City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, good afternoon. Thank you for coming out to the Temecula City Council meeting. Today is June 9th. It is 3.01, and I would like to call up Pastor Steve Redden from Crosspoint Church for the invocation, and followed by Pastor, it's going to be the flag salute by Mr. Jake and Mr. Reed Watson. So if we can all please stand.

Thank you for the privilege of being here with all of you today. Just a couple of quick comments. I'm not going to preach a sermon or take an offering, I promise. But we've had the chance to work with the city on several occasions. And the stories you hear from people as though the city is this and you have trouble thinking. Every time I've worked with your staff here, Christine Dumko, Tannis, Carlos in plan checking, Gus in code enforcement, Elsa in fire, Margo in community development, have been a dream, have been awesome to work with. So whatever you're paying them, you have to give them a raise. They're fantastic. Let's pray. Jesus, today, we recognize at the foundation of all this, that Our resources, our positions, our power, our authority, all of it ultimately is derived from you and comes from you. We're grateful for what you've given us. God, I pray for these men and women, for the business, the work they are doing today, the decisions they're making today. They would do all this in a way that helps people best and honors you the greatest. Amen.

Amen. Pastor Steve, thank you. All right, and next we are going to call up Mr. Jake and Mr. Reed Watson, the Watson boys. Hi, guys. All right, and they're going to be doing the flag salute for us.

Put your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Great job, gentlemen. Come on up. Great job. No, come on up, come on up. I appreciate you guys. Awesome job, guys. Really, really good. So just to let everybody know, each city council meeting, we are calling up really young kids, high school and under, to come up and do the flag salute. So I always put it out there. If you have anybody or know anybody who is in high school or below and can do the flag salute, please let us know. Alrighty, that being said, we're going to move into our roll call. If we can please start that and get a roll call, ma'am. Yes, Mayor Alexander. I'm here. Council Member Kalfas.

Here.

Council Member Ryan.

Here.

Council Member Schweig.

Here.

And Council Member Stewart. Here. Outstanding. Okay, so we're all here. Let's start out. We have four presentations today. Our first one is going to be regarding the 250th anniversary for the United States of America. So we always have a quote this year. from our founding fathers. But I think, Stu, you have two quotes that you're going to add, which I was really appreciative of. So I'm going to roll it to you.

All right. So I believe we have a slide. There we go. The purpose of money is to purchase the freedom to pursue that which was useful and interesting And, this is a whole different quote, when you run in debt, you give another power over your liberty. And so this is kind of apropos for the city of Temecula because we use that money for really, really good purposes. And one of those purposes is to get out of debt. So we're literally a debt-free city in about... For five more weeks, we will be completely pension obligation free. We've been facilities debt free for about a year now. And so just using the money in the most effective way is how you control debt. People from controlling you. And so by staying out of debt, by using the money for good purposes such as parks, and we've done so much with it while paying down the debt. So really, with the pickleballs and the... skate park and the roller rink. All this was done while we were still paying down our debt. So it's amazing. Once you get control of your finances, what a difference that can make in government and in your own personal life. So thank you.

All right. Great job. Thank you very much, Stu. All right, the next presentation is going to be read by myself. And it's a presentation of certificate of a recognition to Dorothy Skidmore, or also known as Dottie, recognizing her for her 102nd birthday. So she was supposed to be here with us today. And to my understanding, she's watching online. So if everybody can say happy birthday. Happy birthday. I was going to sing to her, but I think that would take some time. But I just, I'm putting a little shout out as well because I'm planning on actually going to her house to present this certificate. So I don't know if she knows that. So here within the next couple weeks or today possibly as well. So with that, I'd like to just read off the certificate of congratulations to Ms. Dottie. The City of Temecula wishes you the warmest congratulations on celebrating your 102nd birthday this year. In addition to reaching a milestone age, we would like to proudly recognize the time, talent, and dedication you contributed to our community. We are grateful for your service on the P-38 Aircraft Association at March Air Force Base and Marine Corps League, Detachment 1057. in Southwest Riverside County, and in the Marietta City Veterans Memorial Committee. The City of Temeca congratulates you and wishes you many more enjoyable years with your family and your friends. Dottie, we just can't thank you enough for being 102 and allowing us to be able to congratulate you on such a wonderful day. We wish you a happy birthday and many more. So I'll be seeing you here shortly. All right, so that being said, the next one is going to be a presentation by Mr. Scott, I want to say this right, Rainer? Ringer, did I say it okay? There we go. Of the Rosehaven Heritage Garden, if you would like to come up, and I think you have a couple of people that you want to bring up with you. Just to point out what we're doing today. So once a month, we have a local nonprofit coming out to be able to highlight what they do within the community, how they serve others, what that looks like. And serving others looks so different. And so I wanted to be able to bring up different nonprofits similar to the Rose Haven Heritage Garden to just kind of show off what they do and what they're needing and how our community can get involved as community serves community. Here in our city. So I want to just say one thing before you start. I had individuals call after our state of the city and say, literally tell me that they went to the Rose Haven after the state of the city because they didn't even know it existed. So we're super excited you're here. We're thankful and I'm going to have you take it away from now.

Well, thank you so much, Mayor. And I do appreciate the support you've given us to help us increase our visibility. So on behalf of the Temecula Valley Rose Society and the Rose Haven Heritage Garden, thank you for the opportunity to share with you our new video, Extending the Legacy of Rose Haven, produced by the Media Lab. which is a film and media school in Temecula providing vocational skills training to adults with disabilities. Established in 2020, Media Lab has grown from six students to a current roster of 85, all of whom are given the opportunity to learn how to write scripts, run cameras, perform, edit, and distribute their work on media. The Media Lab has also produced video collaborations with the City of Temecula. Zach, you may know that from your State of the City address that he did a video for you, so you have some knowledge. Having produced our video pro-vono, we felt they deserve some well-earned community recognition. Let me introduce Patrick Merrill with the Media Lab. Patrick, we're so appreciative of your video, which will support us as we celebrate our 35th anniversary in October of 26. The Media Lab website, if you want to learn more, the medialab.school. With that, please run the video.

Thank you. Welcome to our garden. I've been with the Society since we started in 1990.

In the newspaper one day, there was a little notice about a beginning rose society. And so I went to the meeting. Rebecca was there. And we started the rose society. About a year later, Bill Johnson offered us this corner lot. He said we could plant a rose garden here. And we started with about 400 rose bushes. Here we are today, 35 years later, with a beautiful spot.

So I joined the newly formed Rose Society and decided that I would become a consulting Rosarian. Creating a garden like this require not only money, we don't have government support. We do ask for donations of people who visit the garden, also the volunteers to make it happen.

I'm a volunteer here at Rosehaven Heritage Garden. I'm also on the board for the Temecula Valley Rose Society. And it means I get to be hands-on in the garden as much as I like. So by being part of the Rosehaven committee, we understand each of the areas of the garden and what needs work and who can come and volunteer. And it's just a learning process too. It's a lot of fun to learn. You know, to see the joy that people have when they come here, overflowing with emotion and how beautiful it is. They thank us for all the work that we do. So it's just, we see how much people enjoy it. Such a Zenful experience. You just sit there and see all the little critters that are out here. We can hear the fountain if you're working in certain parts. You're just out in nature. Everything that's in your head just goes away and you're just focused on what's in front of you.

