MINUTES
JOINT MEETING OF THE
GONZALES CITY COUNCIL AND
GONZALES SUCCESSOR AGENCY
MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2024
6:00 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 6:40 PM by Mayor Jose L. Rios.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The flag salute was recited by all present.
1. ROLL CALL
Attendee Name Title Status
Jose L. Rios Mayor Present
Scott Funk Mayor Pro Tem Excused
Liz Silva Council Member Present
Lorraine Worthy Council Member Present
Maria Orozco Council Member Present
STAFF PRESENT
City Manager Carmen Gil, City Attorney Michael F. Rodriquez, Community Development Director Taven Kinson Brown, Finance Director Mike Howard, Executive Assistant to the City Manager/Deputy City Clerk Mary Villegas, Administrative Assistant II Esthela Palmerin, Public Works Director/City Engineer Patrick Dobbins, Fire Chief Jason Muscio, and Police Chief Keith Wise. * Successor Agency Item
PUBLIC NOTICE
This meeting is being conducted consistent with State of California Executive Order N-29-20 dated March 17, 2020, regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The public may participate in person or online via zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87020263943 or call 1 (669) 900-6833 and use Meeting ID: 870 2026 3943. If you wish to make either a general public comment or to comment on a specific agenda item, please use the Raise Hand function. You will be allowed three minutes for your comments.
If you choose not to attend the City Council meeting but wish to make a comment on a specific agenda item, please submit your comment limited to 250 words or less by 12:00p.m. on the day of the meeting to the City Clerk at [email protected]
PRESENTATIONS
2. Gonzales Little League Sportsmanship Recognitions
Deputy City Clerk Villegas read the certificates and Mayor Rios presented them to the players.
3. Gonzales Youth Council End of the Year Capstone
Youth Commissioners Luke Naegle and Aliyah Castillo, and Youth Ambassador Lizbeth De Leon Santos presented the end of the year capstone. They explained the purpose; introduced the Youth Commissioners, Ambassadors and Youth Council Members; went over the projects: Mental Health, Drug Prevention, Community Center, Groundbreaking, Mental Survey, Tenants Rights, Media Coverage, and Youth Summit.
BUSINESS FROM THE PUBLIC
4. Business from the Public not on the Agenda; any member of the Public may address the Council for a period not to exceed three minutes on any subject not on the Agenda. The Council will listen to all communications, but may take no action.
Henry Martinez Sr., 112 Tenth Street, commented about the tenants rights, people calling him a cop hater, and praising one of the cops for playing football with the kids on the street.
Henry Martinez Jr. (via Henry Martinez Sr.'s telephone), told the City they couldn't record with the drone and he will file charges against the officer who flies the drone and will hold him accountable. He said he didn't allow them to record any of his properties or family members.
CONSENT AGENDA
5. Approve the Joint City Council and Successor Agency - Regular Meeting - June 3, 2024 Minutes
6. Approve City Accounts Payable Warrants #50342-50395
7. City Manager’s Report
8. Community Development Department Activity Report
9. Community Engagement & Recreation Departments Activity Report
10. Fire Department Activity Report
11. Police Department Activity Report
*
12. Public Works/City Engineer Department Activity Report
13. Consider Updated City Encroachment Permit Application
14. Authorize Execution of a Non-Exclusive Master Services Agreement Between the City of Gonzales and Dudek Consulting for Wastwater Design Services, and Approve Execution of Task Order 1 for Design Support Services During the Bid/Award Phase of the Industrial Wastewater System in the Amount of $219,529
15. Consider Approval of Resolution No. 2024-34, A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Gonzales Accepting the City Hall & Police Department Generator Replacement Project as Complete, Authorizing Staff to Record a Notice of Completion with the County Recorder and Release Retention Monies held by the City to the Contractor
16. Consider Approval of Resolution No. 2024-35, A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Gonzales Stating Its Intention and Expectation to Reimburse Expenditures Incurred by the City in the Planning, Design and Construction of the Separate Industrial Wastewater System Prior to Obligations Approved by the State Water Resources Control Board
17. Consider Approval of Resolution No. 2024-39, A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Gonzales Calling and Providing for a General Municipal Election to be Held in the City of Gonzales on November 5, 2024, Making Determinations Required by Section 13307 of the Elections Code With Respect to Candidates’ Statements, Requesting the Monterey County Elections Department to Conduct and Consolidate the Election With the Statewide General Election, and Authorizing the City Manager to Enter into an Agreement with the Monterey County Registrar of Voters for Related Election Services Mayor Rios pulled Item 14 for further clarification. He said he was under the impression that they had done all the engineering and all they needed to do was go to construction.
Public Works Director Dobbins informed this was for the bid and award phase so staff was compiling the bid documents now.
Mayor Rios thanked him for the clarification.
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] Consent Agenda Items
MOVER: Lorraine Worthy, Council Member
SECONDER: Maria Orozco, Council Member
AYES: Jose L. Rios, Liz Silva, Lorraine Worthy, Maria Orozco EXCUSED: Scott Funk
REGULAR AGENDA
18. Salinas Valley Safe Routes to School Plan and Participatory Budget Process Staff Report: Public Works Director Dobbins presented the staff report.
