City Council - Regular Meeting

We are going to call this meeting to order. Let us stand for the flag salute. Roll call, please.

Council Member Uribe.

Here.

Council Member Fossey. Here. Council Member Call.

Here.

Vice Mayor Pimentel.

Here.

Mayor Hernandez.

Here. Okay, we have no agenda changes at this time. Any council authority member who has a direct conflict of interest on any scheduled agenda item to be considered is to declare their conflict at this time. Pursuant to Government Code Section 84308, any council authority member who has received a contribution of $500 or more within the preceding 12 months from a party participant or their agent related to an item on the agenda must disclose that contribution on the record prior to participation in the discussion or decision on the item and may be required to accuse themselves as applicable. Is there any conflict? All right, we are going to start with our Hispanic Heritage Month proclamation. If I can have Maria join me up front. Yeah, yeah. Well, welcome to the City Council meeting. We are very excited. Every year we honor somebody for Hispanic Heritage Month, and this year we are excited to honor Maria from one of our local businesses here in downtown Riverbank. So I'm going to read this real quick, and I would love for you to share a few words, too, afterwards.

Okay.

Whereas the city of Riverbank is committed to continuing to build a welcoming and neighborly community, embracing diversity and fostering equity for every resident. Whereas Latinos and Hispanic have enriched the Riverbank community and play a vital role in Riverbank's economy and workforce with cultural, educational, and political influences. Whereas residents of Latino-Hispanic origin make up 57% of the city's population, making it the largest race or ethnic minoritized group in the city. Whereas Latina and Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate the vibrant traditions of people whose ancestry can be traced to Mexico, Central America, Caribbean Islands, South America, and Spain, whereas the Hispanic community has had a profound influence on our city through their strong commitment to family, faith, hard work, and service, whereas today we honor Maria Moore for her contributions to local economic growth while also supporting the continued success and vitality of our community. You embody the values of service, vision, and collaboration. Now, therefore, let it be resolved that the City Council of the City of Riverbank hereby proclaims September 15th to October 15th as Hispanic Heritage Month and invite all to celebrate the contributions that have been made to our city and our community by our Latino and Hispanic Americans, signed by me and on behalf of the entire City Council. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Um, thank you very much for, for this recognition. I'm very much honored. It has been a joy being here. I was, I had my business in 2019 through 2022, 21 here in river bank. And then I returned, um, it's actually going to be a year now, uh, this month. Uh, so it's been, I've really enjoyed it. It's I've been warmly welcomed and, um, I looking forward to continue staying here. Thank you.

Where do I? Yes. Okay.

Thank you.

All right. We have a presentation on the Cheese and Wine Festival.

Mayor and Council, David McDaniel, our recreation supervisor, is going to provide his very first presentation to our city council and our residents.

Good luck.

Good evening, Mayor, Council. Bear with me. It is my first. So we'll see. We'll see how this goes. Michael kind of stuck me here. So. Yeah, so just a short presentation, just kind of update everybody where we're standing for our cheese and wine event this year. It's looking like it's filling out pretty well and should be a great event as always. So some of the discussion points we're going to go over. in this little presentation, event details, event and activity lists, where we stand on our budget, the map of the street closures and where the event items are going to take place, other notes, and then questions if you guys have any questions after that. So for the event details, like every year, it's the second Saturday in October. This year, it'll be October 10th. It'll run from 10 a.m. until 730 that night. The event, the fair part of it will end at six o'clock and then a vendor breakdown will start going from there. Our last wine tasting session will run from six to 730. Location is the same as last year. They'll run from 2nd Street to 7th Street down by the community center. And then from Topeka to Stanislaus here on third street with most of our food vendors and alcohol being, or all of our food vendors and alcohol being here. And then our craft vendors being from fourth down to seventh and a car show in between to kind of use as a buffer. So for this year, we have a total of 190 vendors, 140 craft and commercial vendors, 50 food vendors. Our, Vendor applications are not closed yet. So this number may change a little bit. Some of them may drop. We may add more. It doesn't close until Thursday. So we're hoping to add a few more to that list. Compared to last year, last year we had 124 craft vendors and 33 food vendors. So we're up. Our numbers seem to be up if everybody fills in the way they've said they're going to. We will have one stage this year, just like last year. It'll be located right over here between second and third with seven performers for that stage. The event activities, we will have four wine tasting sessions. The fourth session will include line dancing. So we've brought in DJ Joe Effect. He'll be running the music for that event. It'll still be tasting as normal, but we'll kind of up the vibe a little bit and have some fun line dancing and stuff going on. The live local entertainment, like I said, we have a list of seven local bands, a mix, a good mix of Hispanic bands and rock band and country kind of band. So we're kind of trying to hit every aspect together. The car show is always a big hit. Be running from third to fourth street. I know I enjoy walking through there checking out all the nice cars. Seems like the residents do as well. We'll have a kids corner set up at the team center. And we also have a scavenger hunt again this year for people to come and participate in. Our entertainment list, as you can see, I'd go through them all, but I can't pronounce half of them and it would just sound really bad. So we will have our local ballet folklorico doing there. I know it's a huge hit every year doing their recital here. We will have the dancing horses as well. And then we have a headliner of Patron. And then after that, they'll announce the awards for the car shows and that'll kind of end the day's festivities. budget for this. The budget is doing all right. Remember, these numbers, because we still have You know, a couple of days for vendors, they may change. And then also we may get sponsorships in that haven't made it in so far this year. And we're not going to turn down the money for sponsorships. So these numbers may be different by the time we go for a debrief and see exactly, you know, how we're doing. But the projections seem to be like we're in the green. This is the map again, same layout as last year. It's a little hard to see but the yellow and stuff is all our food vendors car show in the red, green will be our craft vendors and then our event down at the teen center in the community center down there. Other notes. I personally walked all the downtown businesses and handed out packets to inform everybody of the road closures. We will be closing the road at two separate times on Friday night. We're going to close from 4th to 7th and then from 3rd to 2nd at 6 o'clock. And in order to leave the road open for the local downtown businesses here between 3rd and 4th, we were going to close those at 9 o'clock. So that way we can still have our businesses get everything, all their customers taken care of, and then we'll start closing down after that. We will be having a stakeholder meeting on Thursday the 24th for anybody who's involved with it will bring them all in make sure that everybody's on the same page with everything. Because we're our vendors. Our applications are still open. We haven't gotten the final map yet for the vendors. Once it does close, we'll get the map made, and then we'll be sending all of our vendors the information within the next two weeks once the map is created to let them know where they're going to be, their times to set up, that kind of stuff.

Question for you.

Yes.

So applications are still open. Is there a number you guys are trying to hit? You guys are already at 190. What's the number you guys are going to hit?

There's not a specific number. We just try to avoid having duplicates of a lot of stuff. Okay. So I'd say it's probably maybe around 200. We do have slight limits and stuff as far as space goes, but I don't know if we haven't gotten that number yet. But with the two days left, I'm sure we'll get a few last-minute vendors coming in. And then we'll be doing follow-ups to confirm all of our bookings, supplies, rentals, all of that stuff. That includes our golf carts, our Grover trash cans, all that stuff. We'll be making sure within two weeks before that we have everything settled and times for delivery and everything all set up. And that is it. Any other questions that I'll hopefully be able to answer?

Are there any questions, comments? No. Thank you so much.

Thank you. All right. Thank you, guys. All right.

So we're moving on 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 LRA board. Individual comments will be limited to a maximum of three minutes and time cannot be yielded to another person. Under state law, matters presented during public comment cannot be discussed or acted upon. And as we head into public comment, I would like to first introduce and welcome Chief John Byros to give some comments and to say hello.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council. Pleasure being here today. I just want to introduce myself and give my face to a name. I'm your new fire chief here for the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire District. So I work for the city of Modesto, and as you know, we have a partnership with Stanislaus Consolidated through management. So I was recently promoted and appointed to oversee our fire district. Some of our goals that we want to just ensure that we don't lose is the good service that we provide to our district, not only in the city of Riverbank, but our 195 square miles that we protect from all the way up Stanislaus County line, up in Highway 132, all the way east or west of McHenry. So I just wanted to introduce myself and make my face known. So if you have any questions, you can always feel free to reach out and go from there. Oh, and also, uh, one other thing I want to bring scene, uh, council member Ray, thank you for today. We had our final, uh, volunteer firefighter from river bank retired today. So he started in fire service in 96 and, uh, became an employee of the Stanislaus consolidated fire department in Oh four. However, we spent many years as a river bank volunteer and very active in the community as well. So we had a flag ceremony for him earlier this morning. So thank you for that. And, uh, He was our last volunteer that was assigned to Riverbank. So it's kind of a special day for us. You all have a good day. Thank you.

Yep. And with that, we'll move to public comment cards. I have Andy Foster first.

