City Council - Regular Meeting

um Yes. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank goodness, yes.

um

Welcome, everyone. I'd like to call the meeting to order for May 26, 2026. And if you could please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. Deputy Mayor Cinella, could you lead us, please? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. God of peace, we invite you to preside over this meeting. Even if we have different opinions, give us a spirit of unity. Help us listen politely as others share their points of view. Help us to carefully consider the relevant information that has been gathered. Help us to be innovative as we brainstorm solutions. Help us to work as a unified team in combining ideas for a great outcome. Help us work as a whole. May we always have the spirit of camaraderie in this room and work together on our shared mission, serving the city of San Marcos. Amen. Okay, Mr. Scullock, could we please have the roll call?

Member LeBlanc?

Present.

Council Member Musgrove? Here. Council Member Nunez?

Present.

Deputy Mayor Cinella? Here. And Mayor Jones?

Here. Okay, if the council could please join me. In front we have a few proclamations and presentations this evening. Okay, welcome everyone. Our first up is our National Foster Care Month. If we could please have Casa de Amparo CEO Kathy Carpe and Development Associate Michelle Barnett please come on down. Thank you. So great to see your smiling faces. Okay, I have this to read and then I want you to tell everyone in the audience a little bit about what you do at CASA and the great impact that you're making in our community and beyond. Anyway, National Foster Care Month is strengthening minds and uplifting families. Whereas across our country there are an estimated 332,000 children and youth in foster care, 30,000 across California, I'm sorry, 36,000 across California with approximately 1,500 in San Diego County alone. And National Foster Care Month is observed each May to recognize the resilience and strength of children and youth in foster care and to honor the dedicated foster parents, relatives, social workers, advocates, volunteers, and community organizations that support them. Children and youth in foster care often face significant emotional, education, and social challenges, and foster families and kinship caregivers play a critical role to provide safe, nurturing, and stable homes during times of uncertainty, helping them build brighter futures and stronger connections to our communities. Communities play a vital role in supporting foster youth and families through mentorship, advocacy, educational opportunities, mental health support, and programs that strengthen family stability and their wellbeing. The City of San Marcos is committed to recognizing and honoring all foster care organizations who are dedicated to our children and youth in San Diego County, as well as doing everything we can to support this population. Now, therefore, we, the City Council of the City of San Marcos, commend the invaluable contribution of foster parents, kinship caregivers, social workers, advocates, and former foster youths who leadership, compassion, and commitment help improve the lives of foster children and families throughout our communities and beyond. We do here proclaim the month of May as National Foster Care Month in the City of San Marcos and encourage all of our residents to support these efforts that promote the safety, well-being, and success of our children in you and youth in foster care and when they go out on their lives because you know beyond because we want them to be successful and uh you know start their own families anyway if you could just give us a few words kathy come on around if you don't mind yes i'll give you that of course thank you thank you

Thank you, Mary Jones, for this honor. And most of all, thank you for bringing to light these children who often sit in darkness for many years. I wanted to introduce Michelle Barnett, who's here with me today. At Casa de Amparo, we often say we are a place to heal, grow, and thrive. And tonight, I want you to really picture what that means. It means a young woman who has been sleeping in her car now has her own bed, her own key, and a safe place to come home to because we just opened our new transitional living program, our first federally funded program, and Mayor Jones, you were kind enough to attend our grand opening of that. It means a young person who has experienced deep trauma can finally sit with a therapist on our campus and begin to process what they've been carrying because we are expanding access to mental health care in ways we never have before. And it means that very soon a child in crisis who today might be sent hours away from everything they know will be able to stay right here in our community to receive intensive care because we are building a psychiatric residential treatment facility on our campus. This is what a continuum of care looks like. It's not just one program, it's making sure that no matter where a young person is on their journey, there is a place for them to land and someone there to help them heal. But the truth is, none of this happens on its own. It happens because people like you choose to care. You choose to show up. You choose to say, yes, these young people matter. Thank you all for your support of Casa de Amparo and our children.

Okay, next up we have the Global Accessibility Awareness Day Proclamation for Theresa Barnes, the founder of Auditory Advantage Group. Teresa, if you could come down, please. I'll give you this. but I'm going to read it, but I'm going to read it, and then I'd like for you to say a few words. Whereas on Thursday, May 21st, the global community observes Global Accessibility Awareness Day, GAD, to advance digital, physical, and structural inclusion for individuals with disabilities. Whereas statistics show that one in five Americans age 12 and older live with a hearing loss, translating to over 174,000 North County residents, and 656,000 individuals across all of our counties, San Diego County, that face systemic safety and communication barriers along our coastlines, transit systems, and workplaces as well. Whereas local author, registered nurse, and advocate, Teresa Barnes, endorsed by the late Dennis Waitley as the voice of hearing, is launching her landmark book, Auditory Advantage, alongside the corporate B2B AIR, ecosystem training framework to turn accessibility into a strategy for regional market growth. Whereas this framework deploys the standard accessibility identifier officially endorsed by legendary mother of pediatric audi, I know. I'm thinking I want to just grab that baby. She's so cute. Anyway, Audiology. Mary Ann Downs to protect recreational cyclists, e-bikers, tourists, and military personnel while empowering businesses. By the way, she doesn't have to leave. I was just saying I wanted to just come and give her a little hug. and military personnel while empowering businesses to tap into a $13 trillion global demographic. Therefore, we, the City Council of the City of San Marcos, do hereby proclaim May 21st, 2026 as Auditory Advantage and Hearing Accessibility Day in our City of San Marcos and urge all corporate enterprises, small businesses, and community members to adopt structural inclusion to ensure public safety and economic prosperity for all. Thank you, Teresa. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. And I'll just let you say a few words, if you don't mind.

