City Council Meeting

CITY OF LOS BANOS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 6, 2023 ACTION MINUTES – These minutes are prepared to depict action taken for agenda items presented to the City Council. For detail of this meeting refer to the electronic media (CD and/or audio) kept as a permanent record. ** Holiday Open House held prior to the meeting from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Pro Tem Lambert called the City Council Meeting to order at the hour of 6:02 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Police Chief Reyna led the pledge of allegiance. ROLL CALL – MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL PRESENT: Council Members Douglas Begonia, Jr., Brett Jones, Kenneth Lambert, Deborah Lewis; ABSENT: Mayor Paul Llanez. STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: City Manager Pinheiro, City Attorney Vaughn, Police Chief Reyna, City Clerk/Human Resources Director Mallonee, City Treasurer Lawrence, Fire Chief Tualla, Community & Economic Development Director Souza Elms, Interim Parks & Recreation Director Heim, Interim Finance Director Kuhn, Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Lemus CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Mayor Pro Tem Lambert stated that staff is requesting that item 8 – Public Hearing – To Receive Public Comment and Consideration of a Conditional Use Permit #2023-09 and a Categorical Exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Pursuant to Section 15301, Existing Facilities, to Allow the Use of a Type 41 Alcohol License for the On-Sale of Beer and Wine for a Bona-Fide Eating Place, Biggins Texas BBQ Located at 609 I Street, APN 025-231- 019, City Council Resolution No. 6717 – Finding the Proposed Project to be Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act Pursuant to Section 15301, Existing Facilities and Approving Conditional Use Permit #2023-09 to Allow for the On-Sale of Beer and Wine Under a Type 41 Alcohol License at 609 I Street, More Specifically Identified as APN 025-231-019 be removed from the agenda. Motion by Jones, seconded by Begonia to approve the agenda with the removal of item 8 – Public Hearing – To Receive Public Comment and Consideration of a Conditional Use Permit #2023-09 and a Categorical Exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Pursuant to Section 15301, Existing Facilities, to Allow the Use of a Type 41 Alcohol License for the On-Sale of Beer and Wine for a Bona-Fide Eating Place, Biggins Texas BBQ Located at 609 I Street, APN 025-231-019, City Council Resolution No. 6717 – Finding the Proposed Project to be Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act Pursuant to Section 15301, Existing Facilities and Approving Conditional Use Permit #2023-09 to Allow for the On-Sale of Beer and Wine Under a Type 41 Alcohol License at 609 I Street, More Specifically Identified as APN 025-231- 019. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present, Llanez absent. PRESENTATIONS: CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION – ANDREW DENNY & JUAN RAMIREZ – FIRE ENGINEERS, CITY OF LOS BANOS EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH FOR NOVEMBER 2023; PROCLAMATION – RECOGNIZING THE RETIREMENT OF CITY OF LOS BANOS POLICE CHIEF GARY BRIZZEE, JR.; PROCLAMATION – RECOGNIZING THE RETIREMENT OF CITY OF LOS BANOS POLICE SERGEANT JESSE CEJA; PROCLAMATION – RECOGNIZING THE RETIREMENT OF CITY OF LOS BANOS POLICE OFFICER NOAH JONES; PROCLAMATION – RECOGNIZING THE RETIREMENT OF CITY OF LOS BANOS FOREMAN TIM BAPTISTA, SR.; PROCLAMATION – RECOGNIZING THE RETIREMENT OF CITY OF LOS BANOS FOREMAN ANTHONY (BUTCH) TERRANOVA. Mayor Pro Tem Lambert presented the certificate and proclamations, for which Juan Ramirez, Gary Brizzee, Jr., Jesse Ceja, Noah Jones were in attendance to accept. PUBLIC FORUM: MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC MAY ADDRESS THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ON ANY ITEM OF PUBLIC INTEREST THAT IS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE CITY; INCLUDES AGENDA AND NON-AGENDA ITEMS. NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS. SPEAKERS ARE LIMITED TO A FIVE (5) MINUTE PRESENTATION. DETAILED GUIDELINES ARE POSTED ON THE COUNCIL CHAMBER INFORMATIONAL TABLE. Mayor Pro Tem Lambert opened the public forum and asked those at the meeting if they would like to speak. DEAN NELSON, representing the Kiwanis Club of Los Banos, spoke regarding the upcoming Christmas Eve Dinner that they have been putting on for 40 years and encouraged all to attend, the fundraising they do for the event throughout the years and the Bazaar held; CHRIS SANTOS, representing Congressman Duarte, congratulated the retirees recognized tonight, spoke regarding Merced County and how it is the gateway to Yosemite, how Congressman Duarte is doing all that he can to address housing shortages, the bipartisan caucus quality and affordable health care, issues still