Thank you, council members, as well. My name is Andy Foster. I'm the president of AMETIS. Thanks for the opportunity to speak here tonight. I know there's been a lot of discussion about data centers and most of that conversation has been focused on the negative impacts to communities. Those concerns are very real. Loss of local natural resources, increased utility costs to rate payers, pollution and noise. However, that's not the whole story. Data centers are not new. In fact, for those of you that will post on Instagram or Facebook tonight, you're using a data center. In fact, if you use a payment system for coffee, access to your doctor's office app for health care information, check the local weather, send a text message, or even if your child submits their homework online tonight, you're using a data center. What's new is the size, scale, and resources necessary to support these hyperscaler data centers. As you know, Amedis was chosen to be the site developer and manager for the Riverbank Industrial Complex. Since 2022, we've put millions of dollars into the RIC, added new tenants, and are creating a space that is well suited for manageable economic growth. Yes, we are working on a technology or data center. We've made no secret of that. In fact, we've made multiple requests to make a formal presentation and look forward to doing that later. But since my time is limited tonight, let me just clear up some misconceptions that seem to be floating around. First, the size. We are proposing a 60 megawatt facility that is anywhere from 10 to 100 times smaller than the 400 megawatt to 10 gigawatt facilities being built outside of California. More importantly, the power that currently serves the Riverbank Industrial Complex and would serve a data center there comes from outside the area. Power has been supplied on a dedicated line from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission by a Hetch Hetchy for over 50 years. There will be no impact on local power, no rate payer increase, and no depletion of local grid power. Second, the cooling system uses minimal water, about the equivalent of two homes or one large swimming pool. The system is charged one time and recycles the water continuously. No water will be taken from the community. It will be sourced from on-site industrial wells with non-potable water. In fact, the RIC is not even connected to the Riverbank water system, so no local water. Third, the tech center servers and racks are modularized and will be housed indoors in the large existing buildings that are already there. No new buildings, no eyesores, just utilizing existing space that currently sits empty. The data center would use less than 10% of the 600,000 square feet of existing rentable floor space available today. Fourth, backup power will be electric, no loud and polluting diesel generators or turbines. Finally, the investment in this project will be over $1 billion. I'll hurry up. That means the county and city will receive annually approximately $10 million of new property tax revenue.

We're going to have to treat all the public comments equally. Thank you.

Thanks.

Okay, and then I have Mr. Michael Christie.

good evening mayor's um council members and city staff hope you guys are doing well um and and for the council members who've gotten back to me thank you very much for your conversations and your time um real quick i met us it's a great facility for i encourage the residents to try to get a tour out there i've been twice it's a blast it's great to see what they're doing out there and the work they're doing um and then i just have a couple announcements uh So you crossroads elementary, um, PTA is doing their annual jog-a-thon September 25th, Friday morning. Um, it'd be great if some of the council members can make it out there, support the kids. They start running early in the morning and it's such a kick. Um, council member Fossey and I spent many years chair chairperson chair, you know, co-chairing that event and raising a lot of funds for the school. So I just wanted to, um, see if maybe you can share that on your social media accounts and the event, um, And then second, of course, Sister Cities Dinner coming up September 25th, that Friday night. So it's always a blast. I'm looking forward to attending that as well. And then if you want to venture out over into Modesto a little bit, the Greek Church is doing their annual food festival September 19th and 20th. I know it's Modesto and we're Riverbank, but it was fantastic. several Greek families who built all the homes in North Landing years ago and developed Half a River Heights. I know that because I'm related to a lot of them. So, you know, and then the Nick the Greek, the owners are going to be there in the kitchen, volunteering their time and doing some of the cooking and man is the food good there. So if you like, if you like good food, Greek food, you'll love it there. That's all I have for you. So thanks very much.

Miss Karen Conrado.

Hello, my name is Karen Conrado. I live in Modesto. I just came here tonight. Good evening, actually. Mayor Hernandez and all the city staff meeting city council members. I've rewritten the speech several times. I'm sure what you would need to hear in order to deny approval of the Riverwalk proposed project. From day one, the consultants and developers have painted a rosy picture that has been repeatedly shown to be an error. From the beginning, we've been given misinformation or partial information. At the initial neighborhood meeting many years ago, we were told the footprint of the projects was similar to the Group A project. However, it was about a third more larger outside the project area. When asked at that same meeting what the timeline would be, we were told about a year. And you can imagine the effect that had on all of our neighbors thinking that that was a done deal. At the recent planning commission, just to show the pattern of this hasn't changed throughout this whole process, We were told during the Planning Commission meeting, they talked about the lovely trail by the river. But they didn't talk about that the trail is on the land side of the levee, that you aren't going to be walking next to the river. You're not going to hear the rushing water. You're not going to see their riparian habitat. You're not going to see the wildlife, the geese, the ducks, everything else, which is a major problem. omission in my opinion. You know, you're talking about, people talk about what a lovely walk the trail, why would anyone not want to have a river or walk along the river? But it won't, that won't be it. I just, again, wanted to say thank you for considering this. I hope you've been researching it well over the years and looking seriously at the deficits and the violations that have occurred, the omissions. And think, please vote no on this proposed project, thank you.

Miss Olivia Bambula.

Good evening, mayors, city council members, city staff, and everyone here tonight. I'm Olivia Rambla, broker and owner of Timeless Real Estate, but I'm here on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce as your Chamber of Commerce president here in Riverbank. I just want to share some upcoming events that we have. Starting September 9th, we have day five of our cohort with steps. Stanislaus Equity Partners. That's from 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. here. And then we have our graduation and our sixth meeting on September 16th. And that will be cohort graduation. And it's going to be determined. We'll have that date in the next probably 24 hours. And then we have our candidate forum coming up. It's a forum and meet and greet on September 15th. And this is what we have so far as far as members that are speaking. We have city council candidates all have responded with a yes, they will be there for districts one and three. We have Riverbank Unified School District Candidates, we have MID Division III candidates, State Assembly District 9, Yosemite Community College Trustee Area Number 2, both have committed to this. State Senate District Number 4, we have U.S. Representative from District 5. And then, so we have that, so come on out and hear what everyone has to say. You have the meet and greet after to answer questions. A lot of them ask for tables to be around the perimeter for their meet and greet. so um it's just a great night to find out who you're voting for you're not just picking a name and hoping that it's the right person so um please come out september 15th community center from 6 p.m to 8 p.m and then we have after that we have our riverbank chamber bingo night it's our second annual bingo night on this set uh the 19th of september which is a saturday doors open at 5 30 the event is from 6 p.m to 9 p.m roughly Dinner will be provided by Red Robin and tickets are only $35 per person. That includes your food. And I have tickets with me if anybody would like to buy any because they're for a good cause. And then we have Mancini Sleep World on October 1st. They are doing their grand opening ribbon cutting. It's a Thursday at noon. And then we have pretty soon, you'll start seeing this come out in social media and online. We have the Citizen of the Year, Youth of the Year applications online. So if you want to nominate anybody for these or you have a youth that's a senior that lives in Riverbank and attends a school in our county or they are a student that goes to and that lives here and goes to another school, whether it's Riverbank, Enoch, some of the charter schools. go ahead and look out for that because there are scholarships as an award for that. And then this is a side note, it's not a chamber, but it's a Riverbank thing, it's a Riverbank Veterans Day Parade, Wednesday, November 11th. We're also gonna have veterans appreciation breakfast from seven to 10, and then we'll have sign-ins at 10. And then we have a ceremony starting at 11, followed by our Veterans Day Parade here in Riverbank. And if you want any information, go to riverbankveteransdayparade.com. If you have any questions, ask me. We hope to see you guys all there for these great events. Check out our website for Chamber. Check out the website for the parade. Thank you so much.

Mayor, that is all I have for comment cards. I do not see anyone on Zoom. There's only a three-second delay on Zoom.

Are there any comments in person that did not fill out a comment card? Okay.

But for the record, we did receive a written comment from Mr. Gary Pearson that you all got distributed and it will be included on the record.

Thank you. Okay, we are going to move on to the consent calendar items 8.1 and 8.2. Is there a motion or discussion?

I'll make a motion to approve the consent calendar.

Roll call, please.

Council Member Uribe?

Yes.

Council Member Fossey? Yes. Council Member Call? Yes. Vice Mayor Pimentel?

Yes.

Mayor Hernandez? Yes. Motion carries 5-0.

We have public hearing item 9.1 first reading by title only an introduction of a proposed ordinance amending chapter 72 bicycles. What is this seven of title seven traffic code by amending section 72.04 and 72.99 and by adding new sections 72.08 and 72.09. Mayor and Council Chief Friedenauer will provide this report.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Tonight I'm going to present to you an ordinance to its amendment in addition to our bicycle ordinance within Riverbank Municipal Code regarding bicycle safety. So a little recap of why we're here. I noted a presentation about a month, month and a half ago. Riverbank has not been unique in the fact that the state has been seeing a lot of illegal bicycle activity, dangerous activity with kids doing wheelies, riding towards moving vehicles, oncoming traffic, endangering the lives of others. intentionally wrecking into cars, causing damage. And we recently, about almost two months ago now, we had a street takeover, a large organized event by social media where about 60 bicycles came to Riverbank and caused a lot of damage to vehicles. They took over the roadway on Patterson and rode towards oncoming vehicles. They kind of caught us off guard. We didn't catch that one ahead of time. But what we did is we learned who this group was and we learned how they were organized, again, through social media and how they encouraged this illegal activity, which, again, endangers the lives of our residents and also the property of those families that are already struggling financially. But when we learned that they were going to other communities, we let our partners know in Modesto and Ceres that they were coming their way and we worked with them By working together and using their ordinances they adopted in their communities, we were very effective in getting that activity stopped there and impounding bikes. Most of the communities in this county now have adopted an ordinance that involves a 30-day impound of bicycles. So the way that we can currently take action is by a bicycle license, right? So in Riverbank, you are required to have your bicycle license with Riverbank Police Services. It's an opportunity for it to come down. We provide you education. We can get you a helmet. But we also license your bicycle. It's mandated by a state law. It's only $4. And that allows us to track your bicycle also if it ever gets stolen. But it also gives us authority to check a bicycle to make sure they are licensed. Then we have the California Vehicle Code for moving violations, right of the road, like stop signs, driving correctly on the right side of the road, and so forth. And if you're in violation of those, you can be issued a citation or traffic citation. If you're reckless and dangerous driving, that involves the people that are actually riding towards oncoming traffic. That can be considered reckless driving, which is 23103, the vehicle code. That is a misdemeanor where someone can be charged with that crime. Hit and run would be if this activity causes a vehicle collision and the person doesn't stay to either exchange information with the owner or if they don't notify law enforcement. And then lastly, we have the tools of vandalism. Those that are intentionally causing damage to other vehicles, we can charge vandalism. That would be a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the damage. So those are our current tools we have. The one we lack that's probably the most important is the ability to impound the bicycle, which directly affects the young adult that is doing this activity because that's their main transportation requirement. So that kind of brought us to here now where we've been working with our neighboring agencies again and seeing what they brought in their communities for ordinance. One thing we found is everybody has a 30-day impound, right? The fees, though, associated with that, we found some communities are on the very low end with almost nothing, and now they're looking at going back and bringing that up to 40%. a more of a reasonable amount to some that I believe are in the very high end. That is like cumulative, they go up to up where it could be up to $1,000 over by four or five violations. But we wanted to make sure we brought an ordinance to our community that was a right fit for Riverbank. The biggest thing we found for us is that others missed the opportunity to define all the types of bicycles because you have bicycles, e-bicycles, motorized devices, which are your scooters and electric bikes, electric pocket bikes. A lot of communities failed to define those in their ordinances. And we also found they forgot or they failed to identify that locations where this occurs, right? Most of it would just say are streets and roadways. But one of the big areas we see this activity is in our off-street parking facilities like the Crossroad Shopping Center and similar parking lots. So we wanted to make sure we incorporated language that included those areas along with our parks and trails.