Well, thank you very much for this proclamation, Mayor Jones. And this is my baby over here to the left. Her name is Stella, for all of you who are curious. And she is my auditory advantage advocate. So she is a trained service hearing dog. So she's not just pretty. So you heard everything that Mayor Jones said. And for a long time, different nonprofits have been trying to do it. And I did have a nonprofit called the International Hearing Challenge Organization. And 20 years ago, I helped a young man who is now 20 years old get his very first cochlear implant. And I never met the young man as he was growing up. But his parents were so grateful to me because he got a cochlear implant at five months old. And I talked to him when he was in Kentucky in some cave with his college group. And it was just phenomenal. So we want to make this world better for the young babies like we just saw. And I do wear hearing aids. And it is ringing in my ears, just so you know. So it's very annoying. But auditory advantage is about taking this to another level so that everyone with any disability can have the advantage because hearing loss is almost an equalizer. It affects every age, every race, every gender, every neurodiversity, and anybody who has a mobility issue. So it's not just those above the 20%, which in San Marcos, it's almost 20,000 people in San Marcos. that you don't know. And so in this book, and then also in training that I do, I teach people how to recognize us. I teach you inside the book different things that you need to do to save your own hearing. And so I'm so grateful for this so that we can make hearing loss because it's supposed to be, there's 1.5 billion globally right now, 65 million in the United States, but globally, and that number is supposed to increase to 2.5. So as we break building codes to stop the auditory revenue leak, hopefully businesses will belly up and start to have accessibility where we can all hear with our hearing aids and cochlear implants and to protect the baby's hearing and the children's hearing and to make it a better world for all. Thank you.

There we go. And if everybody could take their hand and just put it behind your ear. Put your hand behind your ear. There we go, we're all hearing you, hearing me, what, what, what, you know?

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. She knew, actually, when you said that. Well, she did know that. Yeah, she's used to my voice. And I always have little treats in my pocket.

Oh, that's what she's waiting for. I don't have any treats. Thank you so much. Let's see if I do or not. I mean, I know I usually do. She's expecting that you do.

Okay, everybody, for those of you that can see, we're going to dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance. Here we go. Thank you. What a treat that was.

She's so cute.

Okay, now we have something sort of serious. We're here to recognize something truly extraordinary. A moment that showed the very best of our city of San Marcos and our community. On April 16th, actually we have a few people that are going to be coming on down. Amy Clark, there you are. And then we, she's going to, are you gonna provide the details? Okay, and then we have Yana. I'm pretty close. I'm sorry it was so slow. Jennifer Overman, Karen Rudolph, Kimberly Valdovinos, Kirandeep Chokar, Myra Nava, and then also Yangshen So. So we had I think I'm going to read this. But if I miss something, please. And so we don't like when we have emergencies, but when we have emergencies, we really like that people come up and step up and are prepared. And so that's a big part of this. So we're here to recognize, as I mentioned, something truly extraordinary. On April 16, during a chair yoga class at our Senior Activity Center, it says Senior Center, but we call it our Senior Activity Center, A participant experienced a sudden cardiac arrest. In those first critical moments, city staff, the class instructor, and members of the public stepped up without any hesitation. They began CPR, used an AED, and worked together seamlessly until emergency responders arrived, our amazing fire department paramedics. Because of their quick thinking, calm under pressure, and willingness to act, a life was saved. Moments like this remind us that preparedness matters most, training matters, and most importantly, people who are willing to step forward and help others can make a difference. I call this the spirit of San Marcos, our spirit of service, to step forward and help and make that difference. We are incredibly proud of all the individuals we're recognizing tonight and deeply grateful for the care and compassion they showed in a moment of crisis. At this time, we have Amy Clark, who's going to share more about the incident. So would you like to share a little bit more?

Yeah, thank you. That was a great introduction. Well, we, as you know, had that emergency, and the staff was amazing. Everybody came together very quickly. CPR was started immediately. and then an AED was brought and Ms. Foster is here with us tonight sitting in the back over here and the AED was placed and it delivered one shock and during that one shock it restarted her heart and saved her life because of the amazing activities and actions by our crew here. The fire department came and picked her up and she was transported to Palomar Hospital And where I'm told, Ms. Foster, I wasn't there, but I was told that you were up and smiling and talking and making jokes and cracking the team up on arrival to the emergency department. So we are so honored. Her daughter brought her here tonight. She was number 221 saves. She has an amazing shirt on. I have Chief Melendez here as well. He's going to provide some certificates for our amazing team. lifesavers, and then she got a very special shirt that her daughter had made for her, and it's beautiful. And I was told you were back in the activity center today, if I'm not mistaken. Is that right? You had lunch today. So we are very grateful to have you here tonight. We're so happy and so thankful to see you, and well done to all of you.

I see we have matching certificates.

Good evening, Mayor Jones, council members, and staff, distinguished guests, and everyone joining us in person and virtually. My name is William Melendez. I'm the Assistant Fire Chief of San Diego Fire Rescue Department, and I'm here on behalf of our regional lifesaving initiative, San Diego Project Heartbeat. San Diego Project Heartbeat was established in 2001 with a clear mission to expand public access defibrillation throughout San Diego County. Since then, the program has grown into a comprehensive regional resource, providing every element needed to build and sustain an effective, affordable, and high-quality pad program. To date, this program has been placed in nearly 12,000 automatic external defibrillator across the county and have documented 223 live saves, although I don't think anybody else has a jersey quite as fabulous as your jersey.

This is true.

So I also wanna recognize the city of San Marcos. They were the first municipality to join the program back in 2002, demonstrating leadership that continues to make a difference today. Tonight I'm here for the most important part of this program story, the people who step forward when every second matters. So I won't go into details, you've already shared those. I just wanna thank you for your bravery, your jumping right in there and really making a difference and validating the importance of this program. So thank you.

Oh, yeah, either are probably in the same order. Yana? Yana? Yana?

Casanescu? Yes, that's very good. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you so much. I'm sorry. No, no. Thank you. I'll give you that. Thank you.

And Jennifer Overman?

Jennifer Overman, yes. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much. We appreciate your speech.

And Karen Rudolph.

Now we're on a roll. Thank you so much.

I don't think Kimberly's here tonight, right? Kimberly's not here.

Karen Deep.

Karen Deep. Chokar.

And I'd like to add that Ms. Karen Deep was just accepted to medical school, everyone, so congrats. And Myra Nava.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Would you like to be part of our? I would love to.

all right so we're gonna have to scoosh in a little bit more And I think that's, yeah, I wanted to, yeah, I wasn't sure if she could come up. We're gonna bring the microphone back to you.

Can I give you a hug?

As the time goes by, I find I have more and more people. As time goes by, I find out that I have more and more people to thank for my life. I appreciate it very much.

Thank you so much. Congratulations. You have a lot of people that care about you.

Thank you. It was very nice to meet you.

Thank you for coming.

Very nice.

We love moments like that. Oh, you're not staying for the whole meeting. No, I'm just kidding. We definitely, I love that we had, we were prepared and we were ready for that moment. Okay, moving on to the consent calendar, I have one item that I need to pull, item number 12. Some clarification, does anyone have anything else they'd like to pull? Any other items? No, seeing none, do I have a motion then?

Move to approve the remainder of the consent calendar. And second.