This is truly a garden that is here for our area and serves a great purpose to not only our whole garden but all the gardens around us. The pollinator garden was developed in 2024 with the global message of climate change and caring for the earth. As an overall, you know, having all native Southern California plants planted in this garden, that is what attracts the native Southern California pollinators. Our bees that are native to Southern California are mason bees. They're great pollinators. The type of habitat that we have created for them with tubes allow them to reproduce and pollinate our plants.

It wasn't until I had a health issue that took me to the hospital nearby. I would stop here at the garden on the way home from the hospital just to catch my breath, meditate, reflect, just to join the peacefulness of this garden. I would meet the people who were volunteering here and decided to get involved. So I encourage other people, if they have time or inclination to volunteer, we certainly could use your help here in the garden.

People take pictures of flowers, but it's better to be with the flowers. They have a flower right in front of you. That's more exciting, you know. That's what an artist does is engage with nature. It's like when you really stare up and just study the contours of a plant or whatever subject it is, you're touching it in a way.

The American Rose Society, which our local society is a part of, is a member of the World Federation Rose Society. At their conference every three years, there are roses inducted into the Hall of Fame. The reason they're inducted is that the roses perform around the world. If you see a rose here in our Hall of Fame, you will know that it is a rose that you can put in your own garden and it will perform well. And we're not just roses. We have so many different environments within the entire rose garden. So if you want to see what plants that grow well in this community, Rose Haven is worth your time to come and visit.

It provides a place for people to come and sit and listen to the water fall and reflect. In an urban environment, it's hard to find a place like this. It was started by a group of rose enthusiasts and they were gifted the opportunity to plant roses here. And they've turned it into what you've been able to see as the most gorgeous and only true public garden in Temecula. The Rosehaven Heritage Garden is totally supported by volunteers. Everything you see is done by volunteers, whether it's pruning, it's fertilizing, it's mulching, it's raking, it's taking care of the weeds. We also need donors. Every single thing that you donate goes to maintain this garden. We want you to be involved. Go to our Instagram, our Facebook page. Your time is the most important element of keeping this garden alive and well.

Wonderful.

Scott, do you want to come back up? Do you have anything else left to say? You said it all, didn't it?

And we're looking forward to the many things we're going to be doing with the city in the year ahead, including our summer camps for youth. First time that the program of Temecula is offering youth garden camps, so put in a plug for that as well. Thank you.

Thank you. If I can ask one last question. If there's one, two, or three things that your organization needs, what does that look like?

Well... Donors, volunteers, members. Those are our three buckets of interest. But being totally volunteer run and donation funded and going into our 35th anniversary, that's what we need. We need corporate and individual sponsorship and donation support and volunteers to help us both in the garden and organizationally. Because as you can imagine and as you can see in the legacy video, those who I call the OGs, the original gardeners, we're getting a little older. We need a new wave of talent coming in from a volunteer standpoint.

Love that. Thank you. Well, I just want to thank you and your team for all that you guys do. And thank you again for doing the wonderful video with your team as well. So thank you very much.

Do you guys have anything?

All right. Okay, so that will conclude our presentations.

Madam Mayor, we're going to go ahead and go back up.

Oh, yes, we still have one more, don't we? To the Mayor's Trophy. Yes, I want to save the best for last, too. It's wonderful. This is great. All right, so I'm going to call down my entire team up here, if we can, all the council members, and I believe you are going to read off the names. Happy to do that. Thank you very much. All right, let's do it.

And as the council is approaching the podium, we will note that the California Mayor Cyber Cup event focuses on the regional importance of cybersecurity education and community engagement by providing a platform that allows all students to engage and grow their skills. Students work together in teams to compete and solve various challenges related to cybersecurity and information technology. The city of Temecula congratulates the team again for placing first in the high school division and wishes you continued success in future endeavors. And today we have with us Coach Chris Meglio and six individual students, Gookie Williams, Terrence Kotapioja, Rudrunch Goa, Kevin Kao, Alberto Cotapoyo and Cheyenne Ahmed. Welcome guys and gals.

All right. We got everybody up here that's here today? Okay, well, first off, I just want to just say congratulations to you guys. A lot of hard work being put in, and again, you know, you're always bringing this trophy back. So I'm very appreciative, and I'd like to be able to take a picture and then see if any of our council members has anything else to say and go from there. And then we're going to end up also handing out medals to all of you as well, so I think we're going to have the mayor pro tem do that part, and we'll hand out the certificates as well. Yeah, let's do a photo first, and we'll go from there.

All right, ready?

One, two, three.

Perfect. One more.

Outstanding. All right, well, let's do this. If I can have Mayor Pro Tem and Stu, if you guys want to come down here on this end. And we will have each one of you guys come down, and we'll put the medals on you guys, as well as shake your hands and congratulate you guys. Let's first do, I'm going to really butch these names. I'm going to just say the first name. So let's do Coach first. Coach, come on down. Thank you for all you did. Oh, he just says this is his last day in retirement as far as for doing this. So congratulations. All right, Mr. Rio. Who's Rio? Rio. Hi Rio, congratulations. Thank you very much, great job. And then here you go. All right. The next one is, is it Terrance? Did I say that right? All right, there you go. Congratulations. All right, thank you very much for your hard work and dedication. All right. Cheyenne, did I say that right? There we go, there you go sir. Great job. Congratulations. OK, Mr. Williams, I'm going to do your last name first. There you go. How do you say your first name? Goki. Goki. All right. Well, great job. Thank you. All right. Kao? I'm dropping your certificate. Mr. Kevin. And how do you say your last name? Tao. Nice to meet you. And congratulations. All right, sir. Thank you very much. Great job. Alberto, how do you say your last name? Yeah, that. Okay, there you go. Congratulations. Thank you very much. All right. I'm going to pass this down to see if any of my colleagues have anything.

They're a lot smarter than I am. That's all I can say. I'm always amazed every time I see this group of kids and what they actually do. It's pretty crazy.

Congratulations.

Yeah, I love the STEM programs. Love what you guys do. I'm sorry to hear it's your last year?

This is my last day. So they've won three of the last four. And they're set up to do really well next year with our new coach.

Wonderful. Well, thank you for all your hard work. And guys, congratulations.

Thank you very much for all your hard work. And then to the team, we're just really proud of you. You can bring this cup back. So just a way to represent Temecula so well. Thank you.

I also, hello? Hello? All right, I'm so sorry, it's my first time with this mic.

All right, hello?

Excuse this mic. I'll just talk loud. I just want to say thank you to the city of Temecula. I want to say thank you to Great Oaks High School. I want to say thank you to Mr. Christian McNeil for all his dedication and for the city's dedication to cybersecurity and education and career education. And I also have a medal for Mayor Alexander to congratulate her for her leadership. And you know, thank you.

sorts of things online Thank you.

All righty, gentlemen. To the team, again, congratulations, and thank you for your hard work and dedication. All right. Now we've gone through all of our presentations. Is that correct, ma'am? Thank you for keeping me in check here. The next one is boarding commissions, which we have no reports on. Next one is our amazing public safety report done by the County of Riverside Sheriff's Department, Chief Mark Rigali.

