CITY OF SOUTH GATE
SOUTH GATE CITY COUNCIL, SOUTH GATE HOUSING AUTHORITY
& SERVING AS THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH GATE
SPECIAL JOINT MEETING
MINUTES
TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2022
CALL TO ORDER
The Special Joint meeting of the City Council, Housing Authority & Successor Agency was called to order by Mayor/Chairperson Rios at 5:05 p.m.
ROLL CALL Yodit Glaze, City Clerk
PRESENT
1 BUDGET ADMIN
Mayor/Chairperson Al Rios, Vice Mayor/Vice Chairperson Maria del Pilar Avalos, Council/Authority/Agency Member Maria Davila, Council/Authority/Agency Member Denise Diaz, and
Council/Authority/Agency Member Gil Hurtado; City Treasurer Gregory Martinez, City Manager/Executive Chris Jeffers, City Attorney/Authority Counsel Raul F. Salinas
The City Council continued the discussion and adoption of Fiscal Year 2022-2023 municipal budgets.
Council/Authority/Agency Member Hurtado unanimously motioned to adopt the recommended budget and seconded by Council/Authority/ Agency Member Diaz.
ROLL CALL: Mayor/Chairperson Rios, yes; Vice Mayor/Chairperson Avalos, yes; Council/Authority/Agency Member Davila, yes; Council/Authority/Agency Member Diaz, yes; Council/Authority/Agency Member Hurtado, yes.
a. Hearing the various presentations on the Proposed Fiscal Year 2022- 23 Municipal Budget and 5-Year Capital Improvement Program for the various entities; and
b. Approving Resolution No. 2022-55-CC entitled - A Joint Resolution of the City Council of the City of South Gate, South Gate Housing Authority and Successor Agency to the Community Development Commission of the City of South Gate, California, adopting the Municipal Budget for Fiscal Year 2022-23 with the changes stipulated in Exhibit A for a total of $243,580,301 for all funds along with any additions or deletions the Legislative Bodies may enact. c. Approving Resolution No. 2022-56-CC entitled - Resolution of the City Council of the City of South Gate approving and adopting the annual Gann Appropriations Limit for Fiscal Year 2022/23.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
1 BUDGET ADMIN
CONT'D
The following presentation were heard:
• Parks & Recreation Department
• Community Development Department
• Public Works Department
PARKS & RECREATION
BUDGET PRESENTATION Steve Costley, Interim Director of Parks & Recreation presents the budget for the Parks and Recreation Department. He goes over the function of this department and explains the importance of having parks in the city. He goes over the staff they have currently, and they have the biggest staff for the city. They have five divisions, and he goes over each one of them and their functions. Explains that they are starting to update their vehicles and their facilities and says that their budget remains calm. He goes over their expenses and the revenue and continues to break down the budget and the divisions. Explains the money they get and the grants they have received, talks about the major facilities, and the programs that they look over.
Talks about the youth programs and the other opportunities that they offer children at the park like folkloric dances. They have a senior recreation center and explains that the pandemic has resulted in a reduction of seniors at the recreation center. They have a lot of partner organizations that come to the park. They will return to having the Azalea festival this year the first time since 2019 and continues talking about the events that they will hold for the community. Goes over the ground maintenance and the facility maintenance group what they do and how much it costs along with the projects that will add more ground that has to be maintained. He continues going over the facilities and the partnerships they have, along with the different divisions. Another major budget item that is brought back is the centennial budget project with the city of South Gate for the hundredth anniversary.
Mayor Rios thanks Mr. Costley for the presentation and the outstanding work that he does for the nine parks.
PUBLIC COMMENTS Mario Dominguez stated that there is a website called lowerlariver.org and gave Mr. Costley a tour of the website and it focuses on potential projects that could be developed in an area and during their conversation, Mr.
Costley mentioned to him that he has six vacancies that need to be filled in his department, he would like to ask the Council to make this a priority because he has a very big year ahead of him and that will be difficult if he has six vacancies. Explains that Mr. Costley is the one looking for grants and that when he is doing that, he is unable to do the job that he was hired to do. He also requests that the Council hires three grant chasers or writers, he was also informed that the grant department is not only for his department but for the whole city.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
PUBLIC COMMENTS
CONT'D
STAFF AND COUNCIL
COMMENTS
Mayor Rios apologizes for not introducing someone that is here to support the Police Department.
Chief Arakawa introduces Wendy O'Kelly, Deputy Director of Finance, and she helps with the budget.
Council Member Hurtado says he has spoken about the golf course before, and he understands that a lot of seniors use the golf course, but the numbers are low, and they spend a lot of money on the golf course. He goes over the number of people who use the golf course a day that were provided in the budget. He thinks they should increase the numbers in the golf course or do something different and goes on to explain that they still do not have a permanent home for South Gate youth football and the cheerleading squad. He would like to see if they could do something this year or if they could find them a home. Also, this year in the book they received he would be more comfortable if they looked at the number of CSO's that they have. Says that is it but he is glad that Mr. Costley made the corrections that they made in the books. The last thing is that he says that the teen numbers is not something he would be disappointed in because the numbers have grown for that age group and says that maybe some decided to do other activities. One that he really needs to start pushing for is the AYSL, he knows they have internal problems but there is a lot of people that would like to play soccer. He doesn't know what needs to be done to get that program started back up, but he would really like to open it back up.
Mr. Costley provides an update for the partner organization. He says that AYSL has not put a season together this year and they are expected to come back in full swing in spring of 2023. The other update is for the football group says that Myra Navarro has been trying to shepherd through LAUSD to finalize a permit for South Gate High School and they have got it out of risk management and into the permit office once again. They are in the process of trying to get the proper dates and the hope is that they could get it for South Gate High School.
Council Member Hurtado asks if the problem is with LAUSD or South Gate High School?
Mr. Costley clarifies that it is with LAUSD.
Vice Mayor Avalos questioned the transit division, she was reviewing the budget and doesn't see how exactly the phone dial a right is getting paid.
She doesn't see the actual numbers in the budget. The reason she asks is because she has received calls from seniors stating they have tried calling, and the service is not working.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
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COMMENTS CONT'D Mr. Costley points to page 213 to give the exact numbers to Vice Mayor Avalos.
Vice Mayor Avalos says that her concern is that they are not at full capacity and the seniors must wait. She asks that they consider that the seniors have appointments that they have to get to.
Mr. Costley says that they can check with the vendor on what is happening. Says that they have a difficult time getting drivers and they have gotten complains. He encourages that anyone who has a complain should call so they can track when they get the complains. Explains that if they receive too many complaints, they could liquidate it because it is a contract.
Vice Mayor Avalos asks if that information can be forwarded to her so that she can get that information to the seniors so that they can call and speak directly to someone.