Chief question, so you guys have defined it. Are you guys penalizing them all the same way?

Yeah, I'll discuss the penalties later on, but the penalty around this results around the impounding of the bicycle and the cost to get the bicycle out of impound, and we'll discuss that a little bit further. So there's not a direct penalty fee per violation. The code does have some violations of penalties, and I'll be going over that as well later on. Okay. So quick road map of tonight we're going to introduce the amendments to the municipal code chapter 72 which covers bicycles. We want to address the unsafe operation of bicycles involving e-bikes and motorized devices and then overview of the new section 72-8 and 72-9 and then lastly update the section 72-04 which is a license fee and 72-99 which is the penalty. So we kind of talked about a lot of this. It's just the need for this. Yes, we do have some tools, but a lot of those tools cannot be used in those off-street parking facilities or on our public trails and parks. So that's where this ordinance really comes in handy and then really would help us enforce and take care of this illegal and dangerous operation in our community. Again, that current code lacks an in-found and enforcement authority, which is the big part. This is a quick summary of the changes that are being proposed in this ordinance section 72.04 that's your license fee that's for getting the license from riverbank police services, this is more of a language cleanup we currently do charge $4 the ordinance specifically listed to over a fee schedule set for and also the California state vehicle code listed as $4 as well, so this is a language changes bringing that up in line with the current fee schedule. 72.08 is the big section that actually regulates what the unsafe operation is, what kind of devices it encompasses, and what areas it's allowed to be used in. And then 72.09 establishes a process for an appeal process for those that have their bikes impounded, a way to appeal that. And then lastly, because we're making changes to the ordinance, section 7299 directly applied to penalties, which was the code in total. Now we're clarifying what sections in that code the penalty section applies to. I kind of briefly spoke about this, but the license fee, this is more of just a language change to make sure it's current and it's in line with our fee schedule and the state vehicle code. So it's just updating that from $2 to $4, which is what we're charging already. The transfer replacement and renewal stays unchanged. It's only $1, and that, again, is set by the California vehicle code. So all of it's aligning within state law and what we're currently charging. So the purpose with this new section, the 72.8 purpose is to recommend an ordinance to discourage and eliminate illegal and dangerous bicycle riding within our community. We want to protect public safety, prevent property damage, and ensure the safe operation of bicycles for all residents at Riverbank on our streets, parks, trails, and parking lots. We encourage the safe riding and our bicycles in our community and plan to accomplish that through continued education, outreach, and by adopting this new ordinance to keep our community safe. This is the definition portion. A couple of our neighbor agencies just define only a bicycle, which is a human powered device in their ordinance. And I think that didn't catch on to the fact that now things have changed quite a bit. There's e-bicycles, which are pretty much more common than bicycles these days. There's three classes of that, class one, two, and three. And the difference in classes have to do with the speed at which the bicycle will be propelled and whether or not it has a throttle, but they all have pedals as well. That's the biggest change there. Your motorized devices are your scooters and your electric scooters and your little mini bikes that are electric. And then we also wanted to define what those public areas are right and the public areas would be our public parks and trails, our streets and that off street parking facility again which is I think is important for again that right fit for our community and then where we're seeing this illegal activity take place. This slide lists a few of the prohibited conduct. We talk about the main point of all these things, that it all includes a willful and wanton disregard for public safety. You cannot operate a motorized device in a public park unless we're authorized to do so. But some of the things we're talking about here is excessive speed conditions, failing to yield for pedestrians, unsafe and hazardous operations, that stunt trick riding and exhibition riding, and off-path riding causing damages in a park. Again, I think all these things is not just specific, but I think you can drill down too far if you go off just like a letter of a law. That's why we have that willful and wanton disregard component as well. So we can show that this is something that is actually endangering the lives in the community of our residents. This part of the section discusses what the impound and authority is for us. It provides authority for a 30-day impound for violations where we just mentioned in that previous slide, or the contact creates a risk to public safety, or the operator is a repeat violator within two more violations within 12 months, or the violation results in damage likely to cause damage to public or private property. It also establishes administrative review allows the in the impound of the bicycle, but that important part of that we have to notify the the owner of that bicycle within 48 hours, excluding weekends of holidays to say hey we impounded your bicycle. This is how you can request an appeal hearing and provide all that and writing to them it's very similar to how if we tow a vehicle from somebody we send that same letter out to them to explain that process. Any of these bikes can be released early after an administrative review and the review is heard and that person presents evidence and we determine whether or not that it will be upheld or dismissed based upon all the evidence in there. A vehicle release fees required to release the bicycle after it's been pounded our current vehicle release fee is $150. And we actually use the term specifically to say our vehicle release fee, because that vehicle release fee is set in the fee schedule by the city riverbank and is adopted by resolution as we change it. So that's why we wanted to make sure we didn't say a specific number in here, because it could change and we don't want to keep duplicating numbers throughout the codes. And if you think about a vehicle release fee, you know, we charge the same fee to release a regular car. But the difference is, is the car we're not storing. This bicycle now we will be storing at Riverbank Police Service if it's impounded. So these fees are going to help offset staff costs and any kind of cost that may be incurred with the storage of that at our facility. Also, with a car, you would have to go to the tow company that towed your car to pay them a fee as well. Did I, did I mute it? Nope. No, no testing. Okay, we're good. So this kind of shows a flow chart of how that administrative appeal would work. You would appeal within 10 days. In order to get your appeal, you would need to pay 50% of that vehicle release fee up front. Then it would be then heard by a riverbank supervisor, which is one of my three supervisors that work there. After they review all the evidence, they decide whether or not that's upheld, reduced, or released altogether. If it is upheld, that 50% does go towards the total cost, that total release fee of $150. Lastly, the appeal, if they want to appeal again within 10 days, they notify us, and that appeal becomes for me. Now, the way that I look at these appeals is I want to make sure that the violation is actually what the heart of this ordinance is, right? It included the willful and wanton disregard for public safety to our community. It's just not being used for a kid that decided to do a wheelie on a sidewalk one day. That's not the intent of it. The intent is that people are actually causing damage and fear and loss the safety of our community, right? So I want to make sure that all those things apply, and if they do, then it will be upheld, and there's evidence to support that. If there's not, then I dismiss it, because that's not the intent of this ordinance. So this brings us to section 7299. Currently, the way it sits in the code, basically it says everything in chapter 72 is entitled to the penalty. The penalty is only at $10, right? And because a lot of that has to do with the sections that are listed up here, 7201 basically says you have to license your bicycle, right? That's why it's $10, right? You have to have the metallic license. Once we issue, you have to actually have that on your bike. That's 7203. 7205 has to do with secondhand dealers. We don't currently have any that I'm aware of, but if someone was to sell used bicycles in there, our ordinance says that you must notify Riverbank Police Services of what bicycles you have, and that's for us to make sure they're not selling stolen bicycles, like a pawn shop, for instance. And then 72-06 requires that you transfer your bicycle registration when you sell to somebody else or give it to somebody else. It's only $1 to have that done. And then lastly, the 72-07 has to do with the mutilating or destroying that license if you did that to be a violation. And all those come under that $10 violation. It doesn't specifically apply to the new section of 7208 because that has to do with the bicycle being impounded. The way I look at it is we're taking the tool or the device away from the person committing the act, so hopefully they don't reoccur. There is a $150 fee. I look at it less as a penalty and more of an administrative fee to cover the cost. We know that a lot of the families out there, you may not know what your child is doing, and you want to make sure that you're not And the families, I know all families are struggling, right? So we want to protect our community, make sure they're safe, take the device away that's causing the damage, and then recover our costs for doing that. And then lastly, for a financial impact of this, I kind of mentioned already that the $150 fee there is basically the recovery or cost for using existing staff. And then the $2 to $4, we're already charging the $4, so there's no increase there. Lastly, we want to recommend the first reading of this ordinance. We want to hopefully get your approval to amend section 7204 and 7299 and hopefully adopt new sections 7208 and 7209. Again, this is a tool to help strengthen our community and keep our streets and public areas safe for all to use. Our intent is not to limit outdoor activities. We actually want to encourage outdoor activities and safe bicycle riding. And we think this ordinance helps strengthen that for families to be able to go out and enjoy the public's areas with their children and be safe or kids riding to school and be safe. We've heard stories about kids that are riding to school or riding around the community being harassed by the other kids that are violating this section. And that's where I think this ordinance comes in and provides us additional tools specifically for our trails, streets, public roadways and off street parking facilities. And with that, I bring it back to you for any questions you may have.

