MINUTES
CITY OF DELANO
CITY COUNCIL – REGULAR MEETING
June 15, 2026
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz called the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 1015 – 11th Avenue.
INVOCATION
Pastor David Vivas offered the invocation.
FLAG SALUTE
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz led the flag salute.
ROLL CALL
Council members present: Salvador Solorio-Ruiz, Joe Alindajao (arrived at 5:30pm), Liz Morris, Bryan Osorio
Council members absent: Mario Nunez
OFFICIALS PRESENT
City Manager Reyna, City Clerk Chavez, City Attorney Hensley, Finance Director Lara Rios, Police Chief Nicholson, Human Resources Director Zamudio, Public Works Director Nunez, City Engineer Rodriguez, Recreation Manager Batth-Chavez, Fire Chief Crist and Commander Nino
PRESENTATIONS AND AWARDS
• Mayor Solorio-Ruiz presented recognitions of accomplishments for Irene Lee Toralba Abitago, Amanda Marie Garza, Araceli Renteria, Veronica Reyes.
• Mayor Solorio-Ruiz presented the proclamation to Jennifer McQueen from Central Vally Pride declaring June 2026 as Pride Month.
• Mayor Solorio-Ruiz presented the proclamation to Delano Historical Society commemorating 250th Anniversary of the United States of America.
ITEMS FROM THE PUBLIC
1. Pastor David Vivias – “Good afternoon, council members. I'm Pastor David Vivas. Just wanted to thank you for the proclamation, recognizing our nation's 250th year anniversary. We live in an incredible nation. The flag of the United States is one that we should respect and honor every time we say the Pledge of Allegiance, we should all stand. And it's because of men and women who have fought in wars and even laid down their lives, lost their lives because of the freedoms that we have here in America. Our Founding Fathers sought the attention of Almighty God when they were debating prior to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. A lot of this history is no longer taught in our public school systems because of this ideology of the separation of church and state. But it's a matter of fact that our founding fathers did seek the face of God in the wording of the declaration and the founding of this nation to be able to get away from Great Britain and to be able to afford people the freedom of religion, whether they want to believe in God or not believe in God, that the government would not push their ideology regardless of what it was upon its people. But the founding fathers did write in the Declaration of Independence that our rights have been endowed to us by our creator. And our national motto is in God we trust, and we should reverently seek the face of God. And I know that this is a government setting. This is probably not a place to be proclaiming theology, but we cannot ignore the fact that our nation was founded upon biblical principles and that is a fact. But again, our founders did not want to force religion upon people. That's another thing. And one thing I want to say about the city council here of Delano is the fact that we open up with prayer, you welcome it, but this should never be interpreted as a City of Delano pushing one religion or another upon its people. But I want to say that all the city council members, one thing about our community, we have a small community and our community, regardless of its differences, have been there for one another. I know that myself personally, when I went through my time of grief, members of the city council at that time reached out to me. I know Councilman Osorio, he came to my home to check up on me.
Many of you attended my son's funeral when he died and our City Manager was there. She called on me, city clerk was there. And so that's one thing about the City of Delano is that we're not a bunch of name-calling people. We're people that genuinely care for each other. And I want to just say I really appreciate that and please continue in advancing forward and doing good things for this community. Thank you.”
2. Maria Martinez - “Good afternoon. My name is Maria Martinez. My address is 1215 Lexington.
What the pastor said, he said that when we have to acknowledge her flag, we have to stand up and respect it. I understand that Sometimes people like me right now, I cannot be standing. I heard my back and I cannot be standing so long. I am sorry, because he mentioned that I don't stay quiet. So they also have to respect people with disabilities. That's all I had to say, but I did not want to stay quiet. Thank you.”
