[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] just [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] suceed [Music] all [Music] [Music] [Music] I the TR of shif trying to accomplish nothing and succeed [Music] all [Music] [Music] [Music] i' [Music] suceed [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] the 3:30 p.m. meeting of the Bakersfield City Council is now in session afternoon it's my pleasure to call to order the 3:30 regular city council meeting of October 25th 202 Madam clerk please call the role mayor go here vice mayor Gonzalez council member Aras council member weer council member Smith I am here council member Freeman here council member gray here and council member core here thank you in keeping with council's resolution the public statements portion is now divided into two periods there's a period for items list on the meeting agenda and items not on the meeting agenda statements for items listed on this afternoon's agenda are given a two-minute time limit 20 minutes total per agenda item statements regarding items not listed on the agenda are also given a two-minute time limit 20 minutes total if you have written comments that are longer than your verbal statement give them to the clerk she'll give copies to the councel if you're here to make a public statement please fill out a public speaker card and give your completed card to the city clerk we ask that you mark whether you're here to speak speak on an item listed on this afternoon's agenda or in a matter not on the agenda speakers who do not identify a specific agenda item will be presumed speakers for the non-agenda portion those speakers will be called during the non-agenda portion of the meeting Madam clerk do we have any public speakers regarding items listed on this afternoon's agenda mayor go we have not received any speaker cards for items listed on today's agenda we have however received a speaker card for a non- agenda uh item from Michael turnup seed thank you and while he's coming forward welcome to all of you I see some students out there how many of you are from bakera college all right well go Renegades anyone from CSUB all right Renegades you uh dominate tonight thank you for being here welcome Mr turnup seed welcome mayor members of the council I got a packet of information I'm providing to you with four documents first I have an email chain between a current tax director Adam Cohen the Public Work Director and the city clerk about appropriate information pre- meeting being posted for agendas yesterday we attended a meeting uh material was not presented us early it was a high-speed rail presentation it was much different than what the staff report said it was misleading that says in the quote anyway that the basically the report's all we have to give you and that's it even we're responsible because it's just pictures well there's a lot more to the presentation than just pictures here is Staff report less than an actual page of printed material when you go to the highspeed rail report though it's got a lot of interesting things in here and basically the pictures of what our station's going to look like and a bunch of other information since I don't have all that much time I'm limited to skip forward to the Fresno B yesterday afternoon story about Fresno's High-Speed Rail station and as you look forward there's a picture of their highspeed rail station to be and the outside of it and a couple more pages back you're going to see the inside of their very beautiful High-Speed Rail station and if you look at the pictures that are inside the report that highp speed gril gave you it looks like our entryway is going to be open air with like different vendor boxes just around the side as you can tell by the picture that was in their presentation and finally because of all this happening we presented a comment letter yesterday for the record and we are going to follow up with agencies about making sure that people residents of communities are notified of what's really going on with their Federal and State Transportation dollars thank you very much for your time I'm sorry I couldn't talk about highspeed this evening I'm not going to be here I asked for a chance to talk under that item and it's told well that's another meeting just another way the city clamps down on public participation thank you thank you Mr turnup seat any other public speakers Madam clerk no other speaker cards for received thank you next item please reports item 3A Recreation and Parks Department master plan and Martin Luther King Park re-imagining concept plan progress update a blue memo was uh provided regarding this item transmitting correspondence received an additional blue memo was provided on this item transmitting an updated PowerPoint thank you Mr CLE thank you Mar and Council director Rick Anthony will provide additional context I just wanted to begin by saying it's very typical for cities to do long range planning um we're doing that in the general plan for land use and many other elements it's also important to do that in the world of uh Parks um and our Recreation facilities and to put it into context we have had a master plan for essentially the last 20 years and it really has been time to revisit that um the circumstances and the landscape have changed notably and uh we all want to look forward to our future as well and this has been a process that's been um envisioned for many years and underway really for this entire last year and so uh Rick and our Consultants will walk you through where that has taken us and um some of this is aspirational but also uh a lot of it is you know how do we you know plan and look toward the future so with that I'll turn it over to Mr Rick Anthony good afternoon it's a pleasure to uh be here today certainly just want to thank you all for your continued support also want to give a shout out to my senior staff here who's joined us we really have been a galvanized group uh through this particular effort uh unfortunately our project manager Mrs Cindy Mendoza had some health challenges at the last minute so she was not able to join us but Mig has a strong Bullpen so we have uh here with us no Noe noola uh and he will begin this presentation and certainly we're open to asking any questions throughout or if you prefer at the end of this presentation thank you director good afternoon my name is noan noola I'm with Mig moras Fano goldsman it's a pleasure to be here today I'm pleased to share uh project recommendations for uh related to the park and wck master plan and the Revis site and building concepts for MLK Park all right as you recall from the project update last November uh the master planning process includes several Key Parts uh including the MLK Park site master plan uh an updated uh Kaiser Permanente Sports Village site concept the Central and Citywide U Central City and Citywide tree plan and the Kern River Parkway management plan each of these elements