OK, motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Any nos? Seeing none. OK, item number 12 is resolution MHP 202650, Springdale Estates monthly rent increase for the spaces affected by the September 2025 rent increase notice. The recommendation is to adopt the resolution granting Springdale Estates a monthly rent increase for the spaces affected by the September 2025 rent increase notice, but I have a couple of things that I do need to get on the record. Although this was not Dr. Barr's primary recommendation, which would have resulted in a fixed rent increase of 30.79 per month of 88% of the CPI, the 26.37 per month increase which represents 75% of CPI was included within the range provided in the alternative analysis as set forth in Dr. Barr's report. As he testified, would provide a fair return to the park owner. On the issue of the effective date of the increase, it was consistent with section 2G of the commission's procedures and the commission utilized that date. There is no indication that the park owner objected to the hearing being continued. As the park owner is receiving rents above those in comparable parks and the parks operating expenses excluding utility costs that are mostly passed through are approximately 25% of rental income per the summary in Dr. Barr's report. The fact that the park owner did not claim that the need for a rent increase was based on increased operating expenses did not suggest a higher space rent figure to address the retroactivity claim. The 2637 per month space figure represents a fair rate of return. So I just wanted to get those items on the record for the public and I would move to approve this item as further, oh, I'm sorry, Mrs. Peek, did you have one more thing?

I just wanted to note that we did have the, an updated resolution for your consideration. Oh yes, yes, I'm so sorry.

Yes, and there is an updated resolution, yes. that we all have here on the dais this evening, also in our packet as well. So I would make a motion to approve with those changes and with those additional items being placed into the record. Do I have a second?

Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Any nos? Seeing none, motion passes unanimously and we will be moving on then to oral communications. Do we have any speakers? No speakers this evening. Okay, new business, item number 13, Resolutions number 2026, 9602 and 2026, 9603. Brown Act updates SBS 707, which is a state mandate meeting policies, unfunded of course, meeting policies regarding protocols, including technology disruption and outreach policies. Do we have a presentation on this? Yes. Oh, our city clerk. Is this your first one, Mr. Scullick?

Yeah, it's been a very long time. I can't remember the last time.

All right, welcome.

And hopefully it will be another long time before I have to do this again.

Yes, we don't like the unfunded mandates.

Thank you, Madam Mayor and City Council, for this opportunity to provide some information on some new legislation, SB 707. This is a comprehensive update to the Brown Act. The goal of the update is to modernize how public meetings are run. It modernizes outdated teleconferencing rules and introduces standards for equal remote participation. It also supports increased transparency and meeting accessibility, which are key Brown Act values. We will discuss what changes, when they take effect, and how they impact city council operations in this presentation. SB 707 recognizes city councils as eligible legislative bodies if certain requirements are met as noted on the slide. For example, San Marcos has a population of 30,000 people or more and is also in a county with over 600,000 residents. Therefore, the requirements are met and the city council is required to meet these new requirements. SB 707 also requires certain actions to be taken, including approving a disruption and outreach policy, which will be on the agenda tonight. Already in effect with this new legislation is the mandates that the Brown Act be distributed to all newly elected and appointed officials, and this is shifting it from a discretionary to a mandatory. It codifies remote accommodations, updates definitions and consolidates teleconferencing requirements and to clear rules. Minutes now must identify who participates remotely and presiding officers also have expanded authority to manage remote disruptions. Phase two has a July 1 effective date. This new part of the legislation provides two-way audio and video for remote public participation. Staff is currently in process of installing and implementing the necessary hardware and software in the chambers, and this is some of the costs that the council or Mayor Jones referred to. as unfunded, and the total cost is about $25,000 that we will be incurring to make these upgrades. Remote public commenters must receive the same opportunity to speak as in-person attendees. Special meeting agendas are posted online, which is already a current practice. Council must adopt a technology and public access disruption policy. and we will continue to provide interpretation services at meetings and provide translated agendas and participation instructions on the city website and agenda to assist the public for this manner.

Excellent.

Council meeting changes. Obviously there'll be some new technology in the chamber which will allow remote access to participate in these meetings. And with that will be additional speaker management by the mayor, deputy mayor, and staff. We will also be providing equal time for all public speakers, whether in person or at home. With this new access to public meetings, the opportunity obviously for disruptions does increase. So there may potentially be those Zoom bombing type events. We hope not, but in the rare occurrence that that may occur, we will be able to stop those pretty quickly. Some of the things for your consideration this evening include the time portions, notice on the agenda must be adhered to, even if there are no speakers, and also looking at potentially removing the formal and informal group speaking capabilities. This is a process that has not been used since COVID and potentially could add to the meeting management administrative burden of the meetings. Some of these updates, can possibly provide reduced meeting length and efficiency and easier speaker processing. The technology disruption policy is required by government code 54953.4 sub B. Almost sound like Helen there for a second. Required public participation or public adoption of the policy by July 1 is required by this new legislation. If the service fails, recess for up to one hour and make documented good faith efforts to restore are also required. Applies to two categories, public disruptions, in the case of a Zoom bombing event, and technology disruptions. If unresolved, we must consider a roll call finding before resuming or adjourning the meeting to a future date. Another component is outreach. Meeting instructions will be posted on the website several weeks before the first meeting. Staff also plans to do some public outreach through our established communication methods to help promote the new process. Continued interpretation services will be provided. Agenda accessibility in Spanish through the website will also be available. And we'll work with community-based organizations when and where directed and possible. Councilmember remote participation. ADA accommodations are always allowed with no numerical limits, but does require some disclosure. Just cause remote participation is limited and must fit within defined examples as illness, caregiving duties, official travel, or military service. Councilmembers must participate by both video and audio unless disability prevents the video. Disclosure of adults present at the remote location is also required for complete transparency. All votes will be taken by roll call. The traditional teleconferencing rules can apply in some situations requiring the disclosure of remote locations on the agenda under the Brown Act as well. Tonight, that concludes the presentation. Tonight's recommended actions are one, adopt the disruption policy, and two, also approve the outreach policy. I'm here to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.

okay uh do any council members yes council member nunez thank you mayor um for the record and the benefit of our residents um what are these new policies these requirements do they apply to this meeting what meetings do we know

They are required of any city council meetings, whether special or regular meetings.

Okay, so for instance, today we had a special meeting that was held at three o'clock, so a meeting like that will be impacted?

Yes, after the July one implementation date, yes, those meetings will be required to provide a two-way public participation.

Okay, that means they'll be live streamed?

Yes, yes.