3. Marivel Servin – “Good evening, council. My name is Marivel. I am a resident of Delano. Thank you for the proclamation for Pride Month. As a local org, we are planning a Pride March on the 27th and everyone is invited to celebrate their Pride. Invite all your friends, all the kiddos. We will have two days of queer education before that if you have any high school folks who want to learn more about the queer community and Delano. But yeah, I wanted to invite y'all since everyone's celebrating Pride, so I'll see everyone there.”
CONSENT AGENDA
1) Authorization to waive the reading of any ordinance in its entirety and consenting to the reading of such ordinances by title only
2) Warrant Register in the amount of $3,888,675.69
3) Minutes of regular Council meeting of June 1, 2026
4) Minutes of regular planning commission meeting of April 8, 2026 5) Minutes of regular planning commission meeting of May 13, 2026 6) Adopt a resolution declaring the renaming of certain municipal facilities (Resolution No. 2026-34)
7) Award of the “2026 TCP GAC Media Exchange Project – B Vessels” to the Calgon Carbon Corporation for $125,944.00 and authorize the City Manager or her designee to sign all documents needed to carry out this transaction (Agreement No. 2026-32) 8) Report on the status of the local emergency regarding the failed storm-sewer main located on 23rd Avenue and Princeton Street pursuant to Public Contracts Code § 22050 9) Report on the status of the local emergency regarding the failed sewer main located on the 900 block of Lexington Street pursuant to Public Contracts Code § 22050 10) Award of the “2026 Operations Department Workstations Project” contract to Sierra School Equipment Company for $80,607.51 and authorize the City Manager, or her designee, to sign any documents needed to carry out this project (Agreement No. 2026- 33)
11) Approval of Amendment to Professional Services Agreement with Ardurra (formally MKN & Associates) to provide professional engineering design services for the 2022 Plant 3 Reservoirs Rehab Project in the amount of $44,344.00 and authorization for the City Manager to execute the agreement (Agreement No. 2026-34) 12) Adoption of Resolutions Initiating Annual Assessment Proceedings, Intention to Levy Assessments, and scheduling of a public hearing for the Landscape Maintenance Districts within the City of Delano and to authorize the County of Kern to make collection of the same (Resolution No. 2026-35) (Resolution No. 2026-36)
13) Award of the “2026 Low-Lead Fuel Vessel Replacement at the Airport” to the Loyd’s Aviation for $313,249.08, approve a budget amendment appropriating an additional $110,000.00 from the General Fund and authorize the City Manager or her designee to sign all documents needed to carry out this transaction (Agreement No. 2026-35a) (Agreement No. 2026-35b)
14) Acceptance and approval of the City of Delano Quarterly Investment Report for the period ending March 31, 2026
15) Approval of the First Amendment to City of Delano Agreement No. 2025-44 for the use of 436 Jefferson Street (the Jefferson Center) by the Delano Union Elementary School District (Agreement No. 2026-36)
16) Authorization to Accept and Approve the Kern County Fentanyl Misuse and Overdose Prevention Task Force Fund Allocation Disbursement Agreement, Appropriate $330,000, Authorize the Acquisition of Two Complete K-9 Units, and Approve Related Purchases (Resolution No. 2026-37) (Agreement No. 2026-37) (Agreement No. 2026-38) (Agreement No. 2026-39) (Agreement No. 2026-40)
Motion was made by: Alindajao to approved items 1-10,12-14 on consent items; 2nd by: Morris
Vote: 4-0
Ayes: Solorio-Ruiz/Alindajao/Morris/ Osorio
Nays: None
Absent: Nunez
Abstentions: None
Item No. 11 pulled by: Council Member Osorio
Reason for pulling item: “Yeah. Hi Mr. Nunez. I think just my question here is as I was reading through the staff reports, this one stood out to me in that there was a delay with the project and/or construction.
And so I just want to make sure that the additional $44,000 wasn't resolved just because of the delay. I know there are the itemized details for what other services they covered, but just wondering if we can get some context on that.”
Public Works Director Nunez – “Okay. Yeah, this is to cover the additional delay for special inspections.