Council Member Davila would like to follow up on the busses. Her question was if they had any complains and the response was that they haven't received any complaints.
Mr. Costley explains that they get 1 or 2 complaints every month but like he said they have up to 320 passengers and there will be complaints.
Council Member Hurtado says he receives the opposite especially at the Thunderbird Villa. They tell him how great a service it is, and they are happy it is available. He says that if they receive any complains he would like to know about them so that he can talk directly with the people.
Mayor Rios thanks Mr. Costley for sharing the story he did early on because he was one of those people that had to reserve their spot at the park early in the morning. He says it is amazing and it means a lot to the community when they don't have space in their homes. He continues by talking about the importance of the parks in the community of South Gate and other surrounding areas. He also complements Steve Costley on all the grants that they have been able to get and bring for the community. Mayor Rios talks about the importance of having a clean restroom.
Mr. Costley explains that they have added an extra cleaning to the restrooms, it used to be twice a day but now it is done three times a day.
He also explains the average amount of people that come to South Gate Park to explain why it is difficult to keep up with the amount of people that visit the park.
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COMMENTS CONT'D Mayor Rios hopes that the shuttle can build up to capacity again and expresses that it is a really nice thing what he is doing for the youth, and he hopes he can continue to do the more stuff like this for the children.
Council Member Diaz says that as a product of the parks she spent a lot of time at the park. She asks a clarifying question regarding the micro-LA county bus, says that it is a dollar with no age limit. Asks if there is a call in, an app, what are the hours, and have they added more stops, do they pick up from the home or how does it work.
Mr. Costley clarifies that they have a partnership with metro on the micro bus and they help advertise the information. He says that he does not have all the information, but he can send it to her. Explains that they do not pay for the service out of their budget, but they do have a partnership with metro.
Council Member Diaz explains that she was curious to know what the hours are so that she could promote it to the community as well.
Mr. Costley explains that they could get that information to all the Council Members. Explains that they have been putting up posters and they could also put it on social media to get that information out to the community.
Council Member Diaz says that he did mention that the teen age group was being difficult, and, in her opinion, she thinks that the Cultural Arts Director Jennifer is someone that can really speak to them when it comes to the arts and music. She thinks it is a sign of the time that they want to express themselves and different ways for that. She thinks that Jennifer is doing a phenomenal job reaching out to them and she thinks she is a great hire and deserves a promotion.
Mr. Costley agrees with Council Member Diaz.
Council Member Diaz continues talking about the community film festival that the youth will be putting on October 14. Says that Jennifer was a great hire because of the work she does for the community. Also says that she appreciates all the work Steve Costley does and asks if they could do up keeps on the playgrounds as well.
Mayor Rios commends Mr. Costley because there are Council Members in Lynwood that speak highly of him and all the work he does here. He talks about some of the different work he does and says that it is greatly appreciated.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
BUDGET PRESENTATION Meredith Elguira, Director of Community Development presents the Community Development Department's budget. She goes over the functions of the department and the areas they handle. Any area out of the right of way like the sidewalks, streets, or ally. They also deal with property land usage and some other areas. She gives an overview of the five divisions, administration, building and safety, housing, planning, and economic development. She also goes over code enforcement, inspection, and plan review and some of the functions of the other department divisions. She goes over the number of staff that they have full-time and part-time positions and interns that they have working with them and the responsibilities they have. She goes over the budget of the department and where most of the budget comes from which is housing and Section 8.
Then she provides a break down for the different funding sources that they have and what they will be using this year. She goes over the accomplishments of the department and commends them because they did not have any leadership in months, but they accomplished a lot without having a leader in place. Explains that code enforcement has done a lot of community outreach and that the amount of illegal dumping has gone down. They have established a program that helps low-income residents upgrade their homes, she explains how this program works and explains that this initiative comes from code enforcement.
Council Member Hurtado is trying to keep up with the Director of Community Development but the numbers that he has are different from the numbers on the presentation.
Ms. Elguira explains that the Successor Agency has a split number and directs them to page four.
Council Member Hurtado explains that he is going by what they provided to him.
Ms. Elguira says there is a more recent report that she placed today on their desks.
Council Member Hurtado explains that is why the numbers are different, but he just received his copy.
Ms. Elguira apologizes for the confusion and proceeds with her presentation. She talks about the economic developments and the grants that they have applied for and what they have helped fund. Talks about the work that the housing division is doing especially with Section 8, they are trying to figure out if they can get vouchers for people who are on the waiting list. Next, she moves on to CDBG, this was recently approved by Council, nothing has changed, and the numbers have stayed the same. She
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SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
BUDGET PRESENTATION
CONT'D explains that this is the last year that they will be able to use this funding so by June 30, 2023, they will no longer have CDBG funding.
Vice Mayor Avalos asks why is it that they will not be receiving those funds after June 2023.
Ms. Elguira explains that it is covid fund which is why it is the last year they will be receiving it. She explains that the amount they have is left over from the previous year. She proceeds by going over the home program that has been approved and the funding that they have. She explains some of the housing that is being developed and the kind of units that they have. She goes over the planning division, the staff members they have and the accomplishments they have been able to achieve and the work they are able to accomplish throughout the week. She explains the 1110 which is a Housing Ordinance that has been adopted and the Housing Element. She explains that it has been approved by the HCD but they have not received a letter yet, they check the website this afternoon and it looks like it has been approved. They have also updated a couple of the zoning ordinance that they have had problems with like the offsite parking for those who can't provide on-site parking. She explains the department goals and objections that they would like to tackle this year and how technology has helped the staff members. They will have more community outreach to have their presence known in the community also to introduce staff to the community.
PUBLIC COMMENTS Joshua Barron was trying to look at the budget, he completed an ADU and he had to send his plan to a plan consultant. He is wondering if they are still doing that or is this now done in house? The last thing he wants to say is that as a homeowner that pulled the permits and had to go through the process, he was very grateful for Jesus Murillo's assistance. He says that they have a very good staff there but one thing that he would like to recommend is that the front desk if the can provide the information that is going to be required for the entire project. A lot of time they give you what you need first, then you must come back and continue the steps. He believes it would be more efficient if they just had all the steps lined out to give the residents a game plan and maybe cut down the time but overall, it was a good experience. Also says that if they could have a plan checker in house it would make things better for the community.
Liz Ruiz commends them on the presentation, she thought it was very thorough. She says they have been doing a good job on seeing how the money can be used so that they don't lose out on all these funds. She understands that it has been difficult because of the staff turnover but she commends them on the job they do. She does have a question regarding to not continue the CB funds or the ARPA funds and asks if it is a onetime
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PUBLIC COMMENTS
CONT'D
STAFF AND COUNCIL
COMMENTS
fund or something that they could apply for to receive again. If not, what are some thoughts on filling in that gap and bringing in funds, if it is something she can talk about.
