Minutes for Regular Council Meeting
THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2025
6:00 PM
COI]NCIL CHAMBER
1700 7rH Street, Sanger, California 93657
A. CALLTO ORDER
The City Council called their meeting to order at 6:01 pm B. OPENING CEREMONIES
The invocation was offered by Pastor Paul Canaday.
The flag salute was led by Mayor Frank Gonzalez.
Roll Call:
Present:
Absent:
C. AGENDAAPPROVAL. ONS AND/OR DELETIONS
The Council by motion of Mayor Pro Tem Martinez to approve the agenda as posted. The motion was seconded by Council Member Melendez and approved by the following vote:
Mayor Frank Gonzalez, Mayor Pro Tem Daniel Martinez, Council Member Esmeralda Hurtado, Council Member Michael Montelongo, Council Member Dolores Melendez None
GONZALEZ, MARTINEZ, HURTADO, MONTELONGO, MELENDEZ
NONE
NONE
NONE
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
D. PRESENTIITIONS
NONE
E. PUBLIC FORUM
Resident Joseph Rocha
o He is concerned about the lack of end dates on "no parking signs" on Almond and Holly.
City Council Meeting Minutes
August 7, 2025
He wants to meet with Mr. Olson for clarification on billing and also wishes to discuss delayed installation of flashing signals at Almond and Bethel; city funds were requested months ago, but the signals and sidewalk remain incomplete.
He is also concerned by the RV situation and the residents who purchased property solely to park their RVs.
Resident Josslyn Harpe4 District 3
o She is concerned about the new trailer ordinance.
o She believes that Sanger has far more pressing issues than whether trailers are considered eyesores.
o She wants to highlight other important matters that have not been taken into account regarding this code.
o She wants to point out the lack of outreach to the public before this ordinance was passed, which occurred under the pretense that there was no way to enforce regulations on occupied trailers or those blocking sidewalks.
o She noted that there are already existing codes that have been in place since 2020 and2021,:
Sections 74-23,38-6, and 38-24, subsection 10. She mentioned that no effective date was approved for this new ordinance.
o Josslyn wants to remind everyone of the core values that should guide these discussions.
Daniel Kelsy from District 3
o He wants to discuss the parking ordinance.
o He stated that the main reason he chose to move to Sanger was the ability to park his recreationa I vehicle on his property.
o He said there are already codes in place that address the issues we are being told justify this new ordinance.
A resident from District 3
o He expressed concerns about the recent ordinance, stating that there are hundreds of angry comments on social media regarding it.
o He mentioned that the ordinance was passed without proper outreach to the community and seems to have been enacted without their input.
o He believes that this ordinance needs to be repealed. o He stated that as he is disabled and low income and purchased a trailer to live on his grandparents' property. He took the necessary steps to contact code enforcement and the police department to ensure he could legally park his trailer on the property.
Resident Edward Davila,
o He stated that we need to focus on Downtown Sanger, particularly the alleys. o He believes the condition of Downtown is unacceptable; it needs significant improvement. o He stated that other cities have much nicer downtown areas than Sanger. o He wants to concentrate on enhancing the appearance of Sanger and then enforce our laws effectively.
o
o
City Council Meeting Minutes
August 7, 2025
Resident Linda Champion Carry -
o She stated that she agrees with the valid points made by previous speakers. o She is concerned about a brief section in the lnside Sanger newsletter, as many neighbors are unaware of the local ordinances.
o She believes this information (ordinances) needs to be included in the newsletter. o Additionally, she would like to discuss the timing in public comments suggesting that it should be structured more like the school board's public comments.
Resident-
o She asked for the council to not be racist.
r She has asked about the slides at JFK, several times and they have not been fixed. o She stated that Sanger does not have stores to go shopping so they have to shop in Fresno. o She feels that there are only bars in Sanger.
r She thinks council needs to be replaced because they are destroying Sanger. o She stated that council doesn't pay attention to residents because they are on their phones.
