Santa Maria, California

Antonio sitting in the back. Ask him for a listening device. If you would like interpretation services, agendas are now available in Spanish and are provided on white paper in the back of the council chambers. Antes de llamar a la junta orden, me gustaría notar que contamos con servicios de interpretación para esta junta. El señor Obrado se ha sentado atrás. Las agendas en español están disponibles en la parte posterior de la sala en papel blanco. I'd like to call this meeting to order for the city council meeting of June 16, 2026. Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Councilmember Aguilera. Councilmember Batalla. Here. Councilmember Soto. Here. Mayor Pro Tem Flores. Here. Mayor Patino. Here. City Attorney Mr. Watson, would you please give the closed session report? Yes, Madam Mayor. With respect to items 4A and 4B, instructions were provided to the negotiators on behalf of the city and no further information at this time is reportable. Thank you. So we will now present a proclamation honoring Ann McCarty for her years of dedicated service to the community and Councilmember Soto will be making that presentation. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I am so delighted to be able to present this proclamation to Ann McCarty. I have known her for a number of years now and I'm a big fan and admirer of her work, her leadership, and the role, the pivotal role she plays in our community. Whereas the city of Santa Maria recognizes Ann McCarty for more than 30 years of dedicated service, compassionate leadership, and commitment to supporting survivors and strengthening our community. And whereas Ann began her career with the North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center in 1994 as the hotline coordinator where she worked alongside volunteers, trained advocates, and community partners to help build programs focused on education, prevention, and support. And whereas Ann became executive director in 2015 and has provided exceptional leadership in advancing the center's mission, fostering community partnerships, and ensuring continued services for individuals and families impacted by sexual assault, child abuse, and human trafficking. And whereas throughout her tenure, Ann has been a dedicated advocate and community leader, serving on numerous community initiatives and helping strengthen collaboration throughout Santa Barbara County. and whereas the city of Santa Maria proudly honors Ann McCarty for her years of service, advocacy, and lasting contributions and extends its appreciation for her positive impact, for the positive impact she has made in the lives of countless individuals within our community. Now, therefore, Alice Patino, mayor of the city of Santa Maria, hereby recognizes and honors Ann McCarty for her outstanding dedication, leadership, and service to our community, and commend her for the lasting impact she has made through her commitment to advocacy, healing, and positive change. Thank you. Ann, you can have as much time as you'd like. Well, y'all pull your britches up because here we go. Actually, I'll keep this short. Mayor Patino, members of the city council, I, first and foremost, I want to say thank you. Thank you for this honor and this recognition and just the honor of being here in this room one more time. I thank you for that. but what's also very important to me tonight are my family, my workers, my staff, my family that have come to be here tonight to see this. You know, in 1994 when I started, I never thought I'd be standing here 32 years later. Never in my wildest dreams. But, you know, when you find your niche in life and it brings you great pleasure to do what you do, even on your hardest days, that's where you stay. And I'm so happy that I did, even on the darkest days and the darkest nights because I know that the work that the North County Rape Crisis Center does in our communities that we serve is critically important. And without us, so many people are unserved. And I know that all of these wonderful individuals that sit behind me, whether they be at the Rape Crisis Center, at the District Attorney's Office, at the hospital, the nurses that do our exams, the educators in the schools, all of them are going to keep the work going. I didn't start the programs. I just tried as best I could to keep them lifted up. And I think that we've done a really good job of doing that. And receiving this means the world to me. And I appreciate you all for it. So thank you. Thank you. You know, it doesn't seem like it's been all these years since you took the helm there. And, you know, we can list all the things you've done and all the things that we've seen that you have done in the community and that's immense. but it's all the things that we don't do that you don't, we don't know that you've done and all of your staff and things out there that keep you going and motivate you. So we certainly appreciate you and what you've done in our community. And I know you've done a lot in Lompoc too. So it's not just in Santa Maria. It's all over the county. So we thank you. Next, we will receive a presentation from the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce highlighting economic development efforts and initiatives for the quarter of October 2025 to 2026. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Patino and council members. On behalf of the Santa Maria Valley Chamber and Business Bureau, thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight. We genuinely value this partnership and the time you invest in staying connected to the work we're doing on behalf of this community. First, Molly Alves, our vice president of operations, will be covering membership, major events and workforce development. Followed by Suzanne Singh, our vice president of economic development and government affairs, will cover economic development programs and tourism. I'll close this out at the end. But tonight, we're presenting a six-month report from October to March. I'm very proud to say it's been a very productive six months. Everything you'll see tonight flows from a simple but powerful mission. mission of fostering a thriving, inclusive, and resilient community by leveraging resources, strengthening partnerships, and promoting economic vitality. This mission guides every decision we make. It's grounded in six core values that we focus on every day. People first, accountability to our promises, respect for every individual, a relentless pursuit of excellence, genuine collaboration across organizations, and unwavering integrity in everything that we do. You'll see all six of those values reflected in the work Molly and Suzanne are about to share. With that, I'd like to turn this over to Molly. Thank you so much. Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the council. As Michael mentioned, I'm Molly Alves. I serve as Vice President of Operations for the San Maria Valley Chamber. I'm going to speak a little bit about our membership and events and workforce programs over the last six months. So membership at the chamber is looking strong. We continue to get new members. We had 35 new members over this six-month time period. Retention remains very strong. And we actually saw from our quarterly feedback survey, we had the strongest level of feedback, most positive feedback we've received since we implemented that. So definitely trending in the right direction in terms of serving our community and serving our membership. We have a number of chamber committees that we run. These chamber committees serve as kind of our advisory councils to the chamber. They help understand what issues they see in the community, what direction we may take on those issues. We bring some of their ideas or direction they may want to take back to our board of directors. And we currently have six active committees with over 900, 990 active committee members serving on those committees. Our newest committee is our San Maria Valley Young Professionals Steering Committee. And that program we just implemented in January. And that committee helps us steer the direction of the programming we're providing to young professionals in the San Maria Valley. Networking events. As you probably all know, we do a lot of networking at the chamber. A lot of networking events. We have our weekly Friday Build Your Business or BYB networking event every week. We host monthly mixers, ribbon cuttings. Once a month we do a few of those. And also obviously our major events which I'll touch on briefly. But yeah, over 2,300 networking participants over the last six months. So a lot of engagement from our community. A lot of value and connection made through those events. And always great to celebrate new businesses and businesses celebrating milestones with our ribbon cuttings. As far as major events, I think this is one of the kind of busiest times for us that March to October time period. If we think back to State of the City, many of you were speaking at that event. Went very well. I think the community enjoyed hearing diverse perspectives from different city leadership at that event. Also held our Freedom Monuments ceremony. We had a tourism celebration with our tourism marketing team. Our State of Education event. Our State of Vandenberg event out on the Space Force base. And we also hosted our Tri-County Chamber Alliance annual meeting. That meeting rotates throughout the Tri-County area. So Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties. And this year was our turn to host that. So it was great to be out at Bien-Necito Winery and kind of share some of our local tourism that we have here in the Santa Maria Valley with our neighbors. I'm going to move into a little bit of our workforce development, programming, and partnerships. So our teacher tours. This is a program we continue to run with the Santa Barbara County Education Office. We take career technical education teachers, so high school teachers, out at the CTE Center around to different businesses every month. Helps them really build relationships with the local businesses, understanding what they need for hiring, opportunities to host internships. They've gotten some teacher externships out of these connections they build. So we wrapped up this program for the school year. So held four tours. We visited 13 businesses, had over 80 teachers participate in that. We culminate that program every year doing a countywide kind of event out at the Space Force base. and they got to see the NASA facility out there this year, which was pretty cool. So a great program, a great partnership we continue around workforce development and strengthening those relationships between education and business. Our Santa Maria Valley Young Professionals Group launched in January. We're really excited about this program we're kind of bringing back. We used to have, years ago, you may remember, before COVID, had a Young Professionals Group. We've heard a need from our community to want to bring that back, have opportunities for young professionals in the San Maria Valley looking to build their networks, build their leadership development skills, connect more with local leaders. And so we've been hosting monthly meetings for that program. We have a different speaker every month, some networking. Those are free to attend, open to the public, really targeting people getting into their careers. So college-age students or people very early in their careers, kind of the under 40 range. We're also going to be launching a mentorship program through the Young Professionals Group soon. So looking forward to that. I would say our team has done a great job. We encourage some of our younger team members to take this program on and take the lead on it. And we've been really impressed with the community that they're building through the Young Professionals Group. Our NextGen CEO program, this continues to run strong. This is a program for like sixth, seventh grade students where they get to learn how to be their own boss and start their own business. We partner with the Boys and Girls Club on this program. The students go through about a six-week program understanding cost modeling, how to market a business, how to do proper customer service, what it really takes to be an entrepreneur. At the end of that, they get to launch their business and sell their products to the public. It's a lot of fun. Our most recent cohort was over at Kermit McKenzie Intermediate School out in Guadalupe. And we also had a pop-up event in December for our alumni of that program who are still selling their products. So that was fun around Christmas time over at the mall. They got a chance to sell their products over there. So we're looking forward to this next year and continuing that partnership with the Boys and Girls Club. Leadership Santa Maria Valley, another great kind of leadership program we run through the chamber. They actually just had their graduation last Friday for this recent class. But October through March, you'll see the different topic days they had there. They did a really impressive legacy project out in Tanglewood at the junior high out there, created a mural. They raised all the money, brought in the mural list, and actually had extra funds left over from their fundraising efforts that they were able to donate to the local school out there. So great program. We are still accepting a few more applications for this next year's cohort if anyone's interested. But that program continues to run strong. We get a lot of great engagement. I know a number of city people go through that every year as well. So we appreciate that partnership. We partner very closely with the Santa Barbara County Workforce Development Board. We host monthly business tours with them and visited some great local businesses through that program. Also continue to partner with them on their Grow Your Business program, which offers some funding for businesses who are looking to provide paid work experience or part-time work or some upskilling services within their business. The Workforce Development Board has programming where they can connect individuals to those businesses who have those specific needs. Work SBC is another program that we run with the Workforce Development Board. And this is a program that we started to really help create kind of an ecosystem and mapping all of the education and workforce development experiences that are out there in the county. And so when you're looking at the career pathway developments and kind of workforce pipeline for someone from an early age out to when they're in their career, what are all the opportunities for internships, for getting on-the-job training, for at a young age, you know, getting teachers and business leaders in the classroom, what are all those opportunities countywide, and how do we understand all those opportunities? And so it's kind of a program. We're in the thick of it right now, but it's been a great program to convene all these leaders from education and industry and economic development and how do we gain clarity at a countywide level on all those opportunities. Partners in Education, another partnership we have, great organization through the county education office. We continue to help with their career coaching and mock interviews. Again, you know, building the future generation of leaders in our community, building a strong local talent pipeline for our Santa Maria Valley residents is really important, and that's a lot of fun to see those students develop their confidence through those programs and participate in the mock interviews. It's a great experience. I encourage you all to take part in that if you haven't yet. And with that, I will hand it over to Suzanne, who's going to cover our economic development and tourism. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Alves. Good evening, Mayor Patino, city council members and staff. Happy to be here tonight and happy to go over what we've done in the last six months. So just briefly, our advocacy efforts, we have taken on a heavier advocacy role supporting our businesses. So this, the last six months, we supported or opposed 14 business or non-business friendly proposed legislation. And I think for us, that's really helping out the business community. We conducted our business advocacy roundtable committees. And Molly brought up, but being a member of the Tri-County Chamber Alliance, we were privileged this year to host their annual meeting here in Santa Maria. So it was really a neat thing for us to be able to do for them to want to come up and be in our community and see what we have going on. Our team attended over 120 meetings and events in support of the businesses and the Santa Maria Valley community. We had 11 requests for support in the business, well, actually, interactions. So we had 11 interactions with business attraction in the last six months. That means businesses that are interested in coming into the community or want to start a business. We had 11 of those in the last six months. And we provided support and services to 23 businesses that are already here. Our Hispanic business support efforts are just rocking. I mean, I am so impressed with what we've done in this area of our business community. We've identified the group as the Hispanic Business Alliance. We call it the HBA. And we had our large Posada mixer in December. We held two Grow Your Business events. That's where the Hispanic businesses can come and learn things that they need to learn to help them in their businesses. We had over 330 attendees at our events for the Hispanic Business Alliance events. And we outreached and assisted a total of 21 businesses. And our member base is growing. It's 215. On to Visitors Bureau and Tourism. So this is our transient occupancy tax data, our monthly comparison. The monthly data highlights the seasonality of our tourism sector and the immediate impact of local investments. Early 2026 data shows promising growth with February of 2026 being at an all-time, well, not an all-time high, but very high, 218,000 plus in revenue already outperforming both 2024 and 2025 for the same month. This steady performance reflects the success of targeted visitor campaigns and the influx of travelers attracted to the region's unique amenities. This next slide is our annual transient occupancy tax. And it highlights the Santa Maria Valley strong recovery from the 2020 pandemic with a record peak in 2022. Recent years have shown a normalization of revenue. The sector remains in a stabilization phase with totals exceeding pre-pandemic levels. So that's before 2019. This long-term resilience is supported by ongoing property investments and the recent remodels, which tells the story of our region's enduring appeal as a travel destination despite broader economic headwinds. The team attended several educational and promoting events these past six months. We learned a lot, gained some fresh ideas to bring back to our community. We connected with interested travelers to come to the area where we really brought a new look and really shined with our new travel show backdrop and materials. We distributed and passed out over 1,400 marketing collateral pieces. We had over 211,000 website visits and 4,000 plus website hotel referrals. We hosted four fam tours with prominent influencers. We also successfully pulled off a restaurant month and a craft cocktail contest with 11 restaurant participants participating and seven cocktail participants. Contest winners were the Homewood Suites, the Winery and the Range Kitchen and Bar and then Costa Del Oro. Thank you for your time. I'll give it back to Michael. Thank you. Thank you, Suzanne. As you can see, we did not slow down in March. In our next report, you'll hear about our candidate academy, the North County economic forecast, and our upcoming Women of Excellence event. The launch of our new Hispanic Business Alliance membership model will soon follow. We just went live with a new website. Our new community calendar is being configured as we speak and we're well on our way for the creation of the Santa Maria Valley Barbecue Association, which we think is going to be a great point of pride for our region. Suzanne and Molly and the entire chamber staff have put in extraordinary work in this period. Tonight's presentation is a reflection of our commitment to accountability, excellence, and to our community. We are deeply grateful for the city's continued partnership and investment in what we do together. This work is most effective when we are aligned in our strategy and we move forward as collaborative partners. With that, Mayor Patino and council members, we welcome any questions you might have for us tonight. Any questions from the council? No? I do. Ms. Singh, you were talking about the services that you provide to new businesses. Say people are coming here and they want to start a business and I know that we work together with you on different things but what are some of the services you have provided? We will introduce them to local brokers and help them find locations they might be interested in and we will introduce them to those people who can help them through the development phase. We will introduce them to the city and make sure that they are connected to Shannon. So we do a lot of those things for those attraction type businesses and the other services that we provide to the businesses that are already here might be just, you know, how do I renew my license or how do I take care of this code enforcement letter I got. So we do a lot of those things. Okay. You help sort of hold your hand through different processes? Yeah. That's kind of what we do. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you very much for the report. Ms. Soto? Sorry, Madam Mayor. In your question it made me think of something that you all presented which was like your Friday mixers for individuals who are interested in starting a business. Yeah. Can you elaborate a little bit more on that and when and where those take place and where we can find information on that? Yeah. So BYB is Build Your Business. It's our Friday networking event and those take place every Friday at 8 a.m. at The Collective over at Simple Cafe on Skyway. We welcome guests to attend a few times before they join chamber membership but have a leads group opportunity for the connect. We have a showcase and yeah. That's great. And then when it comes to individuals who are looking to start their business do you also point them in the right direction for financing and loans or grants that may be available to them? Yeah, definitely. I think Suzanne and Everett Arconautic Development team have a lot of information on all those opportunities and so if businesses ever have a question on how do I get started if they don't know the answer we have a lot of resources that we connect them with that we can help them find the answer to. You know it's really interesting the next gen CEO when you see these kids trying to start their own business and they'll make their product and then they go to sell it and if you haven't been to one of those you really need to go. So, and this has been maybe two or three Christmases ago I bought soap and it's so pretty and it comes in different colors. so I bought the soap and I took it home and I set it on my counter in the kitchen because I was going to give it to my granddaughters and I have a big candy jar like this in my kitchen and my husband is Mr. Neat he doesn't like to see anything sitting around so he throws those two bars of soap into the candy jar and I'm looking for them but I never thought to ask I thought well he probably didn't take them it's soap right? Well anyway I had to throw out all the candy that was in there and restock the candy jar and explained to him that these were bars of soap anyway but they make them look beautiful so they did look like candy anyway thank you so much for the presentation thank you we'll now receive a presentation on this year's fireworks education campaign enforcement efforts to be presented by administrative analyst Jane good evening madam mayor council members directors and the Santa Maria community I am Jane Tay the city's administrative analyst in this presentation about our fireworks our 2026 fireworks campaign I will provide information on the city's three level approach consisting of education enforcement and entertainment in mitigating illegal firework use leading up to and over the 4th of July weekend the city encourages the San Maria community to celebrate our nation's birthday responsibly we recognize the significant challenges associated with illegal fireworks use and understand the disruptive impacts that loud explosions can have on residents particularly those who are noise sensitive as well as on pets through continued education enforcement and community engagement we hope to encourage safer and more considerate ways to celebrate the city the city continues to allow the sale of safe and sane fireworks fireworks that start at ground level and do not go up in the sky this year we have 23 city approved fireworks booths as pictured on the map per city council's prior direction and the municipal code the fire department sales are allowed between June 28th and July 4th to promote education in the annual city fireworks rules and guidelines 15,000 flyers were printed to be distributed these flyers will be included with every fireworks sale from the 23 city approved fireworks booths outreach will be conducted via email phone and in-person visits to various Spanish and English speaking businesses and organizations ranging from the Santa Maria Bonina and high school districts the county of Santa Barbara animal services and public health department and local businesses including carnicerias or meat delis cafes local animal veterinary clinics and shops also pictured on the map on the slide above if you'd like to take a look other businesses interested in receiving digital flyers may contact me directly and I will gladly provide them via email we welcome and encourage their participation in sharing this information with the community social media posts along with paid ads in English and Spanish will be broadcasted on local radio 30 second public service announcements from our fire chief were provided to KSBY KYT and Telemundo with a request to air them as a public service message we also plan to utilize our city government TV Comcast channel 23 news releases smart bus infotainment screens and posters at city offices to convey the message additional tools include free yard signs which are like this we have them in both English and Spanish these will also be available at the city hall reception window and pet crates are available from county animal services residents may call and leave a message to report illegal fireworks on the city fireworks hotline at 9250951 extension 3473 with details about address or location name or names of persons involved time and date of the violation messages will be monitored by the police department enforcement will include combating illegal fireworks used through the issuance of a thousand dollar fine to violators last year we issued 119 citations an 89% increase from 2024 which where we issued 63 citations the Sanria police department will deploy officers from July 2nd through the 4th of July weekend to identify and address illegal fireworks activity fire prevention inspectors will partner with police officers to conduct patrols throughout the community Sanria fire department is once again contracting with a specialized vendor to operate an aircraft equipped with GPS and video technology the aircraft will monitor activity throughout the city and can accurately identify the launch locations of illegal fireworks this technology allows us to trace incidents to specific properties and property owners can be subject to enforcement action and violations residents may also report illegal fireworks through the city website since successful enforcement actions require witness testimony the online complaint form allows residents to provide their information and indicate their willingness to participate as a witness if necessary for entertainment we have a drone show scheduled at 8.30pm during downtown Friday at 501 South McClellan on July 3rd additionally a fun and family friendly event will be hosted by our recreation and parks department on Saturday July 4th from 12 to 4pm at the Elks baseball field behind the Abel Maldonado community youth center 600 South McClellan street that will include pie and watermelon eating contests youth arts and crafts bounce houses and a phone pit photo booth food vendors along with a beer garden a concert by unfinished business hits the stage from 1.30 to 3.30pm lastly free public swim will also be available at the Paul Nelson Aquatic Center this concludes my presentation Chief Dendridge Chief Williams and I are available for any questions any questions yes Ms. Flores can you tell me approximately how many firework booths stands we have in the city of Santa Maria only let me go back to that slide there's a way for me to zoom in but for the city of Santa Maria within our jurisdiction it's 23 just 23 approved city yes and another question that number if they call somebody is going to answer it Madam Mayor council member Flores they the fireworks hotline that you're referring to is being monitored by the police department and it will be monitored by the police department individuals have been linked to that whatever voicemails come up it will populate on the individuals within the police department's voicemail okay so I say that because I give out little stickers for when I have townhall meetings and that number was on there and we had a lot of issues in district two last year and so they complained about there was no response no one was able to answer the phone but yet there was a drone that went over their house and the residents inside the house were not lighting fireworks but the people across the street were but they gave everybody a ticket madam mayor councilmember flores in answer to that question I know for a fact today I made sure that that extension I actually checked with our voicemail system to ensure that that extension would go that voicemails would be forwarded to the appropriate people within the police department so I am sure this time it will be monitored okay all right I appreciate it thank you you welcome council mayor risotto thank you I don't know if council member floris this comment was fully addressed though because it sounds like it was another home that was setting up the fireworks but yet that resident that was sharing what happened also I'm assuming was fined or yeah he was fined and he came he he called me and told me hey I wasn't lighting fireworks it was my neighbor across the street but because when the drone came over their house they just assumed it was him and they gave him a ticket instead of the person that was really lighting the fireworks so I did address it with our chief and he took care of it but it could be hit and miss so we have to be careful even with that Madam Mayor Council Member Flores Chief Dendridge wants to further explain on that I would appreciate knowing how we could prevent that in the future Madam Mayor Council Members thank you for the question in regards to the drone and the way that we go about monitoring that the drone has GPS locations so we look to see and target the actual parcels that the fireworks are coming from before we issue citations however we have a process that goes the individuals have opportunities to plead their case and we don't just arbitrarily give the tickets the citations in regards to the hotline if you call the hotline it actually gives you a telephone number to call directly to PD no to change that because it was just giving the generic police party right I got you okay so that was my understanding that it gave a so my apologies thank you for clarifying it did give you a telephone number to PD but it is being monitored now by PD so Ms. Jane said that it's going to be monitored this year in regards to that hotline but as far as our involvement with the citations that are being given we want to deter the use of illegal fireworks illegal fireworks are hazardous and can be very dangerous to our community there's been instances already in which we have had to respond to members of our community that have injured themselves very significantly due to the use of illegal fireworks already we want to deter we want to caution the public just explain the inherent dangers of illegal fireworks fireworks and encourage that we celebrate the 250th year of our country in a safe and sane manner so we will anytime that those citations are issued by the aircraft we will review them scrutinize them to their fullest before we go about finalizing issuance of any citations that's my promise to you in the community thank you yeah because my name wasn't my neighbor but it was a cross off of Donovan he thank god he filmed it and he's a veteran so he called me right away he said look I filmed this we were inside I'm a veteran I don't even want to hear fireworks he said I have a sign in front of my house but they were blowing up the illegal fireworks right in the middle of the street like they do it's a fire show right behind my house and so he said that he filmed it but he was the one that was issued the ticket not the ones that were lighting the fireworks so then I referred him to your office and thank god he had that video because he was fined a thousand dollars yes ma'am we understand so that to me is an issue that we have to be careful with who the drone is flying over or saying that they're the ones that are lighting fireworks you could clearly see in that video that he showed me they weren't even outside he was filming from inside his house yes ma'am and just know also with the fire investigators and PD the collaboration that we have monitoring the days previous and the day of July 4th we'll have our investigators they'll also have cameras on them to be able to capture exactly what's going on in the situations so thank you thank you did you have another question I do have questions you know I think many residents would agree that even with the steps that the city has taken to to reduce the number of illegal fireworks in our community it's still such a it's still a big problem and a danger one of that and so I know that you know every night in my neighborhood I hear three four fireworks pop off and so I don't know what the enforcement has looked like thus far since the start of this year and I don't know if there's any updates that you can provide us right now all we can do we don't have anyone enforcing patrolling the areas right now but what we do encourage the public to do is be willing to call in make a report and unfortunately the challenge is people aren't willing to testify come forth and actually be put on record in regards to their neighbor and it's understandable once again those are the challenges we face and every year all we're trying to do is educate a little bit more educate on the inherent dangers and hope in time it's going to be a cultural change that we have to have here in Santa Maria with that and the cultural change or shift I wonder if even I mean I'm curious to know how many neighboring cities allow the sale of sane and safe fireworks and I wonder if there's any correlation between the sale of sane and safe fireworks and how that promotes perhaps you know the usage of illegal fireworks and so I don't know if anyone on staff is able to speak to that or even what neighboring cities are doing when it comes to selling safe and sane fireworks Madam Mayor Council Member Soto what other communities are doing right now I don't I'm not familiar with so I can't speak to that I apologize but here we do sell safe and sane and when you look at the correlation between illegal fireworks and safe and sane I don't know if we can make that correlation we have laws on the books right now statutes that stipulate that illegal fireworks the ones that go up in the air are not to be used that hasn't seemed to slow down some members but I will share an anecdotal last year when we first used couple years ago we first used the drone there was a couple members of our community councilmember Flores that received actually the thousand dollar fines three families different sections of the our city when they came to pay the fine they said I know what we're doing this year and we're not going to be lighting off fireworks one family at a time is all we could try in time hopefully we do make a cultural shift and just continue the education of our community on the inherent dangers of illegal fireworks do we see an increase in service calls during fourth of July or fourth of July weekend or the holiday typically we do see an uptick in fires rubbish fires grass fires we've been fortunate here in San Ray that we haven't had any big conflagrations of home businesses on fire but anytime illegal fireworks are used that's always a possibility we monitor and after the fourth of July I'll have actually statistics of what we do and do a comparison and share that with the council thank you thank you thank you you know I probably and this is not scientific at all but when the fireworks booths get set up and they have a certain time and they are the people that purchase these are told when they can set off the fireworks and they pretty much I think they just do that because they buy them for their families for their little kids and they set them off on the fourth of July but if you want to say premeditated on the illegal fireworks you know they've started how long ago and they will continue to do that so we don't have oh I know what I wanted to ask you on those 119 citations were we able to collect yes ma'am we were able to collect the majority of those there was very few that we were able to dismiss and the ones as I stated before the ones that have been shown that we will dismiss good is our I probably shouldn't even ask this question is our aircraft out now available now we contract madam mayor the day of the 4th of July that will be the only time that that particular when is that again just the 4th of July on the 4th of July on the day of but we could always expand we'll look to see and if there's a desire from council to expand that program to days before leading up to the 4th that is always a possibility so if we get this drone that the PD wants then we can use that to do that like right now right and with that drone we can be very specific as to who's doing this also good evening Christopher Williams chief of police madam mayor and council that is correct once we establish the drone first responder program one of the parameters that we could set is to respond to those types of calls for service they are if you remember from my presentation they are linked with our computer aided dispatch so the pilot if it met the parameters and that's what we set up it can respond and record the violations that could be used for civil assessments thank you because what I'm hearing now are worse I think I don't know what you call they're like bombs that I'm hearing now yes I think the fire chief would agree the issues that we have with fireworks going off are not the safe insane fireworks they're the ones that are illegal that are being set off I'd hate to put you on the spot and ask this question but we had a bad accident it's about a week two weeks ago did you want to mention that you don't have to show pictures no madam mayor as I shared before the fire department responded to an incident where members of our community were significantly injured due to the use of illegal fireworks I believe it would be best for me to just leave it at that and they were very young yes ma'am and that's such a tragedy yeah okay any other questions Mr. Battaglia yep okay thank you very much thank you thank you that's it Ms. Tate okay yes thank you thank you very much for that presentation the next item on the agenda is the public comment madam clerk could you please read the criteria yes madam mayor speakers may provide public comments on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city council each speaker will be limited to three minutes maximum 15 minutes per public comment period unless the majority of the council objects the mayor may provide speakers more less time to speak all comments or queries shall be addressed to the council as a body and not to any specific member thereof pursuant to government code section 549-54282 the Ralph M. Brown Act no action or discussion by the city council shall be undertaken on any item not appearing on the posted agenda except to briefly provide information ask for clarification provide direction to staff or schedule a matter for the first one is Roberta Thompson followed by Gary Hall followed by Nicole Bryant good evening Ms. Thompson good evening my name is Roberta Thompson I live in district one I travel the intersection of North Broadway and Presker Lane frequently this is a dangerous intersection many drivers do not follow proper traffic procedures I myself have been rear ended at that intersection my husband's car was sideswiped by someone trying to go from the middle left turn lane to the right turn only lane the other driver fled the scene I asked the city principal planning engineer in January for help shortly thereafter a directional flashing sign was set up near the intersection and it helped for a while since then that sign has been removed the engineer wrote to me about one month ago after I asked for an update he replied and I quote the city has no intent to add anything else end quote I am asking for law enforcement presence during peak traffic times thank you thank you very much Gary what intersection was that again Presker yeah I I I I find it concerning that all we responded was we have no intent to do anything else yes thank you Brett Fulgoni public works director the context of that comment is that there's nothing else that we can do with the current project in the restriping and the work that we did out there to add the other lane there is going to be improvements to the intersection once we do the interchange and so we're designing and changing that roadway expanding it including other bike lanes once we do that so I do apologize for the context in which that comment was provided but it was in the context of the project itself there's there's really nothing else that we can do to improve that intersection at the moment without was the sign taken down so typically when we have new traffic patterns or if we change striping we put a sign up that says new traffic pattern this has changed and the rules that sort of govern that advise on how long those signs should be there and when the sign should be removed and we took a look at the request we had other complaints in the area and we look at those and a lot of those were related to people not necessarily obeying traffic laws and not so much as an engineering issue and so the messaging board is to advise people of a new traffic pattern or a change that they may not be used to so we do try to deploy those elsewhere in the city as we have other traffic changes as well thank you would this be a good location for the cameras that's okay we'd have to look at the data okay I'd probably say no at the moment because there's changes coming in within a couple of years once we do the interchange yeah yeah and I've driven up there several times and it is it's extremely dangerous you have to watch where you're going because you have to watch for the other cars yeah we keep an eye on it they don't even stop at the stop signs yeah yeah go ahead go ahead I was just going to mention that I drove it this morning I do drive it we do monitor that area I can empathize with what's being said here but there are changes coming thank you Gary Hall followed by Nicole Bryant followed by Andrew Baumeister good evening madam mayor council members staff and the citizens of Santa Maria my name is Gary Hall I'm a resident of Rancho Buena Vista Mobile Estates at 2135 North Railroad Avenue here in Santa Maria I represent the North Santa Barbara County Manufactured Homeowners Team or Nesbitt Nesbitt Nesbitt's primary goal remains to provide protection to all Santa Maria mobile home residents presently living in an unregulated rental market yes we continue to ask the city of Santa Maria to stand with us in maintaining affordable housing affordable mobile home living is vanishing here in Santa Maria and all across California I have and will continue to point out to you how the 2020 model lease and enforcement agreements with all their flaws have proven to be ineffective in protecting homeowner equity and maintaining affordable mobile home housing which of course is what it was originally intended to do I have repeatedly reminded you that on June 7 2022 now four years ago this council passed a motion with the intention of improving the 2020 model lease or replacing it the city council has done neither now is the time to take action to replace the model lease with a uniform mandatory and enforceable mobile home rent stabilization program much like those in our neighboring city and county jurisdictions please help us find a way to get this on a future meetings agenda I missed your June 2nd meeting but I have reviewed the meeting video budget issues were front and center then as they will be tonight you have very tough decisions to make I'm very interested to hear what the new reserve policy will entail and I'm anxious to learn what specific actions will be taken to close the