So this project involved three water tanks, two at the prison, one at plant five by the airport. Due to the coating contractor, he had to go back and fix a couple spots. There was a section of the tank that we had to remove and replace, weld it, so that caused delays. Little delays caused another delay, so we ended up 90 days beyond our contract. And so, this is to compensate the special inspections.” Council Member Osorio – “Okay. And so just to confirm then, those delays, although not planned for, but they were necessary to include within the project scope?” Public Works Director Nunez – “Yes.”
Council Member Osorio – “Yeah. All right, that's it for me.” Motion was made to approved item no. 11 by: Alindajao;
2nd by: Osorio
Vote: 4-0
Ayes: Solorio-Ruiz/Alindajao/Morris/ Osorio
Nays: None
Absent: Nunez
Abstentions: None
Item No. 15 pulled by: Fernando Bravo
Reason for pulling item: “Fernando Bravo, 1417 Belmont Street. Yes. On item 15, I just would like a little bit to be clarified what it's for, and I'm assuming it's for the rental for the seniors for the food serving because I worked for the school under fiscal years, starts in July through June. So I just want to know if this is the contract for renewal.”
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz – “I believe it is, yes. But if staff would like to mention anything.” Recreation Manager Batth-Chavez – “Thank you, Honorable Mayor and members of the city council.
Staff is recommending at this time that the city council approve the first amendment between the City of Delano and the Delano Union School District. Last April, the school district and City of Delano entered into an agreement so the school district can operate the nutrition program. This is just an extension of that agreement to allow the district to continue operating the nutrition program till the end of this year.
Furthermore, it also allows for five one-year extensions moving forward without receiving council approval.”
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz – “Sumeet, have we found any issues with any conflict with the district?” Recreation Manager Batth-Chavez – “No.”
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz – “In terms of scheduling, anything like that?” Recreation Manager Batth-Chavez – “Nope. No, sir. Not at this time.” City Manager Reyna – “Honorable Council, just to clarify, the county provides the senior nutrition program. The city provides the facility. So that's what this is. This is to contract with the school district for the use to operate the nutrition program out of the Jefferson Building.” Council Member Morris – “So currently moved, are they going to Ellington?” Recreation Manager Batth-Chavez – “They've been moved back, council member. They were at Ellington for a short amount of time. It was only two to three days because unfortunately the AC was nonoperational, but thankfully public works and buildings have got the AC going, so they've been there since last Tuesday.”
Motion was made to approved item no. 15 by: Morris;
2nd by: Alindajao
Vote: 4-0
Ayes: Solorio-Ruiz/Alindajao/Morris/ Osorio
Nays: None
Absent: Nunez
Abstentions: None
Item No. 16 pulled by: Marivel Servin
Reason for pulling item: “Hi. We were wondering about 16. Just because this is a Fentanyl Misuse and Overdose Prevention Task Force fund, we were just wondering is there anything else other than getting a couple new cars for the cops and a couple dogs for the canine unit? Besides that, is there anything that the city is doing to address overdose in the community as well as is there any fentanyl education that's happening? Our office actually provides free Narcan as well. So, is there anything that the city is doing around Narcan use? Do the officers carry Narcan in their vehicles? Just several questions surrounding this, just so that the only thing that we see isn't just cop cars and dogs.” Chief Nicholson – “Honorable Mayor and council, for the last year and a half, the City of Delano Police Department has been the recipients of over $700,000 through AB33 through Assembly Member Dr.
Jasmeet Baines' office. $10.5 million was allotted to the County of Kern. $700,000 of that was allotted to the City of Delano. We do education in the elementary and high school district regarding the use of fentanyl. We have purchased fentanyl and provided training by a licensed medical physician to administer fentanyl on the street. Our officers and employees have received that training. We have purchased other equipment that allows us to investigate fentanyl related investigations such as Cellebrite, which is a software that allows us to search cell phones and In the case of investigations that we do where we write a search warrant, there's a lot of different things that we have been doing for the past year and a half. It's not just a shiny brand new car and a couple dogs. We've been at this for a year and a half. This isn't something new.”
