ITEM NO. 8
COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
JANUARY 16, 2024
PREPARED BY: Melanie Correa, Interim City Manager
SUBJECT: Council Approval of Revised Gustine Employee Salary Schedule
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
At their regular meeting on December, 16, 2023, Council approved the allocation of two full-time Police Sergeant positions in lieu of the vacant Lieutenant position. Proposed updates to the schedule are highlighted in red for ease of identification and comparison, the Lieutenant classification has fallen off entirely as the classification is no longer allocated. The salary range listed is direct from the staff report presented to Council at the December 16 meeting.
Approval of this item by City Council formalizes the salary schedule for use and reference by the California Public Employee Retirement System.
FISCAL IMPACT
The City stands to benefit from upwards of $11,000 in salary savings comparing the remaining budgeted salary allocation for the Lieutenant position to the estimated salary and benefits totals for two Sergeant positions.
RECOMMENDATION
Council review and approve the attached salary schedule for all employees of the City of Gustine.
EXHIBIT(S)
A) Annual Salary Schedule
ITEM NO. 9
COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
JANUARY 16, 2024
PREPARED BY: Melanie Correa, Interim City Manager
SUBJECT: Consider Resolution Approving Employment Agreement for Interim City Manager Services
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
At their regular meeting on August 1, 2023, Council approved a contract amendment which appointed Administrative Services Director Melanie Correa as Interim City Manager. The appointment is to terminate at the occurrence of any of the following: (i) upon the appointment by the City Council of a permanent City Manager; (ii) upon Employee working her 960th hour in any fiscal year, including hours worked for other CalPERS Agencies during such fiscal year; or (iii) upon termination of the Agreement by either the City or Employee.
The Interim City Manager is scheduled to achieve 960 hours in the appointment on January 31, 2024. As such, at the consensus of the Council, the Interim City Manager was directed to seek a successor Interim City Manager while the City conducts another recruitment for permanent City Manager.
Outreach was conducted and through that effort Brad Kilger was identified as an interested, qualified, and available candidate for the Interim City Manager role. Mr.
Kilger served in the role previously from May through December 2022, when the City was recruiting for City Manager. He was instrumental in developing staff, and keeping the continuity of business for the City. Mr. Kilger’s career experience lends well to current ongoing City projects.
Attached to this report is both the employment agreement (exhibit B) and the approving resolution (exhibit A). If approved, Mr. Kilger would assume the position effective January 22, 2024.
Mr. Kilger brings with him over 40 years of professional municipal government experience for large and medium sized jurisdictions, including 18 years as City Manager and over 20 years as a community development professional. He has served as the City Manager for the Cities of Martinez, Benicia, Ceres and Town Manager for the Town of Yucca Valley. He has previously served as Interim City Manager for the cities of South Lake Tahoe, Los Altos and Calistoga. More recently, Mr. Kilger has provided expert-level consulting services in various capacities for local municipalities.
FISCAL IMPACT
The rate of pay for Mr. Kilger will be $75.11 per hour which was calculated by taking the base monthly salary of the current City Manager and dividing that figure by 173.333. Mr.
Kilger will not receive any other pay or benefits the City commonly provides to its employees, such as health, dental, vision insurance coverage, life insurance, employee assistance programs, and similar benefits. Nor will Mr. Kilger be provided or accrue any vacation, sick leave, administrative leave, paid holidays or similar leave benefits.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends Council adopt the resolution approving Employment Agreement for Interim City Manager Services between City of Gustine and Brad Kilger.
EXHIBIT(S)
A) Resolution Approving Employment Agreement for Interim City Manager Services between City of Gustine and Brad Kilger
B) Employment Agreement for Interim City Manager Services between City of Gustine and Brad Kilger
ITEM NO. 10
COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
JANUARY 16, 2024
PREPARED BY: Ann Siprelle, City Attorney
Jami Westervelt, Economic and Community Development Director
SUBJECT: Consider Request by Ron Katakis to Waive Outstanding Fees Related to Processing his Application for a Vesting Tentative Subdivision Map
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this agenda item is to consider Mr. Ron Katakis’ updated request to the City to waive fees related to his Vesting Tentative Subdivision Map (VTSM) approved in May, 2023.
During consideration of the VTSM application at the February 21, 2023 City Council meeting, Mr. Katakis requested a refund of fees paid and a waiver of unpaid, outstanding fees. At that time, the City Attorney advised that any request for refund of fees paid must be brought via the filing of a claim under the Government Claims Act. (Government Code Section 905 requires that all claims for money or damages against local public entities be presented in accordance with the Government Claims Act, with narrow exceptions that do not apply here.) Accordingly, the current request may apply only to fees owed by Mr. Katakis but not yet paid. As documented in the reconciliation attached as Exhibit B, Mr. Katakis’ outstanding balance is $37,829.27.
