problem with it.

Kind of the same uh same kind of comments as Council Member Call. Um I I've been on subcommittees uh and we're newly forming a veterans committee there uh through the League of California Cities that we're hoping to launch in about two years. Um there's an entire process that you have to qualify for. Um, so I would love to stay on as alternate or if somebody would really like to take that alternate seat, I'm I'm open for that, too.

And I think there uh for a lot of these committees, there's uh we came into all of this in a weird time period. So you had uh the former um director leaving, retiring, and now you have a new one. So I think and I I'm not sure she's been as active as uh I think our cities would like. And so I think it's a great opportunity to challenge her in our opportunity to bring her on board more. So I and I think I would support you continuing in that position to be able to do that. I'm completely fine with that.

Okay. So I have uh Council Member Claw as primary and council member Odiv as the alternate. Okay. And then for the Sanwaqin Valley Air Pollution uh control district, we have council member Odiva as the primary and council vice mayor Pimemental as the alternate. Uh so this committee meets once a year or as needed for kind of voting delegates. Um actually this this year around I believe uh council member Pimementel stepped in for me uh due to a work conflict. So, I don't know if you want to add anything as far as uh what was discussed there or who was who was voted in. Yeah,

actually it was very interesting, but I can't remember all the details and I would like to stay as alternate for another year. Yeah, I'd be willing to stay on as primary.

Absolutely. Thank you. Okay. So, I have council member and vice mayor uh Pimementel for Sanwaqin Valier. And then we have I don't think it's working again. Oh, there we go. Then we have uh Stanco Policy Board. We currently have Mayor Hernandez as a primary and council member Call as the alternate. Um I've been updating throughout the year on uh what's been going on with Stanco Cog and similarly it was an odd time to come into this policy board um from some uh very public grand jury proceedings um some turnover in executive le level staff um while keeping the work ongoing um has been very very time consuming very timeconuming Um, and so I wrote some notes down to remind myself to update you all on what's going on. Uh, at this point I am sitting as a chair of the ad hoc committee to find a new executive director. Uh, right now we had the interim who is doing a great job and moving work along and building the morale uh, internally of staff. Um, from what has happened over the last year. Um we uh have moved forward with I I spent about 10 hours in um interviews this last week to um interview a new executive director and we're moving forward with that. Um and I am currently sitting as a chair for two committees for Cal Cog which is the California um associate with all these acronyms saying yes council of governments um a chair as one of the internal committees as well that um meets monthly to work through some sustainability action plans with uh

planning departments of each city. Um, and let me see. I I feel firmly that I want to sit continue on the primary position in this role. Um, I feel proud to be able to have represented the city with pretty thoughtful and steady leadership uh through a very wild time this last year. And I think it's important I I also sit on the executive committee that um addresses the agendas ahead of the policy council as a whole. Um and so I want to continue in this work. Um there internally there's uh also elections that happen for chair and vice chair of Stanco and um we're uh we haven't had those discussions yet but it's it's seeming like we want to move forward with uh consistent leadership through this time to be able to support the staff internally and so um I would love to continue in this role and to expand upon the relationship that we have um council member call with the alternate position because it you have provided some valuable input um for that. And so um and as far as the staff here at the city goes, we're also um creating some uh some meeting structures for us to update each other on what's going on because uh there are a few departments that also sit in with uh the St Council of Government. So, there's been some very short-term emergency issues to deal with. Um, but looking forward to some long-term um planning with SANDCOG and that's what I should feel. So, yeah, I would love to continue to represent you.

I would agree with that just because it was a dumpster fire like Jane Media would say going into it um beginning of last year. So, And I don't think the work there can be done in just one year. That's definitely something that needs to roll over and I have no problem continuing as alternate. Okay. So we have Mayor Hernandez and Council Member Call for Stan Policy Board. And then we have Stan Sus Homeless Alliance Board. We currently have council member Call as the primary and we have our city manager as the alternate. As mentioned last year, their their bylaws changed and our city manager no longer um has to remain the alternate. It is up for council members to be able to sit on as alternates um now by for their bylaws. So, this committee is interesting. Uh it actually is very informative and it should not be discredited because there's a lot of work being done within our county when it comes to our unhoused populations. and you get an opportunity to hear some of the things that other cities are doing or wanting to do. So, I want to be very clear with that. However, I do not think that I should sit on it another year. I think this is a great opportunity for our vice mayor to join a committee or council member FSY to join a consistent committee. The meetings are every month. They do counsel around the holidays and one other during the summer, but I really it it gives you an opportunity to really see what we're doing at the Sierra House and other cities are starving for something like that and it gives you an opportunity to give that input as well and to just hear of monies becoming available for the county and how it can be dispersed

amongst cities because they did go over CBDG grants. and other grants that became available. So, it allowed me to open dialogue with Maricella when it came to how we were allocating those funds. And it just gives you an alternative understanding of how we're spending money. So, it is a great committee to be a part of. However, I don't want to sit on it again. Due to my work schedule, I couldn't be the primary, but I could be the alternate. Should [clears throat] the situation arise that you need to attend the meeting, would you be able to though?

No. In an emergency, yes. Um, what do you think? I don't have a problem being on the committee. The problem that I have is my intelligence level is like really really low as far as the homeless go. And so maybe the first couple meetings um council member call could go with me to kind of help me know what's understand what's Yeah. No. And honestly no history in this at all.

That's why it's great to join this committee because I was completely blinded to all of the uh housing that we had the private housing that we had. I really did not know the county had as many resources as it does. So that is actually exactly why you should join this committee because you will learn a substantial amount of things that we're doing in the county when it comes to the unsheltered population. So it it's very beneficial and educational and you really don't have to know anything going into it. So it's a good opportunity.

Well, that's good because I don't know. Basically, the meetings are structured as such that you have presentations from a variety of community organizations that offer services to our homeless um population. You have the county who does presentations, the city of Modesto um since they have their own funy, city of Churlock. Um, so you're getting a lot of information on all of the services being offered that you can then come back here and if there's ways for our Sierra House to be able to partner with them or to be able to find a way for the city itself to partner with them um to offer that here locally. It's extremely helpful. And then at the end uh we do kind of like a round table. It goes uh each of the cities is represented. So, you kind of get to share what you're doing in your city or as council member Call stated, uh, what you hope to be able to do. So, one of the pieces of information we always give to council member Call is how is Sarah House doing? So, all those statistics that she shares during council meetings, um, she would share during the Shaw as well. And so, we would provide that data to you.