Motion was made to approved item no. 16 by: Alindajao;
2nd by: Morris
Vote: 4-0
Ayes: Solorio-Ruiz/Alindajao/Morris/ Osorio
Nays: None
Absent: Nunez
Abstentions: None
PUBLIC HEARINGS
17) A public hearing for the first reading of an ordinance renewing the City's Military Equipment Use Policy No. 706 and approving updated military equipment inventory including addition of unmanned aerial system (Skydio X10) Mayor Solorio-Ruiz declared the public hearing open.
Police Chief Nicholson provided the staff report.
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz opened public comment.
No public comments.
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz closed public comment.
Council Member Osorio – “I think just a couple, Chief. So, thank you for providing that staff report.
Thank you for providing the written staff report. So, within it, I see that the drone was deployed on multiple occasions and just in higher overview to not get into the details, how was it in terms of effectiveness or efficiency?”
Police Chief Nicholson – “It's extremely effective for us. Considering the fact that we actually purchased those drones off of a grant so the city didn't even pay for the drones itself, it was purchased off of grants.
The actual use and deployment of the drones in the field, those drones can do everything that the Kern County helicopter can do. It's a lot smaller, more maneuverable. We can bring it down, replace a battery, and bring it back up. So, it's as many batteries as you can have, it's infinite airtime for those drones. It's not only aided us in the apprehension of criminals or suspects that we were seeking, it's also aided us in trying to find missing persons. So, it's been very successful. It has a loudspeaker on it that we can talk to people up close. It has lights, siren, flare, night vision. Everything, the Kern County helicopter, just a much cheaper scale.”
Council Member Osorio – “Yeah. Okay. So parades and community events stand out where this drone was deployed. Is it now becoming a protocol for all parades, most parades, all of community events or most community events for when this is deployed?”
Police Chief Nicholson – “No, it's not protocol. It's if that drone is available for a community event. We have the Citizens Academy that we completed just a few months ago, that was deployed as part of the Citizens Academy to show the police department's capability. And during parades, it's inevitable at the very end of every parade that we have a missing person, which is usually a child. Those are used in those situations. It could be used to take photographs to put on our website at the effectiveness of crowd control or our ability to keep intersections safe, but it can be deployed as something to show the community of what we have or in the event of a parade, it could be both to where it's utilized to ensure our effectiveness in traffic control or safety of the pedestrians attending the parade as well as showing the community the tools that we have and their tax dollars going towards assisting us and giving us the tools that we need.” Council Member Osorio – “Got it. Thank you. And last question, just because it is everywhere almost all at once, what does the data collection look like for these drones in terms of if it's looking for missing persons, like it's scanning other people's faces or bodies, what does that look like?” Police Chief Nicholson – “So it does not have facial recognition. It just has a basic camera that captures and records and uploads that data to our database. It's retained on a scale of depending on what the reason was that the drone was deployed. Just for example, if it's deployed during a homicide, that data is retained indefinitely. If it's deployed to look for a missing person, it's only going to be retained for a year.
So, it depends on what the deployment is for, would depend on how long that data is actually retained. So, every deployment has to have probable cause. We can't just deploy it to look in people's backyards or in businesses or on roofs just because we want to. We actually have a policy that outlines the guidelines of when an officer can deploy it. They can do it for training, but it can't be over people's homes. It has to be in an area where it would not capture a private area. It does not have license plate reader technology. It does not have facial recognition and the officer, again, has to have a reason to deploy it. And based on that reason would depend on the retention schedule of that data that's captured.” Council Member Osorio – “Thank you, Chief. And yes, to one of your last points, I was glad to see that an internal review found no violations of the policy. No further questions for me.” Motion for approval was made by: Alindajao;
2nd by: Morris
Vote: 4-0
Ayes: Solorio-Ruiz/Alindajao/Morris/ Osorio
Nays: None
Absent: Nunez
Abstentions: None
REGULAR AGENDA
18) Introduction of an Ordinance Prohibiting Parking, Stopping, or Standing of a Vehicle or Trailer in Front of Community and Cluster Mailboxes
City Engineer Rodriguez provided the staff report.