Mario Dominguez has a question pertaining to the EPA Brown Field Assessment. He has been doing research for grants regarding this project he is trying to pursue with the city of Lynwood it is called Imperial Wetlands Project.
Ms. Elguira explains that they have just hired planning reviews, they hired two and the goal is to have the planner review it initially and from that point on they are hoping to work with public works so that it can go directly to the plan reviewer and the turnaround day for that is 10 days. So, moving forward she hopes to have all ADUs moved in the two to three weeks with the plan reviewers help. Explains they just received money for EHLA and that allows her to hire a planning consultant to stand at the counter and accept ADUs and they have done that with a building expert, and this will help expedite the process. They do have a timeline for that, and they would like to meet it but unfortunately, they have a big workload right now, they are trying to move people around and limiting time at the counter to go over ADU projects. She also explains that she needs to hire a consultant planner to just go over ADU projects. Regarding the workflow hopefully in a day or two they will see a workflow up on the website, they have actually put this together from the beginning to the end because they have just hired a planner, they would like you to know the full process from beginning to end. That will be posted on the website along with the requirements for residents or applicants coming into the city, it will be a checklist for anyone coming into the city of the entitlement process and expectations for submittal or administrative review going forward.
Regarding CB funds and ARPA funds, yes, CB funds will end this fiscal year, it was only for covid so they will no longer have it for the next fiscal year, ARPA funds is the same thing it will only last for one year.
Regarding potential money, she explains that the city can always apply for ear mark grants or other grants. She has moved one of the housing grants people to grants analyst so that they could apply for more grants instead of just housing grants. The EPA grant is a grant for one million dollars and what that grant does is it identifies brown field sites, and it will provide money to go to the sites and see what kind of remediation is needed and there will be a report for that regarding what must be done to clean up the contamination. The first half a million would be to identify the sites and then the second half a million would be to assess what is in need and the clean-up costs. After that for the actual remediation they will have to go back out and apply.
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COMMENTS CONT'D Council Member Davila thanks Ms. Elguira for everything she has done in Community Development and for moving the department forward and providing support to the employees. She also thinks it is important for the community to know that when there is an opportunity for grants the employees pursue it, she explains that most of the projects that have been done throughout the city has been because of the grant funding. She also has a question for the Finance Director, she asks that because she can't participate in the Tweedy Boulevard because she lives close. How much do they have in grants so far for the Tweedy Mile to fix it up.
Mr. Ryan says that he does not have the numbers now unless the City Manager has feedback on it.
Council Member Davila thanks him and continues to praise Director Elguira along with the entire department for everything they have accomplished.
Vice Mayor Avalos commends Ms. Elguira for the work she has done because the department was hanging by the string. She also appreciates the support that they have given the employees and thanks her for coming on board. Says that when she first came to Council, she suggested of possibly doing videos and putting them on a website so they can understand what a code violation is. She believes doing these videos in English and Spanish would be beneficial to the community, but she is glad to hear that they are going to be doing a flow chart for the community. She would like the videos as well as the flow chart to address the different needs of the community. She says that she doesn't know if there is funding to do that, but she is glad that they are trying to get something out there to the residents because it is making it accessible to the community.
Council Member Diaz thanks Ms. Elguira for coming on board and says that she understands that they have had difficult time and they made the best of the situation. She gives her hats off to Leslie and says that she has been doing a great job being out there in the community. She also suggests that the Council Members follow their Instagram page because they give out a lot of information through social media. Says they have been doing a great job and she thinks they must use social media to get the word out.
She explains that she sees a lot of people with lawns that are not being kept up, people parking on the grass, broke vehicles, and other issues. She asks what the plan of action is to take care of the residents and she sees this a lot when she takes walks around the neighborhood.
Ms. Elguira explains that they try to prioritize which is most important and it was agreed upon that they were going to prioritize safety. Explains that it is not just front lawns, fence heights, turning front lawns to parking spaces and parking spots. They will be doing outreach and they will also
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COMMENTS CONT'D have mailers that give information about what is allowed, what isn't, and how to go about changing things. Explains that when they have the website up, they will have all this information available in English and Spanish. Says they will do the same thing when it comes to illegal dumping which was just giving out information to the community and letting them know that there are consequences if they don't follow the rules. They issue three notices of violations before they start citing and they try the best to work with residents to get the situation under control, but it comes down to educating the community. Regarding the videos she has spoken to Lisa Baca to see if students can shoot videos and they can include PSA's or videos to the queuing systems when the people are waiting in line. That way everyone is being informed about the services they offer and other important information.
Council Member Hurtado says that there is a lot of improvements going on. He proceeds to explain that there are a lot of policies in place and many people believe that they are not business friendly. He has raised the issue before, and they have addressed it, but they must continue to address it. Explains that sometimes these comments don't always get back to Council, but he urges them that if they feel a lot of people are asking about something and they should have a policy change then it is something they should bring to Council to change that policy. Regarding the CDBG funds there is a lot of CAC members and they have felt that staff is dictating everything in that meeting from people. He would like to work closely with the CAC members, and they need to make sure they hear any issues that they may be raising. The other issue that her colleague was talking about is Code Enforcement and he explains some of the calls that they receive and what happens to the repeat offenders. For example, someone receives a notice and then they clean or fix the problem and then they do it again later. Explains that it costs money and makes the community look bad and if they have a list of repeat offenders.
Ms. Elguira says that regarding changes in policy and they are addressing those and talks about some of the things they are doing right now on how to address things and bring it before Council to make changes. Explains that she needs to have a conversation with Mr. Salinas before it could be brought to Council. Regarding the CDBG funds she explains that they will be receiving some funds for home preservation and hopes to hire part-time code enforcement officers to get out in the community and get serious violations under control. Explains that they will address more issues within the community once they are able to fund for more officers to get out in the field. She explains that they have vacancies that they have to fill now, they have two full-time and they are supposed to have five full-time and they are trying to address all the outstanding issue. She hopes that when they can hire more part-time, they will be able to address the concerns that were brought up by Council.
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COMMENTS CONT'D
Council Member Diaz asks the City Manager if it is the CSO's is the same situation that part-time jobs are seen as undesirable. Asks if it is an issue because they are unable to retain or hire.
City Manager Jeffers clarifies that what Ms. Elguira is saying is that they have three full-time openings, and it has nothing to do with part-time process.
Mayor Rios asks if the salary is competitive.