Go ahead. And tomorrow's a meeting. Well, I do have a conflict tomorrow because I have an appointment at 5. It is downtown, but I don't think I'll be ready at 5:30. Are you gonna be the alternate first Wednesday? It's because of the holiday schedule, so they pushed it to the second or would our city manager, would you um mind sitting in there? I don't go tomorrow. I already had it calendared, but if you wanted to hear it after you're done with your commitments downtown, I would be downtown, but I have a doctor's But I'll go and then you can watch.

Okay. So I have council member FSY and vice may vice mayor Pimementel for shop and then we have the disaster council. Um they do have their meeting set for this year for April 30th and October 29th. We currently have um for Mayor FY and uh council member Call. Um this appointment is for two years so they would remain on this board till the end of this year. Um, and then we have Project Resolve. We currently have Mayor Hernandez as the primary and um, Council Member Call as the um, alternate. They already set their meetings for this year as well. They're the first Wednesday of the alternating months. Um, so I don't know if uh, Mayor Hernandez wants to go over those meetings.

Yeah. Um, I mean, this has been great because we've both been attending and, um, uh, being able to input in different capacities because it's a very collaborative meeting, um, in terms of, uh, relationship building with law enforcement, uh, different community- based organizations and nonprofits and stakeholders, uh, in the county. Um, and so, um, I I'm honestly not, um, like partial either to staying as a primary, um, because I mean I I think I would attend anyway if I can. Um, and so if you want to be primary or if anyone else interested,

I would 110% love to be primary on this particular committee, especially with my emphasis on public safety. So, I really think that it's a good opportunity for me to continue down that path if possible. Kind of flip you guys. Be open to unless someone's interested in being alternate. All right. No. Yeah, I would love to be alternate and um I would typically attend in general. So, yeah, we'll flip those. So, we'll flip those. Yep.

And then we have our internal city committees. the budget advisory committee. Uh we currently have council member Udibbe as a primary and mayor Hernandez as the alternate. Um this committee is not active right now. Um but should it come uh should it become effective and active? Um I don't know if any other council members want to uh switch up these roles. How do we make this committee active? Going to provide some context. Perfect.

Just to provide some context as to why it was not active. So, uh, during the first couple of years, we had committee members that were extremely interested in participating. They learned a lot. We had council members that are part of that, too, that are non- voting. Um, unfortunately, as the city's financial um status improved, a lot of that started to kind of interest started to wayne. Um so we had some difficulty keeping um actual committee members uh to those meetings. Then the city went through a financial system change which actually delayed um our audits about three or four years. So finance was hyperfocused on making sure we were catching those up. Um, so the priority was to make sure that our financial statements were audited, that everything was coming through clean and then COVID happened and so that kind of also added some insult to injury with that particular um, committee. What I will say is that reviving it this year is going to be of utmost importance. We've heard tonight from various uh committee I mean uh residents that there's some concerns about how the city's budgeting and so I think being able to meet with them and explain those processes will be extremely helpful to being able to put the city's message um out there with them. So, um, what we will do is we will put together a plan for, um, how we will go ahead and start recruiting and then be able to bring that back to the city council for formal appointments.

I was on the first one when you I was so excited because Mayorell called me and said I got picked and I'm like, "Oh, exciting." And then I found out I was the only one. So, it was a big hype. Um, I believe in the budget advisory committee and based on the knowledge that I have from my 17 years with the city Modesto, I feel like I'll be beneficial to this. So, I'd like to to be the primary if that's possible.

I I've been wanting to be a part of this uh committee for a while. Um, yeah, I'd love to have Cindy as the primary. I can step in as alternate unless there's another council member that would like to jump in there. Okay. So, I have um council member FSY as primary and council member Odbe as alternate for the budget advisory committee. And then the ne and then the next one we have is sister city. Uh we currently have vice mayor, sorry, council member of the primary and vice mayor pimementel as the primary. Um primaries. They're are co-chairs. Yes. Yeah. Primary primary.

Yeah. We're technically what we call ourselves liaison in in the committees. Uh so no, the the sister cities committee has been we've been doing really good. We just picked up a new uh director at our last meeting in January uh January January 9th. Uh we've kind of tabled all of the meetings, all of the events uh for the entire year with, you know, with some flexibility in there to kind of, you know, do some Tuesday markets and stuff like that to continue to raise funds. Uh we have a scholarship that we're rolling out here uh fairly soon. Um, Pimentel has been a big part of of most of that. Um, I I would like to stay on. Um, unless there's another member that would like to take on the primary room. I also would like to stay on. Um, over the last year, we have grown so much from a small group and the outreach to the public. you hear stories and you find ways to help other people and uh I want to learn more about the sister cities and the other countries is what we're working for. So I would like to stay on as well alternate.

Okay. So I have uh both of you staying on as co- primaries co- primaries. And then the last one we have is our new youth council. Uh we currently have Mayor Hernandez as a primary and council member Uribe as the alternate. I don't know why it cut off on the bottom. Um, and I don't know if mayor wants to go over a little bit about what youth council have been doing.

Um, yeah, I've been giving periodic updates and at this point, um, they're working to, I mean, they're realizing, um, that, uh, their budget that the city has granted them will not cover the cost of their end of year event. And so they're working hard to um fund raise and plugging their Applebee's fundraiser this Saturday. So anyone's interested in buying tickets from them. Um they're they're selling that to be able to uh meet the expectations that they set for themselves at the beginning of the year. And so um to be honest, they I feel like this really was a pilot program. You know, figuring out how they're going to interact with staff, how they're interacting with each other. um setting rules for themselves on how they conduct business um and um realistic expectations on what they're doing throughout the year. And so I have a feeling that um it's still going to be a little bit of a learning curve with the second cohort that comes in. Um and uh so it's been pretty consistent with their two it's been very consistent with their two meetings with some outside um events and planning that they've been doing on their own accord. Um, and uh, I I would like to say as primary um, especially to see this first cohort through. Um, at least we didn't think about this when we were first talking about it because the the year ends for them in the middle of our calendar year. Um,

sorry, mayor, just to clarify, I did put in there from August to May. So, yeah. So, you stay on through this this cohort. Yeah. And then whoever gets chosen tonight would start in August. Then that's exactly what I intended. Um and so yes, I I think it'd be great for for someone else to sit on for the second cohort. I would be open to doing it. Um it is a bit of a time commitment. Um but um yeah, is anyone interested in sitting on primary?

So I just so I want to give you a little bit of praise because you've been super involved. Um, so I I know we sat together, we kind of drafted the bylaws together, right, just to make sure like we got them on the right uh on the, you know, set them on the right path forward. Uh, I've been 100% accessible. Um, I get a lot of the the group chats, all of the emails. Um, I support them in every way possible, but I also, uh, do counsel another, uh, group of youth at the exact same time through my Taekwondo school. So, uh, so unfortunately I'm it's it's I can't be there and here at the same time at the exact, you know, same day, same exact time. Um, but I've always been accessible. So, but if there is, uh, you know, a desire from one of the other councils to step in, um, and if not, I can still stay on as secondary. Uh, but that is an option if you guys would be interested.

