ACTION MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL
CITY OF VILLA PARK, CALIFORNIA
September 23, 2025
Regular Meeting
GENERAL SESSION
6:30 p.m. - City Council Chambers
CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL - Mayor Jones called the General Session to order at 6:30 p.m.
COUNCILMEMBERS
PRESENT: Miles, Frackelton, McBride, Wu and Jones.
ABSENT: None
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG - The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilmember McBride.
MOMENT OF SILENCE
Mayor Jones conducted a moment of silence for those who have been impacted by the recent violence in the country.
PRESENTATIONS / ANNOUNCEMENTS / COUNCIL MEETING REPORTS • Distinguished Citizen
Mayor Jones recognized Villa Park Resident Teddy Wells for her contributions to the community. The City Council presented Teddy Wells with a certificate of recognition.
Pat Buttress, a representative for Supervisor Don Wagner's Office, presented a certificate of recognition to Teddy Wells.
• Proclamation Hunger Action Month - Second Harvest Food Bank OC Mayor Jones and the Council presented the proclamation to Mark Lowry, representative of the Orange County Food Bank and Orange County Hunger Alliance. • Association of California Cities Orange County - CASLAR Kris Murray with the Association of California Cities, Orange County, and Jeff Corless with CASLAR provided a presentation with updates. Councilmember Miles expressed gratitude for their efforts and appreciation for all CASLAR has accomplished in the last two years. Mayor Jones highlighted CASLAR's impact on the community. Councilmember Frackelton inquired how many cities have adopted the Costa Mesa ordinance or a similar ordinance. Mr. Corless informed Councilmember Frackelton that an estimated half dozen September 23, 2025 Villa Park City Council Meeting Minutes
cities have adopted the ordinance. Councilmember McBride asked who composed their 200 individual participants. Mr. Corless informed Councilmember McBride that the 200 individual participants relate to the number of support letters for the bills that were introduced and are working their way through the legislative process. Mayor Jones requested that staff include information regarding CASLAR in the City newsletter. • Orange County Sheriff's Department
Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD) Captain Sotelo shared a letter from Sheriff Barnes detailing the department's plan to keep community members safe amidst the current violence taking place in the Country. Captain Sotelo provided the monthly law enforcement report. Councilmember Miles inquired about the number of e-bike training sessions conducted by Sheriff McDermot at Villa Park High School. She also asked about the number of participants. Captain Sotelo responded that he knew one class had taken place, but that he would follow up on the number of classes and participants. • Orange County Fire Authority
Chief Bender provided the monthly summary of OCFA activity. He reported that OCFA presented at the Emergency Preparedness Seminar at City Hall on September 17th. He shared that the safety message for the month of September was fall prevention for seniors.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Mayor Jones opened public comments. Seeing no speakers, Mayor Jones closed the public comments.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Waive reading in full of all ordinances and resolutions on the agenda.
City Manager Steve Franks presented a brief staff report.
Mayor Jones opened the public hearing. There being no speakers, the public hearing was closed
A motion was made by Councilmember Miles, seconded by Councilmember Frackelton, to waive the reading in full of all ordinances, resolutions, and meeting minutes on the agenda, and direct the City Clerk to read by title only and was approved by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Miles, Frackelton, McBride, Wu, and Jones
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
September 23, 2025 Villa Park City Council Meeting Minutes
ABSTAIN: None
Motion Passed.
Ordinance No. 2025-638 - Amending Sec. 23-7.12. Property Development Standards: Commercial Mixed Use (C-MU) Zone of Chapter XXIII - Zoning of the Villa Park Municipal Code Related to Development Standards.
City Manager Steve Franks presented a brief staff report on the item as detailed in the public agenda report. He noted that these clarifications were a request from HCD and needed for approval of the updated City Housing Element.
Mayor Jones opened the public hearing. There being no speakers, the public hearing was closed.
A motion was made by Councilmember McBride, seconded by Councilmember Miles and was approved by the following roll call vote to:
1. Find the code amendments to Sec. 23-7.12 of Chapter XXIII - ZONING are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to Title 14 California Code of Regulations, Section 15061 (b)(3).