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz opened public comment.
No public comments.
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz closed public comment.
Council Member Osorio – “Yeah, thanks, Mr. Rodriguez. I think just a couple questions are, what do the curb markings look like and how common are these in other cities?” City Engineer Rodriguez – “I think they would just be the typical either white loading zone. I think in the past, some cities even do red curb, but we don't want to get in bad habits. So I think by just doing either wide or yellow, I think is typical. So it just depends, but we'll follow the most up-to-date California manual for uniform traffic control devices and their recommendations for pavement markings.” Council Member Osorio – “And how many do we expect roughly in Delano?” City Engineer Rodriguez – “Well, so we might not do it on all of them immediately, but certainly on new subdivisions, each new subdivision's putting one on each new cluster of streets as applicable. So, this is more so for the transition ones where they're noticing areas and then converting those to the cluster community mailboxes because there's less parking on those streets. So, this is just to help them during business hours be able to effectively deliver mail.”
Council Member Osorio – “Okay, that makes sense because I was just figuring that with over 11,000 housing units, not sure how many community mailboxes we have. The other question is just to go back to what the USPS Postmaster was sharing with the city staff, did they share more information about where this was happening maybe to give you more guidance on where to start for the curb markings if this was happening in more established communities or the newer developments, any sort of direction?” City Engineer Rodriguez – “Exactly. The more established communities that they are transitioning where they're used to delivering mail door to door and now they didn't account for a space to put a cluster mailbox and they're going in and putting one. And in those older communities, you have driveways that are maybe closer together as codes change, but these new subdivisions, they're putting them in ideal locations where they probably don't have to curb paint, but if we do in the future, we have this ordinance where we can take care of it and not have to come back to council.” Council Member Osorio – “Got it. Thank you.”
Motion for approval was made by: Alindajao;
2nd by: Osorio
Vote: 4-0
Ayes: Solorio-Ruiz/Nunez/Alindajao/Morris/ Osorio
Nays: None
Absent: None
Abstentions: None
19) Introduce and first reading of an ordinance adding Section 1.08.195 (Compliance Orders) to the Delano Municipal Code (“DMC”), amending DMC Section 1.08.210 (Right to Appeal and Procedure), and finding the same to be exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act
Police Chief Nicholson provided the staff report.
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz opened public comment.
No public comments.
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz closed public comment.
Council Member Osorio – “Yeah, so one, appreciate the report clarifying that the city has historically implemented this procedure already with state law. The part that, if you can elaborate on is the Newport Beach vendor. I was a bit not clear on this paragraph. This would be top of page two. The city contracts with the private vendor to process administrative citations.” Police Chief Nicholson – “And I believe that that is where the processor for these citations is located. Is that correct? The data ticket, which is the company that we use that we send our citations to that collects the fines. It also does appeal hearings. They're located in Newport Beach.” Council Member Osorio – “Got it. Thank you.”
Motion for approval was made by: Alindajao;
2nd by: Osorio
Vote: 4-0
Ayes: Solorio-Ruiz/Alindajao/Morris/ Osorio
Nays: None
Absent: Nunez
Abstentions: None
20) Adopt resolution confirming costs expended in the execution of an emergency abatement order on the property located at 121 W. 15th Avenue (APN No. 519-033-18-7), authorizing the recordation of a nuisance abatement lien against the property to recover costs, and finding the same to be exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (Resolution No. 2026-38)
City Attorney Hensley – “Mayor and Council, I'll be leaving the council chambers for this one. My associate, David King, is online to handle this.”