So, I don't want to be primary. However, I would love to be involved. so I can take the alternate seat. Uh I have found myself the last couple months kind of in my thoughts and I'm like what am I doing? I have a freshman in my house. Like how come I'm not a part of this? Uh and I've brought some ideas to both mayor, city clerk, and the city manager. So I really do think that this would be an opportunity to bring those forward and enhance them a little bit. So I'd like to be the alternate if possible. about it.

Sorry, I've been through the teenager stage. Um, don't care to run through it again. Um, I'm sorry. The two the commitment for twice a month is is too much for me. I'm sorry. I can't do it. It's me one. Yes, it's primary. But it's up to you both how you want to do the alternate. Oh, she's I'll do alternate.

Oh, okay. Yes. I'm very slow today. Um and and I think that was a very valid point because we've been uh Council Member Rod and I have been working hand in hand um through all this and just in different capacities and so um I think it'll be great to do that because it feels like we're crow primaries basically because of the way we're working through it. So it's the only thing is I'm just here I don't know the meetings. Yeah.

Okay. Um so I have Mayor Hernandez staying on as a primary and C I'm sorry Council Member Call as the alternate. Council member Lebe, your term won't end till this cohort ends in May. And then um should we move forward with the recruitment for the next youth council, we plan on starting it sooner, so they start in August rather than starting in September how we did. Um and then council member Call would step in. Um I think I missed one in my slide. We Yep. I'm sorry. We I missed one in my slide. The um Oakdale ad hoc animal shelter subcommittee. I didn't um I think it cut off on the bottom of this one. Um I don't know why my

I was on that committee and I never met I never got a call, never did anything. So I did speak to the city of Oakdale, right? Um so we did follow up with the city of Oakdale because it has been inactive since I think they met a couple of times when they started the committee and it was because the committee started because of a feral cat issue that was happening in our communities. Right. So, um, the city of Oakdale did let us know that they will be re-evaluating this committee at the end of this year. Um, but they did decide to keep it on for for now. Um, but they will evaluate it if they need to keep it or let it go.

I don't have a problem staying on it. Just don't let me go to the shelter and leave with the dog or Well, I won't leave with the cat, but don't let me leave with the dog. What are the They haven't met. They they meet as needed. So, for example, like I said, when they started the committee, it was because of a issue that arose in our communities. Um, that that hasn't happened any longer. Um, even if it'd be like after work hours or business hours or

it's typically been like at five five o'clock kind of a um meeting. Um, I will say that one of the projects that they were working on is looking at a future expansion or a new building at the animal shelter. Obviously funding would come into consideration for that. Um so it has kind of been put on pause. They do have a plan just no funding. Um but one of the things that they have done and this I I heard directly from their city manager that he shared with me is they're looking to buy a modular that will be they'll be able to retrofit um so they could take on more cats. Um so partnering with Astro Foundation um they'll be able to to provide more shelter to cats. And is this the one that it takes a council member and then a community member?

We have the community member Marky Wallace um who's still the alternate at this point in time. Okay. So, we did have Mayor I'm sorry, former Vice Mayor FY at the primary and then we'll keep you as the primary. Yeah. Um, and that is all I have for the committee this year. And it is recommended that council uh approve these by roll call.

Yeah. I I just want to say something before we So I I want to reinforce that we are doing these on our own time, but it's still important that we communicate with each other when we cannot attend these meetings. Some of them they require us to respond to the emails. So, for example, Shaw, you have to respond to let them know you'll be there for quorum purposes. So, I just want to reinforce that we really need to communicate if we're not going to be there. It it it doesn't look good if we're the only city that doesn't have representation at these committees. And I've gotten private messages about it. So, I just want to make sure that I reinforce that because I'd be doing myself a huge disservice if I didn't say something about it.

Right. And I and I will say that I did mention that in my staff report that is it is of extreme importance that if there's a primary and an alternate on any of these committees whether it be outside our city um committees that we communicate with each other or staff that if you can't get a hold of your alternate that you let staff know so that we can figure out or let the committee know that you will not be in attendance. We do get emails sometimes from their um assistants asking if our um appointed members are going to attend or they need to meet quorum in order to to have a meeting. So um I will have to say that it is important that we communicate between each other and our primary and alternate and the committees.

Yeah. So, so if we can get a motion um I thought you made a motion. I make a motion that we approve the item as discussed. I'll second it. Roll call, please. Council member, yes. Council member FSY. Yes. Council member Call. Yes, Vice Mayor Pimementel. Yes, Mayor Hernandez. Yes. Motion passes 5-0. Thank you.

Item uh 12.5, city flag design, contest review, and selection of top three.

Oh, sorry. Good evening, mayor and council. So, tonight we'll be discussing the results of the flag design contest that the city issued last year. Um, just for some background, the city does not have an official flag that represents our community. Um, a drafted sign had previously been prepared in 2002 and you saw that on my cover page here. Um that was the flag that was designed back then, but it was never formally adopted. Um July 22nd of 2025, council member Udiv presented a council referral item to hold a flag design contest. Um at that time, he shared that a city flag could enhance civic pride, cultural representation, economic potential, community connection, and legacy and modernization. So on September 9th, council provided direction to move forward and we did bring forward at that point in time um some of the design rules. So we asked folks to please keep it simple, be symbolic to Riverbank, show what makes our city unique, its culture, history, landscape or values. Um use a couple of bold colors that are high contrast, no gradients, no text or seals. Flags speak through symbols, not words. uh original artwork only must be their own artwork. No clip art or AI generated images or copy copyrighted designs. And we did allow for residents to submit um at least two entries. So some of the judging criteria that I

hope you used as you were evaluating um all of the options that we received its simplicity and impact its symbol symbolism and meaning city identity and then conforming to flag design principles. So our first option um is a flag um that was designed by Boston Navaro. his flag um design title name is just Riverbank flag. Um so Boston shares that um his flag shows the main things that make Riverbank special. The grape and cheese is important because it stands out to the cheese and wine festival which is one of the biggest events that they celebrate here in Riverbank every year. Um it reminds people of fun food and community and then of course it has the train tracks represented there. Um, many people cross that every day going to work, to school, or just driving around town. It shows how Riverbank is connected and how the railroad is part of our history. The river is represented, which um we have our beautiful Jacob Meyers Park there, a place where family and friends spend time together. It's a symbol of nature, relaxation, and the beauty of our city. So around the river there's trees because Riverbank has many of them especially near the park. The trees show how green and full of life Riverbank is. So altogether the flag is a simple but meaningful. It shows our traditions, our daily life and the natural beauty that surrounds us. So that is the submitt by Boston Navaro. Um, if we like a design, can we alter it as far as sign size size because to me it's kind of small.