Resident Adrian Cisneros from District 1-
o He believes this ordinance is an overreach -
o He uses his ATV for work and its not practical for him to park it behind a 5- foot wall and bothering my neighbors at 5 am to get it out every morning. o He feels because he pays his mortgage, taxes and utilities he shouldn't live in a city wide HOA. o He believes he should be able to use his driveway.
o He feels that this isn't about safety or appearance, he thinks its about control. o He thinks that today its about the trailers, but tomorrow it's going to be about the color of his house or mailbox I install.
o He stated that council was elected to represent the people and not regulate every inch of their property.
Resident-
o He feels humiliated listening to these people.
o He said a simple law trying to tell people on what to do on their own property and its out of hand.
r He agrees with the lady that said it is ploy about the deficit. o He said there are a lot of issues that council has to answer and they don't, he said they are not very transparent.
o He thinks this is embarrassing, he wants council to listen to thier constituent and he recommends that this law be abolished.
Osva ldo Vera-Com mu nity Activist-
o He don't know who came up with this code enforcement regarding trailers. o He came to talk about the yellow lines to be painted, its dangerous to drive. o Please listen to the people.
City Council Meeting Minutes
August 7, 2025
Resdient - Ed Carlos-
o He believes this ordinance has touched a nerve regarding parking. o He stated that the city followed all the requirements. o He mentioned a notebook in the library for people to read the codes or city information. He believes probably not L% of the constituents ever read that so they are not informed. o He said that years ago there was a similar problem- it was a requirement to inform residents for the first 300 feet from affected area. The council at at that time were encouraged to come up with a flyer.
r He stated that people are not going to look at the internet, they are not going to read the books o People will not know if there are water rate changes until they see their bills. o He thinks that they cannot just blame the council and the staff, they need to come down here. o He believes the new police chief is getting blamed for this ordinance and he wasn't even been hired yet.
Resident-
o He wants to recap on the RV Ordinance.
o He thinks the root problem is that we have a weak code enforcement. o He believes that there was an issue with one resident complaining a trailer and now we are punishing the whole city.
o The simplest fix is just get rid of all RVs, your giving up. o You have code enforcement that is not enforcing the code.
I He still has faith in the council. Be more transparent and send out more notices.
Resident Va nce Enriquez-
o He wants to express his opinion regarding this new ordinance for parking. r He is concerned for the gardeners and catering trucks that buy their license from City of Sanger - how can they put them behind a fence
r He is asking if the city just trying to make revenue? o He doesn't think it is right. He never complains about his neighbors. r He thinks the council has to take things into consideration.
Resident-
o He said change comes hard for a lot of people.
o He stated that this should have been in the books a long time ago, like other cities. He stated that if you drive around Kingsburg, you will not see trailers parked outside of residences. o He stated that Sanger did not have code enforcement for many years and residents got away with a lot.
o He feels that council is trying to bring Sanger up to a certain standard, and it has rubbed a lot of people wrong.
r This is to make the city look better and cleaner.
o And as far as the alleys downtown, he has seen worse. o He mentioned houses that have been abandoned in old and new neighborhoods.
City Council Meeting Minutes
August 7, 2025
F. CONSENTCALENDAR
Resident Rocha pulled item F-2.
By motion of Council Member Montelongo, the Council approved all Consent Calendar with the exception of item F-2. The motion was seconded by Council Member Hurtado and passed by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN
ABSENT:
GONZALEZ, MARTINEZ, HUKTADO, MONTELONGO, MELENDEZ
NONE
NONE
NONE
l. SUBJECT: APPROVED-Minutes of rescheduled Regular Council Meeting and Special Meeting held on July 17,2025
SUBJECT: APPROVED--Resolution 2025-6l,ApprovingAmendmentto Joint Powers Agreement of the Central San Joaquin Valley Risk Management Authority and authorizethe City Manager to sign the Amended and Restated Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement.
J
4 5
SUBJECT:
Funds
APPROVED-Measure C Extension Local Transportation Program SUBJECT: APPROVED-Resolution 2025-63 for City Facilities Lighting Improvement Project
6. SUBJECT: APPROVED-Professional Service Agreement with AMG Advanced Mobility Group for On-Call Traffic Control Signal Timing Preparation.
