CITY COUNCIL / LRA BOARD CITY OF RIVERBANK
Mayor/Chair Regular City Council and Local
Rachel Hernandez Redevelopment Authority Board
Council/Authority Members Meetings
District 1 - Luis Uribe
District 2 - Cindy Fosi Council Chambers
Vice Mayor, District 3 — John Pimentel 6707 Third Street, Suite B District 4 — Stacy Call Riverbank, CA 95367
2) choose civility -
MEETING MINUTES
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2026 — 6:00 PM
(THE AGENDA PACKET IS ONLINE AT HTTPS://RIVERBANKCA.PORTAL.CIVICCLERK.COM/)
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Hernandez called the meeting to order at 6:00P.M.
2. FLAG SALUTE
Vice Mayor Pimentel led the pledge of allegiance.
3. INVOCATION
Reverend Randy Richardson conducted the invocation.
4. ROLL CALL
City Clerk Hernandez conducted the Roll Call:
Members of the City Council / Local Redevelopment Authority Board present:
Council Member / Authority Member District 1 Luis Uribe Council Member / Authority Member District 2 Cindy Fosi Council Member / Authority Member District 4 Stacy Call Vice Mayor / Vice Chair District 3 John Pimentel
Mayor / Chair Rachel Hernandez
AGENDA CHANGES
No Agenda Changes.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
None Declared.
7. PRESENTATIONS
Item 7.1. Presentation - Riverbank 2026 Point-In-Time Count- It is recommended that the City Council receive a presentation on homelessness in the City of Riverbank based on the 2026 Point-In-Time Count.
City Manager Garcia gave a PowerPoint presentation on Riverbank's 2026 Homelessness Point In Time Count.
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8. PUBLIC COMMENTS
Mayor Hernandez opened Public Comment at 6:16 P.M.
Randy Richardson, Assembly of God, is celebrating 100 years this year and will be fundraising at the Community Center.
Olivia Arambula, Riverbank Chamber of Commerce, extended an invitation to the upcoming Chamber of Commerce community events.
Olivia Arambula, Riverbank resident, will be hosting the Riverbank Veterans Day parade on November 11, 2026.
Carlos Verduzco, Modesto resident, will be partnering with Olivia for the Veterans Day parade.
Michael Christie, Riverbank resident, is happy to be part of the Budget Advisory Committee.
Appreciated tonight's presentation, Item 7.1.
Bianca Lopez, Riverbank resident, first spoke regarding the unpermitted task force. Secondly, she shared her opposition regarding Data Centers.
Garry Pearson, Riverbank resident, shared his observation on the homeless in our community.
Diego Hernandez, Riverbank resident, spoke about his concerns regarding the Waste Water Treatment Plant.
Roosevelt Brown, Riverbank resident, spoke about his concerns regarding the growth and the infrastructure of the City. Expressed his opposition regarding Data Centers.
Mayor Hernandez Closed Public Comment at 6:42 P.M.
9. CONSENT CALENDAR
Item 9.1. Approval of the City Council and Local Redevelopment Authority Board Meeting Minutes for:
Regular City Council Meeting June 23, 2026
Special Community Meeting July 27, 2026
Regular City Council Meeting July 28, 2026.
Item 9.2. Resolution Approving a Scope of Services to Prepare the City of Riverbank's 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) and Updated Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) by KSN, Inc. at a cost of $58,230.00 Resolution 2026-088
Item 9.3. Resolution to Approve and Adopt Updated 2026 City of Riverbank Measure L Expenditure Plan Project List
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Resolution 2026-089
There being public comments, Mayor Hernandez brought the item to City Council for consideration.
ACTION: By motion moved and seconded ( Uribe / Fosi 5/0 ) to approve the Consent Calendar as presented.
Motion carried by unanimous City Council and LRA Board roll call vote:
AYES: Uribe, Fosi, Call, Pimentel and Mayor Hernandez
NAYS: None / ABSENT: None / ABSTAINED: None
10. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Item 10.1. Resolution Adopting the City of Riverbank Travel and Training Policy and Recission of APP-07 Travel Policy
Assistant City Manager Alcantor, gave a comprehensive Staff Report and PowerPoint Presentation on the Travel and Training Policy with the clarifications on section 1.5 directed by City Council at the previous meeting.
