MINUTES
City of Guadalupe
Regular Meeting of the Guadalupe City Council
Tuesday, March 22, 2022, at 6:00 pm
City Hall, 918 Obispo Street, Council Chambers
1. ROLL CALL:
Council Member Liliana Cardenas
Council Member Gilbert Robles
Council Member Eugene Costa Jr.
Mayor Pro Tempore Tony Ramirez
Mayor Ariston Julian
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. All members were present. (Note: The abbreviation "CM' for Council Member will be used in these minutes.)
MOMENT OF SILENCE
Prior to the Moment of Silence, Mayor Julian mentioned the passing of Mr. Joseph Sauceda on March 13th, He said, "Mr. Sauceda was our Grand Marshall for the postponed City's 75'h Anniversary.
Condolences to his family. He was a bigtime Dodgers' fan so he's up in the blue pushing for them now. The mayor also said, "Continued thoughts and prayers to residents of Ukraine who have been killed and suffering as a result of the war in Ukraine."
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
AGENDA REVIEW
At this time the City Council will review the order of business to be conducted and receive requests for, or make announcements regarding, any change(s) in the order of business.
There were not requests to change the agenda.
PRESENTATION
• Santa Barbara County Broadband Strategy Project - Bill Simmons, Project Lead Mr. Simmons said, "It's been five (5) months last / was here... November 23rd. The purpose of tonight is to talk about what's happened in the last five (5) months. What we are going to talk about tonight is that we've done from a proposal five (5) months ago to a launch of a project that started around January. We've done a lot of team building...put together our technical team and done some planning. In the last week, we've got our outreach engagement, the details to be presented tonight.
March 22, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting MINUTES Page 1 of 13 The presenter is the project coordinator, Maria Kelly. She's really the glue behind our effort and we're really glad to have her. We'll take your questions once her presentation is complete.
Ms. Kelly began her presentation with a brief discussion of the agenda stating that the goal is to "close the digital divide". She then went into discussion of the two funding streams: 1) "California Broadband for All" which is legislation signed by the governor in 2020, some of which was a response to Covid. Other legislation was passed, such as prioritizing broadband for rural communities, and broadband infrastructure deployment, and 2) "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" which is a massive piece of legislation at the federal level. Specific to Santa Barbara County, questions such as the grant mechanisms and data maps to be used to justify the request funding. The Digital Equity Act of 2021 is also important to us as it is for the telecommunications and workforce development.
Ms. Kelly said, "Those are the things we're tracking and thinking about as we're developing the strategy."
She then shifted to "Project Plan & Activities" and said, "This type of infrastructure planning requires a lot of conversation because there are so many moving bits and pieces. Bill and I and SBCAG and the rest of the project team, and with us tonight is Vickie Connor, from Econ Alliance, who is helping and taking a significant role in the convenient aspect of communities which is significant to our data collection."
Ms. Kelly continued saying, "One of the pieces of this project is mapping, assets, infrastructure. How can we collectively in Santa Barbara County share some open-source mapping? One of the requirements to apply for the grant funding is to create an open access GIS (Geographic Information System) map as a planning tool for municipalities and governments. That's one of the pieces or part of what we're working on now. As we're reaching out to the cities, we're asking who their GIS person is and if they don't have GIS, we ask what we can do to help them and what kind of maps can we pull up to make accessible to them."
She emphasized the importance of coordination all the way through the process and moving forward. She said, "Making policy recommendations is very important. In conversations we will have with city managers, we want to know what policies the cities have that allow for broadband planning. That will come into play with our one-on-one conversations with staff and a survey to follow in April/May for City staff on that. Then the outcomes of this are middle mile strategy, last mile approach and digital inclusion partners. This strategy is the baseline groundwork for the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years' planning for our county to really looking up closing that digital divide." Ms. Kelly then went back to discussing data collection. She said, "Today, we launched a significant piece of that with the 'Needs Assessment Survey' and the 'Speed Test Survey'. We had a soft launch a couple of weeks ago with about 10 practice responses. We're well over 124 responses that I just checked on the speed testing mostly kept around Santa Barbara and over 85 responses on the actual needs assessment survey. So, we're doing great. We'd like to get about a total of 1,000 from the County."
