City Council Meeting

CITY OF LOS BANOS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 7, 2024 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. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Llanez called the City Council Meeting to order at the hour of 6:02 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Chief Reyna led the pledge of allegiance. ROLL CALL – MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL PRESENT: Council Members Kenneth Lambert, Douglas Begonia, Jr., Brett Jones, Deborah Lewis and Mayor Paul Llanez. STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: City Attorney Vaughn, Police Chief Reyna, Fire Chief Tualla, Community & Economic Development Director Elms, Interim Finance Director Brent Kuhn, Parks and Recreation Director Heim, Assistant City Clerk/HR Analyst Blevins. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Motion by Lambert, seconded by Begonia to approve the City Council Meeting agenda as submitted. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all council members present. PRESENTATION – CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION TO THE WILDCAT PEE WEE FOOTBALL TEAM FOR WINNING THE 2023 SUPERBOWL. Mayor Llanez presented the certificate to the Wildcats Pee Wee Football team. One of the coaches thanked the City for the acknowledgment and thanked the players for making it happen. He spoke about the importance of commitment and dedication and how the desire to win counts. The success of the program has proven itself as he has been a coach since 2009 and is now coaching alongside others who used to be players themselves and now have children in the program. PRESENTATION – CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION TO THE WILDCAT PEE WEE CHEER TEAM ON SUPPORTING THE FOOTBALL TEAM. Mayor Llanez presented the certificate to the Wild Cats Pee Wee Cheer Team. PRESENTATION – CERTIFICATES OF RECOGNITION TO MARIO INIGUEZ AND AARON FLORES FOR BEING NAMED EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH FOR JANUARY 2024. Mayor Llanez presented the certificate to Mario Iniguez and Aaron Flores but none were present to accept their certificates. PRESENTATION – PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING THE RETIREMENT OF CITY OF LOS BANOS FINANCE MANAGER KIMBERLY TOMAS. Mayor Llanez read the proclamation but Kimberly was not present to accept her certificate. 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. TJ LOEMIG, runs the little league program in town and is very grateful for the presentation of the certificate. He spoke to how he is excited for the park improvements in town and that they make a big difference for sports teams. Having facilities like these for kids to play sports keeps the kids out of trouble. He understands the high costs behind these projects but once again expressed his gratitude; MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC, thanked Feral Freedom program for the work they do. She spoke to how she feels there is an Animal Advisory Committee needed in our City and believes it’s important for K-12 students to be education on the topic. She wonders if there is any way to fundraise and encouraged others to help with the situation; REPRESENTATIVE FROM CONGRESSMAN JOHN DUARTE’S OFFICE, spoke to how he will be attending the Parks and Recreation Divisions’ Save a Heart Day on Saturday. He further spoke to the fentanyl issue our society is currently facing and provided some statistics. There are ongoing efforts to keep program funding going to combat the issues in our community and invited the public to a hearing that will be held in the Hmong community in Merced tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m.; BLANCHE JORGE, lives in downtown Los Banos and she is hoping that the City did apply for the animal shelter grant and is wondering if City Council can write a letter of support for the grant and if members of the public can directly email the Governor and kindly ask for his support for the grant as we really need the money. She further suggested that local school children put together art projects that could encourage the Governor to support the grant; KATHY BALLARD, thanked council and Ronny’s Landscaping and the Public Works Department for all of their clean up during the storm; KATHERINE UHLEY, stated that a while back she spoke regarding low cost spay and neuter services and how there is a low-cost program in the community that will provide spay/neuter services, micro-chipping, and vaccination for $50 per animal. She thanked Levi with Feral Freedom for his efforts. She spoke to information she has found recently regarding the importance of using LED lighting responsibly and how it affects our bodies and how we react to things; MARGARET EDWARDS, commended the street sweeper drivers and how they are the best but how they must be frustrated because cars are parking on the downtown streets during hours they should not be and this prevents the street sweepers to clean up the streets in those areas. She further spoke to how she has attempted to go through