City Council/Successor Agency/Public Finance Authority

AGENDA ITEM NO. 4. – A. CITY OF AVENAL “Pistachio Capital of the World®” CITY COUNCIL/SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2020; 5:15 P.M. AVENAL THEATER & EVENT CENTER / 233 E. KINGS STREET, AVENAL, CA 93204 (Due to gathering limits and social distancing requirements, the City Council and limited City Staff will attend at this location.) VIA ZOOM VIDEO/WEB CONFERENCING: Web Link: bit.ly/AvenalCouncil or use https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87243440488 Or by calling +1 669 900 6833 and use meeting ID 872 4344 0488 to join. MINUTES CALL TO ORDER: at 5:18 p.m. PELAGE OF ALLEGIANCE: by Mayor Preciado Mayor Preciado appionted Antony Lopez as City Clerk Pro Tem of the meeting. ROLL CALL: Councilman Hernandez, Councilman Verdugo, Councilman Gravelle, Mayor Preciado, Mayor Pro Tem Ramirez joined the meeting at 6:00 p.m. STAFF: Lopez, Bermudez, Santillan, Davis, Price, Stivers. LEGAL COUNCEL: Moses Diaz CITY CLERK: Government Code Section 54952.3: The members of the City Council/Successor Agency are entitled to receive a total of $300.00 per month because of being elected to the City Council. They receive no other compensation for sitting as a member of Successor Agency. CLOSED SESSION: (City/Successor Agency): It is the intent of this governing body to meet in closed session to review its position and to instruct its designated representatives: A. Pending Litigation (Government Code § 54956.9). Conference with legal counsel - EXISTING LITIGATION (Government Code § 54956.9(d)(1)). Parties, case/claim no: Alba Luz Caldearon De Cerda et al. v. Corteva Inc. et al. (Kings County Superior Court, Case No. 20C-0250). B. Pending Litigation (Government Code § 54956.9). Conference with legal counsel - EXISTING LITIGATION (Government Code §54956.9(d)(l)). Parties, case/claim no: Carmela Zamora Avita et al. v. Co1ieva Inc. et al. (Kings County Superior Court, Case No. 20C-0311) C. Pending Litigation (Government Code § 54956.9). Conference with legal counsel-ANTICIPATED LITIGATION (Government Code § 54956.9(d)). Significant exposure to litigation (Government Code§ 54956.9(d)(2)). Number of potential cases is: 3 D. Conference with Real Property Negotiator(s) (Government Code § 54956.8). Property Description: APN 040-301-017; 040-301-026; 040-301-028 Negotiator(s): City Manager/City Attorney Party with whom negotiating: Dollar General Mayor Preciado reopened meeting at 6:34 p.m. There was nothing to report out of Closed Session. PUBLIC COMMENT/ANNOUNCEMENTS & UNSCHEDULED APPERANCES: Joint Meeting City Council/Successor Agency January 28, 2021 Page 2 of 6 Veronica Aguirre reported the following: 1) she has voiced a concern before regarding overcrowding of vehicle on the street due to some families have 6-vehicles per household. Also, resident’s Double Parked to unload groceries or park the opposite direction. She would like to fix this issue due to safety. Chief Stivers asked Mrs. Aguirre what the time frame. Mrs. Aguirre stated it’s different times mostly through the night. Chief Stivers reported that on Monday the Governor lifted the Stay at Home order which have to do with capacity. There are 5-regions and were in the San Joaquin Valley Region and there is data to show over several weeks that the bed space in the ICU will elevate by 15%. This put use in the purple tier. The State recommends testing. He did call Aria Health Network spoke with Mr. Blaine and their set to receive 900 doses. Mr. Blaine breaks it down per clinic and does it per population survey which benefits Avenal with 150 more vaccines. Also, He was just notified an hour ago that Adventist Health/Health Department/ Sierra Pacific High School will host a COVID-19 community vaccine event for health care workers and 65 and over. It will take place January 30th Sierra Pacific High School. The residents that meet the criteria need to register in advance and there is a link in the Press Release and Sargent Storm is working on putting it on their social media page as they speak. Also, walk-ins will not be accommodated and need to show ID to verify person that registered. CONSENT CALENDAR: A. Approval of City of Avenal/Successor Agency’s Minutes for January 11, 2021 & January 14, 2021. B. Consider Authorizing the City Manager to sign an Extension of Service Agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric for services to the Avenal Community Center. Mr. Lopez reported that Pacific Gas & Electric for services to the Avenal Community Center need to Authorizing the City Manager to sign an Extension of Service Agreement. This allows PG&E to provide services to the Avenal Community Center were City is going to pay a fee looking at Option B 50% discount for gas and electric. A motion was made to approve Consent Calendar as given by Mayor Pro Tem/Successor Agency Member Ramirez seconded by Councilman/Successor Agency Member Hernandez and carried. RESOLUTION 2021-09: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AVENAL AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SIGN A GAS & ELECTRIC EXTENSION AGREEMENT WITH PACIFIC GAS & ELECTIC (PG&E) ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF AVENAL. A motion was made by Councilman Verdugo, seconded by Councilman Hernandez and carried. Roll Call Vote: AYES: Verdugo, Hernandez, Ramirez, Gravelle, Preciado. NOES: None. ABSENT: None. ABSTAIN: None. MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL MEMBER/SUCCESSOR AGENCY/ITEM FOR CONSIDERATION: A. Discussion Regarding Street Sweeper Operation. Mr. Lopez reported that recently, community members have voiced concerns regarding the frequency of street sweeping throughout residential neighborhoods in Avenal. Council has been made aware of this issue and asked Staff to research the current schedule and operations of the City’s street sweeper. The Public Works Department and City Manager’s office has explored the history of the street sweeper and its schedule. Since 2006, the City implemented a street sweeping schedule which broke Avenal into three sectors, which one sector being cleaned once a week every month (Attachment A). When this schedule was implemented, an agreement was made with Mid- Valley Disposal to provide a driver and maintenance of the street sweeper. Over the years, numerous maintenance issues with the street sweeper, and turn-over at Mid-Valley Disposal has eroded the consistency and continuity of street sweeper operations. As of late, the Public Works Department will typically assign one of its own staff to operate the street sweeper when Mid-Valley is unable to. Given the current arrangement of the street sweeper operations, Staff understands the need to revamp and prioritize use of the street sweeper for more frequent operation. Joint Meeting City Council/Successor Agency January 28, 2021 Page 3 of 6 Challenges for providing daily or even Weekly Street sweeping by the City include lack of staff and budget for frequent operations. Rob Williams, Public Works Director mentioned that as Mr. Lopez mentioned that the Street Sweeper was obtained in 2006 to sweep Hwy 269 twice a week and MidValley was going to do this and has they cleaned Hwy 269 and went through Downtown area. MidValley started to have issues with drivers and due to shortage the Sweeper wasn’t used. Staff has run into some electrical problems with the sweeper it was down for 5 to 6 months. Scott Davis, Public Works Supervisor did mention that the Street Sweeper has deteriorated. Mr. Lopez did report that that Staff is used to sweep where most needed. Also, spoke with Joseph from MidValley and is willing to revisit this agreement. After a brief, discussion the City Council would like to revisit agreement with MidValley. Also, consider Waste Connection to discuss the Street Sweeper. ACTIVITY REPORTS/SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS & COMMITTEE REPORTS: A. Activity Reports: 1) Recreation Department Activity Report: Shelia Verdugo, Supervisor. Shelia Verdugo, Supervisor, reported the following: 1) Upcoming Events: Drive-Thru Breakfast, Easter Craft Drive-Thru, Interactive Easter Egg Hunt Drive-Thru, Tri-Tip Dinner Drive-Thru Fundraiser; 2) Working on: Updating County Resource List – deadline to complete is Jan. 29th; Making a City Business and Organization Contact List – deadline – Feb 12th; Contacting County and local organizations to put tables out at Easter Drive-Thru; Sunday, January 31st the UFW will be do a food distribution at 3 pm if they provide their Insurance; KCAO will do their Tax Prep Services in Veteran’s Hall; and, 3) Attended meetings: Community Garden, Flourish Kings County, KPFP, Diabetes Coalition, Kings County Safe Kid Collation. 