City Manager Jeffers explains that there is a lot of shortages, and everyone is experiencing shortages. He talks about a bill that was just passed that could have an impact on part-timers which says that any fast-food entity that has 100 employees or more they must pay $22 dollars an hour. He explains that it will force small businesses to be competitive with the raise that other larger businesses are offering. Says that the same thing will happen to the city which is why they will have to raise the salary to fill vacant positions. He continues to explain that this will have an effect everywhere, but it will take some time before they see the effect.
Ms. Elguira says that regarding the cleanup question, it is taking so long because it is one of those ordinances that must be changed that is part of the cleanup, they will be doing. Explains that they have thirty days to abate it, but they want to change that to have a maximum of two days.
This is one of the things they will be bringing up to Council to be fixed.
Vice Mayor Avalos says that Council Member Hurtado brought up a good point and she would like to ask. She says that in slide number nine of economic development initially they had one number but in the revised number there is almost an increase of 1.1 million dollars. She asks why an increase.
Ms. Elguira explains that some of the numbers have moved just based on what each funding source is paying for, but the number is still the same.
Also because of recent Council approval it moves some of the funding around, but it does add up to the number that Council recently approved.
Mayor Rios has a few questions and comments. He would like to get the link to the Instagram page they have because he has not seen them, and he has heard a lot of good things and he would like to follow it. Says that with housing they have money but there are sometimes unwilling landlords and tells Ms. Elguira to inform Council what they can do because housing is a big concern especially people who are living in their cars or garage. Also says that with grants there is a lot of great things going on and if they could hire people to look for grants that would pay for itself and it is important to line up those potential vendors when
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COMMENTS CONT'D something becomes available. The other thing he would like to talk about is regarding land use and ADUs, says that 12 units a week is a lot, and they must look at what this means for the schools, parking, and surrounding communities. So, whatever they could do to anticipate this they should do it and says that there are some projects that are not good for the community. He explains that they must look at zoning and take it into consideration because land usage is a big concern, they must find ways to prevent the city from becoming more congested and they must be strategic to what benefits the residents and the community.
City Treasurer Martinez says that he understands they have their own Section 8 or Housing Authority but in homeless service LAZA has distributed an exceptional number of vouchers and he knows they have some of them in their shelter. They have so many days to find housing and the residents here have Section 8 vouchers, but the residents are also looking for the same vouchers. Says they are all fighting and looking for the vouchers to rent the same unit and that is where it is getting challenging, and they are struggling to find housing units. Explains that it is a supply and demand issue because there is an incredible amount of demand but not enough supply. Says there is a lot of resources put into Section 8 but there is not enough property to house every one that is waiting.
RECESS The City Council recessed for five (5) minutes reconvened with all Members of Council present.
PUBLIC WORKS BUDGET
PRESENTATION Arturo Cervantes, Director of Public Works will be giving the budget presentation. Explains that it is a two-part budget the first one is operations and the second one is capital improvement budgets. He goes over the budget starting with what the department does, services it provides, the infrastructure of the city, and the maintenance that the infrastructure needs. He talks about the divisions within public works like the engineering division and the field operations division and he explains some of the services that they provide and other responsibilities. He explains the proposed budget and everything that it includes, he says the focus of this presentation is the operations and he will be talking about the capital improvement projects in the second presentation. He continues going over the budget in detail including the budget for salaries and benefits, supplies, and budget for expenditures like the water restoration district for extracting water and other expenditures. He also has charges from the other departments for services that they provide, and he identifies some of the increases that are in this year's budget compared to the previous budget. He is proposing a full-time position and reassessing it, also converting two hourly electrician positions to one full-time position because it is difficult to recruit and having a full-time position might be
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PRESENTATION CONT'D easier to fill that position. He continues going over the increase in the budget due to pricing and he shares how the department is funding and goes into detail about how they are funded. He talks about the grants that they have been able to get and the regional projects that they are participating in. He continues going over the goals and objectives of the department and the focus of the department this fiscal year. He continues talking about the different divisions and the responsibilities that each of those departments have. They are trying to track all the work that they have been doing and it has been difficult but with the CGIS system it would make tracking the projects they have completed easier, and it can also help when they need to project the focus of new projects and maintenance. They are also focusing on the tree decorative lighting on the Tweedy Mile and they are looking to replace some vehicles that they use and they will provide more detail about that at a later time. Explains that for the next fiscal year they will be looking at focusing on technology to improve a lot of the functions of the department. He describes the projected revenue and where that revenue is going to come from. He explains that they are putting in an employee verification program so that employees can look for new opportunities due to vacancies. He continues with talk about the water and the city's water system and the people they serve and he provides a summary of the functions and revenue. He explains the employees they have there and that a large part of the budget is to pump ground water, he describes the water improvement project and the responsibilities that it has. He explains the grants that the department has applied for and what they can be used for, they are also looking at installing a water flushing system to prevent discoloration in the water and also the goals and accomplishments for this next fiscal year. Talks about the new franchise agreement with the trash hauler UWS and the services that they will be having.
PUBLIC COMMENTS Joshua Barron says that regarding the bulky item pick up he asks if the trash hauler company will be offering that service and if they are why are they subsidizing the pickup instead of getting the service from the hauler.
Asks when the graffiti removing workers are out there and are they taking pictures of the graffiti that they are removing so that they can keep track and document some common occurrences to the Police Department and charge for multiple cases. The tree service trimming went up and he would like to know that as a homeowner how would that translate to him. Would he see the trees trimmed twice on his street and how can this be itemized because some trees grow at a slower rate than others. One number that really amazed him is the hundred and twenty-five miles of trees and bridges, he did not realize the city was so big.
Mario Dominguez asked when the water tank will be repainted before the mural goes up.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
PUBLIC COMMENTS
CONT'D Liz Ruiz commended the department on all the hard work they do, and she has a couple of questions. She appreciates that they will have more technology and is it going to help service calls. Also, with the GIS it is something that can be used with the phone application because it has been useful when calling for bulky item pick ups or graffiti. She is wondering if that is something that can be integrated or if that app is still in use. Wanted to comment on the work they do for the community, says it is under appreciated. She did see more posts even with Community Development and asks that Public Works do the same. She received a called and mentioned that people came to the house telling her the water was contaminated and the goal was to sell the filtration system. She thinks that there is more that can be done to reach community members to let them know that the water is safe, so residents are not misinformed. She asks that more departments do more with outreach in the community.
COUNCIL AND STAFF
COMMENTS Mr. Cervantes begins by answering the questions from Mr. Barron who asked about the bulky item pick-up. He explains that waste management provides the bulky pick-up item to resident's home, they don't have a crew that drives around the city and picks up illegally dumped items.