the speed cushion process in her neighborhood but certain contingencies in the program’s policies are preventing them from being approved. She provided information about her neighborhood and what kinds of things go on on her street that endanger her neighbors. She is hoping something can be added to the speed cushion application to request an analysis of why the measure is being requested; SARAH EDWARDS, spoke regarding electronic harassment and how she is a victim of it. She is trying to spread the word about the issue; REFUGIO LLAMAS, thanked City staff for clearing things out after the storm and noted that City staff has always done a great job ever since he’s lived here. It takes a while to get things done and a lot of things have been done thanks to the prior City Council. He is asking for more transparency on the consent agenda items and hopes during the Council Member comments, things can be addressed in regards to comments made during the public forum. He questioned the recent city hall closure due to staff training, why short notice was provided and what the topic was. He spoke to City commission applicants – particularly Kathy Ballard - and how she did not get appointed to the Measure H Citizens’ Oversight Committee and wondered why City Council would deny someone who is trying to give back to the community; MARIBEL, Los Banos Downtown Association, spoke to the merchant event that is happening tomorrow evening in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce. There will be a second merchant event happening on February 22 at Biggins Texas BBQ. Future events include pub crawls and wine/beer strolls; TONY WHITEHURST, stated that the event Maribel spoke of is just one example of how the Downtown Association and the Chamber of Commerce are working together and the relationship is not a coincidence. Membership is growing and potential members are no longer asking what the Chamber can do for them, but instead what they can do for the Chamber. No one else came forward to speak and the public forum was closed. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA. Council Member Lewis stated she wanted to remove Agenda Items 7E and 7F for discussion. Item 7E – City Council Resolution No. 6729 – Approving the Acceptance of a $100,000 UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Grant via their California for All Animals Program and Amending the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount for Expenditures and Revenues in the Amount of $100,000. Council Member Lewis spoke to her gratitude for the grant but wondered if there was going to be a way to tell if recipients of the vouchers were actually using the vouchers and not just taking them for which Chief Reyna spoke to past practices with vouchers and how it was a mess. The goal is to get veterinary services to come to the shelter and possibly obtain mobile services. Council Member Lewis spoke to how some veterinarians have worked their student loans off by providing services in low-income areas and that could be an alternative to look into in the future. Council Member Lambert suggested to give vouchers to the veterinarians instead of citizens and then citizens can sign up directly with the veterinarian. Item 7F – Ratifying the City Manager’s Approval of the Employment Agreement with the Public Works Director/City Engineer Charles Bergson. Council Member Lewis requested information on the employee before ratifying the appointment as she knows nothing about him. Due to City Manager Pinheiro and City Clerk/Human Resources Director Mallonee being absent, City Attorney Vaughn stated that he could speak to the terms of the employment contract in question but not to the employee’s experience or employment history. Parks and Recreation Director Heim stated he sat on an oral interview panel for Charles Bergson and noted some of his employment history. Motion by Lewis, seconded by Begonia to approve the consent agenda as follows: Check Register for #242926 – #243180 in the Amount of $3,397,573.75; Minutes for the December 6, 2023 City Council Meeting; Minutes for the January 3, 2024 City Council Meeting; Minutes for the January 17, 2024 City Council Meeting; City Council Resolution No. 6729 – Approving the Acceptance of a $100,000 UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Grant via their California for All Animals Program and Amending the Fiscal Year 2024- 2025 Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount for Expenditures and Revenues in the Amount of $100,000; City Council Resolution No. 6730 – Ratifying the City Manager’s Approval of the Employment Agreement with the Public Works Director / City Engineer Charles Bergson; City Council Resolution No. 6731 – Appointing Deborah “DJ” Barcellos, Harriett Schott, and Steven Soares to the Measure P Citizens’ Oversight Committee with Terms Ending December 31, 2026. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all council members present. SUNRISE RANCH PARK CONCEPTUAL DESIGN PRESENTATION. Parks and Recreation Director Hiem presented the staff report which included a Powerpoint presentation. There was Council Member and staff discussion pertaining to the cost of the project and whether there was enough funding to cover the cost of the project for which Director Heim confirmed the Department was comfortable with the funds available to get the project going and that if need be, other funding sources or alternatives would be explored. Council expressed their liking of the design and implementation of new pieces of equipment for this playground. Council asked if lighting was included in the cost of the project for which Director Heim stated that that lighting was not included in the price but that there were plans in place to have solar lighting installed by in-house personnel. Council additionally asked if there were barbecue pits in the plans for which Director Heim confirmed. Council Member Lambert voiced his concerns about whether there could be a crackdown on the use of barbecues due to clean air restrictions and that he would hate to see these pieces of equipment installed then have to be removed. Director Heim answered that the pits could be easily removed if it came down to it. Motion by Lambert, seconded by Begonia to approve the Sunrise Ranch Park conceptual design. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all council members present. PICKLEBALL COURTS CONCEPTUAL DESIGN PRESENTATION. Parks and Recreation Director Heim presented the staff report which included a Powerpoint presentation. Council Member Lewis thanked Director Heim for the presentation and stated that she anticipates this project will be approved but she struggles with it due to the overall cost. She still has Project Homekey in mind and feels the City is not doing anything with the homeless population. She decided to abstain from this vote because she would like to use this type of funding for other priorities. There were additional comments made by Council in support of this project and feels the public should get what they are asking for. Motion by Jones, seconded by Lambert to approve the Pickleball Courts conceptual design. The motion carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: Lambert, Begonia, Jones, Llanez; NOES: None; ABSTAIN: Lewis; ABSENT: None. ADVISEMENT OF PUBLIC NOTICES (No Report). CITY MANAGER REPORT (No Report). 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 (LBPBID). Council Member Lewis Spoke to how she was reappointed to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District board and how she is excited to continue to serve. Mayor Llanez stated there was an upcoming MCAG meeting and would have additional information to share soon. Council Member Begonia stated that Peninsula Clean Energy customers have a rate difference and that PG&E rates will soon be increasing which would pose a bigger savings for PCE customers. There are additional grant opportunities that are upcoming and additional information will be provided soon. COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS DEBORAH LEWIS: Council Member Lewis wanted to acknowledge Kim Tomas for her 16 years of service to the City. She has moved on to the County but she will be truly missed. She spoke to speed cushions and the City of Stockton’s process. Theirs was hard at first but got easier over time. She isn’t sure if laws have changed but suggested having a look at their policy so it could be simpler for the community to get the speed cushions. LAMBERT: Council Member Lambert spoke to the recent storm and thanked the departments for keeping the City cleaned up from the damage. BEGONIA: Council Member Begonia thanked all the City workers who assisted during the storm and for keeping everything cleaned up. He spoke to the new play structure at College Greens Park and how it is wheelchair accessible. The Arbor Day celebration is coming up on March 1. JONES: Council Member Jones thanked staff for their work during the storm and feels the tree trimming prevented a lot of damage. He thought tonight’s presentations were great. LLANEZ: Mayor Llanez spoke to electronic harassment and said he will be looking into it further. He spoke to light pollution and how dimmed lights could actually have a negative impact such as increased criminal activity. In regards to the desire for an Animal Advisory Committee, he believes this role should fall in the hands of a non-profit organization and not on City citizens. For issues regarding speed cushions, he stated that speed cushions cannot be on every street but he encourages neighbors to go through the petition process in order for Police Department staff to evaluate whether the measure would be appropriate in the area. He agrees with Council Member Jones in regards to the tree trimming and how it prevented bigger messes during the recent storm. ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Jones to adjourn the meeting at 7:37 p.m. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all council members present. APPROVED: /s/ Paul Llanez__________ Paul Llanez, Mayor ATTEST: /s/ Sara Blevins_____________ Sara Blevins, Assistant City Clerk