Amazing indeed, ma'am. Thank you. Mayor Alexander, council, city staff, members of the public, good afternoon. It's a pleasure to be with you. Next slide, please. I have just some stats for you and then some information I'm going to share with you about our core team. Here we have a slide, first slide, total calls for service for May 2026. It came in at 5,857 calls. Graph beneath that, May calls for service priorities one through four. Priority one calls, it came in at 73. Priority twos at just over 2,000. Priority threes. 2480, and priority fours at 1240. Next slide, please. Again, a breakdown of our priority calls one through four in the pie chart, and in the upper right corner you see that the average response times. Priority one calls listed a little over six minutes response time to our priority one calls, 11 minutes to priority twos, 16, and 21 to our threes and fours. Nothing surprising there, it's about what we average. Next slide, please. So I have some stats up there for you about our core team, and I have a little information that I'm gonna share with you about that. You see the stats for January through May of 2026. Area checks, camp checks, and so down the left side there. So our core team, which operates from the Old Town Sheriff's substation, focuses on improving quality of life throughout the city by combining outreach, enforcement, and problem solving. working closely with TCSD, SWAG, behavioral health professionals, and other community partners, core deputies address ongoing community concerns while helping connect individuals and families with available resources and services. The statistics displayed on the screen provide a snapshot of the team's activity each month since the beginning of the year. While the numbers themselves are important, they only tell part of the story. Each outreach attempt, a camp check, a pedestrian contact represents an opportunity to engage with individuals in need, address community concerns, and connect people with services that can help improve their circumstances. One recent success story highlights the impact of this collaborative approach and demonstrates how consistent outreach, enforcement, and partnership between CORE, SWAG, and other service providers can produce meaningful results. For years, CORE deputies and SWAG personnel worked with an individual who had become well known throughout the community due to chronic homelessness, substance abuse, and repeated contacts with law enforcement. Despite numerous outreach efforts and offers of assistance, he was often unwilling or unable to accept help. Following a recent arrest and period of incarceration, he experienced what he described as, quote, a moment of clarity, and reached out seeking treatment. With the assistance of SWAG and community partners, he was successfully connected to a sobering center and later transferred into a treatment program. Perhaps most importantly, he shared that the consistent encouragement and support he received from Corps deputies, from SWAG and city staff over the years left a lasting impression on him, even during times when he was not receptive to help. He specifically credited those efforts as one of the reasons he ultimately chose to begin his recovery journey. While every situation is unique, this story demonstrates the value of Temecula's collaborative approach to addressing homelessness and quality of life concerns. By combining outreach, accountability, and access to services, CORE, SWAG, and other community partners continue creating opportunities for positive change while enhancing the quality of life throughout our community. And so I would just add that I'm extremely proud of my core deputies and the work that all the city staff does in SWAG. It is not an easy space to operate in. It's often thankless. It's something that not everybody can do or has the ability or patience or willingness to do. But I think, again, this example... demonstrates the importance that we continue this collaborative effort to address this issue in our community. And it certainly is wonderful to see the success stories that can come about when people finally reach the point where they're ready to make a change for themselves. Again, just a good example of that, and it's something that I will continue to encourage the Corps deputies and the city staff to continue to push forward in that space. Unless there's any questions for me, that will conclude my public safety report.

Any questions for my colleagues?

No?

Okay. You guys are all doing a great job. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Keep up the great work. All right. Next, we're going to move into public comment for non-agendized items. Do we have any public comments? Yes.

Yes, Madam Mayor, we have four public comments on non-agendized items. There are no other public comments on any portion of the agendized item. Each speaker will be limited to three minutes pursuant to the rules listed on the agenda. The first speaker is Susan Whitten, to be followed by Laurel Lamont.

Hi, Ms. Susan. Good to see you.

I just want to say thank you and to echo what Scott has talked about today after you've seen the beautiful video, but also the one that you all produced for the State of the City. I have shared that with all of my friends and family. They're sick of it. It's like, why? Because it's beautiful. So we want to just say thank you for all the things that you've helped us with this year as a nonprofit organization. We started the year with a grant for tools that enable us to provide the right kinds of tools for the right kinds of activities throughout the garden for the folks who come for our educational classes. And this summer with the science camp, all of the kids will have their own tools to work with. It is a wonderful project that we're thankful that we got the funding. We also got the buckets for the composting, which I was here a couple times to get more of them. And we had 40 moms and daughters who actually donated compost throughout the year. So that was 930 hours of community service that they earned by bringing compost to our Rose Garden. And we use that in the garden, but we also give it out to the community as well. And then The last thing was the end of the year collaboration with the community services department to put on the science camp, which we're extremely excited about. So we have future garden scientists within our midst. And for all those kids who maybe don't have a garden, this is a wonderful opportunity. So we just wanted to say thank you and come and smell the roses.

All right. Thank you, Susan. Always great to see you, ma'am.

Next up is Laurel Lamont to be followed by Steven Gerard. How are you, Laurel? Hi.

All right, I'm going to try something a little different. Instead of talking about warehouse at Creekside, let's talk about your local workforce. Where in Temecula can a full-time grocery worker afford to live? Without it being combative, I just challenge every single one of you to go back home tonight and really give that some thought. Have that conversation when they're bagging your groceries. Because it's not transitional work. It's full-time employment. And the local workforce is here to be accessible to the homeowners. But without a diversity of housing stock... We don't have room or the space for the workforce. We've got to create a solution to this. My son turned 21 June 1. And I apologize. I couldn't be here at that last meeting, that massive power line meeting. I was at a therapy appointment with my son. Because a single mom raising a boy without a grandparent or a father figure, just myself, somebody who chose to produce a child and bring a child into the world. I didn't choose abortion. I've been housing insecure for his entire life. But I have been fully employed my entire life. My last two paychecks, $1,500 and $1,400. My rent in an affordable apartment in Temecula, $2,250. That's not affordable. That's not doable. That's more expensive than some homeowners' mortgages in this city. I am asking you, as my representatives, as this community's representatives, to have this dialogue. Stu, I keep looking at you because I just know that you have this really good heart, and you always kind of self-deprecate. But you are a numbers guy. You are a data guy, Brendan. You already know I like you, and I value you, and I respect you. And Matt, Ron as well, the other two, I don't know. But just look at this. Let's have this dialogue. It's not an impractical dialogue to have.

Thank you. Thank you so much for your comments.

The next speaker is Steven Gerard Sidlowski, to be followed by our last speaker, Isabel.

Hello, Steven.