Yes. So, obviously this is just a initial drawing that they've rendered. Um, this one was handdrawn, so we would most likely have it digitized some way. So, we would probably hire like a graphic designer to to actually make it um a usable form um that we would be able to print on flags um use as a logo for for other um opportunities that we might have to to highlight it. So, the next one is um a design submitted by Justin Almanza. Um so, Justin um let me get that here. Um, so this item or this design is centered around modern symbolic elements that highlight the city's identity and heritage. Um, he did present two, but the the first one did have a letter and we had mentioned that no text was allowed. Um so the second design so the first design was similar in that um it shows the movement and flow of water represented by the blues. Um so that Stannis River in which inspired the city's name and continues to define its geography. Um in addition the star which is representative of the historic riverbank army ammunition plant which has a lasting impact on our region. Um so that star in this particular case is a prominent central position with overlapping layered effects. The visual treatment symbolizes Riverbank's ongoing growth with each overlapping shape representing expansion, development, and the collective strength of the community. Uh the primary blue tones used throughout both designs um represent the river reinforcing the

natural element um that connects the city's past, present, and future. So this is the design by Justin Almanza. So, next is a submitt by council member Luis Uribe. Um, the title of his flag is Rising Waters, Bright Horizons. Um, so this flag design plays tribute to Riverbank's rich history. At its heart is a ferry boat symbolizing the city's early days when the Santaas River was crossed by grit and ingenuity. Uh beneath the vessel, the river flows calmly, framed by lush green landscapes that reflect our agricultural roots and environmental pride. Uh there's a bridge rising above the ferry, representing Riverbank's transformation from a rural crossing point to a thriving connected community. The bridge is not just infrastructure. It's a metaphor for unity, resilience, and the pathways we've built to engage with the wider world. The sun ray beams through the bridge structure, casting light across the water and land. These rays evoke hope, inspiration, and the promise of a bright future uh illuminating the values that guide our civic journey. So this is the submitt by council member Luis Uribe. So the next design um was a design by um Max Leau. The flag consists of a green background which symbolizes grassy fields, a blue triangle that goes from the bottom left corner to the bottom right symbolizing the river. The black triangle on the bottom symbolizes the

orchards and a white crop circle in the middle symbolizing the sun. And so this is a design by Max Leone. Our next one, we have a resident who submitted two designs. Um, so this one was submitted by Mariah Martinez. Um, Mrs. Martinez uh also has a blue um design on her uh on her um two designs and once again so the star is symbolizing the Riverbank Army ammunition plant and its lasting impact on the region. Um the second design also has that star in the prominent position. Um and so it is similar to the previous design in that the two um individuals do live in the same um household. And so their descriptions of their designs are the same. And so two designs for consideration um from Mariah Martinez. And then we have a design by Payton Shrider. Um, so his description of his design is the flag that was created for the city. Just lost my notes here. Um, is simple but elegant, representing who we are and the elements that shape our unique community. The diagonal tracks spanning the bottom left corner to the top right give homage to the vast system of railroad tracks that run through our city. Although the trains

can occasionally be inconvenient, the railroad plays a vital role in our everyday lives by bringing business, goods, and opportunity to our residents. Uh so featured in the center of the flag is the compass rose which stands out as having many layers of meaning. It reflects the adventures that we embark on as a city of action and the guidance and leadership we have to support our pursuits. The compass also highlights our geographic significance as an important landmark between many neighboring cities. Just like a traditional compass guides travelers along their way, Riverbang serves as a guiding point for the many communities that surround us. The maroon accents in the compass rose and the corners bring the design of this flag together. The color gives a small shout out to our annual wine and cheese festival. The tradition that brings our community together each year in celebration and camaraderie. Overall, the flag design for the city of Riverbank is meant to celebrate where we have been and the exciting journey we have to embark in the future. And then the last two designs are similar um but they do have a differing colored background. This one has a description that I'm not able to see. So, I apologize that I can't give that full description. Um, it's not correct.

So, I'm going to If I can access that, I think if I can make assumptions about it, which speaks to the design, it um it's telling that um they're they're wine colors and um reminiscent of our city logo. very similar to the historical society in that it has the train, the wine and cheese and the the glass. So I think that's what it represents. So here we go. Sorry about that. We made our own interpretations. Yes. So actually it does not have a design description. So there was no explanation included as part of the application, but it is flowing tracks of wine was the design name. And so those are the designs that were presented um or submitted as part of our flag design contests. Uh so council has a couple of options. You can either move forward with selecting three that would be put forth to members of the public to for a public vote so that the number one would probably come back for consideration by council um to be adopted as our city flag. A city council can ask us to reopen the um contest if they would like to see some alternative options um or council can decide not to move forward with any of them at this time. and a future contest can be held if if council desires.

So, I need a little bit of a memory refresher. How much time did we give on this? Uh what was the deadline for? You did give a two-month period. So, it started October 1st and it ended on uh December 1st. And how many social media posts did we make about it? Quite a bit. So, I know we were pushing that out probably every three weeks or so. And what did I mean, and you probably don't even have this, but I'm gonna ask it anyways. Uh, what did the views look like on it or the hits or like what kind of engagement on social media were we getting for this? Yeah, that information we don't have, but we can certainly pull that data.

Um, I'll I'll listen to you guys first.

Um, re real quick. I uh I think this is a big decision. Um but uh if anything, you know, if I would go on the the um route of asking the public to vote for top three if we want to choose three, um I would like to maybe um and maybe this is going to now be an ongoing project. Um, but maybe set a refresh or a timeline every like two years to three years to review the design to to do this type of thing in case we have um buyers remorse in a couple years with it. Um, but um or if we want to empower others to to change it up and and to submit their own designs. Um, but we'll turn over to public comment if you have a recommendation on your top one, two, three. Um, we'll take that into consideration tonight.

Do you have it on one slide by chance? I don't. I wouldn't have been able to fit that many on one slide, unfortunately. So, so we also have the option to be able to just review those today and bring that back at a subsequent meeting when members of the public um council have had a further opportunity to to review them. What was at stake? Uh was there monies and potentially it was just bragging rights? Bragging rights. And we did say I think it was $200 or $250.