have been uh Guided by Community input as well as Advisory Group guidance to ensure they are realistic implementable and achievable and reflect the diverse Community uh input and priorities and needs uh we have use this guidance to develop a comprehensive set of recommendations but the bottom line is that community members would like far more improvements and new development than may be feasible in the next 10 years um we'd like your guidance to identify key projects to include in the in a sustainable 10year action plan so for today's update uh I'd like to start with MLK Park a project that's near and dear to my heart for sure uh a project that is on track to deliver a safe healthy and uh Vibrant Community space when it's renovated in the next two or three years as noted in this timeline we've finalized the site the building and pool Concepts which we will share with you today we are moving forward into the next phase which includes 3% uh construction documents that will position the city for a streamline design build process that will reduce the risk proceed more rapidly and hold costs stable as the city proceeds into construction at this pace the grand reopening for the revitalized park is expected in early 2027 the park design that I'm about to share was based on input of over a thousand residents and stakeholders the this included a popup event at the open house at MLK Park during Halloween the Extravaganza uh spring event which I know some of you have been at uh these events ensure that the neighborhood and the park visitors had a chance to share share uh their ideas and and also poll on their preferred Concepts it also included Community connections and so these were in essence uh conversations with Community groups 14 Community organizations including for example Owens School Community gardeners uh the southeast neighborhood partnership among others uh youth had a chance you can see here youth had a chance uh to get involved with a My Wish for MLK Park activity which collected about 27 drawings finally there was a CommunityWide survey with 1,19 participants uh 78 of those were written for specifically MLK Park now Community input and design options were crosschecked with key meetings with our MLK advisory team who participated in at least five uh facilitated meetings to shape the park a meeting with 18 potential Park partners and from the community helped identify options to leverage potential Partnerships and contributions and resources the design process also guided through conversations with city council and several different groups including Senior Management this this cross collaboration helps to ensure that the that the that the type of Park is actually what the community wants and needs and also that it's implementable importantly so last November we shared with you the community's goals for the park these are shown here in green I'm not going to go over them today but uh since then we've refined designed to better position the center as a health and wellness Hub uh and resiliency Hub Excuse me while incorporating programs and options that will help spark local and broader revitalization of the area which I think is an important feature this is going to be a catalyst project we hope for the broader revitalization of the area now the site is anchored by the Northeast Center uh sorry the community center on the northeast corner here you'll you see here at California and Owen Street um this was a key recommendation from staff and from advisory members uh it it also positions the sports fields on the south end kind of where they are now a community garden a sports courts near Owens primary school this would hopefully have easy access for school involving partnering programs with school children ideally now these are some of the renderings that we've recently produced these are you know some of the new things hopefully you'll you'll get a really good sense of the site so just imagine yourself walking U through this revitalized park this is looking northwest corner this is in essence uh California and King streets you get a sense of just how the currently empty and underutilized site is completely transformed into a set of vibrant and active spaces so while the main entrance is on the other side on Owens the entry you see here is from South King Street it opens into a Treeline prominade since what we call an alley and uh it's just really a key feature for for the park that was desired here's another view of the entry Plaza from King Street it's uh shaded picnic areas just behind it uh lots of public art lots of foilage and of course shade this is another important and key component for uh for this that we heard from this community the Shaded play area in the same northwest corner provides uh Universal and inclusive Play Elements for uh younger and older children okay the adjacent spray ground is also a focal point of larger Gathering and picnic spaces it provides a free place for cooling off during you know Bakersfield very hot summers but the water can be turned off and uh can also be created for an expanded event venue and uh Hardscape space or play space for you know for kids with also the ringed wall for you know just hanging around you see here the there's three full uh outdoor basketball courts that are directly adjacent to the gymnasium which is going to be that building over there behind the that you see in the white and uh this we hope it will support tournament ments um that exist that take place in the gym team practices skills development and of course pickup games now a distinctive and colorful lenticular will surround the courts these are steel vertical panels that when viewed from different angles provide different images the idea is that this will add some privacy for the players and also hopefully some safety we've heard that as a major concern especially at being on California Street and and uh it will also prevent balls from Rolling onto the road now hopefully this helps in giving you a sense of the historic context and also the type of Art and the type of identity that we want to instill in this park on the opposite side of the courts next to the multi-use banquet room in the community center is the amphitheater and an events Plaza so just imagine yourself and this is again a very big recommendation from the community imagine yourself movies at the park or music or farmers markets crafts fairs uh other programmed events and and other ways that support local vendors and park activation which is key to this park moving around the community center to the northeast corner at California and Owens is a Memorial Plaza this is intended to commemorate black veterans and pay homage to the many that were served by the former County veterans uh Center that was located precisely at this corner looking uh now looking in from the main entry and shaded Gathering space near Owen Street this portion of the tree line prominade allows Park visitors and families