City Attorney Hensley left the council chambers at 6:02pm.
Police Chief Nicholson provided the staff report.
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz opened public comment.
No public comments.
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz closed public comment.
Council Member Osorio – “Just I know that the decisions around these nuisance abatement liens can be tough on the family or loved ones of the property owners, but I appreciate the swiftness with which our city staff acted on, especially since this property is across from Almond Tree Middle School. So, thank you, City Manager, for signing that order. Thank you, Chief Nicholson, for working on it. No questions.” Motion for approval was made by: Alindajao;
2nd by: Osorio
Vote: 4-0
Ayes: Solorio-Ruiz/Alindajao/Morris/ Osorio
Nays: None
Absent: Nunez
Abstentions: None
City Attorney Hensley returned to the council chambers at 6:07pm.
DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS
No items.
COUNCIL STATEMENTS AND REPORTS
Council Member Bryan Osorio – “Just very quickly, want to say thank you to Ms. Batth-Chavez for answering my question about what's going on with the recreation center or centers. I really appreciate the work that they're putting in. For those in the audience, since we have folks, do want to flag at the 11th Avenue Community Center we have Zumba, Yoga and Kids Fitness. And then for senior programs, we have Zumba gold and senior strength training and there's also walking for wellness for any morning walks you want to take at the Ellington Gym. For any more specific times, I'm sure you can reference the recreations website, but that's it for me.”
Council Member Alindajao – “Thank you, mayor. No comments other than to say happy 250th anniversary of the nation. 4th of July is coming up very soon. Please be careful when it comes to legal fireworks, protect your family and your neighborhood and that's it. Thanks, Mayor.” Council Member Morris – “I just wanted to invite everyone out to the family day, Family Fun Day at Memorial Park on July 3rd and come and witness and see the fireworks sponsored by the city. And so glad thank you. Thank you to the city for coming through with the fireworks. I know it gets more expensive every single year, but we got to have this. It's 250 years. We can't not celebrate it. So, thank you. Thank you for doing that. And there are going to be a lot of activities out there, so don't miss out.
There'll be a lot of food, a lot of fun games, old-fashioned, like a watermelon eating contest and pie eating contest and all those old things that you see done previously at 4th of July celebration. So, it will be a lot of fun. So, hope to see all of you out there. And mainly it was done because we used to have fireworks out there, but nothing was happening other than fireworks. So, we just sat there waiting. Now we have a whole festivity going on at the park that people can come out and get drinks and get food and participate in that festivity. So, you come out and support and sponsored by the chamber and Kiwanis.” Mayor Pro-Tem Nunez – Absent.
Mayor Solorio-Ruiz – “I have a few. I attended the grand opening ribbon cutting for Claveria Coffee and Bakery with Councilwoman Morris. If you have not stopped by, their cheese rolls are amazing and their drinks are also really great, so please stop by and support them. Also, this upcoming Friday is the seventh anniversary for the Little Boba Shop. Please go out and support them. I know our police department, our officers are also collaborating with them, and so hopefully that also brings good clientele, but please go out and support our small businesses. Just a reminder as well, we will go dark on July 6th, the first meeting in July. So please do not come because we will not be here. And then enjoy the 4th of July, the 250th anniversary of our country. I don't have to say anymore. I think we've all said it enough how much we love this country and we must acknowledge that and the anniversary. And of course, the fireworks show and all the festives [sic], the dunk tanks, all of that. If you want to dunk me, you can go to the event. Oh, that's right, Claribel. I also want to provide my condolences to Ms. Claribel Gutierrez for the loss of her sister, Maria de Lourdes Santiago Ortiz. So tonight I would like to adjourn in her memory. We're with you.”
CLOSED SESSION
No items
ADJOURNMENT
Moved by Morris seconded by Osorio and unanimously carried 4-0 to adjourn the meeting at 6:13pm. _____________________________________________
Ricardo G. Chavez, City Clerk