MEETING MINUTES
The City Council/Successor Agency of the City of Firebaugh Vol. No. 23/10-16
Location of Meeting: Andrew Firebaugh Community Center
1655 13th Street, Firebaugh, CA 93622
Date/Time: October 16, 2023/6:00 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order by Mayor Pro Perez at 6:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL Mayor Felipe Pérez
Mayor Pro Tem Elsa Lopez
Council Member Silvia Renteria
Council Member Brady Jenkins
Council Member Freddy Valdez
ABSENT:
OTHERS: City Attorney Christina Di Filippo; 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; Records Supervisor, Raquel Tabares; Battalion Chief, Hector Marin; Gouveia Engineering, Mario Gouveia, Ramiro Rodriguez, Candi Rangel, Wanda Breshears, Chris Gutierrez, & 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 Lopez, motion passed by 5-0 vote.
PRESENTATION
• Sworn-in staff Raquel Tabares, Records Supervisor; Khoua Xiong, Code Enforcement Officer; Claudia Montoya, Dispatcher; Ana Marin, Part-time Dispatcher.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Candi Rangel inquired about the public restroom at the parks and requested that hand soap be refilled. Staff stated certain individuals keep stealing or damaging the restroom equipment, so staff will have to research a way to address the issue.
Wendy Ozburn spoke about the City’s ADU’s, she is researching what other communities are doing and found a contractor in Madera that council build the pre-approved plans for about $40,000. Structures will be turn-key ready and is also seeking grant procedures that could help the community. Madera has eight hundred square feet ADU’s, while Firebaugh’s largest ADU is five hundred square feet, which is not big enough for a large family.
CONSENT CALENDAR
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – The City Council regular meeting on September 18, 2023.
2. WARRANT REGISTER – Period starting September 1 and ending on September 30, 2023.
September 2023 General Warrants #44864 - #45004 $ 983,107.23 Payroll Warrants #72108 - #72124 $ 172,256.60
TOTAL $ 1,155,363.83
Motion to approve consent calendar by Council Member Valdez, second Council Member Jenkins; motion passed by 5-0 vote.
City Council Minutes
October 16, 2023
PUBLIC HEARING
3. ORDINANCE NO. 23-02 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH AMENDING SECTION 4-2.6.1 OF THE FIREBAUGH MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO ITINERANT BUSINESSES – FIRST READING.
The City Manager reported that the State has passed new laws, so he suggested to table item so staff can research new laws and update the Ordinance with amendments to include the new laws. Ramiro Rodriguez and N. Montoya stated their financial struggle and concern with the current rates, and wanted to report other businesses are coming from out of town on the weekend and selling, when Code Enforcement is not on duty. City Clerk Fleming stated, there needs to be a balance, like tier paying system, review and consider other city businesses, look at the whole picture and everyone it effects. City Manager Gallegos added, he does not believe the city is in compliance and would like to get it right with all the required changes at once and recommend working with Police Department on enforcement and with Fresno County to review all required permits. Council Member Renteria agreed with some of the statements made and would like to review the new laws. Council Member Valdez requested a local annual permit and agreed to meet all the laws and changes needed. Chris Gutierrez asked, “Is it public record to review business license issued in the city?” Council Member Lopez agreed with tabling this item. Council Member Jenkins asked about the new laws. Mayor Perez added, “if something is running, why stop it now, just keep doing it, but still wait for the new laws”. City Manager Gallegos replied, if we make different changes to the ordinance at different times, it will be more expense for the city, rather than making all the changes at once.
Motion to table the item (Ord. 23-02) to December 18, 2023, and define an itinerant business by Council Member Valdez, second Council Member Renteria; motion passed by 5-0 vote.
NEW BUSINESS
4. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH TO REVIEW AND DISCUSS THE AIRPORT - COST AND FEES.
Motion to table the item to the next meeting, provide brief presentation of revenue and expenses by Consensus of the Council.
5. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH TO DISCUSS AND SELECT DATE FOR A JOINT MEETING WITH THE FIREBAUGH LAS-DELTAS SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Motion to select November 20, 2023, by Consensus of the Council.
STAFF REPORTS
➢ Police Chief Sal Raygoza – nothing to report, staff report is in agenda, if anyone has questions for me. Council Member Lopez asked about a couple of drug arrests, was the K9 present? The Chief replied, “No.” Council Member Valdez asked if the dog was on duty. The Chief replied, “No.” Clerk Fleming heard about a girl lost at the carnival. Chief replied, “No.”
