MEETING MINUTES
The City Council/Successor Agency of the City of Firebaugh Vol. No. 22/04-04
PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 11 OF EXECUTIVE ORDER N-25-20,
EXECUTED BY THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA ON MARCH 12, 2020 City Council Meeting held via teleconferencing
*Pursuant to Government Code Section 54953 (b) (2), all action taken during this teleconferenced meeting shall be by roll call vote.
Location of Meeting: Andrew Firebaugh Community Center
1655 13th Street, Firebaugh, CA 93622
Date/Time: April 4, 2022/6:00 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order by Mayor Jenkins at 6:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL Mayor Brady Jenkins
Mayor Pro Tem Felipe Pérez 6:19 pm
Council Member Freddy Valdez
Council Member Marcia Sablan
ABSENT: Council Member Elsa Lopez
OTHERS: City Attorney James Sanchez; City Attorney James McCann; City Manager/Acting Public Works Director, Ben Gallegos; Deputy Clerk, Rita Lozano; Finance Director, Pio Martin Police Chief, Sal Raygoza; Fire Chief, John Borboa; City Planner, Karl Schoettler; City Engineer, Mario Gouveia; Officers R. Tabares, Officer J. Zaragoza, Dean of West Hills College (WHC) – North District, Bethany Matos, Marc Benjamin (Brian Pacheco’s Office); FLDUSD Superintendent Roy Mendiola, FLDUSD Director of M.O.T. Danny Barragan, & others.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Council Member Valdez led pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Motion to approve agenda by Council Member Valdez, second by Council Member Sablan, motion passed by 4-0 vote.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Firebaugh-Las Deltas Unified School District Superintendent Roy Mendiola, there was some discussion regarding the restrooms donated by West Hills College, as far as cost, infrastructure, and relocation. If the cost becomes too much for the city to manage, if there’s future discussion about the location, or if flooding & damage to the portable restrooms is an issue when it rains, I just wanted to express the school’s interest in them, & offer a third location for the restrooms, which would be by the football stadium. We certainly are interested in working with the city on collaborating to make sure that opportunities & resources benefit the community, regardless of whether it is through the city, or school. So, before the council decides, I just wanted to put the offer on the table for consideration. Another example is the school is going after the something, the city is going after, the aquatic center. The city went after a grant, but it didn’t go through, the school made an attempt & we just found out that we had an opportunity and got the green light to pursue, but just found out that it’s more appropriate if the city goes after it as well. Bottom line, if better to collaborate both the school & city, it doesn’t really matter which is the supporter or which is the lead agency, if we can get the aquatic center, it will benefit the whole community.
PRESENTATION
• Police Department provide a Drone Presentation given by Officer R. Tabares. Officer Tabares is the only one certified from the city for the drone program, once he continues his training, he will be certified to train other officers for the program. The drones will be used to monitor various areas, that are not normally use to access and violators of other city matters, such as: suspects, homeless or other encampments, illegal trash dumps and several other purposes. The drone will be able to detect heat which provides night vision when searching for suspects hiding or running. Funding was donated by Stamoules Produce for this program which includes the purchase of the equipment and training of the officers. When skies are clear, the drones can fly about 5 miles, or as far as the officer can see without visual objects intervening. If a drone was shot down by anyone, the person can be charged that is equivalent shooting down an airplane. Officer J. Zaragoza is the handler of Kona our City’s K9, Officer Zaragoza was verified last week, and Kona placed 1st out of 16 canines at the training in detecting drugs, such as: meth. cocaine & heroin.
City Council Minutes
April 4, 2022
CONSENT CALENDAR
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – The City Council regular meeting on March 21, 2022.
2. RESOLUTION NO. 22-16 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH AUTHORIZING USE OF EMERGENCY REMOTE TELECONFERENCING PROVISIONS.
Motion to approve Consent Calendar by Council Member Valdez, second by Council Member Sablan, motion passed by 4-0 vote.
PUBLIC HEARING
None
NEW BUSINESS
3. RESOLUTION NO. 22-12 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH
DIRECTING THE FILING OF THE ANNUAL ASSESSMENTS FOR LANDSCAPING AND LIGHTING MAINTENANCE DISTRICT NO. 1 IN THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH.
Motion to accept Res. No. 22-12 by Council Member Sablan, second by Council Member Valdez, motion passed by 4-0 vote.
4. RESOLUTION NO. 22-13 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH TO
PARTICIPATE IN THE FRESNO COUNTY MULTIJURISDICTIONAL HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE AND COST SHARING AGREEMENT.