City Council discussed the item with staff.
Public Comment:
Edward Jones, Riverbank resident, not in support of Item 10.1.
Bianca Lopez, Riverbank resident, to seek clarification of Item 10.1.
There being no further comments, Mayor Hernandez brought the item to City Council for consideration.
ACTION: By motion moved and seconded ( Call / Uribe 5/0) to approve Resolution 2026-090 adopting the City of Riverbank Travel and Training Policy and Recission of APP-07 Travel Policy.
Motion carried by unanimous City Council and LRA Board roll call vote:
AYES: Uribe, Fosi, Call, Pimentel and Mayor Hernandez
NAYS: None / ABSENT: None / ABSTAINED: None
11. NEW BUSINESS
Item 11.1. Resolution of the City Council Approving a Professional Services Agreement with Westwood Professional Service, Inc. for Design Services for the Jackson Avenue and Stanislaus Street Neighborhood Park Project in an Amount Not to Exceed $280,302.50 and Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Agreement.
Director of Parks and Recreation, Michael Patton gave a comprehensive staff report and PowerPoint presentation on the Professional Services Agreement for Design Services for the Jackson Avenue and Stanislaus Street Neighborhood Park Project.
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City Council discussed the item with staff.
Public Comment:
Roosevelt Brown, Riverbank resident, opposed to Item 11.1.
Garry Pearrson, Riverbank resident, in support of Item 11.1.
Diego Hernandez, Riverbank resident, opposed to Item 11.1.
Michael Christie, Riverbank resident, in support of Item 11.1.
There being no further comments, Mayor Hernandez brought the item to City Council for consideration.
ACTION: By motion moved and seconded ( Fosi / Uribe 5/0) to approve Resolution 2026-091 approving the Agreement for Services with Westwood Professional Service, Inc for Design Services for Jackson Avenue and Stanislaus Street Neighborhood Park.
Motion carried by unanimous City Council and LRA Board roll call vote:
AYES: Uribe, Fosi, Call, Pimentel and Mayor Hernandez
NAYS: None / ABSENT: None / ABSTAINED: None
Item 11.2. Resolution of Concurrence and Support of the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Stanislaus Urban County and Stanislaus HOME Consortium Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER)
Housing Specialist Caratachea, gave a comprehensive staff report and PowerPoint presentation on the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Stanislaus Urban County an Stanislaus HOME Consortium Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER).
City Council discussed the item with staff.
There being no further comments, Mayor Hernandez brought the item to City Council for consideration.
ACTION: By motion moved and seconded ( Fosi / Uribe 5/0) to approve Resolution 2026-092 concurrence and support of the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Stanislaus Urban County and Stanislaus HOME Consortium Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER)
Motion carried by unanimous City Council and LRA Board roll call vote:
AYES: Uribe, Fosi, Call, Pimentel and Mayor Hernandez
NAYS: None / ABSENT: None / ABSTAINED: None
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Item 11.3. Discussion of the 2026 Cal Cities Annual Conference Resolution and Provide Direction to Voting Delegates
City Manager Garcia gave a comprehensive Staff Report and Power Point Presentation on the 2026 Cal Cities Annual Conference Resolution.
City Council discussed item with Staff.
There being no public comments, Mayor Hernandez brought the item back for consideration.
ACTION: Direction was provided to the Representatives Primary Councilmember Call and Alternate Mayor Hernandez to support the Resolution on behalf of the City of Riverbank at the 2026 Cal Cities General Assembly.
12. COMMENTS/REPORTS
Item 12.1. Staff
City Manager Garcia:
• From our finance department. We are pleased to share that our new utility platform called Community Connect, is now available. So that means we will begin to transition away from Express Bill Pay. Customers can visit: riverbankca.ourcommunityconnect.com, which will be available on our website now to create their accounts and begin familiarizing themselves with the new portal. Because we're still in the transition process, some of the features are not yet fully active, so you'll just kind of be able to get in there to get a feel for it. But full implementation of the platform is expected by November 1st. As part of the rollout, residents will receive a flier on their September 1st utility bill informing them of the new payment portal with instructions on how to get started. So please be sure not to throw that away. A digital copy will also be posted, of course, on our city's website and shared through our social media platforms. To make the transition as smooth as possible. We will still continue to take payments through express bill pay. We will not just cut you off arbitrarily so that we make sure that your payments are still coming in, so that it will provide residents with sufficient time to establish their new accounts and be familiar with this new software. Following full implementation of the November 1st deadline, we'll continue that transition payment. So we will officially phase out express bill pay by December 31st. So we're excited about the new improvements the platform will provide. It will make your account management much easier and payments much more user-friendly. And it actually will also allow us to expand the type of payments customers can make online. And that will include our business licensing and other city payments that are not currently available through express bill pay.