2. Conduct public hearing.
3. Introduce Ordinance No. 2025-638 for first reading and motion forward to the second reading.
AYES: Miles, Frackelton, McBride, Wu, and Jones
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Motion Passed.
CONSENT CALENDAR (ITEMS # 3-6)
City Manager Steve Franks requested that the approval include the amended minutes which would be changed to state "six cases of Dengue Fever in Orange County" under the Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District report.
A motion was made by Councilmember Miles, seconded Mayor Pro Tem Wu, to approve the Consent Calendar (Items Nos. 3-6) with the amended minutes as noted by the City Manager and was approved by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Miles, Frackelton, McBride, Wu, and Jones
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
September 23, 2025 Villa Park City Council Meeting Minutes
Motion Passed.
3. August Cash and Investment Transparency
The City Council received and filed this report.
4. Request approval of City Council Minutes of August 26, 2025 The City Council approved the City Council Minutes of August 26, 2025.
Consideration of 2026 City Council Meeting Schedule.
The City Council approved the schedule of 2026 City Council meetings as stated in the staff report.
6. Report of 2025 Safe and Sane Fireworks Sales.
The City Council received and filed this report.
CITY MANAGER REPORT
7. Information from City Manager and/or City Staff.
City Manager Steve Franks reported that the City had received several concerns about drone usage in Villa Park and that staff would be returning to the council with language council can adopt to mitigate drone usage in the City.
MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBER MATTERS
Discussion & Consideration of a Formal City Council Statement Condemning Political Violence and Affirming First Amendment Protections.
City Manager Steve Franks noted that the item was added at the request of Councilmember Miles and McBride and deferred the report to Councilmember Miles.
Councilmember Miles reported that she added the item on the agenda due to the recent violent events impacting the nation. She expressed the desire for the Council to stand as a uniformed group condemning any type of political violence and affirm the liberties and first amendment free speech.
Mayor Jones asked if public comment was received. City Manager Steve Franks responded that no public comment was received. There being no speakers, the public comments were closed.
Mayor Jones requested that the Council eliminate the word political violence and revise the statement to say violence and freedom of expression. Councilmember Miles September 23, 2025 Villa Park City Council Meeting Minutes
expressed that she was content with the removal of the word political. Councilmember McBride explained the reasoning behind the utilization of the word political but expressed that he would approve its removal.
The Council was in a consensus to remove the word political from the statement.
A motion was made by Councilmember Miles seconded by Councilmember McBride, to adopt a formal statement condemning violence and affirming First Amendment protections and was approved by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Miles, Frackelton, McBride, Wu, and Jones
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Motion Passed.
9. Individual Councilmember Information Items.
• Councilmember meeting attendance reports:
• Law Enforcement Advisory
• Mayor Jones reported that there was no meeting held.
Villa Park Community Services Foundation
Councilmember Frackelton reported that they met on August 27th.
He noted that on August 30th the Villa Park Community Services Foundation held the Villa Park Picnic, featuring the band Monkee Mania and that it had good attendance. He announced that on Saturday, September 27th they would be having Symphony on the Go event in front of City Hall.
• Orange Unified Schools District City Schools Committee • Mayor Jones reported that there was no meeting held.
• Bridges at Kraemer Place Advisory Committee
Councilmember Miles reported that there was no meeting held. • Orange County Fire Authority
Councilmember Frackelton reported that he met with Chief McGovern to discuss the workers comp issue and that the item would be on next board meeting's agenda. He highlighted City Manager Steve Franks and praised him for help in resolving an issue regarding Fire Station 23 and the parcels owned with the Chief of Real Estate at the County. He also attended the September 11th memorial at OCFA headquarters. He announced that Fire Station 23 would be having an open house on October 11° from 9:00 am to noon. • Orange County Library Advisory Board
Mayor Pro Tem Wu reported that there was no meeting held. He invited Councilmember McBride to discuss Friends of the Library.
September 23, 2025 Villa Park City Council Meeting Minutes
Councilmember McBride reported that everything was on track and on budget and that the organization executes great programs and invited the public to look at the program schedule.
Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District
• Councilmember Miles reported that the information campaign, to raise awareness for the OC Vector Control and the services that they provide, has ended. She reminded the community that the goal was to raise awareness and expand external communications. She reported that the City of Villa Park won the campaign competition between cities tying with Los Alamitos. She thanked the staff for all their efforts. She informed the community that there are now 15 cases of travel related dengue fever in Orange County located in the cities of Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Fullerton, Newport, Aliso Viejo, Orange, Dana Point, Anaheim, Laguna Beach, and Fountain Valley. She announced that there are 102 positive West Nile Virus mosquito samples collected through Orange County, 36 human infections with two deaths in California. However, there are no human infections or deaths in Orange County, but there have been two positive dead birds. She reported that there were 24 human cases of flea-borne typhus. She shared that the cone nose bug is now in Northern Orange County and can cause Chagas disease. • Orange County Older Adults Advisory Committee
• Councilmember Miles reported that they met on September 19th and that the Master Plan for Aging was approved. She shared that Villa Park ranks third in top cities with highest percentage of older adults.
She shared that the county was looking for input from older adults and stakeholders.
• Orange County Sanitation District
• Mayor Pro Tem Wu reported that the Wastewater 101 Citizen Academy started on September 2nd. He reported on the Dry Weather Urban Run Off Year End summary for 2024-2025. He stated that the Orange County Sanitation District processed an average of
2.81 million gallons per day of dry weather urban run-off totaling to 805 million gallons providing up to 57 million gallons per month for the underground replenishment system recharge. He shared that the District is still completing the construction on Taft and that they had one more year to go until completion.
Mayor Pro Tem Wu attended a meeting with Senator Adam Schiffs staff. He attended and helped put on the Emergency Preparedness Workshop. He announced that HalloweenFest will be on Saturday October 25th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Additionally, he and Councilmember Frackelton are organizing Marine Thanksgiving and invited the community to host a Marine at their home. He shared that if residents are interested they can visit the website.
September 23, 2025 Villa Park City Council Meeting Minutes
Councilmember Miles announced that there would be changes to Medi-Cal that would impact renewal processes for children under 5 years old. She also shared that the disclosure of assets is now part of the application process. She attended the California Department of Aging Master Plan Update on August 28th with Jackie Thompson, one of the appointees for the State Master Plan on Aging. She attended the Emergency Preparedness Workshop, and a tour of the OCTA Express Lanes Call Center and the traffic operation center on September 9th. She shared that September is Suicide Awareness Month and encouraged the community to check on friends and loved ones especially veterans. She asked the City Attorney for clarification regarding the Council asking questions on presentations. City Attorney Todd Litfin explained that under the Brown Act during public comment if anybody comes up and says something, the Council has the ability to ask them questions about it or make a brief statement about the issue.
He stated that the Council can comment on something brought up under public comment but cannot make a decision related to the matter. She asked if the Council could have asked questions regarding the Edison presentation last month. City Attorney Todd Litfin confirmed questions could be asked, but decisions cannot be made by the Council.
Mayor Jones clarified that she received guidance from staff that the Edison item could be limited to a presentation with no Q&A. City Manager Steve Franks confirmed that was the guidance that was given to the Mayor.
Councilmember Frackelton highlighted that it was Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Years, and wished the community a Happy New Year.
Councilmember McBride attended the Villa Park Picnic and participated in the dirty sponge throw. He also attended the Emergency Preparedness Seminar.
Mayor Jones attended the webinar from ACC-OC regarding Medi-Cal. She attended the Villa Park Picnic and participated in the dirty sponge throw. She also attended the Cal Cities Orange County Division meeting in Stanton, and a meeting with US Senator Adam Schiffs office where they discussed a bipartisan bill called the Firewall Act which would create a new federal tax credit for families to make their home more resilient to future wildfires. She also attended and presented at the Emergency Preparedness Seminar and announced there would be a second part on October 15th headlined by the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m. to the next regular Council meeting to be held in person on Tuesday, October 28th, 2025.
September 23, 2025 Villa Park City Council Meeting Minutes
City of Villa Park
Steve Franks, City Clerk
City of Villa Park
Note: The above minutes are a summary of actions. A DVD recording of this meeting additionally serves as an official record and is available upon request from City Hall.