Under the new franchise agreement, the bulky item pick-up will be augmented so the bulky item pick-up at resident's house will continue but they will have a crew of drivers that will drive around the city to pick-up illegally dumped items. Says this level of service is needed to support the city because bulky item pick-up has been an issue in the city, and this is the way that the program will be organized so city staff will not be subsidizing. UWS will be augmenting the services. With regards to tree trimming services, they are on a four-year cycle so every tree within the city would be trimmed on a four-year cycle at least once and if there is an issue with a particular tree the tree could receive a special service.
Regarding taking pictures of the graffiti, they currently take pictures of the graffiti that has been removed but to take pictures, keep track, and look at trends is extremely difficult. So, by moving to a GIS based system they would be able to take pictures and map them on the map and through the map we can see where all the graffiti is. Mr. Mario Dominguez question regarding the water tank he explains that right now they are working on the design of the project to rehabilitate the reservoirs, he does not have the exact time frame for the painting, but they are looking forward to accomplishing it before the mural is painted. The question regarding the CIS system and enhancing services, the CIS is going to allow them to enhance services because it will make the crews more efficient as opposed to the work the crews have to do now with regards to documentation they have to complete. The system allows them to do documentation as they are removing graffiti which will eliminate a lot of the paperwork they have to do. He explains that there is an app that can integrate with the system they have but they haven't elected a vendor, but their goal is to have a service provider that would integrate with the system.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
COUNCIL AND STAFF
COMMENTS CONT'D Council Member Hurtado explains that he also received a notice trying to sale filtration system to residents and hopes that they do something to help residents with this. With the sewer and street lighting they must get it under control and asks Mr. Jeffers if he knows when they can decide about what they are going to do with that. He says that it is almost 2 million dollars that is being lost out of general funds that must be used to offset the sewer funds.
City Manager Jeffers explains that they will get something to the Council by December of this year and January of next year.
Council Member Hurtado says that the LED lights have not been converted yet and they know they are receiving a lot of grants. Asks where they are trying to get more funds for convergence of LED lights.
Mr. Cervantes explains that the department is always looking for funds and grants for all the infrastructure of the city. There has not been a lot of funds and some of the city's strategies for converting streetlights has been receiving grants and the local return funds they use for the major corridor projects. There has not been a lot of opportunities for grants for the street light convergences.
Council Member Hurtado says that maybe he understood Mr. Barron differently but he explains that there are taggers that leave their mark, and it is not like how to identify the areas where they tag but identify the people. If they are repeat offenders and he believes that is what Mr.
Barron was referring to and he asks if they are keeping records to be charged with all the times, they are tagging not just the one.
Mr. Cervantes says that they already do that, through a system that is not CIS based so they must go through a very intensive process when a specific tagger occurred so they can also augment that to look at where the concentrated areas of graffiti are and combine it with what they already have.
Council Member Hurtado asks if he can inform Council how much money the city spends on graffiti.
Mr. Cervantes explains that this year they budgeted eight hundred and ninety-one dollars for graffiti abatement but that includes a purchase of vehicles that was funded and purchased last year but the remaining funds have been carried over last year. In this fiscal year in terms of what they are spending on graffiti abatement services includes money from the general fund and CDBG funds.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
COUNCIL AND STAFF
COMMENTS CONT'D Council Member Hurtado says that Ms. Ruiz talked about the misinformation on social media, and he has a good friendship with a lot of employees that work in the city, and it is an attack on all the effort of the water division. Mr. Cervantes has mentioned how many times the water is being tested a year and that it is coming back with good results. Says there has been some discoloration and explains that it is a result of the flushing that is being done and it is in the report, but he reads the staff report for the people present.
Mr. Cervantes goes on to explain how water discoloration happens and why the routine flushing to help with that.
Council Member Hurtado continues reading the report and explaining the efforts of the city to provide clean drinking water. He further explains why they have discolored water and talks about some other cities that deal with similar issues. He wanted to clear that misinformation up because the water division is trying there best to do what they can for the city and its residents.
Council Member Diaz thanked Public Works Department for all the work they are doing. She has a question regarding public transportation and she had brought up the power washing and how often the bus stops are being washed. Explains that some people sleep there and leave behind trash, and she doesn't like seeing people wait at very dirty bus stops.
Mr. Cervantes explains that they have just awarded a contract where they enhance the bus shelter, and they are now cleaning it on a weekly basis and before it was done monthly. He can't remember if that is all the bus stations in the city or priority bus locations in the city but all the locations that they did select are now being done on a weekly basis.
Council Member Diaz asks if being cleaned on a weekly basis is sufficient because they are dirty.
Mr. Cervantes says that they should focus on the problem stops because she understands that the city did the service twice a month and now it is being done weekly. If there is a service area perhaps those locations should be serviced more but what they are not getting is complaints from the residents. They gage the service of their programs by how often they receive complaints and the complaints of cleanliness of a bus station those complaints are just not coming in. So, there is a possibility that the cleaning is sufficient or that the stops that she is seeing are not getting to be cleaned a little bit more and if she can identify some locations, he can email her.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
COUNCIL AND STAFF
COMMENTS CONT'D Council Member Diaz says that would be great and if she could get a list of the bus routes. Lastly, she has emailed the City Manager about replacing the trash bins on the Tweedy Mile because they are always destroyed or lit on fire.
Mr. Cervantes explains that right now what they don't have is a regular replacement program or frequent replacement. They did an audit of some of the trash bins and they have had some issues that had to be addressed but there was not enough inventory to replace them. There is a survey that will be completed in the next two months in terms of the types of funding that they need to replace. That is something that they didn't put into the budget because they were not prepared with the information to request budget approval from the City Manager.
Council Member Diaz explains that she has emailed the City Manager several times and she would really like to see something to be placed because of the esthetic.
City Manager would like to elaborate on what Mr. Cervantes said. He explains that part of the problem is that they don't have a stock and he is worried that the design is a very expensive trash can and when it gets damaged it is obvious, so it is part of the question to the Council. While it is a beautiful trash can it is the more expensive trash can that can be put out there and is it is going to be out there and run the chance of being destroyed they should be looking at a trash can that is less costly than the metal with the esthetic prospect. So that is the report Art and his team have been working on, the number and what option they might have when it comes to that appropriation long with policy.
Council Member Diaz explains that they Mayor and herself attended a merchant meeting and she knows that there will be work being done on the Tweedy Mile for the next 9 months to a year. She asks if maybe they could add that to the project but if it is costly then it is not worth it because lack of cost and stock is part of that.
City Manager explains that they just had a designer from the Tweedy Design Team, and this is one of the topics that was raised. So, they are looking at that but one of the main things that Mr. Cervantes was talking about was that they must buy inventory to have in place and it goes back to how do we deal with todays problem as well as the future problem.