Okay, and then I just have a comment. I'm really looking forward to seeing what we do, what efforts we engage in to promote meetings and engagement for underrepresented communities and non-English speaking communities. So thank you for this.

Yes, so just for clarification, we already are offering Spanish listeners onsite, so this will be also translated over our platform. live stream and then the only other major change I believe is we have to pay for all of this again an unfunded mandate unfortunately what the state continues to do but and then the other part is participation when folks are at home and they will be able to our participate but not disruptively we will be able to control that so our meetings will still be seamless I think in Anyway, just wanted to clarify those thoughts. And yes, Deputy Mayor.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor. Just another kind of piggybacking question on what Councilwoman Nunez asked. With regards to the workshops, do we, I don't know if this is for Phil or for Michelle, but do we foresee then us having our workshops in the chambers, or are we gonna set up the conference room for that capability as well?

As part of our investment in our real estate here at City Hall, we are exploring whether we could create that setup in the Valley of Discovery. But by July 1, that won't be possible. So initially, it will be here in the council chambers.

Okay. I really like that we're gonna be moving in this direction. I'm also happy that we're gonna be taking a serious look at being able to have that capability for the workshops in a conference room. I do think that's a little bit more conducive to interacting with the public in a more casual and kind of productive manner. And so good, but I also know it's gonna take some time. Totally go with that. And then also, you know, the mayor at Sandag and myself at North County Transit, we've had a system similar to this already in place for a long time and it works really well. And so I am excited that this new capability will provide all of our residents the opportunity to, or at least more of them to interact with us when they want to. So, great job.

Yes. All right. Anything else?

Move to adopt the resolution.

I'll second. Okay. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Any nos? Seeing none, motion passes unanimously. Next up on the agenda are... Would that be both resolutions?

I'm sorry.

Yes.

We have two.

Yeah, the maker of the adoption was for both. Thank you.

And the second was for both.

Okay, perfect. All right, so both passed unanimously. Moving on to public hearings, we have Our first public hearing is, oh, look, it's about another bill from the state of California. Sorry, I have to just joke about that. It's TMP 2442, public hearing pursuant to Assembly Bill 2561 to report on vacancies, recruitment, and retention efforts at the City of San Marcos. Again, an unfunded mandate. So we do have staff that will be offering some comments on this. Stacy Armacost, which is our HR Risk Manager, Jacob Lizaraga, our Senior Management Analyst, and Lauren Vukojevic. Vukovic, did I say it right? Close? Okay, sorry. Our senior management analyst, and I don't think any of the three of you have presented to us yet, have you?

No, this is a first time presentation.

All right, it's our first time.

Let's go. Okay.

Jacob and I presented this last year, but I'm going to let our senior management analyst take the lead this year.

Wonderful. Thank you so much.

Okay, good evening, mayor and city council members. I'm Jacob Lizarraga, human resources senior management analyst. Tonight we'll be reviewing an annual reporting requirement brought forth by Assembly Bill 2561. And this legislation took effect back January 1st of 2025 with the intent of AB2561 to ensure that public agencies maintain appropriate staffing levels while addressing significant vacancy rates proactively. This law requires that public agencies report annually on vacancy rates, as well as recruitment and retention efforts. Should vacancy rates reach 20%, additional requirements would apply, but as you'll see soon, our vacancy rates are well below this threshold. Citywide vacancy rates continue to remain low and have improved over last year's rates. Our current full-time vacancy rate is 4.07% compared to last year's 6.32%. The increase in stability can be seen across all bargaining groups, especially with fire safety as they are fully staffed. Our improved recruitment processes have also worked to support timely hiring, which we'll dive into shortly. First, we'd like to provide a brief overview of the workforce data. The city of San Marcos has three represented bargaining units, classified miscellaneous, professional firefighters, and supervisors. On the lower portion of the slide, you can see the current number of full-time vacancies broken down by each bargaining group, as well as the unrepresented employee group. Visualized here on our chart are the vacancy rates across each employee group, included as well as the overall citywide rate of 4.07%. Now I'll hand it over to my fellow senior management analyst, Lauren Vukovic, to share about the exciting initiatives our team has been working on related to recruitment and retention.

Thank you, Jacob. Our human resources team continues to focus on strengthening recruitment and retention strategies to support stable staffing levels across the organization. In alignment with our core value, to be a good partner, we work closely with departments throughout the recruitment process to ensure we are meeting their needs while building thoughtful, effective hiring strategies. Over the past year, we have streamlined our recruitment kickoff process to improve consistencies, reduce timelines, and clearly define hiring needs for each position, including tailored ideal candidate profiles. We also continue to actively market our opportunities through online recruitment platforms to attract qualified and competitive candidates. In addition, we regularly review compensation and benefits data to ensure we remain competitive within the regional labor market. Another key focus area has been investing in our existing workforce through internal promotions and professional development opportunities citywide. Some of the vacancies reflected in previous slides represent employees promoting into new roles within the organization, demonstrating our continued commitment to career development and employee growth. As a result of these combined efforts, the city has maintained strong retention through stable staffing levels and consistently low vacancy rates across many departments. Looking ahead, we will continue refining our recruitment strategies, strengthening partnerships with hiring managers, and focusing on attracting and retaining highly qualified employees. We also remain committed to professional development opportunities and support employee growth and long-term organizational success. As required by AB 2561, we will continue notifying each employee association of their respective vacancy rates and provide an annual presentation to city council to remain compliant with the legislation. This concludes our presentation tonight and we welcome any questions from the council.

Thank you so much. I guess I would make one observation. We do have a lot of employees that have been with us for a very long time. I think that just really shows how much we value them and then also how much we care for all of our employees. And we do like to definitely have people promote from within because then you have that longevity and you have that historical knowledge which is really important I think in an organization. So I just want to say great job on the presentation the first time for the two of you and you know I just thank you for all of the efforts in what we do to build the team because I think that whole mentality of helping one another and serving one another and promoting within and really building that whole long-term team spirit does make a difference within an organization. And the difference is our community feels it. And I know I have so many people that come in on a pretty regular basis and they say, gosh, San Marcos is such a cool city. They care about us. Yeah, we care about our residents. And I love how we're working on that and focusing on that and trying to bring more people into the organization that feel the same way. So anyway, just want to give you kudos on that. And then any other council discussion on this item? Deputy Mayor, you're moving forward as if you're going to say something.