2) Avenal Theater and Event Center December/January Report: Humberto Bermudez Humberto Bermudez reported the following: 1) Tech Updates; 2) Rotary Food Distributions: December 8th/January 12th; 3) AES Desk Donations: In collaboration with the Avenal Rotary Club and the Community Activities Department, they built and distributed 20 Elementary grade school desks; and, 4) Media Outreach: Working with City Staff and Council, he filmed and edited four videos over the holiday season. City of Avenal NYE 2020 PSA English a special Message from Avenal City Council Holiday Magic Church Contributions. Kindness message for RSUSD, All videos can be found on the Avenal Community Events/Activities Facebook page. 3) Avenal Police Department Activity Report: Chief Stivers. Chief Stivers reported the following: 1) arrested six DUI drivers; 2) Numerous Honda type vehicles were stolen from various parts of the City and some of the vehicles were located; 2) Follow up: investigation occurred from October’s child predator operation and thanked the community for their support of this proactive investigation; 3) vehicle pursuit and driver exited the vehicle and ran through the orchard. K-9 Gunnar assisted in the apprehension of the suspect; 4) Officers received information that there could be an explosive device inside a hotel room in the 800 block of East San Joaquin. During the investigation, a search warrant was authored and signed by a judge. With the assistance of the Central Valley Regional Bomb Squad, the warrant was served. No explosives were located; 5) citizens alerted officers of burglary in progress in the 400 block of East Santa Clara and two subjects were in the garage. Both were arrested and booked at the Kings County Jail for burglary charges; 6) thanked, the Alvarado Group for providing the coats for this year’s Coats for Kids Giveaway; and, 7) during the month of December, like most of the country, COVID-19 hit the police department. All protocols were followed. He would like to thank the Kings County Sheriff’s Office Kettleman City Substation personnel for assisting us during this time. Joint Meeting City Council/Successor Agency January 28, 2021 Page 4 of 6 PUBLIC HEARING(s): A. Discuss submittal of a 2020 Community Development Block Grant – Cv2&3 Application:  Staff Report  Public Hearing  Discussion/Action: Approve Resolution Fernando Santillan, Community Development reported that The City proposes to apply for CDBG-CV-2 & 3 funds to provide a Subsistence Payment Program to income eligible households in need of rent/mortgage and/or utility assistance and Economic Development (Business Assistance) to income eligible business with to ability to meet job retention or creation requirements. A resolution is attached for your consideration, which approves submittal of a 2020 CDBG-CV 2 & 3 Program application for up to $318,913 as follows:  Public Service - Subsistence Payments  General Administration (up to 13% of activity funds awarded): $318,913 Total $318,913 Staff recommends the following: 1. Open the public hearing to accept comments on the City’s proposed submittal of an application in response to the 2020 State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), and to solicit citizen input. 2. Adopt Resolution No. 2020-10 and thereby: a. Review and approve an application for up to $318,913 under the NOFA for the following eligible activities:  Public Service - Subsistence Payments  General Administration (up to 13% of activity funds awarded): $318,913 Total $318,913 b. Determine that federal Citizen Participation requirements were met during the development of the application. c. Authorize and direct the City Manager, or designees, to enter into and sign the grant agreement and any subsequent amendments with the State of California for the purposes of the grant. d. If the application is approved, authorize the City Manager, or designees, to transfer or modify budget amounts and activities as necessary to fully expend CDBG Program funds and to execute loan documents, Funds Requests, and other required reporting forms. Mayor Preciado opened Public Hearing at 7:44 p.m. with no public comments Mayor closed Public Hearing at 7:44 p.m. After a brief, discussion the following action was taken. RESOLUTION 2021-10: A RESOLUTION APPROVING AN APPLICATION FOR FUNDING AND THE EXECUTION OF A GRANT AGREEMENT AND ANY AMENDMENTS THERETO FROM THE 2020 