Mr. Cervantes would also like to add that they are dealing with the issue of consistency and talks about the different trash and street furniture. In this new project they are trying to replace the street furniture that is there now and then select a trash receptacle that makes more sense when it comes to the trash maintenance and replacement.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
COUNCIL AND STAFF
COMMENTS CONT'D Mayor Rios has a few things to say, the first one is regarding the water. He talks about the water department that they have and the job they do to keep the water safe and the upgrades and investments they have made to the infrastructure. He addresses the misinformation that is out there and talks about the efforts of the city. Regarding UWS, the new trash hauler and hopes that they are in communication with this because customers are concerned about the transition and the issues with the supply chain. They were worried about the trucks and if they were going to make it in time to get the new trucks and making sure that the barrels are available, he expresses his concerns and wants to make sure that they will be ready when it is time to start with the new hauler. He asks how often the tree trimming occurs.
Mr. Cervantes explains that in general the trees are on a general cycle, and they are trimmed every four years. He explains what the service is and what it consists of which is the regular four cycle tree trimming and then the as needed service. This is when a resident calls and they will go out and provide service for those specific trees.
City Treasurer Martinez understood that the tree trimming used to be on a three-year cycle and asks when it changed
Mr. Cervantes says that at one point it was on a three-year cycle, but they were impacted with covid financially and one of the measures that was impacted was that they had to change from a three-year to a four-year cycle to combat the financial impact on the city and this is something that was done recently.
City Treasurer Martinez clarifies if it was changed about two years ago.
Mr. Cervantes confirms.
City Treasurer Martinez says that there are some trees that are bigger and have had them fall on houses causing property damage. Asks that when they switched to the four-year does it cause more problems when it comes to managing the trees.
Mr. Cervantes explains that before they issued the change under the direction of the City Manager and City Attorney, they evaluated the claims that they had been receiving to get a better understanding of what was happening. When they started looking at the claims, they were not just large trees, but it has been small trees. In this RFP what they included was an inventory and assessment of trees that need to be trimmed. At the moment he does not have any information to suggest that because it has been changed to a four-year cycle there is going to be more trees falling but it is something to look for in the coming contract and assessment. So,
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
COUNCIL AND STAFF
COMMENTS CONT'D they have a recommendation from a qualified contractor that can make those kinds of qualified decisions and recommendations.
City Treasurer Martinez says that this is good information to know because he has a neighbor that lives across the street and always complains about the tree that needs to be trimmed. He asked if the residents received notification of the change.
Mr. Cervantes explains that the maintenance program is not set up based on noticing the residents just in general they have numerous maintenance programs whether it is refilling potholes or tree maintenance usually when those programs are updated, they don't send any updates to the residents.
When they do make changes residents do have the opportunity to provide input.
City Manager says he does not remember that meeting and believes that it is something important to tell our residents because of the change.
Explains that it comes down to transparency and keeping communication between the city and the residents who are impacted by this. Some of these trees are big and people want to get them taken care of.
Mr. Cervantes explains that to manage infrastructure effectively and review the condition of the infrastructure and explains that there are a lot of trees. He explains that some trees need more maintenance than others that is why they are not immediately awarding more money to the contractor because they don't know what trees to invest there funds in. If they have a contract, they will bring it before Council for approval.
Council Member Davila asks if that is when the contract is coming before City Council.
Mr. Cervantes explains that after the process the award of the construction contract is going to come before Council. Also explains that the special decision to change the cycle of tree maintenance from a three-year cycle to a four-year cycle was brought in for Council and explains when it was discussed. Explains that the second opportunity would be before the contract gets approved.
Vice Mayor Avalos has a clarifying question, they do the RFP process and every three years they do an assessment. Are they going to be cutting the trees four years from now or are they going to cut them now and four years before the contract is up?
Mr. Cervantes explains that the tree maintenance contract operates in different cycle there is a set of trees that will be trimmed the first year, then the second set of trees will be trimmed the second year, and then third
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
COUNCIL AND STAFF
COMMENTS CONT'D year there will be another set of trees that will be trimmed. So, the trees that were trimmed first under the current contract they will be trimmed first under the new contract and once that happens, they are four years out, so it is a percentage that will be trimmed every year.
Council Member Davila asks if they are trimming trees now.
Mr. Cervantes says that right now they are doing tree maintenance and they have another contractor on board that does day to day tree maintenance. So yes, there are trees being trimmed as tree maintenance is needed.
Council Member Davila explains that she worries that during the rainy season especially the big tress that haven't been cut for three years. Again, in two year they have already grown, and they don't last if they have hot weather because they grow faster. The Ficus trees are overgrown, and she explains that the one on her street are overgrown along with the ones that she sees on other blocks. Her understanding was that it was done every three years and she does not recall it being changed to every four years.
Mr. Cervantes explains that they had the discussion regarding changes within the department that they had to change things because of the financial impact of doing business and one of the changes was moving the three-year trimming cycle to the four-year trimming cycle and it was brought up about two years ago. After this meeting he could do some research and give more information.
Council Member Davila explains that she does not recall this especially with other trees that have been falling. They have been one after the other and that is her concern.
City Treasurer Martinez says that he remembers speaking to the arbors that they had in the past and they explained to him that when you cut a Ficus tree it goes into a shock, and it grows even bigger which is why they prefer to cut them smaller or often and they don't trim as much because it grows more. He asks if switching the trimming from three to four year make this situation worse for this specific tree.
Mr. Cervantes says that they will wait for the results of the inventory to get a better understanding and explains that based on that they will follow recommendations. Talks about the analysis they have done regarding trees and explains that Ficus trees are not the problem it can be a variety of trees that are the problem. So, they are looking at a different approach and that is to provide a standard printing and if they see big trees that look like it will cause issues, they can provide a trim on that trim.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
COUNCIL AND STAFF
COMMENTS CONT'D City Treasurer Martinez says that he wants to inform Council that years back they lost a lot of trees on Alexander, and it overwhelmed public works people. Thanks, Arturo, for the conversation they are having.
Vice Mayor Avalos agrees with the City Treasurer and says that they should inform the residents of the change in the trimming cycle because they receive a lot of questions regarding tree trimming. Asks if it can be put on the website so that the public is aware.
Mayor Rios says that he knows they have a back up plan if things do not go as planned.
Mr. Cervantes moves onto the next presentation which is the Capital Improvement Project there are two key points one is the current Capital Year Improvement Program and the other is the five-year CIP. He goes over the programs and the funding needs for the infrastructure. He goes over the funding needs that the department has and there different funding sources that they are using and talks about the four primary categories and the guidelines that must be met with each grant. Talks about the projects they are currently doing and the projects that will be completed with the funding. He goes over the full proposed budget for the Capital Improvement budget and what it includes like projects that have already begun and are being carried over from the last fiscal year to this fiscal year. He goes over the distribution of infrastructure funds and the Water Improvement Projects that they have also budgeted. He goes over the funding for the projects and explains the timeline for each project that they have. He proceeds by highlighting two of the projects like the sewer lining.