Go ahead. Thank you for the presentation. Learned a lot. And I was really pleased to see that there's no more openings with the fire department. Not that they're any more important than everybody else, but given the nature of what they do and what they see on a regular basis, I think having their regular scheduled shifts and their time off with their families is probably really important for them. So I was glad to see that. So thank you.

Definitely. Did you have something, Council Member Musgrove?

No.

Oh, no? No, I appreciate that. Okay. All right. Anyone else? This is a public hearing, so we will need to close the public hearing. Oh, I'm sorry. Any speakers? I didn't see any speaker slips, so I almost skipped past that. No public speakers. I will move to close the public hearing. Do I have a second? I'll second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Hearing any nos, nos. Okay, then do we have a motion to approve the item?

We do approve. Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. I think that was Council Member LeBlanc? Yes, and Council Member Musgrove. I don't know. Okay, I'm new here. Whatever you heard, Mr. Sculloch. Okay, we have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Any nos? Hearing none, okay. Moving on to our next item, Resolution 2026-9589, 9590 and 9591, and Ordinance 2026-1579, Santa Fe Flores Townhomes Multifamily Residential Development Entitlements, including Addendum to Mitigated Negative Declaration in D22-008, See, I take this time so they have time to sit down and get comfortable. General Plan Amendment, GPA 25-0001, ReZone 25-0001, Multifamily Site Development Plan, MFSDP 25-0001, and Tentative Subdivision Map, TSM 25-0001. All right, you guys should be in place and ready to go. Mr. Ferracci.

Yes, thank you, Mayor Jones, council members. Sarah Clough along with Kyrene Chua will be making tonight's presentation on this item.

All right, thank you. Thank you, Mayor Jones and Mr. Ferracci. Our item tonight proposes 46 residential condominiums for the council's consideration. The project applicant is Santa Flea Flores LP. The applicant requests approval of a general plan amendment, rezone, multifamily site development plan, tentative subdivision map, and adoption of a mitigated negative declaration addendum as the environmental document for the project. The project site is shown in yellow. The site is located at the northwest corner of South Santa Fe Avenue and North Las Flores Drive, north of Highway 78 in the college area community of the city. Here is an aerial photo of the project area showing surrounding land uses. The recently developed production industrial park is located directly to the north of the project site. There are other industrial uses to the west, and the project site includes a commercial building, a liquor store, directly to the west. To the east, across North Flores Drive, is an existing apartment complex called Las Flores Village. To the south, across South Santa Fe Avenue, is an existing mobile home park. And southeast, an existing neighborhood of single family attached residences. Further to the north, northeast, taking the Las Flores Bridge over the Sprinter Line, is the Rancho Santa Lena subdivision with single family homes. To provide background on the project site, in 2023, a 50 unit apartment building was previously approved by city council for the property. This approval included a general plan amendment and a rezone to change the general plan land use designation at the time for the site from light industrial and commercial to medium density residential too, which allows for multifamily residential of up to 15 to 20 dwelling units per acre. and change the zone to the corresponding multi-family residential R310 zone. The project applicant is the same as for the current proposal. Here's the current project site plan. The project proposes 46 condominiums consisting of seven townhome style buildings with garages and guest parking, recreational amenities, private and common open space, and landscaping. This new project includes an additional .37 acres from the vacant portion of the adjacent lot with the liquor store. This additional acreage is located within the area on the site plan where building seven is proposed. order to include the adjacent 0.37 acres as part of the project site the requested entitlements include a general plan amendment and rezone this area is shown on the map as dark gray the general plan amendment and rezone would change the current land use designation from commercial to high medium high density residential and change the zone to r36 multi-family residential Also under this current general plan amendment and rezone, the light gray area, which is currently designated medium density residential two and zoned R310, is proposed to be changed to medium high density residential and to the R36 zone. This area is approximately 2.2 acres in size. The change from the current R310 zone to the R36 zone is necessary to allow for the townhouse buildings to be three stories in height. Under the current R310 zone, only two-story buildings are permitted. The proposed medium high density residential designation and R36 zoning provides an appropriate transition between the industrial and commercial uses to the north and west and the residential uses to the south and east. The general plan amendment and rezone would amend the general plan land use map and zoning map to the proposed multifamily residential designation. The proposed project includes a tentative subdivision map to create a single lot condominium map for the 46 units. This map will include the .37 acre area, shown with the dashed blue line, which will be acquired by the developer from the adjacent liquor store property. This acquisition will occur through a boundary adjustment prior to submittal of a final map application. The final map will also include an eight foot wide irrevocable offer of dedication along South Santa Fe Avenue for future pedestrian and bicycle improvements. Here is the project site plan shown with the north side of the development at the top of the slide. A typical floor plan is also shown showing the second floor living space. The first floor will consist of garage parking and bedrooms will be on the third floor. Each townhome will have three bedrooms and will range in size from approximately 1,400 to 1,700 square feet. Each townhome will have a balcony and roof deck for private outdoor space. The project will include recreational amenities and landscaping throughout the development. In the following presentation by the project applicant's representative, Rick Giddings, additional details will be provided regarding the proposed townhomes and amenities. Under the multifamily site development plan, the project design is reviewed for compliance with development standards of the zoning ordinance and other regulatory provisions. Here are the architectural elevations. The proposed building consists of a contemporary architecture with building articulation, including pop-outs and varied roof lines. Architectural enhancements include lateral siding, stone veneer, and metal awnings. The three-story townhomes will be approximately 35 feet in height. The bottom cross section shows the development as viewed from the west with South Santa Fe Avenue at the far right. Regarding parking and circulation, the project will be accessed by a single driveway from South Santa Fe Avenue, which will also provide access to the adjacent liquor store. Due to the great difference along North Las Flores Drive, the South Santa Fe Avenue Drive provides the only possible access to the project site. Garage parking is provided on the first floor of each townhouse building, with motor court driveways coming off the main driveway aisle. Open guest parking is provided primarily on the north end of the development. Per the parking ordinance, the proposal requires a total of 107 parking spaces, which the project provides. There will be 92 garage spaces, which equals two spaces for each unit. In addition, there will be 15 guest parking spaces, which equates to one space per three units. EV installation will be provided in each unit's garage and in guest parking spaces to comply with the California Green Code requirements. Due to the limitations of the grade change on the site, the project proposed thoughtfully incorporates upper and lower pads into the existing topography. The project site contains approximately 48 feet of elevation change, ranging from a low point of 495 feet above mean sea level, noted in the slide as AMSL, along South Santa Fe Avenue, to a high point of 543 feet at the northern rear of the site. To accommodate the proposed development, grading for the project will involve approximately 23,300 cubic yards of cut and 3,200 cubic yards of fill. Grading will establish three lower building pads at approximately 500 feet above mean sea level, as well as a central access road of approximately 18% grade that ascends to upper building pads at approximately 526, 531, 535, and 536 feet above main sea level. Due to the site's topography, retaining walls of varying heights up to 18 feet will be needed in locations adjacent to the grade change along the drive aisle and at those areas abutting the base of slopes. The development will incorporate 38,739 square feet of landscaped area, a portion of which will screen the required retaining walls along the project's drive aisle and between upper and lower paths. Under CEQA, a mitigated negative declaration was prepared by Recon Environmental as the environmental document for the original 50-unit project that was adopted in 2023 in conjunction with the previous project's entitlement approvals. This project relies on the previously adopted MND and therefore an addendum has been prepared along with updated technical studies. The addendum addresses modifications of the project from a 50 unit apartment building to a 46 unit command dominium development, which incorporates the additional 0.37 acres into the project area. The addendum concludes that the proposed project under CEQA does not raise any new issues and does not exceed the levels of impact as identified in the previously adopted MND. The project's environmental consultant team is available for any questions regarding the CEQA review process after the presentation. As part of the environmental review, an updated traffic analysis was prepared. Kyreen Chua from Land Development is here to discuss the next slide.