Good afternoon, beloved mayor, council, citizens of Temecula. I am lay brother Stephen Gerard Sidlowski. I'm delighted to be back in your wonderful city of Temecula. And I love roses. I love gardening. A lot that's going on here. Very professional city council. For those of you who don't know it, I travel the country amplifying a new pro-life possibility. That pro-life possibility is called USA Preborn Personhood Cities. I've left a wonderful Bible bookmark with your staff, for all of you, the mayor and council. Step one of the Let's retract a little bit. I was able to make it to your California March for Life in Sacramento in mid-March, and I can attest that about 4,000 citizens showed up and were very exuberant about the sanctity of life. And there's some pictures right there which justify that. And I'm delighted to let you know that they support new USA pre-born personhood cities. My goal is to get you to move in a new direction. I think you'll be interested in it. We can do it because of the US Supreme Court Dobbs decision. Step one is to pass a pre-born personhood resolution. That's step one, and I'm providing you a copy of one of those resolutions. Step two, the citizens now have the ability to actually vote in Pre-born personhood language into a charter now. You're a new city. I think you started in 1989 as your symbol indicates So you would go ahead and form a charter commission in the future and you would establish your city charter and then you would bring me in I have the preamble covenant language for the Charter and I can tell you that that language has already been published in newspapers. There's an example of one of my efforts in the United States. By doing so, you will become, on the East Coast, we call it safe cities. But actually, right here, I prefer that you just call it a safe pre-born personhood city. This is a new direction for pro-life in America. My goal is to transform the culture of death into the sanctity of life. We can do that because of the U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs decision. I'd like to end with a song on the Bible bookmark by Anne Delaney, Menlo Park cancer survivor. Let the beating heart, let the beating heart show you there is life in the womb. God bless you. Email me and text me, and I'll be happy to give you all the education. Thank you for all your love of the city.

Thank you, sir, for coming in. And the last speaker is Isabel. Isabel. Afternoon, Isabel.

Hello. My name's Isabel. I didn't prepare a speech today. For the Rosehaven Garden, I just want you to know, if you're still here, the orange and black koi fish has a hook in its mouth. I told one of the volunteers, but it's still there when I went back the next day. You're welcome. I've been homeless 18 months, going on 19. I have actually asked for help. And as someone who has experienced homelessness firsthand, I have witnessed all the brokenness in the system. And I think it's important not to just focus on the positive because in doing so, you ignore the suffering that people actually have to endure. And it does not bring effective solutions to people who have to try to navigate a system they don't know much about. I overheard a woman who was leaving a DV, domestic violence situation, saying that the shelter didn't open until Monday and it was a Friday. There's been a lot of different encounters, stories that I've heard. And I understand people can turn their lives around. But when the odds are stacked against them, and they have asked for help repeatedly, and their personal autonomy is something that is, in my particular circumstances, seemingly wanting to be taken away from me. I don't think that's acceptable. We do have a US Constitution where I know we have rights. We have civil rights as well as freedom of religion. I have peacefully protested outside of the city hall. And law enforcement officers had told me that the city told me that they wanted me off their property, even though it was public property. And I have a right to peacefully protest. And it just seems that it's OK that if a human being suffers in silence so long as it's not in your face where people are aware of it. And I don't think that's OK. And I don't think that's excusable. And I'm not here to place blame, but just to point out how inhumane it is and how there's different ways of handling things. I overheard the officer, Mark, expressing how he helps individuals who go through homelessness and oftentimes doesn't get thanked for it. When an individual has been very, very, very traumatized, They're not in a state or a place to be thankful. If someone goes out and saves an individual who is drowning, is a lifeguard going to get angry at that person for hitting them in the head while they're wailing their hands just trying to stay afloat? There's a lot of brokenness in the system, and I've spoken many times, and I think it's just a shame. I think it's a shame and it's heartbreaking because real-day suffering has happened in many people's lives, and sometimes they need help. But when trust is broken, it's broken, and oftentimes it can't always be repaired. I have spent so many nights in my life where I have had sheer panic, terror, and fear, trusting nobody, and that's not an exaggeration.

And that's your time. I'm well aware. Thank you, Jessica. Thank you, ma'am. All right, let's move on to the next is going to be our city council reports. Would any of my colleagues like to go first on that one? All right, Mr. Stu.

I believe I have a slide. All right, summer concert series starts Thursday, two days. First one is Pulp Vixen, which is always entertaining. This is, to me, one of my other favorite times of the year is summertime concerts. And this year we're having eight concerts instead of the normal five. And what's really cool about these events is the fact that you see neighbors sitting with neighbors, and it really brings the community together. There's no politics in concerts or in music. It's just beautiful music, and it's just a lot of fun. So if you get a chance, come out this Thursday. Get here before 7 because it usually fills up pretty good. So if you get here around 6. And there's going to be food vendors on the outside of the quad there. So come down, have a little snack before the concert series. But it's always, always a lot of fun. So that's that.

All right. Thank you, Stu. Not anything? All right. Move to my left.

Yeah, thank you very much, Madam Mayor. I have a couple slides and a quick reel. I wanted to put together a team to support Habitat for Humanity Inland Valley. So they're doing this playhouse blitz at Storm Stadium on June 26th from 9 to 1. If anyone would like to join me in building this playhouse, I'd be more than happy to let you join the team. So whether it's my colleagues or someone on city staff or just anyone out in the community, join me while we do some good work. for Habitat for Humanity. And I'm pretty sure you get to enjoy a baseball game as well. So that should be a fun day. If we could go to the teeth, okay, we can do this one. So yeah through, you know City Council I've met some really great people and one of those Persons is Bridget Morris is a councilwoman in Wildomar and through her I met some really cool wildomartians and they do this taco bike ride in Wildomar and they're doing one They're actually coming down to Temecula. So if anyone would want to to join Us on that ride will be next Tuesday. We'll meet at the Stampede parking lot at 620, and we're going to ride to Los Tacos over by Chaparral High School, and then we'll ride back. So just kind of a fun evening supporting local businesses and $2.50 tacos, so you can't really beat that. And then the last one will be this TCSD slide. So we're always working on ways to improve our parks. And one of those is restrooms. And so we continually get requests for restrooms in our parks. And over the last few years, we've updated quite a few of our parks. And this year we have, we'll be unveiling, actually they're open now, but two new restrooms, one at Long Canyon Creek Park and the other at Vail Ranch Park. So if we could roll that reel.

Hey everyone, it's Mike Wooten again, and we have an important update on the Long Canyon Creek and Vail Ranch parks. And yes, it's about bathrooms. It's not every day we leave with a bathroom story, but when nature calls, local government answers. You've probably heard us talking about these restroom projects for a while now, and we're excited to say they're no longer just coming soon. The restrooms are open, fully operational, and helping make everyone's life a little bit easier at the parks. So next time you're out enjoying one of these parks, you can rest easy knowing that these facilities are up and running. I know it's not the flashiest project we've covered, but it might be one of the most appreciated.

And that is the progress report for our bathrooms. And definitely like restrooms are certainly like one of the most appreciated items in our parks, whether you're with your littles or if you're out on a run or a ride or something and need water in a restroom. Put these on your map and there are now two new restrooms in our parks and we'll be looking to add more in the future.

All right.

Thank you.

Great information. We all need bathrooms.

Kelvis, you don't have anything? Okay.