Council Member Davila asks if it takes 30 months for a design.
Arturo Cervantes explains that what he is attempting to show on the entire schedule for the implementation of a project from beginning to end. If the Council approves the six hundred thousand dollars for appropriation to the LED street light conversion it would likely take about a year to eighteen months to complete the design. Then another several months to complete construction so the complete process would take about two years and a half. He continues going over the proposal for the street improvement projects and explains several projects that will begin construction this year. Explains that the department budget includes a five year CIP and what this includes, the schedule, the projects and any other information this is what that five year CIP includes. He also talks about how the City Council goals are being met and how they track the goals. He goes over the number of projects they do on an annual basis and explains that the funding remains the same but the number of projects grows every year and that is because there are more funding sources and more grants that are
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
COUNCIL AND STAFF
COMMENTS CONT'D becoming available. He provides a deeper explanation of the projects and the funding that are under the five year CIP and he talks about the different categories of the project and the projects that have rolled over from the previous fiscal year. He ends his presentation going over the accomplishments that have been made.
City Manager would like to explain how aggressive the CIP budget is, and he goes over the budget and how it has increased for a five-year period.
He also provides context as to the workload that they must process.
PUBLIC COMMENTS Mr. Pacheco asks if the Long Beach medium that is being proposed, is set in stone or is it a proposition. He lives close to there and building a medium just like on Firestone is not a good idea in his opinion. He believes that they should be focusing that money on resurfacing the streets and other areas. He understands that it was mentioned that there would be a city-wide resurfacing, but he thinks it would cause congestion and accidents because of the medium and emergency vehicles do not have enough space to go through. Council Member Diaz mentioned the trash cans and the ones that are by bus stops, he noticed that the design on the trash can, and the top is removable to take out the trash. He has noticed that people are taking the lids and he is not sure if they are taking the lids to sell as scrap and if they could come up with a different design or find a way to lock the lids so that they are not being stolen. Explains that he notices that the bus stops are also very dirty and there is not trash cans and they are not near the bench which results in people leaving trash. He suggests that there should be trash cans put on there so that they can have some where to throw the trash. Asks if they can find some tankers so that the water that is thrown can be saved and reused.
Mario Dominguez made a plea to Council for the four projects he is chasing after. He would like the Council to consider adding them to the master plan of the city, he names the four projects and explains them to the council. Explains that people come from some of the poorest nation in search of a better life in cities like South Gate and this is their chance to redeem the city for all the years of neglect and abandonment. Says the city deserves better and the city deserves this project and needs the Council to abandon this complacence and push to make these projects happy. He explain that he has been working on the funding and he has the agencies and the grants for feasibility study, planning and design, and a grant that will pay for the construction. He only needs the city of South Gate to give the okay to proceed and develop the project. He will ask next Council meeting to put an item on the agenda to see that project. Asks Council what they want for the city and what future they want for the city.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
STAFF AND COUNCIL
COMMENTS
I
City Manager says the Mr. Dominguez is very passionate and he appreciates the passion he knows that he has been pushing for this.
Regarding Mr. Pacheco some of those were statements but if he has a list of things, he can give the list to him and he can provide responses to him so he can feel free to email him.
Mayor Rios says that Mr. Pacheco did raise an interesting point regarding the street Long Beach and the traffic on Lynwood. Asks if it is because of the medium or something else.
Arturo Cervantes explains that although Lynwood is in proximity it is an extension of Long Beach Boulevard and because of the freeways which can contribute to traffic. A traffic study was done, and they are considering the effect on traffic. He explains that when they do a road way medium it does not create traffic, he explains that a medium is just a way to enhance safety. Explains that the grants that were received for that project where for safety and they do not create traffic what they do is that they change the concentration of traffic because now cars can't turn where they used to. Yes you will see a little more traffic at certain intersections but it will be better controlled as a whole. He has one more commentary for using the money for re-pavement of streets instead of mediums. He explains that they are not able to take that grant funding and use it else where like residential resurfacing, they must keep the funding on Long Beach because that is where the state awarded that funding.
City Manager explains that these grants go through several eyes of experienced people to make roads safer and slower. Says that these grants would not be awarded to them if they were not doing that.
Mayor Rios says that Mr. Dominguez should maybe be the point person for these projects because he has the passion for it.
Vice Mayor Avalos has a question for Arturo regarding the last page of the presentation where he talks about accomplishments, he indicated improvements to residential streets. Asks if he can give her the specific streets they improved because when they make general statements the questions from residents are is my street included, which streets did you improve.
Mr. Cervantes says he doesn't have the lists of the streets on hand, but he can provide them with a list, and he also has the information on the city website for phases 1, 2, and 3 he explains that this is beyond those phases, but he can provide the information for the Council later this week.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
STAFF AND COUNCIL
COMMENTS CONT'D
Vice Mayor Avalos has another question regarding the unfunded projects that have not been identified. She asks which projects they are talking about because there is no list included in here.
Mr. Cervantes says he has the list of unfunded projects if they have their budget lists and looks at the five-year capital improvement project. They attempted to identify unfunded projects and they have documented it; he explains that there could be some that have not been documented and he talks about one of the projects that are unfunded.
City Manager says that they see the lists on there and that gets added to every year, right now they have a total of about two hundred and thirty- five million dollars of projects identified at the time.
Vice Mayor Avalos says that regarding Mr. Dominguez he has had the pleasure of speaking with him last week. He sent her the website and it is called Reconnecting Communities and there is grant money and the application is due October 13, 2022 and explains that there is actually money that can be used to reconnect the communities to Garfield over to Southern which is on the other side. She would appreciate if this could be looked into because Mr. Dominguez already got in contact with an office, and they could do the feasibility study of what is required. Explains that it is basically ready and he has the time and she knows that he has several projects he wanted her to look at but she believes that this is a project that could be really good for the community. She explains that it would be only for pedestrians, but she was hoping to have another bridge that can connect vehicles. Hopes that Council will be supportive of this project.
Mayor Rios says that this is one proposal of the many that he has read.
Maybe they must be strategic with recourses even if there are resources out there because they have heard that the staff is overwhelmed, and they need someone else to help them because they do have money coming in and they are having a difficult time staffing which is why they must be strategic when it comes to funding projects.
Vice Mayor Avalos believes they could begin with something simple like reconnecting the communities. They have talked about the restrictive funds and explains that they could reconnect both sides of South Gate again that is divided by the freeway.
City Treasurer Martinez explains that he believes they have done a study on this, and that Downey must evaluate the effects of this project and that was the stick in the mud because it goes over Southern.
