City Council Meeting

CITY OF LOS BANOS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES AUGUST 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 6:00 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, Mayor Paul Llanez; ABSENT: None STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: City Attorney Vaughn, Police Chief Reyna, City Clerk/Human Resources Director Mallonee, City Treasurer Lawrence, Community & Economic Development Director Souza Elms, Parks & Recreation Director Heim, Finance Director Portillo, Public Works Director/City Engineer Bergson CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Motion by Jones, seconded by Lambert to approve the agenda as submitted. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. PRESENTATION: CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION – EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH FOR JULY 2024 – JELENE DE MELO, ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR IN THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT; PROCLAMATION – RECOGNIZING THE RETIREMENT OF CITY OF LOS BANOS POLICE OFFICER TODD PRICOLO; PROCLAMATION – RECOGNIZING AUGUST 4-10, 2024 AS NATIONAL HEALTH CENTER WEEK 2024. Mayor Llanez presented the certificates for which Jelene de Melo and Amy Carrollo were in attendance to accept to accept. Ms. Carrolo spoke regarding Golden Valley Health Center, the services they provide to the community, and how the offices in the Los Banos have been recently remodeled. 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 Llanez invited the public to come forward and speak. AMY BONILLAS spoke regarding an important development in the City of Fresno and how it will be a misdemeanor to sleep in public parks, their recent ordinance made this change and how she is an advocate for the homeless, she is worried about what will be enacted here in the City of Los Banos and inquired as to what the plans are, is there a strategic plan for homeless, tiny homes, what will happen to the unhoused in our community until the tiny homes are built, urged the council to not enact an ordinance like Fresno did; JACQUELINE LAWRENCE, Los Banos, stated that it takes a homeless person to know what the homeless need, the black asphalt is going to get people sunburned, there are no trees and if you can put trees on streets why not out by the homeless, why isn’t there a homeless building being built, she has been in bridge homes and other types of homeless housing, she has been with the homeless outreach and did what she could to help them out, she was homeless because she was divorced and her husband wouldn’t pay her, some people are being victimized and need help, they have mental and drug issues, how she was personally victimized, if you listen to the homeless and to why they are homeless and urged them to help them, she has been homeless several times, and you need to build the homes with love; UNNAMED PERSON, spoke regarding his concerns regarding selected promotion of businesses in towns, how we need to do so in an unbiased and fair way, allocation of tax payer dollars should be fair, it has come to his attention that some business are getting special help, this should not come at the expense of other businesses, the City should promote fairness and equal opportunity, work together to support the growth and success of our community, never once did he get invited to become a member of the chamber of commerce as a new business, and how a new business gets recognition and others don’t, feels like social media promotions by the City should be fair, what Imagine Way More is doing is great but feels that a lot more could be done; UNNAMED PERSON thanked the Council for the phone calls and spoke regarding the rail trail and what will happen when the homeless are not there and how the trees have created a real nice canopy and now how the trees have had to be cut to create space for emergency vehicles and now the shade cover is gone and you can see all the businesses and the garbage in the basin, it is shame that that will be consequence long after it is gone, Shaunessy Park and DeAnza Way and how this has been the situation for 3 years and how Mr. Hostetler blames the city is not acceptable, to leave the people in this area with the situation is not right, he needs to dedicate it to the City so that the park can be improved, he berates the city council for what they are doing but leaves this eyesore, would be nice to have his help instead of his resistance, he needs to finish up De Anza Way too and feels that is it unsafe and an eyesore, she hopes the City learns by these horrible things that are happening and use these lessons in the next planning on what not to do; UNNAMED PERSON made an announcement that from noon-3pm they are taking the imitative and having an anti- harassment rally at Pacheco Park, there is a wonderful program here in town Helping One Woman and how it is used to help women who have had a loss or need in their life, how public participation is a foundation of this nation and how this Council has eliminated public participation and how all items are on the consent agenda and the only voice we have is from Council Member Lewis who advocates for