I just want to thank you. I want to note that I was the first to be apprehensive about kind of being reactive to some of the things we were seeing and stuff as well. When I approached all of you, we all took consideration of all of the things and you really did the work in finding something that fit our community. And, you know, though it took longer than a lot of us wanted, I want to appreciate you for doing that. So I'll bring it to council first and we'll go out for public comments since this is a public hearing. Any comments, questions?

I just wanted to comment that I like how you are emphasizing that this is for basically the kids that are causing the problems. That it's okay if a kid's riding down the street and trying to practice his wheelies. It's the kids that are causing the damage and teasing the other ones. And I appreciate that you're aware that some of the kids just like to play around and do that. And that is not what this is for I also not sure if Maricela had a chance to tell you she said she did I just asked for clarification just for everyone about. what the vehicle release fee is for. And I've asked them to add in there what resolution that is identified in. So if anybody's reading this, they can see. Because I'm reading this, I'm going, where is that at? Where is that at? Because it's a resolution. It's not an ordinance. So I appreciate this. As I told you before, I checked up on you. I did print some of the other ordinances in other cities. And you have covered everything. And I understand why our fee is a little bit lower than others. And I think that's appropriate for our city. And I really appreciate how you've included the streets and the parking lots and the parks, because that is what our city is a lot of. We have a lot of parks and a lot of big parking lots. So thank you very much for your diligence in getting this done. I appreciate it.

Just one quick question. As you guys were doing your research, just kind of curious where you guys kind of landed on like the safety school and the community service hours. I know there was residents asking if that could be a part of that. Just kind of curious during, in the research where you guys kind of landed there because it wasn't in this or just kind of some feedback on that.

The hour or something.

Yeah. So, so, so tying, so tying this with maybe some community service or some.

Oh, I see what you're saying.

Yeah.

Oh, so like some kind of a, like a community service outreach of that, I think it would be the managing event. We would have to have a lot higher increase in fees in order to make that work. So I think this was a better fit by taking the device away.

I just want to say thank you. I, from the beginning, I've heard on social media, the ruckus it's been causing, and I really appreciate your definitions and defining every single type of bike and not just leaving it as a generic ordinance. And then also just giving our deputies the autonomy to take the device away. That's causing the problem. and then giving also people in turn an opportunity to take corrective action if needed. So I appreciate the steps that you've taken here. So thank you for freeing up our deputies from spending time on some of these items.

Thank you. Yeah, again, this is an ordinance I hope we never have to use, you know, but it is a tool that is an important one, I believe, for the safety area community.

Okay, so we are going to open it up for public hearing. Are there any public comments on this item?

We have one mayor, Mr. Michael Christie.

Thank you. Thank you chief for the explanation and presentation. Um, the only thing I wanted to add is I, in my neighborhood and crossroads, um, I guess you want to call it crossroads East square Wells and, um, Westgate. The adults run the stop signs. They just cruise through on their bicycles at the four-way stop. I mean, and since the city had said they were going to put an ordinance in place and look into and all that, I've actually had kids stop and get off their bikes and wait for me to go through the intersection. I mean, and I'm waving, I'm yelling at him. Like, no, you guys are doing the right thing, you know, cross, cross the road, but the adults need to be held accountable too. I just, I want, I don't want the families to think we're picking on just the kids. Cause there are, there are some good kids out there too. You know, it's not, it's not just all Nate, all bad kids only. So yeah, I, you know, if they had the resources and the time they could, hang out there at Squire Wells and Westgate and they could, you know, pick up a few adults and make some. So thank you very much.

Mayor, that is all I have for public comment cards and I don't see anyone online.

Okay. Any other public comment in person? I am going to close this public hearing and bring it back to council for any more discussion or consideration.

Mayor to clarify Councilmember Fossey statement. There's two sections that specifically reference the vehicle release fee. And that section 7208 E four and section 7208 F. So we would just be adding verbiage that said asset by city council resolution.

Thank you.

I'd like to make a motion to approve item 9.1.

I'll second.

Roll call, please.

Council Member Uribe?

Yes.

Council Member Fossey? Yes. Council Member Call? Yes. Vice Mayor Pimentel?

Yes.

Mayor Hernandez? Yes. Motion carries 5-0.

Thank you. Item 9.2, a resolution approving an economic incentive agreement with Stan Boyette and Sun Inc. for the consolidation of all its sales of energy products within the state of California to its new headquarters at 6436 Oakdale Road, Riverbank, California.

Mayor and Council, this item is being brought before you. This is an agreement that the city has been working on with the staff at Boyette Petroleum. So I'm going to go through a brief overview, and then I will be introducing their president for some comments to city council. So tonight's requested action is a consideration of this economic incentive agreement with Stan Boyette and Sons. DBA Boyett Petroleum, you'll hear me refer to them as Boyett. This does, if approved, it would designate 6436 Oakdale Road Riverbank as the point of sale for all of Boyett's taxable sales of energy products within California. And then we will also be making findings that are consistent with AB 562, which is codified in the government code section 53083. economic development subsidies, disclosures, and public hearings. So a little bit about Boyette Petroleum, they're family owned and operated and were established in 1940. They have about 1 billion gallons of fuel projected, fuel cells projected for this year, which is a new record for them. They have 150 full-time employees that will be relocating to Riverbank and are making an approximate investment in their Riverbank location of about $5 million. They are the leading fuel wholesaler and retailer for several well-known companies such as Shells, Philips, Valero. We locally here have a Sunoku, so you may not have noticed that Shell was rebranded to Sunoku on Patterson or Atchison and First Street. And then we do have a... ARCO, of course, at the corner of Patterson and Oakdale. They do grow and give back, so they have some acquisition growth that they've experienced over the past five years with the vision of being the largest fuel marketer in the West, and they have their Make Dreams Real Foundation that funds local youth programs. So the site that they'll be relocating to is 6436 Oakdale Road. It was previously... An MCI e-contact live call center. It then became vacant after COVID-19 as those folks shifted to remote work. And then in the interim, they housed American veterans first. There was a karate school that was there. And for a short term, it was an event center. In 2026, it was acquired by Boyette as its new Stanislaus County headquarters. The location is over 40,000 square feet. It's ideal for a large office employer, so it's suited to their needs. There's ample parking on site, which will minimize the impact to the surrounding residents and businesses. And we will experience a secondary economic windfall as employees shop and eat at our surrounding businesses. So why an economic incentive agreement? So currently, Boyette does have a similar agreement with the city of Modesto. They've had that since September of 2008. The agreement is set to terminate for them in 2028. For Riverbank, the proposal is to move its headquarters to their Oakdale Road location. All sales of energy products, which include petroleum, biofuels, renewable fuels, and related services would be consolidated to Riverbank as the point of sale. And the city receives sales tax that it would otherwise not see. And tying this back to our strategic plan, the city council did establish a goal to support downtown revitalization and economic development with the strategy of tax agreements based on business size. So the major terms of the proposed agreement would be a term of 300 months or 25 years and that would approximately run from September 9 through September 9 2026 through September 9 of 2051. payment amount is boy, it would receive 60% of the net city sales tax revenues received and which would be calculated each calendar quarter and the city would retain 40%. The participant, which is Boyette, would need to ensure that they are treating the site as their point of sales for all California energy products. They must pay all public entity fees, so that's their building permit fees, system development fees, any other connection fees that they would have to pay to the city as part of their building permit. And operate continuously on the site for the full term. So they have to be able to accomplish all of that within the first hundred days after signing or by December 31, 2026. We all have heard that they are looking to start moving their offices September 21st. They will have to do quarterly reporting and then we will receive a copy of those reports as documentation to be able to process their quarterly payments and their records will be open to city inspection. And the timing within 30 days after the city confirms its quarterly receipt of sales tax and Boyette certified compliance, we would remit payment to them. So how the sales tax sharing would work. So of the taxable sales that Boyette is reporting to the CDTFA, which is the state with Riverbank as a point of sale, 1% of all of those sales is part of the Bradley Burns sales tax that we would normally apply to any sales in Riverbank. And so of that, 40% would go. So of every dollar that's reported, 40% would stay with the city. So 40 cents of each dollar would stay with us, which would be retained in the general fund and be discretionary revenue to the city council. And then 60 cents of that dollar would would go to Boyer as their quarterly incentive payment after it's been certified. We do list some excluded items, things like jet fuel products tax on a non-point of sale basis are excluded from that calculation. We will do an annual true up. Some of the payments that we receive from the state are based on estimates. So we will do an annual true up to ensure that it's based on actual receipts. And then there is a dispute path if there's any discrepancies first we would try to have that be clarified through a city and boy at meeting and then to an independent outside accountant within 45 days if there's any discrepancies that we're noting. So if the agreement had been in effect for the 2025 fiscal year, based on their sales, the total sales tax collected was $487,000. Of that, 40% or $195,000 would have come to the city, and Boyette would have retained $292,000. So once again, that $195,000 is a net benefit to Riverbank. It's new revenue that would come to the city that we otherwise would not receive. And 2026 to date through their second quarter, Boyette's reportable sales are running roughly 40% above their comparable sales in 2025. Once again, as I mentioned earlier, growth reflects acquisitions plus higher fuel prices amid the Middle East market volatility. Their acquisitions represent a step up in Boyett's base business. And we all know that fuel prices fluctuate materially. And so 40% should not be read as an ongoing annual growth rate, but they do anticipate continuing to grow their business. benefits to the Riverbank community, net new revenue. It's sales tax we would have not otherwise received. Boyette could simply remain with its headquarters and point of sale being the city of Modesto as they currently still have properties that they are retaining within their jurisdiction. There's low risk to the general fund. The city pays only when Boyette generates sales tax. If sales fall, the rebate shrinks with them. There's no existing revenues that are pledged. As I mentioned earlier, the jobs and the secondary spending, we have 150 employees that will be relocating to the city of Riverbank, and they'll be dining and shopping locally. And so that sales tax, of course, falls outside of this agreement. So we will definitely be enjoying the benefits of that. And then the site activation, there's a long, vacant office building that will return to productive use with an established growing employer. The additional revenue can support expanded city services programs and events for Riverbank residents. Some of the safeguards built into the agreement. It's not a debt of the city. The payments are unsecured. It all once again depends on their sales. They have to make sure that they comply with all of the conditions set forth within the agreement and the city may suspend and terminate the agreement and payments if they discontinue their operations, if they relocate, if they fail to report or any breach of contract. Assignment control if there's any sale merger or 50% plus ownership transfer that does require city approval. Any unapproved transfers will allow for termination and clawback. If there's a change in law, each party may terminate on 30 day notice, especially if the They changes how local sales tax is allocated and then there are audit and inspection rights that the city may inspect their sales tax information and the records at least annually on request. Now, AB 562 is a discussion about the public disclosure of these types of agreements. So since January 1st, 2014, local agencies must publish the following information and hold a public hearing before approving an economic development subsidy. This information is posted on the city's website. So it does list who the beneficiary is, Stan Boya and Sons Inc., and the location. The start and end dates that I mentioned earlier, it is a 25-year agreement. The description of the subsidy, the city will reimburse 60% of the net sales tax. The public purpose, the creation of new jobs, enhancing the city's ability to provide municipal services and broaden the city's sales tax base. The projected tax revenue, this was based on their fiscal year 2025 figures and the estimated number of jobs that they'll be bringing into the city. And with that, I would like to invite Scott Castle, who's the president of Boyette Petroleum.