She then shifted to discuss timelines. She said, "We're right on track, February/March. We're in the convening and prioritization stages. We'll start prioritizing the information and data. We're going to start looking at past work efforts. I can look at Lompoc and Santa Maria that have done some planning and how that will push into a regional strategy. What are some of the best practices and March 22, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting MINUTES Page 2 of 13 what may just need to be redone? One of the big things is meeting with all the ISP providers. Now that this project has started, Telecom is knocking on our door asking, 'What are you doing? How can we help? We're worried about your data collection. How can we participate?' We have five (5) meetings set up with providers and we'll continue to outreach as many of them as we can. They need to be a part of the process because it's really going to be a public/private partnership to help solve any problems. We'll have this project wrapped and, hopefully, we'll have a final product back in front of your council in September/October with a product we'll look forward to sharing with you." Ms. Kelly then talked about the regional strategy outcomes. She said, "Open access GIS mapping tool will really be important. The goal with that is something that we leave centrally somewhere; hopefully, it can find a home in SBCAG, but it can be a planning tool that every community can use and access to identify significant gaps where future work efforts need to happen. The end result will mean that we'll have a collaboratively approached middle mile. We can make good recommendations and coordinate with the State on that. We want to make sure we're well tooled and we have the right information to let them know what we're doing." She said, "Again, why are we doing this? For digital equity inclusion. What do we need to do to make sure that every single resident, every single citizen has access to the internet? Equity for all is the long game. We're also looking for digital partners. We've had some early conversations with Santa Barbara County Foundation and some other key people who might help to provide some support and direction in that."
With the final comments of her presentation, Ms. Kelly said, "For your local consideration, looking at the main contact for the project team. I've spoken with Shannon (Sweeney) to identify who's going to be that conduit that we work with throughout this project as part of the MOU agreement with SBCAG, as well, that one person is identified. Participate in the gap analysis process. When I sent out those requests to find out what sort of planning documents are in place so that we accurately capture what has happened and what needs to happen for Guadalupe. We talked about mapping partnership. Data collection - making sure you have all the information you need to help deploy. If there's an avenue that we can get you information and you can put it on a website, a link or send another social media link. We've talked with the PIOs, and data information is available as of today."
Ms. Kelly continued her final part of the presentation saying, "We'll talk more about technical assistance grants via email with some of the staff as we move forward. This is a significant access to funds for planning purposes. We want to make sure that all the cities in Santa Barbara County are prepared to put in those applications which will open beginning of May. We're tracking to make sure we know what those requirements are so we can leverage those funds together and continue to work at a regional level. Finally, when you're looking at planning priorities that you keep broadband in those conversations. It's going to be really important when we go make requests for funding that communities are broadband ready and have had and will continue to have those conversations. Those discussions should include future implementation work efforts and what's going to work best for us all. Is it going to be each city going out and doing its own thing or is it going to be us all working together through the SBCAG model where there is centralized planning and centralized work efforts?"
March 22, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting MINUTES Page 3 of 13 Ms. Kelly ended by thanking the Council and that she and Bill Simmons look forward to coming back and continuing a conversation on this topic. And that point, she asked if there were any questions now or via email.
Mayor Julian asked, "Briefly tell us what broadband is and the systems that interplay with that.
There's fiber..." Mr. Simmons responded, "Our focus is on the fiber aspect... the term we use is technology agnostic, whether it's wireless or using Kovax or whether it is using fiber itself. 5G, a lot of these technologies...they all need a basic backbone of fiber optic cables. You only have to go house-to-house-to-house with fiber optics. But you do need to go neighborhood-to-neighborhood- to-neighborhood because even in the wireless technologies, you're going to need transmitters they need fiber to connect to those transmitters to be able to do wireless capabilities. If that infrastructure doesn't exist and you don't have a basic fiber network throughout your community, you won't be able to have even wireless services. We recognize from a cost standpoint the dollars start to flow.