information, would like to thank the Parks & Recreation for a wonderful program yesterday and for being consistent with our development and beautification of our parks where back in 2020 this was all initiated with Measure H, where there was also suppose to be a splash pad and a Veterans Memorial wall, thanked Mr. Heim for all the new playground equipment, how homeless community outreach is not happening, the walkway path to Merced College needs to become a priority again, and the traffic measure in choices of a roundabout or traffic light need to be reconsidered; UNNAMED PERSON, apologized to Mayor about his comments about him drinking alcohol at an event which he was wrong about and apologized for that, how a PRA was made for records of texts, emails and the City of Los Banos has not responded fully and the deadline passed, July 24, 2024 response was made with a link to the documents to only emails, that were a dozen emails shared between the City Manager, Mayor, Council Members and how this should be concerning to the public that there were not more records; BLANCHE JORGE spoke regarding the work being done to spay and neuter dogs and out at the animal shelter helping each other out, how when a cat is being taking care of they notch their ear and that’s how you know; PASTOR RAUL, Mercey Springs Church, reminded all that the cooling center is still open until and encouraged all to get out of the heat and come to the cool center, spoke regarding shopping local and how important it is and the ethical implications when you don’t shop local and you buy products online, buying local and the more you purchase the more likely you are actually contributing to fair market, encouraged the City to shop local and give local vendors preference and continue to do that, wonders why do we pay so much for fuel here in Los Banos and how they are bringing prices to what they can and the consumer can decide what to spend, and asked the Council and City to reach out to our local gas station owners and ask them to come forward and explain to the public why you are charging so much in this community. No one else came forward to speak and the public forum was closed. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA. Council Member Lewis requested that items 7A – Check Register for #246238 - #246583 in the Amount of $4,272,170.82., 7D – City Council Resolution No. 6815 – Amending the 2024 - 2025 Fiscal Year Budget and Approving the Increase of Expenditures in the Amount of $44,447.47 and Revenues in the Amount of $39,447.47 Related to the Replacement of a Totaled Code Enforcement Vehicle, to be Reimbursed by Sedgwick Insurance Firm and 7F – City Council Resolution No. 6817 – Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Second Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Carollo Engineers, Inc. for the Storm Drain System Master Plan Update in the Amount of $57,883 be removed for discussion and a separate vote. 7A – Check Register for #246238 - #246583 in the Amount of $4,272,170.82. Council Member Lewis inquired as to what check number 246742 made out to the CSJVRMA was for and Ms. Portillo responded that it is the general liability payment for workers comp insurance payment. 7D – City Council Resolution No. 6815 – Amending the 2024 - 2025 Fiscal Year Budget and Approving the Increase of Expenditures in the Amount of $44,447.47 and Revenues in the Amount of $39,447.47 Related to the Replacement of a Totaled Code Enforcement Vehicle, to be Reimbursed by Sedgwick Insurance Firm. Council Member Lewis made note that we have an insurance payment for a car that was totaled and the cost of replacement, why are there two separate accounts, the refund into one and the purchase after the other for which Mr. Reyna said that one is a Revenue account for the Police Department. 7F – City Council Resolution No. 6817 – Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Second Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Carollo Engineers, Inc. for the Storm Drain System Master Plan Update in the Amount of $57,883. Council Member Lewis made note that this is a second request of expenditure going back to May 2023, the staff report states that the City is required to install meters, which have not been done in 20 years and wonders why an assessment was made to be included in the budget for which Mr. Bergson responded that the water District is requesting this as we have never had the meters, was not in the Storm Drain Master Plan, and was a project underway. Council Member Lewis inquired as to we hired this company in 2023 and was there a discussion about installing these meters for which Mr. Bergson explained how we were aware but another firm was handling it but we now have a company doing it, Provost & Pritchard was the first firm that we contacted. Ms. Elms explained the business need and Mr. Bergson stated that Provost & Pritchard were too costly and they reached out to Corolla to get a better price and deal. Mayor Llanez added that we talk about something we should have done 20 years ago, went to fix it, and get a better rate. Motion by Jones, seconded by Lambert to approve the consent agenda as follows: Check Register for #246238 - #246583 in the