City Council - Regular Meeting

Conduct in the city council chambers. Rules of decorum for the public. Members of the audience shall not engage in disorderly or boisterous conduct, including the utterance of loud, threatening, or abusive language, clapping, whistling, stamping of feet, or other acts which disturb, disrupt, impede, or otherwise render the orderly conduct of the city meeting infeasible. A member of the audience engaging in any such conduct shall, at the discretion of the presiding officer or a majority of the City Council, be subject to ejection from the meeting per Government Code Section 54954.3c. Removal from the Council Chambers. Any person who commits the following acts in respect to a meeting of the City shall be removed from the Council Chambers per Government Code Section 54954.3c. A. Disorderly, contemptuous, or insolent behavior towards the City Council or any member thereof, tending to interrupt the due and orderly course of said meeting. B. A breach of peace, boisterous conduct, or violent disturbance, tending to interrupt the due and orderly course of said meeting. Disobedience of any lawful order from the mayor, which shall include an order to be seated or to refrain from addressing the City Council, and any other unlawful interference with the due and orderly course of said meeting. Good evening, everybody. Welcome to the Taft City Council Successor Agency Joint Regularly Scheduled Meeting for Tuesday, July 21st, 2026. City of Taft Council meetings are being held in person with full capacity seating or may be joined remotely through Zoom using personal meeting ID 619-824-7558, passcode 613-564, or the link published on the agenda. Meetings are also live streamed at www.youtube.com forward slash user forward slash city of Taft. Public comment can be made in person or remotely through Zoom and can be received for the following. Written comments may be dropped off in a drop box in front of City Hall. Comments may be emailed to the City Clerk at cityclerk at cityoftaft.org. They may also be made by phone to the City Clerk's office at 661-763-1222. Public comments will be accepted up until 5 p.m. the day of the meeting tomorrow. And any comments received shall be read into the record. I will remind those people who might be joining us via Zoom for the first time that the rules of decorum apply whether you call in via Zoom or you're a part of the meeting in person. And the violation of those rules will not be tolerated. So welcome, however you choose to be a part of our meeting. We're going to begin this evening's meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Councilman Waldrop, followed by an invocation by Greg Mudge. If you'll join us, please.

Salute. Pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

Would you pray with me, please? Father in heaven, we're so thankful for all that you've blessed us with. We're especially thankful for your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and what he means in our life and our hope for eternal life. We're thankful, Father, for this country that we live in, for this state, this county, and especially this wonderful town that we've all chosen to live in. Father, we're thankful for all those individuals that support us here in this town whether on the council or employees of the city they bless us with a peaceful wonderful place to raise our kids and we pray father as the election season opens up you'll work in the hearts of the citizens of this community and encourage those that have an interest to get involved with helping to participate in the local government Be with these people tonight as they make decisions that impact all of our lives. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you very much, Greg.

Madam Clerk, may we have a roll call, please?

Mayor Norton?

Here.

Mayor Pro Tem Bryant? Here. Council Member Cryer?

Here.

Council Member Waldrop?

Here.

And Council Member Shavir is absent with notice.

All right. Thank you very much. First item on this evening's agenda, item number one, public hearing adopt resolutions authorizing Kern County tax collector to collect refuse and street sweeping charges and standby charges for vacant commercial buildings. City Manager Jones.

Thank you, Mayor. Section 5473 of the Health and Safety Code authorizes the collection of refuse fees by the county tax collector upon adoption of an appropriate resolution by the Taft City Council. Prior to considering such a resolution, it is appropriate for the council to conduct a public hearing and to receive evidence and testimony for or against proposed action from members of the public. Following completion of the hearing, council will consider the adoption of the proposed resolutions.

Thank you, City Manager Jones. At this time, I will open said hearing. Anybody wishing to speak in support of or opposition to this matter, please step forward. Seeing or hearing nobody, I will close the public hearing. And at this time, I would entertain a motion to adopt resolutions entitled A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Taft Providing for Collection of Refuse and Street Sweeping Charges by the County Tax Collector Pursuant to Section 5473 EDSC of the Health and Safety Code and A resolution of the City Council of the City of Taft providing for a collection of standby refuse and street sweeping charges by the county tax collector pursuant to Section 5473 at SEC of the Health and Safety Code and find that the activity is not a project per the California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA, as set forth in Section 15060C3 and Section 15378 of the CEQA guidelines. So moved.

