Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

I think this should have been hard.

Nice, nice, nice.

Good morning. Before we get started, I'd like to ask uh us to please place our phones on silent or shut them off. And uh just for the record, if you do come up on call to the public, you will have three minutes to speak. And please uh state your name and address for the record. With that said, it's my honor to um call to order the Board of Supervisors uh April 15, 2026 board meeting and uh superintendent of schools, Miss Donnelly. Mrs. Donnelly, you want to lead us in the pledge?

To the flag of the States of America.

Thank you, Maya. Next is item B, adoption of the agenda. Mr. Manager, good morning. Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board. We have one uh change item number seven under consent agenda. If we could bring that to action items, please. Okay. Thank you.

I'll entertain a motion at this time. Move to approve the agenda as submitted, giving uh with number seven under consent agenda, moving up to action items and allowing the chair to deviate where necessary. Okay. Second. Have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I.

All oppose. Motion carries. It see uh two Phillips here. Uh, Susan Phobian. Good morning. Susan Phobian, 20 Kent Avenue. Gentlemen, thank you. Because my neighbor cut my legal county approved septic line, I was without plumbing for four and a half months. Naturally, I incurred expenses, including the cost of a new septic line. I was requested by the county to submit my cost for reimbursement. I submitted approximately $10,500. I was offered less than half and would have had to sign away my rights. I was told for anything additional, the county would have to submit a claim to the county's insurance. I requested we move forward with that. I was then told that they would pay nothing. That was several months ago. I have heard nothing. Was it submitted, rejected, declined, paid? Well, once you've been guaranteed that there would be no payment, what should I expect? This week, the county advised me that my issue was only being listened to because of the survey that shows my neighbor has built on my property. I was told that my issue should be settled between the two neighbors. I cried. I left, sat in my car, sent an email. The county felt this should be

settled between my neighbor and I. cage match, a duel, arm wrestle, and then it dawned on me, the county must want me to hire a hitman because there is no venue where I can be successful duking it out with my neighbor. This is insanity. The county has failed me since my septic line was cut and capped. Had the county done even minimal intervention, all of this could have been avoided. There are no protective laws. We rely on the majority of the people just being nice. I didn't get that lucky. This is not a neighborly dispute. He built on my property. This county has no laws to protect. I'm not safe here. I can't even sell my house because it's encroached. Thanks a bunch.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Chrisovven.

Morning, sir. Good morning uh supervisors and everybody here. I'm Chris Woffen. I now live in Marana. I lived for a long time in Sonoya. And speaking about what the EPA's lead agency, the Coronado National Forest, CNF, added as environmental impacts to ADQ's water and air permits granted to South 32. First, um, I have to say CNF added Hermosa's requested expansion scenarios, but did not include South 32's mining preparations for the same minerals already ingoing in Alaska as an alternative, nowhere to be seen or heard about. Secondly, it can be noted that CNF unexpectedly presents the prospect of mobilization of antimony and other toxic metals to form a socalled long-lasting plume. ADQ granted South 32 an aquifer protection permit claiming the absence of metal mobilization against already existing scientific proof of the contrary. This permit therefore must be reopened

due to omitted material facts. Also, CNF eventually acknowledged that lead emissions from underground whole roads are 100 times higher than used previously, increasing the mine total of emissions by 2x two times. That also means that the air permit must be reopened due to omitted material facts. As the supervising agency, only the EPA can demand reopening. A petition from the people may help, but the EPA itself may seek clarifications from ADQ based on public coms like we can submit till April 4, sort of four days from now. Remember, um, the APA was not allowed to be a cooperating agency under Hermosa's fast 41 program, locking the APA out of any environmental review or related voting. A smart move of mining lobbyists, yes, who also convinced many that Hermosa will be producing critical minerals locally. So far, that is not in sight. Chances are we may not get the protection we are entitled to without serious re-examination of what protection ADQ is really offering. The CPBA may play a role but only if if it proves to be independent of South 32. A conflict of interest should not be

tolerated by the public. Thank you. Thank you sir. Thank you, Chris. Yes, you know it's it's not here, but go ahead. Okay, Wendyless. Thank you so much. No worries.

Wendy is Rio Rico. Good morning, Chairman Malera, board of supervisors. First, I'd like to take a moment to thank the county for agreeing to hold monthly updates on the early actions community investment agreement uh with South 32. Very much appreciate that. I'd also like like to recognize the government 101 series um which I believe is an excellent way to inform the public of how governments function. So, to Shannon and everyone else, thank you so much for that and thank you for the meeting this morning. I wanted to speak a little bit on the comprehensive plan update. I'd like to request that the county advise and outline to the public the additional ways they can individually provide input to the comprehensive plan update. It goes without saying that, you know, some community members are not able to commit to advisory committees for various reasons. And then to quote the $88,000 contract of the consultants, public engagement is not a single event, but it is a sustained relationship. I think we all would agree with that. And the scope of work also states in the contract that their services should support Santa Cruz County conducting inclusive, transparent, and well doumented community engagement for the the new plan. So we know thus that it's important to seek community input and other modalities and other opportunities. So I'm hopeful in the near future that we can get an update as to how that participation uh can look like or what that looks like. Um, and obviously a strong community participation program is key to developing a plan that addresses the needs of its citizens and one that is supported by its citizens. In other words, those that live here. It would be beneficial to provide also regular and frequent updates for the community as the planning comes together. So, thank you for considering that. And when I think of what factors will influence the plan update, I can't help but think that in some ways we are becoming um the next generation of company towns. It might look a little different than it used to,

but you know, I uh we might just call it the 21st century version. Nonetheless, um no matter all of the benefits that we receive, we cannot reap those benefits if we do not have protections. So, with that said, um I'm hopeful that we soon can be advised of what protections are in the CBPA CPBA and um when they will come to fruition. And while we wait in anticipation, I would like to urge this board to update and sign a resolution against a batteryra manganese facility in our county. This is one action item you can take now. And then again, thank you for that meeting this morning. I'd like to reiterate to please include independent water and air quality testing in your final DEIS letter and also to state them in your objection letter. So, thank you again. I appreciate your time.

Thank you.

Thank you, Wendy. Anyone else wishing to come up on call to the public? Okay, I am going to deviate a little bit. We have a student that needs to get back to class and we also have uh employees that need to go back to work. I heard so. Um so I'm going to go ahead and go to item three, awards and recognitions. Um it's always been an honor and it's something I brought forth years ago. Whenever we have a state champion in our county, we uh make sure we recognize them. And uh we are today we are recognizing Jesse Octavio Cayjo, 2026 AIA girls division 2 state wrestling champion. Celebrating her remarkable achievement and commitment to excellence in athletics. Congratulations Do you have one of these?

