City Council Meeting

CITY OF LOS BANOS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 18, 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 Pro Tem Lambert called the City Council Meeting to order at the hour of 6:01 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: Police Chief Reyna, City Clerk/Human Resources Director Mallonee, Community & Economic Development Director Souza Elms, Parks & Recreation Director Heim, Finance Director Portillo, Public Works Director/City Engineer Bergson, Fire Chief Tualla CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Motion by Lewis, seconded by Jones to approve the agenda as submitted. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present, Llanez absent. PRESENTATION – CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION – EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH FOR AUGUST 2024 – NATASHA MORA MIRANDA, ADMIN CLERK II IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT – FACILITATED EYE GLASSES. Mayor Llanez presented the certificate to Ms. Mora Miranda who was in attendance to accept 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 invited the public to come forward and speak. UNNAMED PERSON inquired as to the bids that we have and that there is a 5% local vendor wonders why it wasn’t applied to the one with Zoom and two with Santos Ford, she understands that we have to take them out of town for service and repair, could we have waited more than 14 days for delivery of vehicles, she has been walking the district for candidates and people are stating that the council paid because they had to because of legal reasons and wonders why does the public know, who negotiated the terms, which members did the negotiations, what was the Council considerations when it was paid out of the general fund, if I am wrong and the information I have is corrected at the end please state so or otherwise I will consider what I say as being correct; AMELIA JIMENEZ, spoke regarding mobile hours for Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria and how we look forward to serving the growing City of Los Banos any way we can, spoke to their office hours in Merced and to reach out if anyone needs anything; UNNAMED PERSON thanked the Council for their continued support with the animal shelter, on September 10, 2024 stated that we as a group have had many cats spayed and neutered and yesterday we did some more, we continue to do what we can and working together with all the staff at the Police Department, grateful for the shelter providing crates for all the animals they are taking care of, shelter individuals provide and input data of dogs being licensed and are doing a fantastic job of doing that, once or twice a month we do a dog or cat run and more often if we can, she spoke to what is entailed on a day when they transport animals, working on the Los Banos High School colony and getting kids involved, and working on the downtown colony, please remember that we are saving $250-600 each time we spay or neuter, we are petal to metal and are working really hard at it, she spoke to the trap that she had on display and thanked the Council for their support; CHRISTIAN SANTOS, Congressman Duarte Office, spoke to all that Mr. Duarte is working on, i.e. a house bill for veterans, cosponsored the farm to market road act, upcoming month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the act that he is cosponsoring, thanked Mayor Llanez and Council Member Lewis for attending the congressional hearing recently held; FELICIA BODGEN, GLENNA AREAIS, PATRICIA MARENTES who are homeowners on Ward Road next to the park on San Luis, spoke regarding how they don’t feel safe in their neighborhood, all the shootings where they live, how they had a bullet hole in their screen door that had to get replaced, has a pool and doesn’t feel safe having people coming over to her house and wonders if the city could put up a brick fence along their homes and hopes they don’t have to come back, one is legally blind and does not feel comfortable going into her back yard and does not feel safe, one was born and raised her and doesn’t not feel safe and how Los Banos has grown, she has been here from 2020 and has been patching the fence because the kids are pulling at it and breaking it, kids throw rocks on my glass doors, she fears for her dogs and nephews, thank you for listening to us and consider out request; VIDI the PCE representative for Los BAnos, spoke to how they have sponsored two field trips for each high school and have taken students to Merced to learn about clean energy, the workings of the government put on by Anna Caballero, how PCE is promoting a state funded grant for members of the community who don’t have solar to get free to low cost solar or if they already have solar to get a backup battery, working on having office hours to be available to the City to learn and get more information, announced that she will be participating this Saturday at the Downtown Street Faire; JACQUELINE LAWRENCE spoke to how she works with the homeless and a homeless man that has a broken hip and not sure that he will get the cares he needs, we need a program that is called respite care, she is working on a 12 step program, convalescent is not good for him because it’s too easy for him to get alcohol, no one will help him and we need it now, she will have him sue the City of Los Banos and how family members