Hey, thank you. Great job. I saw the PowerPoints because, oh, no, I didn't do a PowerPoint. So you did all the heavy lifting. What's that? Oh, it's not on.

It's on.

Oh, OK. So anyways, thank you, Mayor, council members, staff for listening to this and you guys, too. This is kind of boring, but it's really exciting. You know, you would think you would come in here and say, use it as leverage, right, to move to the city. Well, we're not doing that. We identified this location. We love Riverbank. I mean, it's a city of action, right? This is where we want to be. You can see what's going on in this community, and we want to be part of that. As compared to where we're at now, I don't want to throw any stones or anything, but I think you guys are doing a heck of a job out here. So really, I'm here just to answer questions around this agreement. And when you say fuel sales, I want to kind of define what that is. So this is fuel sales to end users. So an end user would be a trucking company, a farmer, somebody that's not reselling the fuel, which this is a small part of our business that we're growing. The resale business where we sell to gas stations is by far the biggest part of our business, but there's no sales tax component in there. So really this is to your almond farmers, trucking companies, things like that. So that's where this revenue is generated from. Any questions?

Thank you. So this is a public hearing. We are going to go to public comment in a moment. But first, for counsel, I and we appreciate you choosing the city of Riverbank. We had a great conversation a few months back. We're committed to being good stewards of that relationship. Something you said resonated with me when you said you did all the heavy lifting for our staff. It's true. Our staff works very hard. I don't have questions on the agreement so much the perspective of it. Yeah. Our budget and its health have been at the forefront. We've set a precedent before of having a tax sharing agreement with other developers. And we really haven't seen the fruit of that sales tax come to the city for a long time. And it's really impacted the way we've been managing the budget. When we say tax agreement on business size, I believe I chose that language and strategic plan. And to clarify some of that intention, it was kind of the opposite for me, where we've been so focused on our small businesses. Um, and being, um, equal partners with the larger businesses and successful businesses like yours. Um, so we've heard a lot of the pros, but I'm curious about. Some of the, uh, uh, management that we're going to have to do on our roads, on our infrastructure, et cetera, um, that we haven't been able to hear today. Um, so we, I want to consider a proposal, uh, that is the opposite. So 60% to the city. and 40% to Boyette to revisit this resolution every five to 10 years, I'd be open to discussing. with council because I want to be equal partners, you know, with, with our larger corporate successful businesses here and to let our small businesses know that we're keeping them top of mind as well. And so I want to turn it to council, but that is where my thinking is treating the city as a, as an organic kind of growing body. And so taking away from thinking of it as a private business and rather that. So I want to turn to my council colleagues, see if there's any questions, comments.

Okay. So I've got a couple for you. So it was stated the agreement was similar to the Modesto. So what is the point of sale agreement? Is it the I wrote it down somewhere. The 25-year 60% sales tax, is it exactly like that? Because it was stated it was similar. So I just wanted to confirm.

No, the percentages are different. I don't remember exactly what they are, but it's definitely more like 50-50 or 40-60. I don't recall. It's 50-50, Vanessa.

Okay, so I've been on the revenue and taxation subcommittee with the League of California cities for seven and a half years, and we actually have a working group that's the city managers sales tax group. They actually did a study for three years that this exact thing. So rebate agreements. And so after the three year study, they came back and they made a recommendation. If cities are going to be doing this, right, it's optional. If cities are going to be doing this, they recommended a cap of 20 years at 50%. So just kind of curious how you guys landed at this number.

Well, I guess I'll be honest. If you don't ask for it, you're never going to get it. So that's probably why we started with 60-40. Our in-house counsel went and looked at other agreements because these are all publicly disclosed now. And we kind of landed on that based on what we saw in those agreements. Not in this jurisdiction. I don't think there's any at this point, right? Revenue sharing agreements in this jurisdiction, I don't think there's any right now. So that's kind of where we landed on that number.

And then so strategic plan was also mentioned, the tax agreement based on business size. So I reread our strategic plan. We did vote for it. But it was kind of high level, right? There's no framework. And so I see it as our mayor said. So I see two paths here, right? So I see, do we direct staff to build the policy first because that's what we've already agreed to? Or do we set a precedent and agree to something like this? And then does that open the door to all the other businesses in town? And so then what does that look like? And so how does that affect policy? the income here right and so uh that worries me right and so it's not so yes it isn't it is in our strategic plan but it's not defined right and so that's that's where i'm at and so that's why i'm having a hard time with this agreement so i'm going to pause there okay i mean i guess my only comment would be you know we we have an office in long beach we still have offices in modesto that we don't want to do that we could um we'd rather bring all of that business here like

Day in and day out, there's going to be about 90 people in and out of this location. So you're looking at $6 million in payroll probably times what, one and a half for the economic impact of what that's going to bring to this community. We still own the corner there at the 76 station and we lease it to United Pacific. So like I said, I'm not here to leverage you. Because we're already there. I don't know if you guys have been by it. Have you been by it at all lately? Looks pretty good. Yep. Furniture's going in today. And the 21st is when we should have people in there. And I know that that convenience store is going to benefit tremendously from it. You know, we have a snack section. We're going to put a picture that has the store and say, go next door.

I recall. So... I wanted to revisit the strategic plan because it was mentioned. And I think there was a significant part of the strategic plan that hasn't been mentioned. And in the strategic plan, we put strategic partnerships for economic development. So I understand you're requesting a 60, 40 or 40, 60, whichever way you want to look at it. I agree with the mayor that it should be equal parts if we were to implement something. I think there's a bigger picture here. And for a while, we've seen a high turnover in some of the businesses on that Patterson and Oakdale Road pocket. So bringing 90 people consistently weekly. we're bringing in more people fueling up in the stations and surrounding the four corners there. The small businesses there, people eat lunch, they grab breakfast, they grab their coffee, they swing by CVS to grab Benadryl or whatever it may be. So it's those businesses that maybe haven't been getting the attention that they need will get more attention and exposure through the ongoing traffic. So I'm looking more into a 50-50 if I were to be honest with you because of the strategic partnership for economic development that this would create. And then I, the term, I mean, I really think a 20 year is probably a little more standard and feasible, but that's kind of where I'm at. I'm interested to hear what the public has to say. And then I kind of have a couple other things after that.

Okay. I mean, yeah, we would be, we're open to talking about all, we just came up with this plan presented to you guys and let's vet it out. I mean, we're excited about it. I think there's a tremendous opportunity here. Just back to gas prices. I hope nobody asks me about gas prices.

Okay. I agree with Mayor on the 60-40. You know, Riverbank is really thriving. And I want to ask you, the 150 employees that are relocating, will you be hiring additional for Riverbank?

Okay. There's 144 employees currently at Boya Petroleum. So I think they just rounded the number up. Of that, about 20 of those are in Oklahoma City because we have a location there and another 10 down in Long Beach. All the rest will be from Riverbank, Oakdale, Modesto, Ceres, Turlock, Lathrop, Manteca. So they're going to come into the community, Lafayette, Mountain House. Are we going to be hiring more? Sure. We're always hiring. Okay. Thank you. I mean, we try to grow about 15% to 20% a year. It might sound a little aggressive, but that's what we've been doing. You saw last year what happened. We've done three acquisitions in the last four years. Third generation family company still. We're one of the last ones standing. I've been there 25 years.

So we are going to open it up to public comment, is there any public or do you want to. I mean.

comment card from Mr Michael Christie on this item.

hi Michael Christie, I just wanted to encourage the Council, just to try to find some common ground and let's not lose the opportunity. I hate to see them just stay in Modesto and give up. So, I mean, 50-50 is really reasonable. Maybe if you think 20 years is too long, maybe do it for 10 years. But I just hope you guys can find some common ground and we don't lose the opportunity. I guess we could sure use the revenue the city can. Thank you.

Mayor, that is all I have for public comment. And I don't see anyone on Zoom wishing to speak.