7 SUBJECT: APPROVED-Agreement for Sludge Tank Replacement at the Sanger Wastewater Industrial Treatment Facility and Budget Amendment- Resolution 2025-64
SUBJECT: APPROVED-Purchase of a Dump Truck from Gibbs International SUBJECT: APPROVED-Resolution 2025-66 to accept new available funds from prior 2021 thru2023 Homeland Security Grant Program SUBJECT: APPROVED-RighI of Way Acquisition - Academy Ave and Commerce Ave/Autry Plumbing Proj ect
SUBJECT: APPROVED-RighI of Way Acquisition -Academy Ave/Lyons Transportation Proi ect
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10. 11.
City Council Meeting Minutes
August 7, 2025
Item F-2
Resident Rocha-
o Asking if we always had a consulting service.
. Concerned that the audits have not been completed
o Questioned if this was the same company the employees CM's son 2 AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
Public Comment:
None
The Council by motion of Mayor Pro Tem Martinez to approved item F-2. The motion was seconded by Council Member Montelongo and approved by the following vote:
SUBJECT: APPROVED-Financial Consulting Services - Audit Completion and FY25 Year-End Close
GONZALEZ, MARTINEZ, HURTADO, MONTELONGO, MELENDEZ
NONE
NONE
NONE
G CITY MANAGER/STAFF COMMLINICATION
o iob Fair- Octobe r 7th, 2025
o Back to School Event-August 15th, 2025
o News came to talk about Almond/Bethel
r Ksee24 will talk about Back to School with the Chief. o State water resources board was out at the waster water plant-we are being compliant with the violation we had in 2024.
H. REPORTS AND MATTERS INITIATED BY CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS Mayor Pro Tbm Martinez:
o He wants recognize everyone who came out for the city ordinance and appreciates the city managers explanation along with his description of our enforcement. o He wants an update on rent stabilization. Pros/Cons.
Council Member Hurtado
o Wants to thank everyone today- hearing how this ordinance affects everyone. o She said that had she known she would have wanted a bigger discussion about the ordinance Council Member Montelongo
He gave City Manager information about code enforcement issues in his district- the way houses are being presented.
a
City Council Meeting Minutes
August 7, 2025
. He had 4 complaints just today and he drives around to see for himself and gives the information to city manager.
r He agrees that they need to put more information out to the public. He gets a lot of calls/emails.
o He gets complaints in District 4.
o He stated that other cities have stricter rules regarding trailers and RV's. o He appreciates that the public is here.
o He understands that neighbors don't get along and complain about each other-that is more of a civil manner.
o He doesn't agree with people saying that they are doing this for money, but other cities are doing the same thing.
o We are getting calls that people are living in RV's.
o He appreciates the residents that were civil to council. o He want thank the City Manger for doing things that he has asked for. o He wants to apologize to the new Chief of Police, because he didn't do this ordinance.
Council Member Melendez
o She said our hearts are in the right place, we only want to beautify Sanger and try to enforce what needs to be enforced.
e Change is not going to be easy for everyone.
o She wants an update about the JFK slide-has it been fixed and has the swing been installed. o She stated that if we all worked together- and the Newsletter is part of the communication.
Mayor Frank Gonzalez
o He had a COG meeting this last Thursday, and Sanger got awarded a couple of projects. . 7th street rehab from Academy to P St and Jensen Ave Rehab from Bethel to the Fowler Switch Canel. Thank you to staff for submitting those projects. o He is happy to represent at these board meetings to get our fair share of money to push forward for these projects.
o He represented the City of Sanger for a 100 birthday for Jean Booth to present her a proclamation.
o He also invited to the FAME project in Reedley College - they chose Reedley College in the west coast to start this program. Sanger company ADCO participated to give scholarships for manufacturing.
o Received an email from a veteran service officer- they have acquired lpads for veterans over the age of 60, so they can learn how to navigate an lpad.
o He mentioned the Cherry Crossing ribbon cutting and discussed affordable housing. o He hopes and prays that people have patience but things don't happen overnight. r Thank you for being respectful to the council and the staff.
City Council Meeting Minutes
August 7, 2025
F. ADJOURNMENT
Being no further business, the Council adjourned their meetingatT:A9 pm.
Attest:
Martinez, City Clerk