Ideally, certain companies, like Google, would love to have fiber in every household that exists. On the other hand, that may not be cost effective and 5G technologies will deliver wireless service just as well for just the same kinds of speeds. The entry point is far more economical." Mr. Simmons then said, "I'm not sure if I answered your question." The mayor said, "I just wanted some general information so the folks could see what we're talking about." Mr. Simmons added, "it really is a utility. The more backbone you can get, the more network connections and fiber you can have in your community the better."
Mayor Julian spoke about the 'Needs Assessment Survey' saying, "One of the things that's of interest is this survey and the speed test. Everybody in this audience and everybody here...it's up to us to give that information to SBCAG and the Broadband Committee. You can go online to SCAG, then go to SBCAG/Broadband and then you do the needs assessment. That talks about what do you have in your home, how many people are in your home, do you have Wi-Fi, how much does it cost, who is your provider. That's good information to have. Then there's the actual speed test. There's this thing...and I didn't understand this at first: What's download, what's upload? So, that speed test really gives you all that we have locally. That'll be interesting to see. Can you carve that out for each community?"
Ms. Kelly said, "Yes, we can. On the website, there's actually a map, SBCAG/Broadband, there's the speed test results map which will somewhat pinpoint actually who the provider is and what the speeds are. We can then access and analyze where it's not moving as fast as we need it to move.
The faster the speeds the better. By California and federal requirements, a minimum of 100 up and 100 down. That doesn't mean a lot right now but that's what we're looking at." The mayor asked if all of this is in Spanish or not. Ms. Kelly said, , "Yes, the speeds test results map doesn't show it in Spanish, but the speed test and survey are in both languages." Mr. Simmons then said, "The speed test, itself, is going to be very important because of certain kinds of infrastructure that the providers have. If they have a basic cable infrastructure and there are two people there, it'll be very fast. But if it's being shared by about 100 people, it's going to bog down and be slow. Even though you have a broadband connection, the amount of people using it will also drop the speeds being brought into that infrastructure. The bottom line is the more fiber we can get into the neighborhoods, the faster the speeds will be and the more people we can serve." March 22, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting MINUTES Page 4 of 13 CM Ramirez had questions. He asked, "I have two questions. One of the bullet points has to do with the annual budget priorities and things like that. What does that mean? It says that we have to be 'ready. What does 'ready' mean?" Ms. Kelly said, "That's an ongoing conversation. The California Emerging Technology Fund worked with one of the consortiums, Broadband Consortium of the Pacific Coast. There's another consortium that actually did a document for policymakers. I'll send that. It's looking at making sure that future city planning, different little pieces that are within there so that when you're doing general plan updates and having those conversations, those are included in your conversations." CM Ramirez said, "We're doing all that right now. That's why I'm asking." Ms. Kelly added, 'It seems that everybody is doing that now. One of the things I'm looking for is even somewhat of a generic placeholder. There are a couple of examples in that document I'll send depending on how you want to do it. But at least find a placeholder for future planning efforts." CM Ramirez then asked his second question. He asked, "It has to do with monopolies. Citywide, we have one (1) provider. Because of that, the quality of service is not that great. Is this initiative also going to look into that, in the sense of not driving up the cost for people? If there are certain requirements needed, someone must pay for it." Ms. Kelly said, "Part of California broadbands are all for accessibility, speed and affordability. Affordability is a big piece of closing that digital divide as is competition. Competition to make sure there's choice and we're not relying on one provider in our community. Trying to make sure we diversify that market. Hopefully, that market will sort itself out. There are also other programs that are being developed to address some of that affordability.
