REVISED AGENDA
NOTICE AND CALL OF A SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
(via ZOOM and in person)
CITY OF CERES, CALIFORNIA
City Council Chambers is located at 2701 Fourth Street
Wednesday, May 4, 2022, at 5:30 p.m.
Mailing Address: Ceres City Hall, 2720 Second Street, Ceres, CA 95307-3292 Phone: (209) 538-5700 Fax: (209) 538-5780
Members of the public are advised that all cellular telephones and any other communication devices are to be turned off upon entering the City Council Chambers.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Javier Lopez
ROLL CALL
Mayor: Javier Lopez
Vice Mayor: Bret Silveira (District 3)
Council Members: District 1 James Casey; District 2, Vacant; District 4 Mike Kline
NOTICE: THIS MEETING WILL BE HELD IN ACCORDANCE WITH CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 59453, SUBDIVISION (e) OF THE RALPH M. BROWN ACT (CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54950, ET SEQ.), CERES RESOLUTION NO 2022 -21, AND THE FEDERAL AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT.
LINK TO JOIN: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82785846164?pwd=eFp0QU1ZV3QxNUxiSUtVajg3UWliUT09
ZOOM MEETING ID: 827 8584 6164; PASSCODE: 406859; BY PHONE: (669) 900-6833
REMOTE PUBLIC COMMENT IS ALSO AVAILABLE FOR THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING BY EMAILING THE CITY CLERK AT [email protected] BEFORE 4:00 PM THE DAY OF THE MEETING.
INCLUDE THE AGENDA ITEM NUMBER OR PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF THE EMAIL. THE CLERK MAY READ WRITTEN COMMENTS INTO THE RECORD, IF SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR EMAIL. YOUR WRITTEN COMMENT WILL BE
DISTRIBUTED TO THE CITY COUNCIL AND KEPT ON FILE AS PART OF THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE COUNCIL MEETING.
*If you have any questions on how to attend virtually or are encountering difficulties connecting to the meeting, please contact the City Clerk at (209) 646-4812 or by email at [email protected]
CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS
While the City Council welcomes and encourages participation in City Council meetings, adopted rules allow no more than 5 minutes for comments (Resolution No. 2007-106). Citizens are entitled to address the City Council on items described in the agenda for this special meeting. California law prohibits the City Council from taking action on any matter which is not on the posted agenda unless it is determined to be an emergency by the City Council.
Said Special Meeting shall be for the following purpose:
NEW BUSINESS
1. Code Enforcement Workshop – for the presentation of information related to enforcement and to present a proposed plan to address code enforcement issues in the City.
CLOSED SESSION
Added
2. PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT
Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b)(1)
Title: City Manager
REPORTS FROM CLOSED SESSION
ADJOURNMENT
The next regularly scheduled City Council Meeting is scheduled to be held on Monday, May 9, 2022, at 6:00 p.m.
Related Materials: Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the City Council regarding any item on this agenda will be made available for public inspection at the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall located at 2720 Second Street, Ceres, CA during normal business hours. Persons wit h questions concerning any agenda item may call the City Clerk’s Office at (209) 538-5731.
Notice regarding Americans with Disabilities Act:
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting or if you need the agenda and/or the documents in the agenda packet provided in an alternative format, please contact the city clerk’s office at (209) 538- 5731 at least 24 hours prior to the meeting to ensure that reasonable arrangements can be made (28CFR 35.102-
35.104 ADA TITLE II)
AFFIDAVIT OF POSTING
I hereby certify under penalty of perjury, under the laws of the State of California that this Notice and Call of a Special City Council Meeting was posted in accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act, at least 24 hours prior to the meeting. Locations: Ceres Community Center located at 2701 Fourth Street, and on the City’s website at www.ci.ceres.ca.us.
Posted on April 29, 2022. /s/ Annabelle Aguilar, CMC, Interim City Clerk
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: May 4, 2022
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Alex Terrazas, City Manager
CONTACT: Rick Collins, Chief of Police
[email protected] (209) 538-5726
SUBJECT: Code Enforcement Workshop
CITY COUNCIL
Javier Lopez, Mayor
Bret Silveira James Casey
Mike Kline
One of the essential functions of the Code Enforcement Unit is investigating violations of city municipal codes and state laws regulating public health and safety, public welfare, and public nuisances. The unit also investigates business activities, property maintenance standards , and zoning violations.
Since early 2020, blight, illegal dumping, and a variety of public nuisances have been a major concern for members of our community and City Council. These issues can have a negative impact on quality of life in the City and community character. Staff recognizes the need to improve the effectiveness and efficiencies of the Code Enforcement unit. To address this City Council and community priority staff is recommending the addition of personnel and equipment to the unit using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
The purpose of the workshop is for staff to present background information related to code enforcement and present a proposed plan to address code enforcement issues in the City.
The plan outline is an attachment to this staff report. The City Council will have the opportunity to provide input regarding the proposed plan so that any changes requiring funding can be included in the Fiscal Year 22-23 operating budget. This will be a publicly noticed meeting and open to members of the community.