A total of 368 average daily trips is generated from the proposed 46 condominium units with 29 AM and 37 PM peak hour trips. This project does not result in any transportation CEQA significant impacts. A vehicle miles traveled analysis was not required per the city's transportation impact analysis guidelines as the project is located within a VMT efficient area. The level of service analysis concluded that no substantial improvements are required for the intersections and roadway segments within the analysis study area. The existing condition of the nearby South Santa Fe Avenue and Smilax Road intersection currently operates at a level service D. A future city capital improvement project in 2027 will signalize and reconfigure this intersection so it will operate at an acceptable level of service.

Because the project proposes to change the land use of the property from commercial and medium density residential to medium high density residential, fiscal and economic impact studies were prepared to evaluate the benefits and impacts of such a change. In those studies prepared by DTA, The proposed 46 condominiums were compared to the previously approved 50 unit apartment building with the addition of a potential 2,800 square foot commercial building on the .37 acres currently in the commercial zone. Generally speaking, fiscal impact studies look at city revenues such as taxes, licenses, and permits, and also look at expenditures such as public safety, public works maintenance, and administrative services. The fiscal impact study for the project estimates that the proposed condominium use would result in a recurring fiscal surplus of approximately $38,000 to the city's general fund as compared to a recurring fiscal surplus of approximately $9,400 if the site was developed under the existing land use and zoning designation. Economic impact studies typically look at how much benefit the development would bring to the area based on economic output such as sales and employment. The economic impact study for the project estimates the recurring economic output to the city would be approximately $1.2 million for the proposed condominium use compared to an output of $975,000 if the site was developed under the existing land use and zoning designation. Under the current market, there's a greater demand for for sale condominiums rather than rental apartments as previously approved or commercial space. A public workshop was conducted last year, which was attended by one neighbor who had no comments regarding the proposal. No written comments from the public have been received. One resident provided comment upon their broader concerns with development at the City of San Marcos at the April 20th Planning Commission hearing. They expressed their discomfort with the volume of residential development projects occurring throughout the city, and the impacts these increases would have upon resident well-being, specifically mentioning traffic and safety. The project applicant responded that the project's traffic analysis did review impacts to more than just the South Santa Fe Flores Avenue and North Las Flores Drive intersection, and identified that the city's proposed fire station five is anticipated to be completed prior to the subject project. At the April 20th Planning Commission hearing, the commission voted seven to zero to recommend the project for approval to the city council. In summary, the project would add available housing to the city's inventory. The project is located near public transit, the inland rail trail, and near employment opportunities. The project is compatible with surrounding land uses. The project is consistent with the general plan. The project would fill a greater need for for sale condominiums rather than apartments and commercial space. Staff recommends approval to city council of the requested entitlements as outlined here. This concludes staff presentation. Rick Giddings, the project applicant representative, now has a presentation regarding the proposal.

Great, thank you. Any questions of staff real quick before Mr. Giddings starts?

Just real quickly, the terms condominiums and townhomes goes back and forth. We're still talking about the original 46 units as condominiums, townhomes being a portion of the name of the company.

Townhomes are the type of unit itself, but they are condominium.

Just make sure we're consistent with that. Okay, thank you.