We're also asking the providers and Telecom what sort of programs they have to address digital equity and inclusion and how they're going to be a partner in that." CM Ramirez added, "A lot of this has to do with hidden things they have. There's the initial cost that's driven up after a year or two. Things like that are, hopefully, going to be drawn out so people know these things upfront." Ms. Kelly then said, "We're having these conversations with them letting them know that part of this project will daylight some of those issues." CM Cardenas asked, "Regarding the survey, when is the final date that you'll take it?" Ms. Kelly said, "Two months initially. If we don't have enough data in one area with those two months, we'll start doing some targeting outreach in June, July and August." CM Cardenas then asked, "Do you have a specific flyer that contains these links?" Ms. Kelly said, "Yes, we can provide them, and I can send them to staff. It is to help create ambassadors of our elected officials." CM Ramirez added, "It is part of that, too, that we need to get local organizations involved in this, too. I can 90% predict what will happen and that most of your surveys will come from Santa Barbara...that's south county side of things. In north county, it may not necessarily...you have to be able to access the internet to access the survey which is like an oxymoron. Is there any way to get that paper copy?" Ms. Kelly answered, "There are two (2) other ways we're looking at this data.
We're going to be downloading by zip code. But we've provided a phone number for people who don't have access to the internet, they can call us and tell us why. In these types of projects, no data is data. Even not having data in a certain area tells us a lot about something. We can target it and say that we are still noticing and make some assumptions very safely because people weren't able to access, and we made it as simple as possible. Regarding community partners, we've done a lot of research and found that if there are specific community partners that you want to ensure that are on our list that we can continue to work with, please let us know. It's partnerships that are going to make this most successful."
March 22, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting MINUTES Page 5 of 13 City Treasurer Michaud asked, "Do we have fiber optics here already?" Mr. Simmons said, "Yes, you have it coming right through town. There is what's called 'long haul fibers' and it comes right along the railroad and comes right through town. But you don't have it going door-to-door or going up and down every street. There are significant grants to come into this area to do certain things. It's coming. We've seen a lot of change in competition in a good way." Mayor Julian then said, "Bill and Maria, there's a lady who's going to speak next. Please give her your business card. She's from the Community Changers and the next person to speak. It's an organization we're trying to reach in terms of this information. And thank you all for coming here tonight."
6. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION FORUM
Each person will be limited to a discussion of three (3) minutes or as directed by the Mayor.
Pursuant to provisions of the Brown Act, no action may be taken on these matters unless they are listed on the agenda, or unless certain emergency or special circumstances exist. City Council may direct staff to investigate and/or schedule certain matters for consideration at a future City Council meeting.
Ms. Rayna Chavez: She said, "I am a member of the Guadalupe Community Changers. I was here in January as a follow-up to the request for additional trash and recycle bins that the other parents and I've been advocating for some time now. Today I am reminding you that this is a pressing issue. I have photos that we have collected from mostly Guadalupe Street. We are always open to working with you. This will be a collective effort. Thank you for your time." Mayor Julian mentioned that Cal Trans had allocated $27,000 per year for cleanup. Mr. Bodem added that the grant was for $70,000 for three (3) years. The mayor then asked, "It would seem then that with these funds their request to have receptacles could work for the Community Changers. " Mr. Bodem said, "I'l connect you with Shannon on this." Ms. Chavez handed out pictures taken of Guadalupe Street for the Council's review.
Ms. Primavera Rosales: "I am the 2022 Kiwanis Elks queen candidate. The Kiwanis organization is raising funds for scholarships, senior services and financially supporting other local community organizations. I want to invite you to our upcoming events, and I'll be leaving you some cards with this information. You can contact Irma Pardo if more information is needed. Friday, April 15th is the "Fish Fry" at the Senior Center from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Also, on Saturday, April gth, is Chicken Taco Plate, at the Senior Center from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Thank you for your time and support." Mayor Julian asked if she was a Righetti student. Ms. Rosales said, "Yes, I'm a sophomore. 10th grade." The mayor thanked her for doing this and mentioned that there's a lot of work involved. He also said that it's a great cause that she's working with the Kiwanis organization. Ms. Rosales commented, "Yes, I'm very excited and fortunate. Thank you again."
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
The following items are presented for City Council approval without discussion as a single agenda item in order to expedite the meeting. Should a Council Member wish to discuss or disapprove an item, it must be dropped from the blanket motion of approval and considered as a separate item.