Item 12.2. Council / Authority Member
Vice Mayor Pimentel:
• I had a meeting with Bristol Hospice, Ramon de la Torre, and he said, Thank you for opening Roselle Avenue. It's beautiful. And for some of the clients, it's very important to get there in 20 minutes and not 40 minutes. So he said, Thank you to everyone that worked on the roads.
And he said, Great job.
Councilmember Uribe:
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• So the Chamber mentioned a ton of amazing events coming up. This Thursday, August 27th, we got the new Grocery Outlet coming at 10 a.m. The owner operator, Angela, has been involved in the community already. She's connected with food sharing and is already supporting them. She's doing a ton of giveaways that day. So I hope to see you guys there.
And then after all you're shopping, go home, unpack. Then later that night, go out to Red Robin at 5:30pm. Francis, everybody knows how involved and how supportive he is in the community. So let's go out and just show him that love. • I have been doing my homework on the upcoming agenda Item for River Walk. I have set meetings with all department heads. It is going to be September 1st, 9:00a.m. I'm meeting with anybody and everybody. Please reach out to 209-719-9255. / want to hear your thoughts, share your concerns, share your comments. I'm here to listen to anybody and everybody wants to be as informed as I can. So when I get on the dais and have to make a decision, / just want to make sure / have vetted every corner.
Councilmember Fosi:
• I would like to reiterate John's comment about Roselle being open, as / live right off of Roselle. Yes, I'm very excited about it. Now, when I go to Modesto, I don't have to deal with a lot of traffic.
• The Riverbank Women's Group will be starting their meetings again on September 15th at Scout Hall at 6:30 p.m. If you would like to join, we'd love to have you. • There have been a lot of comments made about the feasibility study, and I just want to let you know that it is still moving forward and in September we should have some documents to look at, so we can review them. And it will be coming to the Council in October. I am looking forward to this and / know Luis is too. Moving that forward and actually hearing what we can do, and I'm excited about that.
Councilmember Call:
• On August 5th, / attended the Project Resolve committee meeting, and for those who are not familiar with Project Resolve, it has community leaders from different nonprofit groups and law enforcement. We had a good mix at this last meeting of Highway patrol, which we do get Highway patrol, but not frequently. The Sheriff's department, Ceres PD, was out there, Turlock PD, Modesto PD, of course, because it was at there facility, and we did different stations on different topics, key items. My big takeaway was the mental health and crisis management.
When officers are responding to those emergency calls, we reviewed the behavioral health involvement in these calls and then the process for crisis follow up. The biggest takeaway that I had in this is the need for 24/7 behavioral health, whether it be telehealth or in-person, folks to come visit homes after these calls are made. So I just wanted to stress that these are conversations that are happening. We're aware of these, and we're continuing to move the needle forward to bridge that gap and make sure that the community is being serviced appropriately.
• I went to our Non-district East Ad Hoc committee on the 10th, where we met the Geosyntec consultant and Savannah, who's going to be doing the accounting implementation. We talked about the unbiased review from the Geosyntec consultant, as well as process and objectives, where they discussed some of the lessons that we learned from the East Turlock Subbasin, GSA, and then the foundational elements to developing a process to be implemented in 2027 to help the Non-district East community and the water usage. Our next meeting is actually tomorrow at 10 a.m. right now, with the tight timeline that we're working on, it looks like we're going to be meeting every other week or every three weeks. So it's going to get very jam packed as far as our meetings go. Very demanding but the Board of Supervisors Terry
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Withrow and Buck Condit are very committed to ensuring that we are ready for that 2027 deadline and implementation process.