Second.

I have a motion and a second. Mayor Pro Tem, sir, you made that motion. Any additional discussion?

No, sir. If it's not broke, don't fix it.

Councilman, you made the second.

No comment.

Councilman Waldrop?

No comment.

All right. Nor do I. Madam Clerk, we have a motion and a second. May we have a roll call, please?

Councilmember Cryer?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Bryant? Yes. Councilmember Waldrop?

Yes.

Mayor North?

Yes. That passes on a 4-0 vote. Thank you very much, gentlemen. Item number two, public hearing, adopt resolutions authorizing Kern County tax collector to collect sewer charges and standby sewer charges for vacant commercial buildings. City Manager Jones.

Thank you, Mayor. This is the same action except for this is for the sewer fees as previous.

All right. Thank you very much. At this time, I will open the public hearing to collect these fees. Anybody wishing to speak in support of or against this matter, please step forward. Seeing no one, I will close the public hearing. At this time, I would entertain a motion to adopt a resolution entitled Resolution of the City Council of the City of Taft Providing for Collection of Sewer Charges by the County Tax Collector Pursuant Section 5473 at SEC of the Health and Safety Code and a resolution of the City Council of the City of Taft providing for collection of standby sewer charges by the county tax collector pursuant to section 5473 at SEC of the Health and Safety Code and find that the activity is not a project for the California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA, as set forth in section 15060C3 and section 15378 of the CEQA guidelines. So moved.

Or a second, whatever you need. That was almost a tie. We're getting good. Okay.

All right. Who got the first? Who made that motion? Okay. Councilman, you made the motion. Any comments, sir? No comment. All right. Mayor Pro Tem, any comments? None here. No comment. All right. Very good then. Madam Clerk, I have a motion and a second. May we have a roll call, please?

Council Member Cryer.

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Bryant. Yes. Council Member Waldrop. Yes. Mayor North.

Yes. And that passes on the 4-0 vote. Thank you very much. Whoops. Okay. This gets a little confusing here. All right. Next up, item number three, public hearing landscape and lighting maintenance district number one. City Manager Jones.

Thank you, Mayor. The Engineer's Report for Lighting and Landscape District No. 1 was received by the City Council meeting June 18, 2024. Landscape and Lighting Maintenance Juristic 1 consists of Track 5574, Phase 1, Track 5956, Phases 1 through 3, Track 6114, Track 6501, and Track 7227, Phase 1 and 2. The parcel assessment will remain the same level as last year, $186. We do know that it should be double that, but remind you this is an action that's needed to continue to collect the $86. The funds from the district will be collected by the Kern County Assessor's Office and distributed to the city as a special assessment. These assessments, when collected, will go to the prospective funds to pay for maintenance and operation of landscaping and lighting of that district. It is recommended the city council adopt the resolution setting assessments for lighting landscape district number one for fiscal year 26-27 as presented in the engineer's report. If the attached resolution is adopted by the city council, the city clerk can deliver a certified copy of the adopted resolution and a copy of the fully executed Engineers report to the Kern County Auditor-Controller's Office of Special Assessments to complete the process.

Thank you, City Manager Jones. At this time, I will open said public hearing. Anybody wishing to speak in support of or opposition to this matter, please step forward. Seeing none, I will close the public hearing. Motion to approve a resolution entitled Resolution of the City Council of the City of Taft Setting the Assessment for Landscape and Lighting Maintenance District Number 1 and find that the activity is not a project per the California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA, as set forth in Section 15060C3 and Section 15378 of the CEQA guidelines.

So moved.

Second. I have a motion and a second. Mayor Pro Tem, any comments, sir?

None here. Beyond what Mr. Jones mentioned, again, this is something where the general fund is going to subsidize this area of the budget every year until we can get Prop 218 to pass. But seeing as we need $82 just to go forward, it's got my vote. All right. Thanks, sir. Councilman, any comment?

No. No comment.

All right. Thank you.

Nor do I. Madam Clerk, we have a motion and a second. May we have a roll call, please?

Council Member Cryer?

Yes.

Mayor Procter and Bryant.

Yes.

Council Member Waldrop. Yes. Mayor North.

Yes. And that passes on a 4-0 vote. Thank you, gentlemen. Next up, item number four, citizen request public comments. Do we have anybody wishing to make public comments? Madam Clerk? No. How about Zoom? Anybody? All right. Well, I don't need to read that then. Thank you. Item number five, council statements, non-action. Councilman Cryer, we'll begin with you today.