deficit and still treat all employees fairly on a positive note Santa Maria community development personnel have informed me that the draft senior mobile home park zoning overlay ordinance was well received at the May 21st planning commission study session the final version of the ordinance will be presented for consideration at the July 1st planning commission and yes I will be attending I want to publicly thank the community development department for getting this ordinance to this point without this ordinance Santa Maria mobile home seniors will continue to live with the ongoing threat that their senior mobile home park could be converted to an all-age park thank you thank you Nicole Bryant followed by Andrew Valmeister followed by Maya Hoffman good evening it's Bryant good evening madam mayor and council members my name is Nicole Bryant representing SEIU local 620 and the city's general unit employees you'll be hearing from several of our members this evening people who work in all departments serve your residents and keep this city running every day their voices matter and they are here to share what decisions for their labor contract mean in real terms we do want to acknowledge that since the last meeting the city has stepped back some of its more severe proposals that matters and we greatly appreciate that movement thank you however the core issue remains unresolved and is what we are here to address this evening SEIU members are still not being offered equitable cost of living adjustments or health care contributions compared to police and fire a 0% cost of living adjustment for SEIU in the face of rising inflation is still a real cut to our members purchasing power and financial security at the same time through your consent calendar item this evening the city council will be moving forward with a 4% cost of living increase for fire and a 1% base salary equity adjustment for police after their 5% cost of living adjustment this last January these adjustments were approved last May and March respectively when the council already had full knowledge of the city's structural deficit so the question becomes if those increases were justified then then why are they not justified now because right now the message being sent is clear some employees are being supported and protected from inflation while others are being asked to fall behind and the inequality extends beyond wages into health care why should SEIU members pay more for the same health care coverage from the same employer than their colleagues in police and fire department why are SEIU's members health care worth less when premiums increase this January an unknown amount SEIU members will be paying disproportionately more than other bargaining units across this city if the city truly believes in being an employer of choice and if you stand behind your stated values of dignity respect and fairness then those principles must apply across all workforce not selectively tonight you have the opportunity to correct course as you provide direction to your bargaining team we urge you to align SEIU's COLA adjustments with those provided to police and fire in line with current inflation provide equitable employer health care contributions across bargaining units tonight tonight you'll hear directly from the people affected I ask that you listen to their experiences understand the real world impacts and take into account the human impact because fairness and equity are not just words to be thrown around they are demonstrated through choices made and actions taken thank you and Andrew is no longer here he had to leave so I believe Maya is next thank you Maya Hoffman followed by Monica Davis followed by Christine Jacobs good evening Hoffman good evening city council members my name is Maya Hoffman and I'm a regulatory compliance supervisor I've proudly served the city for four and a half years I'm here tonight because the current proposal treats my unit your civilian workforce like we are somehow worth less than other groups that work for the city I want to be clear we all serve this city we all keep it running and we all have families to support at home it's just me and my fiance we're getting married in July he's self-employed which means he can't get insurance through an employer your decision on health care directly determines whether we can afford to start our life together without fear so when you offer fire and PD meaningful raises but tell us to accept zero COLA and higher health insurance costs by 2027 it feels like you're saying our work and our families matter less that is unfair and it is unsustainable we've made concessions we've shown up we've kept the city compliant safe and functioning all we're asking is to be treated with the same dignity and respect as the other units you rely on please do the right thing treat us fairly thank you thank you Monica Davis Monica Davis followed by Christine Jacobs good evening madam mayor and council members my name is Monica Davis this is my son Damari Davis and I'm currently employed at the police department as a record supervisor I have worked at the city of Santa Maria for nearly 10 years and have served in law enforcement related positions for approximately 17 years however today I stand before you not only as a city employee but also as a resident and community member who has chosen to build a life and raise a family here in Santa Maria my family and I intentionally support our local economy by making our major purchases within the city and investing in the community we call home as everyone knows the cost of living in Santa Maria continues to rise and many city employees are struggling to keep pace and now for the first time in my career when prices are at an all-time high the city is proposing to give SEIU members no cost of living adjustments and being asked to absorb health care costs all while at the same time some of my counterparts at the police department as well as other bargaining units are getting cost of living adjustments to begin in July as well as receive full employer paid medical benefits and receiving additional steps added to their pay scales all of this agreed to when everyone is fully aware of the city facing a large deficit I know I speak for many of SEIU members when I say that our contributions to this city are no less valuable than those of other employees represented by other bargaining units the services we provide are essential to the daily operations to the city and we deserve the same fairness respect and consideration with rising costs of living in this city no cost of living adjustments to our pay and paying more into our health benefits would make living and working in this city less sustainable for families for me personally this could affect my ability to afford child care and schooling for my child which would directly impact me working all we're asking for is simple equality across all bargaining units it is difficult to understand why some employee groups continue to receive cost of living increases pay adjustments and medical benefits yet our SEIU members are being asked to accept less we respectfully ask that the council consider real impact to these proposals that these proposals will have on employees who keep the city running every day and to ensure the SEIU members are treated fairly thank you thank you Christine Jacobs followed by Luis Bejerano followed by Rosie Martinez good evening Madam Mayor and council members city leadership my name is Christine Jacobs and I have worked for the city of Santa Maria for 13 years as an outreach specialist in the utilities department I live in Santa Maria and I'm also a proud member of SEIU local 620 presented here today over the years I have had the privilege of connecting with our community through recycling water conservation environmental programs public events and educational outreach I truly enjoy serving the residents of Santa Maria and helping make our community a better place to live tonight I am speaking not only as a city employee but as a wife mother and grandmother at home I support a household of five including my husband my two adult sons and my two year old grandson Ash as you can imagine in a house with four boys groceries disappear quickly and gas tanks never seem to stay full for very long this past year has reminded me how quickly life can change family responsibilities don't stop when prices go up and neither do the bills like many city employees I'm doing my best to support the people who depend on me while continuing to serve the community I care about I am asking for nothing extravagant I am simply asking for a fair contract that includes a cost of living allowance affordable health care benefits so that employees can keep pace with the rising cost of living many of us here have dedicated years and in some cases decades of service to the city we show up every day because we care about the work we do and the community we serve we are proud to be city employees and we hope that commitment is recognized through a contract that supports the people who keep essential city services running I have dedicated 13 years to serving the residents of Santa Maria and my hope is that the city will continue investing in the employees who have chosen to build their careers here thank you for your time your consideration and your service to our community thank you Miss Jacobs Luis Pajerano good evening mayor city council members my name is Luis Magallon this is my son Miguel Antonio and my daughter Maria Jose Guadalupe is right there I'm going to first read a couple of statements on behalf of other SEIU members who were not able to be in attendance today so first I'm going to go ahead and begin good evening mayor and council members my name is Jolene Galaitis and I work in public works I am asking you to consider the real impacts these proposed changes would have on employees and our families I currently take home approximately $3,400 a month to support my family of five under the proposal I would face a reduction in pay with the increased insurance costs in January additionally projected double digit percent increases to medical insurance is not a small adjustment it is the difference between making ends meet and falling behind with housing utilities groceries gas and other basic expenses continuing to rise I cannot absorb a reduction I would be forced to make impossible choices between paying bills keeping food on the table and providing for my children I am proud to serve this community but I respectfully ask that you consider the financial hardship this proposal would place on employees who are already working hard to support their families thank you for your time and consideration that's one good evening mayor and city council members my name is Esmeralda De Jesus and I am an engineering technician too for the city of Santa Maria I appreciate the progress that has been made in negotiations but I am disappointed that the current proposal includes a zero percent cost of living adjustment the cost of living continues to rise and city employees are feeling that impact every day at the same time there is concern about future increases to employee health care costs part of my job is helping process permits and support projects that serve our community like many employees I take pride in the work I do that's why it's discouraging to see a proposal with no cost of living increase when the cost of housing groceries and everyday necessities continues to rise the city the city's employees are not just line items in a budget we are the people who serve this community every day and we deserve a contract that reflects the value of our work and keeps pace with the rising cost of living I respectfully ask the city to continue negotiating in good faith and invest in the employees who help keep San Marino running and now myself my name is Luis Magallon I've been with the city for almost five years and I work in public works as a senior civil engineer I'm also a husband and a proud father of two and like many local 620 families I'm here because the decisions made in this room directly affect our homes and our kids first I want to thank you for removing the proposed pay cut and for committing to cover medical through 2026 that truly matters to families like mine but a zero cola contract combined with workers having to pick up the medical increases in 2027 will hit the city's lowest paid employees the hardest all we're asking for is fairness a contract that doesn't push working families further behind a contract that recognizes the value of every department not just some thank you for your time thank you Rosie Martinez Rosie Martinez good evening mayor and council members my name is Rosie Martinez and I work with the property and evidence department at the Santa Maria police department this August marks three years of serving the city I'm also six months pregnant with my first child like many new parents my husband and I are preparing for higher health care costs expensive daycare and all the new expenses that come with welcoming a baby we both serve the Santa Maria community and we chose to build our lives here because we believe in this city last September we became first time homeowners a huge milestone for two people who once called themselves broke college students we worked hard built our careers and planted our roots here we are now new homeowners soon to be new parents and we want nothing more than to raise our family and the city we serve but with the fast rising cost of living and now not even a slight increase in pay to keep up with these rising costs my husband and I will face a very real financial strain this proposal this proposal will push families like my families who are doing everything right into an impossible situation Santa Maria's motto is a great place to live work and play my family is living that motto right now but for it to remain true this must continue to be a great place to work a place where employees are valued supported and compensated fairly and equally for the essential work that they do every day I respectfully ask you to protect the workers who keep this city running and ensure Santa Maria remains a place where growing families like mine can thrive thank you thank you madam clerk do we have anyone online that one's starting until July 1st but I have no written comments okay thank you so now we will move on to the consent calendar does anyone have items they wish to pull it was for 13 G sir madam mayor I need to mention a correction on the consent calendar to item 12 D 1 it's adoption of resolution approving an agreement with Santa Barbara public airport district which that should be Santa Maria and then also just wanted to note to the public that the council was or has received an updated attachment B to this item a copy is available for the public to view in the public agenda binder in the back and it will be updated to the agenda web page tomorrow morning thank you very much okay so with the consent calendar does anyone have items they wish to pull for discussion no do I have motion do I have a second I'll second it so I have a motion to approve the consent calendar and a second having heard motion and the second any discussion hearing none madam clerk can you please call the roll mayor pro tem flores aye councilmember patia councilmember soto aye mayor patino aye we will now move to the regular business portion of the agenda the next item will be a resolution approving Alexander Alex Posada as eligible for naming consideration of a city park or facility this report will be presented by Ramon Gallo director of recreation and parks good evening madam mayor councilmembers my name is Ramon Gallo director of recreation and parks with the city with our city the action before you is adopting a resolution approving Alexander Posada eligible for naming consideration of a city park or facility as you may be aware the city of Santa Maria maintains an eligibility list of individuals whose contributions to our community the Santa Maria Valley may merit consideration for future naming of city parks facilities trails or recreation assets the placement on this list does not name a specific park at this time it is merely to consider eligibility for Mr. Posada for naming consideration in the future Mr. Posada has consistently displayed leadership in community affairs he is volunteerism is outstanding he has been a role model and a mentor for others and he has been a supporter of enrichment of this community through his career he is also a 47 year veteran of the city of Santa Maria which I believe is the longest tenured employee and three decades of service with their recreation department as well again approval does not designate a facility at this time that would be a later item for consideration and action by city council and with that staff recommends the adoption of the resolution approving Alexander Posada as eligible for naming consideration of a city park or facility I'm available if you have any questions thank you are there any questions from the council no are there any requests to speak or written comments no madam mayor okay I know that and there's a list of things that Alex has done that are not as his role as recreation parks director and I know he worked very diligently on Katrina with the Red Cross so he went down there I think maybe for a couple of weeks he's done he's done a lot outside of the city of Santa Maria I should say outside of his job description with the city of Santa Maria I know he's very active in the Kiwanis and I certainly will support this do I have a motion so moved second okay I have a motion and a second any further discussion sure for us hearing none madam clerk can you please call the roll councilmember Soto aye mayor Patel Flores aye councilman Bataya aye mayor aye mayor Patino the next item is the consideration of the renaming of Cesar E. Chavez Drive Brett Fulgoni director of the public works will present the report good evening mayor councilmembers before you tonight is a summary of a survey that was sent out to residents of Santa Maria that would be affected by the name change the public works department had a town hall meeting on the item May 13 2026 to hear from the public at Grogan Park as a result of that meeting we actually extended our deadline to provide surveys to the council up until May 28th and as such we provided the input from those from those surveys within your council packet and that's really all there is for this evening so okay are there any questions from the council Mr. Pettaya yes what were the results of that survey yes as noted in the report we received 71 surveys with the preference of keeping the name as Cesar E. Chavez name name thank you any other questions none so with the preference of retaining the name I didn't hear what with just I see it in report and I know it was asked and I want to make sure for the record that our respondents indicated to retain the street name Cesar Chavez that's correct thank you I have one question madam mayor yes council mayor Florida so was that a survey with those responses online or was it outreach they showed up and said they wanted it we we sent letters to the affected households on Cesar E. Chavez drive and then we held a public workshop and so we did receive some feedback at that workshop there were some folks that said hey we didn't have time to provide our input and so we said okay we'll give you another couple of weeks we sent out another letter with the survey and then a lady one of the residents delivered the public works department those surveys and there were some other ones that were emailed to engineering with those results but they were hard copies filled out and provided to us so it was my understanding that the letter that went out it had the wrong date the first one did and so at that meeting we accidentally put Tuesday we put the right date but we put Tuesday instead of Wednesday of that date and so we met everybody and said hey we're going to give you extra time to voice your opinion and that's where we extended it to the 28th because we were originally wanting to have those survey results at that meeting so that we could talk about it and have a conversation but there was a little bit of confusion there we still had a good turnout for the event but that's why we extended it to the 28th because of that error were there any can you elaborate a little bit more on the actual survey and could there have been the possibility for people to submit more than one yeah we there was a write-in option and there was we provided the list that is included in your attachments there's an adopted list that the city council has on file with veterans that have been recognized by the council and so we sent that list along with the survey to provide that as a potential option as well as any other option that they may see fit and the results have been provided from that so there was a chance that there could have been duplicate survey submitted this certainly wasn't a scientific survey it wasn't a vote it was kind of a polling an informal polling that we did as a means of trying to provide outreach and collect data yeah you know I don't want to speak for my colleagues on the council but I for one don't feel comfortable keeping the street named under Cesar Chavez in light of the accusations that were brought forward and so I would be in favor of recommending you know a name change to the street okay just can we just ask any questions now any other questions okay so I have three requests to speak I have Anne McCarty followed by Monica Lopez followed by Stella Felix Villarreal thank you Miss McCarty good evening Mayor Patino members of the city council I want to speak for a moment about Cesar Yves Chavez drive in Santa Maria and the fact that it has not yet been renamed I asked those who oppose the name change to view this issue through my lens the statements made by survivors who have come forward alleging sexual abuse by Cesar Chavez are devastating and demand attention and in the work that we do survivors come first to those survivors I want to say we see you we believe you and we honor your courage we must also ask ourselves why survivors are so often forced to relive their trauma simply to be heard sexual violence is not an anomaly it's systemic no movement no institution and no leader is immune what we have read and heard should be a moment of reckoning for all of us social justice movements labor movements farm worker movements and violence prevention organizations must confront this truth directly we cannot build justice while ignoring harm within our own spaces women and girls and farm worker communities have long faced disproportionate levels of sexual violence because of power imbalances economic vulnerability and systemic inequality for too long survivors have carried this burden in silence fearing that speaking out would damage the very movements that they helped build that silence must end accountability is not an attack on a movement accountability is what gives a movement integrity we can honor the contributions of the farm worker movement while also acknowledging the harm in fact we must anything anything less perpetuates the very injustice these movements were created to challenge I urge you as a council to move forward with renaming Cesar Y. Chavez Drive let us choose to honor someone whose legacy reflects the values we aspire to uphold integrity respect safety and service to community our public spaces should celebrate individuals who unite us around those principles and whose lives reflect the standards we expect of our leaders thank you thank you Monica Lopez followed by Stella Villarreal good evening mayor and city council my name is Monica I have lived on Cesar Chavez since I bought my house brand new in June of 2003 so 23 years now I raised two kids there currently in college both with many documents under their names I am opposed to changing the name of our street for many reasons financial it is going to cost all of us money time days away from work hours away from work to get all our documents changed we have to worry about the hassle of notifying government agencies managing utility accounts dealing with mail delivery possibly even slower emergency response while they figure out where the new street is Cesar Chavez is deceased unable to speak his piece currently not guilty as these are only allegations however he is still a historic figure Cesar Chavez was a pioneer for worker protections he forced businesses to provide safer working conditions amongst other things our neighborhood has significant traffic issues as well as code enforcement violations as my neighbor has already mentioned tonight even though some of these houses have been here for 40 years we still have huge safety issues when entering and exiting our neighborhood we need more speed limit signs we need signs directing semi trucks back to Donovan we need speed humps on Atlantic or at the least race crosswalks to slow the speeders down there are so many other areas to spend the money that would be used for this change and we need that versus changing our street name a name change will cause all of us to have to spend our hard-earned money to deal with this I have not heard of one resident on our street and the next neighbor that will speak went door to door with that survey with all the names that we could pick and not one person on Cesar Chavez wants the name changed so please do not change our street name thank you - Thank you. Stella Villarreal. - Good evening. This is my first council meeting. My name is Stella Felix Villarreal and I live on Cesar Chavez Drive. I am here because I went door to door, spoke with all my neighbors. None of us are in agreement in changing the name. Regarding the name change, we understand it's political, not to downplay what is alleged to have happened. I as a woman can relate to some of these alleged accusations or stories. Whereas, from what I understand, the political wind is at right now of, we are to be believed. I had an incident when I was 18. I reported it right away. I didn't wait years and years. I reported it immediately. So, when this came around about the street name change and the why, I was a veteran, I was a veteran and I was a veteran. I was a veteran and I, for one, would hate to think that the people that are on this list, we don't know them. We don't know their history. I do thank them for their service. But, also, what if 10 years down the road something comes up just like now, supposedly, allegedly, with Caesar? Are we going to go through this again? And my understanding is that it will cost $26,000. I could see that money better spent on other things. Like my neighbor just stated, we need more either speed bumps, stop signs, something to create our streets safer. We have a lot of people that speed by. So, as far as spending the $26,000 to change the name, to me, that's ridiculous. I am not downplaying, like I said, I'm not being insensitive. It's just, to me, it's a waste of money. I mean, the time and the effort and also the money that is going to cost all of us private citizens to have to spend, it's too much, you know. My feeling is the street was named. Let it be. Let it be. So, thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Madam Clerk, do we have any written comments? No. Just the three comment cards. Just the three comment. Okay. I received an email. Yes, did you want to say something? Yes, I forgot to mention, I have 14 more. I know we already did the survey, but yesterday, my husband and I went door to door, and we collected more signatures. I do have them with me. I handed the other copies to, was it Brett? Yes. So, I ended up getting a total of, that would come out to a total of 80 signatures. I understand there's 60 houses, but I got 80 signatures. I also got other family members. So, I don't know if you guys want the forms. The forms. Thank you. Yes. No. You can give them to the clerk if you'd like. Thank you. Any comments from the council? Madam Mayor, I appreciate the work that Public Works has put forward in getting input from residents and property owners. I appreciate those that came and gave public comment. I stand by what I, by my comments earlier that, we cannot, we cannot perpetuate alive or not, this type of assault on people to, to go without any accountability. And so, you know, I stand by my comments. I stand with the survivors and I am in full support of changing the name. Thank you. Any other? Mr. Matalia? Mr. Matalia? Yes. I've had somebody very close to me that was a victim of something like this. So, I, it's very unfortunate. I do also would love to change that name. But moving forward though, I think we need to be careful when we, when we name streets. I don't think we should be naming streets after people. Because just like the residents said, like say we change it on, on one person on the list. I didn't learn down the line. It comes out that they did something. I mean, I do stand with Gloria Soto. And I think we do need to change the name of the street. I think we do need to change the name of the street. And I think we need to change the name. And for her to come forward and say after all these years, maybe some of you don't agree. Maybe some of you said I reported it right away. Well, for her, it was different. It was a different time. It was a different era for her. So, I, I truly believe that we need to change that name and stand for what is right in the city of Santa Maria. Santa Maria. We're not going to stand with men or women that violate, that sexually violate other people. And, you know, I, I agree. I'm completely in agree. We have to, you know, accountability is part of justice, as far as I'm concerned. And we have to be part of change a culture that is just okay and it's over with and it's no big deal. Um, yes, it's inconvenient. Yes, it's going to cost people some money. Um, I had three people contact me. Two were, two were women and wanted, commented that, commented that she didn't want her daughter seeing that name on the street anymore because of her, of a situation with her daughter. And, um, so I am total support of this. And I said, and, and I think we need to stand here in the city of Santa Maria and say, we want that culture changed. We want the culture of the way women are treated and denigrated. And we just saw five kids die with alcohol. We need to change the culture and alcohol in our community. And, um, anyway, do I have a motion and second? So moved. There we go. I have a motion and a second. Can, can we repeat the direction? My understanding is that you will refer this back to the traffic committee for, uh, an appropriate name, but that you direct that the name Cesar Ace Chavez be removed and replaced. Is that correct? Yes, that's correct. Soto and then Flores. Aye. Sure. For a first, council member Soto. Yes. Mayor Patin Flores. Yes. Councilman Bataya. Yes. Mayor Patino. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you. And the Cardi for being here. Appreciate that. Thank you. And thank you. All your family. Happy birthday. Thank you for spending it with us. Thank you, Ms. Howard. Thank you, Ms. Zuniga for being here and supporting. We appreciate that. Next we will receive a presentation regarding the Santa Maria downtown multimodal assessment to be presented by Brett Fulgoni, director of the public works. Thank you, mayor and council members. Um, I have here our partners from Caltrans. Uh, Finn James is the planner on the project that he's been working so hard on and, uh, I'll turn it over to Finn for his presentation. Tino members of the council. My name is Finn James. I'm a planner with Caltrans district five. Uh, if you recall back in April, I gave a presentation on this study that Caltrans is conducting in partnership with the city of Santa Maria. At that presentation, I shared that we would be doing public engagement in April and, uh, I'm here to give a recap on that as well as share some of the next steps. Thank you. Okay. So tonight I'm going to give a brief, uh, recap of what the purpose of this study that we're doing is, uh, what the community engagement we did was, uh, what the proposed enhancements are and how the community received that as well as the next steps for starting a project in downtown Santa Maria. So our, uh, problem statement is that, uh, Broadway, which is Caltrans state route 135 and Main Street, Caltrans state route 166 in downtown Santa Maria do not meet the public space needs of the community, achieve the multimodal goals of the city, or align with the guiding principles for Caltrans Main Streets. We're doing a feasibility study because previous planning efforts conducted by the city identified, uh, vision for the downtown area, uh, but we're not able to determine specific feasible scope elements, uh, for these highways, which are needed to begin a project. So our study goals were to, uh, guide the development of, uh, the project and identify those feasible scope elements. So the study area we're looking at is, uh, Broadway from Mill Street to Cook Street. And Main Street from Pine Street to Miller Street. We did, uh, three in-person engagement events. Uh, the first one was April 10th at Downtown Fridays. The second was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza food truck night. And the third was April 22nd at the Mercado Plaza Earth Day Festival. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. 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And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. And the third was April 15th at the Mercado Plaza. was class one multi-use paths. This is where the sidewalk is widened to allow a multi-use path that bicyclists and pedestrians could use. This could be hypothetically built throughout the whole downtown area. So it would provide a complete network of enhanced safety for bicyclists and pedestrians. This was 67% supported by members of the public. The next alternative, it would be implementing class four protected bike lanes. This would exist within the road bed as it is, and is specifically for bicyclists to use. This was 71% supported, but due to space, we would not be able to provide a complete network of these class four bike lanes. The last option we showed was class two striped bike lanes, which is simply striping bike lane in the road. This was the least popular option with 39% supporting it. Where we're at today is we're just about completed with this study. The main purpose of this study is to kick off a project, which I'm pleased to announce that we recently received funding to begin. We will be doing what's called a project initiation document, which will fully scope out all of these details and put us in a really good position for funding environmental and design phases so that this can be constructed. The other really important item I want to mention is that Caltrans and the City of Santa Maria Public Works are working together on a shared maintenance agreement. This is a really important element to be able to implement those preferred types of enhancements that we saw. Those are elements that Caltrans is not capable of maintaining because we simply don't have the equipment to be able to maintain it. So for something like that, we look for a shared maintenance agreement. Whoops, that's the wrong way. So lastly, I want to thank Public Works staff, thank the council for partnering on this study. This has been a really successful model. Caltrans hasn't done a study like this in a while, and we've really shown statewide what partnership between Caltrans and a city should look like. So the recommendation in front of you is to accept these concepts that I shared and support city staffs, continued coordination with Caltrans for a future project, and work towards a maintenance agreement. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any questions from the council? No. Mr. Patai? None? Any requests to speak or written comments? No, Madam Mayor. Okay. Any more comments? Before you conclude, I just wanted to thank Caltrans, Veronica and Finn, for spearheading this project. Mayor, as you know, we've at some points in time, Caltrans has not always been at the table. And here they are. And they put a lot of work into this. And we really appreciate that. And I know you had an opportunity recently to discuss this at headquarters and could potentially become a model for engagement between Caltrans and cities. So I want to just point out the proactive nature of their work. So. I know Caltrans has not always been user friendly. And you guys have just really evolved over the years that I've been mayor. And so appreciate that. Can you go back to the three different? Yeah. That one. Oh, yes. Yeah. Do you know what that would look like after one week in our city? I have. With our drivers? I, I, we did hear a couple of public comments about worry that it would be struck. I love it. I love it. You know, I guess we could paint it every week, send someone out to paint it. But anyway, I just love it to keep them, keep the bicycles safe. Thank you. But thank you very much. And I would just add, during design development of this project, those are the details that we would look at. To make sure that we have something that's going to work for the city. By no means is anything set in stone here. Right. It's just kind of recommendations that we could use as a guide. Yeah. Well, I, for one, look forward to seeing the progress, especially with the project initiation, kickoff funding that you all received. I think that that's a step in the right direction. And I'm really eager to see how this project progresses. I think this is exciting because all the, even before I was on the council, we were talking about this and we would meet and, and have scoping meetings and have people meet in the library and talk about how they wanted the downtown to look. And so, and a lot of it was just like this. They wanted more trees. They wanted flowers and, and a safe place for a bicyclist. So thank you very much. Thank you. Um, do I have a motion in a second? Don't everyone step up at once. So moved. Second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Madam clerk, can you please call the roll? Mayor Patel Flores. Aye. Councilman Masato. Aye. Mayor Patel. Mayor Patel. Aye. Mayor Patel. Aye. The next item is the small business report initiated to be presented by Shenandoah, director of community development. Good evening, Ms. Dow. Good evening, Madam Mayor, council members. We are pleased to present tonight the small business support initiative. Um, let's see. Approximately approximately 82% of Santa Maria's businesses are classified as small businesses having fewer than 10 employees. These are a key component of the backbone of our local economy. They create local jobs. They create the unique character that makes Santa Maria the community that it is. And they invest in our community as well. However, as small businesses look to start up and grow, they can often face regulatory hurdles. While developers who dedicate their lives to developing real estate may be very experienced in the process of development review. Often, small business owners are not. They may do this once, twice in their career. And each time they have to understand our process, understand all of the different regulatory things that they have to comply with. And it can be very confusing for them. In addition, it can also be expensive and time consuming. And when they're trying to move quickly, that's something that they can at times cannot afford. Additionally, we have looked at the downtown specific plan and found that there are barriers to investment there as well. The very area that we are working to revitalize and seeking to attract businesses to the way we've set up the downtown specific plan to date actually creates additional hurdles beyond what you may see in other areas of the city. Enter the small business support initiative. This aims to eliminate key barriers to small businesses. We would look at a comprehensive review of our zoning code to identify opportunities for us to decrease time, decrease costs, and partner with businesses so that they can succeed with positive growth in our community. So potential barriers for this include looking at youth sports facilities and fitness centers as a by right use in specific zones, which currently requires CUP. Conditional use permits can often present a significant challenge to small businesses looking to grow. They often take anywhere from four to six months and the fee is approximately $14,000. So that can certainly be a challenge to small businesses that operate on narrow profit margins. Additionally, we would look at modifying the downtown permit review matrix. One example is that an adaptive reuse within the downtown, depending on size, may deal with as many as four public meetings, including three public hearings in order to move forward. And that's for an existing building. We're not talking about new development, new elevations, or any of that. That's just a reuse. Where in other parts of the city, they can actually go in on a by right basis, meaning they don't need any of those public hearings. Additionally, another example could be eliminating requirements for those multiple public hearings, including downtown revitalization committee, study sessions, things of that nature, for those small scale projects that don't need that degree of review. Additionally, we would evaluate new opportunities for streamlining and ministerial reviews. There are a number of opportunities such as directors reviews that we could have staff apply their knowledge and expertise to make sure that people are meeting the ramifications of what we want to see in the municipal code, that they meet the zoning, that they are not creating any issues for neighboring businesses. And we would get them through the process much more quickly and also would be able to reduce the cost of development for these small businesses. And finally, we could also explore fee reductions for qualifying small businesses. So as we look at that, we would look to identify those very small scale businesses that would really benefit from that and would need that help. So next steps, we are seeking input tonight from the city council. This is does represent a paradigm shift for us. Typically, most governments seek to regulate more, not less. We spend a lot of time looking at new regulations rather than looking at past ones and identifying opportunities to cut red tape and make things easier for small businesses. This is an opportunity to revisit that and take a look at a chance to increase local revenues by enhancing sales taxes and increase local jobs and opportunities for our local businesses. So with that, I await your direction and would look to see how you feel about some of these proposals. Any questions from the council? Any questions from the council? Yes. Ms. Soto? I am very happy to see that we are reviewing this and we're looking to make the process much smoother for our small business owners. And this falls right in line with the discussion that we had at the goal setting workshop or city council. And so like I said, I'm really pleased to see this. A question that I have is, you know, I appreciated the examples and I see that it's not limited to those. But I'm curious how you foresee perhaps even child daycare centers also benefiting from this. As you know, there is a significant shortage in accessible childcare, particularly here in North County. So I'm really eager to hear how this could support expanding or increasing the number of or support childcare providers. Thank you for that question, Madam Mayor, Council Member Soto. I'm delighted to share that we actually took some technical amendments to our code that would include eliminating the COP requirement for daycares to study session at the most recent planning commission study session meeting. And it will go on the July 1st meeting to planning commission to here and it will be before you for a decision on August 4th. Great. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? Any other questions, comments? You know, I think city councils, prior city councils decided they wanted to keep downtown sort of the mom and pop, the entrepreneur, and so it had a personality and not have any of the big boxes, a Costco or Home Depot or anything downtown. And so they wanted to preserve that. I think this is great. I think it's wonderful. The only thing I hesitate on is if something comes up that we don't like down there, that we don't want, that we don't think is going to fit, maybe down there. And that was my feeling on a business one time, which I will not even mention here. And that's the only hesitancy I have because you work really good with the chamber of putting all this together. And I think it's really important because these small businesses do not have the time or the energy nor the resources. You know, we had an incubator business one time downtown, which was really great. And I just thought, I don't understand why that didn't go here in Santa Maria. And I just wondered if maybe something like that would go really, really well. Because these small businesses may not need a whole storefront. They just need a desk and a phone. Or not even a phone anymore, just the computer. Yeah. Any other comments? Any other comments? No. Thank you. The planning commission may not like it because it eliminates them on some of the things that they are going to be doing. We will look to identify code changes that will incorporate their input so that staff can then refer to those. We have had some situations where it is honestly, it's pretty much a rubber stamp situation. And we know that. We know the direction of council. We know the direction of planning commission. But we still have to go through that process. And it can be painful for the businesses. So we're looking to avoid that. You pretty much know how we feel. So you're not going to want to stick a business down there that we are going to have to have the whole chambers so that they don't like it either. So thank you. Thank you. Yes, Masoda. I apologize for the last minute question. But I'm curious, with all of the redevelopment that's planned for the downtown, which is tied to what's in front of us now, I'm curious if there could also -- and I don't know if this is where it would -- this conversation would fit. But I know that there have been other cities who have in place like protections to ensure that the downtown corridors remain, you know, to small local business owners. And, you know, my fear is that with all of the redevelopment that is planned, there may be an influx of, you know, more corporate franchise type of businesses going in downtown. And I think that that would kind of -- would not -- that's not the intent of the vision -- or that's not the vision for the downtown. From my understanding. And so I don't know if there could be, you know, as we're also working through this also include in the municipal code, you know, language around a certain percentage amount of, you know, vacancies or -- I'm sorry. It's been a really long day. And so my brain is not working as fast today. But if there could be like a percentage of businesses that we can say, you know, storefronts that will be small mom and pop or small business owners, locally owned businesses. Yes. Madam Mayor, Council Member Soto. If it pleases the council, one thing that we could incorporate to the code changes is a focus on mom and pop restaurants or general businesses. And if there is a desire for a larger franchise type of company to locate there, we can elevate that to the decision making bodies. So we could make those small mom and pops that we're trying to help by right and then those others would need to go through a process. That could be an avenue. Absolutely. Yeah, that would be -- Yeah. And I think that was the intent of the council, our prior council, is that they wanted to keep it homegrown. Local. They wanted to keep it Santa Maria and the mom and pop downtown. Madam Mayor, members of the council like to chime in on this topic. If you take a look at our downtown there, we have a town center mall, but we also still have main street components. If you look at West Main, that is -- that lends itself to a lot of mom and pop businesses still. So because a lot of corporate type of businesses, they have very specific footprints. And so many times they want to go in the mall or they want to go by the freeway. But we already have a fabric that lends itself to main street type businesses. So as the downtown continues to redevelop, we hope to have a good turnover of mom and pop businesses that will want to go into that main street fabric that's already there. Yeah. Thank you. And I really appreciate hearing that we can incorporate that like in the municipal court as well. Thank you. Any other questions from the council? Hearing none. Madam clerk, are there any requests to speak or written comments? No, Madam Mayor. Okay. I'm ready for a motion. I think the direction is sufficient because again, we'll be bringing back a framework that will outline some of these details. Okay. So we're hearing no strenuous objection, shall we say. Sounds very good. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Dow. Thank you. We'll now consider introducing an ordinance amending chapter 7-5.04 of the Santa Maria Municipal Code to be presented by Shannon Dow, Director of Community Development. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Madam Mayor. We are tonight proposing an ordinance update to the catering vehicle ordinance. This is a complete replacement of the existing ordinance that's now on the books. The challenge we noticed was that the rules written are actually from 2008. It's no secret that the food industry has changed drastically since that period. And of course, food trucks have become really an essential component of Santa Maria's food scene and local economy. Additionally, the existing rules are very difficult to enforce. If you truly wanted to enforce them, we have on public streets, you can only be parked for 30 minutes at a time. On private property, only 70 minutes at a time. With that, we would essentially need a code enforcement officer or a police officer to follow a food truck around all day with a stopwatch. So obviously, that's not a tenable solution. And additionally, these existing regulations do present obstacles for both brick and mortar restaurants in terms of fairness and a level playing field, as well as the existing catering vehicle operators with those hours of operation. So we conducted a number of outreach meetings to gather input through this under Mayor Patino's leadership and the leadership of our code enforcement manager, Don Palacios, to gather input for how to shape this vehicle ordinance so it would be more palatable for both the catering vehicle industry as well as the brick and mortar food industry. So those needs that we looked at were the general public, those of the community, both of the community, both the operators of both sides, brick and mortar and catering and of course our need for enforcement. The key features of the new regulations ensure that vehicle locations do not impede traffic safety. Safety is of course at the forefront of this. They may not park within 300 feet of another catering vehicle or brick and mortar restaurant. One thing we frequently heard from brick and mortar restaurants is, hey, we have very similar food and someone will park in front of my door. This is really hurting us. Additionally, loudspeakers and amplifiers will not be permitted. Operators must provide trash receptacles and collect trash generated by their customers. So this is clearly a health and safety issue. We want to ensure that all our centers and public areas stay clean and sanitary. No furniture, shade structures or freestanding signs will be permitted. And we will also provide lengthened operating hours. So they will not be trying to fit everything in that 30 minute window. So the key components of this on public property, people may not park within 500 feet of a school or daycare. They may operate between the hours of 7:00 AM and 9:00 PM. And anything within 200 feet of a park will require them to go through the recreation and parks department permitting process. And part of this is we want to ensure that if there is an event that parks is putting on, that there isn't an opportunity to just kind of go along with things when you haven't gotten a permit, aren't technically participating in it. We haven't checked your health permit and all of those things on private property. Written consent will be required from the property owner as well as the tenants. So we'll make sure there's a little more fair competition there. And additionally, they will be able to operate between 7:00 AM and 11:00 PM, which more accurately reflects today's reality. With that, I'm open for any questions. Any questions from council? Yeah. Ms. Soto? Are you sure? Thank you. Go ahead. My first question is, one, thank you for bringing this forward. I am always a proponent of looking over perhaps outdated ordinances that need attention. I'm curious how the 300 feet separation requirement or proposed requirement was determined. Like what's the, yeah, how was that determined? I can answer that. Good evening, Madam Mayor, council members. We did a lot of research. So we reached out to other cities, spoke with other code enforcement officers, researched their muni code. And that's what we found similar with other cities was the 300 feet and thought that that'd be great for our city too. Yeah. Typically, I think what I've seen in other cities is that the, whatever the distance requirement is, it's typically from other food vendors or like restaurant types, not all like brick and mortar. And so I just, I think about the corridors that we were just earlier talking about, main, West street, like what's going to happen to food truck vendors who, you know, will that cause for food truck vendors to have to be pushed to other parts of town? Has there been an analysis of the impacts on, on their businesses? Thank you, council member Soto. Our intent with this is the 300 foot separation from other food, whether catering vehicles or restaurants. So, yeah, but has there been an analysis, I appreciate that clarification. Has there also been an analysis with, with what would happen to perhaps these vehicle catering businesses, you know, that are in these more condensed parts of town, like West Main Street, for instance? Are you looking at, on private property or public property or both? Both. Okay. I can't say that we've done an extensive analysis of, of where they typically park. We're just looking to create kind of a buffer. And one of the most frequent concerns that we heard was an even playing field for the catering vehicles versus brick and mortar. So again, looking at where there wouldn't be unfair competition created. created so that's something that we can modify if you'd like to see closer distances and we also will be you know very collaborative with private property owners where they do have that permission from the property owner themselves and the other tenants we can be very flexible with that number yeah I you know I I I I I I hear and sympathize the the the concern from from the brick and mortar businesses absolutely I'm I just I'm also curious to know like how many like just more information on on the number of vehicle catering businesses that we have in the city you know more of analysis of you know aside from what I see when I'm driving around town or the ones that I hit up where like an analysis of of where they're currently at how they're operating how many of them would be impacted by this we've definitely heard from the brick and mortar businesses but I'm also curious to know if there's been any conversations with with the vehicle catering businesses yeah thank you we have we do sorry we do have a we did pull that data from finance as far as those licensed catering vehicles there are approximately 400 licensed as of the time we were doing the research and we estimate approximately 100 of those are active meaning they're regularly on the streets we have heard also from from that industry that several of those represent people who have brick and mortar restaurants and use their catering vehicle to attend events so they're kind of both and I'll defer to Dawn because I know she has had extensive conversations with a number of our catering vehicle operators yes so we also reached out to the catering vehicle owners went out to their catering vehicles discussed what their concerns are also the challenges that they are facing so we looked into that also and so they're extended time on the street also a lot of the problems that they're facing are the public or I'm sorry the private property they're having to pay rent and so we're going to pay rent and so we're going to pay the public they're actually really excited for this new ordinance. And so, but we can do the analysis on the 300 feet if you'd like. Oh, they're excited because of? The changes that we're making. So they're not having to move every 30 minutes if they're on public property. They're not having to move every 70 minutes. So still, if they're paying someone rent, they're still having to move. And by the time they're getting their fryers warmed up, it's not the same as it used to be. Perhaps having the prepared food and they're just delivering it, the sandwiches, the burritos, what they used to have. Now they're preparing the meals when they get the order. So it takes time. So the input we've received from them has been very positive. I appreciate you sharing that. I know we've had some of these catering trucks that are from out of the area, and this has been a problem also for us. And so has Santa Barbara County. They've had the problem. And they're coming from, I guess, from the LA area. That's the only thing that bothers me. If they're a catering truck and they're Santa Maria residents, that's fine. And this would be fine. It just bothers me when they come out of the area. Do they, that particular company, do they get a business license from the city of Santa Maria? One did, and it was revoked. Oh, okay. Do they still come in, though? No. Oh, you caught them and shut them. Okay. So did Santa Barbara County, I guess. Okay. And we've been working closely with the health department as well. Good. Mm-hmm. So they have to get the permit from the health department and they get a business license from us. Correct. And what else are their expenses? That's it. That's it. Yeah, they get their permits. So it's not like the brick and mortar that's set up and they have to pay the insurance workers' comp and everything. I'm sure that they still have insurance that they have to pay. Some level of insurance. Well, they pay some insurance, but not like the brick and mortar has to pay. Not by a long shot, yeah. Okay. Any other questions? Any other questions? Okay. Madam Clerk, do we have any requests to speak or written comments? We do not, Madam Mayor. Okay. Okay, I'm ready for a motion. Come on, council member. So moved. Okay. Do I have a second? Second it. There you go. Okay, I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Mayor Patent Flores. Aye. Councilman Bethaya. Aye. Councilman Bethesda. Aye. Mayor Patino. Aye. The next item is, can you continue from May 5th, City Council meeting, the introduction of an ordinance amending chapters on cross connection and appeals provisions of the Sanderman Municipal Code to be presented by Joshua Reynolds, Deputy Director of Water Resources. Good evening, Mr. Reynolds. Oh, yes. Good evening, Mayor and members of the council. Thank you for having me back to talk about this. All right, tonight, I want to really dig into some of the issues that came up last time, provide a little more information on what we currently do for our cross connection control program. really talk in a little more detail about what those state changes are and how they impact our current program and how they also impact our ordinance. And then we'll wrap back because we had a big bit of discussion last time about the impacts of this ordinance change to some of our, to the community. So our current cross connection control program. So what are we currently doing? And I don't want to belabor it. We talked about this last time. Cross connection, just as a reminder, is any potential connection between a non-potable or private water system and the public drinking water system. And a backflow event would be when water from that private system flows back into the public drinking water system. And that creates a potential for contamination or health problems. So our current program was established, well, at least the, the municipal code was adopted in 2003. And so that program has been active since 2003. It currently has 3,630 backflow prevention assemblies in the program. That means those, those assemblies get tested annually and get noticed as the tests are required. As part of that program, we have a dedicated cross connection control specialist on staff whose job is to enforce and monitor our cross connection control program. We also do hazard assessments now, typically on, or very consistently on new construction and building permits. And, and we try and monitor a change of ownership or at least change of uses of a site if those changes were doing hazard assessments at that time as well. So these are all elements that we currently have in our cross connection control program. So, to split sort of what our responsibility is, what, what the utilities department or the city's responsibility is versus what we're calling the responsible party. That's the term used in the code or the private party, what their responsibilities are. So our responsibility is to trigger and review the hazard assessments, to inspect new and repaired devices, to make sure we're sending annual notices to people with backflow prevention assemblies in the program, and to track the status of both those notices and their hazard assessments. The responsible party's responsibility is to respond to our hazard assessment questionnaires, to work with a certified tester to test their devices and repair their devices if needed, to submit those test results and completed questionnaires to the utilities department for review. So what is this, what is the cross connection control policy handbook, which is the state changes, this new state rules, what does that do differently compared to what we currently do in our cross connection control program? And so a little reminder here, the state of California adopted this cross connection control policy handbook, and that established requirements for local cross connection control programs. What's important to note is we already had, and we already have, a cross connection control program in place. I'll talk a little bit about what's changed on that. What it also did is it repealed sections of the state code regarding cross connections. So Title 17 was repealed as part of this. And as I'll discuss, our ordinance references Title 17. It also required revisions to our municipal code. So that's a stated requirement in the cross connection control policy handbook. There are certain things that your municipal code must have in place. And required a written preparation, preparation of a written cross connection control plan. So we talked a little bit about time here. You may have seen on that little image, the state framework of the cross connection control policy handbook was adopted in 2023. It became effective in 2024. So they gave a year there. With cross connection control plans due in July of 2025. But as we've been working through preparing and not just the city of Santa Maria, but the industry at large throughout California have been working to prepare these cross connection control plans. We've been working closely with the state and the division of drinking water, providing feedback and input to them. And they have been modifying their guidance and clarifying their requirements as we've gone through this process. So throughout 2025 and into January and February of 2026, the state has been updating and clarifying their requirements. We prepared and submitted a draft cross connection control plan in July of 2025 to meet that deadline. We got comments back in that fall, coordinate with DDW on those comments and then resubmitted a plan in January of 2026. That plan was approved by the state of California. Once we got through that process and we're able to, the state was able to settle down on their changes to the policy handbook, we brought this forward for council consideration. So some important things to talk about with regards to Title 17. Remember, Title 17 was the old standards, the old state rules. And what it sums down to is Title 17 said, hey, here's what you must do. You must control cross connection. Very relatively simple set of guidance. But the new policy handbook doesn't just stop it, here's what you must do. It says here's how you must do it. You have to have things like formalized hazard assessment requirements. You have to, you know, have a written plan. It also did things like expanded the definition of hazards. And we'll talk about this in a little more detail because it's really, I think, the most important change to our program is it includes single-family residential fire sprinkler systems. The other things that it did is it really strove to align the state standards to modern industry standards. Think American Water Works standards or USC cross-connection control standards. It also does things like requiring outreach, better record keeping, and tester certification. So within that policy handbook, it sets some compliance timelines. All non-residential assessments must be done by 2031. And that's approximately that 3,600 backflow protection devices we already have in our system. Higher risk residential, so that would be with the understanding that they have either a swimming pool or that they have a fire sprinkler system, generally, a fire sprinkler system, has to be assessed by and protected by July 1, 2034. What we did then is we worked with DDW to get a long-phased approach here to get the rest of the residential systems. Because keep in mind, we have 23,000 approximately residential connections in the city. So we gave ourselves a pretty significant amount of time to get those hazard assessments completed. So what changes are we looking for to support compliance? What changes to our ordinance are we looking for to support compliance? So if we look at our current ordinance and do a bit of a gap analysis compared to the cross-connection control policy handbook requirements, we identify some major gaps. Our definitions are older. They're not aligned with the current cross-connection policy handbook. We don't have the strict written guidance on when hazard assessments are going to be done or redone or repeated over time. We do keep installation standards. They're not codified, but they are in our engineering standards. It's not clear what our record-keeping, outreach, or our written program looks like within our current ordinance. However, we do have decent protection requirements in our ordinance, which is a testament to our ongoing implementation of this program. We also require testing annually. We monitor and notify responsible parties of their testing requirements, and we enforce if the tests are not completed. We do monitor and enforce that. And so the plan here is with our cross-connection control plan and the revised ordinance, we want to close these gaps. So what does the new code do? It amends chapter 8 to authorize the director of utilities to develop and update the control plan, also to implement and enforce the plan, and to manage appeals consistent with other code provisions. So what are the potential impacts, and how will the community fill this? I think what's important is that this ordinance does not immediately require device installation for any homes or residents. It does, however, trigger hazard assessments for, as we've discussed in the past, approximately 1,500 homes with single-family homes with fire sprinkler systems. The responsibilities for existing devices, that's nearly 3,630 devices, remain in place, and they remain unchanged for those property owners. We will be engaging in outreach and education to the public abroad, but also to potentially impacted properties and homeowners. So what have we done to kind of mitigate this impact? We worked closely with the state to really right-size those requirements. We spread the hazard assessments over multiple years in order to not have a really dense impact on the community. We worked with the building and fire department and engineering department to update our standards to reduce future costs on homeowners. And we will continue, we'll start initiating public outreach to support customer awareness so that the customers in the community know why we're doing this program and what the benefits are. So there's no new rates, fees or staffing associated with this ordinance. It is funded through the Water Enterprise Fund. We meet that through the standard budgets rate process for our future needs should they change. We are exploring grant opportunities for impacted homeowners, so that's a positive that there is some potential opportunity for lower income homeowners to get some funding to support the installation of backflow protection assemblies. And we've updated the standards and working to update, roll out those updated standards to minimize future impacts to the community. So our requested action is to update the municipal code to provide local authority required by the state and close the gaps in the existing ordinance. So we recommend waiving the first reading, introducing the amendments for chapters 810A and 8107, and set adoption at the next city council meeting. If you have questions, I'm happy to answer those as best I can. Any questions? Madam Mayor? Yes. So I have not had the opportunity to meet with staff. I've done my own research on contacting different cities, mayors, their utilities departments, and they've all shared with me it's been a disaster. And one of the main issues is that, and I'm not going by a threat or fear that we need to have this done right now because I just don't think we should put our community in fear that we don't get this done right now. It's just going to be a disaster. But I don't feel comfortable moving forward without meeting with your staff or me doing some more research because I just, just the stories that I hear that if it doesn't, if they do a backflow test and something comes up, they'll shut your water off. People have been without water. San Diego, Chilabista, National City, just to name a few that I contacted and just because I wanted to do my own research and find out because I think that we need to be careful what we're doing and what we're implementing here in the city of Santa Maria and telling our, and telling our, our residents. Also, I'm, I'm glad to know that, you know, hopefully there's grants to help them to get this done because it is expensive. It's not cheap. So I don't feel comfortable moving with it forward today if we have to, um, do we have to approve it today? No, I could just, oh, okay. Well, for me, I, I just don't feel comfortable. I just, I did some re, my own research and, um, not anything against staff. I just, we haven't had a chance to meet because I had some questions for them, but, um, I'm still doing my own research on this before, um, I'll agree. Thank you. Um, Ms. Soto? I, I'd like to hear from staff what, um, I guess, your response is to the, the, the, the feedback that council member Flores has heard or received from other cities. I think for us, the important part is that we have a very well-developed backflow prevention program. it's been in place for decades. It has a dedicated staff member. We have software and, and electronic outreach. We have 45 testers, I think, on our list of approved testers. We, we monitor and check almost 4,000 backflow devices every year right now, today, right? So, that part of it doesn't change with what we're doing here. Does it get clarification as to when we have to reassess? Yes, right? We're going to do hazard assessment more frequently. Over time, as, as device changes wear and wear out, they go to a more robust device. but that's sort of the long-term change. The big change here is sort of really understanding the messaging and the potential solutions for the homeowners that are impacted by this. That's the new group of people that are getting pulled into this cross-connection control program. We've been working with, with building and fire department to keep that pool of homes from growing through adoption of new standards to, to implement cross-connection control in the building as it's being built. So, looping the fire sprinkler system, draining them to a toilet or, you know, feeding a toilet off it so that the water flows through there. It's just that group of homes that are already built. And I think that's one that I pushed for as much time as I could with the state to enforce that. So, that's that 20, no, I'm blanking because I'm standing up here, 2034 date, right? So, yeah. So, that date, we've got some time to sit down, really do some research. We're doing some research now. We've talked to some fire sprinkler contractors. We're trying to figure out what opportunities there are to do this with as reliably and as inexpensively as possible. Of the number of black backflow, what is it, nearly 4,000 backflow monitoring systems that we currently monitor, has there been a time where we've had to shut off water to the residents or the businesses who have those in place? We had a notable incident a few months ago where we did have to do a shutdown for about a day because they had a failure on their system and the way it was set up. We worked, I had water operators out there and we worked with them back in operation within a day, a day and a half so that they were back and going. I can't think offhand of any other sort of shutdowns that we've had. We tend to really try and work with the community, give them a little leeway to get their things repaired. The group of testers and certified testers in this community do a really good job of informing their customers and making those repairs happen. I would say the biggest sort of challenge has been theft or vandalism of backflow prevention assemblies. That has settled down, thankfully, over the last year or so. But we have not, that I'm aware of, gone out and had to shut anybody off because they haven't been in compliance with their backflow protection assembly. What's the risk of, like for that example that you gave, what's the risk of not shutting the water system down? I mean, we haven't been in a situation where someone's put us in an imminent danger of a backflow event into the system. So we just haven't been faced with that problem. We have generally seen responsive testers and responsive property owners to keep their backflow device operational. That's good. Are there any risks to delay this further? I mean, there is risk because there are gaps here. If we had to take enforcement action on somebody, I think there is a potential risk of a pushback there. Without that, you know, I'd like to be able to move forward with the new plan. So if we're continuing to enforce the old ordinance when really we need to be doing the new ordinance or the new prosecution control plan, similar but different, right? So it covers a lot of the same topics but it does have some risk if we start rolling that out without the ordinance to support it. Are there any legal? I know. You're probably talking about the legal risk. But are there any legal risk to us not moving forward or delaying this process? As with all state mandates, there's always a potential of regulatory risk that would come down or some sort of notification we would receive from the state. A minor delay to satisfy counsel I don't believe would be a problem. And I was just conferring with John, we're not approving new projects that have this problem. This really is a retrofit problem. So ultimately the challenge will be between now and 2034 to have these. So whether or not it's an immediacy I think is probably it's more a state generated crisis than a current one. Can you elaborate on that? Give me more. Say more. I can always say more. I'm a lawyer. No, I think that again, this was created as we know as a regulatory determination from the state to correct the what they saw as flaws in engineering. In reliance on the prior code, certain properties were designed and constructed without cross-connection protections. What they're trying to do now is rectify that through local regulatory agencies. I see. that really is the issue we have. New construction isn't getting built that way. Older construction was either retrofitted or no longer has this challenge. It's that missing middle problem that really we're trying to regulate and to assist by getting them in compliance before there are other issues. And for us to be in compliance. ultimately the state regulatory scheme is to put the screws to local agencies to put the screws to our citizens. That's it in a nutshell. Thank you. I have no further questions. You have another question? No further questions. Are all these 4,000 backload devices, are these just businesses not residential or any of them residential? There are some residential. Some ADUs trigger the need for them. Some residents have multiple meters which can trigger the need for them. Multifamily residential typically has them in place. So if you have multiple connections on property to our water system you're going to have some kind of a backflow prevention device on site. So they're not all businesses but they are mostly businesses. Okay. Well I have no problem with this minor delay if you want to meet with the staff, Ms. Flores. Okay. Do you have any problem with that? No. I mean my I just I think that not that I want to like rush it but I do I would like for the city to be compliant. Perhaps just move to continue it to the next meeting would be an appropriate motion at this point. Okay. Can I get a motion for that? So moved. Second. Okay. I have a motion and a second to continue it to the next meeting. Any further discussion? Harry Nunn, Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Mayor Potem Flores? Aye. Mayor Pataya? Aye. I'm moved. Council member Vendor. It's a long day. I'm not promoted. Council member Soto? Aye. Mayor Patino? Aye. Thank you. It's late. Okay. Next is an update on the fiscal year 2026 through 2028 budget to be presented by Rebecca Campbell, Director of Finance. Good evening, Ms. Campbell. Mayor. Good evening, members of Council. Rebecca Campbell, Director of Finance. So we're finally here presenting the biennial budget for adoption. And you're smiling. I know. I'm trying to stay awake. So, but it's all good. Okay. So fiscal years 2026 through 2028, biennial budget adoption. Looking at the recommendation, we were here at your last meeting on June 2nd, and we introduced the budget in a hearing. Tonight, we're going to give a shorter presentation on the biennial budget, and we're going to ask you to adopt a resolution that adopts the biennial budget. By law, we have to have a budget adopted by June 30th in order to keep spending and keep the city operating. We're going to go ahead and review the financials at a higher level. And tonight, the charts are showing up. So thank you, clerks. Thank you. Okay. So looking at all funds, these represent the operating budgets for all of the funds at the city. They do exclude capital, internal services. And so just a review of the numbers, we have six revenue categories, operating revenues and transfers in are anticipated to be $284.4 million for 26-27 and $279.1 million for fiscal year 27-28. Looking at the pie chart up to the left, enterprise funds make up 48% of the budget in revenue, taxes of the second funding source at 34.5%, and then other revenue is made up of credit card processing fees, transfers in, cost allocation charges, which is 7.6% of the budget. Looking at expenses, our expenses represent $303.6 million for fiscal year 26-27, $340.5 million for all funds operating in 27-28. Looking at the graph, enterprise and utilities, actually, utilities specifically makes up 43.2% of the expenses. Public safety is the next highest category at 28.3%. Looking at all funds that includes capital projects and includes internal service funds, the number goes up higher, and so for the total budget for fiscal year 26-27, $368 million and $425.3 million for fiscal year 27-28. Reviewing some of the items, services and supplies have topped personnel costs for this year, which last year they were 5% under salaries and benefits. So you can see some of the mid-year changes we made by reducing positions and some of the reductions in this budget were reducing personnel costs to bring those costs in line. Also, Measure U represents $24.6 million of these all funds and $10.7 million of police department personnel costs are represented here and $10.3 million in the fire department. Transfers out include funding for the library of $3.6 million transferred out from general fund and cost allocation charges and capital expenses. Our debt service category, that includes the last payment for the computer-aided dispatch records management system and also the $3.6 million payment for the water bond. Our position summary, this is represented here. So if you recall, January 20th with our rebalancing initiative for the budget, at that time, the city reduced 24 full-time equivalent positions. So reduction of $7.6 million implemented into the budget for this year. It's important to note there were no layoffs with that at that time. This fiscal year, we included those reductions as part of the budget and we reduced an additional 37.8 full-time equivalent positions. So that brought us to a total of 703.8 positions being adopted in the budget spread out through the departments. Now we're going to hone in on the general fund. Looking at that, the general fund's revenues and transfers are anticipated to be $107.6 million for fiscal year $101.4 million for revenues and transfers in for $27.28. The two-year budget for the general fund expenses are comprised of $107.6 million fiscal year $26.27 and $109.2 million for $27.28 expenses. The two-year budget shows that there's a structural deficit still there that remains and for fiscal year $26.27 we're bringing in $7.3 million in the local economic augmentation fund or we call it LEAF reserves to balance the budget and you'll see that in $27.28 it shows that there's a gap and we'll have to find a solution for that as we go forward. Looking at Measure U particularly Measure U revenues are anticipated to be $26.8 million for $26.27 $27.3 million for $27.28 69% of those dollars support 132 full-time equivalent positions for the city and here too you'll see that there's a structural imbalance because our expenses are higher than our revenues coming in. We're able to cover it this year using one-time fund balance savings from the changes we made in January 20th but we'll have to keep a close eye on that because that's not anticipated to occur in future fiscal year. Moving on to enterprise funds enterprise funds are comprised of water resources for water and wastewater solid waste transit and radio funds they make up 48% of the total revenue and 49% of the total expenses for the city they are restricted funds that are self-supporting by funding operating and capital expenses through charges or rates collected for their services you'll see there's some increases several large capital projects are planned for the water resources funds examples of that are the reservoir rehab project at 4 million water discharge wastewater discharge upgrades 11 million in 2627 and 34.4 million in fiscal year 2728 there's also some well upgraded projects those are some of the significant ones there the radio fund accounts for and houses the location and cost anticipated revenues associated with the city's 700 megahertz trunked radio communication system and other technology related equipments and that we partner with other municipalities and the school system for that system and the surplus shown there is a reserve that's being set aside for replacement costs looking at our capital and maintenance expenses and all the capital improvement plan for maintenance and equipment projects there are 52 capital projects that are planned approximately 158.3 million in appropriations comprised of 50 million in projects for the first year and 108.3 million in the second year they're funded by many sources you can see that on the chart to the left and the general fund is funding 1.5 million in fiscal year 26-27 and 850,000 in 27-28 for projects related to heating and AC HVAC for the police department building that are necessary and for some other necessary maintenance upgrades to citywide property also the mobile equipment replacement and expansion budget includes 12.8 million in appropriations for 38 pieces of equipment for replacement some concerning issues I'll remind you is that the enhanced roadway funding that comes into this fund is being reduced by 1.5 1.6 million dollars or 65% of that funding is being reduced and that was based on a study that was commissioned by utilities related to their charges and the way we are charging for those enhanced roadway fees also public works they do have in their public works budget $100,000 set aside for citywide maintenance of facilities and facilities assessment included in their packet is an attachment that shows more detail on that as requested and this is a concern as we go forward because we'll need to find a funding source to fund our building needs and maintenance needs streets things like that looking at the chart this is a history of our reserves the historical reserves and our projections going forward here we as we look at these balances keep in mind that it's vital that the city maintain a core reserve of 16.7% or two and a half months of operating that estimates a minimum of 24 million in general fund reserves that we need to maintain just to just for cash flow purposes for any emergency purposes things like that that's a best practice and best practice for from rating agencies and things like that is upwards of 20 to 30 percent in reserves okay from january 2nd there were a couple of amendments I want to bring to your attention and we've included these amendments into the budget so the first amendment is related to requests from public works it was submitted subsequent to us getting the printed document done but this is related to some asphalt and traffic safety needs it's a request of $627,047 funded by measure A for some equipment and two vehicles and so the total cost is included in the budget and that's funded by measure A funds and the second amendment relates to the the Paul Nelson Aquatic Center if you recall at our hearing we had quite a bit of public comment and conversation about the pool and so we did get right to work on that and on June 8th city staff met with representatives of the YMCA Allen Hancock College Santa Maria Swim Club and Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley and we discussed various solutions Mayor you were there and Councilmember Soto you were there at that meeting and we talked to everyone around the table about what can we do and what are solutions moving forward we talked about possible fundraising events modifications to staffing of lifeguards that we will look into the review of the city's contract with the school district and we also discussed with the YMCA their need to use our pool this next year and having its members come to our pool which they can help offset with revenue from them so we included that all in and we also looked through the budget and looked through some of our capital projects we believe we can cancel for this upcoming year and so we're looking to provide this one time solution to keep the pool open during those winter months and so that would entail canceling the RV hookup for park hosts that was included in the budget $100,000 it would include canceling the $200,000 project for the Elks field lighting and also we'd bring in that revenue from the YMCA $44,000 and with that there's also a budget mechanics of a transfer from capital $300,000 just to explain the numbers and so this is outlined also this issue is outlined in the resolution in section 7 which gives the authority to the city manager to make these modifications by October and keep the pool open so looking at the total budget if you look at the second year almost a half a million dollars so we're pushing up towards there and so looking at fiscal year 26 27 incorporating those changes we have total appropriations at $369,313,011 second year $425,320,959 with those changes I want to recognize again the budget team staff all their work they're here tonight thank you so much I want to recognize the directors all of their staff we have done a ton of work to get here but I want to also point out that we have a lot of work ahead of us as well and so just some reminders of some of the work ahead we have a hiring chill in place we plan to keep it in place we're meeting weekly with the city manager HR director looking at the positions following up with directors as needed and so we'll continue that practice and see if there's anything we can hold as we go forward that's really helped us in addressing these budget challenges without having to do layoffs looking at we're going to on the looking ahead at different revenue options thank you for adopting the fees last meeting we incorporated all that into the budget we'll be looking at other revenue solutions anything ideas that come up we're happy to look into those as we move forward and it's not just a cutting budget we also want to look at our revenue options so we can bring in additional funds also our capital outlay project I talked about the concerns with the capital fund but we need to work on a funding plan for that and for the maintenance that we have ahead of us so we maintain our facilities continuing to work on short and long term budget solutions so I know everyone here is committed we're going to be working together with you your council and working on solutions so we can find and resolve that budget as we move forward in fiscal year 27 28 and also measure you a reminder on that one too you know knowing that it's out of you know it's not the expenses are outweighing the revenues we need to work on that as well and see what options we have there. so tonight asking for you to adopt the budget as presented and or provide direction that we can incorporate into the budget and adopt from there. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions from the council? Yes. Ms. Soto? Thank you. We were earlier talking about the changes to expediting I think the CUP process for or the permits for small businesses and with the limited what is it employees or staffing levels and community development like how would that would there be an impact there to the changes that we're also trying to implement and expediting some of these permits for small businesses and how would that be absorbed? Council member Soto thank you for that question. What we're seeking to do with the small business initiative is really cut out unnecessary work so there will be a benefit in terms of fewer hours of staff time that are dedicated to those functions and that will aid immensely in the streamlining. There's really minimal avenue for us to if we do need to go through a public hearing process for a CUP or something similar there's really very limited opportunity to make that faster. We have noticing periods we have to convene the planning commission or in some cases it goes on to the council. So you're absolutely correct we do not have sufficient staffing to expedite every project work that comes in the door as much as we wish that we could. So instead we're looking to strategically cut out things we don't necessarily need to be doing. Got it. Thank you. My other question is pertaining to the leaf reserve and us fully exhausting well almost fully exhausting it to a little bit under one mil through this one time transfer when can we expect like potential scenarios being presented by staff to city council so that we have ample time to discuss and I don't know I'm thinking about scenario planning if needed. Yes thank you for the question I had planned on bringing a reserve policy update during the budget process but we are working on finalizing the fiscal year 2024 audit. We are going to be doing that in the next two weeks by June 30th and so just as a precaution you know taking all that into account want to finalize that and then bring the reserve policy in front of you with some recommendations so it will be soon as possible likely in July or the beginning of August. Oh okay and I think on that same note of us under or us completing that audit at the last meeting we learned about the leave reserve being overdrawn I'm curious to what controls we're going to have in place moving forward to prevent something like that happening again and then I'm also curious if there were any other funds I know we have the economic stabilization fund the OPEP reserve I'm sure I'm missing one other one but I'm just curious if there were any other funds impacted as far as far as we know none of the other funds were impacted and we're still reviewing that though one thing we're going to try to do is the city hasn't had a reserve schedule incorporated into its budget so we're going to develop one and so we'll be tracking through our budget book every year what's transfers in what's transfers out at the point of the budget we do look at that all the time because things change sometimes we don't have to use the reserves but at that point in time at budget time we'll have a reserve schedule that we're planning to incorporate so that will be new another thing is with our budget module that's going to be developed with the enterprise resource planning system that will give us better tools for tracking and the reserves can be incorporated into that and produce schedules and so it'll be more transparent it'll just really help us going forward so and the other thing is we want to catch the audits up we want to be on time and so it's a goal of our department and the city and so the only thing is that one late makes the next one late but if we can just catch it up it's going to take some time but that is our goal and once we're there that'll really help us with our projections and our tracking thank you my other question is regarding the 334 okay for the pool I see that one of the ways in which we're going to close that gap there is through the pausing of some two I think I saw capital projects one which was the Elks field lighting for 200,000 I am eager to hear from the Ruck and Parks department or you as to what impact that would have on that field delaying the lighting do you want to come up to thank you for the question I don't have a study ready to present to you but we can have one shortly and assess the situation to give you a clear picture yeah I appreciate that I just if we're going to delay one capital project when I think at the last meeting when the budget was presented in full last meeting I asked if there were any capital projects that could be delayed and they were all critical and so I'm just curious not that I am I am very much in support of this but I just want to make sure what I'm what we're voting on and what we're delaying here and I can lend a little bit of color to the elks field to the extent that I'm familiar with it there's old lights there was a question I think last council meeting of how quickly can those be replaced we have old lights out there that they're halogen bulbs and the wiring in them is old and we have old everything's old and so there was a proposal to try to update those to a newer standard light this delays that but they still operate they so far as I know and the last that I understand is that they do but I'll have to defer to rec and parks whether or not they work today there's probably some that are out more than likely and as we get as they burn out they have to pull new wire up to those lights to fix some of them because the wires burn out and so it can be complicated there's not a lot of people with the equipment it's very expensive and so you get to a point where you're like it makes sense to replace the whole thing so it was likely an upgrade to that okay so there are scheduled repairs for the lights that are out and my understanding is supplies are we're waiting on supplies and a contractor will be scheduled to make those repairs repairs this capital improvement would provide a longer term solution so that repairs are not necessary so frequently as they are right now so the lights function with some interruptions to some of the bulbs but those are to be scheduled to be repaired this will delay a longer term repair on those fields okay I don't know if there's any other context that will be provided yeah it started off as a 1.5 million dollar project to replace everything and then it changed to let's replace what's absolutely needed and now it's being deferred that's good to know thank you for that clarification and then my last question for now kind of going back to scenario planning my from what I read we don't necessarily have a plan yet for year two of the budget other than more revenue coming in through you know right from the support with the support from the voters of Santa Maria and so aside from that is there anything else that you can share in terms of scenario planning for year two we will be working with all the departments and go you know I anticipate going through another cycle of what can be reduced keeping that hiring chill on where we can you know and trying to free up expenses that are within the budget as well and so we're just going to keep working on it and work towards getting the budget balanced okay thank you any other questions from the council okay thank you very much madam clerk are there any requests to speak or written comments I do have one public comment by Gary Michaels but I don't see him here and I think he may have left okay thank you thank you okay do I have a motion a second I'll second it no I didn't make the motion so moved okay I have a motion do I have a second okay thank you any further discussion okay hearing none madam clerk can you please call the roll mayor pro tem Flores aye councilman Bethaya aye councilman aye and mayor Patino aye the next item are resolutions amending election resolutions regarding submission of a question to the voters of the general municipal election to be presented by Donna Schwartz chief deputy city clerk madam mayor members of the city council this report is adoption of resolutions as the mayor said on June 2nd city council adopted resolution 2026 85 calling a general municipal and special municipal election on Tuesday November 3rd for the election of certain municipal officers filling a vacancy and for the submission to the voters a question relating to adding chapter 38B imposing a transaction and use tax and adopted 202689 setting priorities for filing written arguments regarding a city measure and directing the city attorney to prepare an impartial analysis the ballot measure language was amended to reflect sustaining and enhancing general services whereas measure U remains focused on public safety the recommendation before you is to adopt the resolutions amending for calling and giving and the submission to the voters and then adopting resolution amending setting priorities for filing the written arguments and both these resolutions has the wording that was amended for this measure and this really concludes my report and if there are any questions I'm going to go ahead and refer them to the assistant city manager Chen Wu are there any questions from the council on this at all I go ahead Ms. Sona I see the fiscal considerations that are presented in the report I'm I know it's difficult to project but do we have any any concerns on on sales tax revenue not keeping pace with what's projected Madam Mayor Councilmember Soto generally no we consult with HDL and they provide reports on sales tax and I think usually our projections come pretty close and so even if you think about the 1% measure you there's some years in which I think revenues came in 26 million sometimes it's 27 million so the projection here is 13 million I would say that's a ballpark figure it may be more but I would say this is a little bit on the conservative side got it any other questions comments no well we'll see what happens yeah do I have a motion oh Madam Clerk do I have a request to speak or written comments on this no Madam Mayor okay so I'm looking for a motion so moved and a second second okay I have a motion and a second any further discussion I just go ahead I wanted to say this in the last item but it also pertains here I just really want to thank you know staff for working so diligently on a really challenging budget year and for working with us proposing solutions I was really grateful to have participated in the meeting that we had with the folks who are very passionate about keeping our pool open and I appreciated the efforts that were taken there and you know we need to find ways to bring in revenue and this is what's presented in front of us now and I just like I said I just want to say thank you Madam Clerk can you please call the roll Mayor Patino Flores Aye Councilman Bethaya Aye Councilman Brissetto Aye Mayor Patino Aye I do want to thank all the staff that worked on the budget the department heads and the cutting that they had to do and Ms. Campbell I know you haven't been here that long but you really got to know all the departments and you seem like you've been here for a longer time because you really know all the departments and are able to answer so many of our questions but this was really really tough and a lot of people contributed to this so that we could make the policy decisions up here next will be a report and I guess our deputy city manager Chun Wu will be making that report yes good evening madam mayor members of the council I do want to excuse city manager Dave Rowlands he's ill but I do want to comment on the budget process and our finance department and the work that's been put in and all the departments I think it may be easy to miss in one of the slides it shows how we went from about 745 employees and now we're at 703 and that's a real reduction of employees and in the same time we are still providing the services we are still serving the community and so you know I think there's been a lot of effort on the part of the departments to maintain a very high quality level of service to maintain continuity of operations and that that's not to be overlooked and even now I think of the current budget it shows that reduction of employees from a few years ago and we're still implementing a hiring chill and so departments are still doing everything that they can to provide a good service to our community and you know our last agenda item there was a polling for the sales tax measure and that the polling was good because I think our residents are satisfied with the services that they receive from the city of Santa Maria it's a reflection of that so I just wanted to provide that comment we have one meeting in July and that would be the July 7th meeting there'll be a recess for the second meeting in which we would not meet so one meeting in July we have scheduled a proclamation for recreation and parks month we also have the urban water management plan we have the assessments for landscape maintenance districts and special benefit zones and there are some other items that may go July 7th or may go in the August meeting but that concludes the city manager's report so we'll just have the July 2nd okay 7 7 July 7 7 okay there okay now we'll go over the oral reports of council members Ms. Soda can we start with you on June 8th I attended the meeting with you madam mayor and the folks from Paul Nelson pool and today I was at the budget county hearings those are all my reports thank you Mr. Bataya Sunday June 7th I attended a Mistake agricultural fair at Buena Vista Park Monday June 8th cutting ceremony for the Japanese community center Monday June 8th attended the Westside Little League championship game at Oakley Park Wednesday June 10th attended the theft prevention and business partnership meeting at the PD Wednesday June 10th I attended the Ella Hancock College Barbecue event Thursday June 11th attended the VIP economic forecast Friday June 12th I attended the leadership of Santa Mia Valley graduation Monday June 15th I attended the Santa Mia police pinning ceremony at the PD Thank you Council Member Flores June 3rd I attended the communify meeting June 5th I went to angry chicks ribbon cutting ceremony June 8th I attended the Japanese community ribbon cutting ceremony June June 10th I went to Allen Hancock College June 10th I also went to the fighting back coalition meeting that they had June 11th I attended the VIP reception economic forecast and then June 12th the meeting at Hancock College for the economic forecast meeting and June 15th San Maria badge pinning ceremony thank you June 2nd I did the Ben Hayes show in the morning and Ms. Flores will be doing follow-up tomorrow morning June 3rd I attended the public works week barbecue attended the Cal College board meeting and planning commission meeting on June 5th the League of City California City Policy Committee and I attended the Communify 2026 awards dinner where fighting back Santa Maria Valley Edwin Weaver was recognized June 8th attended the Japanese community center ribbon cutting ceremony on the 9th of June the recreation and parks commission meeting on June 9th the block grants advisory committee on June 10th Santa Barbara SB CAG North County subregional planning committee attended fighting back Santa Maria Valley coalition meeting and later that day the community leader barbecue at Allen Hancock College on the 11th I did the VIP reception at Santa Maria Valley Chamber economic forecast and no I didn't do the reception I did the economic forecast at Hancock College and the 15th I attended the Santa Maria Police Department badge pinning and promotion ceremony and that was really nice chief Williams to see all these young young people men and women that are new in our police department they just look like they're getting younger every year and the promotion so thank you very much ladies and gentlemen yes I failed to mention in my report I apologize for it being so delayed but given that we I just want to acknowledge Mr. Hall for his persistency and given that we have new members on the city council I would like to propose that we schedule in a future agenda a review of the current model lease agreement for mobile home parks in the city of Santa Maria perhaps it could be subsequent to when the ordinance that has been worked on by community development and the planning commission and so I don't know if I have support from my colleagues to review that model lease yeah I'll be that so okay it's fine thank you ladies and gentlemen this meeting is adjourned and you you

raise your hand and ask him for a listening device if you would like interpretation services tonight. I would like to call this meeting to order for the city council meeting of May 5th, 2026. Madam Clerk, can you please call the row? Council Member Aguilera? Here. Council Member Batalla? Here. Council Member Soto? Here. Mayor Potem Flores? Here. Mayor Patino? City Attorney, Mr. Watson, would you like to give the closed session report? Absolutely. Thank you, Madam Mayor, Pro Tem. With respect to items 3A and 3B, instructions were provided to the negotiators. No further report is necessary. Thank you. We will be doing proclamations tonight, and the very first proclamation will be given by our council member, Gloria Soto, on Water Awareness Month. Thank you. Thank you. Whereas the city of Santa Maria maintains a water awareness and conservation program that includes community outreach, school education, complimentary home water visits, and suspected leak notifications to residential and commercial customers. And whereas every industry, business, and resident can make a difference by conserving water at work, home, and school, and whereas residents of all ages and businesses and industries of all types are invited and encouraged to implement just one of the many tips and ideas to help conserve water in Santa Maria. Now, therefore, Alice Patino, Mayor of the city of Santa Maria, hereby proclaims the month of May 2026 as Water Awareness Month in the city of Santa Maria. And here to accept the proclamation, we have Myra Ritchie. Good evening, Madam Mayor, fellow city council members, city department heads, and fellow city residents. Upon receiving this proclamation, May is Water Awareness Month. Again, my name is Myra Ritchie, and I am the water conservation specialist for utilities department. Part of my job is I educate the community about water conservation. We all know how a valuable resource it is to our community. We definitely have a robust water conservation outreach to our community. Not only we do outreach social media, but we also advertise in print ads, both English and in Spanish. We have print ads among the whole Santa Maria ad times in the news. We have artwork done by students. We are actually having this evening celebrating the 15th Water Awareness poster contest, which I'd like to acknowledge these students. This year, we had over 300 posters that were submitted with six local schools here in Santa Maria. We invited third grade students to participate. If it wasn't for the elementary school administrators, along with the teachers, we wouldn't be having this contest. So first and foremost, thank you to Santa Maria Bonita School District. And with that said, I'd like to start the evening by announcing our six winners. For most educational, from Alvin's school and Mrs. Lee's class, we have Kayla Iturbide Ayala. Good evening, Madam Mayor and Council Members. My name is Kayla Iturbide Ayala. My teacher's name is Mrs. Lee. My poster is about water awareness. Water is important to us because we need it in our daily lives for everything. Let's take care of water because water is life. Thank you for your time and I appreciate this award. Next, we have from Oakley Elementary School in Mrs. Watkins' class for best celebration of water, Sophia Vargas. Thank you. My name is Sophia Vargas. My teacher's name is Mrs. Watkins. My poster is about water awareness. Water is important to us because it gives more energy and even animals need it, water to survive. And from Alvin's school in Mrs. Lee's class for most colorful, Diana Iturbide Ayala. Good evening, Madam Mayor and Council Members. My name is Diana Iturbide Ayala. My teacher's name is Mrs. Lee. My poster is about water awareness. Water is important to us because we need water to survive. If we didn't have water, I wouldn't be here to accept this award. I am so thankful for this award. Thank you so, so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. From Alvin Elementary School, Mrs. Long's class, for most artistic, Jennifer Pineda Nestor. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, Madam Mayor and Council member. My name is Jennifer Pineda Nestor. My teacher's name is Ms. Long. My poster is about water awareness. Water is important to us because it is good for your body and good for planting plants. Thank you for this award. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Also from Alvin Elementary School, in Mrs. Long's class, for most water aware, Brittany Ramirez Preciado. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, Madam Mayor and Council members. My name is Brittany Ramirez Preciado. My teacher's name is Ms. Long. My poster is about water awareness. Water is important to us because it brings life to animals and people. Thank you for this award. Thank you. Thank you. And last but not least, from Oakley Elementary School and Mrs. Watkins' class, for best slogan, we have Camila Santos . Good evening, Madam Mayor and Councilor members. My name is Camila Santos. My teacher's name is Mrs. Watkins. My poster is about water awareness. Water is important to us because we need it and also our surroundings too. Thank you for this award. And if I can have the student winners stand up one more time, please. Again, I present to you this year's 2026 Water Awareness P oster Contest winners. And once again too, also for the teachers who are here this evening, if it wasn't for you and the communication with you, I just want to say thank you with all the endless emails and calls. Thank you again for the city administrators. Thank you for Madam Mayor for always letting me do this outreach and having the students participate. Again, too, our students are our future leaders of America. So let's do our part in conserve water. Thank you and have a good evening. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we'll be doing a proclamation for Municipal Clerks Week and this will be given by Council Member Gloria Soto. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Whereas the office of the municipal clerk, a time honored and vital part of local government, exists throughout the world. And whereas the office of the municipal clerk is the oldest among public servants and it is most appropriate that we recognize the accomplishments of the office of the municipal clerk. And whereas the office of the municipal clerk provides the professional link between the citizens, the local governing bodies and agencies of government at other levels. And whereas municipal clerks have pledged to be ever mindful of their neutrality and impartiality, rendering equal service to all. And whereas the municipal clerk serves as the information center on functions of local government and community. And whereas municipal clerks continually strive to improve the administration of the affairs of the office of the municipal clerk through participation in education programs , seminars, workshops, and the annual meetings of their state, provincial, county, and professional organizations. Now, therefore, Alice Patino, mayor of the city of Santa Maria, hereby proclaims the week of May 3rd through May 9th , 2026 as municipal clerks week in the city of Santa Maria. And further extend appreciation to our elected city clerk, Patty Rodriguez, chief deputy clerk, Donna Schwartz, assistant city clerk, Alexandra Valdez, and to our deputy city clerk, Ashley Arcienaga, for their vital services. They perform and the exemplary dedication to the community they represent. And here to accept the proclamation, we have Donna Schwartz . We appreciate Donna and all that she does and all our other clerks that make things run efficient here. There's plenty of seats up here. There's plenty of seats up here. If people want to take seats, there's seats up here. You guys want to move up? So nobody has to sit in the back. Yeah, I'd also like to thank the clerks. You guys do a really good job. Thank you. Yes. Thank you for all your service. Thank you. Thank you. Next, our proclamation is compost awareness week. And council member Bataya will be presenting the award. We're asked. We're asked. The Compost Research and Education Foundation, along with Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, and other countries, have declared the first week of May to be the annual International Compost Awareness Week. Organic materials suitable for composing is an effective form of waste reduction, reuse, and recycling compost improves. The soil structures reduce and runs off supplies the soil with a variety of micro and micronutrients and enables compost amended soils to use less water. And whereas using suitable soil enrichment compost helps prevent the erosion of valuable topsoil without being valuable wildlife habitat. And the city of Santa Maria has initiated green waste and is in it by composing green waste, bios, soils, and other organic materials, and promoting the use of renewable resources in landscaping and agricultural returning compost organic resources to the soil is a method of decreasing the denseness of chemical fertilizing and decreasing erosion reducing water and non-point pollution. And whereas the city of Santa Maria has initiated green waste and food waste collection programs to aid in the efforts of environmental Eagle and Gray Inc. Regional composing facility, Santa Maria has been successfully composing organic materials for suitable agricultural practice since 1993. And the city has invested in collection programs to meet state requirements and save valuable land fill space. Now therefore, Alice Patino, mayor of Santa Maria, city of Santa Maria, have recognized the week of May 3rd through 9 th, 2026 as compost awareness week in the city of Santa Maria, as well as recognizing the efforts of the composting councils, Councils, extensions agents, householders, landscapers, farmers, recyclers, public workers, gardeners and plant growers, everywhere along with Eagle and Great Ink and harvest plant compost. Here to accept, Bob Eagle. - Yep. - We love composting. - All right. Council and all the public here, I'd really like to thank you for recognizing International Compost Awareness Week. I think this is the 26th year that we've been doing International Compost Awareness Week. We've gone through a lot of pots. I brought you a plant. Something special about this year is Ingle and Grace celebrating our 80th year of doing business here in Santa Maria. And so we had some hats made up with our harvest blend compost. And it's our 33rd year of composting with the city of Santa Maria here. One of the first, really in California, we were not the first, but one of the first to get into the composting business, and provide those services. So I'd like to thank you for being at the forefront. On behalf of the United States Composting Council, just to recognize the benefits of compost and what it does to soil, make soil healthy. It conserves water. It's always so appropriate to be here on the water saving month, too, because we kind of complement each other. And so what you're using, the compost in the parks, is great. And rejuvenating the soil and making everything look good. The soccer fields love it. So we appreciate working with you, and thank you very much for recognizing the benefits of compost. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh. I forgot the biggest thing. We have a big event on Bedaravia Road, Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. If you want to get some free, complimentary compost. Compost. We're having complimentary compost. We don't give anything away free. It's always complimentary. But you can get up to a cubic yard of compost for free. We bring a bucket, a car, a pickup, whatever you got, and we'll load you up. We're also having transplants. We're also bringing the kids. We teach the kids how to make potting soil with the compost and sand. And then they plant a transplant in there, and they get to take the pot home with them to grow their vegetable transplant. And we give you extra vegetables. If you want to do a home garden, we give those out free. We have a whole selection of different types of veggies. So that's this Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at 745 West Bedaravia Road. So thank you. I almost forgot to have it. Thank you, Bob. Take care. The next proclamation is the National Day of Prayer, which I'll be reading. And the award will be accepted. The proclamation will be accepted by Benita Munoz. She's the treasurer of Community National Day of Prayer. It says, "Throughout history, Americans have lifted fervent prayers to God on behalf of our nation. From the gatherings of our founding fathers, elected officials have prayed and encouraged those they serve to join them in prayer, including the authors of the Declaration of Independence, who wrote that they were appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world and continuing to present day and presidential proclamation, inviting citizens to seek God's guidance, mercy, protection , and whereas a National Day of Prayer has been part of our heritage since it was declared by the first Congress in 17 75 and was established into law in 1952. Later amended in 1988, affirming the importance of prayer, directing the President to proclaim the first Thursday of May each year as the National Day of Prayer. The observance of the National Day of Prayer will be held on Thursday, May 7th, with the theme, "Glory God among the nations," seeking Him and all generations, based on 1 Chron icles 16:24. And whereas first Thursday of May Americans express their faith, exercise their freedom in prayer, uniting in personal prayer and public gatherings with praise, repentance, love, and humble intercession for our neighbor and nation. Now, therefore, Alice M. Patino, Mayor of the City of Santa Maria, hereby proclaim May 7th, 2026 as National Day of Prayer. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the council, and city leaders. is an honor and a privilege to be here this evening to accept this proclamation on behalf of the community of prayer here in Santa Maria. This is a monumental year as the National Day of Prayer celebrates its 75th year and America commemorates its 250th year as a nation. The theme for this year's National Day of Prayer is from 1 Chronicles 16 in the Old Testament which claims glorify God among the nations seeking him in all generations. This year we will declare our personal rededication focusing on our own hearts in our own city where God has established us. We will gather together to pray, to celebrate, and to reded icate ourselves back to the Lord in covenant as one nation under God. Committing to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and strength and to love our neighbors as Jesus loves us. Thank you Madam Mayor, members of the council, and city leaders for your support these last 29 years as we have come together to pray for our city, county, state, and nation. Our prayer meeting on May 7th will be at the Healing Rooms. It'll start at 6:30. So, please come join us. And we also have a midday one at the Veterans Hall at noon and that will be for about an hour. We would love to see anyone who wants to pray with us. Thank you. Thank you. The next proclamation will be National Police Week and it will be given by Councilmember Bataya. The next proclamation will be on the right to the right to the right to be free from crime. And whereas the dedicated men and women who have chosen law enforcement as a career and the right to be in danger in preserving our freedom and security and whereas during the week of May 10th through May 16th 2026 National Police Week is observed to recognize the horrendous work, serious responsibility, and strong commitment of our national peace officers. And whereas in conjunction with the this important the city of the city of Santa Maria is observing May 13th 2026 as peace officers Memorial Day. Of those noble officers who have tried to sacrifice their lives in the line of duty and whereas 12 California peace officers are recognized as being killed in the line of duty during 2025. And whereas these special observance provide all Santa Maria with the opportunity to appreciate their heroic men and women who have dedicated their lives to preserving public safety. Now therefore Alice Patino mayor of the city of Santa Maria heavily recognized the week of May 10th through May 16th 20 26 as National Police Week. And proclaim Wednesday May 13th 2026 as Peace Officers Memorial Day in the city of Santa Maria and encourage all residents to remember those individuals who gave their lives for our safety and express our appreciation to those who continue to dedicate themselves to making Santa Maria a safer place in which to live. And here to accept Lieutenant Felix Diaz. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Thank you for recognizing police officer Memorial Week and for taking the moment to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice their lives. On behalf of the sanctuary police department we'd like to invite everybody the whole community council to join us for annual memorial next Wednesday. May 13th at 10 a.m. At the Santa Maria Police Department will be honoring the 12 fallen officers who died in 2025. So we hope to see you all there and this year also be special will be honoring one of our very own Santa Maria Police Officer. And this year we'll be honoring the police officer Robert C . McMichael who died in 1932. He's never been formally recognized. So we'll have a ceremony as well. Having a moment for his death in 1932. Again it'll be next Wednesday May 13th 10 a.m. At the Santa Maria Police Department for all of you who are interested. Hope to see you all there. Thank you again for the support and see you there. Thank you. Thank you Lieutenant Diaz. Our next proclamation is the 80th anniversary of Life Way Fellowship and Councilmember Gloria Soto will be presenting the proclamation. Thank you. Whereas on May 17th 1946 a group of faithful believers founded Santa Maria Southern Baptist Church known as Life Way Fellowship with a mission to share the gospel and serve the Santa Maria community. And whereas for 80 years Life Way Fellowship has faithfully made disciples equipped believers and impacted generations through worship teaching and outreach. And whereas this milestone reflects God's enduring faithful ness and the church's continued commitment to his mission. Now therefore Alice Patino mayor of the city of Santa Maria hereby proclaims May 17th 2026 as the 80th anniversary of Life Way Fellowship in the city of Santa Maria. And we give thanks for the past and look forward with hope to the future. And here to accept the proclamation we have leadership of Life Way Fellowship Church. Thank you. Thank you. I want to thank the city council and the city for being willing to do this. Thank you. I'm sad that Mayor Patino is not here. She has been an incredible supporter of the church and faith in the community. And as we get a chance to celebrate 80 years it's a reminder of the need of that beacon of hope in the community. And not just for what has happened in the past but what is to come. That we can trust in the God that not only made us but the God that has saved us. And one of the greatest things we can do in the community is continue as we're going to do with the National Day of Prayer. Pray for this community and for you leaders as God leads every one of your steps. Thank you again for letting us have this recognition tonight. Thank you. Our next proclamation is going to be given by Councilmember Aguilera Hernandez on National Public Works Week. Where as the City Council of the City of Santa Maria has supported the role of the Public Works and Utilities Department to provide vital services to the community which are an integral part of the city's residents' everyday lives. And where as the support of an informed community is vital to the operation of public works systems and programs such that the production and delivery of clean water wastewater collection and treatment. Stormwater collection treatment and control solid waste collection and disposal streets and highways public transit public buildings and fleet services. And where as the health safety and comfort of the community greatly depends on these facilities and services. And where as the quality and effectiveness of these services and facilities as well as their planning and design and construction are vitally dependent on the efforts and skills of public works officials. And where as the efficiency of the qualified and dedicated personnel who staff the public works and utilities departments is materially influenced by the residents' attitude and understanding of the performance of the work they perform. And now therefore Alice Patino the mayor of the City of Santa Maria hereby recognizes the week of May 17 through the 23rd, 2026 as National Public Works Week. In the City of Santa Maria and encourage all residents and civic organizations to recognize and contribute public works officials to make every day for better health, safety and quality of life. And witness here she sets her hand and cause the seal of the city of Santa Maria to be affixed here to this fifth day of May 2026. And to receive this is Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. And to receive this is Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. 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Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Brett Fulgoni from director of public works. Speaker 1: And to accept this. Speaker 1: Is Peter Williamson. Speaker 1: Happy cycle mania. Thank you, council members. My name is Peter and on behalf of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, SB CAG, who coordinates bike months for the region. I'm honored to accept this proclamation with my fellow bicyclists. Each year, the city of Santa Maria becomes more deeply involved in bike month and this year marks the strongest level of participation yet. We're especially grateful for the city's leadership and expanding ride with the ranger by partnering with smart and public works to add BC chela, creating more exciting reasons to bike. Let's also recognize the Santa Maria library for hosting. Stay alert. Don't get hurt, which helps riders build the confidence and awareness. Smart is also part of the bike to bus and ride free promotion throughout may put your bike on the rack and ride free helping you go farther to the other side of Santa Maria to Orchid to solving or maybe to Santa Barbara on a cleaner express again, free during cycle mania. Bike month is about connection, health and giving people more ways to move. And I'm excited to celebrate with you and hope to see you at the city's events, a group bike ride to ice cream, a free bike breakfast, the Elks parade or other event on the cycle mania.org calendar. Join in any event and get a chance to win a $2,000 e-bike. Council member or two has been known to join the fund. Hope to see you there. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Wheeler. Would you like to say something? I know you had a lot of bike runs. Yeah. Go ahead. Thank you. Council member Flores. I'm just happy and proud that we can celebrate bike month here. I know our public works is, has a lot more planned in terms of bike, bike paths or multi-use paths. And they've done a tremendous job with adding a few new bike lanes around town that really open up the bicycle network where we can have bicycles and a separate place for bicycles to ride, bicyclists to ride and motor ists. So we're not mixing it up so much, which is inconveniences motorists and makes the dry bicyclists nervous. So thanks to public works and other people trying to make us have a more bicycle friendly Santa Maria. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wheeler. Appreciate you. For rodeo days on the mayor is on her way. So we're going to go ahead and have the mayor do the presentation to you. She'll be here if you don't mind waiting. She really wanted to do that. So we're doing a little things a little bit different here tonight until the mayor gets here. The next proclamation is Santa Maria town center and council member, but I will be presenting that. Oh, oh, sorry. See, I'm just doing things different. No problem at all. I was going to call you eventually. I didn't know when, but I would have. Thank you so much. Go ahead. Thanks. Good evening, council members and public. On behalf of the Santa Maria chamber and partnership with the city of Santa Maria. I have my pleasure to present the Santa Maria town center as our business of the quarter. Since its establishment in 1976, the town center has served us as a cornerstone to our community, acting as a regional destination for shopping, dining and entertainment. By the way, tomorrow or on Thursday, we'll have a big mixer there. The center is a vital economic engine providing employment for approximately 350 people across all of its diverse retail partners. More than just a shopping mall, it has evolved into a central gathering place that strengthens our social fabric through regular community engagement, programming, seasonal events, support for both from both national and local businesses. We're proud to recognize their longstanding dedication to the vitality of Santa Maria. Join joining us tonight to accept the certificate is general manager, Sylvia Palacios. Good evening, everyone. Thank you to the city of Santa Maria, the council members, the chamber and the community for this recognition. As he mentioned, we will be celebrating 50 years as being part of this community on July 1st. We opened July 1st, 1976. So thank you for the recognition and we appreciate the community support. Thank you. Thank you. I'm honored to recognize Fusion Colors Auto Body Repair as a business of the quarter. Founded in 2010 by Marcos Limon, the business is a remarkable story of local growth and entrepreneurial spirit . Starting with just a single unit and one office, Fusion Col ors has expanded into a state-of-the-art five-unit facility that employs 10 people. They have remained at the forefront of their industry by investing in innovation such as heated spray boosts that drastically reduce drying times, advanced diagnostic systems to ensure modern vehicle safety . And beyond their technical expertise, Fusion Colors is a dedicated community partner, sponsoring numerous youth sports programs and even helping the Santa Maria Police Council restore a historic Chevy. Please join me in congratulating the owner, Marcus Limon, as he comes forward to accept the recognition. That's all right. No problem. Good afternoon, everybody. Thanks for all this. I really appreciate this. This means a lot for me and my group here in town. So we're still waiting for all the support and see you soon . Sorry, I'm so nervous. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We're going to proclaim Rodeo Days in Santa Maria. Whereas the time is fast approaching for the 83rd Annual El ks Rodeo and Parade, May 27th through May 31st, 2026 in the City of Santa Maria, considered by many to be the event of the year. And whereas continuing the tradition of Clarence Manetti and Leland Butch Simas, hundreds of loyal Elk Lodge 1538 members have volunteered and have been drafted to make this Rodeo a tremendous success and to cause the Elks Lodge 1538 to be named number one El ks Lodge in the United States numerous times over the last 37 years. And whereas the Santa Maria Elks Rodeo Parade will begin at 10 o'clock on Saturday, May 30th and continue down Broadway from Mill to Enos Street, immediately after the parade, the street fair will begin at 1321 South Broadway. And whereas it has been a longstanding tradition to begin wearing Western clothes several weeks prior to Elks Rodeo. Now, therefore, I, Alice Pitino, Mayor of the City of Santa Maria, hereby proclaim May 27th through May 31st, as go Rodeo days in the City of Santa Maria, and encourage all residents and businesses to enter the Rodeo spirit by wearing Western attire. And witness thereof, I am here to set my hand and cause the seal of the City of Santa Maria to be affixed this fifth day of May 2026. And here to receive it are members of the Elks Club. applause Wow, we are so honored. My name is Eva Guzman, and I'm representing the Elks Lodge. I've got J.R. Gonzalez. He's our one of our officers. Danelle Schenck. She's one of our officers. And we're here representing the Santa Maria Elks Lodge, Santa Maria Rodeo and Parade. And we are just like Miss Mayor, Miss Pitino. Thank you so much. And all City Council members that agreed to make this a pro clamation. We are honored. We want to remind you that it is the 83rd annual rodeo. And so please participate, partake in this event. It's a tradition. It's a family tradition. I know a lot of generations that have been attending this rodeo, this parade. So let's make it even more so. Let's teach our kids, our grandkids that what Santa Maria is about and what our traditions will remain and will continue moving forward. We appreciate that. Thank you so much. applause And now it gives me great pleasure for the certificate of the appointment to our new council member, Bataya. And City Clerk, do I read this or do you read this? Okay. Will you go ahead and read it because it says I, Donna Schw artz. Okay. She's going to read it to you and you'll go get it. Certificate of appointment. State of California, County of Santa Barbara. I, Donna Schwartz, CMC, Chief Deputy City Clerk of the City of San Maria, State of California. Do hereby certify that at a regular City Council meeting held in Sid City the 7th day of April, 2026, Richard Bataya was appointed to the Office of Council member District 1 for the term effective the date of the certificate through the November 3rd, 2026 Special Municipal Election and thereafter until the newly elected members seated and witness thereof. I have here unto affix my hand an official seal this 7th day of April, 2026. And at this time I'd like to move up the public hearing item 13A regarding the Santa Maria 2045 general plan. Boy, that sounds like a long way away, 2045. Director of Community Development, Shenan Dow, will present the staff report. Dr. Susan Dow, will present the staff report. Dr. Susan Dow, will present the staff report. Dr. Susan Dow, will present the staff report. Dr. Susan Dow, will present the staff report. Mayor Patino, City Council members, the Community Development Department and the many other departments that have touched this over the last six years are very excited to present to you tonight the 2045 general plan for the city. Dr. Susan Dow, to give a little bit of background, the role of the general plan is to establish a land use map which designates what is allowed and where. Dr. Susan Dow, create a policy document that informs land use decisions. Dr. Susan Dow, conduct an environmental impact report which evaluates impact on existing environment and is not project specific. Dr. Susan Dow, and provide an adaptable roadmap for future growth. Dr. Susan Dow, the general plan does not replace more frequent and specific studies as with the ones that are done on a regular basis across all the departments for the city. Dr. Susan Dow, dictate all city decisions through 2045. Dr. Susan Dow, of course, we do not have a crystal ball. Dr. Susan Dow, and attempt to predict all possible scenarios. So it is our best foot forward as far as what we assume will happen in the future, but it cannot capture everything. Dr. Susan Dow, within the planning hierarchy there are a number of elements that we take into account. The general plan comes in just below state statutes and regional plans. And then as we get into more detail about land use decisions, we have area plans and specific plans, our zoning code and subdivision ordinances. And then of course individual development reviews. So those will look very specifically at each individual project, their appropriateness in a certain part of the city, and their environmental impact. This is where we are in the general plan update process. Again, this was started in 2020 and we are now concluding it with review and adoption. There has been a significant amount of public input throughout that time. We began with existing conditions reports in 2020. In 2021, we moved on to establishing the vision and guiding principles, which were shaped by a number of workshops, surveys, and other public input. And we then moved on to land use alternatives and analysis. So there were different options examined for whether or not annexation should be contemplated for our future growth. Following this, the city council and planning commission selected an option for those land use scenarios and that included some annexations. So that study was done and water and wastewater systems preliminary assessment was performed. Analysis was done for highway 101. In 2025, the policy frameworks were drafted and we had a public review period in early 2021, 2025. And later in the year, we had the public draft general plan , EIR public review, multiple joint study sessions with the planning commission and city council. And in 2026, we have had two planning commission public hearings. And we have had two plans. There's been, again, a significant amount of community engagement throughout this process from key stakeholders, developers, business owners, Santa Maria residents, various organizations. There have been eight community workshops, 13 technical advisory committee meetings, four online surveys. This is our fifth of city council meetings, eight planning commission meetings, two joint meetings with planning commission and city council, dozens of stakeholder interviews and one-on-one meetings, thousands of comments reviewed and addressed. I can't emphasize this enough. So as we go through an EIR in particular, we have an obligation to review and address every single comment that was made. And we have a very engaged public that was generous in providing comments and helping shape this to be the best plan it could be. Every single one of those comments was carefully reviewed by our staff, by our consultant staff to look at the appropriateness for the city over the long term. We incorporated everything we could and we believe we have the best document it can be today. General plan elements. We have nine of these. It looks like we cut off one with public facilities and land use, circulation, conservation, open space, noise, safety, health and environmental justice, rec and parks and economic development. So the plan intends to establish policies around all of these concepts. Rather than dive deep into each one of them, there are a few threads that are common throughout all of them. We aim to establish vibrant and connected places. So this includes things like a walkable downtown, active mixed use corridors, a mobility network for all ages, abilities and transit modes. A sustainable and resilient city. This aims to protect natural resources, open space and working lands, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, building climate resilience into infrastructure and land use. Next, we have safe, healthy and equitable communities. Investing equitably in public safety, housing, parks and health care access, as well as environmental justice for all residents. A thriving local economy is another key part of the plan. This includes supporting business growth and workforce development, as well as tourism, and leveraging Santa Maria 's unique identity and its airport, as well as land use, to strengthen the economic position of our residents and thus the community as a whole. And finally, a well served and engaged community. Across all of the policy documents, we're looking to maintain and expand quality public facilities and services, foster inclusive community driven engagement in planning and decision making. I will do a little focus on the land use elements, since that is the key purpose of the general plan. It plans for a significant amount of growth, and this is anticipated RENA numbers for the next three regional housing needs allocation cycles. So this includes up to 16,140 units, which could mean up to 58,000 residents and almost 24,000 jobs. As far as how we're planning for that, we do have about 5, 600 units in the development pipeline today, and we are also accounting for estimated future ADU growth based on past practice. So we have permitted approximately 2,500 ADUs to date in Santa Maria. The remaining minimum residential growth to plan for is about 9,300 units. So this would include future residential units within the existing city limits, which average to about 5,500, and within a planned annexation area of 985 acres, and that 's about 3,800 units. So you can see on the map there, we have the annexation area highlighted in red. That will be the proposed annexation. There are a few key changes that we made to the land use policy map in order to accommodate this growth. There are two new land use designations, Main Street mixed use and Broadway mixed use, which allow for higher dens ities on these key corridors. This is in addition to the existing downtown specific plan area, which already has no limit on density. Additionally, we have changed our high density residential, which is currently 22 dwelling units per acre to 30, to allow for more growth in those areas as well. We are also incorporating a single family residential land use designation to replace the area designated as a commercial and professional office in the Area 9 specific plan, as well as a future Santa Maria Joint Union High School District site located on North Broadway south of Presker to accommodate future growth. And finally, to accommodate the growth that cannot exist within the city limits, we are looking at a planned annex ation of 985 acres as previously referenced. This is the proposed zoning map. We had a number of stakeholder interviews and public input opportunities where people identified new development opportunities through the general plan, so this will update zoning in a number of locations. And again, this is just a very brief list of the stakeholders, technical advisory community members, organizations who participated in our public outreach process. It is challenging to balance both the need for growth with the need for sustainable and resiliency over the long term. And we have done our best to incorporate all of the public input that we have received. There are a couple of outstanding issues I want to highlight that you may hear from the audience. We have complete streets is one question that has occurred throughout the planning commission process. This is an attempt to ensure that all modes of travel are accommodated for within our future growth. So we want to ensure that whether you're walking, biking, using a vehicle, that you can travel safely around our community. We would like to retain that standard within the general plan. Additionally, we have our parks acreage per 1,000. So this was set approximately 35 years ago at five acres per 1,000. And once again, we would like to retain that to ensure that we have the future parks needs for our residents. Additionally, I think we have a fundamental conflict between some individuals with input who want no growth at all, and some who want as much annexation as we can possibly get. So again, we've chosen a balanced approach based on the council's input a couple of years ago with the 985 acre annexation. This represents about a 6% increase in our land area and a substantial opportunity for population growth. So with all that, I would also like to say a huge thank you to the many city staff members who have worked on this throughout the years. The city council and the planning commission for all of their input, the technical advisory committee and everyone on this slide for everything you have done. Together, we have made this the best plan it can be for the future of the city of Santa Maria. And with that, we recommend adoption of the plan. Any questions, Ms. Dow? Any comments? Any questions? Any questions? Any questions? Any questions? Any questions? Yes. First, thank you so much for your work on this. It's been a few years since we got started and so it's really great to be at this point in time. And thank you to everybody who provided comment and participated in this process. My question is more around the annexation and growth piece of the general plan. I, for one, deeply value infill as much as possible. And I would preferably would like to prevent sprawl or enc roachment into precious ag land. And so, you know, I see here that a large part of residential units that are set to be developed here are going to be within the existing city limits, which I strongly support. And so, I'm just curious what specific triggers may be in the general plan that will ensure infill development is prioritized before development in any annexed area is activated. Absolutely. We do have a significant amount of redevelopment that has occurred and higher densities that have occurred over time within the city limits. So, looking at the remaining available developable sites, there simply aren't many left. For example, we recently met with the county to discuss, you know, their letter and their comments on this. And one of the questions was, well, what about this area here? It was Blosser Ranch, which is, of course, the subject to current development. It is being graded as we speak and will soon be home to about 1,500 new units of housing for our community. Other areas, as you look at the area and say, hey, maybe we could develop that. There's a significant amount of land surrounding the airport that looks like it would be easily developable. But that is California tiger salamander habitat. And per an arrangement with fish and wildlife for future development of the airport area, that can never be developed. It must be preserved. It can't even be open space that people can use as trails and things like that. It must be solely for that animal. So, with those limitations, we have done everything we can to ensure that infill is a good opportunity. So, for example, the changing the high density residential from 22 units to 30 units per acre, there's a significant gain there. Again, with the 2,500 ADUs that have come in already and projected future growth with similar numbers, we're maximizing existing single family neighborhoods. And, of course, the other units that are currently in the pipeline that are planned for those large swaths of land you may still see out there. Generally, if you're driving around town and it looks like there's developable space, it likely has plans for it already. So, that's where, with the math that we worked through through this process, we have identified that kind of medium Goldilocks approach to an annexation opportunity. So, what role will the City Council play or can you elaborate a little bit on the next steps for LAFCO proceedings? Absolutely. So, part of the recommendation tonight will be to direct -- I can go back to that language -- will be to direct staff to prepare the information for the sphere of influence change. So, that can be a dual-step process where we first change the sphere of influence or we can do everything at once where we do the sphere of influence along with the annex ation. So, LAFCO will actually be reaffirming the existing SOIs on Thursday just as a matter of routine. That's what's on their agenda. And, as soon as we're ready with pre-zoning scenarios and all of that information, we can then go forward to LAFCO with an annexation application. Thank you. So, as we've been having these discussions and just based on what I saw in the EIR, it really -- there's -- what we see unavoidable impacts to ag. So, what specific mitigation measures are going to be in place as we -- you know, as we consider this? Yes. I do want to particularly highlight Claire Weinman in the Grower Shipper Association. I believe I saw her here earlier. She has been a huge asset to us in working through this process and everything from being on our technical advisory committee to holding one-on-one meetings with us. And, to help shape the policy language to ensure that it optimizes as best we can that conflict we see between growth and preserving the agriculture in the future. So, this is a balanced approach where we've attempted to create things like buffers. One thing that we heard from Claire is that as time goes on and restrictions get greater on agriculture from the state, they see kind of encroachment on existing uses because they want greater buffers between sensitive receptors. They want additional open space, things like that. So, part of the plan for annexation is to make sure all of that is built in. So, you don't see that increased encroachment over time. And so, all of that is baked into the plan at the outset. Thank you. And then, my last question is really around the -- our downtown corridors of Maine and Broadway. the mixed-use designation changes there that will allow for higher density. One of the priorities or one of the goals that the council discussed at the last goal session that we had was really around housing affordability and the challenges that, you know, that residents are having to face when it comes to that. And so, I'm curious what tools the city may have to ensure that that increased density supports with the production of affordable housing units. I know you talked about EDUs and that, and us seeing more of those. But I don't necessarily know how -- whether or not those are -- I know that for RENA purposes, those are considered affordable. but when you look at how much they're actually being rented for, it could easily be debated whether they're affordable or not, and so I'm just really curious as to what policies or what systems can we have in place to ensure that as we continue to see this redevelopment in our downtown corridors and just throughout the city, even with annexation, that we have systems policies in place that ensure affordable housing. Absolutely. I agree with you. I think affordable is definitely a subjective term, and I think deed restricted is a term that is a little bit more objective in that our income levels, our area median income in Santa Barbara County is so high and rents are so high that as a natural order of things, even affordable housing is high in terms of costs, so we were just looking at a 55% average project that will be coming forth here in the downtown that is affordable, and it's shocking looking at the income levels that would qualify for that so-called affordable housing, so we look at the tools that we have available to the state . We don't, as the city, have our own housing authority. That is a county entity, so we're not directly receiving those different funding sources that might give us a direct avenue to creating funding for a project like that. Some things we are looking at with the community program stuff, I believe Rosie is here, is looking at directly receiving some of those in future. We're currently evaluating those opportunities and looking at how we can support things like down payment assistance programs. Currently, we already have a minor home repair program to support existing homeowners, so there are also a lot of state density bonuses and things like that that help support affordable housing, and just generally helping things to pencil by increasing those densities. That is a significant boon to developers because, of course, the more units that they can put on one piece of land, you know, the more principal diminishing marginal utility we'll see, both for their construction and then, of course, for the cost for the end user. So those are kind of some affordable by design things that we can do as we look at additional opportunities to get grant funding . Yeah, and I think that this is also an opportunity for the council to, you know, as we're moving forward with the general plan update, for us to also think about what policies we can enact as a governing body that can support with that. I know that we're one of the few cities in the region that does not have an inclusionary housing ordinance, for instance, or even policies around, you know, I can go on, but I'll just leave it at that that I also see a potential here for us to think about how we can not just protect, but also increase affordable housing in our area. Any other questions? Any other questions as far as? Any questions? Ms. Dow, how many, what is the acreage a high school needs to build a high school? 60 acres. 60 acres. And a junior high needs how many acres? I believe it's 40. Does that sound about right? Yes. What? Approximately 40. 40, okay. And an elementary school? I believe it's 20. Yeah. 20. 20. Okay. So right there you have 120 acres. That's just for one of each. Right. And so we will need, we need a high school right now. Right. Okay. And so we'll need a couple more when we start building out all of this. Yes. And so that means one, probably, what, two or three junior highs to one high school and then more elementary schools. Yes. And I wish we did not have to go into ag land at all. You know, and that's the only answer because we have no place right now in Santa Maria to build one high school. Correct. And so, and that's just talking about schools. Then we have the fire stations. We have police. We have parks, open space, commercial, retail, and everything else. And, and that's really a, that's a difficult decision for us to make because none of us here want to go into ag land. But I, I think it's really important for people to realize we can't just stack and pack people on top of one another in our community and have a healthy community. I know that to do what we need for affordable housing, we have to partner with the people's self-help housing and with the housing authority. And that's who has built here before. Yes. And I can't remember how much, how many million was the dep ot street apartments? Do you remember that, Chun? What was that? 38 million. 38 million dollars. Mm-hmm. And when that penciled out, that was, I think, 450,000 per unit. Mm-hmm. And a person could have purchased a house cheaper than $450 ,000. So you're talking about taxpayer money using for all these millions of affordable housing that it just seemed like there should be a better answer. than spending that kind of money and being able to put people into affordable housing. And it's, it's a, it's a struggle. And we continue to have that because at the state level, we keep getting these mandates. As you know, I'm not telling you anything you don't know. Um, and when I sit on the housing task force for the League of Cities, we talk about this. And people are all in agreement. It doesn't matter where they come from. They're having a very difficult time in the state of California finding affordable housing for their residents. And we certainly are here because our residents are not that affluent. They can afford those kinds of mortgages. Anyway, I just, I just think it's, you know, um, I voted for the annexation. I approved the annexation. And I really hate to go into farmland, but these are the choices we have. If we, we've got 30,000, 40,000 people, we have to figure out where we're going to put them and not just them, but their kids and the schools. And as I said, the fire station, the parks and everything else. Any other comments on council? I have three people have requests to speak. Three minutes a piece. Um, Anthony Coachello. Followed by Claire Weinman. Be sure and open the public comment, mayor. Pardon? Open the public. Yes. Open the public comment. Yes. Anthony here. Okay. Claire Weinman. Followed by Laurie tomorrow. Good evening. My name is Claire Weinman. I'm the president of the grower shipper association of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. We appreciate the council planning commission and staff for the opportunity to engage throughout this process. As agriculture is the leading source of income and employment for the city. In making a final determination for adoption and certification by the city council, we respectfully urge the council to reconsider the merits of two specific policy positions consistent with our prior public comments. So Mac Simmons and Dunn has provided additional information on these two points in our written comment letter submitted on Friday. First is the area nine rezone. We remain concerned about the proposed conversion of area nine from commercial to unrelated residential use, especially given the industrial zoning of the surrounding areas. We are concerned that residential housing unrelated to nearby industrial and agricultural operations will result in predictable land use conflicts for both residents and neighboring operations and run contrary to many of the great policies outlined in the plan. Next, we do not oppose the proposed annexation of the portion of the portion of the portion of the land north of Main Street and would have strongly preferred continued consideration of the annexation of Bradley lands. However, we continue to oppose the annexation of the lands parallel to Highway 101 from East Jones Street to Prell Street. The majority is prime ag lands and if it moves forward, this action would have major negative ramifications both for the immediate site being converted as well as the agricultural operations on nearby lands. In its final consideration of the city council, we urge the city council to maintain the current zoning in Area 9. We continue to express our support for the infill alternative or a modified hybrid that avoids the conflicts from the proposed annexation of lands parallel to 101 south of East Jones Street. Thank you again for your time dedication to the public process and responsiveness to our previous comments. We look forward to continuing to work with the city through adoption and implementation. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Weinman. Lori tomorrow. Good morning. Good afternoon or evening. Lori tomorrow with urban planning concepts here tonight to thank you and the planning commission and the staff for a long, I'm going to say almost arduous process of preparing documents, listening to the public, going through debate and coming forward with a plan. As, as you well know, I didn't agree with everything. I still don't agree with everything. And, um, but I don't want to hold it up. Um, you know, I, I really think about this. This is not my plan. It's the future. I just wanted to make it better. And I wanted to make it so that housing was affordable. And I don't know necessarily if this plan will accomplish that. Um, I do like to ask as you move forward with this plan. I think that there's a big question about what Las Flores is to the city. Um, that branch, the city has put a lot of money in it. And there's not one word about Las Flores in the general plan or the EIR. And it seems very suspicious that it's not included because so much money has been invested in that property. I would like to request a report to the city council on what the plan is for Las Flores separate of the general plan and, um, get some information about what the game plan is for the future and how much more money is going to be spent out there. Um, I do agree that, um, the five acres per thousand was adopted 35 years ago and the city has never required it. It was aspirational. They only ended up doing 2.5 acres per thousand. So I don't think that the arbitrary raising the bar for future housing, affordable housing, or any type of housing should now have to pay exorbitant developer fees to, to try to create 800 acres of open space for the future. Um, I am concerned about schools and where they're, they're , they're going to go. Um, I just don't see it unless it's on top of a skyscraper or in somewhere. I just don't see it. Um, complete streets. My ask is that the complete street standard be removed for private projects, not the public roads, but private projects. Um, those, those should not be held to the same standard. And, um, you've seen all of my comments over the years and, um, I thank the staff and, uh, thank, um, the city for, um, pursuing this effort. So thank you. Lori, that was great. I think that's a, a one time happening, right? Three minutes. I could keep going. No, no, no. You did great tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Um, is Anthony Coachello here? I can see him. Okay. Um, can I, Ms. Dowd, can I ask you about the difference then on the private streets for having complete streets versus the public streets? What? Yes. So we are required by state law to have complete streets on public streets. So that, that is a given. Um, we believe, uh, both public works and, and community development believe that the best practice is to have complete streets everywhere. Um, that is actually one thing that we do hear from the existing residents of projects that do not have complete streets that, hey, where, where can I push my baby stroller safely? There's no sidewalk here? There's no sidewalk here. There's no sidewalk here. Things like that. So what we would look to do is integrate creative opportunities into, uh, new developments that would establish trails, establish opportunities for people to move safely through the development, get to those bigger streets. Um, again, whether they're walking, biking or in a vehicle. And, uh, those do not necessarily have to be extraordinarily expensive. We're not thinking every time you're going to have to have very wide streets with parking on both sides and curb water sidewalk. It doesn't have to look like that. And additionally, I would note that the language and the policy is very flexible in that there are, we have this existing policy today and there are projects that were allowed to be built without it because the, the, either the economics, the space just didn't work. So we were able to have that flexibility, but it is an ideal, it is a best practice and we would, we do believe it is appropriate to keep it in the plan. So you're saying with different developments and I can see how it would work well with some developments and not work well with others. It would be a negotiable item. Yes. Madam mayor, can I have a close public comment if, if we're done public comment? Oh, okay. Yes. I'm sorry. Close public comment. And then just so that I can announce, we have two written comments from Laurie Tamera and Kelly Taber. Thank you. Okay. So it would be a negotiable item then. Yes, it is currently. And you can see that in some of the projects that have been built and we continue to have that flexibility in the language. Would that flexibility, can that be written into that then? Yes, it is there now. It is there now. Yes. Okay. Good. Any other questions? Okay. We have four recommendations. Do I hear any motions? Any other discussion at all? Okay. Yes, Madam Mayor. I do want to just, you know, reiterate my gratitude to, to the team who worked on this. It was a long process and I am honored to have been part of it. So thank you all for your hard work. I will say that there are pieces of the general plan that I 'm not a huge fan of and those pertain to the planned annex ation. But overall, I think that, you know, I, I want to see us move forward. And so, you know, with that being said, you know, I, I, I, I so move. Thank you. Do I hear up a second? I'll sit here. And under discussion, I would also, um, excuse me, like to say thank you, but it's been, what, five and a half years? Yes. And I have to give credit to Dana Eadie for being the project manager throughout. She has seen it from, through from start to finish. So this is a big day. How much money is that five and a half years of general plan costs the city? Oh, goodness. Uh, so there is a significant consultant cost and EIR cost in particular, I believe we're at 1.4 million. With, with grants. Yes. Okay. But it's still a lot of money. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Any further discussion? Hearing none. I do. Oh, question actually about the last floor is comment. Is it possible to discuss that in this plan or get an amendment? So the, the reason it was not included initially is because it is not within the city limits. It is a kind of a satellite, um, for the city. It is obviously owned by the city, but is not accessible as in terms of a neighborhood park. So as far as counting towards that acreage, it's also not intended to permanently be a park. It was always intended to serve a waste purpose. And so that is why it has not been treated. And I understand that utilities is exploring all opportunities for solid waste for the future of Santa Maria . Okay. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Madam clerk. Council member Soto. Aye. Mayor pro tem Flores. Aye. Council member Aguilera. Aye. Council member Mathias. Aye. And Mayor Patino. Aye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Dow. The next item on the agenda is a public comment. Madam clerk, can you please read the criteria for public comment? Speakers may provide public comments on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city council. Each speaker will be limited to three minutes, maximum 15 minutes for public comment period. Unless the majority of the council objects, the mayor may provide speakers more or less time to speak. All comments or queries shall be addressed to the council as a body and not to any specific member thereof. Pursuing to government code section 54954.2a2, the Ralph M. Brown Act, no action or discussion by the city council shall be undertaken on any item not appearing on the posted agenda, except to briefly provide information, ask for clarification, provide direction, staff or schedule a matter for a future meeting. Thank you. Thank you. We have four requests to speak. And I think he left -- is Eric Collier here? I think he left. I'm sorry. Eric Collier. And I have Eddie Navarro, followed by Gary Hall, followed by Nicole Bryant. Mr. Navarro. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Mayor, city council members, city leaders and guests. My name is Eddie Navarro. Ernie Corral, Al Ramos, the late Joe Talagan and I started a group called the Santa Maria Valley Sports History Club trying to keep the memories of our past sports heroes, men and women alive. We are here today asking the city for moral support to preserve and designate the following locations as a historical site. Our first request is a location where the Maldonado Center now sits in the name of William B. Ellis, Bill Ellis. Bill Ellis was a local businessman who along with others was instrumental in bringing Little League to Santa Maria and Orchid in 1950. In 1952, he founded Middle League Baseball for kids who out grew Little League. Bill's daughter, Shirley Ellis, married Jim Cobb whose father was Major League Hall of Famer Ty Cobb. Jim Cobb was the first Middle League All-Star coach in 1953 . Shirley and her family have contributed to donate to our veterans through our local Elks. Second is the Elks Field which was established in 1948 to become home to our Santa Maria Indians established in 1944, coached by Butch Seamus and Mudd Anderson. Our Elks Field through the Indians played host to teams like the Kansas City Monarchs of the then Negro League, the Bob Lemon All-Stars, Tokyo Gi ants, Dodger rookies and others and was home to the Indians 1982 National Baseball Congress champions. The third location request is Seamus Park Fields. The field on the west side next to Paul Nelson Pool, now Carl Barbertini Field is the original Little League Baseball field of 1950. Notable names that played in the first year of Little League were Ted Davidson, Bob Williams, Fred Worker, Ernie Corral, Johnny Ventura, Barney Ames and many others. The field across the on the east side of Seamus Park closest to Miller Street was the site of the 1981 Orchid Express with Tracy Compton and others winning the 1981 Girls Under 18 Fast Pitch Tournament. We are blessed to still have with us today athletes like Er nie Corral, Johnny Ventura, Bob Williams, Barney Ames, Darrell Eisner, Don Gatewood, Brent Smith, Robin Ventura, James Steele, Brad Dandridge, Doug Bernier and many others who have played on these fields and can share their stories with our youth. Ernie Corral, who was in the audience today, was on the first 1950 Little League All-Star team coached by Harry Goodchild and on the first Middle League 1953 All-Star team coached by Jim Cobb. We request that the three locations William Bill Ellis at the Maldenava Center, Elks Field and Seamus Park Fields be designated as historical sites. These locations, events and individuals as well as our present and future athletes will forever be part of our Valley Sports History for our youth to look up to and try to emulate. Ernie Corral, I have some information if you'd like to skim through it. Ernie Corral, if you care to keep it, that's fine. If not, you can get it back to me for future reference. Ernie Corral, if you don't mind, if you like it. If not, that's okay. Ernie Corral, I'll give that to Mr. Smitherman. Have you guys gone to the Parks Commission yet with any of this information? Ernie Corral, No. Ernie Corral, Okay. I'll give this to Mr. Smitherman and he 'll be contacting you and that's probably -- here he is right here. Ernie Corral, That was a fast contact. Ernie Corral, Thank you. Ernie Corral, Thank you for your time. Ernie Corral, I think I'll have some answers for you though . Thank you very much. Ernie Corral, Thank you. Ernie Corral, Gary Hall. Ernie Corral, followed by Nicole Bryant. Ernie Corral, Thank you. Ernie Corral, Gary Hall. Ernie Corral, Good evening, Madam Mayor, council members, staff and the citizens of Santa Maria. My name is Gary Hall. I am a resident of Rancho Buena Vista Mobile Estates at 21 35 North Railroad Avenue here in Santa Maria, District 1. I want to publicly congratulate our new District 1 council member, Richard Batalla, Ernie Corral, on his appointment to City Council. I also want to remind you I represent the North Santa Barbara County Manufactured Homeowners Team or Nesbitt. Nesbitt's primary goal remains to provide protection to all Santa Maria mobile home residents presently living in an un regulated rental market. Yes, we continue to ask the City of Santa Maria to stand with us in maintaining affordable housing. Affordable mobile home living in Santa Maria is vanishing and all across the state. I have pointed out to you so many times how the 2020 model lease and enforcement agreement with all their flaws have proven to be ineffective in protecting homeowner equity and maintaining affordable mobile home housing, which is, of course, what it was originally intended to do. I have repeatedly reminded you that on June 7th, 2022, nearly four years ago, this council passed a motion with the intention of improving the 2020 model lease or replacing it. The City Council has done neither. Now is the time to replace the model lease with a uniform, mandatory and enforceable mobile home rent stabilization program, much like those of our neighboring city and county jurisdictions. Please help us find a way to get this on a future meetings agenda. Santa Maria mobile home seniors also continue to live with the ongoing threat that their senior mobile home park could be converted into an all age park, as was attempted by the new owners of Del Cielo Senior Mobile Home Park in Orkitt. I brought this to the council's attention 20 months ago, and we are patiently waiting for action to prevent similar conversion efforts in Santa Maria. According to the Community Development Department, the draft Senior Mobile Home Park Zoning Overlay Ordinance will soon be presented at a Planning Commission study session. We have heard rumors of the potential sale of senior mobile home parks in Santa Maria. This could bring similar and inappropriate conversion efforts to our city. Please help expedite this new zoning ordinance activity wherever possible. Thank you. Thank you. Nicole Bryant. Good evening, Madam Mayor, distinguished council members. I'd like to extend our warmest welcome to Councilmember Bat aya. And I thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening. My name is Nicole Bryant, and I'm the field representative for SEIU Local 620, who has the privilege of representing the dedicated public servants across this city. We are here tonight because the city has informed us that the structural budget deficit next year in the general fund and Measure U funds requires employee pay concessions. Specifically, SEIU members are being asked to accept a 10% reduction in wages through furloughs, and up to a 20% cut to medical contributions. While all other bargaining units are scheduled to receive cost of living increases this July, while no service reductions within the city have been identified, our members are simply being asked to do the same work for significantly less. Behind me tonight, our members are holding signs showing what these proposals would actually cost their families over the next year. Cuts of pay of upwards of $13,000, $14,000, and $15,000 per employee per year. I want to ask you directly, could your household absorb a $ 15,000 pay cut next year? By the city's own figures, these cuts would save approximately $4.1 million, but would not fully resolve the deficit. All while the audited financials for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, though legally obligated to be reported, remain unavailable to the union and to the public. SEIU's membership at the City of Santa Maria is unique. Over 70% of our members live here in the city they serve. Their paychecks are spent here at our local businesses and restaurants. They are your constituents living across every council district. Cutting $4.1 million from workers' pay doesn't just hurt your employees, it removes the same amount from your local economy and will lower city revenues proportionally. A city that strives to be an employer of choice doesn't start by balancing its budget on the backs of its lowest paid employees. Our members want to be a part of the solution, but solutions must be transparent, comprehensive, and sustainable. Tonight we urge you to take concrete, responsible steps. Adopt the common sense reserve policies brought forward at your last meeting. Increase your earning potential on your pension funds with the 115 trust. Support placing the revenue tax measure on the ballot this evening, allowing the community to weigh in and vote in November. Publish the audited ACFR reports for 2024 and 2025 so workers and voters can trust the city is doing all that it can to right the ship. And require that management leads from the front and shares equally in the burden. Finally, as you approve your city council goals tonight, I ask you to acknowledge who makes those goals possible. SEIU members are the staff in every department optimizing service delivery. SEIU members are your city park rangers, PD, and fire support staff maintaining public safety. SEIU members are your code enforcement officers. SEIU members are the crews maintaining the parks, streets, facilities, and utilities. SEIU members are the teams running your recreation programs for seniors and youth. SEIU members are the professionals who permit and inspect affordable housing. SEIU members are the very foundation of this city's economic development because SEIU members live and work here. These goals are not achieved without SEIU workers. Thank you for your time and consideration this evening. Thank you, Ms. Bryant. And I think I'll call Eric Collier again, but I think he has left. Thank you. That concludes public comment period. Madam Mayor. Madam Mayor. Yes. I have a question for staff. It's around the comment that Mr. Hall made about the mobile homeland. Zoning ordinance, can we get a timeline update on that, please? Yes. Excuse me. The ordinance has been drafted and some preliminary outreach has been done to the affected mobile home parks and it is scheduled to be on study session, I believe in July and it would come here shortly thereafter. Thank you. Thank you. We'll now move to the consent calendar. Does anyone have items they wish to pull for discussion? Okay. If not. I do, Madam Mayor. I'm sorry. Yes. I had a question on 11 F1. I know we have a contract with him already for our city, which he does a horrible job. And I'm saying this publicly because I think our city deserves better. But are we adding, my question is, who am I addressing this to? Are we adding this to his remaining contract? Good evening, Mayor Prochem, council members. JD Heumann was selected through the process to do the districts and special benefit zones. Through the course of the year, there's been special projects assigned, whether it be a moth abatement on oak trees, car accidents through medians, Jim Glines Way . Those extra tasks have taken the funds that were allocated towards specific projects. So what we're asking for is to this additional funding so we can continue those projects that we had already planned for through the course of this year. Okay, my question is, were there any offers for any other b ids? Are we just going with him because he's just been doing it for a long time? And I want to let you know, he does a horrible job. I live in District 2, and I know Parks and Rec is responsible for some of the cleanup there in my area, but so is he. And I brought this to the last time when we talked about his contract, I brought this up. And nothing's changed. And we can't just continue to have somebody doing, taking care of our city just because he's been doing it for so long. Sometimes our, you know, our lens are blocked by what we see. And I don't know why nobody else sees it, but I do, because I care about what our city looks like. And when we have, like we're getting ready for Western Days and we're getting ready for the rodeo, the car show, and still things are not cleaned up. I question that as much money as we pay this contractor to take care of it. Not only him, but our own Parks and Rec. So my question is, did we not try to see if somebody else could take care of it? Or are we just putting it on with him because we already have him? Thank you for your comments. We have a two-year contract with JD Human and we're halfway through that contract. At the end of this contract, we will go back out for a full request for proposal and look for contractors who can meet the needs of the city within the budget that's allowed. You'll see tonight I'll be presenting another topic, which is our landscape and lighting district and special benefit zones. While the increase is minimal, the expenses have grown exponentially. So we will continue to work with the dollar amounts that we have available to us to make sure that the city looks as best as it can. And I have also met with your constituents and walked the streets with them to look at areas. They are out there with 16 special district staff to cover 383 acres and the contractor. It's a lot of work. And right now, again, we'll talk about the money in the presentation, but the resources are getting more and more limited. Thank you. I didn't know if you'd like to give him, not right now, but later give him some of the specifics so he can specifically tell Mr. Human. Sure. I did that the last time when the contract was up and I did give it to our former parks and rec director and to avail nothing was done. So, yeah. Okay. I don't mind giving you that information and showing you myself. Yeah. I drove through two districts today to that's part of my job in Angela Oslin is the assistant director. We do inspections a couple of times a week. We meet with constituents who call us regarding specific issues, including things like moths and trees. And today I had dead rats. So, yeah, we are making an effort to meet with the public. That's also why we do the assessment that we do every five years. Council adopted that last December to really get the input of the public to hear what their priorities are. I'm curious, what districts did you go to? District four and district one today. I thought so. Okay. Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Smith. Thank you. Okay. Do I have a motion on the consent calendar? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion and a second to approve the consent calendar. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Council member Aguilar. Council member Soto. Council member Patio. Mayor Patino. Mayor Patino. Aye. Now we will make appointments to various outside boards, commissions, and committees. Chief Deputy Clerk Donna, can you please read the staff report? Yes, Madam Mayor. Madam Mayor, members of the City Council, the report before you tonight is for Mayor to make appointments to fill a City Council vacancy on outside boards and the City Council to ratify the selections. The resignation of Council Member Carlos Escobedo on March 3rd, 2026, created vacancies on four of the 10 agencies. City Council members. City Council members sit on as representatives. Staff has conferred with Mayor Patino about Council Member appointments to various boards and she has asked that the City Council consider the appointments listed on attachment A. The four agencies currently requiring City Council representation are Central Coast Water Authority, Central Coast Collaborative on Homelessness, Santa Maria Airport Council informational and schools quarterly round table. I will present each board for appointment after all have been appointed. The appointments will then be confirmed by the Mayor with ratification by the City Council. The first board is Central Coast Water Authority. There's a vacancy as an alternate proposed appointment by the Mayor's Council Member Batia Central Coast Collabor ative on Homelessness. There's a vacancy as an alternate proposed appointment Council Member Batia Santa Maria Airport Council informational. There's a vacancy as a member proposed appointment is Mayor Pro Tem Flores schools quarterly round table. There's a vacancy as a member proposed appointment is Council Member Batia. Okay, I support these nominations and make a motion to appoint these nominees. Second. Second. And I have a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll. Mayor Patino. Yes. Council Member Aguilera. Aye. Council Member Batia. Aye. Council Member Sato. Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Flores. Aye. We will now consider making an appointment to the Block Gr ants Advisory Committee. Chief Deputy City Clerk Donna Schwartz, will you please give the staff report? Yes. Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, the request before tonight is to make an appointment to a vacant position on the Block Grants Advisory Committee . I will present the committee for consideration of the appointment and the City Council's ratification. The Block Grants Advisory Committee currently has one vac ancy. Staff received one application from Corey Mills for the vacant position previously nominated by Council Member Aguilera. The appointee will serve an unexpired term ending July 2026 . Council Member Aguilera has the nomination to this committee. Following the nomination, the appointment will then be confirmed by the Mayor with ratification by the City Council. Council Member Aguilera, do you have a nomination? Yeah, I would like to nominate Corey Mills. And I accept this nomination and make a motion to appoint the nominee to the Block Grants Advisory Committee. Would anyone like to second the motion? I'll second. A motion and second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Yes. Mayor Patino. Aye. Mayor Patent Flores. Aye. Council Member Aguilera. Aye. Council Member Bethaio. Aye. And Council Member Soto. Aye. We will now move on to the public hearing portion of the agenda. And the next item is the introduction of an ordinance updating solid waste collection rates. Interim Director of Utilities, Michelle Ruiz, will present the staff report. And Mr. Springer may be watching. I'm certain he is. No pressure. Director Springer is unavailable tonight. He sends his regards to the council. Good evening, Madam Mayor, City Council, City staff. My name is Michelle Ruiz and I'm a staff member in the Ut ilities Department. We'd like to introduce an ordinance tonight to update solid waste collection rates for the next four years. We're going to walk you through our process for how we set rates and talk about what the proposed rates are. At the end of this presentation, which we hope will be brief, we will go ahead and request the Mayor to open the public hearing. If I can just interrupt really quick. Please. I just want the public to know that we are on 13 public hearing on the agenda and we're on 13B. Thank you. Thank you, Donna. Well, I want to thank, I have staff in the audience tonight from the Utilities Department, also available, who supported this 18th month long effort to get to the cost of service study. And I appreciate them being in the audience tonight. You'll also hear from Josiah Close. He's our consultant we work with to develop the cost of service study. He'll be at the other dais here shortly. And he'll talk a little bit about their methodology and approach to the project. So let's get started. So tonight, what we're going to cover is an overview of our collection services. We're going to talk about the Prop 218 process required by the California constitution. Josiah is going to talk a little bit about the technical piece of the methodology, which is the rate setting process, why we do it and how we get there. And then we'll show you what the proposed rates are. We'll have a little bit of a comparison to how we compare to our neighbors. And then we'll request to open the public hearing. Staff's recommendation tonight is to approve the rates as proposed in the staff report. So in the utilities department, we provide trash, recycling and organic service through our solid waste division. We have about 19,000 cart customers and about 1500 dumpster customers citywide. I was asked the question today for the media of Santa Maria 's population is so big. Why do we have so few customers? It's really about accounts and service addresses. So while we have a lot of high density areas in Santa Maria , we may have multi families, but it's all one service account. Our crews start early. We're out there at 3:30 in the morning, 6:00 a.m., out there servicing trash, recycling, organics. We do that daily Monday through Saturday. We have up to 22 of those big blue beautiful trucks that you see out there that say teaming with you to keep Santa Maria clean. Our team takes a lot of pride in the work they do. And we manage different pickup frequencies during the week depending upon the account. Last year, we collected nearly 71,000 tons of waste from the community. And this is just within Santa Maria city limits. The solid waste division is also responsible for doing the citywide street sweeping. They manage that contract. So California constitution. We're required to comply with the California constitution. This is what's known as prop 218. It's required anytime you're setting or implementing rates or fees that are property related. You've heard the utilities department and the finance department refer to this legal requirements when we're talking about the enterprise funds. It applies to water, to sewer, to trash. This law sets rules for both designing the rates and walking through the public process. So it begins with a cost of service process. That was that 18 month study that the city completed. And we must design rates that comply with prop 218. And if we weren't in California, the process would stop there. We would be bringing those rates to council. But because of prop 218 in California, we are required to conduct a public hearing process that has noticing requirements, the public hearing, and it also has majority protest provisions. So if a majority protest is received legally, city council could not adopt the rates. That is not the case for tonight. And we'll ask the clerk's office at the conclusion to give us an update on how many written protests were received for the process. So I mentioned that this has been an 18 month long process. We started it in December of 20, or excuse me, in July of 2024. And we just wrapped in December of last year. We engaged HDR consultants through the city's procurement process because they're a leading expert in cost of service studies. It's really important that the consulting firm comes aboard and helps, gives assurance to the city that we are doing defensible cost-based rates. So at this point, I'm going to go ahead and hand the presentation over to Josiah. Josiah closed behind me and he's going to talk about the revenue requirements, the cost of service, and rate design. Thanks, Michelle. Good evening. So as mentioned -- oh, if you could back up one slide, actually, I'll just talk about the process in general. So we have industry manuals that we look at within utilities that outline this process. It gives us the methodologies and approaches that we can use to identify the costs to provide service. And then distribute those costs to the different customer classes depending on how they utilize the services. And that is our nexus between -- that gives us our justification under Prop 218 between what the customers are demanding for service requirements, and then the rates that we're charging them. So the three-step process is the revenue requirement. That looks at our total balance or deficiency of funds. We accumulate our operating and capital costs and compare them to our current revenue contribution from all the customer classes. And we project that out over a five- or ten-year period to look at what rates need to do into the future to make sure we can adjust rates smoothly and steadily over time to accomplish funding those costs. The cost of service then, again, key within Prop 218 requirements and legal decisions, case law, we need to justify what we're charging the customers. So in the cost of service, we ask the question why we're incurring the costs. And we'll go through the budget and identify whether that's related to the total volume. So for solid waste collection, that is the majority of costs related to the volume contribution from customers. We also want to look at the size of container or bin that they have, the pickup frequency. And so we assign costs to all those different categories. And then we distribute it to each of the customer classes, the container sizes, based on how they utilize the service. Then the rate design is where we design rates to collect that revenue piece, again, based on the revenue requirement , that total cost, the operations and the capital to make sure that we're collecting the adequate amount of revenue. And again, that connects to how the customers are demanding service. So as mentioned, we look out over a longer period of time for rate setting. We're looking at a four-year period. However, we do want to go a little bit longer than that, especially with capital considerations. You'll see in a little bit the electrification is driving costs within the solid waste collection utility. And so we want to try to anticipate what those costs will be out between that five and 10-year period to make sure that we're trying to transition rates to hit them again smoothly and steadily if possible. We want to analyze the solid waste collection utility on a standalone basis. So as an enterprise fund, making sure that those rates support the operations and capital expenses of that specific utility. We're also incorporating prudent financial planning criteria as we look at things such as reserve levels. There is no debt, but if we had debt on the utility, making sure we're not too leveraged. And so we incorporate those considerations as well within our revenue requirement. Again, some highlights on what's driving our rate adjustments, the annual O&M expenses. So we start with our budgeted biennium costs. We escalate those into the future based on historical costs , as well as informed by local indices, nationwide indices for construction materials and those types of things. So we can escalate them into the future. Again, trying to adjust rates over time to cover those costs as they increase. We have additional regulations that we have regarding organ ics, recycling, things like that. We have to incorporate those costs within the rates going into the future. Meeting our targets for reserves. So you'll see in a couple slides what that looks like, but we're targeting 50% on the utility track for water sewer, as well as the collection solid waste. So that we have a buffer on both cash flow. So for operating expenses and for capital projects to make sure we have capital funds available, if there's any catastrophic emergencies or things of that nature. So that's an important piece as we look at our rate transition as well. Some key impacts with numbers. Again, the fleet electrification is a significant cost that we're looking at within the next five or so years, totaling about $11.5 million with vehicles being electrical, as well as the infrastructure for charging, maintenance, training, all those sorts of things. So that's a significant cost we have coming on processing costs. Those are more on the regulatory side, almost a million there that we have to include within the solid waste collections costs. Fleet, we have another half a million dollars attributable to that as we replace trucks and things like that. General liability. I'm seeing this in a lot of rate studies that we're working on in the last several years. I mean, it's continuing is just those costs of the insurance increasing. So we have another half a million that's attributed to that . So this is a summary of our total revenue requirement. The dark blue shaded box is our total costs, both operations and maintenance and capital. And what we do is we compare the current revenue generation , the lighter blue box on the bottom to that. And then we start to look at what we need to do to rates within that time period to adjust them to cover the costs. So we have the white shaded area as our proposed additional revenue from the rate adjustments. And we are utilizing reserves over this period. It's important to note that there is a little bit of uncertainty related to the electrification costs. So in working with staff, we do anticipate that there could be some savings, whether that be grants, whether it be competition, further development of the technologies. And so those costs are weighted towards the end of this period. And we are confident that they should come in lower than what we're seeing. However, we want to be a little bit conservative. And so we are utilizing reserves to mitigate that risk over time. You can see we have a much larger deficiency if we don't roll forward with those proposed rate revenue adjustments, which would lead to further decrease in that reserve fund balance. And again, due to the compounding nature of how those rate adjustments will work, then that deficiency would get larger. But also to climb out of that deficiency would also become larger as we lose the compounding on any rate adjustment that you would go with. So that's the revenue requirement. Again, the total amount of costs that we need rates to support for the solid waste collections utility. The next component is the cost of service. And this is where we look at why we're incurring the cost to provide service. Again, looking at the big buckets of costs for solid waste collection related to the tonnage or the amount of solid waste that we're collecting. The disposal of that, the cost related to that, the containers and bins. And so all of those we look at proportioning them then between each customer class. So what is driving the cost, each rate that we charge based on Prop 218 as well as the case law, we need to defend that charge. And it needs to be a mathematical calculation based on our assumptions of what those costs are. So the cost of service helps us achieve that. Again, this based on the variables that we have within the cost of service. So looking at the tonnage, the cubic yards and the weight, also the bin size. Each one can only carry so much solid waste, right? And so we have those variables that we can put into the cost of service. And we determine what that average unit cost is then to provide that service. And we accumulate those costs within the cost of service to give us our total revenue contribution that we need from each service. So we're maintaining a separate rate by cart and service. And we'll see here a summary of the rate design. We did try to make it a little more concise than what we had previously. So making it -- there will be a base charge that includes one pickup a week. You'll have an extra cart or bin charge. And then if you require additional pickups, that will be another charge. So it's very transparent as far as what the rates are for the customer. And we worked through the cost of service to provide those average unit costs. So this table summarizes those proposed rates. Based on the results of the cost of service, there was not a need to increase the 65 gallon, the 95 gallon, and the two yard for the first year. And so instead of -- because we didn't need to do that, those are actually staying flat. And we're incorporating the cost of service adjustments within the rates. And then in years two, which is 2027-28 through 29-30, those will increase based on that overall rate adjustment need. And so for the majority of customers, there would be no impact that utilize those services for the first year. And then back to Michelle. Michelle, thank you. So in Santa Maria, we don't set rates based on the market. But we do like to show comparisons to how we stack or measure up with our neighboring cities and entities responsible for waste collection. The first blue bar that you see is what the rate is today. The second blue bar on each size chart is what it will be four years from now. We're comparing our rates against these other agencies to show that the city still remains competitively priced, even out four years from now. And these assumes the entity's current rates. We know their rates will go up because our costs are going up. And it's likely some already have planned adjustments coming for fees to go up. Or once we adopt our rates, then they will too. And so we've shown that for comparison. I did not intend to hit every slide, but just to quickly show you this visual, I'll advance each slide. You can see as the size of bins go up. So two yard in the upper left, three yard bin at the bottom . Even at four years out, we are still falling below the price that a lot of our neighboring entities are charging their customers for the same level of service. We also have three yard bin, four yard bin. So just repeating that theme. And then we also offer a six yard bin. Pretty rare. Not a lot of customers have that size. And then an eight yard bin is available only to specific recycle accounts. So we do like to show that. And that does conclude our presentation. We'd be happy to receive any comments or questions that you may have. Barring none, we would welcome the opening of the public hearing. A majority protest will be reviewed by the clerk's office. They'll let you know that number and how many valid written protests have been received. But if no majority protests exist, staff recommendation is to adopt the solid waste rates as proposed based on the schedule and timeline so that we can ensure those revenue requirements are met for the enterprise funds. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions from the council? Yes. Ms. Soda. Thank you for the presentation. Can you speak a little bit to -- you spoke -- you both spoke as to the increase of costs for service. Can you talk a little bit about what cost saving measures you may have tried to implement in the last two, three years to help offset those increases? Ms. Certainly. So like other city departments, the utilities department has had salary savings as positions were held vacant. That certainly helps our enterprise funds. But uniquely in the utilities department, we have regulatory mandates that we're required to fund. That's SB 1383, AB 341, AB 1826. These are regulations from CalRecycle that drive our costs associated with diverting green waste, food waste, mixed blue recyclables, all of those things. So the only tool we have left in our toolbox is the explanation of grant opportunities to help offset some of those costs. Staff do apply for grants as they come up. In the past, we've been more fortunate and received some grants, but we haven't brought a grant award back to this council in some time. It's highly competitive out there. So -- but we'll continue seeking those opportunities to help lower costs for our rate payers. And importantly, with the recommended rates today, Josiah touched on it, are -- most of our customers won't see any change in year one. So if this recommended rate adjustment is adopted as proposed, there's a year to plan for what that difference or that impact is going to be. For most of our cart customers, so our single family customers, residents, they either have the 60 or 90 gallon cart. So if we're going to go to the next year, that's going to equate to either under $3 for the 90 to jump from current rates to the first increase in that year. So from year now, next year, when they jump, it's less than $3. Our 60 gallon would be around $4. So we do aim to keep those costs as low as possible. But that's still in a span of four years. That's over a four-year period, which is -- With no increase in year one. Right, right. You talked a little bit about the timeline just now and how in year one, some residents will not see an increase. But I think tied to this is the fleet electrification investment that you mentioned. It's what, over $10 million, $11 million? Yes, ma'am. $11.5 million estimated. Can you walk me through that timeline and what would happen if perhaps we delayed that? So importantly in this proposed rate cycle, that's a cost driver when we look out at the 10 to 11-year mark of rates. For the purpose of rate modeling, we want to look out at about 10 years. But as you can imagine, it's very difficult to get accurate forecasting that far ahead. What we've done is we've done our best estimate of what that fleet electrification is going to cost if we have to get the vehicles and the infrastructure for charging. But we're also hoping that we can buy some time and not recommending those increases now. Because had we done so, it would be coming with that recommendation. The cost would have skyrocketed for our residents. And we don't want to do that. We want to be responsible and have a phased approach. And if we can, delay those costs to when it's eminent. It's still a few years away. So our goal would be to see if the mandates change if we're not subject to them. Or if technology improves. So that would help drive the costs down related to the electrification market. The other thing I would add, and maybe it also dovetails on your first question, is that knowing the fleet electrification requirement was coming, the utilities department did work with the public works department and fleet division to buy more diesel trucks now before the CARB regulation kicks in and says you can't buy diesel anymore. So we're trying to, while that was a very expensive cost, it's less expensive than jumping to fleet electrification today. Thank you. My other question is just kind of pivoting now around to, I think it's the 218. Proposition 218. Prop 218. Is there any opportunity that exists within that that would allow us to implement or put in place measures that could support low income rate payers? Unfortunately, there's not. Prop 218 is very specific that we cannot charge more than the cost to provide the service. We could decide to charge less, but that would require some kind of subsidy or offset from another revenue source because we have to meet our revenue requirements. An example of that would be the general fund, which we would not recommend. What have other cities done? Cities have to comply with Prop 218 and they charge the cost of to provide the service. Okay. Those are all my questions for now. Thank you for your questions. Council member Flores. I just have a question. Thank you for your report. What outreach have you done to the community, letting them know that this rate increase is coming? We don't want our community to all of a sudden, you know, look at your bill and then it's up. Yes, ma'am. Thank you for that. Because you're saying it's what, $3? About $3 for a 90-gallon cart customer in two years' time, yes. We did outreach. We're required under Prop 218 to do a public noticing process. That's our Prop 218 notice that went out with the utility bills. So we sent notices to over 20,583, I think is the number, to all of our customers with their utility bills in the months of January and February. In addition to that, we held a public workshop in March at Shepherd Hall in the evening to encourage residents to attend. We appreciated the two residents who showed up and their engagement. Staff felt really good about that. But we also, in addition to holding the public workshop, which is not required by Prop 218, but we like to do it to make sure the community feels informed and we're transparent about our process, we also posted the information on the city website and advertised in the Santa Maria Times about the rate adjustments as well. We actually received very few phone calls in the utilities administration office. That is unique to a rate increase. I don't know if it's the soft-faced approach of not implementing in year one, but there were very few contacts based on the information we provided. Thank you. You're welcome. How much of that outreach was done in Spanish? All of it. Okay. Yes, ma'am. What about Misteko? We have a big Misteko population here in Santa Maria. Yeah. We generally don't do Misteko translation. It's difficult with the written part. But we do, we're required to do it in the two, two primary languages in the city, which have been identified as English and Spanish. I always think it's interesting when I've gone to these un met transit needs or any of these workshops, there's more staff people than there are residents at those . Yes, ma'am. So how often do those carts get replaced? Yes. So some carts have a longer life than others. It depends on a lot of factors. We often get phone calls from residents that say your truck cracked my can and we go out and replace that at no charge. So it just varies. We have some old style that have been around for 20 years or so still out there in the community. And we have others that tend to break more often. It can be driven by a residence request or the driver will document it as they're doing the service that it needs replacement. So this is basically based on it's just costing or doing the same service. Yes, ma'am. We're not changing the days or including more days. We're just doing the same service. No, ma'am. It is costing us more. Absolutely. Processing costs are a big driver. Today's significant costs have to do with the processing, with the future fleet needs and with insurance changes. It's the cost of doing business. Yes, ma'am. Can you go back to the slide about the residents that they pay in Lompoc and the other cities? Yes, ma'am. Oh, you got it. This is the 60 and 90 comparison. So we're paying, there's four cities that are paying more than we are? That would be in four years' time. Okay. But as of right now? As of right now, it would be everything after the first blue line would be paying more than we are. So only Oceana, Grover Beach, Oragrande, and Orca pay less than we do? Yes, ma'am. Okay. And this is with the increase that will come? The second bar would reflect our increase. It does not take into consideration their future increases because those are unknown. Okay. Okay. And just so we're clear as to what we're paying for, because it's going to be, you said, $3 per 90 gallon increase? Yeah. Per cart? So it would be $2.82 increase a month on the 90 gallon cart in year two of the recommended four years. So not July of 2026, but July of 2027. So $2.82 increase on the 90, $4.22 increase on the 60. So by 2027, we will all be paying $2.92 more per month. Yes, ma'am. If you have a 90 gallon. Okay. And then $4.22 more per month. Yes, ma'am. That's correct. In 2029? Yeah. That would also be in 2027. 2027. Yep. By the time we get through that four year period, I did the math earlier. It was around $14 over the four years in increases to our residential or cart customers. Oh, here it is. $13.17 over four years and $13.56 over four years, the 60 and the 90. respectively. Okay. So that's an increase of like $3.50 every year. Yeah. There's not a percentage necessarily that's attributed to it because the costs escalate a little bit differently year to year, but yes. Okay. We just want to be clear because I know that a lot of people are in tight budgets. Absolutely. The income is limited. And so we just want to be clear with the constituents that we're talking about $3.50 per year that we would see an increase in all of our bills. Yes. On the carts. On the carts. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. And that's only once. What size cart is that? Can you clarify? Yes. So over the four year period, that $13.56 increase to what they pay today, that would be on the 90. And that $13.17 increase over the four years on the 60. Right. Yes. And 60 is the smallest we have. Mm-hmm. We often get calls asking for smaller, but our equipment just can't support the smaller size bin. What about larger bins for ADUs? Yeah. So the 60 and the 90 is what we are able to offer for our equipment, our automated side loader equipment. We used to have 350 gallon bins. Those were phased out of service. They were an issue for operations and we had very few customers who were on them. So we're comfortable operationally with the 65 and 95 that supports our inventory as well and our planning for the future. And the reason why I mentioned this is because there's a street central where there is a house, an ADU, a junior ADU, and I saw it overflowing. Yes. And so are we giving them two, three, 90 gallons or are we able to give larger? The city under the municipal code, the director of utilities has the authority to impose service limits to meet health and safety requirements. We have invoked that provision of the code in the past. Our process is such that our drivers would be monitoring the property and reporting that this is overflowing. The team internally would attempt to make contact with them to increase service levels voluntarily. If we can't do that, then we do invoke and mandate an increased service level to address the overflowing issue. But how will you know if that's overflowing? Our drivers report it. Right. So we use the route wear system onboard our trucks. That allows our drivers to make comments, to take pictures at services. It's one of the tools we use when a customer calls and says , you missed my service today. We're able to go to that system and validate what time we were there, if we were there, if we in fact missed it, if the driver skipped the stop for a reason, and documenting overflows and then also periodically doing audits out in the field or how we address that. And then once you know that there's an overflow, that's when you can provide additional bins? Yeah. Usually we start with offering an increase in service and see if they go for it. So in the case of a cart customer, it would be to upsize their, or to increase their quantity of carts because cart service is only once a week for trash. You can't add additional pickups. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions from council? Yes. Is there anything that, how do I frame this? What could, when looking at between, let's say 2020, between now and 2030, is there anything that could happen in the next year, two years that could be a risk and increase and could potentially, yeah, see an increased cost to service? There's always the risk for certain. I think the immediate cost drivers and significant cost drivers we're seeing today are the processing costs. The city does have some limited short-term control over that when we enter into contracts with our processors. So it sets escalation or CPI for those contracts that they can't basically unduly increase it. That would be a significant cost driver that would require us to go back to our rate model, update that information and see what it does to our revenue requirements and our estimated expenses. So there are always that potential. Now, while our performer or rate models look at that 10, 11 year timeframe, the reason we only set rates for every four years is because that's what we're comfortable with. And we feel like if there are significant changes, we're going to start looking at the cost of service and rate model for solid waste in two years. So even though this process is just now concluding and we 're setting rates for four, in two years, we start looking again. So we'll get an opportunity to come back to council. Likewise, on that fleet electrification item, I know it's a scary number, that 11.5 million, we will be looking at that. And as that changes, giving updates to city council as well . I do have a question now that we have technology. Let's say we are using artificial intelligence robots and costs do come down. Is there something written in the ordinance where we would reduce the cost? I don't believe we have any language that would allow the city to reduce. Part of that is because under the prop 218 requirement that we can only charge the cost to provide the service. So in theory, if expenses go down, our revenue requirement go down, we can reduce rates for our rate payers. That seems unlikely based on my 15 years of experience, costs usually go up. Thank you. Yes. Okay. I will now open for a public hearing. Are there any requests to speak or written comments? No, Madam Mayor. I'll close the public hearing. I'd like to close the public hearing and ask Chief Deputy City Clerk Donna Schwartz to read the official report of the protest received. The City of San Marais has 20,583 rate payer accounts. From majority protests to exist to the water and sewer rates for 2026 to 2029, 10,293 valid written protests would be required. I have confirmed that at the close of this public hearing this evening, I received a total of seven valid written protests. Therefore, no majority protests exist to the solid waste rates for 2026 to 2029. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ms. Ruiz. Have you ever heard of a city that has protests received in that amount? No, ma'am. I haven't. You have? I'm sure City Attorney Watson has, but not in my time. He is an attorney. Yes. Everybody protests. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Okay. Any further discussion? Do I hear a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? I'll second. I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Council Member Aguilera. Aye. Mayor Potem-Flores. Aye. Council Member Batia. Aye. Council Member Soto. Aye. Mayor Patino. Aye. Aye. The next public hearing will be the adoption of the Engineers Report and the intent to levy and collect the 2026-2027 Landscape District Assessments. The Interim Director of Recreation and Parks, Dennis Smith erman, will be presenting the staff report. Thank you, Madam Mayor, Council Members. Tonight's item is the required annual public hearing for the Recreation and Parks Department Landscape Maintenance District and Associated Engineers Report. This is an annual process that allows the city to continue collecting assessments for the maintenance of landscaping and related improvements within the established districts. These assessments help fund ongoing maintenance projects and other responsibilities including medians, parkways, public landscape areas, and other district improvements that benefit properties within the assessment areas. As part of this year's process, staff reviewed and updated the assessment roll data files. That work included applying the annual consumer price index adjustment, reviewing new annexations, accounting for lot splits or mergers, and updating assessments where development has moved forward or new units have been added. For this year, the CPI is 3%. Staff also reviewed the engineers report budget tables, the report updated projected revenues and expenditures, the special assessment amounts, and the city's general benefit contribution. Those figures are used to ensure the assessments amounts are properly calculated and the report reflects the anticipated cost for the upcoming fiscal year. For this year's report, there are no new areas being added. The work before council is primarily the annual review update and approval process necessary to continue assessments for the upcoming fiscal year. The report has gone through staff review, administrative review, and has been reviewed by the city engineer as part of the process before being brought forward to council. Following tonight's public hearing, staff recommends that the council accept the engineer's report and authorizing assessment role to be finalized and submitted to the county tax assessor for placement on the property tax role. That concludes my information. Thank you. Are there any questions from the council? From Mr. Smetherman? Yes. Yes. So the assessments are going up and you said it's 3%? 3% based on CPI. Again, much like utilities, we have to follow the same process and procedure in order to raise rates other than the CPI. So this is just an inflation adjustment. It's not a new tax. Correct. Okay. Any other questions? Okay. I will open up for a public hearing. Are there any requests to speak or written comments? No, Madam Mayor. I will close the public hearing. Any further discussion? Do I hear a motion? So moved. I have a motion. Do I have a second? I'll second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. No. Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Council member Soto. Aye. Mayor Patino Flores. Aye. Council member Aguilera. Aye. Council member Bataya. Aye. Mayor Patino. Aye. Mayor Patino. Next, we will consider approving the Measure A five-year program of projects. The Director of Public Works, Brett Vulgoni, will present the staff report. Good evening, Mayor and Council members, members of the public. Tonight, we're going to talk about Measure A and Measure A, what Measure A is, what it funds, and what we plan to do over the next few years. Measure A was a one-half-cent sales tax approved back in 2008 by a 79% majority in Santa Maria, notably. It's a 30-year program that expires in 2040 and provides over a billion dollars for specific transit and transportation purposes countywide over the life of the program. 13.3% of those funds is allocated to special projects. 43.3% to North County Program of Projects, which is distributed based on population, and 43.3% of the funds donated or allocated to South County. So our total five-year allocation for Measure A is over $40 million. 