And originally they were apartments, the 50 apartments. Welcome, Mr. Giddings.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council, staff. My name is Rick Giddings and I will be providing the applicants overview of our project although your staff already did a fantastic job on that and I'm not sure I need to really talk but I'm gonna go through it anyways. With me this evening Is the development team let me make sure I'm on the right way Paul mayor owner general partner Bettina Gruber from flare architects Paulo Ayala of PLS a civil engineers Julie Howard of Howard Associates landscape architect Julie is not here because she had a death in her family So she is not here this evening I'm the local consultant, Rick Giddings. Also in the audience, we have Lee Sherwood from Recon Environmental and John Moorman from LLG Engineering, who worked on the MND and the addendum to the MND. I also believe we have a representative from DTA in the audience if you have questions regarding the fiscal and economic studies. Here's an aerial photo that shows both the original site, which is in orange, and the proposed site, which includes the orange and the pink behind the gourmet liquor store. We believe this proposed project is compatible with all of the adjacent land uses. To the east is an affordable housing multifamily project. To the north is both industrial and a single-family residential neighborhood, Rancho Santa Elena. To the northwest is industrial. To the west is commercial, Gourmet Liquor. That portion is the pink in .37 of an acre, which is currently owned by Gourmet Liquor but will be purchased by the project applicant. and to the south across South Santa Fe Avenue is a mixture of mobile homes and multifamily rental projects. As the staff mentioned, the previous project, which is shown in orange, was approved in 2023 as a 50-unit, four-rent apartment project under the R310 zone. That was approved just as interest rates started spiking, and unfortunately, we were not able to finish that project off. The current proposed project adds .37 acres in pink behind gourmet liquor property. And the current proposed project is modified to include a general plan amendment and a rezone to R36 with 46 for sale townhomes. The site is very constrained by a number of factors, as most urban infill projects are. The first constraint is that the city has a policy of no more than 50 units for a single access, which this project is a single access off of South Santa Fe Avenue. The second constraint is a serious topographical challenge. There's a minimum of 48 feet of grade from South Santa Fe Avenue to the north end of the property over a distance of about 538 feet. So it's fairly significant and steep going up that hill. If any of you have ever driven on North Lost Forest Drive, you know how steep that road is. It's also constrained to the east by that particular road. Constrained to the north by existing industrial and the sprinter tracks and the inland rail trail. Constrained to the southwest by gourmet liquor. This is truly an urban infill project. The project has a number of attributes that I think are good selling points for the city. It has significant recreational facilities that I'll talk about in a little bit more detail. But it also has substantial landscaping, which follows the topography up North Las Flores Drive, which will enhance the aesthetics of not just this project, but also the road going north. The project also provides an irrevocable offer of dedication of eight feet for future bicycle facilities along South Santa Fe Avenue. We will be providing minor architectural enhancements to the Gourmet Liquor Building, as well as relocating and upgrading their current trash enclosure. The project will provide level two EV ready outlets within each of the 46 garages which far exceeds the building code requirements. We will be paying the in lieu affordable housing fee and each of the seven buildings has rooftop solar and open space on all of the seven buildings. Two of the buildings, buildings one and two closest to South Santa Fe Avenue will also have five ADA compliant units. The recreational facilities include five separate open space areas spread throughout the project, so all seven buildings have access to recreational facilities, and they include a young children's play area, dog walking and relief areas, barbecue areas, as well as older children's play area, and a cornhole lawn game for adults primarily. High quality architectural landscape design will provide a distinct environment pleasing to both residents and neighbors. This is the plan for the common usable open space and recreational facilities. You can see it is almost up to 15,000 square feet, which on a 2.6 acre site is quite extensive. You can see on the landscape plan, heavily landscaped in part because there are some gray differentials and retaining walls, but we will be planting over 100 trees on the site and landscaping a little over 36,000 square feet on the site. This is an urban infill project with transit orientation. There is literally an NCT bus stop directly in front of the site, which enhances the transit capability of the site. It's Route 305, which as you know, runs from Escondido to Oceanside, and it goes through a number of transit centers, the closest transit center being to the east at Palomar College. Seven buildings from the site plan designed to take advantage of the existing topography and climb up the hill. There's a right in and right out only from South Santa Fe Avenue, which has a joint shared access with the Gourmet Liquor. There's no access to Northwest Forest Drive, and we looked at this extensively over a period of traffic studies to see if, number one, it was even physically possible, which theoretically it is, but after we looked at it, we realized it was creating more of a traffic hazard than it was solving. So single access.

I note that the guest parking is in the back. Can you talk a little bit about what the thinking behind that design?

Yes, the guest parking was placed back there primarily because there wasn't a whole lot of other space to put it. There are a couple of spaces along the road going up toward the back, but most of them are in the back and it was basically because there wasn't a whole lot of room to put them anywhere else on the site.

The ones that you're talking about in the front, is that within this area or is it straight?

It's right along the street.

Okay.

Okay. The other... Attribute of this project is that it really doesn't generate much traffic as your staff has said Total ADT is 368 29 a.m. Peak I have 39 p.m. Peak This schematic shows the existing traffic volumes on the left-hand side for South Santa Fe Avenue as well as those traffic folks going into the gourmet liquor The center schematic shows the project traffic volumes, and then when you add those two, you end up with the right-hand schematic. No views from Rancho Santolino will be blocked. All seven buildings are approximately 35 feet tall. The project site is 33 to 38 feet lower vertically than the nearest single-family residence on Via La Venta. and the project is 390 feet horizontally from the nearest house on Villa La Venta. So the residents of Villa La Venta that have the view will be looking over this site as they do the existing industrial. As I may have mentioned before, there's two eight plexes, five six plexes. This is an example of an eight plex unit. You can see on the ground floor we have the parking garage. The accessible unit has a powder room that's required as a part of the ADA accessibility on the ground floor. You move to the second floor, you have, in this scenario, you have one bedroom on the second floor. Those are in the eight plexes. All of the six plexes, all three bedrooms are on the third floor. and you have a 64 square foot deck for private open space. You go up to the third floor in this example and it has two bedrooms. Again, it's part of the eight plex and then you go to the roof deck and you have approximately 450 square feet up there which encompasses the rooftop solar as well as additional open space for the residents to use. This is the first floor. Each garage will have a level two outlet, which is EV ready for new residents. The second floor, again, this is an eight plex. The end units, unit one, five, four, and eight have a bedroom on the second floor and two bedrooms on the third floor. The interior units, unit two, three, six, and seven do not have a bedroom on the second floor. The unit size throughout the project is from 1,464 square feet to approximately 1,700 square feet. On the third floor, again, this is the eight plex. You can see that the interior units have all three bedrooms on the third floor. The exterior units have two bedrooms on the third floor. This is the roof plan. They'll have significant open spaces, opportunities on the rooftop in addition to solar panels. The project's approximately one mile from Highway 78. It's immediately adjacent to a bus stop from NCTD that handles Route 305. Another attribute, the site has immediate access to the Inland Rail Trail. If you take your bike or you walk up Northwest Flores, there's a downspout basically right into the Inland Trail. which, as you know, goes both east and west. It's a transit-oriented urban infill project. Route 305 does pass through a number of transit centers, the closest being Palomar College. And as your staff mentioned, we had a workshop on December 11th, 2025. One participant from the public, they had no comments. On April 20th, 2026, the Planning Commission recommended approval by 7-0, and we had one speaker that had sort of a general comment about pausing development within the city of San Marcos in general. I don't know that it was directed just at this project, but in general. And I'll be glad to try to answer any questions the council may have.

Thank you very much, Mr. Giddings. First of all, glad to see that they're not trying to use density bonus, being it is close to a bus stop. That would be a lot more development on this project. And I do recall Well, I think, and I'm hoping you'll correct me if I'm wrong on this, I think there was a little less parking previously when it was apartments, and I think there was a lot less community space. I don't remember all the... That is correct. Yeah.

Yeah, the apartment project, although I think it was well designed, it had a big building on it. Yeah. that also climbed up the slopes. And there was significantly less parking and significantly less recreational facilities.

Yeah, that's what I recalled. And then is there a way, and it looks like it's a different driveway for this and the liquor store, it looks like it's two different driveways. Is there a way to gate it if you wanted to do that at some point in the future?

Gate which part of it?

Gate the community at the entrance.

We talked about that. Obviously, you'd have to put it beyond the entrance to the gourmet liquor. At this point, I don't think we're convinced that's necessarily a great idea. But certainly, as I think we continue the engineering work, we can take a look at that.