• We talked about the Community Connect replacing the express bill pay. I know there's going to be letters in the statements. I would like council support in requesting a bilingual training on the new portal, whether we do an English session and a Spanish session. I know that's a big ask and it comes with resources from staff and time, but we have a large population of folks who, I don't check the mail, / check it every four weeks. I know that's not good, but / do. And there are other folks who don't who are the bill payers who don't get the mail. So I just think that we would be doing a huge service to our community and hosting some sort of educational seminar for those who are not as tech savvy.
• I am going to be missing the Grocery Outlet ribbon cutting, but / promise to represent our community well at the Ag Water Forum in Turlock. And then I was invited to a Turlock Irrigation District tour afterward. So I'm going to be taking part in that. • 108 Sports Lounge is hosting the 3rd annual comedy for a cause this November 14th. Every year we have progressed on the money that we've raised. The first year was a little over $1000. Then it was a little over $2000. So, of course, naturally I want to double that to $4000.
So I'm really excited to hit that glass ceiling.
Item 12.3. Mayor / Chair
Mayor Hernandez.
• I want to go back to your comment about the bilingual training. I'd love to support that as well and would welcome another Councilmember to support it
• Councilmember Fosi: I'll support it.
• Mayor Hernandez: Thank you for that. / was hoping
• I want to focus my comment today on Data Centers, we've seen other cities, both locally and across the State and Country, actually go through kind of reactive phase of having, for lack of a better word, local control over the type of center that comes to their communities. And I feel strongly about this. If we're not proactive now, we are going to be reactive later. So / want to propose a moratorium on Data Centers and the like. It's our responsibility to create policy for residents that protects them and our growth with the inconsistency we've seen with Data Centers in and around our cities and support that, we give ourselves time and information. So that means that any Data Center approaching our city has to come through us first, as a Council, with no exceptions, we must set the highest standards for residents living here today and in the future. So this is about ensuring progress and that it continues for residents on our terms and with absolute best interests of the city and its resources and future in mind. So I'm going to pause in a second to ask my Councilmembers and fellow Councilmembers to give our City Manager direction right now to bring back an item regarding a moratorium on Data Centers and their equivalent, along with draft language about ensuring a standard that includes the highest labor union expectations. Things like full transparency on community benefits, including a potential new tax funding agreement like we have with our cannabis dispensaries, environmental accountability, a fully planned community outreach plan that's mandated for each and energy sustainability that ensures ratepayers are fully protected so that we're not carrying the burden. So I'm going to pause for a second. / would love the support from Councilmembers to consider an item like this, or discuss an item like this. • Councilmember Call: From the discussion point. What is our code? Do we have a municipal code in place regarding Data Centers?
• City Manager Garcia: Currently there is no municipal code that specifically bans or permits a Data Center, so there is a process that they would have to go through. It's basically like a
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conditional use permit process that would go through. So they would have to come to the Planning Commission, submit an application, work with the Planning Department to be able to get all of their documentation, CEQUA analysis, etc. and be able to come and present that to Planning Commission, and then their recommendation would come forward to City Council.
So that's kind of the current process that they would have to go through. • Councilmember Call: On the conditional use Permit process, I know not all conditional use permits come to council. And if a Data Center were to apply for a conditional use permit in Riverbank, would that specific type of conditional use permit have to come to Council regardless?
• City Manager Garcia: So not all of them will have to if they're zoning already allows for it. If the use of the Data Center is secondary to the primary use. For example, if let's say it's a telecommunications company, and they're going to have a Data Center that's going to support their Telecommunications Services, then that doesn't have to come to city council. So there are uses that, if they're secondary to a primary use, would not require any council or even Planning Commission approval.
• Councilmember Fosi: I just would like to say, as / have stated before, / would like more research done, and / would agree with Rachel that we need a workshop on Al Data Centers.
It's become a big issue, and / want to make sure we're ahead of the curve instead of behind it.
• Councilmember Uribe: So question for staff. So / was actually having a discussion with a developer who, I have been here since 2009, but they were saying that there was already some kind of business at the RIC that was mining Bitcoin at the RIC, Is that true? Was that a Data Center? Like is there any facts of that?