Mr. Cervantes explains that as part of the 1-7 corridor project there was the transportation analysis and the area across from the LA River was
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SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
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COMMENTS CONT'D
included in that project and all that information is already there. One of the needs that was identified is a connector to the Thunderbird Villa Home Park and that connector would go through the site of the Urban Orchid Park and the former City Manager opted out of that because in essence was a conflict with the Urban Orchid Project, so they did not pursue that.
He is unsure if Downey needs to approve it yet because they don't know if it is within those limits, but they may or may not and that is some of the background they have.
Vice Mayor Avalos explains that she went over that information with him, and he indicated it would be for pedestrians and it should not cause traffic.
Council Member Davila suggests that they reach out to the Congresswoman and her staff so that they could get more information about the grant because she knows it takes time and if staff is going to put everything together to apply for a grant it is going to take a lot of time and information.
Mayor Rios says that they also must take into consideration several non- profits that also can be collaborators or take the lead.
City Manager explains that the lead here is either going to be the county or the Cal grants because they are building most of this on there property.
Explains that they could apply for the grant without their co-signature because whoever is the agency reviewing the grants. Explains that this is a competitive pool, and they look to see if you have partnerships developed in this process. He has tried to explain to Mr. Dominguez that it is unlikely that they would be the lead in this project because they would have to be the lead agency because we are going over the 710 freeway and the riverbed. Says that it is a very complex project.
Council Member Davila explains that she appreciated Mr. Dominguez passion, and it doesn't hurt to reach out and get more information.
City Manager says that they will reach out to Mr. Dominguez.
Mayor Rios says that there are a lot of projects moving along and that it is amazing to be compared to Santa Ana who has a bigger population, and they are keeping up.
City Manager points the Council to a revised resolution, and he highlights the changes from the agenda that they have made. He draws their attention to the addition of another Community Development Officer, and he continues to go over all the changes that have been made through conversations with the Council.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
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COMMENTS CONT'D Council Member Davila asks if they have the park ranger they talked about.
City Manager explains that it is the first one highlighted.
City Treasurer Martinez highlighted something concerning about the five- year forecast. Explains that at one point the City Manager echoed repeatedly about head wind and when they look at the projection on the deficit if they don't recognize it, it could come back to bit them. Says he has been in this position before 2008 and when they had to go back and ask employees to take a pay cut. He understands it is easy to pass a budget and sometimes they have to say no we are going to be more frugal with the tax dollars which is a challenge. Express his concern over the deficit and gives examples of the past where he voted against a budget and expresses concern over the future of the city.
Mayor Rios understands the seriousness of this and says that they know that the staff has been doing their due diligence to find out more and that they will get another opportunity to revisit this in January/February.
Council Member Davila explains that it is not set in stone and if they need to change something they can come back and change it.
Vice Mayor Avalos thanks the City Treasurer for his words of wisdom and explains that they do need to be fiscal responsible, and she is one of the people on the Council that has been saying that.
2 COMMERCIAL ASSESSMENT
DISTRICTS The City Council approved items A & B by motion of Council/Authority/ Agency Member Hurtado and seconded by Council/Authority/Agency Member Diaz.
Roll Call: Mayor/Chairperson Rios, yes; Vice Mayor/Chairperson Avalos, yes; Council/Authority/Agency Member Davila, recused;
Council/Authority/Agency Member Diaz, yes; Council/Authority/Agency Member Hurtado, yes.
a. The purchase of Christmas Decorations in the amount of $79,923; and b. The appropriation of $59,923 from the General Funds Reserves to cover costs, less the $20,000 from the Tweedy Mile Business Improvement District (BID) Account #252-120-12-6390, to complete the total amount needed to purchase Christmas decorations for a designated area along Tweedy Boulevard within the Tweedy Mile Business District.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
Council Member Davila recuses herself because she lives on Tweedy Boulevard.
City Manager provides a brief report for the Christmas lights along with the changes that are being made. Explains that it became a time sensitive issue because of the supply change issue and explains where the money is coming from and what it includes like installation and sales tax.
PUBLIC COMMENTS Resident asked if the city of South Gate would own the lights or are they still doing this through a third-party vendor installing it.
Mr. Dominguez questioned why the city is paying for the street decorations on Tweedy Boulevard and asks where the Tweedy Mile Association is and why they are not the ones paying for the decorations.
Council Member Diaz was commenting about the trash cans and asks why they can't pay for it. Tells Mr. Salinas that they must go to Sacramento and fix the restrictions and limitations on what the use of these funds can be used for, he says that this is ridiculous and talks about ways that they could use these funds instead of decorations.
STAFF AND COUNCIL
COMMENTS City Manager explains that they will own the lights and moving forward they would only pay for the installation. He explains that the lights have a life expectancy of five to seven years so it is something they will have to forecast later.
Council Member Hurtado says that the current lights they have are not lights they are just green things close to it and underneath it. He looked at the company's website and they have a lot of nice things and because they can't see the lights, he hopes that they are nice.
Council Member Diaz explains that this is for the community, and they deserve a festive Christmas, and she looks forward to seeing it in December.
Vice Mayor Avalos explains that they are asking for almost 60,000 for the lights and every year the city give the Tweedy Mile $20,000 for business improvement funds. Asks if they could cover them and in the next three years can they get reimbursed for the funds.
Mayor Rios understands what she is saying but he doesn't think it is only for the Tweedy Mile, it is for everyone and the residents. Explains that this is more than just the Tweedy Mile.
Council Member Hurtado understands that they must be fiscally responsible, but Tweedy Mile needs to be revived a little bit.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, HOUSING AUTHORITY & SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 30, 2022
STAFF AND COUNCIL
COMMENTS CONT'D City Manager explains the business improvement must be renewed every year they cannot commit them to future years if they are not renewed because it is a year-to-year proposition.
Council Member Diaz explains that none of the Council Members are business owners, so they don't understand what they have been through these years. Says that these are actually volunteers and they try to make ends means and like Mayor Rios says it is about the community. She invites them to volunteer on the Tweedy Mile and put themselves in there shoes and asks them to put the animosity to the side and think of the rewards it will bring in December.
Council Member Hurtado also mentions the posada that happens and hopes that the lights will look better this year.
Vice Mayor Avalos clarifies that she is not against the Tweedy Mile it has to do with fiscal responsibility. She says that she has been supportive of the Mile on different occasion and there is no animosity.
ADJOURNMENT Council/Authority/Agency Member Hurtado adjourned the meeting at 9:22 p.m. and seconded by Council/Authority/Agency Member Diaz.
PASSED and APPROVED this 14th day February 2023.
ATTEST:
Maria del Pilar Avalos, Mayor/Chairperson Yodit G1 e, City Clerk