Thank you, my dear. Would you like to say a couple words? Um, I'm just grateful for the um, support the community has shown me and um, I'm glad to have been able to represent um, Santa Cruz Valley at the highest level of wrestling or sports. Thank you.

What was your overall record of the year? Uh the year 275 27 and5 I think so. And the final match at state. How did you do? What what did Was it a pin? Was it points? Was it technical fall? I had I think I had one more second on the clock. Like they called the pin as soon as the clock was going to end. Um the girl went for a throw and I just took her down and went for the pin. Yeah. And had you wrestled her before or No. Yes. I've seen her multiple times throughout the season and last year. So, she was a um reoccurring person, opponent.

Yeah. And I see that mom is here. Thank you, mom, so much for being here and and because without your support, it would not be possible. And dad and family. And I know this is your spotlight, but I also want to bring spotlight to your family. Um, has is this the first time that uh that a family member has won the state championship? No, my brother did it a couple of years ago. Forget which year, but I got to be there and watch him do it. So, that's when I started um this goal of being doing it myself. It's normal for the family. What's that? That's normal for the family. Well, congratulations and and keep up the great work. you.

You're a great kid. And And you're going to be attending the same college your brother's attending? I'll be continuing to Pacific University in Oregon where I'm going to still wrestle, too. A girl. Congratulations. And now we'll go ahead and move on to uh action item one discussion possible action to approve proclamation declaring a April 19th through April 25th as administrative professional week.

I move Oh, go ahead. I move Oh, do you want me to read it first or how do you want to read it? Let's read it first and then we'll approve them both. Okay.

All right. Proclamation administrative professional week, April 19th through the 25th, 2026. Whereas administrative professionals play an essential role in coordinating office operations for businesses, government, educational institutions, and other organizations. And whereas a well-trained workforce is essential for success in today's economy. And whereas the work of administrative professionals requires advanced knowledge and expertise in communications, computer software, office technology, project management, organization, customer service, and other vital office management responsibilities. And whereas administrative professionals week is observed annually in workplaces around the world to recognize the important contributions of administrative staff. And whereas the county of Santa Cruz in conjunction with the international association of administrative professionals in honoring the office professionals who lead administrative professional their efforts reflect the integ integral and central role that office professionals play in modern business. Now therefore, the Board of Supervisors of Santa Cruz County call upon all citizens of Santa Cruz County and upon all patriotic civic and educational organizations to observe the week of April 19th through the 25th, 2026 as administrative professionals week, commemorating administrative professionals who by their faithful and loyal devotion to their responsibilities have rendered a dedicated service to their community. In witness whereof we have here unto set our hand and cause the seal of Santa Cruz County to be affixed this 15th day of April 2026. You move to approve.

Uh move to approve. Second. I have a motion and a second. Uh any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. All oppose. Motion carries. You all want to come up and take a picture?

Do we have admin here? sneak in sideways so we can squeeze. Thank you. And and on a side note, I want to wish happy birthday to Jesus. Happy birthday and congratulations. Okay.

Happy birthday. Our next uh uh proclamation is item B, May 3rd, 2026 through May 9th, 2026 as National Correction Officer Week. Whereas in 1984, Ronald Reagan issued Proclamation 5187, National Correctional Officers Week, and formally recognize the corrections profession and the difficult and at times dangerous nature of corrections work. and whereas honors the work of correctional officers and correctional personnel for their service with honor, respect, and integrity. And whereas raises the awareness of duties, hazards, and sacrifices made by correctional officer employees. And whereas in Santa Cruz County recognizes employees of Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office Adult Detention Center for their role in safeguarding the citizens of Santa Cruz County by providing safe, secure, and humane incarceration of offenders within their custody. Now therefore, the Board of Supervisors of Santa Cruz County does hereby proclaim the week of May 3rd, 2025 through May 9th, 2026 as National Correction Officer Week. And all of Santa Cruz County citizens are encouraged to pay tribute to the correctional employees of the detention center for the vital public service they provide. In witness thereof, we have here on two set our hand to the cause the seal of Santa Cruz County to affix the 15th day of April, 2026.

Signed by yours truly uh vice chairman Fanning and Vice I mean member Lis Carlos Davis. I move to approve. Second. I have a motion. Any any second? Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I.

All oppose? Motion carries. Okay. Do we have correctional officers here? Yes, sir. Come up here and represent. I think you guys appreciate I'm going to take while Mr. Fanning's passing out the challenge coins. We had a little misstep. We didn't give any to our administrators, our professional administrators. Um, we'll go ahead and go back to current events. Uh, item one, board of supervisors. Supervisor Davis.

Good morning.

Good morning, sir. So, here are some of my updates. So, the county county manager and myself, we got to attend the Senator Ruben Ggo's housing town hall meeting in Phoenix. We had the opportunity to meet with him prior to the event where we discussed the current housing situation and the possibility of hosting a town hall in Santa Cruz County. He was very receptive to the idea and the county manager will begin coordinating with his staff to make this happen. That same day, we also attended the Vista Village Community Empowerment Center apartment ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by Chicagan Bakawsa CLC. A few weeks earlier, we had the chance to meet with them and we began this um dialogue to try to find some projects that we could collaborate and we were able to support them on the Baffer Senior project with the letter of support. Also last week, um, we met with Pima County Supervisor Matt Hines. Um, Jennifer Allen's supervisor Jennifer Allen uh staff, the county manager, uh, we invited the city of Nales, the Mexican consulate in in Nugal, Arizona. And once again, the idea is to see projects that could benefit Santa Cruz County and Pimac County. for example, we talked about like border dynamics, the port of entry and the passenger train. They're really interested in that one. Uh I'm very interested in that one too. And so that that was one of the first meetings from other ones to come. At the end, we had a chance to take them to Los Benitos. They they love that place. So I mean I think everybody loves that place. Uh yesterday we had a meeting with with Erson at work. I was going to give my update, but I'm going to have Sida. I think she does better. So you you she can explain about that meeting yesterday. We also got a meeting to we

we got to visit uh Representative Stephanie Stall Hamilton at the state capital and we just talked about like for an hour about different stuff taking place at the county. Uh an hour was not enough. So we're going to follow up with with the meeting uh very soon hopefully like within the next two weeks. Uh, I also got a chance with uh Colin Bishop to visit South 32. We went to see all the progress that are taking place, but also I got a chance to talk to people that work for South 32 that they're from Santa Cruz County and some of them for example like like two of them told me that because they were able to work with South 2, they were able to come back to to the community, something they wanted to be to to do and they hadn't had the chance. uh one of them was able to change careers. He was a he was a chef and he was able to he really wanted to come back so he was able to come back because he was able to work for the for South 32. So those are some of my updates.

Thank you. Thank you chairman Benny.

