Meeting Minutes
The City Council/Successor Agency of the City of Firebaugh Vol. No. 25 / 07-21
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Location of Meeting Andrew Firebaugh community Center
1655 13th Street, Firebaugh, CA. 93622
Date / Time July 21, 2025 / 5:30 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER
ROLL CALL Mayor Pro-Tem Silvia Renteria
Council Member Felipe Perez
Council Member Brady Jenkins
Council Member Elsa Lopez
Absent Mayor Freddy Valdez
Others City Manager Ben Gallegos, City Attorney Nicholas Matoian, Police Chief Sal Raygoza, Acting Deputy Clerk Olga Flores, Battalion Fire Chief Hector Marin, Gouveia Engineering Rep. Noe Martinez.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Mayor Pro-Tem Silvia Renteria
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Motion to approve agenda by Council Member Jenkins, seconded by Council Member Lopez, motion passed by 4-0 vote.
PRESENTATION
PUBLIC COMMENT
None
CONSENT CALENDAR
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – The City Council Regular meeting on June 16, 2025
2. WARRANT REGISTER – Period starting June 01, 2025 and ending June 30, 2025 June 2025 General Warrants #47781 - #47941 $1,392,697.43 Payroll Warrants #72556 - #72582 $ 238,405.48
TOTAL WARRANTS $1,631,102.91
Motion to approve consent calendar by Council Member Lopez, seconded by Council Member Jenkins, the motion passed by a 4-0 vote.
PUBLIC HEARING
None
NEW BUSINESS
3. RESOLUTION NO. 25-24 – A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF FIREBAUGH APPROVING AMENDMENT TO JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT OF
THE CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY RISK MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY Motion to approve Resolution No. 25-24 by Council Member Lopez, seconded by Council Member Jenkins, the motion passed by a 4-0 vote.
4. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH TO DISCUSS AN UPDATE ON
SENIOR CENTER FULLTIME EMPLOYEE AND / OR ADDITIONAL HOURS Council Consensus is to start a trial basis, partner with outside resources and provide a calendar with daily scheduled activities.
5. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH TO DISCUSS AN UPDATE ON
THE STREET SWEEPER
Discussion item only: Public Works Director Micheal Molina said the guys have put in a lot of hard work to patch it up and get it running again, hopefully it can last a year and would like to budget for a new one next year.
6. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH TO DISCUSS THE MINI
SWEEPER FOR DOWNTOWN
Council Consensus is to table this discussion until Mid-Year review of the budget.
7. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH TO DISCUSS AN UPDATE ON
THE SNACK BAR AT DUNKLE PARK
Council directed City Manager to gather the costs associated with the construction of the snack bar including utilities and materials.
8. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FIREBAUGH TO DISCUSS AN UPDATE ON
SOLAR FOR POLICE AND FIRE STATIONS
City Manager Ben Gallegos reported that the project commenced on July 14th .
STAFF REPORTS
Police Chief Sal Raygoza – A search warrant was served for a severely injured dog, and several code violations were found at the address. He stated 2 more warrants were served the following without any problems. Officers Zaragoza and Lee the 2 resource officers will be going to Las Vegas for training. There are a total of 6 unhoused people, and officers assisted 2 people with rides to the Poverello House and also have Officer Gonzalez keeping up with them and providing rides if they need to get to a place for further help. Joaquin Murieta ride is coming up and officers will be doing patrol checks.
Staying on top of gang activity and will be serving a couple more search warrants this week. Working on demolition derby and will be having a drone and firework show. 2 gentlemen are in background checks for reserves.
City Manager Ben Gallegos – Nothing to report.
Public Works Director/Fire Chief Michael Molina– Lights on Sablan: Called PG & E to locate the line however, it is City responsibility and we will have to get a contractor to come out and repair that line to get those lights working again. Early Saturday morning there was a problem at the water plants. Site 2 houses the “brain” and it had a glitch which triggered a glitch at site one, there are set points and the plants will shut themselves off so they do not run out of water. Thank you to the Public Works Crew who were working around the clock taking water measurements, they did an awesome job to keep the city running and are continuing to monitor. Don Carr from Toma Tek, gives thanks to Fire Department and City in regard to the fire. Fresno and Madera sent water tenders. EMS was out there on standby, Fresno County also sent support unit. Thank you to Fresno/Madera County. The way the fire was moving was very scary and working with Fresno County we found a break in it and were able to stop it. City Attorney Nick Matoian – Nothing to report.
Acting Deputy City Clerk Olga Flores – Nothing to report. City Engineer Noe Martinez – Reported that their office worked with City Manager Ben to successfully secure over $2 million dollars offered by Fresno COG, the projects that are going to get improved are 13th street from HWY 33 to the bridge and “S” Street by Dunkle Park, it will be a 2 to 3 year project.
Battalion Chief Hector Marin- Early morning fire at Toma Tek for a pallet fire which included 4 engines, 3 water tenders. One individual in the fire academy and will be gone for a couple of months.
Mayor Pro-Tem Renteria – Added to Council Member Perez’s questions: She stated we need to look into what we need to do and we need to start working on some of it because we need to fix that area up. Thank you to everyone and the volunteers for everything they do. These are the items we need to show case so people see you are out there doing the leg work to keep our town safe.
Council Member Lopez – Nothing to report.
Council Member Perez – Asked when Del Rio will get sidewalks and about the property lines.
Council Member Jenkins – Good job Fire Department, City, staff, Police Department.
It’s making an impact.
CLOSED SESSION
9. 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 ON CLOSED SESSION ITEM ONLY
None
Motion to enter close session at 6:24 pm by Council Member Perez, second by Council Member Jenkins, motion passes by a 4-0 vote.
ANNOUNCEMENT AFTER CLOSED SESSION
None
CLOSED SESSION
Motion to enter open session at 6:45 pm by Council Member Jenkins, second by Council Member Perez, motion passes by a 4-0 vote.
ANNOUNCEMENT AFTER CLOSED SESSION
No announcement.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn at 6:45 p.m. by Council Member Perez, seconded by Council Member Jenkins, motion passed by a 4-0 vote.