MEETING MINUTES
The City Council/Successor Agency of the City of Firebaugh Vol. No. 23/05-15
Location of Meeting: Andrew Firebaugh Community Center
1655 13th Street, Firebaugh, CA 93622
Date/Time: May 15, 2023/6:00 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order by Mayor Pro Temp Lopez at 6:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL Mayor Pro Tem Elsa Lopez
Council Member Silvia Renteria
Council Member Brady Jenkins
Council Member Freddy Valdez
ABSENT: Mayor Felipe Pérez
OTHERS: City Attorney James McCann; City Manager, Ben Gallegos, Deputy City Clerk, Rita Lozano; Public Works Director, Michael Molina; Finance Director, Pio Martin; Police Chief, Sal Raygoza, City Clerk, Amanda Fleming, City Engineer, Mario Gouveia, Jim Britton, Wanda Breshears & others.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Council Member Silvia Renteria led pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Motion to approve agenda by Council Member Jenkins, second by Council Member Valdez, motion passed by 4-0 vote.
PRESENTATION
• 2023 Westlands Water District High School Scholarship Recipients: Agustin Lopez and Manuel Bautista from Firebaugh High School.
PUBLIC COMMENT Jim Britton, see comments attached.
CONSENT CALENDAR
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – The City Council regular meeting on May 1, 2023.
2. WARRANT REGISTER – Period starting April 1 and ending on April 30, 2023.
April 2023 General Warrants #44209 - #44327 $ 851,180.30 Payroll Warrants #72001 - #72020 $ 148,951.79
TOTAL $ 1,000,132.09
Motion to approve consent calendar by Council Member Valdez, second Council Member Jenkins; motion passed by 4-0 vote.
PUBLIC HEARING
None
City Council Minutes
May 15, 2023
NEW BUSINESS
3. RESOLUTION NO. 23-17 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH
TO REVIEW AND RENEW THE PROCLAMATION OF A LOCAL EMERGENCY ISSUED ON MARCH 11, 2023, BY THE FIREBAUGH DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY SERVICES AND DECLARING A CONTINUING LOCAL EMERGENCY.
Motion to approve Res. No. 23-17 by Council Member Jenkins, second Council Member Valdez; motion passed by 4-0 vote.
4. RESOLUTION NO. 23-18 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH
ESTABLISHING FEES TO BE CHARGED FOR THE USE OF CITY FACILITIES FOR THE TRAILER SNACK BAR.
Motion to approve Res. No. 23-18 by Council Member Valdez, second Council Member Renteria; motion passed by 3-1 vote, Jenkins – no.
.
5. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: FY 2023/24 GENERAL FUND AND ENTERPRISE BUDGET FUNDS PRELIMINARY PRESENTATION.
Informational item only.
STAFF REPORTS
City Manager, Ben Gallegos – Four of the City’s representatives will attend the ICSC Conference to meet with sixteen vendors to recruit new businesses. Attended a meeting with City Engineer Gouveia regarding our groundwater issues. Firebaugh is its own Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) & Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), there are twenty-three GSA Agencies in total. We finally received comments on the submitted GSP, none of the submitted plans were found completed. The people guiding all of the GSA in Sacramento are having issues agreeing and having a clarification of how to proceed, so five or six companies were procured to finalize and change to meet the requirements, the RFP is out, it will cost a lot of money, contractors will be responsible for 40%with the smaller cities taking 1% to 2%, which is an estimated cost of $8,000.Meet with the Housing Authority on their project which is over $2 million budget, they asked the city for help but we don’t have any additional ways or resources to help more than we already have. Ben will contact Fresno County to see if they have any funding available to assist them.
HUD Tank is moving forward, city applied for a waiver for the Brownfield to go to Detroit to attend a conference. City Engineer, Mario Gouveia – 10th St and J St is done, at 12th St, Alley infrastructure and paving completed Friday, the CDBG bridge project at Clyde Fannon update, paving at Zozaya area is done at 12th St, the 22-23 Concrete project at 15th St water is still drying but there’s still moisture so contractors are waiting for everything to dry. Alley repair at Beehive is being designed, project is scheduled to go out in late summer. Public Works Director, Michael Molina – nothing else to report other than what Mario has already reported. Council Member Renteria inquired how many more people are needed to replace any vacant positions, & has anyone filled or took your position when you were promoted in the Public Works Department? Molina replied, he hired one new employee & City Manager Gallegos added, they are holding a position for Alex Maldonado, but staff is considering making him a part-time employee and replacing/filling the vacant full-time available position. The Fire department had one county call earlier last week, one fire truck with two volunteer fire fighters responded. Council Member Renteria - asked since the cameras donation were denied, is the city going to budget to replace them to purchase them, staff replied the Chief Raygoza is getting a quote. Finance Director Martin added the city will have to budget for the cameras, it was not included in the presented budget.
City Council Minutes
May 15, 2023
Council Member Jenkins – asked Molina if he is going to be able to handle both the interim Fire Chief and Public Works Director positions, with running call at night. Molina replied, “Yes.” Council Member Jenkins inquired if it going to affect you? Molina stated, “ It will be the same as before to my current position, I was responding calls as a volunteer fire fighter.” Chief Raygoza added, the plan is to have the Police Department work and respond to medical calls, since Police Department officers has more training than Fire Department volunteers. City Manager Gallegos offered to help step in as the Public Works Director if needed. Molina said, he is invested in this community, happy to provide his services, and he is not a quitter.
Police Chief Sal Raygoza – it’s been a crazy past two weeks, with car pursuits to search warrants, one for gun and explosives, a stolen property in Caruthers, pictures were taken of the stolen property and sent to the victim to identify, another stolen bobcat was located in Paso Robles, the individuals may get their stolen property back, working on the City’s stolen generator too.
Finance Director, Pio Martin – streets, grants and impact budgets will be presented at the next council meeting, I know Council Member Renteria inquired about some information or update on the city’s expenditures/expensed, it sort of shows up to April in the agendas, through warrants, I looked at it, we’re fine, so I’m hoping we can forget about it. Council Member Renteria replied, “No, I don’t work that way, please provide the requested information.” City Attorney, James McCann – nothing to report.
City Clerk, Amanda Fleming – provide a flyer about an event May 18, to discuss the “crazy California laws” and how it can affect families.
Deputy City Clerk, Rita Lozano – nothing to report.
Council Member Valdez – Attending the ICSC, hoping to visit and have businesses interested in locating to Firebaugh. Revenue is there because of the team and would like to bring more revenue to the city.
PUBLIC COMMENT None
Motion to enter close session at 7:37 pm by Council Member Jenkins, second by Council Member Valdez, motion passes by a 4-0 vote.
CLOSED SESSION
6. Government Code Section 54957.6.
CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS: ALL REPRESENTED & UNREPRESENTED EMPLOYEES City Negotiator: Ben Gallegos
Employee Organizations: Police & Public Works bargaining units and all unrepresented positions. Motion to return from close session at 9:18 pm by Council Member Valdez, second by Council Member Jenkins, motion passes by a 4-0 vote.
ANNOUNCEMENT AFTER CLOSED SESSION
No reportable action, no action taken.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn at 9:19 pm by Council Member Jenkins, second by Council Member Valdez, motion passes by a 4-0 vote.