So, I'm just a little surprised at how um the stars and how much little I just thought it'd be more designed. I mean, like this one, those if I was to look at that flag, I wouldn't really understand how it relates to Riverbank. the age group, the age of the from their eyes. Are you saying my age group? No, the age of it's from their eyes. Yeah. I just, you know, if we want it to be a design for the city of Riverbank, somebody that's coming through Riverbank would want to say, "Oh, look. They have a train. They must do grapes." I mean, I just

Yeah. So, not to discredit any of the artwork that came in because they're all unique. However, I would like to reopen the deadline to get other submissions and I would like to see what sort of promotion is happening and maybe we can do additional advertising outside and maybe parks and wreck could do some posting. The chamber can get involved. some of these committees can get involved in posting because the reach wasn't enough because I don't feel confident in making a decision off of seven entries. And I think that there are big pieces of riverbank missing from this. And I I think we would be doing ourselves a huge disservice on the investment that a city flag uh has for our city. So, I would really like to see us extend it at least at least at the bare minimum 30 days, but I would like to see another 60 days added onto it. I second.

Um, similarly, uh, I know this is something that we all agreed to move forward on and just remind myself of our strategic plan and some of the time that we staff time we use and our own time and resources. So, um I I think I feel comfortable moving forward with it and maybe setting some parameters on its use um uh moving forward. Um just because we wanted it to be a community engagement, you know, project and um I think that honestly as I'm thinking a little more, some of those names are I think graphic designers, professional graphic designers in our community. So, um that I um uh trust and so I would rather um put it out for a vote for our top three. It come back to come back so that we can get our top three, put it out to a vote to the community and put some parameters at the same time when we come back around its uses. Um that way we can be um in control of of where it is and what you know how it's representing us. I don't have a top three. I I don't have three that I would select.

Um so we'll open up to public comment. Yes.

Members, staff in the audience. Um Olivia Rambula. Um, so I there's some that have like different elements on the flags that have like I would take one part of this, one part of this, one part of that, combine it, like a collaboration thing. Um, as far as some of these go because to really define our city and add some more things in there because some of them kind of like the train tracks look great or you know the train design that's nice and maybe some river or you know there's a few of them that we like but it's not the full one yet. Um, and so even speaking with the timeline, um, a question is like, uh, that I have is did we take these out to like this the high schools, the schools, and put anything in there because there's a lot of art classes and maybe that would be an art project or something like that just to start there. And of course, more social media and stuff like that if we did give more time. But around that time, if it was students or something like that, they're going through finals and stuff like that. The holidays are here. Maybe the timing was a little off for some of them. I don't know. Um I do like some of the stuff that's here, but I think like our our logo, our our symbol here represents a lot more and I know some of this is part of those things, but I think for a flag um maybe a little bit more or combining some of the elements from these together. I don't know. Just a thoughts. Any other public comment? I'm pretty simple guy, you know, me motivated. I mean, I want to I want to hire police. I want to build wastewater stuff, you know. I'm just go go go go. Um I really like these designs, both of them. I can't choose between both of them. And then I really like like um Council Member Yud, my top three, but but I also respect, you know, wanting to

maybe opening it back up and maybe getting more public online, you know, votes or so. I understand council member Call's position, but if it needs to move forward, you know, tonight, narrow it down. I I love those three that I talked about. Thank you. And I have to take off for a 3:00 a.m. morning, but I just lastly, Mayor, if you could uh get some information on the youth council and how um I could help them fund raise, if you can give that to me, I really appreciate it. Thank you.

You have a chance. Thank you. Um, any other public comment regarding this item? Yeah. Good evening, Mayor and Vice Mayor John and city council. Uh, I'm not bragging, but I moved into Riverbank in 69. I've been here a long time. I seen a lot of stuff change. And what's going on now, I think it's number one. The construction you're going on for the bypass, railroad, and the canal. I think that's number one. has been needed for many years. You're going to ask John. I mean, you ask the vice mayor to say the same thing. Okay. The main reason I come here isn't for this, but I like to make a comment. I spent 13 years in the service and when you look at a flag, you want the flag to re represent what the flag is there for. Okay, this you put this on the flag. Oh, somebody from Sacramento. Oh, that's a railroad town. Huh? And how about this? Oh, that's pretty good artist. There's nothing here represents riverb. There's nothing here that represents riverbane. And we want something

somebody from I'll get a flag myself and put it up. But we want somebody from out of town or different state to come in and they'll see the sign this flag. Oh, that's Riverbend flag. These don't say anything about Riverman. Okay, thank you. That's the end of my complaint. The reason I come here was the Riverbank newspaper. You guys made up a little article.

We're going to limit their comment at this moment. We'll talk off offline about your next comment, but we want to make the decision around the flag. Thank you. Oh, I want to I want to thank you guys. Don't thank me. I want to thank you guys for for I had all my friends SAY, "OH, YOU'RE IN THE NEWSPAPER." I And I seen that was a nice column and then you put my funny face in there. Hey, I thank you very much. I thought it was nice. Thank you very much. Were there any public comments around the city flag or online? Mayor, we have no one on Zoom wishing to speak on this item.

All right, we will bring it back um for further discussion. I'm ready to make a motion. All right, let's hear it. I'd like to make a motion to extend the deadline 60 days to gather more input and other flag options so that we can perhaps find something symbolic, more symbolic of our city. I second a roll call, please. Council member FSY. Yes. Council member, yes. Vice Mayor Primo, yes. Mayor Hernand, yes.

Okay. Motion passes. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Randy. While council member comes back, let's take a short 3 to 5 minute bio break.

12.6 the Vault Institute Resident Scholarship Program Guidelines. Mayor and council, we've had a few conversations over the course of the last year with regards to uh theou that we have with opportunity status loss. Uh, one of the last discussions we shared with council after some internal meetings between council member call, myself, and um, the CEO of opportunity sus resulted in a presentation to council of a list of potential programs that we could take advantage um, through our currentou. One of those is a vault scholarship program um where they would give us one half of our investment which is $12,500 to be able to use that towards scholarships for our residents to participate in the Volt Institute. Uh so a little bit of background. Uh December 2021 we approved a 5-year agreement with Opportunity Stannis with an annual investment of $25,000 a year. During the budget presentation last year, a majority of council requested a review. We direct the um council directed staff to evaluate some potential amendments and then subsequently council member Colin and I met with um Dave White the CEO to discuss those programs and opportunities. So, one of those, as I mentioned, was um under the um title of workforce and education partnerships where we would be able to offer bolt cran grants um after a credit of one half of our investments so that our residents could attend um courses there. So, we wanted to talk about how we