Thank you, Mayor. I hope everybody had a great Fourth of July. You know, it was a little different this year, but you know what? It turned out fine. I had heard any complaints. Unfortunately, I didn't make it, but I heard a lot of good things about it. The chamber did a good job. There's our 250th year as our country was formed. And a lot of sacrifices were made back in 1776. And to the present time, a lot of sacrifices are being made by our military and our people who work to keep our country free. The other thing I can say is our city is open for city council elections coming up. Anybody who has a better idea that we have or would like to join or participate in this city that has other visions that could help us be a stronger city or whatever that they can give to the voting people an opportunity to look at your side and get your vote. There's a lot of campaign going on. There's a lot of foot walking. There's a little bit of money in there for signs and stuff. But it's a rewarding deal. It's very rewarding to be part of a city and to make our town great. We always need to have new ideas and stuff, and there's opportunities right there. Another thing I want to look at is watch out for your neighbors. There's a lot of thieving going on this summertime. You're going to see a lot of people out there walking around, And looking at your homes, going up the alleys and looking around. Just look at anything unusual, an unusual car, we call in the police department. It's a false alarm, it's a false alarm. But look out for your neighbors. That's all I have to say, Mayor. All right, thank you very much, sir. Councilman Waldrop.

I, too, would like to wish that we can get another 250 years Like we've had, most countries don't live, great nations don't live past around 200 years. So we've done great. I hope we can do it again. And it's official. I got my common sense back. I'm now an official Republican. Thank you.

Welcome, sir.

Mayor Pro Tem Bryant. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to say to the chamber, to all the volunteers, downtown businesses, and anybody in their homes who participated, the weekend of Independence Day, the third, the cruise night, wonderful. I mean, that was awesome to see all the people out and about just enjoying people's company. That is community. The Saturday festivities, the parade was fantastic. It was fun. I heard there was a couple folks dressed up from time to time. I even had one kid look at Uncle Sam and ask if he was a clown. So if we learned anything, we need to start teaching kids a little younger who Uncle Sam is. But outside of that, it was a wonderful festivity. So to everyone involved, thank you, thank you, thank you. And that's all I have. Thank you.

All right. Thank you very much. I was not here, but I would mirror those thoughts. And actually, Stephanie is going to stand up here and talk to us a little bit because I'm sorry I missed her on the sign-in sheet. My fault, but I'll go ahead and make my comments. I love this country. I love who we are. Nobody is perfect. Nothing is perfect, but we are a grand experiment and we need to continue on. We've got to love and support our country and those people that fight for our freedoms. And we need to be honest with the people. And I bring that up because I watched our governor, with great fanfare, sign his final budget in the state of California, in which he declared he was signing a balanced budget. Not only that, but he had balanced the state budget through 2028. There's a lot of people that disagree with that, along with the legislative analyst's office. But he has some special tools that he employs, those tools. Delay, defer, and deny. You can balance your home budget the same way he does. Take, for instance, your mortgage payment. Simply choose only to pay interest and nothing on a principal. Then move to the credit cards. Here again, pay only the interest, nothing on the principal. And then go to the utility bills. They won't shut it off for 90 days, so don't pay it for 89 days. That's the way Gavin Newsom purports to have signed a balanced budget in the state of California is far more filled with gimmicks than any little store at the fair. It's ridiculous. It's a horrible lie, and he's abusing the public trust, and it makes me flippin' sick. So I just had to comment on it. That's the only comment I have. Now then, since we have a citizen's request for public comments, I'm required to read this paragraph, which I will. Comments are to be received as stated in the above policy. This is the time and place for the general public to address the City Council on matters within its jurisdiction. State law prohibits the Council from addressing any issue not previously included on the agenda. Council may receive comment and set the matter for subsequent meeting Please limit your comments to five minutes. Stephanie Layton from the Taft Chamber of Commerce is going to give us an update.

