Meeting Minutes
The City Council/Successor Agency of the City of Firebaugh Vol. No. 25 / 05-05
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Location of Meeting Andrew Firebaugh community Center
1655 13th Street, Firebaugh, CA. 93622
Date / Time May 05, 2025 / 5:30 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER Meeting was called to order by Mayor Valdez at 5:30 p.m.
ROLL CALL Mayor Freddy Valdez
Mayor Pro-Tem Silvia Renteria
Council Member Brady Jenkins
Council Member Felipe Perez
Council Member Elsa Lopez
Others City Attorney Nick Matioan, City Manager Ben Gallegos, Acting Deputy Clerk Olga Flores, Public Works Director Michael Molina, Finance Director Pio Martin, Battalion Fire Chief Hector Marin.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Mayor Valdez
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Motion to approve agenda by Council Member Jenkins seconded by Council Member Perez, motion passed by 5-0 vote.
PRESENTATION
The proclamation was presented by Mayor Freddy Valdez and received by Fire Chief Michael Molina in memory of Fire Chief John Borboa.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Rodolfo Tabares, President of the Firebaugh Police Officers Association presented a video showing some updates on the association:
• Dispatcher appreciation week was April 13th – 19th. Thanks to Blue Flame and Giant Burger for providing special gifts for the dispatchers.
• Officer Seferino Gonzalez was the recipient of the MADD Award for 2024 with approximately 33 DUI arrests. • Officer Jason Perez received the Optimistic Club Respect for Law Award also known as “Officer of the Year Award”. • Motorcycle Officer Lee Xiong completed his Fresno PD course on 11/01/2024. He picked up his motorcycle on May 03, 2025, he is just waiting on Bluetooth police radio to put it on patrol.
Rodolfo gave special thanks to Mayor Freddy Valdez for inviting them out to the Autism Walk and a special thanks to the members, family, and friends.
CONSENT CALENDAR
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Meeting Minutes April 21, 2025
Motion to approve meeting minutes by Council Member Jenkins, seconded by Council Member Perez, motion passed by 5-0 vote.
PUBLIC HEARING
None
NEW BUSINESS
2. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: FY 2025/26 PRELIMINARY BUDGET REPORT FOR GENERAL FUND AND PUBLIC SAFETY.
Presented by Finance Director Pio Martin.
3. RESOLUTION 25-09 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FIREBAUGH APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FOR FISCAL YEARS 2025/26 THROUGH 2029/30.
Motion to approve Resolution No. 25-09 by Council Member Jenkins, seconded by Council Member Perez, motion passed by 5-0 vote.
4. DOG POUND REPORT
Ben reported the amount that has been spent up to date, the projected cost, and what work is currently in progress.
5. AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021 FUND REPORT
Ben presented a report of what the money was allocated for (resolution no. 22-56) and what has been used as of February 28, 2025.
STAFF REPORTS
Finance Director, Pio Martin – Will be working on the budget so will not be working on any staff reports during that time.
City Attorney, Nick Matioan – Nothing to report.
Acting Deputy City Clerk, Olga Flores –Attended Post Office Clerk Nora’s retirement lunch with Ben and Elsa, and we presented her with an appreciation award on behalf of the city. Will be sending out business and tobacco license renewals at the end of May. City Engineer, Mario Gouveia – Allies are ongoing, Beehive will take the longest because of the pump station. HWY 33 beautification project was done since last week and will be getting a final inspection Thursday and there will be some items they will need to fix and will be brought to council for acceptance maybe in June. City Manager, Ben Gallegos – Both him and Elsa went to past Council Member Jim Lowe’s funeral services in Monterey on behalf of the city. Both him and Mayor Pro Tem went to Sacramento advocating for parks infostructure, fire, police but right now they are not funding any projects due to state funds not looking so great. Ben, Elsa, and Silvia met with Assemblywoman Soria and voiced some of the concerns for the city. Also spoke to her about the solar projects and mentioned the procurement and hopefully she can get away from that due to some businesses possibly not wanting to apply for it. Public Works Director/Fire Chief Michael Molina – “Q” Street is done, tomorrow the paving will start where the exercise equipment is so it can also be used in the winter, also spoke to Ben about the water park at Maldonado; with the well not putting out what it is supposed to maybe going down to one day a week, a weekend or maybe cutting down the hours to 2-3 hours a day, especially during the peak season in July when Toma Tek starts up to help the plants and supply water to the residents. Once it is decided on, it will be brought to council for approval. The well is currently back online and is putting out more than expected but the test will come in the summer to see what we can handle. Battalion Chief Hector Marin- Reported that 38 weed abatement notices went out and 8 properties are cutting their weeds. The fire department is getting ready for their annual dinner dance.
Council Member Lopez – Nothing to report
Council Member Perez – On May 3rd he was in San Joaquin for the Measure C meeting and took over 40 people from Firebaugh and Mendota. Members from COG were surprised to see because we filled the hall asking for more funding for the rural areas for streets, sidewalks and other things.
Council Member Jenkins – Nothing to report
Mayor Pro-Tem Renteria – When her and Ben attended state they spoke to other cities and they all have the same problems and issues with funding, it was a great meeting and they asked a lot of questions, the one thing they came out knowing is if you have something shovel ready and they need to spend money you will be called, so it’s really good when you have projects that are shovel ready. The lunch with Soria, its really great to speak with her and hear how fond she is of Firebaugh and she does a lot for Firebaugh has brought us a lot of money.
Mayor Valdez – Measure C renewal is coming up for vote, and it is a necessity for rural communities. We have fought and have been successful in getting allocations. Freddy stated along with Mendota’s Mayor Victor Martinez at COG they were able to reshape some monies that were going to leave the west side into passing lanes on HWY 33, stating there are ways to battle the allocation but need community feed back and doing those surveys are important for driving your tax dollars into what you need them to do.
Firebaugh received four million dollars which was used for streets and school bought more busses. Check out the Measure C websites and you can also see the projects here in Firebaugh. Freddy was also voted from COG on to the Rail Authority which is all things rail as well as the CID Board which does all the live scan and blue chip.
6. Government Code Section 54957.6
Government Code Section 54957.6 - Conference with Labor Negotiator Agency Designated Representatives: Christina D. Smith, City Attorney and Ben Gallegos, City Manager Employee Organizations: Firebaugh Police Officers Association, Public Works, and Unrepresented Groups.
Public Comment
None
Motion to enter close session at 7:22 pm by Council Member Jenkins, second by Council Member Perez, motion passes by a 5-0 vote.
Motion to enter back into open session at 7:37 pm by Council Member Jenkins, second by Council Member Perez, motion passes by a 5-0 vote.
ANNOUNCEMENT AFTER CLOSED SESSION
Nothing to report
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn at 7:38 p.m. by Council Member Jenkins, seconded by Council Member Perez, motion passed by 5-0 vote.