structure that grant program to um for our residents. Uh so with the feedback that we have here, we will take that back to opportunity santaas. We'll draft an actual agreement that will then come back to council um for formal adoption. So we'll talk about scholarship eligibility requirements, which is basically what are the minimum requirements um that residents will need in order to participate as part of this grant program. uh what eligible programs we want to be able to offer and uh if there's a desire a program cost sharing percentage between the city the city will use the grant funds to pay for the city's portion of it and then any um funds that we would want the resident to pay into it as a buy into the program that they would like to participate in. So, some of the minimum eligibility requirements. Um, I took these from both the city of Houston and city of Oakdale programs, um, who offer this opportunity to their residents. Uh, so their minimum requirements are they have to be a resident of 18 plus years of age. Volt requires that. So, we would not be able to to modify that. Of course, they would need to be a resident of the city of Riverbank. uh they would need to provide a copy of a valid driver's license or ID. They would have to supply a copy of the high school diploma or GED. Um they would need to provide proof of residency and that can be in the form of a utility bill. But if it's a young person who just turned 18, just graduated, may still be living with their parents, um perhaps like a school transcript um with their with their address on there would um s suffice and then of course they would have to

complete the vault institute enrollment process on their own as well. So I don't know if there's any questions on these eligibility requirements. If there's no changes, no other amendments that you'd like to make, um then we'll kind of consider these as our base minimum requirements that that we'll request. Next are eligible programs. Uh so both the city of Houston and the city of Oakdale have different programs that residents can take advantage of um and the grant funds will apply towards those specific programs. Houston limits it to industrial maintenance mechanic and electro mechanics program. Those are the first two that are listed and I will say um opportunity Santaas has shared that those are the two that are probably the most um frequented courses because a lot of the industrial companies in Santa C uh county um use that type of a a skill set for their employees. Um, so that's why sometimes it's helpful to to limit it to that because then you know that the individual is going to be able to probably quickly turn around and obtain employment with that particular skill set. Now, City of Oakdale does expand um their listing somewhat um hydraulic maintenance and process control, pump systems, piping, pneumatics and fabrication, megatronics program and smart controls troubleshooting systems. So they do have those programs available as well. Um still very frequented courses. Um but as I mentioned, the first two are probably the programs that are um much more widely accepted in those manufacturing locations.

Cody, I'd be interested in what you feel is the most important for people that you would hire based on this is a lot of the work that you do, right? Or your staff does. But I could also see uh pump systems, piping, pneumatics and fabrication as well as smart controls and troubleshooting systems. So maybe leaving out the hydraulic maintenance and the mechatronics. Yeah.

So we would want to make a decision with regards to the particular programs. Um, so if there's an interest in adding to, like I said, at a minimum, we would want the first two to to be part of the program. Um, but there's there's additional ones. If you want to add them all, if you don't, that's perfectly fine. It will just depend on the the individual and the course that they're looking to take. Yeah, I'd be fine with bringing four, but the one, two, three, four, five.

Yeah, moving off of Cody's recommendations, I think, is a good idea. So, everyone except for the hydraulic maintenance. Correct. And the and the smart megatronics. The four. So, we're removing those two.

Now, here's the program cost. So, we won't go over the hydraulics and the megatronics since we've removed those. You'll notice some of them are free currently to the city of Oakdale, which I assume would also translate over to the city of Riverbank. So, Oakdale and Houston both have different cost sharing um that they do with their residents. So, for example, the industrial maintenance mechanic um that program retails at 12,500 as a city, which Riverbank would also be able to take advantage of. we get an automatic 50% discount. It's the balance, the other 50% that then Oakdale specifically uses their grant funds, their 12,500 to offset that cost for the resident that applies for that program

if we decide to cover 100%. Correct. if we decide to cover. So, Oakdale covers 100% of that cost for the residents and so they do so um 50% of all of the costs of the program with the exception of the smart controls. They get that one for free and they do it on a first come first-s serve basis.

It's a first come first- serve basis. So, basically um opportunity saws kind of runs the grant applications. They vet everybody. They would tell us this is the individual. Do you approve? Can we use their funds? Yes. And then be able to enroll them into the program. So, this is Oakdale's um cost sharing. So, resident pays zero. Oakdale covers the tuition with the 12,500 grant funds. Now, Houston has a slightly different um cost sharing. They also have a different discounted rate, which I haven't been able to figure out why, and I wasn't able to make contact with the city manager to to question it. They only get a 40% discount off the retail price,

but we do get 50.

Yes, we would get 50. Um, so they then share the cost with the resident themselves. So of the 40% uh of the they get a 40% discount. So that means 60% of the cost gets split between the city of Houston. They pay half and then the resident pays the other half. So resident the cost to Houston for the industrial maintenance mechanic is 7500. That's their discounted cost total. The resident then pays half of that 3750. So Houston covers the other half, the other 3750. And same for that electromechanics program. The 3,300 is the discounted total cost of the program. And so the resident pays 1650 and then Houston pays the other 1650. And that's the end. So, what we want to be able to determine here is number one, is there a cost sharing component that the city would like to implement as part of their program where the resident would pay a certain portion of that discounted rate or should the city cover a 100% of that?

Well, to me, to be able to pick as many people as possible to do this, we want to do a share. But are there opportunities through vault that will help them with the share? Say if we did a 7525 only financing only. So they would have to obtain a loan to to be able to cover the other half. But it probably is a low interest loan. Certainly find out. Yeah. I just would like to be able to monopolize more people.

Yeah. I I'd like to spread it out as much as we can with go being uh using the entire 125. Maybe let's start with covering half and then based on enrollment if we don't get if we don't use the entire thing then we re reallocate the remaining balance to cover the rest equally so everybody gets a fair amount in coverage. I have um a different perspective. I think looking at the broader conversation of opportunity st it's to promote our economic development and so um ideally this person you know as we um asked for input from our staff is coming back to work here in the city. Um and so I would love to cover 100% of the cost and I think cost and affordability was a big theme tonight. Um so uh maybe for this first year to to cover the cost for this person um and to for the folks and to um is there anything within the any contract that they sign or that has a commitment of some sort to see through the program etc.

They do sign that but of course once it's paid it's up to them to attend. So there's not going to be any ramifications if they don't they just don't attend. That's why I think that we need to have some type of a component that makes them want to complete the program. Um, even if it's 20% or 25%. Um, some buy in

some buy in so that they have an interest. I know like when I went out to college right after high school, I didn't have much of an interest in it, but I had a lot of interest in it after I went to work and realized how that would help me. And I think that, you know, when you're paying for it and you see how it's going to help you, it makes you more op you're more likely to complete the program in a high level.