Good evening, mayor and members of the council. I'm just going to give you a quick update on the activities of the Taft District Chamber of Commerce. First of all, I want to thank the city of Taft and everybody else who helped make Taft 250 such a success. We were thrilled to see the community come together. Our cruise night was a great success. I know Josh was very happy with that one as well. I think those downtown businesses that were open were. Our patriotic parade, again, Josh was a superstar, Uncle Sam announced, and it was super fun. It reminded us how a special small town America truly is. Seeing the families in the streets and the neighbors celebrating together, it's exactly what community is about. We also had our apple pie baking contest, and we had nine outstanding entries. and a patriotic decorating contest, which had 21 home and business entries. It was really fun. The enthusiasm shown by our residents and businesses was wonderful. We look forward to bringing these events back next year, and we are hopeful that we can once again add either a fireworks display or a drone show for the Westside community. Membership growth is the second thing I'd like to touch on tonight. Rather than simply asking businesses to join us, we've been spending time visiting with local business owners and listening to their concerns and building relationships and trying to earn their trust. I'm pleased to report that since June 1st, membership renewals have increased from 56 to 72, with new memberships growing from 14 to 42. We're also in the process of updating our membership structure for 2027 to better meet the needs of our businesses. All sizes continue to provide meaningful value to our members. Upcoming events. We have several exciting events coming up over the next few months. On August 6th, we have a sit and sip at the Taft Chamber of Commerce at 5 p.m. featuring Tara O'Neill with the community affairs. She's a community affairs manager for California Resources Corporation. August 11th, our monthly chamber mixer is at Pizza Factory at 5 p.m. October 2nd, the TAF Chamber Golf Classic at Buena Vista Golf Course. October 8th, our candidate forum. Time and location will be announced soon. November 1st, we have begun planning a citywide Dia de los Muertos celebration featuring a full day of community festivities. More details will be shared as our plans are finalized. And on November 14th, we have our annual Trout Derby at the Buena Vista Aquatic Center. Thanks again for your continued partnership and support of the Taft District Chamber of Commerce. Thank you.

Thank you for the update. Sounds like a whole lot of stuff coming down the pipe. That's very exciting. Okay, next item on the agenda would be item number six, department reports. Do we have any department reports this evening? Seeing none, we'll move on to city manager statements. City manager Jones?

Thank you, Mayor. Nothing additional tonight.

All right. City attorney statements. Jason?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. No statements.

All right, thank you. Item number nine is future agenda requests this evening. Gentlemen?

I have none here.

None? All right. We will move on to consent calendar items 10 through 16. All items listed on the consent calendar shall be considered routine and will be enacted by one roll call vote. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the City Council requests specific items to be removed from the consent calendar for separate action. Any item removed from the consent calendar will be considered after the regular business items. Are there any items on the consent calendar that any member of the public would like to comment on? Seeing none, those items are item number 10, the minutes for the June 16th regularly scheduled meeting. Item number 11, the payment of bills, close to $2 million. Item number 12, accept the lowest responsive and responsible bid and award the Fourth Street Rehabilitation to Kern Street to Ash Street, STPL 5193-049 project to J.L. Plank Incorporated, DBA SenCal Construction. Recommendation is a motion to accept the lowest responsible bid, award the project, and execute a construction agreement with J.L. Plank Incorporated doing business at SenCal Construction in the amount of $604,999 for the 4th Street Rehab from Kern Street to Ash Street. STPL 5193049 project and authorize the city mayor to execute the construction agreement. Item 13, accept the lowest responsive and responsible bid and award the 10th Street and Santa Media Street intersection safety improvements. ATPL 5193-046 Project 2JL Plank Incorporated doing business as SenCal Construction. Recommendation there is a motion to accept the lowest responsible bid, award the project, and to execute a construction agreement with JL Plank doing business at SenCal Construction in the amount of $261,261 for the 10th Street and Santa Media Street intersection safety improvements, ATPL 5193-046 project, and authorize the city mayor to execute the construction agreement. Item 14. Authorizing federal funding for the Department of Transportation for FTA Section 5311 application for fiscal year 2025-2026. Recommendation is a resolution of the City Council of the City of Taft authorizing the federal funding under FTA Section 5311-49 USC Section 5311 with California Department of Transportation. Item 15. Funding to the Taft Chamber of Commerce for the quarter of January 2026 to March 2026. Recommendation here is a motion to approve the 25% allocation of the transit occupancy tax to the Taft Chamber of Commerce for the quarter of January 2026 through March 2026. Item 16, street closures and special event permit for self-brewed coffee house vendor market. Recommendation is a motion to adopt a resolution entitled, A Resolution of the City Council of City of Taft Authorizing the Special Event Permit and Street Closures for the Self-Brewed Coffeehouse Vendor Market on August 1, 2026, and find that the activity is not a project per the California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA, as set forth in Section 15060C3 and Section 15378 of the CEQA Guidelines. Does any member of the council wish to remove any of these items from the consent calendar?