Good morning. Um had an opportunity to meet with some of the realtors from around the county uh in the We Serve uh building um off of Rio Rico Drive. um had had some great conversation. Um met with Ben Lomaly and John Combo um specifically about water as it pertains to our county um and reaching out to ADWR uh for more information had on the eastern portion of the county met with representative um Grihava, Congresswoman Grihava to talk about items pertinent to the primarily to the eastern portion of the county. had a follow-up meeting with Coronado Forest Supervisor Kerwin Dubberry in in Tucson. Um discussed once again items pertinent um to our county. Um met with valley leadership. U valley leadership is a group of folks that come down from either Phoenix or Tucson to find out a little bit more about what's happening uh on the border especially. So we were able to discuss with them some of the things that are happening here, some of the things that are important uh to our community. Yesterday I had the opportunity about once every six months I'd like to visit our our court system, our courts. Uh yesterday I had an opportunity to watch Judge Ois in action as well as Judge Frink. and I continue to sing their praises and uh let folks know that they they judge with um firm but fair. I know that term those terms are used quite often. U but I especially like the empathy that is uh that is uh presented uh by both judges. So uh a big thanks to those folks for letting me observe. um had a uh a follow-up growing water smart

meeting yesterday with uh deputy county manager uh Chris Young, with Shannon, with Ben, and with uh Clem Chute. Um continuing, we want to make sure that we continue the uh momentum forward with taking a look at uh all items pertinent to water within our county. And I want to remind everyone of this Saturday uh coming back after about 2530 years, the Rio Rio Rico Community Days. Uh the county is uh uh helping out quite a bit with that. And I want to thank how uh Howdy for all of your help and all of your uh your folks, all the work they do over there. Um and the Rio Rico Rotary. Uh Shannon, what time does that begin? Uh 7 o'clock is a pancake breakfast free 8 8:00 is free pancake breakfast at the community center located on Avanita Quatamundi uh followed by I believe 9:00 is the actual community day is going to be a lot of lot of booths out there a lot of people uh find if you want to learn more about our county and our community um it'd be a great place to be and and proves to be a lot of fun. Thank you sir. Thank you. I have a few items to report. Uh first and foremost, I had the honor and privilege of attending Benham Coronal's funeral services last week. Um Mhhamin was a former employee of Santa Cruz County and uh his his students. I I had the honor of having both his uh two out of his three kids at Ngalas High School. Great kids. And uh my prayers still go to the family. Uh secondly, I want to thank Gabrielle Bado and Marcos Estrine. Well, the with the LDS church. They put together a group of uh

close to 40 people uh including uh youth and uh they went out and picked up trash in our community last week. Uh I want to thank them for for their service. Um Chris Young and myself will be traveling to Phoenix today. We have small county uh small counties meeting today and then tomorrow we have our our monthly board of directors meeting which I will be attending. And uh lastly I want to uh remind everybody that April 25th we will be having the Pyab Blanca outdoor family event. Basically, there's going to be hiking. Uh fishing is the the main event. Uh game and fish, the forest department, uh Santa Cruz County, uh have partnered uh for this event. So, I'm excited for it. Uh it's good that we bring back uh the fishing event, including uh hiking as well and outdoor stuff. Um, and that's all I have to report. We'll go ahead and go move on to item two, manager report.

Mr. Chair, members of the board, two items to report. So, our budget uh season starting uh next week, we'll have a meetings with all the departments and offices of of the county. Um, it will run through the whole week and we'll have a we'll ma finance will compile the information and prepare budget for your consideration. Um, since we're on budget season, um, we also met myself and and supervisor Davis and Chris Young, our deputy county manager, met with the interim city manager. There's a couple of IGAs that need to be renewed and considered. Um, that's those things need to be addressed before our budget uh gets completed. Um, and it's an it's the animal control where we share services and also the library. um IGA and the last one would be the flood control. Um the other thing uh CS CSA or county supervisor association they compiled a lot of information of all the counties um on but on tax rates um expenditure limit levy limits um I I think it'd be worthwhile for for the public and the board for us to have a study session to look at that data that once it's It's fine-tuned and ready for public for the public. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Now, we'll go ahead and move on to item E. Mr. Chair, just a quick question. Uh, Mr. Manager, did uh the city manager get all the documents he was supposed to receive from the for the animal control and the library? Weren't we supposed to send them some information? Yes, I I believe that Mr. Young sent him the IGS. Thank you. Any other questions? Okay, hearing none, let's move on to item E, department reports and activities. One, finance, cash and investments, expenditures and revenue reports. Good morning.

Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board. For the cash and investment report in the general fund, we have 21,699,591 with an invested amount of 16,767,38. In the road fund, we have 5,529,454 with an invested amount of 5,186 189. In the flood control, we have 3,54,717 with an invested amount of 312,557. In the jail district, we have 7,950,274 with an invested amount of 4,454,733 for a total amount of 62,394,385 with an invested amount of 28,868,75 with an estimated end of month balance of 11,445,7 48.

Any questions? Sean, thank you many. Next we have item two, department updates. Any department wishing to update? There we go. Saida, good morning.

Good morning, Chairman Mera, supervisors, county management, members of the public. My name is Sidabamante and I am the executive director to the local workforce development board here in Santa Cruz County. And I just want to give quick updates along with uh quick recognitions. Yesterday, no Monday, we had a hiring event with one of our leading grow uh tomato growers in the United States. It's uh Wholesome Harvest. They were looking for to hire 20 laborers and hopefully they did get their their 20. I know that they did hire for sure 15, but out of that they also hired an electrician and um thank you Supervisor Davis for being present um as you always are. Um and you were there when this individual homeless individual who was not expected to be hired as an electrician. Um he was there to get a job as a laborer, but he he does practice. He's a journeyman, an electrician journeyman. He for whatever reason he was here um with his with his employer doing some type of work for the government. However, the contract ended. He ended up staying. He became homeless. Um but then he got hired as an electrician with Wholesome Harvest. So when I say and I always say it that Arizona at work changes lives, we we literally change people's lives. Um, and I hear a lot of members of the public's come up here and talk about Santa Cruz County and the changes. I truly encourage all of you to come to our office, see what we do, meet our staff, um, come to our events, um, to our local workforce boards to see what what we do, the impact that that we do. Um, we talk about a small percentage thing percentage of things that are happening here in the community, but there's also this huge impact that our office, not only our office, but other offices here

in the in in the county, but honestly, I'm sorry to the rest of the department heads, but our office is the best. Yes. And

when I and I will continue to say it, we change people's lives. All right. And uh so that's that. Yesterday we also had a meeting with um Chosa and again thank you supervisor Davis for coordinating that meeting. Thank you Mauricio for being a part of that meeting. Um there was a great conversation that we had with the construction um division. They have several divisions there. Uh but we're looking into a collaboration with service jobs for progress which we're already working we're working with um and we're trying to do a collaboration with the construction trades building um CT program in Ngales high school and having these students uh become interns and help uh chosa um construction division to to build their their homes. I believe Miss Corina said they were building was it 11 or 45 homes?