have died, all the things that her mother has done for the warming and cooling shelter, he needs help; PASTOR RAUL GRANILLO, Mercey Springs Church of the Nazarene, spoke regarding the immigration event his church is holding and all free of cost with consultants on sight to help, encouraged all to reach out and attend the October 3, 2024 event and if there is anything we can do to have something more permanent they will do that, it was mentioned earlier and more questions about Mr. Pinheiro’s settlement and brings to mind if maybe we made an effort to be more transparent about everything that we do, there are instances where we have to keep things private and legal situations, if we have to hide something the vast majority of the time it is because we know we have done something wrong, this city would have done well if we had been transparent and come forward and talked about it and not hide, and when people started to question you instead take the defense, when you are not transparent you lose the public’s trust, the election seems to be more about bickering and urged them to show some integrity about what is happening, let it out and let’s move on; TRAVIS LOEBIG, candidate for City Council District 4 and Los Banos Little League vice president, stated that he has been involved with little league ball park for 12 years, the town has been battling the past year and there is no great answer to solve the situation, just a lot of bashing, spoke to when it comes to our youth sports and the next steps we need to take, we have done quite a bit these last few years, the PAL field got done which is great, there are some things that have been neglected over the last 20 years, Colorado Ball Park has many memories for all and needs repair, the Ag Complex needs attention, but when it comes down to there are choices, there are homeless situation in town, Colorado Ball Park needs to be done for the youth of today, the people from the past that don’t want to spend money worked hard to make the city what it is, the inside of our town we do have a lot of crime, a lot of money to spend $15 million on Colorado Ball Park but it needs to be done, these last few years we have had a lot of issues and things that need to be done, there are people in town that might want to put money towards projects, there are issue with the City Manager but he is out at the parks and sees what is going on, we should stop bashing each other, and he is sad about the bowling alley being shut down. No one else came forward to speak and the public forum was closed. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA. Council Member Lewis requested that the following items be removed from the consent agenda for discussion: Item 7G – City Council Resolution No. 6828 – Awarding the Bid for the Purchase of a New 2024 ¾ Ton Medium Duty Utility Truck with Lumber Rack to Santos Ford and Issue Purchase Order in the Amount of $66,896.26, Item 7H – City Council Resolution No. 6829 – Awarding the Bid for the Purchase of a New 2024 ¾ Ton Medium Duty Utility Truck to Santos Ford and Issue Purchase Order in the Amount of $65,808.76, Item 7I – City Council Resolution No. 6830 – Awarding the Bid for the Purchase of a New 2024 ½ Ton Truck with Lift Gate to Greenwood Chevrolet and Issue Purchase Order in the Amount of $49,553.62, Item 7J – City Council Resolution No. 6831 – Awarding the Bid for the Purchase of a New 2024 Model SUV to Greenwood Chevrolet and Issue Purchase Order in the Amount of $42,214.73, Item 7K – City Council Resolution No. 6832 – Awarding the Bid for the Purchase of a New 2023 Medium Duty Flatbed Truck to Greenwood Chevrolet and Issue Purchase Order in the Amount of $80,247.08, Item 7L – City Council Resolution No. 6833 – Awarding the Bid for the Purchase of Two (2) New 2024 ¾ Ton Medium Duty 4X4 Utility Trucks with Lift Gates to Greenwood Chevrolet and Issue Purchase Order in the Amount of $154,848.82. Council Member Lewis stated that all of the staff reports state that there is a $20,000 grant from the SJVAPCD and she inquired as to when the City applied for the grant and is there a deadline when the City will receive the grant for which Mr. Bergson stated that it is on a reimbursement basis and we have to apply for the grants. Council Member Lewis inquired as to if the City had applied for the grant because she checked with the CEO of SJVAPCD and they are not award that a grant has been submitted by the City of Los Banos for which Mr. Bergson stated that he was not aware of that and will have to look into it and get back to you. Council Member Lewis stated that one of the bids Santos Ford had the lowest bid and she checked a few of the RFPs and the wording seemed the same that there is a 14 day delivery date included and inquired as to if that is standard operation to require that level of delivery for which Mr. Bergson stated that yes we have done that in the past, Mr. Granillos stated in the past we have had a delivery date that was longer than 2 weeks, but have seen that the delivery date was never met or exceeded to over a year, the longer delivery delay expands to maintenance costs for the existing vehicles, we shorted the delivery date to get the vehicles in a more timely manner. Council Member Lewis inquired as to if these vehicles are to replace older vehicles for which Mr. Granillos stated that some are replacing and some of them are being decommissioned. Council Member