March 22, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting MINUTES Page 6 of 13 Waive the reading in full of all Ordinances and Resolutions. Ordinances on the Consent Calendar will be adopted by the same vote cast as the first meeting, unless City Council indicates otherwise.
B. Approve payment of warrants for the period ending March 16, 2022.
Approve the Minutes of the City Council Regular Meeting of March 8, 2022, to be ordered filed.
D. Receive the February 2022 Financial Report.
E. Adopt Resolution No. 2022-20 authorizing Los Amigos de Guadalupe to submit an application to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Disaster Grant, under the USDA Rural Facilities Grant Program, on behalf of the City of Guadalupe.
F. Adopt Resolution No. 2022-21 authorizing the Mayor to execute a construction contract with Souza Construction for the West Main Street Waterline construction project, and to execute a contract with Filippin Engineering for inspection services on this project.
G. MONTHLY REPORTS FROM DEPARTMENT HEADS
1. Public Safety Department:
a. Police Department report for February 2022
b. Fire Department report for February 2022
c. Code Compliance report for February 2022
2. Human Resources report for February 2022
3. City Treasurer's report for February 2022
No items were pulled. Motion was made by Council Member Ramirez and seconded by Council Member Cardenas to approve the Consent Calendar. 5-0 Passed.
8. CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT: (Information Only)
Mr. Bodem said, "Because of some impromptu filling in for Ms. Sweeney tonight on potentially some items, I have no other report to give at this time."
9. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SAFETY REPORT: (Information Only) No report was given as Chief Cash was out-of-town.
10. MAYOR'S REPORT - UPDATES
Mayor Julian mentioned that the Mayor's Report was in the packet, and he had nothing more to add.
REGULAR BUSINESS
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March 22, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting MINUTES Page 7 of 13
11. Relocation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial flagpole and base to the Veterans Memorial Plaza.
Written report: Todd Bodem, City Administrator
Recommendation: That the City Council adopt Resolution No. 2022-22 authorizing the Vietnam Veterans Association Central Coast Chapter 982 and the Mid-Coast Veterans Alliance approval to relocate the Vietnam Veterans Memorial flagpole approximately 74 feet from its current location to the Veterans Memorial Plaza (Downtown Parking Lot).
Mr. Bodem mentioned that at the last City Council meeting, there were two (2) group members who gave a presentation on moving the existing flagpole base 74' from private property to the Veterans Memorial Plaza. He said, "Attached to the staff report are drawings and the location of the flagpole.
I spoke with the contract Planning Director and there are no issues. I also spoke with our Building Inspector and there are no issues, although we'd recommend coming in for a building permit. We recommend waiving the fee. Also, I spoke with Ms. Sweeney in Public Works and there shouldn't be any issues there, as well."
There were two (2) speakers request on this item. The first was Mr. Richard "Deek" Segovia who said, "I actually wasn't prepared to say anything else. We made our presentation a couple of weeks ago. What the City Administrator was the intent with the two (2) groups. This will be a joint effort (between the Vietnam Veterans of America and Mid-Coast Veterans Alliance). We have local people who have volunteered to help with all of this. I'm not sure what else might be needed from me at this time." Mayor Julian asked, "What's your projection to start? Is this permit already issued? (Mr.
Bodem interjected that the permit has not yet been approved.) If you got the permit today, when would the work start?" Mr. Segovia said, "We'll start with the removal part first. We'd like to get the plaques and pole off. I thought we could it at the back of the Veterans Memorial Plaza. Hopefully, we'll be doing the demolition part while the steps to approve the permit are happening." City Attorney Sinco then added, , "Actually, the building permit was my suggestion. We wanted expert oversight to access, like traffic control, pedestrian awareness and things like that. A volunteer group may not be aware of all that City staff is expert in because they do it all the time. That was only the reason for the building permit. There won't be a lot of work involved and that's why we recommended no fee. It won't take very long at all. And I would recommend you file the permit before you do anything. Just include the demolition work. If anyone has some insights for you, they l let you know. They Il schedule some inspections on crucial matters. That's really the only reason for it."