Yeah. So, when I think of a scholarship program, I think of more like a competitive process. So, people who are eager to do something, who want to be a part of it, and really probably can't afford the 6250. So, I'm not thinking of giving it the whole program away. Um, but I also think that 50%, even 20% may be steep for some of our residents and it can turn them away instantly if they look at it and they see a price tag like how am I going to come up with $1,200? I mean, it's money's tight. So, for me, even just a 10% buyin, but it gives that hook of, hey, I'm invested into this now and I'm going to see it through and I want it to be a competitive process. I think it's something that council's involved in or we have a committee or something to where we review applicants. We have one high price one and then we can spread the rest between two or three of the lower cost ones. But I think a hook is absolutely necessary. 10% I mean we're not asking for a lot. But the objective here is to give an opportunity to people who wouldn't otherwise be able to have that opportunity. So, I'd really like to see a competitive process, award a few, but also make sure that there's that 10% buy in at least at minimum 10% buyin from the resident and then the city would cover the other portion. Um so what we'll do as I mentioned we'll take this feedback um have that conversation with opportunity sis to build the agreement that um would allow us to participate in the program and then that'll come back to council at a later date for consideration. Also they offer some of the classes in Spanish too. So we need to make sure when we do come out with the publications that it's in Spanish and in English.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Uh, okay. Item 13.1, talk time program.

Okay. So, I want to first of all say happy 2026 to everybody. Um, so at the very last council meeting in 2025, uh, we had some concerned residents uh, approach us, email us, call us, uh, about the the tat time program kind of ending. And I want to thank Michael for walking me through kind of the the expenses and the entire breakdown uh the financial aspect uh to that. And so kind of the the goal of this referral is to just have a discussion with council and see if there is an opportunity for maybe redesigning the program partnerships uh or or any other ideas. uh to but I'd like to have this conversation and maybe uh if there's interest there to to to get it on an agenda item if there's something that we can agree on. Uh so for a little refresher for uh for the council and some residents some context. Uh so the TAT time was a program uh but with the current model um it was not financially sustainable. Uh the the the true cost averaged about $8,100. So revenue recovered was about 15%. uh enrollment had never reached the minimum of the 15 participants. The peak was about 12 participants. Uh and so to operate sustainably um there was a struggle there. Uh additionally the statewide California universal TK uh is now providing it providing free education for four and older uh and the entire uh Santa County uh falls under that. uh for context enrollment in the tat time 58% so majority uh of the t time part participants were three years old uh and so there is a gap for the three-year-olds now kind of waiting for enrollment in the TK state programs now uh so continuing the program as is would require a subsidy that kind of limits the other services as we saw in the 110% uh uh item earlier today. Uh so so what

uh we're still hearing from the parents though. Families still would like uh some options though. Uh some I know there's a a brand new business that's opening up a child care that just opened up uh last week. Uh I know there are other opportunities coming up. I know uh C uh Mayor Hernandez, you have uh I think a meeting in about two weeks with another uh possible partnership. Uh but parents are still looking for you know ways to interact uh with with kids, with other parents. uh whether it's structured as child care or we just redesign it and restructure it uh just changing the model so the ratios can be a little bit higher uh so so an idea um I had a conversation with one interested maybe pivoting it from staffled to parentled uh shifting it from to like an enrichment kind of play model uh city could provide some space some light setup some basic supplies uh but parents would have to remain on site active and and kind of help supervise the children, right? So, one of the main cost drivers was having two two full uh two two staffers on site at all times for the entire thing. Um so, kind of the goal is to eliminate some of that staffing cost uh which was driving up the expense. um possible options uh taught social hours. There's one called uh Monday morning or Monday drop offs where the where the mom can go uh drop off their kids for two hours, run some errands. Um so those could be some opportunities. Uh there is one or one or one organization that'd be interested in doing it in the evenings and as well as as on the weekends. So that so that could fill in some of the gaps. And if we're looking at uh countywide, Senos 2030 has identified this as a as a as a need uh economically and have invested in 2024 about a million dollars just to bring the numbers back up. Uh it had gone from

over 700 providers to now under 300. Um and so they're they're actively uh pursuing this goal. um just maybe changing some of the features, drop in lowcost registration again with the ratios, uh being more flexible, uh maybe shorter blocks, um just kind of sharing some some of the things that I've been hearing from the parents, uh even willing to pay higher tuitions, right? So the goal of maybe reaching that 15% recovery cost to about 40% recovery cost could make sense now, right? Um so finding ways to lower the cost for the city um scaling it back uh empowering the par the the parents uh or we could offer nothing instead. Right. So one of the I think uh the Head Start program is really the only established uh preschool in town and I believe there is some closure dates there. I was trying to get confirmation u but I believe they're closed up until March but I'll but I'll have to come back and fact check that. Uh so what are some of the some of the next steps to fill in these gaps? Uh you know, are there parents out there that'd be willing to kind of partner with staff to redesign the program? And I'd love to hear any uh you know, maybe support from council, other ideas. Um I just I just kind of feel like uh the timing was kind of kind of bad, right? We were going into the holidays, everybody was kind of unplugging, but then at the same time, families were having to deal with like, hey, what am I going to do with my with my three-year-old, right? And so just want to have that that discussion, see if council uh is open to it. Uh and I'll kick it over to you guys.

You um real quick. I think I mean you gave a plethora of variety of options and conversations and I would like to invite you to uh the 20th meeting that um uh as soon as this all the decision happened um I think all of us were uh well aware of of how it was impacting some of these parents and so um I'm going to meet with um SAS 2030 um the Sans County Office of Education to talk about where their efforts are and um potentially partnering with the city. Um we're going to have staff attend as well. Um and similarly like you mentioned with the different um in-house child care providers that are starting there were at least a couple like you mentioned. I don't know if um and then again like you mentioned referencing the conversation that we had at the what seems like yesterday at the beginning of the meeting. Um, I think it would be important to get that um, sustainability study and those policies um, here at the council to be able to u make decisions as a whole so it doesn't feel like we're uh, tackling individual programs that are coming up. And so I think it's important um, but not to bring uh to council just yet and maybe have these conversations first. Um, and I want to commit with you to to continue the conversations and update the council as a whole. Um, too as as the things proceed. Um, so that's where I'm at. I think I think we need to do a little bit more leg work and and I have the energy and I know you do too um to continue that. So um I think yes, but not yet.

So what's the time for the January 20th meeting? Get back to you. Does any other council have

Yeah, this might be more of a question for Michael. So, how does So, I know the county has a daycare program where families who cannot afford daycare can apply for assistance and those the income levels are very generous, I will say. I mean, I think a household of two people is like, don't quote me on this, but like $70,000 a year. So, they're kind of generous on um the money. But is is the top time program does that not fall under the child care um umbrella that the county allows when parents are applying for assistance for daycare daycare assistance program. Any familiar with that?