Lewis inquired as to what is being added to the fleet for which Mr. Granillos stated he would have to look into that. Council Member Lewis stated that she is not used to the quick delivery and feels that maybe 30 days or a month and a half would be more reasonable, seems to be a bit draconian and has cancelled out bids from not just Santos Ford but others that had lower bids. Mr. Heim stated that the grant might be a mis-communication in the narrative attached to the staff report that is referencing the SJVAPCD, he believes that 4 vehicles are going to be kept in house and the other 2 are being decommissioned, and that there is a need to replace trucks and City is lacking necessary vehicles and our fleet of vehicles are having issues and high mileage concerns. Council Member Lewis stated so what she is hearing there is no grant coming from the SJVAPCD. Ms. Portillo explained that the 750 code is the account we use for all the vehicles, the highlighted version is the item in the Public Works Department and explained how each are being purchased for which Council Member Lewis thinks it could have been explained better in the staff report. City Manager Pinheiro stated that these vehicles are much needed in the City, many individuals are doubled up, vehicles are needed to provide the services to the community, employees hope that their vehicle will start, just like we haven’t investing in our infrastructure we haven’t invested in vehicles, we have added employees and there is a need for vehicles yesterday and it is not efficient for our City and is much needed to help us serve the community. Council Member Lewis added that it would make it easy for her to see if we are replacing or decommissioning and it would be transparent to me as a Council Member and the community; she also noted that the SJVAPCD has a new policy regarding combustion vehicles, and in the purchasing of these she hopes we are not purchasing vehicles that we are not able to use because we can’t get them licensed with the DMV, would be wise to check to make sure our vehicles are in compliance. Council Member Jones stated that every year we go down to the California League of Cities and how we are taught to ask questions of staff prior to the meeting so that we don’t try to stump the staff members or confuse the public, he suggested that she take the training when she goes to the conference in October. Councill Member Lewis stated to the public that you all know that it is difficult for me to get answers as the City Manager does not allow staff to talk to me or any other Council Member, so she asks these questions at the Council Meeting and she also wants the public to know what is going on, we are spending well over $5 million tonight and the public needs to understand what the City is spending its money on. Motion by Jones, seconded by Begonia to approve the consent agenda as follows: Check Register for #246940 - #247398 in the Amount of $3,663,789.28; City Council Meeting Minutes for August 7, 2024; City Council Meeting Minutes for August 21, 2024; City Council Resolution No. 6825 – Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Contract with Zoom Recreation for the Construction of Shade Structures in City Parks in the Amount of $173,997 and a Project Contingency of $26,003; City Council Resolution No. 6826 – Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Contract with Ronnys Inc. for the Construction of Sunrise Ranch Park in the Amount of $999,856.50 and a Project Contingency of $150,000; City Council Resolution No. 6827 – Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Contract with Ronnys Inc. for the Construction of the Community Center Perimeter Fence Project in the Amount of $144,741 and Project Contingency of $21,700; City Council Resolution No. 6828 – Awarding the Bid for the Purchase of a New 2024 ¾ Ton Medium Duty Utility Truck with Lumber Rack to Santos Ford and Issue Purchase Order in the Amount of $66,896.26; City Council Resolution No. 6829 – Awarding the Bid for the Purchase of a New 2024 ¾ Ton Medium Duty Utility Truck to Santos Ford and Issue Purchase Order in the Amount of $65,808.76; City Council Resolution No. 6830 – Awarding the Bid for the Purchase of a New 2024 ½ Ton Truck with Lift Gate to Greenwood Chevrolet and Issue Purchase Order in the Amount of $49,553.62; City Council Resolution No. 6831 – Awarding the Bid for the Purchase of a New 2024 Model SUV to Greenwood Chevrolet and Issue Purchase Order in the Amount of $42,214.73; City Council Resolution No. 6832 – Awarding the Bid for the Purchase of a New 2023 Medium Duty Flatbed Truck to Greenwood Chevrolet and Issue Purchase Order in the Amount of $80,247.08; City Council Resolution No. 6833 – Awarding the Bid for the Purchase of a Two (2) New 2024 ¾ Ton Medium Duty 4X4 Utility Trucks with Lift Gates to Greenwood Chevrolet and Issue Purchase Order in the Amount of $154,848.82; City Council Resolution No. 6834 – Approving the Acceptance of a $48,050 Grant Awarded by the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control Related to the Enforcement of Alcohol Related Crimes and Amending het Fiscal Year 2024-205 Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount for Expenditures and Revenues in the Amount of $48,050. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present, Llanez absent. PUBLIC HEARING – TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSIDERATION REGARDING THE PROPOSAL THAT THE CITY OF LOS BANOS ACTING AS THE CITY OF LOS BANOS GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY AGENCY (GSA) APPROVE THE DELTA MENDOTA SUBBASIN (5-022.07), SAN JOAQUIN RIVER EXCHANGE CONTRACTORS GSP GROUP, GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY PLAN (GSP) AS IT RELATES TO THE CITY OF LOS BANOS GSA; CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION NO. 6835 – ACTING AS THE CITY OF LOS BANOS GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY AGENCY (GSA) APPROVING THE GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY PLAN FOR THE SAN JOAQUIN RIVER EXCHANGE CONTRACTORS GSP GROUP IN THE DELTA-MENDOTA SUBBASIN (5-022.07) DATED JULY 2024 AS IT PERTAINS TO THE CITY OF LOS BANOS GSA. Public Works Director/City Engineer Bergson presented the staff report, adding that Chris White with San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors was present to give more detail and background on the GSA, which he then provided. Council Member Lambert explained the reason for the public hearing and the need to get the backing of the City to go to the State. Mayor Llanez opened the public hearing. No one came forward to speak and the public hearing was closed. Motion by Jones, seconded by Begonia to adopt City Council Resolution No. 6835 – Acting as the City of Los Banos Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) Approving the Groundwater Sustainability Plan for the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors GSP Group in the Delta-Mendota Subbasin (5-022.07) Dated July 2024 as it Pertains to the City of Los Banos GSA. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present, Llanez absent. Council Member Jones thanked Mr. White for all his hard work on this and Mr. White thanked the City for their support. COLORADO BALLPARK RENOVATION UPDATE. Parks & Recreation Director Heim presented the staff report, which included a PowerPoint presentation. Council Member Lambert inquired as to the total cost being $25 million for which Mr. Heim confirmed. Council Member Jones stated that this is not the first time that Colorado Ball Parks has been revamped and when he heard about the splash pad going in here he feels like it’s the right place, fits the census track and is much needed, talk about a splash pad has come about in the past and what makes it different now is we have found and created a viable project for which Mr. Heim added that there is additional funding available and just having stability of leadership from our Director level, Council level to get this size of a project done is what made the difference, how when we were looking at Pacheco Park we had a change in Directors and internally moving projects forward, what we are going to do with Pacheco Park will be a discussion for the future, staff is wanting to get Colorado Park upgraded, how they continue to deal with major site repairs and have lot of support for the project. Council Member Jones made note that there was never a formal vote for a splash pad, for which Mr. Heim stated in 2021 Council provided direction for a splash pad. Council Member Jones inquired as to if there had never been any defunding of a splash pad for which Mr. Heim stated there has been approved but we have never had funding. Council Member Jones inquired as to what would be the next step for which Mr. Heim stated that financing the land use and then move into the phases of finding the funding and supporting services, we can begin the engineering phase of 6- 10 months and award to bid sometime next year. Council Member Jones stated that there is still quite a bit of planning that needs to happen, looking at 2026 to go out to bid and award, so we should see this in the 2025-26 budget with actual numbers involved and will have secured additional funding, this is an exciting project and one that Council is interested in and commended staff for a great job on this. Council Member Lewis went over the numbers again with Mr. Heim, the funds available, what the $8 million in the park fund is for, how we anticipate leftover funding in the park fund as this fund is growing and we don’t want to exhaust it all, the fund is there to develop parks and building the reserves to tackle a bigger park in town. Council Member Lewis inquired of that $8 million what do you anticipate to put towards the park for which Mr. Heim stated $8 million and how we are targeting $5 million that still needs to be funded. Council Member Lewis inquired as to what are the chances of some grants in the future that we could apply for to fill the gap for which Mr. Heim stated that there are water grants and funding available, it is a more appealing project when we are willing to match at a 2/3 rate, a lot of items allow for reimbursement, this project by end will have multiple funding sources, how we are lacking specialized amenities and this will help make this a valuable project to invest in. Council Member Jones stated that the grant we got from Esmeralda Soria, how’d we get that, City Manager Pinheiro and how he communicated with her and showed her the needs of the City. Council Member Lambert stated that he feels this is a great opportunity and that we will find grant money to get close to what we need, how this will be an excellent location for the splash pad and just need to get the funding needed. Council Member Begonia stated it was a great great presentation and thanks to Assemblywoman Soria, he loves the little league field but it is pathetic and one of the many examples of our past failures of our leaders, how he has full faith in our staff, Mr. Heim and the City Manager to get it done, it is our one little league park, how the bowling alley shut down, the dead patches and gofer holes at Colorado ball park and how he. looks forward to the whole renovation of the park, skate park, splash pad and it will be great for our community and a big win for our community. Motion by Jones, seconded by Begonia to approve the revised design as submitted with the removal of the tennis courts with the inclusion of a splash pad. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present, Llanez absent. CANCELLATION OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2024 DUE TO COUNCIL MEMBERS ATTENDING THE LEAGUE OF CALIFORNIA CITIES CONFERENCE IN LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, OCTOBER 16-18, 2024. Motion by Jones, seconded by Begonia to cancel the Regular City Council Meeting scheduled for October 16, 2024 due to Council Members Attending the League of California Cities Conference in Long Beach, California. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present, Llanez absent. ADVISEMENT OF PUBLIC NOTICES. (No Report). CITY MANAGER REPORT. City Manager Pinheiro stated that is it an extremely exciting night to get the Colorado ball park approved and moved forward, how it gets very hot here in Los Banos and we do not have a public pool, so to be able to bring the splash pad forward is really exciting, he would like to thank Joe Heim and spoke to how much they have meet and talked about Colorado ball park and how it has been neglected for many many years and no attention given to it, how we have talked about it a lot and gone over many designs, thanked the leadership of the Mayor and was a big focus of his, had extensive discussion with him and thanked him for his leadership, parks has been a big focus for us, Council Member Lambert’s district has had improvements to the Ag Sports Complex, how the Noah Jones Ball Park was renovated off of 7th Street, we have the first inclusive playground in College Greens Park and continue to let the folks know that we are continuing to invest and really really happy about that and thanked everyone for all their hard word, all departments helping out, Esmeralda Soria was very gracious and how he spent time with her and showed her the Colorado Ball Park and she gave us funding, the last couple of weeks we have stayed busy in getting stuff done, we need vehicles to get work done, we have been paving roads quite a bit, L St, Willow Road, Mahogany and continue to do an extensive amount of tree trimming, and with how windy it was and the tree trimming has continued to pay off it has minimized the damage of personal vehicles, homes, less call outs for Police and Fire, and it has beautified the community and neighborhood, when you go by our F Street Yard there is a new fence put up and it was in really bad shape and neglected and not invested in and is happy about that work, a fence is going up around the Community Center and there are solar panels installed in the parking lot in partnership with PCE and noted the programs Parks & Recreation offer and to go take a look at their website for that. 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 she has no report, the next SJVAPCD meeting is September 19, 2024. Council Member Jones stated that last Thursday we had our Annual Farm to Table Event and it was perfect weather, thanked the Downtown Association members who worked their butts off as did the sponsor, congrats to Ronald MacDonald being named Farmer of the Year, it was a great event overall. CITY COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS: DEBORAH LEWIS: Stated that she received a phone call from a staffer of the President from the League of California Cities and was selected to sit on the resolutions committee at the next conference and explained what that was all about. KENNETH LAMBERT: Spoke to the ladies from Ward Road and their concerns and until we can come up with solutions, do not hesitate to call the Police Department to get a drive by to deal with it, maybe we can get some help for you; how the consent agenda is open to the public also, if you have questions we are here, you can come to the stand and ask questions, everything is transparent, everything is on the website you can see it all, it is black and white, you can call your Council person if you have any questions. DOUGLAS BEGONIA, JR.: Spoke to the to the two ladies from Ward Road and their concerns in their area. BRETT JONES: Stated that on the consent agenda there were some vehicles that we desperately needed, due to circumstances you need to go out of town, we hire out of the area because Los Banos is pushing 50,000 but it just doesn’t have the goods and services that we need, think about your water heater and if it goes out and you need a new one and they don’t have what you want here you go out of town, the city has needs that need to be met, we are fortunate we can get things in town. PAUL LLANEZ: Absent ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Jones, seconded by Begonia, the meeting was adjourned at 7:57 p.m. APPROVED: __/s/ Kenneth Lambert__________ Kenneth Lambert, Mayor Pro Tem ATTEST: __/s/ Lucille L. Mallonee___________ Lucille L. Mallonee, City Clerk