15% of that total dollar figure needs to be spent on bike, pedestrian, ADA, safe routes to school. We call that alternative transportation. So that funding level is about $6 million. I know everybody loves spreadsheets, especially in engineering, but this spreadsheet kind of shows what categories we spend this money on each year and what our fund balance is. We do maintain a fund balance for major projects if need be , or if we want to speed up road maintenance, or speed up. If we get a grant or something like that, it's helpful to have the fund balance. We also use these revenues to pay for some of our staff. And so if we were to enter a recession or something like that, we would have a fund balance within Measure A to help lessen that burden. This is something that I wanted to share. I hadn't shared this in years past with the Measure A, but this is our street list. And so this is actually our in-house street list. That's a new program for us. And the new program is basically in-house paving. We bought a paver two years ago with Measure A dollars. And so we have both contracted maintenance and we have in- house maintenance. And so the in-house maintenance is actually our team going out there and doing the work, our employees going out there and doing the work. And these are the streets that they've prioritized, well, that we've prioritized as a group that we're going to do on the local street side. And the figure all the way to the right is our actual cost of the materials to do these streets, which is a fraction of the cost of us contracting this service because we're only buying the materials. We're already paying for the staff. We're not incorporating that, but we are buying the materials with Measure A dollars. And so it's really just an increase in productivity from our staff. Another spreadsheet, this, and I'll bring this back for everybody to, for consideration, but Mahoney, Black Road, Southside Parkway, Miller College, Don ovan, McCoy, Taylor, Industrial, Fairway, A Street, and Ben Wiley. These are the roads that we've identified that need road maintenance. And this is the order of priority that we plan to work on these roads. Last year, so tonight in the, in your packet. Yeah, your packet. Thank you. You had SB1. And so SB1 had allocated money to part of this road system. Last year, we actually allocated money to Miller College, Donovan and Mahoney. And so now they're up for construction, basically. So we, we try to allocate money, design the projects, figure out what we're going to do, and then go into construction. So these are the priorities and our estimated costs, uh, for doing this work, just for digouts and overlays. And then we'll follow it up the following year with a chip seal. And I want to show you a new tool that we have to make decisions. Can you go back to the roads? Sure. Maybe. There we go. So there's Mahoney Black, but then I see Betteravia. Is that part of it too? And number two. So that, those are limits. So the road name would be from Betteravia to, um, so Black Road from Betteravia to Winsett, basically. There's a water line that we may need to install . We'd go all the way to A Street, but we're not going to A Street yet because there's a water line that needs to be installed there. And so we don't want to spend money before the water line goes in. But those are, those are limits of construction. So you'll see college from Alvin or from Maine to Alvin or Miller from Maine to Boone. So those are the segments that we, that we estimate. So Miller gets fixed from Maine to Alvin. Yeah. Miller. So Miller, if you look at all the four segments that we analyzed, Miller gets fixed from Stoll all the way to Donovan. When? Hopefully fall, winter this year, depending on how quickly we can get everything out. Do you have the schedule? Like the scheduled repairs as part of this presentation? I don't. Okay. So this is generally what we're going to do within a year or two. And I say that because we have Mahoney and Black out to bid . That's going to be out to bid this week. Mm-hmm. However, that's a, we're going to be doing an on-call contract. And so we're going to spend time developing an on-call contract. And then with that on-call contract, we essentially write a work task order. And then we have the contractor go out there and do it when we want them to. So that'll be a two to three year contract. And that's how we did our last payment program. And so kind of at opportune times, we'll go in and do the work. So it's not as formal as like a bid project like we're doing with Mahoney and Black. The reason we're doing it with Mahoney and Black is because it's production paving. All of it's coming out. All of it's going back in. Yeah. The other streets, they're going to be a little bit more, we'll be a little bit more selective about how we pave them . Okay. To conserve dollars. So. Okay. All right. I want to pull up and show you a tool that we have. Maybe. No pressure. Okay. This is a tool that we have. We have analyzed 100% of our streets. We have an estimated PCI based on this of 80. We were at 68. We still have some truthing to do. But red is bad. Red are bad streets. Green are good streets. And this is really what the public sees. This is visually what the public sees. We have a system that analyzes the roads for cracking and, you know, what the condition is. And so we did all this work in about two weeks with a cell phone on the front of a truck that went back and analyzed the information and then provided us with this report. We'll be able to see how this changes over time as well, which is really exciting. And it was only $10,000, which we used to spend $160,000 for a quarter of our city to do this work. And we never had this map. Another added benefit is we can go into each road segment and press play. We have a video of it. So if we have a natural disaster, we'll have evidence of what that road looked like before that natural disaster for FEMA purposes. But it's also productive for our staff to sit there at their desk and then estimate what our segment contributions will be for construction. So it has kind of a two-sided benefit. Well, a lot of different benefits. But this is the primary tool of how we're now beginning to prioritize roadways. What you'll see is we'll continue to focus on our arterials and collectors, the main roads in town. We'll continue to make sure that those get into good shape. And then we'll move into neighborhoods and do large slurry projects, dig out in slurry projects to preserve that pavement. I have a question regarding that. Yes. How are you selecting the projects? So the condition, there's primarily traffic. If the road is economically important, has a lot of traffic on it, we tried to prioritize those, like Betteravia, right ? Betteravia, Stoll, Blosser, you know, all the roads that we did last year. There's also cost. So if we can afford to treat a segment and treat it with minimal treatment, be it few dig outs, and then hit it with a slurry seal and preserve that road, that's a tenth of the cost than treating a road like Mahoney, where you go into Mahoney, you've got to grind out the whole thing and spend $10 to $12 a square foot to fix the road. So we try to do different treatments at opportune times that are the cheapest, like as cheapest as possible. But we do prioritize roads with the most traffic that serve the most people that need the less work so that we can get the segment done. And then we get to the bad ones. And how are we making sure that the older neighborhoods, like the lower income areas, are getting service? If there's not a lot of traffic? Yeah. And we don't know how much it's going to cost. And we will. We're very close to that. And so the goal is that the entire city grid arterials and collectors get completed and get 80, 90 PCI. We want them in solid shape. And then from there, the areas that need it, which are primarily those areas, they're red. And we're going to go in there and treat those and try to get those to turn green. The ones that are red? Okay. Yeah. So primarily, like if we were to scroll up into the northwest, you can see a neighborhood here near the high school and Pine Street. Those areas need it too. And so what we'll start to do is look at schools, which we are already doing with our in-house paving program. So the in-house paving program is for our local roadways. And they're already starting to pave segments around schools. You'll see El Camino, parts of El Camino were just done. We're going to do the entire segment of El Camino in front of El Camino school. And so prioritizing usage around schools and important parks and things like that. And then we'll do big slurry projects where you'll see like a quarter of the city be completed. I know because we have, say, north of Maine, south of Alvin around, and west of Railroad. Those neighborhoods are really old and those streets probably haven't been touched. Yeah, those will be the first ones. So we have a policy that we're developing where we have tier one, tier two, tier three, and tier four roads. The tier one road would be like a better avia. It doesn't have a pothole. If there is a pothole, we call a contractor out. We do a saw cut. We make sure that road stays in good shape. It gets the first dollar, you know, and then so on and so forth. Local roadways, once they get past a certain threshold and they become so deteriorated, you've got to repave it. And that's the in-house paving program. If we can prevent them from getting to that point, even if they're cracked up and they don't look too good, we can hit them with a slurry seal just like we did in the big five parking lot. And if it doesn't have that much traffic on it, we can treat that with a relatively cheap treatment and get it mostly green. And sometimes that's enough to keep it going until we can come back with a bigger treatment. Well, in particular, Ben Wiley is an example. Yeah, Ben Wiley was on the list that you saw. Yeah, I saw that. That's why I was asking how did you make that decision? Because that one really needs a lot of work. And there's a lot of areas in that area because it's a lot older neighborhoods. Yeah, and that's what we'll start to do. As we move out of the arterials and collectors, we'll be able to take care of the worst of the worst in neighborhoods that maybe aren't a top priority right now, but we know they're out there. They don't carry a ton of traffic, but we know that it affects neighborhood quality. We know that that's an issue. Thank you. Any questions? I think I have another slide or two. Yeah, I don't think you're done with your presentation. All right, back to me. Okay, so a couple quick photos. This is our in-house paving program. So we have in-house concrete and in-house paving now. This is our new paver. We have a new Super 10 dump truck coming to optimize this p aving program. Could be a point in time where we upgrade our paver even to another new facility or a new type of equipment that we can even do more. So a recommendation for this evening, hold a public hearing , take any public input on measure a local program or projects and adopt the resolution. When do you plan to have the public hearing? Right now. Right now? Right now. Okay. There's not going to be a pub like where you invite a town hall or anything like that? No, but I would certainly be happy to do that should the council want me to. Yeah. I was just thinking you could have one in each district. District, yeah. I would love, yeah, I'd be happy to oblige. We can certainly arrange that. We did that for Council Member Flores. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because I was grocery shopping the other day and this lady yelled, I mean, she yelled at me. I tell people I get the most complaints about potholes than anything else. But this lady was yelling at me. I would like it if she would yell at you how great the city is. No, no, no. That's not what she was saying. That's what we're, that is our goal. I won't even tell you the rest of the words she said, but anyway, she was very upset. But I see that she's on the list there to get done pretty soon. So you can let her know now. I didn't get her name. Thank you. Any questions? Yes. Go ahead, Ms. Soda. I know that there was an extensive conversation about the particular streets and how those streets were identified, but what about the sidewalks? Is it the same process? Yeah. If we do an overlay, it's required by law that we do the sidewalk and do the curb ramps and bring those up to standard. And so that's when we tap into some of that 15% funding. If we don't treat the whole road, there's a threshold in which you cross. So if you're below a certain threshold, you don't need to do ADA. Sometimes we elect to do it anyway because of, you know, it could be safer out to school, could be, could be other reasons we decide to do it. There's going to be a lot of concrete work in the next few years. I didn't really touch on that here, but there's, I think we were looking at about $6 million worth of work. We just started construction. We got a grant for a portion of work on Pine Street and Cook Street. So just right over here, that was some additional dollars that we were able to get. It's under construction now. So, yeah. I think my next question is around, it's somewhat similar, but with the street lighting, I see that in the five-year spreadsheet that we all love to refer to. I see here street lighting, street lighting upgrades are going to take place in underlit neighborhoods. Can you share what under, underlit neighborhoods you have identified? Yeah. A lot of them are in the four square mile, the old parts of town. So we just completed a project over on not Western. It's right over here, just north of Morrison, north of the high school. Yeah. We just, I can't remember the name of the street right now, but we've been focusing on neighborhoods that are, that are within the four square mile and we know that they don't have lights. And so we install annually. We try to do a street light project that is, it can be cum bersome because you've got to dig up the road. You've got to put in the conduits. You've got to do the electrical. You've got to, you know, sync the lights in. And so we've been kind of experimenting with solar lights actually, and could allow us to do that work a lot more quickly, hopefully cheaper and still provide a good product for the neighborhoods. But I could provide some resources on what areas we've, that we're looking to prioritize for that. But it's generally going to be consolidated within the original part of town. Mm-hmm. Great. Thank you. Okay. You've showed us the schematic on, on the streets. Do we have the same, do you have the same thing on the sidewalks? We completed our GIS layer for sidewalks. Okay. So we're, we actually have the ADA transition plan underway . And as part of that is going to include surveys, very, very specific surveys of our sidewalks. And we'll have complete data on sidewalks. We do, we do have curb ramps that have been completed and curb ramps that haven't. I hope to come with an index and, and what that looks like, um, very soon. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? I will open the public hearing. Are there any requests to speak or written comments? No, madam mayor. I'll close the public hearing. Okay. Bring it back to the council. Do I have a question about the 15% alternative transportation requirements? Sure. Go ahead. Are we on track to meet the requirement over the next five years? Yeah, we, um, there was one year where we didn't quite meet the requirements. Um, and, and that was due to construction timing. But we will absolutely spend that money. We have a big concrete project coming out, uh, this year as well. And so we'll essentially, we will be spending that money in a, in a very large tranche, um, of construction over the next two years. And do you know which specific bike lane pedestrian projects, safe routes that we're going to focus on in the next five years? Do you have that mapped out? We do. Yeah, we have an alternative transportation plan. Um, we have, uh, as part of the grant that you had approved us to apply for earlier today. That includes that has a lot of different information and data in there, the maps, uh, to really try to connect the city. It w that's like, if we get that, that's tens of millions of dollars towards, um, towards the program. Notably, we received an ATP grant that'll be under construction next year. That's about $8 million. That'll go from Blosser on Fessler from Blosser to, uh, highway one-on-one. And then again, from the college at college, all the way to sway under, under the highway, um, all the way to, uh, the sway limit. And that will include new bike paths. Thank you. A lot of people are excited about that. Yeah, it's going to be a great project. I know if you ever go, go in there and see the whole, the whole, um, plan that they have on bike paths, it's very interesting. Yes. The cycle mania people will be very excited. I hope so. Okay. Any other further discussion? Do I have here a motion? I make the motion that we approve. And a second. I'll second. I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Madam clerk, can you please call the roll? Council member Aguilera. Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Flores. Aye. Council member Bataya. Aye. Council member Soto. Aye. Mayor Patino. Aye. The next item is regarding the city of Santa Maria workforce, vacancies, recruitment and retention efforts, pursuant to AB 2561. Chief human resources officer, Graciela Reynosa will present the staff report. Good evening, mayor, members of city council. Tonight, I'm presenting on the city's annual workforce, vac ancy and recruitment report in compliance with assembly bill 2561. Assembly bill 2561 that basically took effect last year. This is my second presentation before the body to talk about what our vacancies and levels are like and to evaluate our hiring and retention efforts. It's also an opportunity for our recognized employee organizations to address the council. Ms. Reynosa, can you speak into the microphone, please? I'm sorry. Thank you. Let me try that again. So the presentation today is for basically legal compliance for Assembly Bill 2561. We'll also have an opportunity for our recognized employee organizations to address the council following my presentation today. Assembly Bill 2561 essentially asks that we present before budget adoption what our staffing and workforce looked like in the previous year or so. It increases employment transparency between public agencies and the public and ensures the public agency operations are appropriately staffed. And again, our bargaining groups can present during the public hearing regarding this item. So. As you'll see in the graph. The city currently as of January of this year. We have 719.4 FTEs spread out through the departments that are listed here. That is a reflection of action that we took in January to right size the organization and clear some vacancies to really have a clear view of our staffing needs. So that staffing. So that staffing could be very clearly defined as we approach our budgetary process. We do have the labor groups that are listed here. We have firefighters. Firefighters union local 2020. We have a nonrepresented group which we call NMAC. Police officers association. Public safety managers. Service employees international. SCIU local 620 and our Santa Maria Police Association of Middle Management. So these are the groups that if represented can present before you today. So again, as of December 2025, the city had 741 budgeted full-time equivalent positions across 10 departments. Our overall vacancy rate was 13.3 and no bargaining unit exceeded a threshold which the assembly bill kind of stipulates of 20% kind of being a threshold identified as a high vacancy rate. None of our groups approached that amount. So since December, the city has again taken steps to clean up long-term vacant positions to improve position control and budgeting accuracy. And so currently we stand with 719.4 FTEs and 82 current vacancies as of April 17 of 2026. In 2025, we conducted 56 recruitments. We received over 1,600 applications that the Human Resources Department would partner with the operating departments to review and qualify for city employment. And of those recruitments and applications, there were 241 appointments. Of those appointments, 93 were promotional appointments, which is a very healthy rate for transferring within the organization for growth opportunities. For growth opportunities within the organization. To attract and retain talent and a qualified workforce, the city continues to offer a range of incentives, including education pay, hiring incentives for hard to fill positions and relocation assistance. We offer competitive benefits and salary programs. And we also maintain strong partnerships with our departments to ensure that our recruitment processes are aligned with operational needs. And that we are meeting the needs of the department and therefore the community with our staffing models. So this is an opportunity for our employee groups to, I believe there are a couple members of our employee groups to address the council with their comments on our workforce staffing models. All right. Can you hear me? Okay. Sure. All right. Well, good evening, Mayor Patino. Council and city staff. A special welcome to council member Batia. We look forward to working with you. I guess you never thought Tuesday nights would be so different. A little bit longer. But I appreciate the opportunity to speak before you today and represent local 2020 over 74 sworn employees that take an oath to protect this city every single day. And I'm thankful for AB 2561 to be able to be able to support the city. To be able to address our current staffing as well as our future. And on behalf of the staff of the firefighters, I want to look to council and say thank you. Thank you. In May of 2025, this council made a decision that broke a 10 year trend. You chose to compensate your fire. And it is how this profession is valued in our community. And we are already seeing results. For the first time in years, we are experiencing stability. Since the implementation of that contract, not a single firefighter has left our department. And we are seeing a lot of the turnover and lost experience . That kind of retention is not just encouraging. It's transformational. That's stability and part of a broader shift. With your commitment and under previous and current fire administrations, we have seen real progress and intentional planning moving forward. The department has hired and maintained two civilian positions dedicated to training firefighter safety and ensuring injured personnel receive care quickly and effectively. That means our firefighters are better prepared and better supported when something goes wrong. That means our firefighters are better prepared and we are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are not going to be able to do that. We are implementing a training captain position and investment in readiness. When the tones go off, we don't get to choose the call. We just go. That position ensures our firefighters are trained, prepared and operating at the highest level possible. We have bolstered our fire prevention division, often the unsung heroes of our profession. Their work does not always make headlines, but it prevents them. Through inspections, education and enforcement, they quietly reduce risk across the entire community. They also investigate fires, including arson, helping hold those responsible accountable, and in some cases, putting criminals behind bars. Their impact is real, even when it is unseen. We have also recognized that firefighter health goes way beyond the physical. The addition of a peer support canine reflects forward thinking and commitment to mental health because taking care of our people is essential to sustaining workforce long-term. The fire department has implemented comprehensive firefight er physicals, including head-to-toe screenings and blood work designed to detect hidden health risks early. That matters. As a result, members within our department have identified cancer in its early stages. They've begun treatment and in most cases prevented further spread. Cancer remains the leading cause of firefighter fatalities, accounting for over 80% of the names on the IAFF Fallen Firefighter Memorial. This program, the physicals, is about protecting our people so they can continue to serve the community and return home to their families. And in 2025, engine six was placed into service, adding three more firefighters to the daily staffing model. As this community grows, so must the department and commitment. But the foundation for this, for that made this progress possible is the change in mentality from this council and city leadership. You chose to prioritize firefighters through fair compensation and benefits. And because of that, they are staying. That is the difference. It is also important to be clear about what is driving our current staffing shortages. This is not a retention problem. Because of the changes you made, our firefighters are staying. The stability we are seeing proves that. Now, while retention has improved, staffing remains a critical issue. We recognize the eight suppression vacancies and one-time fund reallocations that have been utilized to assist balancing the budget. Approximately savings of $2.18 million in the general fund and $6.5 million from Measure U in fiscal year 24-25. And we remain committed to being responsible stewards of the resources provided. We want to continue to serve as a collaborating partner alongside council priorities, city staff, and fire administration as we navigate these challenges together. At the same time, our members have absorbed an increased workload as a result of ongoing staffing shortages, creating downstream impacts on operational efficiency, mental and physical health, and overall work-life balance. As presented in the state of the city and the Santa Maria Valley housing summit, and even tonight, we know the city is growing. Demand is increasing. And we have a clear opportunity to ensure that fire protection grows alongside in a thoughtful and responsible way. The good news is we have already shown that we can accomplish this work together. We have improved retention. We have strengthened the organization. We have made forward-thinking investments. And we can take that same approach to staffing. We recognize the challenges, but we also recognize the progress we have made together and what that means for what is possible moving forward. Working collectively as we have done, we can fill today's vacancies. We can retain the professionals we have invested in, and we can meet the obstacles in front of us, whether they are staffing shortages or budget constraints. We can't wait to see the challenges that we have made together. We can't wait to see the challenges that we have made together. We can't wait to see the challenges that we have made together. We can't wait to see the challenges that we have made together. We can't wait to see the challenges that we have made together. We can't wait to see the challenges that we have made together. We can't wait to see the challenges that we have made together. Together we can ensure that this department is properly staffed, properly supported, and ready to serve the community at the level it deserves. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. Again, my name is Nicole Bryant, representing SEIU Local 6 20 and our general unit employees. And I wish I could say the same, but our members are facing a different reality as you heard earlier. Tonight's AB 2561 vacancy hearing highlights the importance of transparency in fiscal decision-making. The city has reported 82 funded vacant positions as of April 17, 2026. SEIU Local 620 requested the total value of those vacancies in line with our rights under the assembly bill to prepare for this hearing. And that information was not provided. Without knowing the financial value of these vacancies, it is impossible for workers, the public, or this council to fully evaluate the structural deficit or the need for concessions from our members. Using a proportional equation, which is not a test of high validity, but all I can deduce from the information provided. If the 24 funded vacancies eliminated on January 20th, 2026 , saved approximately 2.9 million as outlined in attachment C, table two of that agenda report, then 82 vacancies reported this evening would have a value close to $10 million. Now, Rebecca, don't jump out of your seats. I don't believe that value is accurate. I believe it is overestimated. But without the city's provided financials, that's all we can deduce. AB 2561 was designed to promote openness and accountability . Full disclosure of vacancy savings is essential to meeting this goal. Transparency builds trust and trust requires complete information. Thank you. Thank you. I, anyway, I needed to open for the public hearing. I was hearing before they spoke. But, anyway, that's fine. So, it will open and close public hearing. It will be fine. Any other questions? Comments? Is the presentation still going? That was it. Yeah. Do you have a few more slides? Okay. I'll reserve my comment until after she's done. Sure. Okay. You can go ahead. Just my closing comments. I did want to highlight that a major component of our long- term retention strategy is a comprehensive classification and compensation study currently underway. The study will modernize more than 200 job classifications as we work to, again, right-size the organization and make sure that our job classifications fit what our employees are doing and what they articulate the work that they are doing. And also to ensure legal compliance and support competitive compensation and classification practices that reflect both market conditions and the complexity of the work performed by our employees. We do have a very complex workforce. And I think I've mentioned that before. A lot of compliance issues that you've heard a lot about today. So, overall, the city remains committed to maintaining a professional and well-qualified workforce that brings a diverse set of experiences to the city and our ongoing efforts in recruitment, employee development through training programs, employee engagement, and labor relations will continue to support the high level of service our community expects. This does conclude my presentation and I welcome any questions that Council may have. Okay. Questions of Council? Ms. Soto. Yes. Thank you. My questions are stemming from the presentations from one of the bargaining groups, particularly a CIU. Can those, can the value of, can the budgeted value of those funded, of those vacant positions be shared? Do we know what the dollar value, I should say, of those vacant positions are? Ms. We will work to get that information. I think there's different staffing models and different methods that we can do. Costing. I think part of the difficulty has been changing to a new system and kind of some outdated models that we've had. So. And how will that figure, what will, what will, how will, how would that be, how will that impact the budget? Like how will that value ultimately be, be impacting the budget? Ms. For a budget question like that, I'll defer to Rebecca. Ms. Yeah. And I'm asking because if we can't, if we don't have the dollar value of those vacant positions and yet we're talking about budget and budget cuts, I think that that's a really key piece of information that's needed. Ms. Thank you, Councilmember Soto. Thanks for the questions. So Rebecca Campbell, director of finance. We do for our budget preparation, we do do a salary forecast that includes any vacant positions on the book. So we can estimate those positions. I don't have those with you today. But we can do that. And for budget planning, we're going to continue to work with the departments on, you know, it could be vacancies, it could be other budget reductions that we need to take, or it could be revenue options. So we will take those into account. Ms. For, for the budget discussions. Ms. That's correct. Okay. And then my other question is around the total number of, I believe, positions. It seems like there may be a discrepancy or a misunderstanding with the math count of the FTEs. If I'm, if I'm, from what I, from what I've been told, the math count back in December was 741.6 FTEs. And then we eliminated, or not eliminated, but then, well, yeah, I guess 24 of those were eliminated in January, which equals to about 17 point, 717.6 remaining . But yet the report that's presented in front of us states 17, 719.4, sorry, it's been a long day. FTEs as of January with a gap of 1.8 FTEs unaccounted for. I'll need to go back and check that. And I can work with our HR director on that to make sure our numbers are correct. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions? Yeah. In, in plain terms, what does the 98 vacancy gap mean for the services of our residents? What's day to day response times, permit processing, code enforcement, park maintenance, library hours? The vacancies are, the vacancies have been around for different variance amounts of the vacancies. So a position may be newly vacant and we're working to recruit it, or it could have been vacant for, for a significant amount of time as we, you know, talked about clearing vacancies from the last year. Service levels are always very, very carefully measured when deciding to fill a vacancy or to hold it open. So we work with the departments to ensure that operations will be able to continue and to, to meet the needs of the community as we recruit for these positions. And do you have a chart as to how our salaries and benefits compare to neighboring jurisdictions like Lompoc, Santa Louis, Santa Barbara? The classification and compensation study will provide that to us. Okay. And we do have identified comparator agencies within our M OUs. So those agencies that we'll compare to have already been decided. And hopefully the class and comp studies should be, like I said, it's well underway and it should be concluding over the next few months. And do you have a chart that shows which positions have been open for more than a year, two years, three years? We can get that information. I don't have it here today. But we do have that information available to us. And part of what was cleared in January were some of the long-term vacancies. So I believe that that has become a more mobile number than , than it was before. So we're right sizing and we're clearing up some long-term vacancies. Okay. If you can provide that, because I think that would be useful for the budget as well. Sure. Thank you. Absolutely. Any other questions of the council? Yes. I know that, that there, for, for these hearings, there's, there's a trigger, right? A 20, 20% vacancy? Yes. Trigger. And the non-represented management group is right under that triggered. Can you just share a little bit about what, how that may be impacting, you know, services or also what could be driving that? Sure. I do want to clarify that the 20% trigger is for represented groups. Okay. So for unrepresented groups, it doesn't really apply. Um, and again, it's, it's kind of a, a reckoning within the organization to see what vacancies need to be filled and what, uh, does department leadership really believe that it needs to be filled immediately versus what can be held onto for a little bit. Um, the management group includes, uh, so that would be NM AC, uh, which would include your administrative leaders, your, um, your, um, management group, uh, and your confidential tax. Uh, those are positions where, um, some of the work has been absorbed. Um, and we are looking at, um, vacancies and when the department deems that it's necessary to move forward and we're able to move forward with the recruitment, we're, uh, pretty agile and getting that going. Thank you. Any other questions? Yes. Ms. Flores. Thank you for the report. How would you determine what, um, departments would need, um, the vacancies to be filled? Would it be fire? Would it be the police? How would you guys determine that? We partner with department leadership, um, because they best know their operations. Um, and you know, there's a lot of moving parts. So we're taking into account some of the budgetary constraints. We're taking into account what is some longterm planning. And, uh, we partner to open recruitments as, uh, we, we talk with, um, city manager, um, and decide when the position is, is needed to move forward with. Ms. Flores. So say, um, uh, in the fire department, they needed, uh, say, uh, battalion chief, um, and their, and that position hasn't been filled. Would we, would we fill that with our men on that's there? Ms. We would conduct a recruitment. Yes. Ms. Okay. So, perminess. Ms. We would do that, right? Ms. Yes. Ms. We wouldn't eliminate that position. We would not eliminate a position without discussing prior. Ms. Okay. Ms. Thank you. Ms. Thank you. Ms. Thank you. Ms. Any other questions to the council? Ms. No. Ms. If not, this report has been received and filed. Ms. Thank you. Ms. Thank you very much. Ms. The next item is a tax and equity fiscal responsibility hearing regarding the Perlman apartments. Director of finance, Rebecca Campbell will present the staff report. Ms. Thank you, mayor. Ms. Good evening. Council members again, Rebecca Campbell, director of finance. Ms. I'm here tonight to open up a tax equity and fiscal responsibility act or tap for hearing. Ms. A tap for hearing is a requirement under the IRS for nonprofit borrowers that intend to issue tax exempt bonds for a conduit issuer, such as the California Municipal Finance Authority, also known as CMFA. Ms. The tap for hearing provides a public, a time and a place in a forum for folks to come and comment on the exempt bond proceeds for the project and the capital needs. Ms. The tap for notice has to go out at least seven days before the hearing. Ms. And for this project, it was noticed on April 22nd of 2026. Ms. In this case, the borrower is Danco Communities, a nonprofit organization. And they're requesting that CMFA issue the debt and serve as the municipal issuer of the tax exempt bonds in aggregate of principal in the amount, not to exceed $35 million for the project. Ms. The project consists of construction improvements and acquisition of a 150 unit multifamily rental affordable housing project that's located on 100 North Broadway in Santa Maria. It's also known as the Pearlman Project. Ms. A little bit about CMFA. A little bit about CMFA. Santa Maria is a member of CMFA, which is a joint powers authority that was established in 2004. They were set up for, to promote economic, cultural and community development throughout the state of California. CMFA includes 350 municipalities. CMFA was formed to assist local governments, nonprofit organizations and businesses in the issuance of tax exempt bonds aimed at improving the standard of living in California. The bonds to be issued by CMFA for the project will be the sole responsibility of the borrower. And the city will have no financial, legal or moral obligation to those bonds, no liability. Participation by the city and the CMFA will not impact the city's appropriation limits and will not constitute any type of indebtedness by the city. The bonds are payable solely by the revenues derived by the prior and the applicable project. And the city is not obligated to the debt payment. The board of directors of the CMFA for stronger communities . It's also a nonprofit foundation. They act as the board of directors for CMFA and they share a small portion of the fees with the city. And I also have a representative here that sat through the whole evening to be here. Anthony Stubbs is here from CMFA. If there are any questions that come up about the bond or the deal. Thank you. That's it. That's it. That's it. Thank you very much. Okay. Any questions from the council? Thank you for sitting through our meeting. Okay. I will open up the public hearing. Madam Clerk, are there any requests to speak or written comments? There is none. Madam Mayor. Thank you. I will close the public hearing. So I bring this back to the council. Do I have a motion? Oh, go ahead. Get some of Mr. Danco to come up here. Oh. Hello. I wanted to explore a lot of people. A lot of us don't know Danco. And I wanted to ask what is Danco? What other projects have you built in California? And how have those projects performed? If you can provide some background. To the point of clarification, I would like to ask you to ask you to ask you to ask you to the California Municipal Finance Authority. Oh, okay. We're the issuer of the bonds. However, we've worked with Danco. We've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. We've closed about 10 to 15 years. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've worked with Danco. And we've never had any reports on any of the projects that we've done with them in any type of negative fashion. So. Okay. That's good to hear. Thank you. Now, you said you're here with? California Municipal Finance Authority. We want to explain to them. Yeah. So we're a joint powers authority, as explained. We will be the issuer of the tax exempt and taxable bonds on this project. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any questions? Comments? Nope. No. Okay. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? I'll second. I have a motion. A second. No further discussion. Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Council Member Soto. Aye. Mayor Patan Flores. Aye. Council Member Bataya. Aye. Council Member Aguilar. Aye. And Mayor Patina. Aye. Next is a regular business item regarding amendments to Chapters 8 of the Santa Maria Municipal Code. Deputy Director of Utilities, Josh Reynolds, will provide us with the report. Good evening. Thank you, Mayor and members of the Council. Josh Reynolds, Deputy Director. I want to talk to you a little bit about the Cross Connect ion Control Plan. And we'll start real quick here with what we want to do is introduce an ordinance to amend Title 8. And that ordinance, the main changes there are to really allow the Utilities Director the power to develop and enforce the Cross Connection Control Plan. So we'll talk a little bit about what that is. What is a Cross Connection Control Plan? We'll talk about why I'm here today presenting the new Cross Connection Control Plan. And we'll work through what it means to the community over time. So really, we're here to talk about this Cross Connection Control Plan. It's such a mouthful. Because the state adopted new regulations around Cross Connection Control Programs. And you can see these words keep coming forward, right? So the state of California adopted a Cross Connection Control Policy Handbook, which sets forward that we have to maintain a Cross Connection Control Program, elements of which include a Cross Connection Control Plan. I hope you've got all of that. So I'll do my best to explain it as we move through this little presentation. The important part here is that the Cross Connection Control Policy Handbook repealed section of the Title 17 of the California Code. So that requires us to make changes to our municipal code, which references that pretty heavily. And so we're going to want to get our ordinance in line with state requirements. That's really the driving force here. So the main parts of the Cross Connection Control Program are threefold. The program says you have to have the legal authority to implement this program. Hence the revisions or amendments to Title 8 of the municipal code. It says you have to have a designated program coordinator. We already have that in place with our regulatory compliance specialist that meets the certification requirements. And we have to prepare a Cross Connection Control Plan that is, you know, state approved and meets the requirements as outlined in the Cross Connection Control Policy Handbook. It's been a year for me to get all of this right. So I'm going to back up a little bit because I've said Cross Connection or Cross Connection Control a dozen times or more. So what is a Cross Connection? Well, a Cross Connection is a connection between our pot able water system, our drinking water system, the public system, and any non-potable water system. So, for example, it might be an irrigation or a fire smir ker system or some kind of an industrial process that's passed the meter on a private property. What we don't want is that water that's, once it's gone through the meter and gone on a private property, we don't want that coming back into the drinking water system. That would be a backflow event. And so a backflow is a reversal of flow typically due to a change in pressure. So a main break or something like that could result in a drop in pressure. Water on that non-potable system could come back into the potable system. That's not something we want. And so the Cross Connection Control Plan is designed to prevent this from happening. So the Cross Connection Control Plan that we've prepared and was attached to the report is what the city is going to do to prevent, and not just prevent cross connections, but also to go out and discover cross connections. So that's a big part of it is getting out there and finding these cross connections if they already exist and preventing the creation of new cross connections over time. And ultimately what we want to do is protect the drinking water system from a backflow event. So here's that word again, cross connection, right? It's the foundation of the Cross Connection Control Plan. We want to prevent the potential for backflow of non-pot able water into the potable water system. Control. So these are the main elements of the Cross Connection Control Plan. The enabling ordinance that we're talking about here with Title, with amendments Title 8. Enforcement, also through Title 8. We're going to establish, and really we already have testing standards established. We're going to update those to meet the new policy handbook and state laws. And then make sure we've updated our backflow protection assembly standards. And you can kind of see a photo of that there. But, and then we have the plan. The plan is how are we going to assess the hazards? What's the schedule? How's it going to roll out? How are we going to rec, you know, take records that we did the work we need to do? Notice the public and individual parties that they need to test or maintain a backflow device. And do some, you know, outreach to the public. And ultimately the Cross Connection Control Plan really protects public health. And that's what we're setting out to do here. So the municipal code revisions. The main changes to the municipal code is really it's simpl ifying out. So the current code, Chapter 810A, is our Cross Connection Control Plan right now. What we're going to do is pull a lot of the technical detail out of that ordinance. It goes into the Cross Connection Control Plan. The ordinance becomes enabling and enforcement language primarily to give the utilities director the power to amend, adopt, and enforce the Cross Connection Control Plan. Ultimately what we want to do is ensure compliance with the state handbook and the requirements that the state has laid out. And so our approach to this is that what we want to do is be flexible. We want to make sure that we are not, you know, putting anything too tight in stone to deal with changing technology or changing needs of the community over time. It needs to be updatable so that we can keep it up to date with changing state guidelines. We want to be consistent with what we're currently doing. We don't want to reinvent the wheel here. But we do need to bring it up to date to meet the new policy handbook or state requirements. And finally we want to make sure it's practical. So one of the ways that we're trying to make this practical is through mitigating some of the impacts of the community or potential impacts. One of those is by doing our hazard assessments over time and not trying to get them done in a short period. We've also looked at updating and we've been working with fire department, public works to update our engineering standards to make sure we're reducing and managing future costs to homes when they're built. Because one of the big follow ons from the new policy hand book is that residential single family homes with fire sprinkler systems will now need to have a backflow protection assembly of some kind. And so that's a new requirement and it's backwards looking. So homes that are out there right now fire sprinklers may need to add a backflow device to the backflow protection assembly to their connection. So right now we figure there's about 1500 homes that were built since January, I think of 2011. That may require backflow devices because they have existing fire sprinkler systems. We have until 20 July 2034 for those properties to comply. And we've changed our city standards to reduce the need for that in the future. So homes being built now ish, um, would be putting in a looped system so that they would not need to put in a back flow protection device. So for implementation, this is the first reading, um, with adoption of the ordinance and that going into effect that finalizes our state compliance requirements. Um, we're doing hazard assessments as new development comes online right now. Um, and in July, we'll start doing hazard assessments, uh, looking at the higher hazard commercial industrial users, as well as, um, the residential sprinkler systems. And then we'll continue our record keeping effort, ongoing annual inspections of the backflow protection assemblies and maintaining notifications to the community and the, and the users. With that, I'm available for any questions you might have. Any questions to the council? I do. Um, you talked to, when you were talking about the mitigation piece and, um, through this having some homes put in a system to prevent back, back, backflow. Um, is that going to be on, on the homeowner or is the city going to up front of the cost? Yeah, that's, that's on the homeowner's responsibility to maintain, to install and maintain and test the backflow protection assembly on an annual basis. So are we going to notify the homeowners that we think should be testing? So, some homeowners have backflow protection assemblies on them now. I think all of our commercial industrial customers have some kind of a backflow protection assembly in place now. We have an annual testing program in place where a certified tester goes out and tests the backflow assembly. I've kind of got, right, there's one in the photo here. Um, there's a couple other examples there of what they look like. There's ports there that you can test the pressure drop across there and make sure they're sealing properly. Um, that these are private property. They're the responsibility of the business owner, homeowner , whoever owns or maintains that premise. And how much does that cost? It varies based on size, right? So a small one like this is like an inch, inch, inch and a half might be several hundred dollars to install. Um, and to test, it might be 50 to a hundred, $200 a year to test. I'm not sure where that's going to settle out on the annual testing cost. It's that annual testing costs. It's really been driving me to work internally to make changes to our standards, to not continue to put out back flow protection assemblies, but instead to loop the fire sprinkler system internal to the home, build it out of, um, drinking water approved piping, and then have it drain or slowly be able to leak to like, um, a toilet fixture or something so that water is always moving through there. Those changes prevent the need to put this on that house then, right? So they don't need to do that. And I, we were really working to make sure we didn't put that burden on homes going forward with the change in the standards. Um, are there any grants that are available to cities so that they can support residents pay for this? I, I, I'm not sure. We'd need to look at that. Um, again, it gets challenged. And it gets challenging with it being private property. Right. And so I know that there are conservation opportunities, other things where there is the opportunity to do that. I'm not sure specific to this, um, and how that would have, would roll out. So is this for like new, you probably, I know you already answered, you already answered this in a way, but is this more for like newer homes, older homes, or is it just based on the amount of pressure? I think you said this, the amount of pressure that the pipes are experiencing, but like what causes that added pressure? Yeah. So the single family home issue is. So before the new policy handbook rolled out, single family , they were not classifying the state was not classifying residential fire sprinkler systems as a high hazard. Right. So they, they did not require a backflow protection assembly. I'm going to say that to protect the, the drinking water system from the fire sprinkler system. And so the concern there is that a fire sprinkler system can get stagnant. It can sit with water for a long time. And that stagnant water could potentially bring bacteria. If you had a drop, drop in pressure and a backflow event, that water could go into the main pipes, right? That's a lot of coulds, coulds, maybes stacked on top of each other there. So I think it's a low risk event, but it is classified now as a high risk or potential high risk or potential hazard requiring mitigation, requiring a backflow device. What we're seeing is the fire sprinkler system, the fire sprinkler requirements really rolled out. I want to say in 2011. And so homes built since then are likely to need some kind of a backflow device. That's my home. We won't know until we do a hazard assessment and look at those houses and see where they're at, see what, how they were built. Oh, wow. What happened there. And then you're going to have, then you're going to have to have somebody check these, the backflows every year. Every year. As they do commercially. Yes, they do with the, yes, exactly. Yeah. And we're trying to work. We've been working on the standards to get it so that we can put that backflow device up against the house or near where the fire sprinkler riser is instead of putting it out the street or at the curb and gutter where it's a nuisance, right? It's, it's damaged, stolen, broken. We want to put them, be able to put them in a secure location. And so that's, we've been working through the standards to, to make sure we can do something like that too. So would homeowners just call the city and be like, Hey, we need this installed. And then you add it to our bill. That's not currently the intent, but I would assume that we would have a list of, um, I mean, we don't want to endorse, right? A plumber or other business. So we may be able to keep a list to refer people to, um, but it would be done by private property and we would inspect the installation. And then we have a software package that monitors. Um, so all of the people that test backflow devices, they have to register with us. They have logins to the system. The notification goes to the property owner and CCs them if they're, you know, already hired by the property owner. They do the test. They submit everything through the port online portal to us . We review that work and then it comes up again a year from now. Any other questions? Yeah. So am I reading it correctly? It's a 45 year rollout. Uh huh. So non-residential by 2031. Correct. Higher risk residential by 2034. Correct. And all the remaining residential by 2078. 