Motion to accept Res. No. 22-13 by Council Member Valdez, second by Council Member Perez, motion passed by 3-0 vote. Sablan – no response, lost connection.
5. RESOLUTION NO. 22-14 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH
AMENDING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH AND MADERA COUNTY FOR AUTOMATIC/MUTUAL AID.
Motion to accept Res. No. 22-14 by Council Member Valdez, second by Council Member Perez, motion passed by 3-0 vote. Sablan – no response, lost connection.
6. RESOLUTION NO. 22-15 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH ACCEPTING BID AND AWARDING CONTRACT TO ARDENT GENERAL, INC. FOR FIREBAUGH POLICE STATION PROJECT AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENTS.
Motion to accept Res. No. 22-15 by Council Member Valdez, second by Council Member Perez, motion passed by 3-0 vote. Sablan – no response, lost connection.
7. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH TO REVIEW THE POLICE DEPARTMENT 2021 CLOSING REPORT.
Report was enclosed in agenda packet, Information item only.
STAFF REPORTS
Police Chief Sal Raygoza – nothing to report.
Finance Director, Pio Martin – Provided information for the Public Works Position, working on the budget, please turn in your wish list for the budget. Mayor Jenkins request two full restrooms, one for enclosed area and one for the rodeo grounds.
City Engineer, Mario Gouveia – 14th Street reconstruction is going to bid in April, then it will come to council to award the contract.
City Council Minutes
April 4, 2022
Fire Chief John Borboa – Madera County the Mutual Aid services was approved tonight, hopefully, a new contract with Fresno County will be ready to present too, it will include another rate increase to the City of Firebaugh. Deputy City Clerk, Rita Lozano – nothing to report.
City Manager, Ben Gallegos – EDC will be having their weekly food distribution coming up, another thing about the Public Works Director’s in my contract that you & I signed, it says whatever the City Manager is ready to give up the positions, that’s what I’ll be doing, again it’s all Council’s decision after that. Bethany Matos, Associate Dean of North District Center – open registration has started, next Wednesday & Thursday, students will be able to see an advisor, get financial aid questions answered & class information for the FY 22-23, construction on scheduled.
City Attorney, James Sanchez – will have an assignment at a different location, James McCann will be filling in. City Attorney, James McCann – introduced himself, stated he is looking forward to working with the city & staff. Firebaugh Las Deltas Unified School District, Director Danny Barragan – as a resident of Firebaugh, what Chief Raygoza has done with the department, this community feels safe & have been successful. Firebaugh Las Deltas Unified School District, Superintendent Roy Mendiola – the partnership between the school and city has been improving and will continue to improve, outreach and interaction between the students and officers are so important, especially important to educate the younger teens as the become adults. The school would like to bring back drivers’ education. Danny and his department will be super busy during spring break, because we have a lot of projects to work on. The partnership between the city & school is hopes of seeing the aquatic center become a reality, would be great. We inquired about the restrooms because West Hills College will start their demo soon and the school can move and relocate them faster than the city, since we have the manpower, equipment, and location available, we don’t want to miss the opportunity. We’re looking to working together with the Police Department on educating the young with the fentanyl being such a dangerous issue these days, the concern parking issue, and citations, it’s been as issue for a while and we’ll have to address it, & cyber safety. I really prefer the open-door meetings.
Council Member Sablan – would like to get the DMV back in town. Police Chief Raygoza reported he has already assigned someone to look into getting an office or at least a kiosk. Council Member Perez – nothing to report. We have about 122 students enrolled at the Senior Center; we are opened Monday through Friday from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
Council Member Valdez – asked Pio to look at May revision to the budget, it looks like the city saved about $129,500 by not filling the Public Works Director position over the past seven years, staff to provide a summary of where the saving was spent. Would also like to see the restrooms at Dunkle Park & thanked the school for their partnership both over the past few years and the future. In favor of the aquatic center, I don’t think people realize what water safety & swim lesson can bring to our community. Would like to ask Council for their input or consensus on the economic team (Mayor, City Manager and Councilmember Valdez) attending the ICSC in May, with the pre & post pandemic, it could bring jobs to the community. Consensus of the Council supported the economic team to attend the ICSC. Council Member Jenkins – a couple of High School students would also like to tour West Hills Colleges new campus.
The City Manager stated he is short staffed, so I would like to give him only one title and post a hiring ad for the Public Works Director position. Would express to staff members, here and not here, that they are appreciated for their work.
CLOSED SESSION
ANNOUNCEMENT AFTER CLOSED SESSION
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn at 7:10 pm by Council Member Valdez, second by Council Member Sablan, motion passes by a 4-0 vote.