Mr. Segovia said, "As far as traffic control, I do realize that the City does have responsibility for that.
I've been working in the streets all my life. That's what I do. I do know about delineation, signage, closing the sidewalk down for a portion of time. We have a lot of experience in construction with our veterans. We don't want or like any shortcuts. And we don't want to do anything to upset the apple cart. If there's oversight to be seen, it would be a hard hat and vest area. This will be a regular construction site. Just to make it clear, we should be going to the City planners for the permit?" Mr.
Bodem then added, "Come and see me because I'm excited about this. I'll walk you over there and March 22, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting MINUTES Page 8 of 13 introduce you to David (Rose) and we'll fill out the paperwork for the permit." Mr. Segovia said, "I'II bring a hard hat for you."
The second speaker was Mr. Lupe Alvarez who said, "I didn't know it was going to be so smooth and easy. I thought it was going to be a presentation. I wasn't aware of the previous presentation. So, I was here if the City agreed with the request, I'd be willing to offer my backhoe and do the work for the Vietnam Veterans and for all the veterans here. I dug up the one that's there now and the one at the cemetery. I did the one where the barbecue pit area is at the Veterans Hall. All was pro bono.
When you're ready, I'll be happy to volunteer. I'm here to support the veterans." Council Member Robles asked, "What will happen with the empty spot after the movement?" Mr.
Segovia said, "It will be taken all the way down. I spoke with Dean Teixeira, current owner of the hotel, and we'll take it down to pavement level. All the concrete there should all be gone. We want to get down to the asphalt level. All the details haven't been worked out with Dean, but he knows we're going to jack hammer that down. We don't know who will do the asphalting yet." Motion was made by Council Member Costa, Jr. and seconded by Council Member Robles to approve Resolution No. 2022-22. Roll Call: All Ayes 5-0 Passed.
12. Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP).
Written report: Shannon Sweeney, Public Works Director/City Engineer Recommendation: That the City Council adopt Resolution No. 2022-23 authorizing the execution of the Certification and Assurances and authorized agent forms for the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) for the following project: Purchase of zero-emission transit bus for fixed route service with the funding amount of $553,688.00.
Mr. Bodem filled in for Ms. Sweeney who was absent. He gave a brief background saying that the City is going out for a grant for $553,688.00 for the purchase of an electric bus. He went on to say, "We will also be seeking other grants along the way for an electric bus. By year 2024, we have to go all electric. We do have other funds that will help if we don't get these grants that will help us reach that $1.OM for a bus. We're asking to apply for this grant in the amount of $553,688.00. As I said, we'll be applying for other grants, so we don't have to dip into the LTF Transit Fund, which has a cash balance fund of $785,618. Basically, the request is to approve applying for that grant." CM Costa, Jr. asked, "We're purchasing the bus for the City but it's still Santa Maria Transit? (Mr.
Bodem responded, "Yes.") Are they getting electric buses, too?" City Attorney Sinco said, "They'd have to because it is state mandated requirement. I don't know where they are in the process.
There's a lot of time, though, to meet the deadline but it just has to move along. Santa Maria may or may not be in the process right now. " CM Costa, Jr. then asked, "We'll still have the two (2) buses that we have now and the same routes?" Mr. Bodem said, "Yes, there's no change. This is only for the purchase of an electric bus, not any change in schedule." March 22, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting MINUTES Page 9 of 13 Motion was made by Council Member Ramirez and seconded by Council Member Cardenas to approve Resolution No. 2022-23. Roll Call: All Ayes 5-0 Passed.
13. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
Mayor Julian said, "A proclamation for Shirley Boydstun for the April 26th meeting." Mr. Bodem asked, "For the April 12'h agenda, we have the cannabis discussion. Do you want to have this whole agenda, or do you want to knock some things off? We also have rent control topic that we've moved three times. So, we wanted to see if you wanted to have all of this or shift some of it.