After receiving Council direction, staff will work to develop a finalized plan that includes components approved by the City Council. The presentation provided by staff at the workshop will include recommendations to hire additional staff and purchase the necessary equipment to include:
• (1) Working Code Enforcement Supervisor
• (1) Code Enforcement Officer
• (2) Part-time staff to deal with illegal dumps
• (3) Code Enforcement Vehicles.
• Furniture, safety equipment, and uniforms.
Approved by:~ ~ ~ :!:2!-~= =----------- --
~ as, City Manager
Attachments :
1. Code Enforcement Plan Outline
Code Enforcement Unit Plan Outline
Mission:
Investigate violations of city municipal code and state laws regulating public health and safety, public welfare, public nuisances, business activities, consumer protection, property maintenance standard, and/or zoning violations. When violations are verified, enforcement efforts are applied in accordance with the City of Ceres municipal code, state laws, and federal laws. The goal is gaining compliance.
Proposed Staffing:
1. (1) Code Enforcement working supervisor
2. (3) Code Enforcement Officers
3. (1) Code Enforcement Secretary
4. (2) Part-time staff to deal with illegal dumps
Illegal Dumping Strategy:
A. Assign part-time staff to handle this priority task.
B. Proactive and reactive approach to this
a. Illegal dump site is assigned to officer and documented (case created) in Gov Outreach.
b. Dump site is inspected. Review camera footage if available to identify responsible party.
c. Issue 3-5-day (determine a final length of time) notice of violation to responsible party. Currently we have a 10-day notice of violation. d. Code Unit inspects after 3-5 days. If abated, case is closed. e. If not abated, issue appropriate fine to the responsible party. f. Removal of dump site by city staff and/or Bertolotti Disposal g. Collaborate and communicate with Public Works to ensure consistency, efficiency, and teamwork.
C. Implement a robust camera monitoring system.
a. Place conspicuous cameras at known hotspots throughout the city to eliminate and/or reduce the frequency of illegal dumps.
b. Create and place sign age at the same locations as the camera. Include muni code violation and fine schedule.
c. Create PSA notices to distribute via utility bills and social media platforms. d. Take a more assertive approach with leaf and limb violators.
Street Vendor Strategy:
A. Continue to enforce and investigate with non-sworn staff.
B. Attempt to locate mid-level/high level employees who drop off vendors a. Try to get them in compliance with our permitting process. b. Should we consider lowering the insurance policy requirement? It is currently set at 2 million dollars.
c. Take a closer look at private property versus public property. i. We get resistance and pushback from businesses like Home Depot, La Sequoia, and others
d. Issue citations to those whom we have encountered before. No warning cites for them. Continue to issue notices of violation (warnings) to everyone else.
Graffiti & Park Vandalism:
A. Implement a robust & conspicuous camera system to monitor the parks that experience the most problems (budget permitted).
a. Try to get data to identify when graffiti and vandalism occurs. b. Coordinate with Parks Dept to ensure proper communication and documentation between our contract vendor and code enforcement. c. Look at establishing on-call procedures for extremely offensive or large-scale graffiti on the weekends.
d. Code Enforcement Unit can cover small-scale graffiti. e. Ideally, we would like to assign a code enforcement officer to handle this every day.
Homeless, Camping, RV:
A. Get in touch with local business to get them to install proper sign age (loitering, trespassing, etc.)
a. It's not against the law to be homeless but loitering and trespassing is something we can enforce.
b. Inquire about shelter space in the county. This will allow us to cite if space is available but there are limited beds in the county (Martin v. Boise 2018). c. Parks and other public spaces?
B. Camping in public spaces, parks, vacant lots to include RV camping a. Refer to section A regarding Martin v. Boise decision b. Continue to have officers assist code enforcement by tagging RV in parking lots open to the public.
c. We are close to eliminating the towing issues we had with the tow companies on our rotation. Increased efficiency will come once that is finalized. d. Can we change the notice of violation time from 10 days to 5 days?
Substandard Housing:
A. Take a more proactive approach to this task.
a. Engage early to gain compliance with use of violation notices, communication, and/or fines.
b. If this approach does not work, we'll have to resort to red tagging procedures or court ordered remedies. Either approach takes time.
c. Early engagement with legal team.
Work Schedule:
A. Stay on a 4-10 schedule or move to a staggered 5-8 schedule? B. Infuse the part-time illegal dump crew into the code enforcement schedule based on data for illegal dumps if we have it.
C. Code Officers will rotate working Saturdays every three months.
D. Is there a need to transition to a seven day a week coverage? Work Operations/Efficiency:
A. Have MDC's installed in the code enforcement vehicles.
B. Do case notes out in the fields via Surface Pro laptops or iPads.
C. Work in collaboration with Planning, Fire, Public Works, and AVA. a. Communication between departments is essentially to the overall mission.
D. Identify what cases will take priority depending on who calls in a complaint or violation.
E. Consider implementing a beat assignment for the code enforcement officers. Like the patrol officers.
F. Develop performance measures to track the effectiveness of the unit. a. What are other cities using as performance measures? b. Provide council with a monthly activity report to show the unit's progress/performance.