However, Mr. Katakis’ attached request for waiver of his outstanding fees (exhibit A) is based on what he believes were erroneously charged fees that have already been paid, and does not contain any reasoning for why the current outstanding fees should be waived. Therefore, unless evidence is presented during consideration of this agenda item, staff recommends the Council deny the request and direct Mr. Katakis to submit a Government Claims Act claim. In that way, all the reasons why he believes those fees should not have been charged can be considered in a focused way.
Need to Support Waiver by Identifying a General Public Benefit As was advised by legal counsel on the original request for waiver by Mr. Katakis in February, 2023, any waiver of outstanding fees must be justified to ensure such waiver is not a prohibited gift of public funds.
The legal prohibition against “gifts of public funds” is based on the California Constitution, Art. XVI, Sec. 6, which provides that neither the state nor any city or other local public agency may “give or to lend” credit “in aid of or to any person, … or to pledge the credit thereof, in any manner whatever, for the payment of the liabilities of any individual, … nor shall it have power to make any gift or authorize the making of any gift, of any public money or thing of value to any individual …” Cases interpreting this prohibition make clear that if the payment of money, giving of credit or gift
ITEM NO. 11
COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
JANUARY 16, 2024
PREPARED BY: Ruben Chavez, Chief of Police
SUBJECT: Consider Waiving the First Reading and Introduction of an Ordinance adding Chapter 12, Tobacco Retailers, to Title 5 of the Gustine Municipal Code, Regulating Sale of Tobacco Products to Reduce the Illegal Sale of Tobacco to Youth
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The City of Gustine applied for a Tobacco grant in the amount of $294,882 from the California Department of Justice, Division of Operations. On December 31, 2020, The City was notified that we were awarded the grant. At the January 19, 2021 Council meeting, Council accepted the grant by Resolution (Resolution # 2020-2547). One component of the grant’s objectives is to develop an Ordinance enhancing the regulation of sales of tobacco products.
At the September 19, 2023 staff presented a draft ordinance for consideration. During that meeting, City Council directed staff to amend portions of the draft ordinance to better encompass the needs of a smaller community. There were additional comments received by the American Cancer Society that were also taken into consideration as staff ventured to update the draft ordinance.
Attached to the report as Exhibit A, is the updated draft ordinance for Council’s consideration. Significant modifications include:
- Amended licensing requirement to reference the State of California’s requirement that all tobacco operators must obtain a Cigarette and Tobacco Products Retailer’s License (5-12-1 (f));
- Removed sections 5-12-4, 5-12-8, 5-12-9, and 5-12-10; - Reduced the distance from 1,000 feet to 500 feet in section 5-12-5a; - Removed subsection (d) in Section 5-12-5;
- Removed subsections (f) and (g) of 5-12-6 (it should be noted that State Law 308 (a)(1)(A)(i) Penal Code is a misdemeanor punished by fine) The updates are shown on Exhibit A in tracked change form for identification. Adoption of this proposed ordinance will ensure the goals and requirements of the grant have been met. As with all ordinances, if introduced and the first reading waived tonight, the City Clerks department will notice the draft ordinance and post its proposed adoption date. The ordinance will return to Council for final adoption at a future meeting.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with adopting this ordinance.
ITEM NO. 12
COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
JANUARY 16, 2024
PREPARED BY: Ruben Chavez, Chief of Police
SUBJECT: Consider Approving a Resolution Accepting State Homeland Security Grant Program Funding in the Amount of $19,950 for FLOCK SAFETY Cameras
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The introduction of License Plate Reader (LPR) cameras has become commonplace across the public safety landscape. This technology has proven beneficial in preventing and solving crimes in jurisdictions that have implemented LPRs. The technology allows license plates to be checked through a records management system to determine if the vehicle is wanted, stolen, or if a wanted person is associated with the license plate.
This technology is truly a force multiplier as it helps to keep a watchful eye over the safety of the community, but more importantly, allows officers to follow up on crimes by accessing the system to determine and narrow down vehicles which may have come through the area where a criminal act may have occurred.
FLOCK SAFETY has become the standard barrier of LPR cameras across the state and has advance features to allow agencies to see where a vehicle has traveled across the state. This is beneficial in that a vehicle traveling from Los Angeles area may travel through Gustine and if they are involved in criminal activity across the state, an alert on Gustine’s FLOCK could prevent the continuation of a crime spree.
FLOCK SAFETY partners with Evidence.com to house the recorded media. Gustine Police Department also partners with Evidence.com as the industry evidence categorization and organization leader in departments across the state. Access to FLOCK SAFETY camera footage is only accessible through the security parameters setup through the evidence system, and is governed by legislature that limits access to evidence through a variety of measures. Exhibit C attached to this report is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) the City would enter into with FLOCK SAFETY, if approved. The MOU details the term of the partnership as a five (5) year term, and outlines content ownership, warranty and confidentiality clauses.
The Merced County Office of Emergency Services coordinates grant funding through the Big 5 County Group of users. This group is comprised of county agencies including police, fire, paramedics, public health, and emergency services and administered the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP). SHSGP offers funding for the specific goal of deterring and preventing crime. The Gustine Police Department has applied for grant funding in the amount of $19,950 for three FLOCK cameras as a means to extend