Yeah, the only reason I bring it up is you always have to think about the future and best thing for the community. Just thought about that.

Well, I do know that I have heard that there are complaints from Rancho Santa Elena residents as it relates to the affordable housing project to the east. That's correct. A number of those residents apparently park up there and walk back down. That's correct. I don't think we'll have that problem here, but time will tell.

Well, that's why I brought it up, because I thought possibly that might be something that does end up happening. And this is I know you can't tell us how much it will be selling for because you won't know that it's going to be market driven. But I would say just based on size and all of that, it is probably geared more toward the workforce housing, which is what we are in dire need of in our community.

Absolutely, and that's one of the reasons we have three bedrooms in all the units. We thought that was more directed toward workforce in addition to the urban infill project.

versus not all affordable, which I'm glad that you're paying the in lieu fee because many times when you have workforce housing for sale and then you also have affordable housing, it takes a long time to sell those units because they're very difficult to qualify for. So in my opinion, I think always paying

and in luffy where we can build a bigger affordable project always tends to work out better um and then i think that's all i have for now um yes council member musgrove has some questions it's good to see you again rick i recall when we had this discussion several years ago and the folks at santolina their concern was traffic impacting them on the access to south santa fe but most of those concerns went away when they realized the ingress, egress was going to be directly from the, then the apartment complex right on to Santa Fe. Parking was always an issue too, but that was mostly because of the concerns from the folks to the east. And we did have some extensive conversations back then about the liquor store. And I don't know, Just thought it was really interesting that the very offers that were made three, four years ago are now acceptable to a... My impression is that Mr. Aboudi is now supportive of the project. Yeah, it's very good to see. This is, like the mayor said, this is very much needed and it's a great location for it. It looked like great opportunities and I will be supporting the project. Thank you.

Thank you.

Deputy Mayor?

Hello, Rick. I was gonna also ask about the liquor store owner, and it sounds like that matter's been resolved, because they were probably the most vocal last time you came around, so I'm glad that you were able to get together with them and make that turn into a win-win situation for everyone involved. And I just wanna echo what's already been said, but I love the fact that every unit's gonna have a garage. You got the EV chargers going in that capability into the garage. You're walkable to the bus stop, and you can literally ride your bike out of the complex and onto the rail trail. And so this checks a lot of boxes for smart growth, and I really appreciate it, so thank you.

Thank you.

And there is a gap in the rail trail, but it will be built by the time, hopefully, that this is done. Yes, Councilmember LeBlanc.

I echo a lot of the sentiment. I think it's a great project in a great area, great use of that space, love seeing new projects near transit. Just one more question about the guest parking. So is that clearly marked or is there any concern that just the general public may try to park there?

Well, that's another reason why it's put in the back because we were a little bit concerned about that. And obviously, we don't want to impact gourmet liquors parking either because I could see that as an issue. So we've been having conversations with Mr. Aboudi about how to manage that so he's not impacted and obviously our project is not impacted.

Exactly, because obviously you want the people who are living there to be able to have nice spaces for their guests and then also the liquor store owner to make sure he has plenty of parking for his patrons. Right. So it sounds like you're considering that. Yes. So I think it's a great project, so I'll be supporting it as well.

Thanks. Thank you.

Council Member Nunez. Thank you, Mayor. I also like the project. Thank you for bringing this to us. I won't also repeat what's already been said, but I really do like the size of it. I like the proximity to public transportation. the proximity to Palomar College. So I think it is a great location. I am sorry to see that you won't be building or you don't intend to build any low income affordable. I understand that. That was one of the things that I liked about the project that we were approved. I definitely prefer the units to be built because of the great need that we have for those housing units. But nonetheless, I do also plan to support the project, so thank you for bringing this one forward.

Thank you so much.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have any speaker slips? No speakers on this item. Any further commentary between the council? It is a public hearing, so we would need a motion to close the public hearing.

Motion to close. Thank you. Second.

Okay, motion and a second to close the public hearing. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any noes? Hearing none, do we have a motion to approve?

Move to approve. Second.

All right, we have a, it felt like a tie. I could be wrong. We'll give it to Danielle. Okay, Councilmember Danielle LeBlanc. Okay, motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Noes? Hearing none. Okay, motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Okay. Moving on to our next order of business. I think that's it. Any further oral communications? No? Reports. I don't think we had, well, our last SANDAG meeting was canceled, believe it or not, the first time we've had a canceled SANDAG meeting. So next up is League of California Cities, Councilmember Musgrove.

We meet the first week of June, Mayor.

Okay, North County Transit District. Deputy Mayor. That was quick, wasn't it? Didn't even have time to get your.

It's not going green.

I was putting hand sanitizer on my hands and maybe the button didn't work because of it. Let me grab my notes here. So we met last Thursday and I had to leave the meeting early for another commitment that I had with the city here in San Marcos but I was there for the first and the main agenda item which was our fiscal year 2026 budget and essentially our staff pulled out a miracle at North County Transit District and was able to balance the budget while mostly keeping everything intact as far as the services are concerned. There are 22 positions that are currently open that won't be filled until the financial situation changes a little bit. But those aren't existing, they're not existing employees that will be laid off, they're just positions that won't be filled to give leadership there some time to kind of work through that. However, they did forecast the following two years and they are currently forecasting some pretty significant budget deficits. So I really appreciate, and I actually articulated this at the meeting, but I really appreciated staff's transparency on that because them giving us this two, you know, one to two year warning of what's coming ahead. allows the board and staff to work together to try to develop some strategies and some plans to maybe mitigate those impacts or look for ways to shift operations so that we can still meet the needs of those who use transit but also keep the district financially afloat. So I think there's gonna be some headwinds for the district for the upcoming years but I do applaud staff for their heroic efforts to find a way to balance the budget for this fiscal year because it was certainly tough, I'm sure.

Okay, next up, North County Dispatch Joint Powers Authority. We meet tomorrow. Okay, Clean Energy Alliance. Council Member Nunez.

Thank you, Mayor. Just a quick announcement. Our next meeting is scheduled for this Thursday, the 28th. Yes. And so it's our regular board meeting. We'll start at two o'clock at the Encinitas Water Board meeting room. And we also have our five year celebration that's happening that evening on Thursday. So it'll be a big day for the Clean Energy Alliance. I'll be there and I think I'll see many of you there.

OK, thank you so much. Next up, City Council business visits. Did we have any? None. Okay, any council commentary? Hearing none, this meeting's adjourned.

Thank you. There's been a lot of .