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM- CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE ROUND 2 & 3 (CDBG-CV2&3) NOFA DATED DECEMBER 18, 2020. A motion was made by Councilman Gravelle, seconded by Councilman Verdugo and carried. Roll Call Vote: AYES: Gravelle, Verdugo, Hernandez, Ramirez, Preciado. NOES: None. ABSENT: None. ABSTAIN: None. OLD BUSINESS: A. Consider Extending Local Emergency Declared on March 24, 2020: Joint Meeting City Council/Successor Agency January 28, 2021 Page 5 of 6 Antony Lopez, City Manager reported that the Local Emergency continues to exist or threatened existence of a local emergency: COVID-19 pandemic. The declaration must be reviewed to consider the following action: 1) reaffirm that a local emergency continues to exist; or, 2) make a finding that a local emergency no longer exists. Staff is recommending that the City Council consider the following action by motion: Approve and support the ongoing local emergency Resolution, and specifically, move to renew the emergency Resolution by thirty (30) days, unless a Councilmember or member of the public request that the Council convene to consider the ongoing emergency Resolution, at which time a special meeting would be scheduled. A motion was made by Councilmember Mayor Pro Tem Ramirez to approve as recommended seconded by Councilman Hernandez and carried. Roll Call Vote: AYES: Gravelle, Hernandez, Ramirez, Verdugo, Preciado. NOES: None. ABSENT: None. ABSTAIN: None. NEW BUSINESS: A. Consider Entering into an Agreement with O’Dell Engineering for Site Design and Plan Preparation Service for the Prop 68 Avenal Kids Park Project: Mr. Santillan reported that the O’Dell Engineering assisted the City in preparing a conceptual design and site plan during the grant application process in 2019. Because of their familiarity with the project, as well as with the Avenal community, staff requested a proposal from O’Dell for Site Design and Plan Preparation services to assist staff in implementing the awarded project. The submitted proposal, which is attached, includes a: 1) Topographic Survey 2) Preliminary Site Plan 3) Construction Documents 4) Bidding Services 5) Regular Progress Update Meeting The total proposed fee is $45,575. The cost of this portion of the project would be covered by the awarded grant funds. Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached resolution authorizing the City Manager to enter into an agreement with O’Dell Engineering to provide Prop. 68 Parks Grant Site Design and Plan Preparation in an amount not to exceed $45,575.00. After a brief, discussion the following action was taken. RESOLUTION 2021-11: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AVENAL AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH O’DELL ENGINEERING FOR SITE DESIGN AND PLAN PREPARATION SERVICES FOR THE AVENAL KIDS PARK GRANT PROJECT. A motion was made by Councilman Verdugo to approve as recommended seconded by Gravelle and carried. Roll Call Vote: AYES: Verdugo, Gravelle, Hernandez, Mayor Pro Tem Ramirez, Mayor Preciado. NOES: None. ABSENT: None. ABSTAIN: None. Joint Meeting City Council/Successor Agency January 28, 2021 Page 6 of 6 CORRESPONDENCE/ANNOUNCEMENTS/CLOSING COMMENTS: Antony Lopez, City Manager, reported the following: 1) Flyer for food distribution, mask distribution this Sunday at Rice Park at 3:00p.m. It’s been posted on social media sponsored by UFW Foundation; 2) Also, reminders Friday the City and School District partnered up Employee Appreciation Lunch AHS Cafeteria Antony Lopez, City Manager and Patrick Sanchez the County is still offering free COVID testing at the Avenal High School parking lot Friday – 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Staff is sharing the flyer. Also vaccinations are being offered to first responders; and 2) Mayor Pro Tem Ramirez reported that he will not be able to attend the Employee Appreciation Lunch but thanked all City Employees & District Staff for their services. Mayor Preciado reported the following: 1) San Joaquin Valley Air meeting and vacancies being filled; 2) he thanked City Staff for helping our seniors; 3) Employee Appreciation Lunch thanked all for their services; 4) Request Study Session on micro kitchens. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business the City Council meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Maria Ortiz, City Clerk