City Council

REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WESTMORLAND WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2025 6:00 PM City Council Chambers 355 South Center Street Westmorland, CA 92281 Mayor’s Message This is a public meeting. You may be heard on an agenda item before the Council takes action on the item upon being recognized by the mayor. During the oral communications portion of the agenda, you may address the Council on items that do not appear on the agenda that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Council. Personal attacks on individuals, slanderous comments, or comments, which may invade an individual’s privacy, are prohibited. The mayor reserves the right to limit the speaker’s time. Individuals wishing accessibility accommodations at this meeting, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), may request such accommodations to aid hearing, visual, or mobility impairment by contacting City Hall at (760) 344-3411. Please note that 48 hours advance notice will be necessary to honor your request. Brown Act AB 361: Location: Westmorland City Hall Council Chambers 355 S Center Street Judith Rivera- Mayor Justina Cruz - Mayor Pro- Tem Ana Beltran- Council Member Xavier Mendez - Council Member Ray Gutierrez- Council Member Call to Order: Pledge of Allegiance & Invocation: Roll Call: Oral Communication-Public Comment: Now is the time for any member of the public to speak to the Council. Please step to the podium and state your name and address for the record. Three (3) minute maximum time. Reports from Council Members Non-Action Items: Staff Reports Non-Action Items: Fire Department – Chief Sergio Cruz Police Department – Chief Lynn Mara City Manager- Laura Fischer Public Works Director - Ramiro Barajas Consent Agenda: Approve the Consent Agenda Items 1-2. 1. Approval of Meeting Minutes of May 21, 2025 2. Approval of City Warrant List. Regular Business: 1) Authorize the purchase of the police vehicle in the amount of $55,086.84 to Chula Vista Ford from the Police Department Capital Outlay- Laura Fischer, City Manager 2) Information and Discussion Only: Budget for Fiscal Year 2025-26. Laura Fischer, Manager Closed Session: o Public Service Employees Job descriptions and salary scales, as well as Appointment, Employment, or evaluation (Gov’t. Code §54957(b)(1).) o Conference with legal Counsel Pending Litigation (Gov’t. Code §54956.9 (d) (1)) Two Matters: APN #035-393-010 / APN #035-260-016 Claims for Damages Claim #05302025AF Adjournment: Next regular scheduled meeting June 18, 2025. Council meetings are Open to the Public If you need further assistance, please email the City Clerk cityclerk@cityofwestmorland.net  CITY OF WESTMORLAND CITY COUNCIL REPORT DATE: June 4, 2025 FROM: Laura Fischer SUBJECT: Staff Report – Part-Time Manager CDBG Block Grant: Item on the agenda tonight I have a meeting (Teams) with ILG and the consultant this week to see what the process is and how we can get funding. CDBG Program Income Reporting: No update I had a meeting with our CDBG Rep and I need to send her some additional information about our Program Income. This meeting was also with our representative from USDA as there is a possibility that Program Income can be used as a match for the Public Safety Building grant. More information to follow as soon as I get the information to CDBG and USDA. HOME Monitoring: The City hired Raney Associates to prepare the HOME Monitoring and Reporting. This report has been completed and is attached to my report for your review. ICTC: Has submitted a request that the city prepare documents to get our Article 3 and Article 8e funding (Laura is working on these), submit the DBE and ADA reporting (Forms 9C and 9B) which Tami has submitted. Auditing and Finance: We received a notice from the State Controller’s Office that the city has not submitted the City Financial Transaction Report. This report must be submitted by our auditor and/or accountant. Since our auditor has retired and the firm is no longer doing municipal audits, we have engaged H&B to prepare the report and submit. Per Capital Park Improvement Project. Restrooms & Drinking Fountain. Ramiro had a walk through scheduled for this project on Monday this week. I received the final invoice on Friday and Ramiro or I will provide you with an update on the project at the meeting. REAP Grant. The city was awarded a REAP grant to assist the city to implement housing programs and zone changes to encourage housing