I think it was 11.

11 homes. Okay. So, these interns are going to be helping uh build these houses for for these individuals who are looking for affordable housing. So, we're very excited that we had that conversation and hopefully we do move forward with with these projects. And um the the whole reason why I'm I'm mainly here is because I I I want to actually give uh thanks to several members who are in the public. I want to recognize our um local workforce development board chair, Dena Sanchez, who is also the CEO of Holy Cross, Holy Cross Hospital. You wear many hats here in the community and one of them is being a chair to our board and it's also being an advocate to our youth and to our workforce and we thank you for doing that and we thank you for for leading our board and because of you we have a great success story today. Um I also want to give thanks to to Mary Castillo. She's been with the county for 18 years. It's going to be 18 years in in June. um your dedication. I wasn't here when you started, but your dedication is the same as day as day one. Okay? And I can't look at her because as you all know, I I cry all the time, but um I am completely thankful for her. And again, she has changed countless lives. And when I say countless lives, she has put people who are homeless, people who want to end their lives into into employment. She has changed them their lives completely. And today we're here to uh present one of her many premier participants who is Karen Velasco. And she's gonna be uh be giving a testimony of of what her process was with work uh Arizona at work and with Mary.

Oh, and I asked Mary to stand by her side like she did for the past two years so that she go ahead.

Good morning everyone. My name is Karen Velasco. Um, so I had the privilege to work with Arizona at work, uh, which Mary and Sida were really helpful. Um, so I started back in 2024 when I began my journey as a student nurse, um, in Puma Community College and Dina Sanchez was the one who recommended me at workforce. Um, so I started the process and since the get-go, everyone was really helpful. inside were were really encouraging and helpful. Um they were very welcoming as well. So through the process I had the opportunity to get financial support um not only for tuition but also gas reimbursement as I had to commute an hour and a half about two to three days a week uh for two years. So giving that financial help, I was able to have a financial relief and focus more on my studies. Um, weekly both Sida and Mary would check in on me and make sure I was doing well, if I needed any assistance, not just financially, but emotionally. So I had that encouragement and motivation to continue going um with my school. I did uh complete my ADN, so my associates degree in nursing in December of 2025. Um and I sat for my state lensure in January of 2026 and I received my license um well in January and then I was able to be hired at Holy Cross. So, I'm currently a registered nurse in the OB department and I plan on continuing my education for my bachelors um hopefully soon. But I'm really happy

where I'm at and I know I wouldn't be there without Maida um sorry Mary um and Sida and of course Dina who have helped me through this long but successful journey. Congrats Thank you. Congratulations. Congrats.

We're very proud of you. and she attended Puma Community College, by the way. So, Congratulations. At the end of the day, that's what counts, right?

Thank you,

M. Mr. Chairman, members of the board. I just want to point out and congratulate of course um participant and and staff in Sida and just point out to uh the the public that these uh our federal funds that pay for these programs. This is funded by the Department of Labor and and the importance of how we you know at the local level we have that control and by your with your support as a board they can do programs like that that can help the community and the impact that it does but it's not coming out of any general funds. These are all you know federal funding and it's this particular program is by the department of labor

places. Okay. Any other departments wishing to come up? Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, county management, members of the public. Um, I almost hate to be the one after that. That was amazing. So, congratulations. Um, I there was a comment made during the public comments about the comprehensive plan. So I just thought I would just briefly address that in terms of public engagement. So we have later today the corrected uh contract with the facilitators is an agenda item. So uh the TAC committees are just one part of it. But the whole goal and we're so excited that there's been so much interest in public engagement. But before we even get into the TAC committees, just to let the public know, there will be uh a pre-tac public public workshop to kind of roll out the elements of the comprehensive plan and what it means. Um once we get into the TAC meetings, there will also be series of community uh surveys that go out for people. Um we'll have another opportunity this weekend at Rio Rico days. Uh I personally will be at one of the booths and we're going to have basically just notepads on a table and people the public is willing is able to put what they love about Santa Cruz County, what they're concerned about and we'll be gathering all that information. Um and then once we get through kind of the technical process, there will be another follow-up public engagement meeting just to to roll through that um the outcomes of those TAC committees. Um, and then of course there's going to be planning and zoning commission meeting and the and the board of supervisors meeting. So all along the way there will be many opportunities for

public engagement. And we actually really want that. Um, we're always afraid that we're not going to hear from kind of the mass public, you know, the people that are working every day and trying to live their lives and they may not be as engaged at coming to these meetings. And so we definitely want to make sure that we have a high level community engagement. um so that as we develop the plan it's really reflective of what people want moving forward. So I just I just wanted to give that update. And then one last thing if anybody's interested on April 28th in Senoa um there will be a meeting to uh give the final report of the cuisine tourism grant. So, there was a really nice report that was put together um and that will be discussed and and gone over. So, if anybody's interested in attending that meeting, that will be on April 28th at 6 PM in Sonoa.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your outreach. Any other departments, Mr. Sher? Yes, sir. I have a question for the for the county manager if nobody else is gonna you have question Chris has okay go ahead Chris

yeah sir so I just wanted to see if you if you have any updates on the animal control donation button Mr. Mr. Chair, I believe uh Juan Banderas is on the line. Uh he's he's listening to the music to the meeting so he could answer the question about the status of the donation button. Juan, uh do you have an update? Can you guys hear me? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Good morning, Mr. Chair.

Good morning, Mr. Chairman. My supervisor Davis. Um yeah, so just wanted to give a quick update. So we are in the process. So the the submission has been submitted to the credit card company which is coin and pay the vendor that will be providing that that trans uh transition uh for us to be able to accept credit cards on the website. So again, at the moment, you know, there's uh a link on the animal control website where there's instructions on how people can currently um donate, right? But here within the next couple weeks, we will have a button where folks will be able to directly um donate via a credit card. Uh so that is um coming up here within the next few weeks.

Thank you. Thank you. Any questions, gentlemen? Thank you, Juan. I have a Thank you. And I have a second question, Mr. Manager. So, people from the community has been asking me during this months that what if you have any they're asking me for updates on the anti-reketeering situation that happened at the county? Would you have any updates or any information that I know it's going through a process, but would you have any information? Mr. Mr. Chair, I don't have any information, but uh we could put an item on the upcoming agendas to for you to be able to ask those questions.