OK, we have one more in person, it looks like. Thank you.

I just have a question. Is there fuel stored on site down at this area? No.

OK, thanks.

Thank you.

And you shook your head no, just for the folks online. Is there any other public comment? None online either.

Mayor, there is no one on Zoom wishing to speak. Okay.

I'm going to close this public hearing and bring it back to council. I had additional comments.

Yeah. So when we talk about the strategic plan, we talk about the work that the Boyette Company does with their Make Dreams Real Foundation. I'm not sure if anyone had the opportunity to look it up or has heard about some of the work that they do in our community as far as advocacy for our youth and funding youth programs. So When we talk about our strategic plan, we talk about this partnership with a company who really believes in our youth and raises money for them. I also want to talk about fundraising for the sports complex expansion. So this is money that we haven't seen. We're constantly talking with Parks and Recreation about creative ways to raise money for different parks. So we have phase three of Silver Park. I selfishly have the lights that I'd like on the trail and crossroads for fall walking. And then we have the new park that we just approved the plan mapping for, for over there on Jackson. So I'd like council to really think about it, but it's possible that we take the 50% tax share. And instead of it going into the general fund, we put it in a curable account to help with the sports complex expansion, or I'm open to other ideas. for phase three of Silva Park or even the Jackson, but I'm looking at these long-term projects that have been on the table for a long time that we've been looking for funding for. So just kind of me thinking out loud, really emphasizing the fact that Boyette's been a community partner for our youth and their youth programs and their foundation. And then again, making it an equal part 50-50, but I'm just kind of curious on council sentiments when we talk about a tax sharing agreement.

So I'm going to make an assumption, unless someone says otherwise, that we're all on the same page in terms of wanting to have some sort of agreement with you, that you are great partners, that we've discussed your charitable giving within the county. And just for a moment here, since we're sitting at the days here, I want to talk about Riverbank specifically. And so, you know, as we're, again, doing the heavy lifting on managing the funds, whether it goes into the general fund or another fund, I believe that we should consider the 60% to the city, 40% to Boyette. And still have ongoing discussions because i'm i'm thinking politically as well, because I trust you all will be able to pivot. You know, whatever politics throws at us when you know gas and oil are up and down and otherwise and but we're still going to have the same discussions here at the Council level for our taxpayers and so. Um, that's what I'm considering long-term as well. Um, and, uh, I, when it's appropriate, I would like to make the motion to, um, have the 60% of city and 40% of way up, but I will turn it back to council.

Yeah, no, just, I just want to, uh, just kind of go off of that. Would you be, would you be, um, open to 25 to a 20 year and then do so 60, 40, but for a 20 year. Yeah. So that's where I would be heading.

I'm more open to the 50-50 because I think that that's a shared accomplishment for all of us.

60-40 makes us kind of sound a little bit

I like a 50-50 and I think changing it to 20 would be great, but also making sure that we set up a special fund where these go and they're used for one-time projects like the parks. Not something like we did with the marijuana buildings where it's continuous because it's not going to be continuous. I think it should be used for one-time projects that are approved by council. I'm really excited that you guys are in that building and using it. And I'm excited for you to be here, but my proposal would be 50, 50, 20 years and a special fund.

I mean, thank you for that. And we'd be open to 120 months if 10 years makes you feel better. I mean, that's kind of our standard, like the Sunoco you were talking about. That's a standard branded gas deals, 10 years. So we understand that we're not going anywhere. We're going to be here. You know, I've been here since 1940. Um, I'm going to retire. This is my last move. I'm going to retire in this building and it's beautiful. And you guys can come over there and check it out. And we have spent, you said 5 million, but we're over six already. Of course it went over budget. I think we have fire inspection tomorrow. I should have tapped him on the shoulder while he was here. Um, But I mean, to your point, the Make Charms Real Foundation is something we're really proud of. I mean, our goal was to get the $5 million in that endowment fund. And then it just kind of takes care of itself from there. And we're, I think we're at 4.8 right now. So we're really close. Last year, we passed out about $381,000 to the community. And it's really based around service learning for youth. So a lot of people come to us and ask for money, but they don't have a service learning component as part of it. And Carl and Carol Boyette, who founded the foundation thought that was, that was the most important piece of that. And we're pretty proud of it. And it's, it's been great. My wife is actually engaging with the charities out being the, getting face to face with them now. So it's been, it's been really fun. So thank you for that. And, and, We did a dog park in Modesto. That wasn't through the foundation. We just did it. And then we refurbished another park with Valero in Modesto right down there around Grisada. I don't know if you know where Morris Park is. So we're always doing something.

And because I trust that, because I trust your partnership, I trust that you are all stewards of your own dollars. And I know you trust us to be stewards of ours. I want to make a motion to pass a resolution with the opposite of 60% to the city, 40% to Boyette with a 20-year term to come revisit.

And I'll second it.

Roll call, please.

I apologize. I missed that. I was speaking with your city manager. Yes. Then the change would be the switch. a shorter term and that's it and then a future discussion about potentially how to use those funds is that separate is that a separate discussion or is that I did not add that but if council I was just wondering because I know it came up in discussion I wasn't sure if that was part of the motion sure yeah to workshop the how the funds are going to be allocated in the future so roll call please I have a motion from Mayor Hernandez and a second from Council Member Uribe

Right, Council Member Uribe?

Yes.

Council Member Fossey?

I don't know. I guess yes. I prefer 50-50, but I guess I'll go with the motion.

Council Member Call? No. Vice Mayor Pimentel?

So if it's a yes or a no, does it end right here or do we continue?

Well, technically, we would have to present this back to them, and they would have to agree to that. So this is not going to be a final discussion.

For me, it's a yes.

Mayor Hernandez? Yes.

Motion carries three. Oh, I'm sorry, four, one.

Thank you so much. All right.

Thank you, everybody, for your time, and we really are excited to be here. We appreciate it. It's going to be fun. Thanks.

Thank you. Okay, so we are on 10.1, an interim urgency ordinance.

Mayor and Council this item is bringing being brought before you at the request of the City Council from our last meeting on August 25 so we've our presentation to be loaded up here, so this is the request for a 45 day temporary moratorium our new land use applications for data centers. So at the August 25th city council meeting, the majority of council did direct staff to bring back an urgency interim ordinance that would impose the 45 day moratorium on the approval of any new land use applications for data centers. So the discussion tonight is with regards to the moratorium and not specifically on whether we're banning or approving data centers. Just for some additional background information, demand for data center development has grown rapidly within Stanislaus County. and discussions there that have become public. Depending on the size and design, data centers may require substantial water, electric, land, and supporting infrastructures, and may generate relatively few permanent jobs. They may also bring private investment, construction employment, infrastructure improvements, and tax revenue. So a balance of those costs to the public, but with the benefits is not yet well understood and something that we're going to be able to evaluate for Riverbank. The temporary moratorium gives the city time to study that and determine whether existing policies and standards adequately address it. So the government code 65858 does authorize a city council to approve a temporary moratorium by interim urgency ordinance on land uses that may conflict with regulations that the city is studying or intends to study. It does require a few findings. One, that there's a current and immediate threat to public health, safety, or welfare. And two, the approval of additional entitlements would result in that threat. It may be adopted as an urgency measure without a notice public hearing, which is why this item is under new business today. The initial term is 45 days. It may be extended twice for up to a total of two years and adoption and any extension does require a four fifths vote of the city council. So our existing regulations do not specifically address data centers. They don't identify data centers as a permitted use. Riverbank Municipal Code Section 153003, which discusses communication equipment buildings, that might apply if the original user is a telecommunications facility, but it doesn't necessarily highlight that It would include any cloud, AI, hyperscale, or co-location data centers. M2 heavy industrial zones could be potentially approved as an unlisted industrial use via a conditional use permit, planning commission use classification, and site plan review. The LRA-specific plan, which governs the former Riverbank Army ammunition plant, it does not have data centers listed as an allowed use, and that would require a specific plan amendment. And then our municipal code does not address any development standards for water or electrical demand, any cooling technology, wastewater generation, generator battery siting, or any noise implications. So any potential impacts under our current regulations is that, of course, everybody's been discussing the use of potable water for cooling systems. There may be large sustained electrical loads that could affect capacity for other users or require upgrades. Concentrated wastewater discharges may strain city capacity. Continuous noise from cooling equipment and emergency generators. Scale and building form might raise compatibility and aesthetic concerns. Why our current review is not sufficient, a conditional use permit or specific plan amendment allows for review, but the code has no data center specific criteria for us to compare that to. Conditions would have to be developed case by case under statutory deadlines. without prior study, harm would not be readily reversible, committed utility capacity is not recoverable, and an operating facility would continue on terms the city has never set. So staff concludes that this constitutes a current and immediate threat within the meaning of government code section 65858 subsection C. Now the ordinance tonight does set forth a definition of data centers that includes a building or structure or portion or group thereof used primarily to house servers, data storage or network equipment and associated electrical and cooling infrastructure. There's a threshold of 5,000 square feet or more of gross floor area devoted to that use or a designated designed electrical load of three megawatts or more it excludes equipment that's accessory to a lawfully established principal use on the same parcel and communication facilities are already regulated under the municipal code. The during this moratorium if approved the city shall not approve or issue any entitlement permit or approval for the establishment construction or expansion of a data center. conditional use permit, variance, site plan review, zoning amendment, development agreement, grading and building permit, certificate of occupancy. Those are all permits or entitlements that we would not move forward with approval of if we were to receive an application. effective immediately upon adoption, or this ordinance is effective immediately upon adoption, but does expire after 45 days unless it is extended and it is exempt from CEQA. A couple of next steps. So tonight, council's considering the adoption of the interim urgency ordinance. As mentioned previously, that does require a four-fifths vote in order for it to move forward. Within 15 days of the adoption, the city clerk will publish the ordinance. At least 10 days before the expiration date, we'll issue a report required by government code section 65858 discussing the measures taken to address the conditions that led to the adoption. And within these initial 45 days, we will agendize an extension if needed at a regular city council meeting with an officially noticed public hearing. And that will be set for October 13 which is just before the 45 days are up and and if additional time is needed in 2020 that would extend through 2027, and so we would look to have some comprehensive data Center regulations come before the planning Commission or city council, based on any studies that we've performed. So there's a financial impact, of course, to all of these studies that we may need to perform staff time assistance from our legal counsel with any future public hearings and any of the information that we're presenting to you. And so tonight, staff is recommending that the city council discuss the adoption of this interim urgency ordinance that would impose the 45 day moratorium. And with that, legal counsel and myself are available for any questions.