All right. I'm just going to kick it off real quick here. We'll start out with that last meeting that i had uh... just last week with the mayor's roundtable so i had an opportunity uh... for our june roundtable to bring in businesses of all types uh... and talking really about economic development and what that looks like in our city we brought in our staff to be able to have those conversations as well and see what is going really really well and where we need to continue to uh... do better here's a city with our businesses We ended up having the chamber come in. We had manufacturers come in, coffee shop. Let me see. We brought in a coffee shop. We invited them. We had invited medical, old town retailer, small businesses, the mall, restaurant, entertainment, private schools, and large retailers as well. So we really wanted to look at a variety of different businesses and see how we can collaborate and work together and see where really... We can continue to improve as a city and looking at what not only that they need but also our community needs So I just want to give a shout out to each one of those who came brought great information and we were able to take some of that back and be able to Utilize it whether it's economic development or even other areas So I just want to say thank you to them and also to the team for putting that together The next slide please Next one, I want to invite everybody to come out. This has been something that we've been talking about for the last few months and has quickly unfolded. I just want to say thank you to our U.S. Representative Daryl Issa, our congressman. We have a gentleman here who is a chief warrant officer, Eric Howe, with the United States Marine Corps, and we are going to basically be over in, are we doing it in front or Betsy? We're doing it right here, that's right, for his heroic actions during the time of the U.S. Embassy and Panama invasion in 1989. So he is going to be finally receiving his award of Foreign Service Award for Heroism. So we are very excited and thankful that Congressman Darrell Issa is going to come and represent and present that to him. But I also want to just put that out to the public for anybody and Temecula and beyond to be able to come out and just be able to be there and be a part of that. So that was that one. Next slide, please, for 4th of July. Finishing on this, we have the 4th of July parade coming up. Everybody should know by now it's our 250th birthday. And we really want to make this something special. And our team is really doing a great job being able to reach out to people. We still have more entries left. And it's going to be closing down, I believe, in about a week, if I'm correct, as a team shaking their head. And so I'm very excited for that, but we want to make sure we can fill up all those entries. But we'd also like to see the entire community come out for the 4th of July parade, obviously 4th of July on Saturday. And that is going to be here on Front Street, along with our 4th of July fun and fireworks on Saturday, 4th of July, from 2 to 10 at Ronald Reagan Sports Park. So come on out, enjoy. It's going to be a great time as always. And I just want to just speak out to the lady that came earlier, Last, I just want to speak out to the community first, really. Having been on this council now for six and a half years, it's been an honor and a pleasure working with everybody from community services to swag to the nonprofits. And I can definitely sit here and say 110% that this city does everything it can to be able to support individuals who are dealing with homeless issues. And there is not one person that ever comes before any of us that we ever want to shun away or say, you're not worthy. And so to that woman that came, please come back. reach out to myself. I would love to be able to sit with you. I think I've said that before. But we have an incredible community here. And this community does not look at homelessness lightly. And we will continue to work hard in making sure that everybody who wants a home has a pathway to get into a home. And today I just had an incredible opportunity to sit with some ladies who were leaders in nonprofits in what we're looking at possibly doing in the future and how we can continue to work together. So for that woman, please come back, reach out to me via email, or just come back to City Hall. So with that, we're going to move on to our consent calendar. And we have 11 items today, and I'll read the titles to them. Number one is the wave reading. of titles and texts of all ordinances and resolutions included in the agenda. Number two, approve action minutes of May 21st, 2026 to May 26th, 2026. Number three, approve list of demands. Number four, adopt resolution approving the statement of investment policy and delegating investment authority to the city treasurer. Number five, adopt list of projects to be funded by Senate Bill SB1 for fiscal year 2026, 2027. Number six, approve city sponsorship contribution to Mt. SAC College tribute campaign supporting university center efforts and student success initiatives. Number seven, award construction contract to the Vance Corporation for the Paba Road pavement rehabilitation project PW25-05. Number eight, approve First Amendment with County of Riverside for library services at the Ronald H. Roberts Temecula Public Library. Library number nine, approve First Amendment to Minor Maintenance Agreement with Computer Alert Systems, Inc., Fire and security alarm monitoring services for fiscal year 2026-2027. Number 10, adopt resolution declaring an emergency condition for the repair and replacement of the storm drain along Yanez Road and declaring the public interest and necessity requirements work to be performed without competitive bidding pursuant to public contract code section 1102. 21... And our last one, number 11, accept improvements and file the notice of completion for sidewalks, Paba Road, projects PW19-20. Unless I have my colleagues would like to pull an item, can I get a motion of approval?

I'll move consent. Second.

Okay, let's vote. All right, City Clerk, I am going to yay on everything, and I'm going to say nay to number six, please.

That will be the same for me, Madam City Clerk.

For the record, I just noted two nays on number six, and you can go ahead and vote on the full consent calendar now.

Thank you very much. All right, and that motion passes 5-0. Thank you to my colleagues. All right. Next, I think I'm passing this over to Stu for community service districting. But before that, we're going to recess the city council meeting to scheduled meetings of the Temecula Community Services District, the successor agency to the Temecula Redevelopment Agency, and the Temecula Housing Authority and or the Temecula Public Financing Authority over to you, Stu, for community services.

All right. I will begin the Temecula Community Services meeting. Madam Secretary, please note we're all still here. Are there any public comments? Okay. Seeing none, we have only one item, which is approved action minutes of May 26, 2026. I'll move the item.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Please vote. And that passes 5-0. So do we have a director's report?

We do indeed. We have several items we'd like to bring everybody's attention to. First and foremost, we have the summer reading program over at the library. So this is a beloved annual tradition where for six weeks in the summer, you can go to the library every single week. There are different activities. Every Wednesday is Wacky Wednesday, and there's a fun activity for everyone. There are reading clubs and challenges for all ages. There's face painting. It's just an amazing... absolutely free resource for families in the community, so I encourage everyone to take advantage of this. That began yesterday on June 8th, and it will run for the rest of the summer, so don't miss it. Next slide please. Over at the Mary Phillips Senior Center, we host a cool and a warm center, and basically what that means is during the summer months when it's hot out, If you are suffering from the heat and you need a place of respite, you can go to Mary Phillips Senior Center, have some water, sit, enjoy the company, and just be in a place that is nice and cool. And in the winter, same thing, we offer a warm center. So that will be operational as the Cool Center from June 1st through October 15th of this year. Next slide, please. And then we have coming up on Saturday our Juneteenth Culture Days over at Sam Hicks Monument Park. That will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Like all of our culture days, we're going to have some great food, music, crafts, and entertainment. Again, great free event for families of all ages to come and enjoy. Next slide, please. And last but not least, I wanted to mention our Summer Fun Camps. Starting this week, we have Summer Fun Camps on just about every topic you can imagine. You can register for these classes and the one that the Rose Society was mentioning earlier about our gardening science camp, which is going to be for kids 6 to 13 years old. You can register for all of these camps at TemeculaCA.gov slash classes. We have things for every interest fitting every time slot. I mean, there's just a ton of activities this summer for your kids to take part in. And that concludes my report.

Right. And General Manager's report?

Nothing further.

All right. Any directors? None. We will adjourn until the next one.

All right. And we are going to reconvene the Temecula City Council meeting. All right, I'd like to call to order a joint meeting for the City Council Temecula Community Services District and successor agency to the Temecula Redevelopment Agency. So this will be our joint public meeting, our joint hearing. Number three, we are going to talk about the approval for fiscal years 2027 through 31, capital improvement CIP to adopt fiscal year 2026 through 27 CIP and annual operating budgets. for the City of Temecula, the Temecula Community Services District, and the successor agency to the Redevelopment Agency. And I would ask if Jennifer Hennessey can please give us our staff report. Sure.

Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council members. Today's presentation will be an abbreviated version of the Annual Operating Budget and Capital Improvement Program that was presented in detail during the Council's Budget Workshop held on May 21st. I'll provide the highlights of the general fund, Measure S, and TCSD funds, as well as the city's capital improvement program. I will also summarize updates to the budget policies and review the actions taken at the budget workshop that will be included in the final budget if approved today. The general fund serves as the city's primary operating fund and provides the funding required to deliver public safety, public works, community development, and administrative services to the city of Temecula. General fund revenue is projected to reach $126 million, with sales tax contributing 38% of total revenue. Expenditures are projected to be $112 million next fiscal year, and transfers to other funds include a million-dollar repayment to the fire facility acquisition fund, which had advanced $5 million to the general fund to accelerate the debt payoff for the city's pension. And as part of the debt liability payout strategy, $9.3 million in available general fund balance will be utilized to completely pay off the unfunded pension liability. And to ensure that the city has the resources to address any future pension liabilities, a $7.5 million deposit into the city's pension trust is recommended. Total general fund expenditures are projected to increase by 8%. to $112 million, of which 58% is dedicated to public safety. The sheriff's budget reflects an 8% increase due to negotiated compensation adjustments between the Riverside County and the Riverside Sheriff's Association. The fire budget reflects a 7.7% increase due to the prior year's vacant positions, which are assumed to be filled in 26-27. The remaining non-safety departments make up 42% of the general fund budget and are decreasing slightly from the prior year by 0.2% due to pension savings offsetting all other increases. And the non-departmental category includes payments for the CalPERS replacement benefit, property tax administration, and the staffing continuity reserve. The ending fund balance for the general fund is projected to be $29.7 million next fiscal year. Reserves are fully funded at $28 million, and after deducting for future commitments, the available fund balance is projected to be $1.1 million for one-time appropriations or the further pay down of debt per budget policy. Measure S is the one cent transactions and use tax approved by Temecula voters in November of 2016. This revenue source became effective in April of 2017 and has generated nearly $275 million in revenue. For fiscal year 26-27, Measure S revenue is expected to increase by 3.5% over the prior year to $40.7 million. Total appropriations are budgeted at $48 million and are in line with council's policy guidelines, prioritizing public safety, asset management, capital projects, and community services. The Temecula Community Services District is a separate legal entity from the city and has its own operating budget. And for next fiscal year, the TCSD budget reflects revenue totaling $19.7 million. Program revenue, which includes the income from contract classes, registration fees, day camp, aquatics, and theater tickets, is projected to be $3 million. Measure C, which is the $74.44 parcel tax dedicated to parks, programs, and maintenance, is expected to be $2 million. And the measure S contribution of $14.7 million provides the remaining $5 revenue necessary to cover the operations and maintenance to facilitate TCSD's programs, services, and events. Operating expenditures of $19.7 million are decreasing by 4.2%, primarily due to the savings from five vacant authorized positions and 15 project positions, leaving an ending fund balance of $100,000 for fiscal year 26-27. The capital improvement program is a comprehensive five-year plan that addresses the capital needs of the city. Capital projects are those that cost over $30,000, have a long-term lifespan, and are generally non-recurring. The fiscal year 27 through 31 CIP includes 94 separate projects with total cost of over $916 million. The city has secured funding sources totaling $634 million, or 69% of the total CIP, and the remaining $283 million is unspecified at this time. However, before construction begins on any of these projects, a funding source will be identified. Between the current year and the next fiscal year, it's anticipated the CIP spending will exceed $192 million. After extensive review, CIP projects have been reprioritized to ensure that funding is available for several high-profile projects approved at the CIP workshop held last fall. The annual operating budget contains the City's budget and fiscal policies, which are reviewed each year. And this year, we are recommending modifications to two existing policies and the addition of three new policies. The first is the capital financing and debt management policy. This policy has been expanded to include new goals and criteria to be considered before approving any new general fund debt and a section on arbitrage rebate compliance. Next is a new policy that codifies the desired timing of the city's cost allocation plan and user fee study updates to be every three to five years. With a final payment of the debt liability payout strategy in July, we will now turn to the sustainability efforts to remain 100% funded in the city's pension. It's recommended to utilize the pension trust as a reserve for future liabilities that may arise when CalPERS recalculates the city's funded status each year. And similar to the pension funding policy, we're recommending a new policy to address the funding of the city's retiree health benefit program. Currently funded at 120%, this new policy will address the uses of these funds and how to replenish the trust if the funded status drops below 100%. And finally, we're recommending the removal of the debt liability pay down strategy policy as we have achieved the objectives by paying down all city liabilities and are currently debt-free. At its budget workshop on May 21, the council had a robust discussion about several items and made recommendations to include the following items in the adopted budget and CIP. The first is a one-time contribution of $25,000 to the MSJC Endowment Fund to support the school's foundation in providing student scholarships, grants, and capital needs. Next is a capital project allocation of an additional $500,000 in funding to update both playgrounds at the Ronald Reagan Sports Park, bringing the total project budget to $1,350,000. To prioritize the rehabilitation of the intersection of Margarita and Winchester Roads, existing budget within the pavement rehabilitation CIP will be diverted to complete this project. $500,000 in community reinvestment program funding was allocated to install wayfinding signs in Old Town. This project is being converted from an operating expenditure to a capital project. And finally, as mentioned earlier, modifications to the city's debt policy are included in the new budget. And after discussion at the budget workshop, council recommended reducing the debt service limitation for the general fund obligations from 10% of general fund revenue down to 5%. Additionally, council recommended adding policy language requiring any future debt obligations be agendized at an accessible public meeting. That concludes my presentation, and I'm available for any questions.

All righty. Thank you very much, Mrs. Hennessey. All right. Let's move into council questions. Do we have any? On my left, we'll start this time. No questions? No, I don't have any questions.

Okay. Anybody on my right?

Okay. Seeing as there is none, we are going to open the public hearing. Do we have any comments? We don't. So we're going to close it. Close the public hearing. All right, let's move into the discussion for council. Who would like to kick it off? If anybody?

Or a motion I'll go ahead and move the item And just maybe make a brief comment.

Yeah, please go ahead. Okay.

Yeah, so I'll move the item I'm certainly proud of the council here. I'm proud of our team Past councils past staff. Everyone has done a fantastic job Budgeting our city. So thank you and you know the residents are Benefiting from that, you know fiscal conservatism and saving and living within our means and everything and As far as sort of the action items, I was hoping for less than 5%, but it's not a hill I'm willing to die on. So I think the consensus at the meeting was 5%, so I'll certainly support that. And then the future meeting as well, as far as if we just have a future meeting, that would satisfy the itch I have with respect to that. But other than that, I'm very happy with this process and look forward to future success with you all.

Awesome. All right. Great. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem.