Um we will take the question offline just for the council referral. We'll keep it to our conversations. Um and and if you think you want to bring back the conversation for so staff can prepare for a future meeting.

Yeah. I'm just trying to figure out if Louise's I'm just trying to figure out if really it's a parks and wreck thing or if there's something else that we need to bring in to make the top program. I'm just trying to get some clarity here to make sure that it is something that I'd want to bring forward. Again, um unfortunately the council referral is just strictly limited to do you want us to place it on the agenda so that you can ask those questions and have that conversation. Um it's we're not here to actually discuss the item. Got it. Okay. Could you speak?

I think to wait till the sustainability is brought forward and we look at what parks and wreck comes up with as far as how they want to distribute. Um then we look at it then. Um it's at 2:30. Um but to your point to your question uh if I understand correctly I think it is uh the the latter where um it financially didn't make sense for the city and it there's an opportunity with space to provide to a potential partner if we were to go down that route the way that parks and recck partners typically with um community members. Do you have any

I would like to see the top time program come back. So, I would like to see it on a future agenda with more information of how it aligns vers education versus child care and get a little more detail about it so that we can really figure out where we want to spend our time and who we want to partner with on it. I guess I would say

and I do know that um with this the city having a um public agency exemption, it's more it's not educational what the city provides because we don't have the licenses that a in home childcare provider or licensed professional would have. So it is different in that sense. Um but but yeah, to your point, I think it'd be great to bring back, but I think I'd like to do some digging with council member first and um go that route if everyone agrees. Majority let us handle some background work. Yeah. And potentially bring it back after we dig a little bit. All right. Uh 14.1 city manager.

So the only comment we have for tonight is that city offices are closed this Friday u based on our 980 work schedule and then they're closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. That is all.

Thank you Vice Mayor Pendal. First of all, thank you mayor and council for electing me. Uh I really appreciate uh an opportunity like this having lived here all my life. You know, Riverbank is in my heart. I'm not sure how far back to go, but on the 13th we had our Christmas parade. Did we talk about that? What I was impressed about was the large turnout. This year I seen a lot of families and and people just wanting to be out there in fellowship. And I think that was a great opportunity to get to know your neighbor. I attended the Latina mixer at the Double Tree. Thank you Olivia for giving Riverbank a shout out at the event. It was very organized and it was a great night. Uh we did the like you know the polar plunge. I did it with the mayor and I jumped in twice and it was a good turnout as well. And I was representing the book exchange in Riverbank. It's very important that we keep those going, the little book clubs. Thank you to all that donated the books in December. I appreciate that and it does keep it going. So, it's important as well. On January 9th, we had our first sister city meeting for 2026. Thank you again to Timeless Real Estate for letting us use your location. And also, we want to welcome Bianca. She was mentioned earlier as well. and Max Doc, he became the vice president. And there's some exciting things coming up in 2026 with Sister City. And I will be attending the Riverbank Chamber of Commerce installation awards dinner coming up soon. And um if you want to know more about Riverbank, follow me and we're in for the ride. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member. So I just got to know which plunge was colder vice, the first or the second one? the first

first. Yeah. Um so first of all, um I'm looking forward to 2026 working with all of council, working with all of staff, uh and everybody, and I hope we have uh an even better year than we did in 2025. Um the only thing I will highlight today is just kind of echo what uh Olivia had mentioned, installation dinner. So the Riverbank Chamber is doing their installation dinner, awards, citizen of the year, business of the year, youth of the year. It's happening down the street right here at Antigua. It's at 6 o'clock. I mean, you guys are about to sell out on tickets, so please get your tickets as soon as possible. Reach out to Olivia. Uh doors open 5:30 and see you guys all there. Should be a fun time. Thank you,

Council Member FY. Well, welcome back. Happy New Year. Um I will say I was in Ohio and it's much warmer here and I love seeing the sun. So, I'm glad to be home. Um, historical society is having their installation dinner and general meeting at Perkos on Friday, February 6 from 6:00 to 8. And the women's club have their first meeting meeting this year on January 20th at Scout Hall at 6:30. Hope to see you there. Do you have council member call?

I first wanted to provide the Sierra House December day use facility stats. 143 showers were had and 146 meals served in the month of December. 91 of them were men and 62 were women. These numbers do represent a duplicated count. Between January 1st and December 31st of last year, we admitted 63 new individuals to the day use facility. Admitted means they completed an HMIS intake form and received services from the day facility at least once. And then I just wanted to touch on the polar plunge. I the first year I did it, I did it for efforts towards foster love 209 uh and we were very successful with that and this year we chose children's crisis center of Santa Loss County which is near and dear to my heart. So we were able to raise $1,775 and it sounds like I got another $500 commitment tonight. So, I actually went to the Children's Crisis Center House to deliver the funds and I'm touching on this because it's a county effort and it impacts all of the children within our county, but uh Lieutenant Cond took me to the house that I attended as a child and it was the most emotional experience I've ever seen. They serve 32 children. Um, currently during the day, they have five overnight children. So the these homes house these children overnight to keep them safe from whatever situation they're in. So I I don't think they're listening, but I just want to thank Children's Crisis Center for all that they do for our youth um in the county.

Thank you. Um did we mention the library grand opening? Um they're opening uh this Saturday. They've been temporarily housed at the teen center while there've been renovations um at just down the street at the um library. And so this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. they're going to do a grand opening which is pretty exciting and an opportunity to re-engage our community to visit the library there. Um again, the Riverbank Youth Council is selling tickets for Applebees um this Saturday. Um please contact me or any other youth that um for tickets and um that is it for now. Um so we are going to go to close session item 15.1 liability claims pursuant to government code 54961 agency claimed against city of riverbank claimment Anthony Campos Martinez a minor buy and through Alma Campos item 15.2 to conference with real property negotiators. Present to government code 5495.6.8 property 3313 Santa Fe Street APN 1320009056 agency negotiator Marisella H Garcia city manager property negotiator Lana Clayton under negotiation is price terms of payment or both. Is there any public comment on on these close session items here or online? Mayor, there is no one on Zoom wishing to speak on these items. Right. We are going to a session.

All right, we are reconvening from close session. Um, report from or 16.1 report from close session. Item 15.1, liability claim. Um, council unanimously agreed to reject the claim. And then item 16.2, report from close session. Item 15.2, to direction has been given to staff. The next regular city council meeting will be on Tuesday, January 27th at 6 p.m. This meeting is adjourned.