Yeah, that would be good if you could put a standing item in the and I know everything's going through a process, but just put it there and when there's info like provide it to the so that everybody can know the situation. Mr. Chair, members of the board, I I will talk to our our legal department, our legal office and see uh uh if we could get gather information for for you guys to consider. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for bringing that up. Okay, we'll go ahead and move on to item uh 2A, update on early action community investment agreement by uh Chris Young.

Good morning, Supervisor Mera. Uh

morning, sir. Chairman Mleta, Supervisor Fanning, Supervisor Davis, County Management, and Public. Uh, thank you for this opportunity to give an update on the community investment agreement. Before I go into the community investment agreement, I want to let everybody know that for the CPBA, uh, the there was going to be a a very important community engagement for the protections portion of it on May 20th in Patagonia. So there'll be more information coming out about that, but I just want to put that on everybody's radar. That it'll be May 20th in Patagonia. So what this update is for is to explain how we're doing on these early actions. Uh that was exhibit A in the community investment agreement. So I'll just go down the list and give an update of each one. Um number two is the independent emergency services audit. Uh the draft has the scope of work has been drafted and then it is currently with um people who are in that in that profession. They're reviewing that scope of work. So it won't be long before we're able to present that to the CPA board to get that scope of work approved. Um and I'll skip over the Patagonia and um no Gallas ones. Number five is the Patagonia flood control study phase two. Uh we got good news on that. that has already gone through the RFQ process. So, at the next CPBA meeting, I'll be taking that scope of work um so that it can be approved by the signitories. Um and so we should be we're getting we're waiting a little bit on the entity, Kimley Horn, who was who won the bid uh to make sure that everything's still accurate uh cost and everything. But we'll hear back on that within the next couple days. So we will take that to the CPBA board uh next meeting. When we look at the so all the all the items here I believe there's four of them that are for Mariposa. Uh South 32 is working

directly with Mariposa on those. Uh that connection has already been made. Uh so I won't comment on that process. What I will comment on is the community health, the purchase of the county mobile health vehicle. Uh Jeff Terrell, the director of health, they're just finishing up some pricing on a couple items and then I'll have that list and I'll be able to take it to the CPBA board so we have good advancement on that. The next one is the child care. Right now we have the draft scope of work. Um, First Things First does a very extensive um, study. The UOVA does it, but it's it's sponsored by First Things First. And so, we want to make sure that our scope of work doesn't overlap what's already in that study. So, we're currently going through that right now. The nature-based economy study master plan is still in the scope of work stage and the housing strategy should will be ready. the scope of work obviously it's an update so the the the focus the the the work on the scope of work isn't as extensive uh so it'll be an update so that that scope of work should be ready to go to the CPA board for the next meeting also and that is the update on the early actions are there any questions gentlemen any questions

no thank you so much thank you Chris thank you

thank I am going to deviate to item H action items. We'll go to action item two, discussion, possible action to approve professional service agreement with Greg Hit to provide hearing officer services for building code violations, health service violations, and civil administrative law matters as agreed effective through April 15th at a rate of $75 an hour, not to exceed $450 per assigned hearing. Everything in order, Mr. Manager?

It is. Uh, Mr. Chair, uh, if you guys want to hear more about it, Colin's here to answer any questions. Sounds good. Yeah, please.

Do you have any specific questions or would you like me to just give an overview? Mr. care of it. You know, I I I know a lot of times we get calls with people uh on violations and and a lot of times we're short-handed. Is that why?

It's probably a little more than that. So, since since I've been here at the department, um one of the I would say there's probably three overarching themes. It's water, affordable housing, and enforcement of zoning regulations. and especially Rio Rico area, we get um a lot of complaints and and a lot of it also revolves around some of the construction activities with the home building. So, we're trying to take kind of a multi-prong approach to it. We recognize that the current standards um like for trash mitigation, refuge mitigation on construction sites is probably inadequate. And so we're looking at the steps we're going to take as we revise things to address that. In terms of the we have two pathways when there's zoning violations. We can either go the civil pathway or the criminal pathway. On the civil pathway that is where it leads you to a hearing officer. If the complaintant or if the person has a violation does not clean up or address the violation, then one of the steps is they will end up in a hearing. Currently those hearing officer those hearings have been administered by other department heads within the county. So the reason that we wanted to hire an outside independent um hearing officer was to a help with community trust uh b have transparency and c to probably take pressure off other department heads who obviously have their own departments to run and manage. Um, so we felt and we have a we have a few more serious cases that we felt it'd be appropriate to have actually an independent hearing officer that was outside the county. So, uh, Mr. Hick comes with a wealth of experience. He actually has sat on planning and zoning commissions. Um, he had he currently is at the University of Arizona in one of the departments there.

I happened to actually run into him yesterday at the conference. Um, so anyway, that's that's the purpose behind it. But we're trying to get our arms around we are resource constrained. So in terms of complaints, we're more reactive than proactive. And so we are working and trying to just lay the foundation for how at some point we can switch from being more reactive to how we can be more proactive. And and I feel like that's what the community wants in terms of of having a more beautiful and better community. But um I wish I could snap my fingers and make it all go away right now. I can't go fast enough, but it it takes little time to lay that groundwork. Thank you. And this is one piece of that. Thank you, sir.

Is that it? Quick quick question. Yeah. How often do we expect hearings to occur?

Well, that's just it. I mean, if currently it's been very limited and um as we if we look at the backlog of citations that we have um part of that compliance will be we feel like if we have more hearings that the word kind of spreads throughout the community that Santa Cruz County is taking things seriously and that hopefully there may be an uptick in the beginning and maybe that'll taper off and even go down. So obviously we would love people to just comply when they get when they get notices of violation, but oftent times they just ignore them and then the next step is we have to take it to a hearing. So I think initially we'll we'll see a little bit of an uptick. We don't necessarily need to handle them with all all of them with the ex exterior hearing officer. Um Mr. Hit will be reserved probably for the more egregious cases that we feel like it'd be more appropriate to have somebody outside the county. Any other questions?

No, I don't have any questions. I just have a couple comments. The reactive versus proactive, I mean being proactive approach I think is is definitely a step in the right direction. Um my my thought and this has been asked of from throughout the county. Um so thank you very much for that and we've heard it in the eastern portion of the county when we went out there and and and it's throughout the county. So thank you. Um, in the past to me there's been bark but no bite and I don't mean that in in any negative way but now there's going to be a little bit you know of of uh enforcement behind it. So I am 100% in favor of this. So thank you sir.

So if I may make one last comment.