Yeah, just real quick. Again, remarkable job, as always, Ms. Hannah Seedy, yourself and staff and city manager's office, everybody else that's been involved. I know each department has to go through this process as well. And so appreciate everybody stepping up this year, especially as we're starting to make some tougher fiscal decisions. The lack of, I think, comments and public input, just for those that are watching this and don't know, there was a whole public hearing just on this that was like four hours long or something. So we went through a very robust version of this already. So, you know, we've already asked our questions, had a great debate and had a good discussion and very happy with the way this year's budget went out and Stu mentioned it earlier is that you know it's pretty remarkable that in a few weeks we're going to be one of the only cities in California that that is debt-free and no pension obligations as well and appreciate the start and truly the policy changes that were made I appreciate everybody taking those to heart and But also really appreciate the idea of moving that $7.5 million into a long-term pension trust fund. I think that's a huge stability step for us moving forward, and it's going to make a big difference. So thank you all.

All right. Stu?

I'll second it.

All right. Okay. Well, I just want to say again, same things. Thank you to staff. Jennifer, thank you to you and your team. You guys did a great job. Thank you to everybody who's just really making Temecula Temecula. We're able to do great things because we are fiscally sound. So with that, let's go to vote. All right, with that, motion passes 5-0. All right, let's move on to item number 14. All right, we're going to move to our business items. Next is going to be item number 14, approve revised schedule of authorized pensions, salary scheduled employment agreements with executive officials, improve a memorandum of understanding with Teamsters Local 986, and amend the restated management compensation plan and council compensation plan. And we are going to get a staff report by Becky Obman. Did I say your last name right?

It's Obman. Obman.

Thank you very much. Okay. Ms. Becky, take it away.

All right, and good afternoon, Mayor and members of the City Council. Before you today is a comprehensive compensation item that includes adoption of a resolution approving the revised schedule of authorized positions and salary schedule, approval of revised employment agreements for executive officials, approval of the successor memorandum of understanding with Teamsters Local 986, and approval of the amended and restated management compensation plan and council compensation plan. The proposed resolution approves the revised schedule of authorized positions and salary schedule for fiscal year 2026-27. The schedule of authorized positions maintains the city's authorized staffing level at 202.2 full-time equivalent positions and includes several classification and administrative updates. The salary schedule has been updated to reflect the proposed 3% cost of living adjustment, addition of new classifications, and salary study adjustments. The executive employment agreements include a 3% cost of living adjustment and provide executives with the benefits outlined in the management compensation plan, including participation in the cafeteria plan, a $400 monthly automobile allowance, and the city's retention benefit. Executive employees also participate in the applicable CalPERS retirement plan based on their hire date. Pursuant to government code section 54953 and government code section 3511.1, the proposed compensation for local agency executives must be publicly reported prior to council action. Accordingly, the proposed annual top step salaries for the city's executive employees are Assistant City Manager Luke Watson, $334,256. Assistant to the City Manager Betsy Lowry, $226,720. Director of IT Support Services Michael Hesslin. Director of Community Services Erica Russo. And Director of Legislative Affairs City Clerk Randy Joel. each with a salary of $269,505.60. Director of Community Development, Matthew Peters. Director of Public Works, Ron Moreno. And Director of Finance, Jennifer Hennessey, each with a salary of $276,265.60. The proposed Teamsters MOU is a three-year agreement effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029. The key provisions include a 3% cost of living adjustment effective July 2026. Future COLA is based on the lesser of CPIW or growth in recurring city revenues, but not to exceed 3%. An increase in the health contribution from 600 per month to 1,000 per month effective July 1, 2026. with additional increases to $1,050 in January 2027 and $1,100 in January 2028. Enhanced short-term and long-term disability benefits, including increased benefit caps and a reduced waiting period. Transition of disability and basic life insurance premiums from employee paid to city paid. Expanded bereavement leave. an increase in the annual safety footwear allowance from $175 to $200, an increase in the standby pay from $230 to $350 per week, elimination of the cafeteria plan cash-out eligibility for employees hired on or after July 1, 2026. And it also includes various legal CalPERS compliance and administrative updates. Consistent with past practice, those sections shared by the management compensation and city council compensation plans will also be updated to reflect the terms of the MOU mentioned previously. The management compensation plan is applicable to the city manager, assistant city manager, assistant to the city manager, department directors, mid-management, and confidential employees. The estimated fiscal impact of the proposed actions is approximately $7.35 million, representing about 3.7% of the city's primary operating budgets for fiscal year 2026-27. Staff recommends adoption of the resolution and approval of the remaining items. And that concludes my report, and I'm available if you have any questions.

All right. Thank you, Becky. All right. Let's move into council questions. Anybody?

We're good?

All right. Seeing none, we're going to move into public comments. Do we have any public comments? No public comments. All right. We'll either go into discussion or motion.

I move approval. Second.

All right. Let's vote. Alright, that motion passes 5-0. Alright, thank you very much.

Oh yes, go ahead. I just wanted to make a brief comment. So, just with respect to the workforce, they're the heart of everything that we do in the city. And I just, you know, I think this was a fair contract extension. I think that this was representative of who we are as a council and meets the needs of our workforce. And I Sort of that retention and all the pieces that go into making the city function in a very high professional way So I'm glad it passed That's all thank you.

All right. Thank you for your comment. Absolutely Yes, our every worker here is important and very thankful and All right, so number 15, let's move into that one for the approval to revisit Council Protocol Manual Policy number 6 related to public presentation at Council meeting to include SB 707 specific requirement. And I believe, Randy, Julie, you're going to be giving us a staff report on that one, ma'am.

Yes, Madam Mayor. There is a need to update Council Policy number 6 due to the passage of Senate Bill 707, otherwise known as SB 707. Signed into law in October 2025, the legislation changes how eligible public agency, of which Temecula is one, conduct open meetings to improve accessibility, language access, and remote participation. Under SB 707, certain rules regarding language access, captioning, and teleconferencing already took effect January 1st, 2026. By July 1st, 2026, additional requirements for two-way telephonic or audio-visual participation and formal policies for technology-related disruptions and reasonable accommodation for the legislative body to participate remotely at meetings must be effective. The attached revised policy in the agenda packet includes these requirements. SB 707 policies were noted on pages seven through 12 specifically. These policies specifically address disruption of public meetings and reasonable accommodation for elected officials to participate remotely. It is recommended that the city council approve the revised council protocol manual policy number six to include these SB 707 specific requirements. In addition, July 14th will be the first meeting at which the City of Temecula will be also having the two-way telephonic and or audiovisual communication as well. That concludes staff's report, and we're happy to answer any questions.

All righty. Thank you very much. Any council questions? Seeing one.

I do have one question. So... I love the fact that we're making meetings more accessible, but with the two-way telephonic and public comments, how will that work? So if you have 30 minutes for non-agenda items and you have people in the audience, how does the queue work? So walk me through that process.