development in Westmorland. Tami is going to take the meeting with SCAG to review the consultants and sit on the selection committee. Expedited Drinking Water Grant (EDWG). Ramiro is the lead on this project and may have an update. Since Council approved an agreement with The Holt Group for Construction Management and Psomas for Project Engineering services, I am working to get the contracts (Professional Service Agreement) approved by our attorney and signed. I have concerns about the agreement with Psomas and the language needs to be changed before Mitch or I will recommend signatures. Consumer Confidence Report: The consumer confidence report must be completed this month and Ramiro and I are working on getting it prepared and then the office staff will print and mail. Open Grants Awarded: The City has several grants open including: Water – Drought Relief Funding of new filter at Water Plant and pipeline install - $2.9 M Mr. Hamby has awarded the construction contract and CM contract for the pipeline portion. There is an action item on the agenda to submit a reimbursement request and pay three vendors. Water – Expedited Drinking Water Grant for Non-Compliance / New Tanks - $10.5 M Ramiro will have an update for Council Fire/Police – USDA Disaster Relief Grant for Public Safety Building $2.7 M I continue to work with USDA to provide the necessary documents for environmental review as requested. PER Capita Grant – near completion of new restrooms at park - $176,952. REAP Grant – Planning and Development for Housing - $176,000. CMAQ – The City has a CMAQ project due by the end of 2026, which includes sidewalk curb and gutter on various areas in the city. More information will be shared as we move forward. Grant Opportunities Not Applied For Yet: IID Tree for All Grant Opportunity. I have attached a flyer from IID regarding the Tree for All program that offers grant to plant trees in parks and neighborhoods. I will look at the application, which is due May 5, 2025 report once the application is ready to submit. No update on this grant. AB 617: Application will be open soon for new paving project and for residential stand alone air filtration systems. The City will need to come up with a project for paving areas that have high traffic that are not paved. Staff feels that the dirt parking and entrance/exits to city hall would be a great project. Staff will come up with some conceptual plans. Finance: Public Safety ½ Cent Sales Tax. We have received a total of $58,646 for three years. That is an additional $29,323 in Fire and the same amount in Police. I still need to submit prior year request. Frey Software. We are moving forward with our implementation and our bill pay system is currently working so that our customers can pay their bill online, phone, in person. I have been meeting with our accountant to make sure that all of our accounts are in the new system correctly and that we can pull the reports that will be needed at end of the year and during the 2025 audit. Budget Preparation. I am starting to review our budget to develop a draft for next fiscal year. The budget will be presented June 4th and June 18th for adoption. State Water Board Drought Relief Grant and Expedited Drinking Water Grant; These meetings were our monthly project meeting. USDA Local Assistance and Institute for Local Government. These meetings were to prepare and submit documents needed to complete the process to secure grant funds for public safety building. Congressional Funding. Re-submitted the grant application Auditors and Accountants. I met with representatives from our accounting firm and Frey to resolve some concerns about our payroll taxes and trial balance. Imperial County Transportation Commission. Attend monthly meetings to stay informed about street funding and projects. Imperial County City County Managers Association. Attend monthly meetings. Hours worked: My timecard submitted on May 19, 2025 recorded 76.5 hours. Respectfully Submitted, Laura Fischer  www.raneymanagement.com Northern California 1501 Sports Drive Sacramento, CA 95834 Tel: 800.424.1193 Fax 916.419.6108 Tel: 916.372.6100 April 29, 2025 Patricia Limon Regional Portfolio Manager CONAM Management Corporation 3990 Ruffin Rd. Suite 100 San Diego, CA 92123 RE: HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) Standard Agreement Number: 02-HOME-0636 Westmorland Family Apartments, 26 HOME-Assisted Units 2024 Long-Term Monitoring Summary Report Dear Ms. Limon, Thank you and your staff for meeting