The mayor said, "A lot of the items are for the Consent Calendar. Keep the audit. Don't want to push that off. I don't want to step on the Recreation Services Manager's toes... but the agenda for April 12th doesn't seem too busy." CM Costa, Jr. questioned the three (3) jobs descriptions listed.
Mr. Bodem then said, "The job descriptions are existing, not new descriptions". CM Ramirez said, "Put those on Consent Calendar, not Regular Business. The ones we had questions on were the new ones." Mr. Bodem agreed to move those existing job descriptions to the Consent Calendar.
Mayor Julian said, "The Facility Use Application is a hot topic. Let's keep for April 12"h. Keep that in focus." CM Ramirez asked what the 'Co-Ed Adult Softball League' item was. Mayor Julian said, "She (Hannah Fuentes) wants to talk about it. Like I said, I don't want to push the department." Mr.
Bodem added, "In talking to her, it seemed that she wanted to get going on that. There are some timelines that need to be met."
CM Cardenas asked, "The Facilities Use Application. Is that looking at what we allow?" The mayor said, "Yes, and i think fees and deposits, like cleaning deposits, will also be discussed." Ms. Amelia Villegas, Interim Facility Rental Coordinator, interjected, "No, in speaking with Hannah about this and from the last Council meeting, it was decided to split the two. Do the facility use application for the auditorium with all the changes relating to alcohol use and security, but separate the fee schedule for another meeting, not combine them." Mayor Julian then said, "So, it sounds like the one about the change in alcohol use should move forward." Ms. Villegas said, "Hannah and I had discussed whether to put it on this one or to bump the application change to the next one, just to make sure we were thorough in the research. The request is to bump it to the April 26th meeting." Mr. Bodem said, "I don't think there are any events where we need this before that date." Mayor Julian said, "It seems to me that if we put an urgency block on having unlimited alcohol in the auditorium, we can say that that's not permitted. To me, we have the discretion to say that, because of the history and because of the last incident, we should have that discretion." City Attorney Sinco said, "I agree, Mr. Mayor. It's our property. We can do whatever we want. No one has any right to drink alcohol on City property. It's a privilege, not a right." Ms. Villegas added, "Just an FYI, Mayor, we've already contacted people who have reservations throughout the year to say that we have a policy change. We've explained what that change is and the people we've spoken with have had no issues with the change." The mayor asked about the Kiwanis and if they had any event planned in our auditorium. Ms. Villegas said that there's a benefit dinner planned for May 28th, but they've already been advised of the alcohol use change, and they have no issues.
March 22, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting MINUTES Page 10 of 13 CM Ramirez then asked, "One thing I don't see on here is Finance talking about budget goals and things in April? Is that going to be a special meeting?" Ms. Lorena Zarate said, "I would like the goal setting session to go first. The Mayor's Report says that we're looking for a third party to do the goal setting. I think we want to schedule a date for that. We'd work off that date to schedule the budget workshop." Mr. Bodem interjected saying, "Some of the people I've contacted are far too high, but I have some good options." Ms. Zarate then said, "Goal setting, I think, we were talking about the end of April and followed by the budget workshop early, early May, just depending on when the goal setting is scheduled." Mr. Bodem added, "Just to let you know, there's the possibility that within the next week or so I could set something up."
14. ANNOUNCEMENTS - COUNCIL ACTIVITY/COMMITTEE REPORTS
CM Cardenas: Jack O'Connell playground update - For the playground ground cover, we wanted to use the rubberized material. There were two (2) major issues. One was that the resin needed was not available until end of the year. I also think we needed to spend certain funds (T-Mobile $50.0K grant) by the end of the fiscal year. The other issue is that the resin that is available fades quickly.
Given our weather, it'll probably fade too fast for us. The other option then is to put in wood chips until the good resin is available." Mayor Julian said, "Le Roy Park has wood chips. We need to get that playground equipment in." CM Cardenas added, "There are a lot of kids that don't have a place to play right now. The consensus then was to go ahead just to have a play structure now since we don't have one and put wood chips in while we wait until we can get the actual resin we want." Mr.