Thank you. For counsel, any comments or questions? I just have a random question.

The previous call center where Boyette was, how many megawatts were being processed out of that facility?

I would not be able to tell you what that was. Okay.

Thank you.

So, just so I'm on the same page, the purpose for me was not to kick the can down the road, rather to come back within the 45 days to evaluate what it states here, but also what you mentioned before. If you could go to the previous slide on the comprehensive data regulation that we would consider. Is that part of what you expect to be able to, unless you need an extension?

We'll probably come back with some basic information. October 13th is not that very far away, so... Any additional studies that we would need to have in conversations with legal counsel with regards to changes to our existing ordinance, we will have to have that all complete at least two weeks before that October 13th date. So that takes us to the end of September. So it basically just gives us this month.

Yes, so the and then going back to them to the proposed. ordinance or the moratorium is there other language that you recommend that would help kind of focus in on what to look for, so that we can consider if we do need more time to be able to bring back comprehensive guidelines. Or does this suffice because this to me feels vague like general impacts.

The intent behind the interim ordinance is as a stop gap to give the council and staff an opportunity to evaluate it. It doesn't preclude the city from imposing and adopting regulations sooner. So this is just for it to become effective immediately and prevent a surprise application from dropping by because that is a concern that's been raised in other communities within the county. So this gives the city opportunity the time to evaluate. And as Maricela said, the goal is coming up within those 45 days to present a general framework and we can get feedback from the council on what you'd like it to look in its final form. And with direction from council, knowing that you want to prioritize this and you want final regulations way ahead of the full extension, if it's necessary.

Yeah, so just a quick comment. So at the October meeting, we can expect to start to give some kind of direction to staff as far as we would like to ban this or just those kind of general directions, right? That's kind of the idea. Okay, gotcha.

I think in order for this moratorium to be effective fully, I think we also need to take a look at or do a workshop on existing ordinances, as well as the conditional use permit process and the LRA, in this case, specific plan, And then bring presenters and data's on both sides that present the true claims and the false claims or we actually get to distinguish that and then also hear presentations from potential data center users or existing because, in order for this really to be. the goal is, is to really have an idea of what is classified as a data center, what these data centers do, what impact they have on our community. And so I don't think just issuing a moratorium is really, because like Mayor said, it's vague. So we need workshops on more than just a moratorium, because maybe a moratorium is not the answer. It could be, I don't know. But the only way that we're going to find out is if we get all of the facts and what an ordinance, what sort of parameters we can set with an ordinance, conditional use permit process, something for planning commission maybe. So I just think that there's more than, one, I think it's going to take more than 45 days, let's be honest. And then beyond that, I just think there's abundance of information that needs to be brought to us and the public as far as a future ordinance and conditional use permit process goes.

So, yes. And I think that was my point. We're going to pause potential permitting applications for now or consideration of applications for now. And if there's not any more clear focus language that could help for these next 45 days and We can consider an extension at that point. Like you mentioned, just wanted to open it up to staff in case there was any Yeah, as I earlier mentioned, this is not a ban.

This is just simply a pause in accepting applications so that we have the time. with council's direction to be able to bring you the data that you feel that you need in order to make a determination on whether it may be a ban on whether we look to amend the municipal code to allow for that use, but under certain circumstances or with certain restrictions, that's the information that we need to be able to gather for you for consideration and direction.

my expectation would be in 45 days staff comes back to us and says this is what we found this is where we think we need to have workshops this is the people we need to talk to and we'd like to extend it so that we can talk to all these people before we decide on an ordinance i agree with councilman councilwoman call that we need to have more information but i think we need to have direction from staff on what that information and have them set it up for us That should be something that we can get done in 30 to 45 days. Get that set up and come back to council and say, okay, this is what we've researched. This is where we need to focus our attention. This is what we suggest. And then we have the workshops. You're not going to be able to do that in 45 days. But we can get the information together and come back and say, okay, citizens, this is what we're finding. This is what we're asking council to do. And then they can come back and say, well, we want you to do this more. But we have to have some kind of a moratorium where nobody comes in because we need to understand what that means. And there is so much information out there about what's bad, what's good, what can be happening. I mean, I read, I heard on the news, you know, Pennsylvania has one and they're giving $5 billion and all this stuff. And I'm like, wait a minute, wait a minute. We need to have that put together for us. And that's what I'm looking for.

Okay, so is there any public comment in person? Is it different from your public comment? Okay.

With a medicine. I would just point out that that for the last month or plus we have communicated with the council we've communicated with the staff. The issues that were raised to potential negative impacts I addressed in my comments tonight. None of those things are part of our plan. You're all aware of the time value of money, right? We're talking about a billion dollar investment in river bank, which would be $10 million worth of annual property tax that you don't get today. 50% of which goes to schools. You're not going to find a whole lot of billion dollar investments. And so what I'm saying is we've been very transparent. We'll we'll, offered to speak at this meeting and we'll present any information you want to have about what a data center means. There was a data center running in this facility when we took it over that was, at least was signed with the city. I don't know if you're aware of that, but my point is, There's a lot to be upset about with data centers and some of the developers who have taken advantage of communities and natural resources. What we're presenting is a completely different program. Now, within our existing conditional use permit, we could go out and get a really nasty recycling company who will drive 40 or 50 trucks a day down this road into that facility with garbage flying out of it. We could do that today. We don't want to do that. We'd rather get something that is going to be a more meaningful long-term investment in Riverbank. And so what I'm saying is by you put a moratorium in and don't allow the staff to continue to work with us, you're not going to get the information you're seeking. And frankly, we've presented a lot of that information. So a moratorium has a very negative impact on our ability to go out and find a tenant. and make that investment. So, you know, it does matter in terms of what signals you send in a 45 day could turn into sometime next year. And the opportunity is going to be missed for river bank to get a billion dollars invested here with a lot of positive impact on the community. And really none of the negative impacts that have been talked about pollution, noise, water, the grid, we've addressed all of those things. This is sort of where, the evolution of data centers is going. And so I think passing a moratorium sends a very negative signal to our development efforts, which the city has got us doing, right? We're your manager of that facility and we're looking for the best possible tenant. So I would urge you not to go forward with a moratorium, or at least if you do, allow us to continue to work with the staff and continue to make progress on what we've already been discussing. We've had discussions with the planning department about whether or not it's allowed under a conditional use permit, but what we've been talking about very specifically, what we're trying to accomplish here, and made all of that information available. Maybe, you know, I would like to see us to be able to continue that progress with the staff and not have a moratorium on our working with and advancing an application. I think that would be very important. Thank you.

Appreciate your consideration.

Mayor, I do not have anyone on Zoom wishing to speak.

Are there any more in person, please?

Good evening, Mayor, Council, and staff, and everyone here. So as far as the moratorium, I understand there's a lot of comments that are going online because the public, our citizens here, they're very worried about this. It's a lot going on out there, and I appreciate that Ametis has come here to share a lot of their information. And I'm not saying any of it's not valid. I think that what the people that I'm seeing are asking for information, and although a medicine's information could be perfectly true, I think that you need a second party that's not connected so people can see that it's not just one-sided. And then on top of that, you know, of course, the environmental impact, the medical impact. Some people think that there's things that can happen medically. The noise, even though I've had conversations privately with people, I think that, you know, I think that the public needs to hear about that. And I think that we need to have that information that comes to them, whether it be a community center thing that they have, a meeting there, because you have a lot of information that people are asking about online. So data centers aren't very popular. I know that a few other cities locally have pushed them away or are trying to. But I think that if it brings better, we can get the information, and we can make sure that we're informing our citizens here of what's going on. If you can, as fast as you can, I think you need to keep the moratorium because that's what you did promise last time you guys were here. I don't think that that's something that's going to go to the wayside. I think that you guys are trying to be smart and knowledgeable and make a good decision. So I appreciate that, that you guys have put this on there because you have a bunch of people here that live here that are very worried about things like this. They're not informed, maybe not educated in that. Well, then get the education to them so they can see that you guys are trying to listen to what they're saying. So I think that that's something that maybe, again, that we need to make sure we're getting all the avenues. You get maybe a second party that has nothing to do with them so they can see, hey, they're fine with this or there's something else going on. So I just think we need to have a bunch of education that the public is never right to have that. So that's pretty much it. Thank you.

One more public comment.

As a process engineer, 45 days seems a very short time in the consideration of a billion-dollar process. One thing that I was really... That came to my mind was how the projects that's being proposed for this area is just perfect for expansion drop key modular type processes just expansion of the electricity and so that's a consideration that we need to consider. That's just one factor. And I'm not aware of all the other factors. 45 days is a short time. We need to gather information. It doesn't hurt to have more information. 45 days will not delay a process. If there truly is a billion dollars worth of incentive, the people will continue and fight for this project. It will not delay it. Linda Legacy.

One more call for public comments.