Yes. So just so the public's here to let everybody know um the last few months we've been convening essentially a impromptu not a formal task force but we have gotten together many of the department heads um myself uh health services animal control was there at one point um so we public works we've tried to get all the department heads together along with uh Mr. may at the county attorney's office to look at enforcement countywide and figure out how we can with the resources that we have. Number one, what are the gaps and resources we're going to need to address it more properly? And number two, how can you flip that switch from being more reactive to more proactive? Um, to your point, Supervisor Fanning, I think a lot of the citizens know that there's no bite, there's bark, and that's why they tend to ignore the notices of violation. Um, I think another key piece to all this for everybody that's in this room, um, that's a leader and a voice in the community is to have that education to everybody, whether it's elementary school students, high school students. You know, your community is only as good as every one of us makes it. And so, it's important on all of us to make sure our community is beautiful and safe and and nice. And so, every person has a part in making sure trash is not a problem, that other nuisances are not a problem. So, as I think the education part of it, um, especially even down to our youth and young people becomes very critical as well.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. motion. We're going to make a motion. U move to approve. Second.

Okay. Real quickly, if you have a question, I think you all know me. I'm Dr. Brownie Te. Just what you just voted on. According with what Colin said, as a member of the public that lives in Rio Rico, I want all of you to imagine laying in your bed Saturday morning, 3:45 a.m., you got spotlights shining in your bedroom windows because a contractor from Tucson has decided to pour concrete. And guess what? We don't have anything. There's I can call the police. That's all I can do besides maybe the next time take a target practice on their spotlights, but you know, that's it. I mean, besides, he's gotten a ton of emails from me with pictures with the trash and like I'm at kind of at the point that I used to get $200 an hour. If I have to keep picking up trash from two main contractors, I'll start sending the bill to you guys because so far I've picked up five bags of trash and it's construction trash. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, I have a motion and a second. Any other discussion, questions? Hearing none. All in favor? I. All oppose? Motion carries. We're going to skip item three because that's uh part of executive session. And uh we'll go to item four, discussion, possible action to approve response to final environmental impact statement for the south 32 MOSA critical minerals project.

Mr. Chair, uh I'm going hand it over to Chris so he he could go through the process of what took place this morning uh the public meeting and and guide you through the through the item. Thank you. So this morning at 8:30 we had a public meeting regarding our FIS uh response letter. Um and we had seven or eight PE citizens show up and had really good comments, really good information. We had a really good discussion for 45 minutes. Um and they brought up some some important issues. Um and so right now what we would ask is to allow or approve to um that you approve the letter, but allow us the ability to make adjustments as needed. Uh the letter must we want to submit the letter by Friday, April 20th. It's due the Monday, but we'd rather not wait till the last day. Um but some things were brought up and then obviously whatever things you guys might have that you want to include. I know Supervisors Davis had some comments too that he might want to adjust in it also. Um and so that's what we would ask for the the process moving forward for this.

Yes, sir. Uh first of all, I want to say thank you uh to Colin, to Chris, all the folks that took part in that. I want to say thank you to the uh community members who showed up this morning um and had some um some very uh um insightful uh discussion. Um, and uh, with that, uh, I think I'm ready to first of all, before we get there, am I I want to make sure I'm not mistaken that the only thing that can be, um, part of the FEIS is that which was already discussed in the DEIS, which is the draft. Is that correct? Well, when it comes to the our response letter, correct? The only thing that we can respond to is what we had put in the initial initial letter. We can't go beyond that. And I apologize. Colin did a wonderful job. I want to make sure that that's notice. Supervisor Fanning said Colin presented gave a great presentation and we had a good hearing a listening session with with the public. So,

another quick comment. So, based on what he said, uh, Mr. Fanning and the meeting you had this morning. Are you going to be able to incorporate some of those comments into that final letter on Friday? I know. Or how is it going to work if we decide to? Yes, we can. Okay. Okay. Can I make a motion at this time? Yes, sir.

Okay. U based on the information um that that we have. I'd like to make a motion and Bob if you're going to kind of guide me through this, but I think I have it. I'd like to make a motion that we submit the FEIS based on what is already in the FIS from the county as well as take into consideration everything that was mentioned uh this morning uh by local uh citizens. Um I think that that concludes my uh motion.

That's fine. Supervisor Fanning if you want to make the motion and then the board can discuss. Sorry that I'm assuming there was a response letter already drafted. Yes. All right. Second. Okay. I have a motion in a second. Um I too want to thank Chris and uh Colin for hosting that meeting and and getting and also the community for coming and giving your input as well. That way we can hash out and make appropriate changes. Um, and those are my comments. Any other

No, I just I just I took notes this morning, so I I have those notes available. Um, and plus we have the the minutes available. So, um, thank you. Okay. Any other comments, questions? Hearing none. All in favor? I. All oppose. Motion carries.

Okay. We'll go ahead and take care of consent agenda. I believe we moved out number seven and let us go ahead and include everything but item seven on the consent agenda. Move to uh accept or to approve the consent agenda with minus number seven. Second. Have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I.

All oppose. Motion carries. We are done with uh consent agenda and and we'll go ahead and uh tackle item seven under action items uh discussion possible action to approve community investment agreement with South 32, Inc. to receive funding to support 2026 and 2027 summer camps in the amount of $99,550. Maya, you want to speak to this, please?

Good morning, Chairman Mleta. Good morning, Supervisor Spanning Davis, County Management, members of the public. Do you want me to give a little bit of background on this Yes.

topic? Okay. Okay. So, um, in the past, for just over 10 years, the superintendent's office has offered, um, free summer camps for kids across the county during the summer. We went from a camp, one sole camp to about, uh, roughly 30 now that we spread out AC across the county. And depending on what grant funding we have available, we fund those camps. Well, when we had a wonderful ESSER grant, we were able to really fund a number of camps where that we may not be able to do that anymore, especially because not all grant funding uh will allow summer camps. Um, so what I did a year ago was I applied for a Smarty Grant through South 32's Community Investment and received funding for one uh year of summer camps and presented a budget proposal for the camps that were going to offer the most um varied I guess topics, the camps that that drew the most amount of of students um and kids across the county. and then placement of the camps that include uh camps from Cenoida to Patagonia all the way to um Ngalas Rico Tubec area. Um funding one summer for all of these camps is $49,000. And then we also incorporate funding from our grants and funding from other partners that include Mariposa Community Health Center, Santa Cruz County, um let's see, I think that's it. Carrie uh Kurand delay El Rio Health um I think that's about it. Um and so a new feature in the community investment agreement application itself is that now you don't have to apply for just one year of funding and continue to do it on a yearly basis. You can apply for up to three years. And so that is what I went back and did. I modified the community

investment agreement this time to include two more years. So, this remaining funding, $99,500, is funding $49,000 for this summer and $49,000 for the summer of 2027. That way, we don't have to keep applying. The camps may change, but we present our proposal to South 32 and they approve and we move forward. Any any questions, gentlemen? Just a quick question. So I know I how do students apply for this program?