Yeah, so we're still working out logistics, but what I can share with you based in consultation with the city attorney is we are obligated to administer the process in a fair and neutral and transparent manner. So for practical purposes, I won't bore you with the back end that IT and testing is still happening on. What I will tell you is we anticipate 30-minute public comment on non-agendized items. And most likely what will happen is I will pull a speaker card from somebody that is in person, and then I will go ahead and call up somebody from the queue. And then I will go ahead and pull another speaker card, and I will hit up somebody from the queue. And the same thing will happen for business items or public hearings or any of those things as well. All of the speakers will have the appropriate amount of time, and we will be very strict on time because we're going to have to be. We will be professional, but we will have to be a little strict. strict. So there will be no more, please go ahead and finish up your comment or any of those kinds of things. It will be three minutes is up. They go out. I call the next person. You're done. The button buzzes. The next person queues up. So that's how we envision it to work, sir.

Okay. I think that works well for business items. I think it works well for public hearings. Where I'm going to sort of give you my unfiltered thoughts about this. I think it's unfair for people that actually show up to the meeting and get in line. They're here early. And then for someone to be online and to be able to get in the queue and potentially, if we don't extend the time for non-agenda items, you potentially have people that live here that weren't able to speak where someone from across the country could log in because they like making public comments, you know, We've all heard these comments. If you've ever listened to the County Board of Supervisors meetings, they do this. So I'm going to just, like, that's my concern, that I would like us, if it's legally possible to do, is prioritize people that are sitting here. And if it's not, we can sort of work through that. But that's, like, the hesitation I have, is that you'll have folks that will come and they won't be able to speak.

Yes, and that is definitely one of the items that was considered in the development of not only the legislation, but also in the development of our policy and our practice and all of that. While we would like to give preferential kind of outlook to those that have taken the time to come at this time it looks like we are going to have to again process the administer the program in a way that is completely one and one however I'll happy to go back to the city attorney and just make sure that we can go through that one more time and there's nothing that has changed yeah I would appreciate that no problem

Okay, I'm just pondering that myself right now. That was a good question for sure. Anybody else have any other questions? I can't see Stu over there. Stu, you good?

Okay.

All right, with that, do we have any public comment for public comment?

We do not have any public comment for public comment.

All right, with that, any discussion or motion?

Move to approval.

All right, let's vote. All right, with that, the motion passes 5-0. Let's move on to number 16, adopt resolutions setting recommended fees for chapel memories and approval name change at the request of subcommittee members Schwenk and Stewart. If we can please get a staff report from Ms. Erica Russo. Sorry about that.

Yes, we can. So many of you probably are familiar with the Chapel of Memories, which is located in front of Sam Hicks Monument Park and Temecula Valley Museum. That chapel has been a historical site in Temecula for many, many years. It was also a very popular wedding venue. Previously, that wedding venue was administered by a partnership with a nonprofit we had here in town. A couple of years ago, we no longer continued that nonprofit partnership, and we had to do some renovations to the chapel. So we've completely renovated the interior. Public Works has been super helpful in terms of helping us just freshen everything up. So it looks really beautiful inside. Here you can see a couple of images, the exterior on the left and then we have the interior there in the lower right, as well as a photo of the patio where we have it set up like it would be for a wedding reception. So we took it to the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services subcommittee a month or so ago, and we're proposing a fee study, or I'm sorry, we're proposing a fee schedule that will enable us to reopen it for bookings for weddings, memorial services, and small personal events of that nature. The inside capacity is only between 50 and 75 people, so this is really intended for very small private ceremonies.

Next slide, please.

Based on some research we did on other comparable venues, here are the proposed chapel fees. We're looking at offering reservations with two different tiers. We have Temecula residents and then we have non-residents. You can see it's a flat fee for the reservation for three hours max. Then you can rent additional hours up to an eight-hour max. The patio and kitchen are an add-on fee. The kitchen has been renovated so that it functions as a caterer's kitchen. So if you're bringing in catered dishes for a wedding reception or a memorial, you're able to utilize it for that. And then, like all of our city facilities, if they're rented, we have a security deposit, which is refundable upon completion of the rental.

Pardon me. I believe we have a brief announcement to make on this item from Council Member Rahn.

Oh, yeah. So we're doing business in Old Town on the private sector side. So I believe I am conflicted out of this item. So I'm going to leave the dais.

All righty. Okay. So with that, we're making a slight departure from most of our rental fee policies where we only permit reservations six months in advance for this because we know that people planning a wedding need a lot more lead time. We're allowing reservations 12 months in advance. It's going to be available to rent Wednesday through Sunday. On Saturdays, you won't be able to rent it earlier than 2 p.m. because the farmer's market is right there, and we know that functionally it will just be impossible to navigate parking at that point on a Saturday morning. If any of you have been here for Saturday morning farmers markets, you know what that's like. So that essentially concludes my report. I'm open to any questions.

All right, great. Thank you. And it looks beautiful. Great job to the team for putting that all together. It looks beautiful at the chapel.

Oh, I'm sorry. I did have one other comment on that. We are proposing a name change from, it's now called the Temecula, I'm sorry, the Chapel of Memories. That name is actually used by another chapel in Orange County. And additionally, Chapel of Memories really seems to imply primarily memorial services. So we'd like to change that name to, we're going with Old Town Temecula Chapel, which is kind of anchors it a little more clearly in Old Town and locates it, you know, in people's minds as an Old Town facility. So with that, if Council supports it, we're recommending adoption of this fee schedule and the name change.

Okay. Thank you very much, Eric. I appreciate that. So with that, Council, questions?

Just a comment.

Okay. We're not there just yet. Okay. We're getting there. Any questions? Okay. Next, let's go into public comments. Do we have any? Yes. Okay, now you may go.

Okay. No, this is going to be a really cool asset for the city of Temecula because with wedding venues being so expensive everywhere, this allows for a small, intimate little wedding that people can afford. And so I really am supportive of this, and I like the name change, too, because it really does state where exactly it's at. No one's going to be confused where Old Town Temecula Chapel is at. So, yeah, no, it's a really, really cool facility.

Do we want to add the Hallmark name onto it? No. No? Okay, just checking. Anything else on my left? No? Okay. With that... I'll move approval. Four of us?

Okay.

Second. Second? All right, let's go to vote. And that motion passes four to one with one abstain with Mayor Pro Tem. All righty. Thank you very much, gentlemen. Erica, thank you very much for all of that. And thank you to the team. All right. Let me see. I think we're about done.

Yes.

All right. Departmental reports and receiving file only. So we're good with that. Public comments on non-agendized item. Do we have anybody left? Nope. All right. Thank you very much, Mayor Pro Tem, for coming back. Do you have any future items? Okay. Anybody else have any future items? Nope. All right. Seeing as none, City Manager Report. Mr. Luke Watson.

Nothing further tonight, Mayor.

Thank you, sir. And to our City Attorneys Act, do we have any?

Madam Mayor, the City of Council met in closed session on the agendized items listed. With respect to the second listed item, the Council unanimously authorized the City Attorney to pursue an appeal of the trial court's judgment. That concludes my report.

Thank you. Thank you very much. And before we adjourn, we just want to remind everybody that we are going to be going dark on June 23rd, so there will be absolutely no meeting that day. So if you want to come, you're probably going to be here by yourself. Our next meeting is going to be at 3 o'clock on July 14th. And just as a reminder, that is going to be when we are going to be bringing back the item for resolution for SDG&E. So if there's any other comments with that, we'd love to be able to hear from you. And with that, that is the end of our meeting, and we are adjourned. Thank you for showing up.

Thank you.