with me on April 25, 2025, to conduct the long-term monitoring of the Westmorland Family Apartments and for addressing any concerns while I was onsite. The purpose of the monitoring review was to determine whether the terms of the Federal and State HOME requirements were being met. This letter summarizes the results of the City’s monitoring on the above date. The specific areas monitored were: 1. Certification of tenant income and assets 2. HOME Rents 3. Affirmative Marketing 4. Lead-based Paint (if applicable) 5. Residential Lease 6. Regulatory Agreement Compliance 7. Asset Management Information is documented on checklists based on HOME Program requirements during the monitoring visit. The information gathered serves as a basis for the monitoring report. Findings and concerns are identified in the report and require a response. For clarification purposes, the definitions are as follows: a “finding” is an element that does not comply with a federal or State statute or regulation, whereas a “concern” represents a potential finding or a program deficiency that should be improved before it leads to a finding. Ten concerns were identified. Please see the attached Monitoring Summary Report and respond to the Findings and Concerns identified. A response to the issue detailed is due as soon as possible for the earliest submittal to HCD. If you should need further information or technical assistance, please contact me at hcolson@laurinassociates.com or (916) 372-6100. Sincerely, Hallie Colson City of Westmorland Monitoring Consultant cc: Bob Doyel – State HOME Program Representative Laura Fischer – City Manager, City of Westmorland  Monitoring Summary Report Last Audited Financials Concern #1: Last audited financials for 2024 were not provided. Required Corrective Action: Please provide the last audited financials for 2024. Rent Roll Concern #2: There are many units listed on the rent roll whose rent, subsidy, and utility allowance do not match what is listed on the PCR. Required Corrective Action: Please update the rent roll and resubmit. Annual Affirmative Market Analysis Report Concern #3: Under Section II. E, the Community Contact List was not attached. Required Corrective Action: Please attach a copy of the Community Contact List. Annual Project Compliance Report (PCR) Concern #4: Seven units are exceeding Low HOME rent limit and are listed as “Over Income”. Required Corrective Action: Please explain what actions are to be taken to be in compliance. Concern #5: Column O on the PCR, Units 13, 19, 20, 24, 35, and 43 show a date of last annual income certification that has been over a year. Required Corrective Action: Provide proof that these units completed their annual income recertification within the last year and submit an updated PCR showing the accurate dates.  Unit Inspections Concern #6: Unit 29: The back two burners on the range do not work. Required Corrective Action: Please provide proof that the two back burners have been repaired. Concern #7: Unit 57: Bathrooms #1 and #2 do not have door handles that lock. Required Corrective Action: Please replace door handle on both bathrooms that are capable of being locked. Tenant File Review Concern #8: Unit 43: Tenant income certification form from within the last year not included. Required Corrective Action: Show proof of tenant income certification completed within the last year and add to the tenant file. Concern #9: Unit 4: One household member (Age 18) did not sign the income recertification form. Required Corrective Action: Please have all household members aged 18 and older sign form and include in tenant file. Concern #10: Units 4 and 29: 30-day notice of rent increase was sent to the tenant after the 30-day mark. Required Corrective Action: Please be more mindful of the required timeline when sending 30-day notice of rent increase to tenants.  MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WESTMORLAND WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2025 6:00 PM City Council Chambers 355 South Center Street Westmorland, CA 92281 Mayor’s Message This is a public meeting. You may be heard on an agenda item before the Council takes action on the item upon being recognized by the mayor. During the oral communications portion of the agenda, you may address the Council on items that do not appear on the agenda that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Council. Personal attacks on individuals, slanderous comments, or comments, which may invade an individual’s privacy, are prohibited. The mayor reserves the right to limit the speaker’s time. Individuals wishing accessibility accommodations at this meeting, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), may request such accommodations to aid hearing, visual, or mobility impairment by contacting City Hall at (760) 344-3411. Please note that 48 hours advance notice will be necessary to honor your request. Brown Act AB 361: Location: Westmorland City Hall Council Chambers 355 S Center Street Judith Rivera- Mayor Justina Cruz - Mayor Pro- Tem Ana Beltran- Council Member Xavier Mendez - Council Member Ray Gutierrez- Council Member Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6pm by Mayor Rivera. Pledge of Allegiance & Invocation: The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Rivera. Roll Call: Council Present Staff Present Judith Rivera, Mayor Laura Fischer, Manager Justina Cruz, Mayor Pro-Tem Ramiro Barajas, PW Director- Absent Ray Gutierrez, Member- Absent Sergio Cruz, Fire Chief - Absent Xavier Mendez, Member Anthony Lyn Mara, Police Chief Anna Beltran, Member- 6:22pm arrival time Christine Pisch- City Clerk Mitchel Driskill- City Attorney -Absent Oral Communication-Public Comment: Now is the time for any member of the public to speak to the Council. Please step to the podium and state your name and address for the record. Three (3) minute maximum time. 1. Steven Ford, Westmorland Resident: Mr. Ford informed council that he was upset about the meeting for the Nuisance Abatement meeting was posted very last minute not allowing residents to be aware of it. Ms. Fischer informed Mr. Ford that the meeting was unfortunately moved three times to meet everyone’s schedule. The city council agreed to June 4th from 4:00pm-6:00pm will be the next public committee meeting. Staff Reports Non-Action Items: • Fire Department – Chief Sergio Cruz, ABSENT • Police Department – Chief Lynn Mara, Chief Mara mentions that the new hire of Officer Beltran and as well as the complaints he received from people speeding on 7 th street, he’s going to be working with Ramiro on stop sign being put in. • City Manager- Laura Fischer, prepared a written report that was presented. • Public Works Director - Ramiro Barajas, ABSENT Consent Agenda: Approve the Consent Agenda Items 1-2. 1. Approval of Meeting Minutes of May 7, 2025 2. Approval of City Warrant List. Motion to approve the Consent Agenda Items 1 & 2. AYES: (1) Mendez, (2) Cruz, Beltran, Gutierrez and Rivera NOES: 0 ABSENT: 0 Regular Business: 6:19pm 1) Discussion / Action to Accept the Citywide Financial Audit for Fiscal Year 2023-24 and Authorize Staff to File. Laura Fischer, Manager (didn’t get a who 1st and 2nd this item, can’t recall if there was one?) 2) Discussion/Action to Award the Citywide Financial Auditing Services for FY 2025-26 and Authorize the City Treasurer to Execute the Professional Service Agreement. Laura Fischer, Manager. In the amount of $24,000.00 Harshwell & Company for 1 year. AYES: (1) Beltran, (2) Cruz, Mendez and Rivera NOES: 0 ABSENT: Gutierrez 3) Authorize staff to solicit proposals to update the City’s Service Area Plan to meet LAFCO requirements prior to development annexation. Laura Fischer, Manager AYES: (1) Beltran, (2) Cruz, Mendez and Rivera NOES: 0 ABSENT: Gutierrez 4) Authorize staff to apply for the City’s Permanent Local Housing Allocation for FY 2022-2023 and hire a consultant to perform necessary application, which will be paid for by CDBG housing funds. (I didn’t get a who 1st and 2nd this item, can’t recall if there was one?) 5) Discussion /Action to pay Cora Construction Invoice #5- Joel Hamby. AYES: (1) Beltran, (2) Cruz, Mendez and Rivera NOES: 0 ABSENT: Gutierrez 6) Information and Discussion Only: Budget for Fiscal Year 2025-26. Laura Fischer, Manager. Closed Session: 7:05 pm o Public Service Employees Job descriptions and salary scales, as well as Appointment, Employment, or evaluation (Gov’t. Code §54957(b)(1).) o Conference with legal Counsel Pending Litigation (Gov’t. Code §54956.9 (d) (1)) Two Matters: APN #035-393-010 / APN #035-260-016 Motion to come out of Closed Session and Adjourn was made. AYES: (1) Mendez (2) Cruz, Beltran and Rivera NOES: 0 ABSENT: Gutierrez No Reportable Action was Taken by Council in Closed Session The council Adjourned at 7:14pm. Adjournment: Next regular scheduled meeting May 21, 2025. Council meetings are Open to the Public If you need further assistance, please email the City Clerk cityclerk@cityofwestmorland.net