500 a year. Mm-hmm. How will we roll this out to communicate to the public? Yeah. Because that's a lot. And so, and that's the 2034 date is the first date, right? That's the group where we're going to be looking at fire sprinkler homes, right? So that we can get that group targeted earlier. Um, we thankfully have communication capability through our billing software. And so we, we keep those, um, working together. They're in this, they're in the same software package, our, our water metering billing and our backflow device. So we can link those accounts. We can provide notifications through that portal. Um, and we maintain that database over time. And you may have covered this in the presentation, but what are, what is the cost of the annual test? It varies. I want to say it can be, um, $100, $150. Um, that's for the, the larger ones. But the problem is they often get damaged. So you, you not only do you have to do an inspection and a test on it, you'll have to repair it if it got damaged over the ensuing year. What gets damaged specifically? The, the seals can wear out. The valves can get broken. There's a check valve in there with moving springs. Those can wear out over time. Um, they can get damaged. Someone can knock it, break it, break a testing port. So you can't do the testing. Um, and then another cost would be if you're going to get a test, if it failed, then you got to replace it. Yep. And they only, so the manufacturer only supports them for so long and you have to be able to get parts. And if you can't get parts, then you got to put a new one in this, this, this is a big task. It is. Do we have enough backflow testers and certified specialists to complete the 500. Yeah. We, we, um, did we, um, I think we added a position in the next budget. Yeah. So it's going to be a new certification. We have one on staff right now. We would look to consultants if needed to, if we need to. And then it's supported through some of it supported the rates. Um, you know, through the, you're paying a fee if you're right. Assume if the new fee structure that's been proposed is adopted, you're going to pay a fee to submit your annual test so that we can verify it. Right. And work through that. I'm asking because that's about 41 a month. So do we have the personnel? Yeah. We don't, so we don't test. We don't, we don't test. We don't. We don't test. We, we, the, the private property owner asked to select a tester off of the approved list. Okay. And so we already have an approved list for, I'm not sure what the number is, the thousand accounts right now that have, um, commercial and industrial accounts that have backflow devices. And those are already get tested every year. So we already manage that. If all 1500 homes that we've identified get enrolled, basically we're doubling the size, right? Of, of the number of devices that get tested every year. Um, so it's, it's a step, but it's, it's surmountable. It's manageable. Um, the 500 a year hazard assessments, um, that requires some staffing support. Yes. And do we have that staff support? It's being requested in the budget, I believe. It's sort of like getting your car smog, isn't it? I mean, I mean, I played it to that. Yeah. You got to do it every year and it's, it's, if something's wrong and you got to fix it. Yeah. Upgrade it. Yeah. Yeah. What if people choose not to do it? Oh, that's the enforcement aspect of the ordinance. Um, and you know, through, I would envision that we're not enforcing residential until after 2034. Right. But we have to be careful with that because the state does require you to enforce it once you know about it. So, um, so there is some time to roll that out. That was somewhat intentional. We're kind of pushing what the state wants us to do with that. We've, we've really stretched that out. Um, as long as they're willing to accept. Um, but you know, enforcement does include shut off. Which I think is illegal to leave people without service. Uh, I mean, it's, it's legal in certain circumstances and steps are done properly and undertaken. Any other questions of Mr. Reynolds? Um, no, no. I guess I should say thank you for the report, but I don't think we're real pleased with this. I don't know about this. No, I mean, and it's, it's, it's daunting. I get that and it's taken me a while to kind of get my head around it and what it means. And I've been working really hard with fire department building public works to, to minimize that. When I first approached this a year ago, the state was like , no, you got to put an RP device on every set service in your, in your city. Like I have to put 20,000 backflow device. No, that's not reasonable. And so then we've just been working with them to sort of re establish some reasonable conditions. And this is where we've landed. Thank you. Okay. Any other questions? No. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Madam clerk, are there any requests to speak or written comments? No, madam mayor. So do I have a motion? Second. So moved. Do I have a second or another reluctant second? I don't think we have a choice, right? We have to vote for this. Okay. I don't have a second. So. Yeah. All right. Yeah. Just to reiterate, this is another housing mandate. Yeah. It's no different than mandating fire sprinklers in the first instance. I, I would not recommend that you do not approve it. I would not recommend that you do not approve it. I would not recommend that you do not approve it. I would not recommend that you do not approve it. But that is your choice. And as was stated, there will be repercussions to the city for failure to comply. But how long will it take them to find out? My office will be notified quite quickly. Then you have to find. Okay. Yeah. Well, so by when do we have to approve this? Tom? Yesterday. I would, I would like to start addressing the hazard. Yes. In July or August as this comes online and get us ready to. Yep. But what's the. Start counting these issues and really get armed around how many residential homes are actually affected by this. What that looks like. We've made some of the changes already. I've already changed our standards. Worked through that to try and prevent more residential homes from becoming a problem. You want to come up here? Because we can't get you. Technically the date would be when it's enforceable to the residents. But I think it's not going to be a problem. I think it's not going to be a problem. I think it's going to be a problem. Yeah. But I think it's going to be a problem. I think it's going to be a problem. I think it's going to be a problem. Yeah. I think it's going to be a problem. Yeah. I think it's going to be a problem. I think it's going to be a problem. I think it's going to be a problem. I think it's going to be a problem. I think it's going to be a problem. I think it's going to be a problem. I think it's going to be a problem. I think it's going to be a problem. I think it's going to be a problem. I think it's going to be a problem. You want to come up here because we can't get you. Technically the date would be when it's enforceable to the residential because we have to have an enforcement program in place, but I don't think 2034 is what is what our option is. Yeah, but the state has a mandate that we have to have this program. Right? Yes. Yeah. By when? What's their date? 2034? Technically July 1, 2025. I have an approved plan. So I submitted a plan in draft form in July of 2025. They've extended the deadline out a year basically for everybody. Are they July 1, are they going to come knocking on the door saying, where's your plan? No, because they have my plan. Right? They have the plan that's in front of you. They've approved that plan. What we don't have is enabling ordinance for me to be able to enforce this. We have our current ordinance, which is now in conflict with our cross-section control plan. So that creates a situation where somebody calls up and says, I don't want to put in an RP device. I want to do a backflow device. I tell them, well, you're going to have to put an RP device in the future. I recommend you do that now. And they go, no. I can't currently make them do that because I don't have an ordinance that supports my plan. So we're in a bit of a limbo here without the ordinance. I think that for, you know, we've done what we can to limit the impacts to residential homes. Similarly, we've done what we can to limit impacts to commercial industrial users. We could tomorrow say everybody has to go to an RP device, a bigger, more expensive device. And those can cost tens of thousands of dollars to put in. Instead, we said, look, you can maintain and keep that until such a point as it fails or you can't get parts for it. Then when you have to upgrade it anyway, we'll do the RP device. And so the state's accepted that. There's not a lot more we can do. Delaying this doesn't change the need to do it. Delaying this doesn't change the cost of doing it. In fact, as we know, everything over time just gets more expensive. The sooner we start implementing and getting on this, the more affordable it's going to be for the community. Why was there a delay of a year in bringing this to council ? The delay was the state. So the state rolled out this policy handbook, said you have to have this adopted by July of 2025 and then continue to tweak what they needed to see. So it wasn't until like June of 2025 that the state finally said, okay, here's what we really want. A lot of workshops went with the state to get that figured out. So then we submitted our draft in July. They took time reviewing it. We made changes to it in the fall. We submitted it in January. They said, we think that's good. We then adopted or amended the ordinance, worked with the city attorney's office to get the ordinance to match the plan so that they all supported each other nicely. And now we brought it to you as, you know, the agenda's full and takes time to get here. I made a motion. I know. I don't know if that goes anywhere. And we don't have a second. Okay. Did this come through as an assembly bill, a Senate bill? Or did it just, the EPA just come up with this? How did this happen? I believe it's a combination of assembly bill and Senate bills that changed title 17 and created the cross California, the cross connection control policy handbook that then supersedes title 17. So it repealed title 17 and all the sections of title 17. Sort of modernizing, right? I think their sales pitches that the last time the cross connection control rules were updated in the state of California was in the nineties, late eight ies. And so they're trying to modernize it around current concerns and knowledge about risks. And I think too, I mean, I think one thing to keep in mind is this is not a passive risk. In fact, we recently discovered a cross connection through our, through our work that we might not have discovered otherwise where, where water was, was flowing through a property through two different meters. Cause their, um, backflow devices weren't installed correctly. So no harm, there were no, no damage was done there, thankfully, but it does point to that risk is out there that this is not a, I know it seems simple and it says, well, there's a lot of maybes on top of it, but if something does go wrong, the repercussions are huge. Right. Right. And if we introduce bacteria or chemicals into the drinking water system. Right. That people can get injured sick or die even. Right. It's, it's the theoretical on the one hand, but the moment it becomes real, it becomes very, very real. Right. Which is why I'm concerned that it took us a year to even have these conversations. And I still don't have the number of the budget that this is going to cost the city. This is a city mandate. This is a state mandate that we have to take on. What is the cost to the city one and why, if it's such a huge risk, why did it take us a year for us to vote on it? Because it's so important. Yeah. I mean, and that's why I was saying we, we, we want to get into the state. We've worked with the state. Once they set their standards, we got the thing into the state and draft, worked with them to get it finalized, got all that cleared together, worked with the city attorney's office to get the ordinance up. And then we have to get on the council agenda. I understand that the order, but I think the order should have been backwards because I think that the city council could have said, yeah, we're going to give you direction. This is coming down the pipe. We're going to give you direction to draft the ordinance, to tell us how much we had to make room for in this budget. Being that we have a super tight budget now to ask us to approve this before we approve the budget next month. Right. But this, this is built into our rates too, right? Into the water rates. Not, I understand that, but there's still a cost to the city for this state mandate. So there, there, there always is, there always is. Right. Yeah. Council members and mayor, if I just may add that our initial efforts towards getting into compliance with the state's requirements on this are going to be absorbed within existing water rates and user fees. So that initial cost to the city is already absorbed and planned for in our budget without the ask coming back. What, when we're talking about bringing us, um, an item through the budget for staff, that's to support the regulatory compliance program who will be responsible for monitoring and enforcing and working with code in the future. As we get, uh, single family residences or businesses that are not complying. So it's not today. So I want to just clarify that we, while it's delayed coming to council pending the finalization at the state, we're not putting the cart before the horse. So to speak, we can act and move this forward with what we have today with negligible impact to funding enterprise fund. Cause it's currently absorbable and the rest will come later. It will follow. When would you need the staff to start looking at compliance in a year or two? Um, I would defer to Josh. I think we're farther down the line from that because we have existing staff today who have the capacity to do this initial work. We have outreach specialists on staff. We have regulatory compliance on staff. It's really when we start four years from now is probably when we would really need a body dedicated to it, but we would phase it in. We always want to do it in a responsible and phased approach. And, and I guess to support that, I have vacancies that are in the process of being filled right now. Yes. To help support this effort. So when I say I don't have the staff today, but I do have, you know, interviews coming up here to support. Yeah. Yeah. But I think what she's saying is we won't even need the staff for two years. So it may not even impact this budget cycle. Right. Right. At least for enforcement. Now the other budget that you're talking about, it's already absorbed. Yes, ma'am. In our existing water rates and user fees, because the cost of the city to get us to implementation are really associated with doing our hazard assessments and our public outreach. So we have staff today where we can absorb those costs. When we have to go on site to say, inspect that installed backflow device, that would be a new user fee we might bring then so that our costs are at least recovered for that effort, but not to unduly burden staff through this, our residents through the process. Yep. Because we have employees who are talking about not getting a raise and all these things. Yeah. And now we're saying, oh, but this is more important than that. Yeah. I'm super concerned about that. And so I'm okay with approving this if it is already absorbed. Yes. And we're not approving the enforcement action with this budget. Yeah. The, the, the recommendation before us would be to approve the revisions, the technical amendments to the code. Okay. So that the city can get in compliance and let the state water resource control board know that our body has taken action to implement the code, which points to the plan. That's all we're asking for tonight. And there's not future hidden costs in excess. Um, the staff member that we're talking about through the budget again would support the regulatory compliance program to which some point in the future, a couple of years from now, this becomes more of a program, but right now it's absorbable. And I'm glad Josh made the point about our vacancies. Our regulatory compliance group has been short staffed for a while. It'll be good to get them on board. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. One more question. How are you going to notify the community about all this, these changes? Cause you guys haven't done that yet. We haven't started yet. It's really important. Like I mentioned, not to put the cart before the horse. We want to have approval of the ordinance updates to implement the plan. Our intention is to use the utility billing software and that spry point system to get notices out to the people this affects. Again, out of our, you know, 20,000 residents, we're anticipating about 1500 based on preliminary accounts. We would identify those specific accounts, get direct notices to them through utility billing. And then we would have personal outreach and contact utilities was fortunate to have a conservation specialist and outreach specialist. We have staff that we can come up with an outreach plan. And if council prefers, we'd be happy to bring that approach and plan back. I have a question. Does that mean you're hiring new employees? Potentially in the future as the program grows, that's always a consideration. When we get these unfunded mandates from the state, we either have to absorb it or staff up. Right now we're prepared to absorb the initial work. As the program grows, we would continue to evaluate what the staffing levels may need to be. And of course, this also has an impact to say code enforcement, who would be the enforcement arm for people who aren't complying. So we would be working in close coordination with their team. Which leads you to an increase in code enforcement officers . Potentially, but not yet. They're already overwhelmed, I think. They are. They are. They are. They are. Yeah. What? Okay. So do you want me to try again to get a second or just die? I mean, die. Die. Die. Okay. This is a public health hazard. I just want to note that. Yes. If it's not passed. Getting out and driving in the streets, Santa Maria is public health hazard also. Is a health hazard. We're talking about drinking water. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Be sure folks understand that. What do we want to do? It dies for lack of a second. You're not ready to approve something that's absorbed by the fund? If it's already absorbed the cost? Okay. We have a motion. Do you want to do a second? Or do you? I'm asking my colleagues. What? What? What is it that you want to see? Or what else do you need to know to make a decision? I mean, I think it's important to inform the community before anything. Oh, okay. I mean. Outreach. Okay. But that's not what we're doing right now. What we're doing right now is amending chapters 8-10A cross connections and 8-1.07 of title and the Samaria municipal code. But what are we informing them about if there's no change in the code? That it's going to change. Yeah. But it has -- there's no direction for it to change. Not yet. Yeah. So then what are they going to outreach for? That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm asking my colleagues. What do they want to see, right? And he's saying I would like to see an outreach. So if we vote today, if it makes him comfortable that we can say this is the ordinance and he would like to see outreach, then that becomes part of it, part of what the council's direction is. Well, you know what? We're getting into the weeds and we're going into being department heads and we are not department heads. We're dealing with a policy that the state has mandated. We either -- well, we don't -- obviously don't agree with the policy, but anyway, that's beside the point. And so we have this amending of the ordinance as I read before and this is what is before us right now. Yes, ma'am. Madam Mayor, I just don't have enough evidence with this. And I get what council member Soto is saying about the water. I get all of that. Okay. I just -- I don't feel comfortable with them telling us a year later that we should have had this done. I'm just not okay. So what, next year and six months they're going to say something different. So I'm not -- I need to have more -- More information? Yeah. In order to get -- Well, we can always -- if we can bring -- I'm going to move that we bring this back at the next meeting so that we have time to ask these questions and get informed. Does that work for you? That's fine. Okay. I'd like to move that we continue this to the next meeting, to the June 2nd meeting. Okay. Do I have a second on that one? We need to cancel the first motion then and let that die and then come with the second motion. How do we do that? No, it dies for lack of a second. We did that already? Okay. Yeah. It died for lack of a second. So I have another motion on the floor to bring this back to the council. And a second. Okay. Any further discussion? Wait, who seconded it? Who seconded? Nobody seconded it. Oh, I thought you seconded to bring it back. No. She brought it back. There's been no second. Yeah. I'll second it to bring it back. Yeah. Okay. That's what you did. Do you want to bring it back June 2nd or a date after that? June 2nd is fine. Is that going to be enough time? And if they bring it back, what exactly do you want them to bring back? She just wants more information. Yeah. More information. Okay. So what's the meaning after June 2nd? June 16th? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Do that one. Okay. I move that we continue it to June 16th. Is that okay with the second? Yes. Okay. The motion. Okay. First and second motion. Any further discussion? Okay. Hearing none. Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Council Member Aguilera? Aye. Mayor Patel Flores? Aye. Council Member Beth... Beth Dyer? Aye. Council Member Sato? Aye. Mayor Patina? Aye. Oh, she had a public comment. Oh, I'm sorry. Public comment? I'm sorry. Ms. Bryant, come on up. Come on, Nicole. Thank you. My comments will still be relevant for it being moved to June. My question is to council is something to consider is if we are choosing to kill this or not approve this, what is the financial liability from the state of the city not going through with a requirement? That would also impact the budget. I do want to mention that the positions listed are all current SCIU staff and would be potential future SCIU staff outreach specialists, regulatory specialists are all within our bargaining unit. Also, this is all enterprise funded and not part of the general budget deficit. Thank you. Thank you. I'm sorry. Anyway, thank you very much. Okay. Now we'll receive a presentation on polling survey results for a potential ballot measure and city manager David Rollins will open this up for us. Thank you, Madam Mayor and Council. Tonight, our recommendation is to receive a presentation on polling survey results for a potential ballot measure, including community priorities and support for municipal services and to provide direction to staff to draft approving resolutions for submission of a question to voters regarding a proposed sales tax measure to fund essential city services as part of the general municipal election. To be held Tuesday, November 3rd of 2026. And at this time, I'd like to have a Chelsea secondhand from DHM research give presentation on their polling. Hi, good evening. Good evening. Good evening. So as mentioned, DHM research did a poll which had two main goals shown here to assess voters perceptions and satisfaction with city services, and also primarily to gauge support for a potential revenue measure on the November ballot. Just to show you a bit about the methodology, we surveyed 400 likely November 2026 voters in the city. It was a mixed methodology survey, which means folks got emails and texts to take it online, as well as live interviews. So the overall margin of error for that sample size is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. And the demographics that we're using throughout are representative of the likely November 2026 electorate across all key demographic groups. And we offered the survey in both English and Spanish. These slides just confirm those demographics, again, as I said, representative of the November electorate this year. And then getting into the data. This is one of the first questions we ask voters before we tell them what this survey is about, that the city is looking at a revenue measure or anything. This is an open-ended question where we ask them what they feel the most important problem facing the city is. And as I said, it's open-ended. They can say anything they want. And then we take their responses and code them into these categories and themes. So we see really housing affordability rising to the top. If you combine that with cost of living, there's about a third who are saying those kind of pocketbook issues. Crime and homelessness also big concerns. People are citing top of mind. But taxes themselves are not climbing up a lot. You can see that all the way at the bottom, highlighted just 2%, said that's the biggest thing they're concerned about in the city. So when we asked them this ballot question, this is the exact text we tested on the left, which gives the half-cent rate, the total revenue it would raise each year, and some additional information. This is really representative of something that could be on the ballot, informed by prior measures you've tested and in consultation with the city staff. So when we ask voters this, and we haven't given them any information besides what's on the screen here, we see that 60% say they are likely to support this measure, that they would vote yes. And this just needs a simple majority threshold. So pretty good on the initial vote. Then after that, we tested this list of things that the measure could fund, different things that the city is responsible for paying for. And really what you see here, those dark blue and green bars, those are positive, and there's a lot of that on here . Folks saying all these different components, things that could be funded, make them more likely to support the measure. So a lot of the priorities that the city council has explored funding through this measure, such as park service , youth services, libraries, addressing homelessness, all of that really resonates with voters saying they're more likely to support. So a lot of the things that the city council is not going to be funded, and they're more likely to support the city council. So a lot of the things that we have to do is to support the city council. So a lot of the things that we have to do is to support the city council. So a lot of the things that we have to do is to support the city council. So a lot of the things that we have to do is to support the city council. So a lot of the things that we have to do is to support the city council. So a lot of the things that we have to do is to support the city council. So a lot of the things that we have to do is to support the city council. So a lot of the things that we have to do is to support the city council. So a lot of the things that we have to do is to support the city council. So we have to do a variety of themes, some about what it would fund, those same libraries, parks, youth services, some about the fiscal management and the oversight. And then here on this slide is how those messages performed . Again, a lot of that blue showing that voters found those messages convincing as reasons to support the measure. And what you see here is there's kind of two tiers of messages that did really well. One is those clear service impact focused messages where we said it's going to fund library hours and youth services and parks and all the things people want to see in the city . And another tier focused on the fiscal controls and that the money would all stay here locally, cannot be taken by the state. And that the city would be oversight of it and that the city would be responsible with the funds. All of that really resonated with voters. So after we tell them all that, those good things the measure would do, we ask them how they would vote on it again. So that's that second set of bars. And we see that the support raises to almost three quarters , 74% of voters saying they would support this measure now. And a decrease both in the no and the don't know. So even people who were opposed initially, some of them are moving towards support just with this information about what it would do. Finally, we asked them about this opposition statement on the left covering some of the themes of why people may come out against a tax increase like this, talking about cost of living and such. And while voters do find that convincing, 7 and 10 said it was convincing, when we asked them how they would vote having heard all of that, we still see the support is really strong. Almost two thirds supporting the measure and a greater intensity in that certain. So even better than the initial vote, even have heard all that message. And that's the end of the presentation. Thank you. Okay. Any questions? You may. Yes. Council member Flores. I was reading on the report and it says that it was geared towards essential services. Can you tell me what those essential services are? Yes. So I don't know if anyone from staff wants to jump in, but because it's a general use measure, it would be up to the city council to allocate those funds. And we tested a variety of priorities, like I mentioned, that could be funded, that voters supported. So we would decide as city council where that money would go? Correct. Yes. So that comes in if you guys wanted to enhance example of code enforcement. You can take a load of hiring code enforcement officers. If you wanted to take a look at offering different kind of after school programs for the youth of the community, we can take a look at providing those items there. So this will come back in front of city council to determine how you want to expend the funds. And it could change year to year. Depend on the priorities that you put out for city council or city staff during a budget process. So everything is open. If you want to hire additional staffing or units within the police department, the fire department, you would be able to do that as well. Those are your priorities and your goals, which you like to do with the funding once it comes in. So that's a good question. Can you go back to that other screen? I just, I just have a little question. Yeah, which one? The messages or the. Probably another one. This one? Yes. Yeah. So right there it says all proposed use of funds make voters more likely to support the measure. And it has on there maintain firefighting staffing. Right. So is that what we're telling? And then it goes down to improve library traffic safety, neighborhood police patrols, help address homelessness and Santa Maria. Mm hmm. So when we did the survey, is this what we told them that we were going to be spending the money on? So not quite. This was asked, here are some things that the measure could fund. How would that impact your likelihood to vote on it? So we tested some things that had been identified as priorities that we knew you all were looking at funding. Some things that maybe weren't going to be funded and just ask voters about all of them. Not saying this is what it would fund, but this is something a general measure could fund. And of course, it's up to city council's discretion. Mm hmm. And really, I think it's remarkable here that pretty much all of them are 80 plus support. Yeah. There's a little differentiation, but not really. So what this tells me is voters like the things you would do with this money. Okay. Yeah. Because I don't want the public to think that we're going to pass this, right? And then we're paying firefighters, we're paying emergency, everything that's just say hypothetically, everything on here, that's where all the money went. Right. Okay. So just sorry, if I may just add, since I sat in those conversations with Alice, I mean, the mayor, a lot of these , these are just, we were essentially testing messaging, as it was mentioned, to help us get a clear sense of how we would move forward with a potential ballot proposition. And I'm looking at Dave. This is going to help us to write the measure. Mm hmm. So we can decide on what we want to put in the measure. Okay. Okay. Yes. So based on this data. I just didn't want them to think that, oh, this is where money's going to go, and then we use it a different way. Well, it probably will. It could go to some of them. Well, it should. Yeah. But then when we write the measure, if we're going to say, okay, half of it's going to go for athletic fields, for instance, you know, but we're going to write the measure depending on what we see here. Okay. Okay. That was my question. Okay. Any other questions? I guess you're not as exciting as backflow valves. Yeah. Save the most exciting for last, I'm sure. Oh, my gosh. This is really good. Thank you very much. I think this is so telling. And actually, I think it really came out better than I was anticipating, I guess, in a way. But I think all those things there are so important to our community, and I think we feel that up here also. Yeah. Okay. Any -- no questions or anything? Okay. Thank you very much. Oh, and I -- Ms. Bryant, you wanted to speak? I'll start off by saying what a pleasure it's been to be here with you this evening. Again, Nicole Bryant from SCIU Local 620. Last item of the night. Last time you will hear from me tonight. Our union and members support placing a proposed sales tax measure being put on the ballot as a responsible step towards sustainable revenues. Revenues must keep pace with increasing expenditures and broad-based solutions are more sustainable than repeat cuts to services and staff. As previously stated, we also support the common sense reserve policy updates brought to this council and discussed on April 7th. Our members live, work, and spend their money in this community supporting stable revenue and reserves strength ens the entire city. We urge the city council to advance these measures together to ensure long-term fiscal stability. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. And SCIU is very instrumental in getting the measures passed, as you well know, in the past. They have done such a great job doing that. So thank you very much. Thank you. Okay. So now we have a report by Dave Rowland, city manager. Madam Mayor. I received a written comment. Oh, I'm sorry. No, it's okay. I received one written comment from Matthew Cherkov. Okay. And we received that. Okay. Do we have to provide direction? Or is it just receiving file? We'll bring back something else on ballot measure. Yeah. It says provide direction to staff to draft approving resolution for submission. Or am I in the wrong agenda? Yes. We have to look at it to provide direction for us to bring it back, the sales tax measure for your approval. Mm-hmm. There's a lot of handouts. So can you explain what exactly, what kind of direction exactly you're looking for? Do you want us to bring ballot measure back? Oh, that's the question. That's the question. And there was a lot of head nuts. So we took, at 10 o'clock we assumed that you wanted us to bring something back. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's best that we make no assumptions. So this is as part of the general municipal election to be held in November of 2026. Okay. Okay. Okay. I mean, I'm interested to hear. Okay. Go ahead, Mr. Owens. Oh. Well, thank you. It's 10 o'clock at night. We'll go ahead and as quickly as we can. We've got 15 more minutes. We've got the Chamber of Commerce six month update to next meeting. We're looking at introduction of an ordinance for catering vehicle ordinance updates. What? I'm sorry. I'm confused in the process. Direction was not given. Okay. Okay. Okay. There was a consensus to do. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's what Tom just said. Yeah. Okay. So there is consensus from the council to move forward. We saw it. We saw it. Yeah. Okay. I just want to confirm that everybody was on the same page because I didn't hear anything. I'm sorry. I'm usually loud. No, not from you. I heard what you said, but I just don't want to make assumptions that the whole council is on the same page, but I'm glad that in this one we are. All right. Thank you for the clarification. Yeah. We'll bring you out the sales tax ballot resolutions and also have our first reading of the meeting. Okay. Okay. So there is consensus from the council to move forward. We saw it. Yeah. Okay. I just want to confirm that everybody was on the same page because I didn't hear anything. I'm sorry. I'm usually loud. No, not from you. I heard what you said, but I just don't want to make assumptions that the whole council is on the same page, but I'm glad that in this one we are. I'm glad that we're going to be in draft of the 2026, 2028 budget review. And that's all I have for this evening and happy mother's day. Okay. So now we'll have the oral reports of council members. Do you want to start Ms. Flores? On Wednesday, April 8th, I went to communify a meeting and surveying Friday, April 10th. I went on duty with the Santa Maria fire department. It was great. And Saturday, April 18th, I went to the dog park ribbon cutting ceremony. April 24th, they went to the strawberry dinner. Saturday, April 25th, they went to present a proclamation to the Philharmonic Society. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Battaglia. On 4-8, I went to the Santa Maria police department. I was part of an interview panel for being coronary officer . On 4-9, I met with the utilities director. 4-10, I met with the firefighters union. 4-20, I met with police chief Williams. 4-23, I met with fire chief. 4-24, I attended the strawberry dinner. 4-25, Sir Santa Maria day, planted bushes at Salvation Army . That same day, I attended an outdoor celebration event at Waller Park. I also attended the mayor's task force. Great program work, mayor. It was great to interact with the high school students. And then that same day, I attended the harmonic event. And then 4-30, I met with director of finance to go over budget. Thank you. Council member Hernandez. April 1st, I went to the housing summit. On the 6th, I went to the Econ Alliance board meeting. April 8th, I went to the mayor and medical hospital board meeting. April 10th, I went to the event for Root. May 2nd, I went to the -- I'm sorry, April 24th, I went to the candidate academy that was put on by the Chamber of Commerce. And I also went to the strawberry dinner that evening. And May 2nd, this weekend, I went to the Kentucky Derby event and the event for North County rape crisis. Thank you. Council member Soto. Thank you. On Friday, April 10th, I attended the elected leaders' farm to address homelessness and housing. On April 13th, I attended the DHM City of Santa Maria polling meeting. I'm glad that that went forward today. On April 17th, I attended a budget briefing on public workshops. On April 18th, I attended the dog ribbon cutting event. On April 21st, we had a city special meeting that I attended. And -- I want to say -- oh, on May 1st -- happy May Day. On May 1st, I attended a budget review -- like three-hour session here. Thank you so much for -- for everybody who made that happen and gave me so much insight on the budget process. And those are my reportable items. Thank you. April 10th, I attended the Calcog virtual board meeting. On April 13th, I attended my mayor's youth task force meeting meeting at Santa Maria High School and then at Pioneer High School. April 16th, I attended the SB CAG board meeting. On the 17th, Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley board meeting . On the 18th, I went to the Bark Park ribbon cutting and did the Peace Rose planting at Rotary Centennial Park. On the -- on the 20th, I did the 3CE policy board meeting and attended the veterans and military meeting via Zoom. On April 21st, April 22nd, did the 50-year celebration that we're putting together for the city of Santa Maria. On the 24th, I attended the 26th Strawberry Industry Dinner . And on the 25th, did serve Santa Maria. And so we went out to Pioneer Park and the mayor's youth task force painted the -- all the picnic tables and the ben ches. And then did the Arbor Day celebration at -- at the park. Celebrating Virginia Sousa during that day. And on April 30th, through the first -- our mayor's youth task force did our -- our excursion down to see UCLA, SC, Northridge, the Getty Museum, the Scouncil Gardens, and the Broad Museum. So we were all tired when we got back. And if there are no -- no other business, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Thank you.