• City Manager Garcia: That's actually true. So in 2014, the Executive Director of the LRA at that time signed an agreement, a lease agreement with a company called AQH. And so they were in existence until about 2018, 2019, when they went bankrupt. • Mayor Hernandez: So, there's a lot of inconsistencies, potential loopholes and my request tonight is that we discuss a moratorium so that we're able to set high standards for our residents and for Data Centers and the like to come to the City. • Councilmember Uribe: So I don't like that there is loopholes, right? I would like to see something come to Council. So, we can have that discussion. I don't know if like just a conditional use permit would be appropriate. I would have to see more information on that. • Councilmeber Call: I see where you're headed with a moratorium. My concern is that we have other steps that you would take prior to a moratorium. And one, the educational piece to data gathering, essentially and what that looks like. I do think there's a lot of misleading information regarding Data Centers, but I also do think there's a lot of factual information out there regarding Data Centers. So being able to have a professional kind of filter us through a unbiased professional, I would say to go to that point, we may be in more need of an ordinance towards Data Centers or a way to construct something regarding square footage and having some regulation on that and conditional use permit process. I'd like to see the Council more involved in the conditional use process when it comes to, I guess at this point telecommunications since that's being included in a Data Center, but I don't know that at this point a moratorium would be really justified, because there really hasn't been big chatter on something like that. But / would like to see more information, unbiased information and educational information come forward to Council. Before I commit to saying, yes, I'd like to move forward with that.
• Councilmember Uribe: I think most of the Council would agree with that as well. • Mayor Hernandez: So, just to clarify, moratorium is a temporary pause on building out a Data Center and the like, so that we can have those conversations and educate ourselves and not
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find ourselves like, oh, there was a loophole that we didn't catch, you know, while we were having these discussions to be able to decide what kind of ordinance. • Councilmember Uribe: So I think as we are working towards the path of educating ourselves and that way the public is also educated. If that's if that's the purpose of the moratorium, / would support that.
• Councilmember Call: I would support it with a time frame so that it requires us to move forward and not drag our feet on it as well for the sake of the businesses also, who may not classify as a Data Center, but could be perceived as a Data Center, so / would want to make sure it's a timely moratorium if / were to support that. • Councilmember Uribe: Yeah, I think that is a fair ask. • City Manager Garcia: There's actually State law that requires that. • City Attorney Hallinan: We could have a 45-day emergency moratorium to research the effects of Al on public health and safety to make sure there's not an emergency? Now, in that time period, if somebody came, we would process the applications. Nothing would be approved, though, because the moratorium would be in effect. Then, if you find that there are severe detrimental effects, the public health and safety, you could potentially extend that and then build your ordinance based on that information as well. • Councilmember Call: I would be good with an emergency moratorium in that regard. And then making sure that we support that we put something on the agenda soon. • City Manager Garcia: So with that, the process would be an interim urgency moratorium ordinance that we would bring forward. There's specific government code that allows us to bypass the traditional public hearing, public noticing requirements, so that we can bring this item before you at the next City Council meeting.
• Councilmember Call: And all praise to you for staying ahead of it and getting ahead of it, because I've watched a few meetings recently. So good. Good looking out.
13. CLOSED SESSION
Item 13.1. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL- ANTICIPATED LITIGATION Significant Exposure to Litigation (Pursuant to Govt. Code § 54956.9(d)) Number of Potential Cases: 1
There being no Public Comments, Mayor Hernandez motioned to Closed Session at 8: 13P.M.
Reconvened from Closed Session at 8:51P.M.
14. REPORT FROM CLOSED SESSION
Item 14.1. Report from Closed Session Item 13.1
CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL- ANTICIPATED LITIGATION
Significant Exposure to Litigation (Pursuant to Govt. Code § 54956.9(d)) Number of Potential Cases: 1
ACTION: Direction was provided to staff.
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15. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Mayor/ Chair Hernandez adjourned the regular meeting at 8:51P.M. to the next regular scheduled City Council/LRA Meeting of September 8, 2026 at 6:00P.M.
ATTEST: (Adopted 09/08/2026) APPROVED:
Salile thanks
Gabriela Hernandez, CMC Rachel Hernandez
City Clerk / LRA Recorder Mayor/Chair
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