Amount of $4,272,170.82; City Council Meeting Minutes for July 17, 2024; City Council Resolution No. 6814 – Approving the Acceptance of a $50,000 Grant (PT25050) from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and Amending the 2024-2025 Fiscal Year Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount of the State Grant Fund Account for Expenditures and Revenues in the Amount of $50,000; City Council Resolution No. 6815 – Amending the 2024 - 2025 Fiscal Year Budget and Approving the Increase of Expenditures in the Amount of $44,447.47 and Revenues in the Amount of $39,447.47 Related to the Replacement of a Totaled Code Enforcement Vehicle, to be Reimbursed by Sedgwick Insurance Firm; City Council Resolution No. 6816 – Authorizing the City Manager to File a Regional Surface Transportation Program (RSTP) Exchange Program Fund Claim Form for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 in the Amount of $652,215; City Council Resolution No. 6817 – Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Second Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Carollo Engineers, Inc. for the Storm Drain System Master Plan Update in the Amount of $57,883; City Council Resolution No. 6818 – Approving a Tentative Agreement / Memorandum of Understanding By and Between the City of Los Banos and the Los Banos Police Dispatchers Community Services Officers Association (LBPDCSOA) from July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2027; City Council Resolution No. 6819 – Amending Division 4, Salary Schedule – Employee Classifications of the City’s Policy & Procedures Manual Relating to Changes to Section G – Police Associated with the LBPDCSOA Tentative Agreements / Memorandums of Understanding. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. PUBLIC HEARING – TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSIDERATION OF A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT #2024-05 AND A CATEGORICAL EXEMPTION FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT 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, LA GLORIA RESTAURANT AND DESSERTS LLC, LOCATED AT 265 MERCEY SPRINGS ROAD, I & J, MORE SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFIED AS ASSESSOR’S PARCEL NUMBERS: 025-121-012 AND 013; CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION NO. 6820 – 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 #2024-05 FOR A TYPE 41 ALCOHOL LICENSE FOR LA GLORIA RESTAURANT & DESSERTS LOCATED AT 265 MERCEY SPRINGS ROAD, SUITE I & J. Community & Economic Development Director Souza Elms presented the staff report. Council Member Lewis inquired as to if there are going to be any cameras on the exterior for which the applicant responded that yes there are plans to have cameras on the exterior on the back end and the front end facing the entrances. Mayor Llanez opened the public hearing. No one came forward to speak and the public hearing was closed. Motion by Jones, seconded by Lambert to adopt City Council Resolution No. 6820 – 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 #2024-05 for a Type 41 Alcohol License for La Gloria Restaurant & Desserts Located at 265 Mercey Springs Road, Suite I & J. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. City Attorney Vaughn and Council Member Lambert recused themselves from the next item, as they both have business in the PBID and left the Council Chambers. PUBLIC HEARING – TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSIDERATION FOR THE RENEWAL OF THE LOS BANOS DOWNTOWN PROPERTY AND BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT; CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION NO. 6821 – RENEWING THE LOS BANOS DOWNTOWN PROPERTY AND BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT (LBDPBID), APPROVING THE ASSESSMENT FORMULA AND LEVYING THE ASSESSMENTS. Community & Economic Development Director Souza Elms presented the staff report, which included a PowerPoint presentation which was presented in more detail by Emily Brown of Civitas. Council Member Lewis inquired as to if there are property owners that have 1 vote or more, is it based on square footage for which Ms. Brown responded that it is essentially tied back to the amount they are paying, .31 cent per lot sq. footage. Ms. Souza Elms clarified that it is a percentage based on the contribution. Council Member Lewis inquired as to if some of the property owners not vote for which Ms. Souza Elms stated that the City Clerk will be tabulating shortly and will report out the results. Council Member Lewis added that there was not much appetite for change and this is what will be happening for the next 10 years forward, Ms. Brown stated that we set broad plans and the board of director set the more detailed plans. Council Member Lewis inquired as to what the property owners will be doing to enhance the downtown, i.e. buildings that are outdated for quite some time, the aim is to showcase the downtown as an extension to have a place of destination and opportunity for business, what will the existing business be doing to enhance the downtown to get more businesses and people into the downtown area, referring to a city that she left that has a very nice downtown