➢ Public Works Director, Michael Molina - Carnival update, the crew did a good job setting-up and cleaning-up. There was an airport inspection, city received an “A+”. The Fall cleanup is this week, between the hours of 7 AM to 3 PM, it is a great opportunity to get rid of stuff residents longer want, instead of having stuff dumped in alleys or other locations.
➢ City Manager, Ben Gallegos – attended conference few a months ago and received positive feedback, Brownfields funds can use to build homes, park, or solar projects. The funding has not been released yet for the solar project. The Housing Authority is having their groundbreaking tomorrow at 11AM. Hopefully, we have a planning commission meeting, so I can give an update on future projects.
➢ Battalion Chief, Hector Marin - busy this week, had sixty-eight call outs, seventeen of them were County call outs, last month, the crew is doing a great job covering the calls, we will attend National Night Out, and we are looking forward to Red Ribbon Week.
City Council Minutes
October 16, 2023
➢ Gouveia Engineering Mario Gouveia – submitted three COG applications to seek funding for Clyde Fannon, Downtown & Saipan projects.
➢ Finance Director, Pio Martin – waiting for all equipment for the new recording system, should take two to three weeks, will reach out to the Auditors to see when to being working on the audit. Council Member Lopez asked about the electric sign. Finance Director Martin reported it is not working, budget is about $50,000 to replace, have heard it may be best to lease equipment instead of purchase, so will contact the school for information or reference on who the use.
➢ Deputy City Clerk, Rita Lozano – attended the League of Cities Annual Conference for training, was very educational and informative, the city has been receiving several Public Request Acts, which has been very time consuming. ➢ City Clerk, Amanda Fleming - thanked Hector and the Fire Department, there was a death on Friday, October 13, 2023, and CPR given to an individual at the Gulf gas station, commend Council for willing to work with the community, I worked at the carnival, seeing the dynamics behind the scenes, music was fabulous, great job to the committee and staff. Do we(city) have an emergency plan should a world war breakout, “I said a war would start and look the Israel-Hamas War started right after. My family has started to prepare non-perishable food and other needed supplies”. Staff replied, the Police Chief is Director of Emergency. Recognition to Coalinga for not mandating or shutting down businesses during COVID, they were leaders. ➢ Council Member Renteria - thanked the carnival committee and city staff, they all did an awesome job. Isabel did not skip a beat, even when a band was a no show, she just made the need changes so no one noticed. Thanked Molina and the Public Works Department. They worked all day, came back to work the night shift, and still returned to the next morning, as well as the City Hall staff. Thanked the Police Chief for the National Night Out, the consultants that took part and participated, including the cadets that helped but did not get paid. Congratulated the City Manager on getting highlighted with the city, on the work done with Habitat for Humanity. I always receive compliments regarding our City Manager. Please get Officer Miller back out to patrol the highway, we need him back, we did not have any issues until he has been gone, Thank him for his work.
➢ Council Member Lopez – At the carnival, I ran into Espy, she informed me of a taxi program for locals to get to appointments, or other destinations, it allows for hiring residents as drivers, and electric cars, city should review taxi ordinance in our Municipal Code. Police Department and Fire Department did a good job with National Night Out! ➢ Council Member, Jenkins – nothing to report.
➢ Council Member Valdez – attended the Ca League of Cities Annual Conference, which is essential to learn new things and network with other city leaders, consultants, learn about what other cities are doing with housing, community garden, and other services they provide. I am thankful to our Police and Fire Departments we build within, like Raquel, who is testament to that, has worked several years with the city and has been promoted during that time. We should encourage more people to come to meetings and help others to build themselves up for better things. ➢ Council Member Perez – asked for an update about the buy local campaign, and how many streetlights do we still need to replace. City Manager Gallegos stated, some streetlights are owned by PG&E, and they have fixed lights on their streetlights in one subdivision, but the city does not have a boom truck to reach and replace our streetlights. The city ordered our new boom truck about two years ago; it was supposed to be delivered already, but delivery date was pushed to a later date.
PUBLIC COMMENT
CLOSED SESSION
ANNOUNCEMENT AFTER CLOSED SESSION
ADJOURNMENT
❖ Motion to adjourn at 7:42 pm by Council Member Valdez, second by Council Member Renteria, motion passes by a 5-0 vote.