Bodem said that an RFP (request for proposal) went out for construction.
CM Ramirez: Tomorrow, 3/23, we'll be meeting with Greg Hart, who is currently a Santa Barbara County Supervisor down in south county, who is running for the open assembly district seat. We will be talking about concerns and needs of Guadalupe."
Mayor Julian:
There was an SBCAG meeting on 3/17 where an update on the Broadband Strategic Plan project was given.
I made a request for Cal Trans to update the City of Guadalupe on projects for Hwy 166 and Hwy 1 and the railroad tracks. We don't know what's going on and either does the developer. The developer is saying that they're waiting for Cal Trans to tell them what to do. The signal light on Obispo is the responsibility of the owner but he can't do anything without the plans approved by Cal Trans. Then there was the issue that we may have discussed before. They wanted the developer to put a sidewalk on the southside of Obispo Street all the way to the railroad tracks on the southside which is a "sidewalk to nowhere". Then the kids or walkers have to cross the other side as opposed to Obispo Street. So, we're asking Cal Trans to come before us to tell us what they're doing. The railroad issue is also a problem because signalization has to be coordinated.
March 22, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting MINUTES Page 11 of 13 Air Pollution Control District (APCD) - meeting was held on March 17h. In the Santa Maria Times, there was a study and a $300K grant for pollution. APCD said that Guadalupe is the worst in Santa Barbara County in terms of pollution. A lot is the sand, the blow and they're also looking at pesticides and other things. APCD staff will come here and update us on what's going on. That needs to be coordinated with that environmental grant that they received for the Guadalupe area.
At the March 10t Cal Vans meeting, it was said that there are a total of 646 active vans in the state of California. Of that, 549 are agricultural vanpools. 65 or so are for Santa Barbara County. 97 non- agricultural vanpools. Non-ag companies can contract with Cal Vans.
Oso Flaco Walk - This past weekend, there was a nature walk. The Little House by the Park, Beatitude House and Community Changers attended. It was bi-lingual. There were about 50 people.little kids there at the walk. We were talking to a lady that works in the Police Department.
You all know her but I'm not going to mention names because it 'Il embarrass her. She said that she's never been to Oso Flaco and never been to the Point Sal Walk. It was good to see the number of Spanish speaking who were there. Also, there was a fairly large number of Mixtecos. Ray Segovia led the walk.
Food Bank - We're looking at one (1) additional day for the food distribution. We're all seeing a great need as gas prices rise. We're waiting for feedback from the County Food Bank to see if they can do a second Thursday. But Thursday is a busiest day for them so maybe another day but two times a month. But if we add another day, we'd need volunteers. City Attorney Sinco asked, "Would there be any consideration for a different time, or does it have to be during the day for this second food distribution? If you need volunteers, I know several, but they have full-time jobs. Maybe in the evenings?"
Mayor Julian said, "If we go in the afternoon, it could work but there are vegetables and frozen packages that come from the County Food Bank that we'd have to keep in the shade." CM Cardenas added, "Can the food products be delivered later in the day?" The mayor then said, "We're looking to see if we can actually do it again. Then we're looking at pushing the distribution time out, but how would it affect our residents? It seems that there'd be more traffic in the afternoon. We need to do some more research on this. But right now, we'll continue with the first Thursday of the month.
Ms. Cazenave, who was in the audience, asked about the hours. Mayor Julian said, "We get food products in about 10:00 a.m. We set up before 10:00 a.m. Everything's bagged by about 20-30 volunteers. We get all food prepped and bagged and start the distribution at 11:30 a.m. Ms.
Cazenave said that she would love to come if it was later in the day as she works. The mayor said to maybe have one distribution in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
15. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by Council Member Ramirez and seconded by Council Member Cardenas to adjourn the meeting. 5-0 Passed. Meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
March 22, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting MINUTES Page 12 of 13 Prepared by: Approved by:
Quili tele
Amelia M. Villegas, City Clerk Ariston Julian, mayor
March 22, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting MINUTES Page 13 of 13