Not here.

Hearing none, at this time, I would entertain a motion to approve consent calendar items 10 through 16. So moved. Second. I have a motion and a second. Madam Clerk, may we have a roll call, please?

Council Member Cryer?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Bryant. Yes. Council Member Waldrop. Yes. Mayor Knorr.

Yes. That's approved on a 4-0 vote. Thank you, gentlemen. Item number 17, approved travel expenses for council members to attend the League of California Cities annual conference and select a voting delegate. City Manager Jones.

Thank you, Mayor. In August 2001, City Council adopted a policy establishing procedures and guidelines for travel expenses Certain expenses to council members pursuant to that policy and to be in compliance with the policy will be necessary for the council to authorize Expenses prior to commitment of travel for the proposed expenses need to be reviewed and authorized by the full council The 2026 League of Cities annual conference is scheduled September 23rd through September 25th 2026 at the Anaheim Convention Center The conference will also hold their annual business meeting on Friday, September 25th At 8.30 a.m., to ensure the city is represented and has a voice at the annual business meeting, it will be necessary to select a voting delegate to attend the business meeting. It will also be necessary to select an alternate voting delegate in the event that the delegate is unable to attend the meeting. Expenses are estimated to be approximately $1,400 per attendee.

Thank you very much, City Manager Jones. The recommended action is a motion to approve and appropriate funds from general funds for registration, meals, transportation, and other incidental expenses for the council members who wish to attend the 2026 League of California Cities Annual Conference and the League of California Cities Annual Business Meeting in Long Beach, as well as a motion to select a voting delegate and an alternative voting delegate for the League of California Cities Annual Business Meeting. So, first order of business is, who wants to go to the meeting? I thought I had heard Councilman Waldrop express a desire to go there. All right, any other council members? I would like to attend.

I would not be able to attend, so that works well.

All right. Well then, so we have Councilman Cryer and Councilman Waldrop both wanting to attend. So at this time I would entertain a motion to approve an appropriate funds from general funds for registration, meals, transportation, other incidental expenses for those two council members to attend the 2026 leaving California city's annual conference in the league of California city's annual business meeting in long beach. So moved. Second, I have a motion and a second. Any discussion on this item? Gentlemen and I'm clerk. I have a motion and a second. May we have a roll call please?

Council Member Cryer?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Bryant?

Yes.

Council Member Waldrop? Yes. Mayor Knorr?

Yes. That's approved on a 4-0 vote. Thank you very much. At this time, I'd entertain a motion to select a voting delegate and an alternative voting delegate for the League of California Cities Annual Business Meeting. So moved.

Yeah, okay. Second.

Okay, I have a motion and a second. Now we're going to discuss who gets to do what.

The ultimate is councilman or virtual choir.

Okay. So he will be the alternate. So you will be the voting delegate.

Yes.

Perfect. All right. Everybody aware of that? Everybody's good with that. Okay. That'd be in the case. I have a motion and a second. Any additional discussion on this matter? Gentlemen? Nope. And I'm clerk. Let me have roll call please.

Council member prior.

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Bryant? Yes. Council Member Waldrop?

Yes.

Mayor North?

Yes. That's approved on a 4-0 vote. For the record, the matters to be discussed and voted on will come to us later on, and we as a council will discuss that such that we give you our response to the League of California Cities and you deliver that.

That's what I want.

Thank you very much. Well, guess what, people? That brings the open session of this meeting to a close, and we will be going into closed session. For the following items, Item A, Conference with Labor Negotiator Craig Jones, City Manager, Government Code Section 54957.6, all units. Item B, Conference with Legal Counsel, Existing Litigation, Government Code Section 54956.9A, Taft Union High School. versus the City of Taft, Kern County Superior Court Case Number S-1500-CV-283804. Item C, the Annual Performance Evaluation of the City Attorney, Government Code Section 54957. Item D, the Annual Performance Evaluation of the City Manager, Government Code Section 54957. I want to thank everybody for being a part of this evening's meeting. This is your government. Like was talked about earlier on, there are elections coming up, and serving the people is humbling and rewarding. So please consider spending your time and energy doing so. We are adjourned to closed session.