So we have a a registration form. We have um our marketing and promotional materials flyers that we launch May 1st. We put them in all schools across the community. They go on our website. They go on our social media. We share with schools. So they go out in school newsletters and on their social media. Um we promote across the county. Okay. Yeah. And they're free. for free. Free. Thank you. It's a great program. Thank you. This time I'd like to entertain a motion. So move. Second. Have a motion and a second. Any discussion, questions? Hearing none. All in favor?

I. All oppose. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you and congratulations, Miss Donnelly. Okay. Um, how you doing on time? Good. 15 16. Good. Good. Good. Okay. At this time, I'd like to entertain a motion to um recess um general session and move into jail district. So, move. Second.

Have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. All oppose. Motion carries. Uh item one, discussion, possible action, authorization to fill vacant detention officer position budgeted item. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, it is a budgeted item. Okay. This time I'd like to entertain a motion to approve. Move. Second. I have a motion in a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. All opposed? Motion carries. At this time, I'd like to entertain a motion to adjourn jail district and move back into general session. I move. Second.

I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? All oppose? Motion carries. Uh we'll go ahead and do item F. Before we do, I will ask for minute uh recess. at this time. If you guys don't mind

Be before we get started, I I I want to introduce Alessandra. You want to go ahead and uh just introduce yourself? She's with uh Ngalas International, I believe. Hello. Um so, I'm Alexandra Suia. I'm newish reporter for Nogalis International. I joined February 4th, so it's still pretty new. Um, but yeah, thank you for having me. And I'll um be at these and the city council meetings um here and there. And yeah, if you know Graham, I work with him, the education reporter. Yeah. How do you think of NAL so far? Um Santa Cruz County overall,

I really like it. It's um the weather's nicer. I I actually live down in Tucson, but I'm here like two to three days a week in person. Okay. Um so I drive down. Uh other days I'm either working from home or from uh there's a Green Valley office that the paper has. Um but I love it. I grew up in Guara, so it feels way more inviting and like home than Tucson does. And how do you pronounce your last name? Desia. Yeah. Thank you. Ask them next time too. I will. Welcome. All right. Welcome. Welcome.

Okay. Next we have item F, study session, government 101, roles and responsibilities of public works department by staff. If you don't mind, can I mention that I have to leave? Yes. Yes. And just for everyone's um knowledge, uh I have to leave at 11 o'clock today. I have uh an appointment uh in Tucson that I cannot miss. Thank you, Ray. You too, Ramon. Tracy.

Tracy. Chairman Mleta, uh, Supervisor Fanning, Supervisor Davis, it's an honor for me to to be able to present our next edition of Government 101. Um, as the interim director of public works, um, in these past three months, recently, for a very long time, our county manager was the director of public works, Jesus Valdez. Um, and then Leonard Fontes was county man was public works director for I believe a little over two years and then he recently retired. Um, and so in January um, I moved in and I'm once you get on the inside and you see everything that these guys do, it's pretty impressive. So hopefully I'm able to express that in the presentation today. And we have a format. We have a format. Have you as you noticed with these government 101 presentations, we have a format that we follow and sometimes it gets a little left and a little right, but I'm going to try to follow the format that was originally designed. Um, and then of course any questions or comments you have afterwards, please let me know. There it is. Perfect. So, we start off with the statutory authority that that the department has. There's a lot a lot of this our statutes um touch on different areas of public works. These are the major ones. Um obviously, you know, 251 very well. Um the main one in in 251 that we look at is number four with the authority over the public roads. It also includes

bridges and and fairies. Um if you look at 6705 um that gives us the authority over the public road system responsibilities. And then 49741 you look at the facilities and the solid waste management or what most people know as the landfill. And then as you go a little bit farther down that's where we have the flood the flood control district. And there at the bottom uh is true what it says public works as the implement implementation arm for infrastructure and maintenance for the county. Next slide. Here's the organizational structure. Um I want to start off first of all with the man standing behind me uh Howdy Aguilard. He's our road superintendent and he's also in charge of the landfill. I think Howdy started working for the county before he people were allowed to work legally. Um, but we're very happy

at 13

at 13. But we're very happy to have him. It's It's always fun to have him in meetings. It's always fun to to do things with them because it doesn't matter how many degrees or whoever it is, the engineer whatever whatever certifications the engineer has, how he always has an answer to it and probably one up him most of the time. So, it's it's not only does he know how to turn a wrench, he knows engineering, he knows roads, he knows everything. So, we're very fortunate to have Howdy with us. Um, and so now we're him and I are taking on a a new interesting aspect with the landfill. Recently we had Jerry Mononttoya retire and so we're looking at that how the operation of the landfill and what type of improvements and efficiencies we can do there. But getting back to the roads superintendent and landfill Howdy um he has 17 full-time employees, four-time or four temporary employees and just for information and to you can tell me if I'm wrong. Obviously FTE is full-time employee, PTE is part-time employee, which means they're they're full-time. They aren't they have reduced hours, but they're an employee of the county. And then temporary employee is where you not necess you may have reduced hours but you aren't a permanent member or employee of the county. So that's what that stands for the FTE uh PTE and TE. So next we have Tracy. Tracy always wears his hat down so you can't look him in the eye. Um so Tracy's in charge of buildings, grounds, and parks. And you know, Tracy has a very tough job. As you can see, he doesn't have many people up there. Um, but he's got all the parks in the county to take up take care of along with all the buildings that we have here. Uh, how many buildings do we have?

32 properties.

32 properties. And so with that staff is is what Tracy takes care of. Um, Tracy also has been with the county for a very long time. Uh, the one p Oh, before I move on any further, um, the person next to Howdy is Rammon Raymond or Ray Ray. Everybody calls him something different, but he is Howdy's right man, right-hand man, and he's he's um a great asset to Howdy. And I'd let Howdy speak towards that if he'd like to. No. All right. So I firsthand and what's really been nice also is uh Rammon has had a lot of experience at the landfill and so through this transition process that we're doing at the landfill, Rammon has been a huge help especially on on the operational part. Uh the third department is the flood plane coordinator, Alan Sanchez. He currently is um is out uh he's still working partially and he'll be back with us in about a month and a half. Um and then we have the administrative part. Um obviously if you go through those statutes and different things regarding public works, there's a lot of projects, there's a lot of maintenance, there's a lot of different things. And so it's very administrativeheavy to make sure that we get the different um requirements and certifications and procurement process correct. So Angie Pimeient has been with the county probably as long as as Howdy. And so what you see here and and how I believe Jesus was the public works director for how long? 18 years.

15 15 years. And so what we're fortunate to have at the county level is a 3 million years of experience combined with everyone. Um, which is a huge plus, you know, because not only do they have the experience of what they're doing, you know, and they've done it a lot of times, but also they have the communication with the community, they have the communication with the vendors, they have the ability to get things done very quickly when it's needed. And so that's a huge plus uh with the with the staff that we have. Next slide, please. Can I just say something?