and we have done nothing, for which Ms. Brown responded that it is all in the plan. Mayor Llanez stated that the City Council has no authority to tell a business how to run their business, the management plan is supposed to be general and our purpose tonight is to approve this to allow them to move forward with what the decide. David Souza, Board Member of the Downtown Association and a property owner of a business downtown, stated that the annual budget is around $180,000 and the purpose is to act as a liaison between the city, ownership and new business and give them an open channel with City leaders and better a plan and expedite things, he has seen a huge improvement in the downtown in the last 4 years, he has been involved with other downtowns and it takes about 10-12 years to see a substantial change, with a limited budget we are able to do smaller projects with partnership with the City, working with business owners to help business owners with improvements, other city downtown associations had issues with not knowing who to go to and didn’t have the connections like we do here in Los Banos. Council Member Lewis inquired as to what is the plan to work with the business owners to improve the downtown over the next 10 years for which Mr. Souza responded that we email our downtown group monthly, we have an open door policy and there is not really that much involvement, in the last 24 months we have most definitely decided where monies need to go, less in staffing and more into the downtown and partner with the City, not much you can do with a limited budget like this, it takes time, he can see a big transformation, the downtown entrance sign is coming and will attract people, and they are using the budget funds as efficiently as we can. Mayor Llanez opened the public hearing. INAUDIBLE NAME, stated that they are against this, how it was sold as improvements, the money should be there as a loan program to change the look of the downtown, for façade improvements, events being held downtown, she has not been happy with it, you have a full time city employee working on this, why isn’t the Chamber of Commerce promoting the city, she objects to all the dollars having all the votes, the rich man gets everything, how the board is self-promoting and you can only get on the board if a board member selects you, taking care of those that have the dollars, she does not think this is the right way to spend our dollars, the city itself has a big percent of the vote and there is already 50% before we cast our vote, is that fair; UNNAMED PERSON, talk about video cameras and how she fell and 3 city workers were there when it happened, and not one person from the cameras did anything, she wants to bring sewing projects back to Miller & Lux for different age groups, Modern Mother Hubbard arts & crafts idea she has, new business in Los Banos Drug Store, she does not feel that the downtown association should be paying for the fireworks, the whole town should be helping to pay for all of the fireworks, downtown is small; TAYLOR WOLFSEN, spoke in favor of the LB PBID and spoke to the huge strives that had been made, i.e. new events that bring people downtown, many of the events are partnership with the City, tree trimming project and the archway sign, the PBID has offered all downtown merchants and property owners a more direct line of communication with City officials, successes have come with turbulent times, i.e. when Greg Hostetler reneging on his pledge of dollars, hit with COVID and events didn’t happen during COVID, lost his friend Sharon Silva the PBID Executive Director to the PBID and regardless of these setbacks we have continued on, marketing is a goal and to those who are against it he would ask if you have been to a meeting, have you voiced your opinion, things can be darkest before the dawn and urges the City to pass the PBID for the next 10 years. No one else came forward to speak and the Public Hearing was closed. A brief recess was held so that the City Clerk could tabulate the PBID ballots, for which she did and announced each ballot voting individually out load for all to hear. The overall results were as follows: YES: 55.75% (18) and NO: 44.25% (26), a detailed list of the ballot results is available in the City Clerk’s Office. Motion by, seconded by to adopt City Council Resolution No. 6821 – Renewing the Los Banos Downtown Property and Business Improvement District (LBDPBID), Approving the Assessment Formula and Levying the Assessments. The motion carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: Begonia, Jones, Lamber, Llanez; NOE: Lewis, ABSTAIN: Lambert; ABSENT: None. City Attorney Vaughn and Council Member Lambert returned to the Council Chambers and their seats at the dais. CANCELLATION OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 DUE TO SUMMER BREAK. Motion by Jones, seconded by Lambert to cancel the Regular City Council Meeting scheduled for September 4, 2024 due to summer break. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. ADVISEMENT OF PUBLIC NOTICES. (One Report). Community & Economic Development Director Souza Elms stated that a Public Hearing will be held by the Los Banos Planning Commission on August 14, 2024 to consider a Categorical Exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15302(b ), Replacement or Reconstruction, for Site Plan Review #2024-05 for the demolition of the existing modular building and the addition of a new modular building for the Los Banos Animal Shelter, located at 1010 Airport Rd., more specifically identified as Assessor's Parcel Number: 081-120-007. CITY MANAGER REPORT. City Manager Pinheiro stated that we are installing solar panels at the Community Center on the side parking lot in partnership with PCE and will be a nice update and a lot of work has been done there, continue to do striping and paving throughout the City and thanked all staff for all their hard work, National Night Out event last night was phenomenal and is a nice event and the Fire Department had the coolest prize with the water squirter, great event for Police Chief Reyna and Sergeant Mendez for putting it together and heard comments that it was the biggest we’ve had, thank you to the community for the involvement. 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 stated that there is no report for the SJVAPCD as the meeting is coming up, but noted that the air quality in Los Banos has been unhealthy especially with those with respiratory illnesses and encourage them to stay indoors when the air quality is poor and turn on your air filters. Mayor Llanez stated that with MCAG we have open discussions with CalTrans and was very happy to report that the median at Badger Flat & Highway 152 has since been grated and the potholes filled, how Measure V helps, as leadership votes on projects and policies for the City of Los Banos not the State of California, they have full rule of State highways. CITY COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS: DOUGLAS BEGONIA, JR.: Spoke regarding the work that has been done in his district, striping on Snow Goose and Fallbrook just in time for the starting of school, College Greens area and Shauenssey Park and how we want the park as soon as we can, we are working on it, the homeless on Pfitzer Way and Ms. Avila’s concerns, we are working on that and looking to relocate them soon, National Night out was fantastic and to see all the people to connect with the amazing law enforcement we have here in the City, it was pretty awesome to see all the people there, amazing show from all the City staff who put it together. BRETT JONES: Stated that he has always been a supporter of the downtown, he was a little concerned which way the vote was going to go and excited to see what the next 10 years will look like downtown, National Night Out is probably the best event to date, pretty impressive and are getting better and better every year, thanks to all staff who worked hard on that. DEBORAH LEWIS: Acknowledged the Police Chief and his staff for an excellent National Night Out and all the City staff that helped, along with Merced County and Merced Police being there too, pretty cool gifts that were given away with the raffle tickets, job well done, thank you very much. KENNETH LAMBERT: Congratulated all on a job well done last night, a lot new vendors including Merced County Search and Rescue, nice to see the drones flying around, the County had their robot, good job by all and Sergeant Mendez and all the departments that put it on. PAUL LLANEZ: Spoke to comments during public forum and the homeless, he can’t speak to what Fresno is doing, but what the Governor did does not change what we have planned, we are still moving with everything we are trying to do, we are working on a grant and just received a grant for a total of $14.0 million to provide resources and options to the homeless and building tiny homes, plan is to offer resources in a safe place near our Police Department; as to the business promotions and what we are posting on social media and he would love to see a policy on how to do that fairly and would like to talk to any business owners for a fair policy; trees on the rail trail and damage is damage, we will do the assessment once it is cleared out; no sure about a members only meeting on homeless; walking path to college and he voted no on that as he thinks it is dangerous and will encourage college students to take advantage of the bus programs which are free for registered students; thanked Mr. Hostetler for apologizing for misspeaking and then spoke to Public Records Act requests and how we only have one City Attorney, the number of emails we have, how he speaks to the City Manager by phone, those things take time; he is so proud of the Animal Shelter and what is being done out there and the events we are having for animals; how gas prices are a concern for him too and he found out it is the profit and loss on the amount of gas that is sold; there is a blood drive at the Community Center tomorrow; thanked Mr. Heim for putting out the new Recreation Guide and there are so many things to do in the City. ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Lambert, seconded by Begonia, the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m. APPROVED: __/s/ Paul Llanez_____________ Paul Llanez, Mayor ATTEST: __/s/ Lucille L. Mallonee__________ Lucille L. Mallonee, City Clerk