Aaron Hernandez, TAMC Planner, explained what a participatory budget was, forming the steering committee, election results, funding and implementation timeline.
Lorraine Ramirez, Safe Routes to School Steering Committee Member, presented the committee’s recommendation. She asked for the Council’s support in approving the most voted projects by the community, prioritizing project 2 first, pedestrian improvements on Fifth Street and Highway 101 on and off ramps; and approving project 1, pedestrian improvements on Rincon Road and Fifth Street. She explained the benefits of the projects.
Guillermina Flores, Safe Routes to School Steering Committee Member, presented the committee’s recommendation in Spanish.
Public Comment: Henry Martinez Sr. commented about the need of visible kids crossing signs and more patrol officers.
Enaida Flores, Jose Najera, Maria Flores, and Virgilia Flores, Safe Routes to School Steering Committee Members, presented their comments in Spanish. They asked for the Council’s support on projects 1 and 2 for safer streets in the community.
City Manager Gil translated for them.
Lisa Gonzalez, Safe Routes to School Steering Committee Member, spoke in support of the two projects.
Council Discussion: It was the Council’s consensus to move forward with the two recommendations.
The Council received the presentation. No action required.
BUSINESS FROM CITY COUNCIL
19. City Council Board/Committee Reports
a. League of California Cities Monterey Bay Division
No report.
b. Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments
No report.
c. Monterey Salinas Transit
Council Member Worthy reported on the new Chair and she'll be the Vice Chair. She reported on the bus purchase, capital budget, surf project, and shared with the Council information on the Measure Q polling, parcel tax.
20. Oral Communications
Council Member Orozco congratulated all the graduates and elaborated on the High School graduation. She announced the 4th of July festivities and that Rotary members have tickets for the famous barbecue ribs.
Council Member Silva announced the adult aqua fitness class going on at the pool Monday through Friday from 3pm - 6pm; community cleanup day at Fairview at 9am; and Rodeo July 17th- 21st; and she praised our law enforcement for assisting other agencies with the incident that started in San Luis Obispo County and ended in our town, but they were able to apprehend the suspects through the use of the drone, and thanked them for keeping the community safe.
Council Member Worthy echoed Council Member Silva's comment on the drone. She also said there was misinformation on the drone. She asked if it was possible to get a copy of the budget presentation which she found very informative. She thanked the American Legion for the flag disposal ceremony and thanked everyone for attending especially the football team for their help.
She asked everyone to be careful this 4
th of July and be respectful of their neighbors, pets and people with health issues.
Mayor Rios mentioned there were flyers in English and Spanish with more information about the fireworks going out to every household hoping people understand the issues. He said the graduation was such a great event. He asked staff why plan checking takes so long to review a set of plans even sometimes with minor things. He said he has heard from at least four people.
City Manager Gil asked him if there were specific ones he could point out so staff could look at the timeline. She said 4Leaf Consultants were the plan checkers and they were very thorough. She asked him to give staff the names so they could check the timeline.
BUSINESS FROM CITY MANAGER
21. Oral Communications
City Manager Gil thanked our Police Department, Sheriff's Office, and everyone who stepped in to help with the incident last Wednesday to keep our community safe. She announced the cleanup day on June 29th at Fairview from 8:00am-1:00pm; 4th of July parade and 5k run. She reminded everyone to stay safe and to not use illegal fireworks. She indicated that staff was putting out as much information as possible about illegal fireworks, which were not allowed in town and anyone who gets caught will be cited and prosecuted. She announced the First Time Homebuyers/Financial Literacy Workshop in partnership with United Way on Saturday from 9:00am-12:00pm and staff will be sharing information on the Vista Lucia project.
City Attorney Rodriquez informed that the Police Department and Fire Department plan to work in partnership on the 4th of July with the drones to observe illegal activity and identify where it’s taking place and also for purposes in fire suppression dispensing and sending fire and police personnel to areas where illegal fireworks are going off. He said we are doing this the same manner that hundreds of other Police Departments throughout the State are doing and using drones for the same purpose. He said some of the public speakers have raised the issue of folks having expectation of privacy that has been violated by drone observation, which is true, there is a whole body of law that protects people from having unwarranted intrusions; however, there is a couple of exemptions to that, there is no expectation of privacy for illegal conduct for the use of illegal fireworks. He indicated there is an exemption in the law that has to do with the legitimate use of drones for police purposes, and the purpose here is to maintain, oversee, and prevent any danger to both property and life on the 4th of July to the illegal use of fireworks. He added that we feel very comfortable in having the Police and Fire Departments partner together to use the drone for those purposes and we don’t have to request permission from anybody to fly it to observe the illegal activity taking place.
Police Chief Wise added that we have a very thorough drone use policy, and we are well within the legal rights to use it. He said there was mention about wind speed earlier, but people get confused with wind velocity vs. wind speed and they should have a better understanding and learn about the safety concerns before talking. He said the policy was online and anyone can view it at any time
Public Works Director Dobbins reported the construction of Phase I of the Community Center started last Monday.
ADJOURNMENT
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Liz Silva, Council Member
SECONDER: Maria Orozco, Council Member
AYES: Jose L. Rios, Liz Silva, Lorraine Worthy, Maria Orozco The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM.
ATTEST:
Mary Villegas, Deputy City Clerk