Of course. You know, one thing that I find amazing is they they see where it rains and what spots and they get their guys out there immediately during monsoon season. I want to thank you for that. You guys do an amazing job. They know what wash is going to run. They know what's going to get damaged. And they know what they need to tackle. And they tackle it in a timely manner. And I thank you for that. Well said. When we look at the operating procedures, um I mean we can go through these, but they're pretty well known. The one thing there's a few things um while we're in this transition phase with public works, there's a few things that we're going to work on. Um one of the things we're going to try to up improve a little bit of communication with the community and using technology. And so this is something that began before I I came in. But if you see the second one up there under roads division, it says cclick fix. And so I don't know if it if you could show us that flyer right now if that's possible.

Next.

All right. So, we're going to be pushing this out uh very soon where you'll be able to use your phone obviously with the QR code. Um when you you can you have the choice and Shannon, you tell me if I'm correct. You have the choice of logging in as as with a username and everything or you can do it just as a guest. And what you're going to do is you're going to report um potholes, the things that we usually get phone calls for. Now, instead of calling, you'll be able to report it on this app. And also, there's a map that shows the different reports that have been done. They're in orange. And then the ones that have already been taken care of are in blue. And so, there's up-to-date tracking on it also. So, we're excited about this. Like I said, this is something that these guys already were doing before uh I came on board. And Shannon will be pushing this out uh quickly. next or back to the original sorry back to the original presentation

next when you look at the key functions um the main ones that I mean you can read through these but the main ones that the more public facing obviously we do the rightway permitting we do the flood plane permitting. Obviously, we operate the the landfill. Um, routine maintenance. Um, also, you know, there's the engineering part of it where you're engineering the roads and the bridges and to make sure that they they they they meet safety standards. Um, one thing that's a constant, you know, we talked a lot about water, you know, and and one thing that Colin has been working on quite a bit and also we've talked here in the public works department is, you know, we talk about that rapid rapid infiltration basins and things like that. How can we conserve our water here in the community? And so what's neat is you have the knowledge of of somebody like a Howdy or a Rammon combined with the knowledge that that Colin has with with water systems and water corridors along with our community scientists. And so we're really excited about moving forward with the possibilities that we have with water conservation and different things like that. And I don't know if many people know moving on to the landfill. We do have Rico landfill. Uh we have a Sonoa landfill and then TUBAC is a transfer station. Next. All right. So those are though that's the presentation. I did want to mention a couple things that we we we are working on right now. Uh first of all today on the agenda you'll be you'll be um approving hopefully or you actually I think you already did the consent agenda, huh? Thank you for that. It's the job order contract. What that is is that allows us to get the bidding process a lot a lot quicker. We we put

an RFQ out and construction uh companies uh road maintenance companies, they're allowed to to to be part of this and we vet the we vet them so that we'll have a list of five or six vendors ready so that we don't have to go through the RFQ process for every for every project that we do. So hopefully that'll that'll help us be more efficient when we want to do projects. Another thing that we're doing uh Sego has a process where they they take video of roads and then they feed that into AI so that you can get a lot more information quicker about the condition of your roads and your rightway. And so we're going to ask them to well, we're paying them uh to extend what they do here in Santa Cruz County so that we'll be able to have up to-date I mean obviously like I said when you combine the technology with the knowledge that these guys have behind us you can do some really neat you can do some really neat stuff. So, we'll be able to combine the knowledge that AI gives us from our road conditions and rightaway conditions combined with the knowledge of of a Howdy and a and a Ramon and a Tracy. And so, we should be able to do some really neat things moving forward in the county. And then the last thing I wanted to mention just real quickly, and this is more for the for the county complex people, uh the people that work here and maybe people who use this, we will be asphalting the county complex. It's going to get a new service uh at the end of this week and next week. And so be watching out. Shannon is going to send out uh an a flyer uh with the dates and the precautions that we need to take. Along with that same project, we'll be uh doing the WA parking lot downtown in Ngalas. And then Kipper Street and Bravo Lane. Uh we'll be working on some intersections there, but that's a little bit later on.

Mr. Mr. Chair, just for clarification, we're going to be uh repaving, not asphalting. But I just wanted to clarify had to do it, didn't you? What's that about concrete? Hey Jesus, can you the difference between concrete and what? Did you have any questions?

Just a quick question. Uh the Ruby Bridge, any word on that one, that project? Mr. Chair, um member of the board, right now it's being it's it's in its final stages being designed by uh a consultant for ADOT because it's federal pro uh federal funding. ADOT's the one that administers the process. Uh so hopefully we'll have an update for you in the upcoming meetings.

Great. Great. Great. I just think it's really nice that the QR code that you guys are going to have. Yeah, hopefully it helps the community, you know, report things and help us uh get more things done out there. Uh, one thing just to let everybody know, the chip ceiling for the spring is out on by Hosaphina Canyon. It's between Hosaphina Canyon and what's the other road? Pedra, there you go. So, they're going to be out there the next few weeks. Great. Thank you. Thank you for what you guys do. We really appreciate it. Uh, I want to thank you and Colin for your new innovations. That's great. Yeah. Thank you guys. Thanks. Thank you.

Thank you. Are we going to asphalt? Just kidding, Chris. Okay, I think all we have Thank you for the presentation. Great presentation at this time. I'd like to entertain a motion pursuant to ARS 38-431.03A3 and for discussion, consultation for legal advice and or direction regarding potential settlement with Rico Medical and Fire District, Ngala Suburban Fire District and potential other fire districts covering all litigation matters related to embezzlement of former by the former treasurer Elizabeth Gutfar. I'd like to entertain a motion to move into executive session.

I move a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I I All oppose. Motion carries two executive session.

At this time, I'd like to entertain a motion to adjourn executive session and move back into general session. I move. Second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I

I oppose. Motion carries. Uh now we'll go ahead and move on to action item H three discussion possible action regarding the settlement for Rico medical and fire district suburban fire districts and potential other fire districts covering all litigation matters related to the embezzlement by former county treasurer Elizabeth Gutfar. At this time, I'd like to move to give our attorneys uh move to uh direct our attorneys to negotiate settlement with fire districts consistent with the directions from executive session.

Move. A second. You didn't second. Second. I have a motion. That was the motion and riser Davis seconded. Any other discussion hearing? None. All in favor? I. I. Any opposition? Motion carries. Two zero. At this time, I believe that's it. Madame clerk.

Okay. This is my last meeting as chairman. Vice Chairman Fanning will be the chairman starting May and I wish him luck and it's been an honor. Um, so at this time I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. Move to adjourn. I have a second. I'll second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. All oppose. Motion carries. We are now adjourned.