facing Madera with the closure of their hospital and how important rural hospitals are, wished all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year; MARK KIRSCHMAN, Manager of Government Affairs of Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE), thanked the City for their leadership and support, PCE does not have shareholders and explained how they can offer what they do, introduced the Viri Renteria, PCE’s new Community Relations Specialist who spoke regarding the $300 bill credit to qualifying Los Banos residents based on their income and explained how the credit will be processed, and to learn more about the credits citizens can go the PCE’s website; ROY TODD, volunteer member of Chamber of Commerce, stated that they just wrapped up our Annual Christmas Parade with 69 entries which he believes is a record, there were 10 different awards presented, thanked Sutter Health for sponsoring every one of our events and thanked all that attended, participated and watched, thanked the LBPD and City workers who make sure things run smoothly, Merced County Fire Department for donating the truck for Santa to ride on, how the Chamber office will be closed on December 25 & 26, January 1 & 16, making note that the Chamber is in much better footing than it was a year ago and thanked all those who helped out, it was much appreciated, thanked the City of los Banos and community for all their continued support, wished all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year; UNNAMED PERSON, stated that consent items are suppose to be routine, item G is another change order for Birch Avenue and over $600,000 but this is stuff that needs to be explained as to what is going on so that the community knows what’s going on, also on your consent agenda is a check register over $2 million and how it seems to be happening every meeting and she is concerned and how 5 employees have retired and that is scary to me because she doesn’t know if they are treated poorly or are they afraid of their boss and, how hard it will be to replace them, concerns with landscape and lighting fees that is being paid by ARPA funds, what happens when this has to be done again in 2 years when those funds are not available, wished all a Merry Christmas; UNNAMED PERSON, spoke regarding a football game he watched and how the game was fair because their was a scoring system, how a winning is based on a scoring system and explained how that works without scores there are no scoring system, last year the public was told that there would be scoring system and rules for the ARPA Funds, inquired as to why a Council Member received the first award in 10 days, how he feels there is discrimination and favoritism and how the Mayor stated at any mean necessary he would protect his staff and how instead of threatening violence at a Council Meeting that they just release the scores; UNNAMED PERSON, thanked the retiring City of Los Banos employees as he appreciates their accomplishments and dedication, especially police officers, we don’t just loose police officers we loose knowledge which takes years to replace and sometimes not, special thanks to Gary Brizzee as he is an exceptional individual, dedicated to the community and a tremendous loss to the City, he was very professional and approachable, questioned about the changing of the utility system and the way it was rolled out, are we saving money, is it faster or easier, a little bit of explanation would have been helpful and provide the reason this was necessary, another issue of concern he has is when someone comes up to the podium they are exercising their first amendment rights, the burden is not on the public to have their information correct it is your job to provide it, they should not be threatened with violence or intimidation, spoke of a hostile work environment and the city manager has caused this, reading from a letter and then stating nothing has been done about these egregious acts by Pinheiro and he is why we are losing staff; MARIBEL GARCIA, Los BAnos Downtown Association, thanked all that came out to support us at the Annual Tree Lighting Celebration and thanked those who sponsored, spoke regarding the window contest and who the winners were, how they will be having our annual reception with the board of directors in December, she handed out the first newsletter for the Downtown Association, and to have a wonderful evening an d a Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year; UNNAMED PERSON, stated that last time she spoke she ran out of time and wanted to finish up, spoke regarding the City Attorney and how valuable his knowledge is, spoke to the several buildings downtown she is pushing on social media, how she is a resident of downtown and spoke to homes downtown that is like her home and other buildings available downtown for businesses and how important they are because they are historical. No one else came forward to speak and the public forum was closed. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA. Council Member Lewis stated that she would like to remove items 7D, 7F, 7G, 7H from the consent agenda for discussion. Item 7D – City Council Resolution No. 6712 – Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Contract with Ronnys Inc. for the Construction of the Shaunessy village Park in the Amount of $897,201.03 and a Project Contingency of $89,720.00. Council Member Lewis stated that on October 18, 2023 the bids were rejected and re-bid, spoke to the funding in the budget and if anything was changed in the new bid, how Ronnys bid went up, she understands the reason to rebid but is concerned with the cost and increase in cost and asked for an explanation for which for which Parks & Recreation Director Heim provide. Item 7F – City Council Resolution No. 6714 – Approving the Acceptance of a $9,477.18 UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Grant via Their California for All Animals Program and Amending the Fiscal Year Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount for Expenditures and Revenues in the Amount of $9,477.18. Council Member Lewis stated that there are items being purchased by UC Davis to help animals and wasn’t quite sure how these were going to work in the scheme in making these animals more adoptable and made not of how important it is that we don’t release animals who haven’t been taken care of and asked for an explanation for which Police Chief Reyna provided as well as Police Sergeant Mendez. Item 7G – City Council Resolution No. 6715 – Amending the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Budget by Increasing Appropriations in the Street & Road Improvements-Overlay Account 100-431-210-715 and Authorizes the Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer to Execute Change Order No. 3 to the Contract with United Pavement Maintenance, Inc. in the Amount of $595,271.70 for the Additional Rehabilitation of Birch Avenue. Council Member Lewis stated that this is another time coming back with another change order, inquired as to would it have cost the City to go with Recommendation 1, is this just a part of Birch Avenue or all of it, and how she has heard that that area was a bog area and asked for an explanation for which Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Lemus provided. Item 7H – City Council Resolution No. 6716 – Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Professional Services Agreement with Vanir Construction Management, Inc. for Project Management Services for the New Fire Station No. 4 Project in the Amount of $35,435.00. Council Member Lewis stated that we did receive the $5 million back in 2019 to fund this project and has heard there is some issue with the soil, spoke to the pre-design services and the other phases and if there will there be anything left over to help build those facilities and asked for an explanation for which Fire Chief Tualla provided. Motion by Lewis, seconded by Begonia to approve the consent agenda as follows: Check Register for #242034 - #242282 in the Amount of $2,659,365.04; Minutes for the October 18, 2023 City Council Meeting; Minutes for the November 1, 2023 City Council Meeting.; City Council Resolution No. 6712 – Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Contract with Ronnys Inc. for the Construction of the Shaunessy village Park in the Amount of $897,201.03 and a Project Contingency of $89,720.00; City Council Resolution No. 6713 – Accepting the Exterior Painting of Four (4) City-Owned Buildings Project as Complete and Authorizing the Filing of a Notice of Completion with the Merced County Recorder; City Council Resolution No. 6714 – Approving the Acceptance of a $9,477.18 UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Grant via Their California for All Animals Program and Amending the Fiscal Year Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount for Expenditures and Revenues in the Amount of $9,477.18; City Council Resolution No. 6715 – Amending the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Budget by Increasing Appropriations in the Street & Road Improvements-Overlay Account 100-431-210-715 and Authorizes the Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer to Execute Change Order No. 3 to the Contract with United Pavement Maintenance, Inc. in the Amount of $595,271.70 for the Additional Rehabilitation of Birch Avenue; City Council Resolution No. 6716 – Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Professional Services Agreement with Vanir Construction Management, Inc. for Project Management Services for the New Fire Station No. 4 Project in the Amount of $35,435.00. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present, Mayor Llanez absent. PUBLIC HEARING – TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSIDERATION OF A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT #2023-09 AND A CATEGORICAL EXEMPTION FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) PURSUANT TO SECTION 15301, EXISTING FACILITIES, TO ALLOW THE USE OF A TYPE 41 ALCOHOL LICENSE FOR THE ON-SALE OF BEER AND WINE FOR A BONA-FIDE EATING PLACE, BIGGINS TEXAS BBQ LOCATED AT 609 I STREET, APN 025-231- 019; CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION NO. 6717 – FINDING THE PROPOSED PROJECT TO BE CATEGORICALLY EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT PURSUANT TO SECTION 15301, EXISTING FACILITIES AND APPROVING CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT #2023-09 TO ALLOW FOR THE ON-SALE OF BEER AND WINE UNDER A TYPE 41 ALCOHOL LICENSE AT 609 I STREET, MORE SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFIED AS APN 025-231-019. Removed from the agenda at the beginning of the meeting with approval of the agenda. ADVISEMENT OF PUBLIC NOTICES. (Two Reports). Community & Economic Development Director Souza Elms reported that there will be two public hearings at the December 13, 2023 Planning Commission Meeting to consider a Categorical Exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and a Conditional Use Permit #2023-12 to allow the use and operation of a fabrication (metal welding) for Lartech. The subject property is located in the Highway Commercial Zoning District at 1235 E St., more specifically identified as Assessor's Parcel Number: 025-142-017 and to consider a Categorical Exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Vesting Tentative Parcel Map #2023-03 to allow the minor subdivision of a 1.08-acre parcel into four parcels and a remainder parcel for Chateaux at The Villas. The subject property is located in the Low Density Residential Zoning District, east of Center Ave., more specifically identified as Assessor's Parcel Number: 431-270-015. CITY MANAGER REPORT. City Manager Pinheiro thanked the many folks for their years of service, thanked the Admin team for the reception put on tonight, how the Christmas Parade this year was excellent and thanked City staff for all their hard work, and reminded all about the upcoming Breakfast with Santa event on December 9, 2023. REPORT/UPDATE ON MERCED COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS (MCAG), PENINSULA CLEAN ENERGY (PCE), MEASURE V COMMITTEE, AND SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT (SJVAPCD), AND LOS BANOS DOWNTOWN PROPERTY & BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT (LBDPBID). Council Member Lewis reported that the SJVAPCD has its annual Governing Board study session last week with various topics of discussion, i.e. fire prevention, $1 million grant from the State of California to help communities in low income areas to purchase air filters and where you can apply online, some talk about zero admission trucks, funding and outreach opportunity for firework impacts with a pilot program on a first come first serve basis with the idea to move away from pyro and to the laser light shows and maybe this is something the Downtown Association might like to go after this funding opportunity. CITY COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS BRETT JONES: No report DEBORAH LEWIS: Thanked the Chamber of Commerce for moving the Christmas Parade form Friday to Saturday and congratulated them on a great parade, shout out to the City employees who have retired, a lot of years went out the door and thanked our employees for their years of service, a job well done to all of them. She is making a formal Council Member request per policy for an update on the Homekey Motel Purchase Program and where we are on the purchase and update on the scoring system for ARPA for the next agenda at the next meeting of January 6, 2024 and wished all a Merry Christmas and to be safe and remember the reason for the season. KENNETH LAMBERT: Thanked staff tonight for the reception tonight, thanked the City Manager and City staff for the great jobs they have done this year, to the Chamber as he wasn’t able to be in the parade this year but heard it was great, congrats to those retiring and how it also gives opportunities to others to move up, how someone brought up the utility software during the public forum and how he was one that voted for it, it is a work in progress and we will get it worked out. He made note that the December 20, 2023 meeting is cancelled and the next meeting is January 3, 2024 DOUGLAS BEGONIA, JR.: Congrats to all receiving retirement recognition tonight and congrats to all who put on the Christmas parade and thanked the community for showing up big time, and spoke regarding the Breakfast with Santa event coming up Saturday. PAUL LLANEZ: Absent ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Begonia, seconded by Lewis, the meeting was adjourned at 7:46 p.m. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present, Llanez absent. APPROVED: /s/ Kenneth Lambert_________ Kenneth Lambert, Mayor Pro Tem ATTEST: /s/ Lucille L. Mallonee__________ Lucille L. Mallonee, City Clerk