Hey, Medrano, Lillis City Council, Mayor, staff, citizens. So about this here, my thing is they have a billion dollars, right? They want to just hurry up and throw out money and go to start this project, you know, hit the ground running. But when we last met here, we talked about the 45 member random, can't say it right. But, you know, we talked about this. We also talked about within that 45 days, educating our citizens on this is a lot between now and 45 days. So obviously it may go longer. But if they have a billion dollars to throw at us and start running right now, they can wait 45 days plus, right? We don't need them to have, and not accusing any city council, but we know how politicians are. They can take money out of the table. And, you know, we don't, like I said, I'm not accusing anybody, but we don't need anybody to, that accusation going out there. So for this stop, We can educate our citizens, get all the information we need, and go forward from there. I don't know much about it besides, like we talked about, you guys all talked about, you guys all had some great comments on everything, and I'm very proud of my city council tonight. So that being said, we need to just hold up, gather all the information, the facts, the non-facts, also, produce it to our uh citizens because all everybody's seeing is everything on social media negative you know about these these uh wastewater and just polluting everybody's water um around the area being polluted i don't know if it's true i'm not there so you know that's information we need to gather so that being said um i think 45 days is nothing so thank you for your time

I will bring it back to council. And just to be clear, this isn't a moratorium on conversations, on community outreach, on Um, on more education, this is, uh, for us to, um, Protect, you know, as was mentioned, you you're protecting developers. We got to protect rate payer or taxpayers. Um, and so that's really what it is, is for us to take, be able to take a pause without, um, anyone considering, um, not just, you know, a medicine or one certain developer. data centers here in the city, but for us to be able to consider language, to consider impacts and education around all of this. So is there any more council comments, questions?

So I think we do need to hear good and bad, but also because this moratorium request was sparked by Amedis' conversations and trying to do some outreach on their data center tech hub. I think in all fairness, if there was a way to be fair in politics or the situation, I think that we should hear a secondary opinion, but we also should hear the specifics of this project because, and how it differs because he came up here and told us that this is different than at your standard data center. So let's hear it all. If we're going to put all of the cards on the table. And let's hear their project and let's hear the contrary information as well. Because if this is the only time a data center is going to come to Riverbank, well, let's hear it because this moratorium came up because of that conversation that they've been having.

I'd like to say that that is not true for me because I brought it up in comments that I would like us to have a workshop or do something about it. And I got a call from a menace within a week of that. My conversation that I wanted to have was not regarding what a menace is presenting because I did not know about that. Mine is concerned about how it has been affecting other communities cities and states, and I want to make sure our city is protected and we know exactly what it means when a data center comes in, whether it's small, whether it's big. But it has nothing for me to do with a menace I trust the menace I believe a menace which you know, sometimes you can't try, but it to me, it has nothing to do with holding a menace up or what they presented because, as I said. I brought it up because i'm concerned about what is going to happen to the city of riverbank if we don't look at what could be presented.

So I'd like to make a motion to approve the interim urgency ordinance, as stated.

I second.

Roll call, please.

Council Member Uribe?

Yes.

Council Member Fossey? Yes. Council Member Kall? Yes. Vice Mayor Pimentel?

Yes.

Mayor Hernandez?

Yes.

Motion carries 5-0.

Thank you. Staff comments, reports?

We have no staff comments for tonight.

Vice Mayor?

No Steph comment for tonight as well.

I'll keep it brief. Okay, so September 10th, we're going to be hosting the League of California Cities Valley Division General Membership meeting here at the Community Center. We're going to be doing the officer elections. We're going to be networking with other elected officials here. So looking forward to that. And that's all I'll say. Thank you.

On September 15th, the women's group will be starting up for Riverbank. They will be meeting at Scout Hall at 6 o'clock for a potluck. On September 14th, the annual Historical Society meeting will be happening at the museum right behind us at 6 o'clock. And I also encourage every citizen that's in Districts 1 and 3 to go to the forums, whether they're with chamber or any other organizations and learn about the people that want to represent you, make sure that they want to represent you in the way that you want to be represented. It's important to hear what they have to say and make sure they understand what you want them to do because you will be electing them.

Thank you.

So the last meeting pastor Randy was here talking about assembly of God. So I actually have certificates for him from the City of Riverbank, Supervisor Condit, and Assemblymember Flora. And it is in celebration of their 100 years. And the certificate from the City of Riverbank reads as for one century, Assembly of God has served as a steadfast faith community, providing spiritual guidance, fellowship, compassion, and support to generations. Through its ministry, outreach, volunteerism, and commitment to strengthening families and neighbors, The church has made a meaningful and lasting contribution to the character and well-being of our community. So I wanted to make sure the Assembly of God and Pastor Randy received the certificates. Last week, I had another non-district East ad hoc committee, and we were starting to go over the introduction of the accounting software and calculations on parcel mass for water allocations. The next meeting is Thursday. We went over the schedule and there is, I think, 10 meetings between now and January. So more to come on that. To echo what Council Member Fossey said, it is very important to know and meet your potential elected leaders. I attended the candidate forums with both Stanislaus Latino Chamber and Riverbank Chamber. So next, this week on the 9th and the 10th, they are holding their candidate forum at 2701 4th Street in Ceres. Riverbank is Wednesday tomorrow at three o'clock and four o'clock for districts one and three. I encourage you all to attend. I know historically Johnny at the Latino Chamber was able to provide a USB with recordings. So hopefully we can get a hold of those for those who are not able to attend. But it is an opportunity to meet your potential elected leaders. Last week, I attended the Ag Water Forum while everyone was celebrating Grocery Outlet, which I'm so sad I missed. And our public works director, Cody Bridgewater, was there. And it sounds boring, but it was actually a lot of fun because you get to hear other jurisdictions within our county and our state who are having similar issues when it comes to farmland and water usage and the lack thereof or how it is being used. Federal leaders from the USDA, EPA, and other organizations were in attendance. And one of the big take-homes for me was We up here as elected officials, we have to do the hard things, but we also have to ensure there's little impact to residents. And so Cody and I were there to advocate for our community. We have. CONVERSATIONS OUT TO OUR CONGRESSMAN TO HELP US ADVOCATE FOR US FOR THE BRIC GRANT FOR THE WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT FOR THE RECYCLED WATER COMPONENT AS A LOT OF THE FUNDING THAT WE'VE ALREADY RECEIVED IS BECAUSE OF THE RECYCLED WATER COMPONENT. SO I'LL CONTINUE THOSE CONVERSATIONS. WE'RE GETTING LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION FROM OTHER LOCAL LEADERS SO I'LL CONTINUE. YOU GUYS HAVE MY COMMITMENT TO CONTINUE DOWN THAT PATHWAY TO HELP FIND FUNDING FOR THE WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT. So Measure M has been a hot conversation, and I'm not really here to have a discussion about it, but I will kind of follow the mayor's lead from the last meeting, and I'm going to pause for a moment to ask my council members to take a stance and support a no on Measure M to ensure council and local control. So I'm going to pause for a minute, see what they have, if anything, and I'm hoping that we can all take a stance as a city for a no on Measure M.

So I already kind of publicly shared where I stand on that. So I think I've already stated I'm a no.

And with that, we also had Riverbank and Modesto had a joint meeting of Modesto and Riverbank councils to discuss the coordination and collaboration on major planning. And so I've been requesting a resolution to initiate a sphere of influence increase. And the goal would be in continuing the meeting that took place in 2017 is to have a joint approach when it comes to the growth of both the city of Riverbank and the city of Modesto because of some maps that have been put out and then our request for a sphere of influence. So that would be everything for me.

Thank you. I attended the Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority meeting where amongst many things we discussed a consultant that has been in our local news lately and I made a comment that we need to have our consultants treating their employees to the highest standards. And so as this consultant comes back that operates the drivers and the staff from the different buses that get us everywhere from day to day, that is definitely a topic that work in a broach to make sure that there are remediations happening and that the consultants that we work with, both regionally and within the city, are treating employees well. I've also attended the Measure L Oversight Committee MLOC meeting on behalf of the policy board for Stan Cogg to give them an update on the, and I may lose a lot of you, but I'm on an ad hoc committee that is overseeing some of the potential updates that need to happen with the policies and procedures with the Measure L funding. And so there's a lot of conversations, a lot of ad hoc committees. HAPPENING TO MAKE SURE THAT TAXPAYERS' MONIES ARE BEING UTILIZED IN THE MOST ETHICAL AND EFFICIENT WAY POSSIBLE. AND THEN FINALLY, I WANT TO JOIN IN SUPPORT OF COUNCILMEMBER CALL'S COMMENTS. EARLIER THIS YEAR, JUST A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, We published a letter that we sent to the city of Riverbank asking for regional collaboration on growth that's going to happen towards Riverbank. As was mentioned, in 2017, there was a meeting that happened similar to this. I have the public minutes in front of me where actually Council Member Fossey was present in this joint meeting. And so we both discussed wanting to be able to have this opportunity again. So we wanna publicly invite the city of Modesto to join us in a joint council meeting to discuss regional growth, the collaborative approach to this and how we can move forward in a strategic way for development for both of our cities and for the region. at large. And so I would love to request, you know, one more council member, a couple of our council members to support us in extending an invitation to our neighbors in Modesto.

I can definitely support you guys. I've actually been having meetings with council member Chris Rickey, Eric Alvarez, and others for this exact same thing for the last couple months. So if you guys need a third person, I'm more than happy to join.

I'm for it.

Okay, so that concludes my comments for today. We have no closed session. The next regular scheduled meeting will be on Tuesday, September 22 at 6pm. We are relocating just down the road at 3600 Santa Fe Street at our community center to allow for space during that meeting. So this meeting is adjourned.