to stroll um right by the Shaded pool area that's going to be on that right and you can see a glimpse of the uh of the slide there in the yellow the pool will will have a shallow sided entry and a moderately deeper end to make it ideal for water safety programs swimming lessons water Fitness classes lap swimming and pool events plus the water slide that I just mentioned uh specifically targeting nearby residents but also addressing capacity issues that we've heard about uh at M mcmurrey Pool as more and more people look to cool off in the summer now this space is a community garden um you can see it's not far from the community center it's going to be the close to the kitchen which together can be be used to support healthy cooking and uh healthy eating programs as well as providing nearby residents and hopefully owens's Primary School uh with an opportunity to grow fresh produce now the Central Area uh supports multi-use Sports courts suitable for pickle ball and footall these are two of the fastest growing Sports in recent times uh throughout the country so there are even informal spaces here for corn hole or outdoor ping pong I mentioned the the sports courts on the Southeast Corner this is along uh King Street the field these fields anchor uh the southwest corner as another way to support health and fitness as this is a an important health and fitness Hub as we're we're describing it we definitely heard clear feedback from the community about ensuring that that there is sufficient parking for this park so that's shown here uh and that includes a drop off zone for Zen seniors and children at the front of the community center too now this might be the first time that you're seeing this but looking into the community center itself the design is uh has five separate spaces that can be programmed jointly or used separately when the rest of the building is closed so for example one is the building number one is the actual gym and fitness facility that has two full-size Courts Plus One in the middle two will be ideally uh the partnership space where you know a health partner can be able to come in and maybe set up shop as a clinic or some other kind of service Health service related uh spot number three is a shared space for vendors four is the Aquatic Center the pool that I just mentioned and five is what we have called a cafetorium but really it's a multi-use Event Center that could be for instance rented out for inas for example now this is the second floor uh the second floor is proposed to House Park and wreck uh sorry wreck and park staff um and help helping address the shortage of space at City Hall and the need for stronger sta staff Presence at the park itself for uh continued safety now the cost of the park is still within the target range discussed earlier the majority of costs are associated with the first floor of the community center with much needed indoor Recreation space for all of East Bakersfield so while the amenities um could be reduced to match available funds there has been strong interest from the community to include all the proposed in components that I've just mentioned which could be funded through Community donations or potential Partnerships that would support Park renovation or programming tomorrow in fact we are formally launching a fund fundraising campaign to raise approximately 20 million needed for to achieve the community dream for this site so with Council support we will fine-tuned details as we prepare the 30% uh construction documents and by working together with private Partners this collaborative campaign shows how we can spark a much desired uh revitalization in East Bakersfield so um anyone ready to make a donation you can you can I I say uh just go ahead and scan the QR code i' invite everybody here to scan the QR code and um you know make your donation all donations are gladly accepted and deductible tax deductible so I know this is a quick overview uh this Council has already approved the next phase of the process so unless there are any clarifying questions I'd like to share the recommendations from the rest of uh the recre and Park master plan council member Gonzales I apologize I'll save my comments till the end of the presentation council member Freeman just a u couple of quick questions one is the the 30% construction funds uh for 30% of drawings um that was did that come from a grant or is that part of our budget this year thank you council member Freeman mayor and Council that came from an allocation that we had made within the PS the last two budget cycles for Public Safety vital Services um tax that's funding the design we also set aside some arpa monies for this park um $5.6 million that won't um uh this contract won't eat up all of that but there's a portion of that in addition to the budgeted funds within the psvs how much how much does it cost to go to 30% construction drawing is their budget it's $2.4 million and um just about all of that will come out of the psvs there's just a small portion that will probably like a couple hundred thousand dolls I think Rick that'll have to come out of arpa funds uh okay and um and that's already that that that's that was already approved yep budgeted and in the bank yeah okay um well I had I've repeatedly said one comment sounds like the train is left but but um I really would like to see the park budget and a quot project in the building as like two different phases because I'm concerned about the numbers are so large U between the two 80 million or plus um that I'm concerned about being able to get it done so uh and the other you know so I I probably wouldn't have been in favor of going the bark design I think is fine it the building design I would not have gone ahead doing construction drawings this early um from a conceptual thing but that's my opinion you know I'm I'm not apparently I don't get to make that decision uh the other thing is if you're before you go to construction drawings on the building I would because I've done this many times I would strongly recommend especially as building that you've never built this building is a concept that you model it you do scale model with dimensions and furnishings and that you take your experts and the ward member whatever and critique and say is that is that does that work getting to the gym that way do we really want that thing across now that we see it in a scale like a dollhouse now do we see it there because visuals really help people think you know is that really the right design uh do we need that that that need be 10 feet wider that kitchen big enough if you don't go through that exercise you'll make mistakes I just tell you we used to do that by having to rebuild the house after we did the model home well you know that garage needs to be 5T wi or tear the wall out the kitchen isn't big enough add three it'll help you if you scale model it and then you all critique it so that's I guess that's just a suggestion thank you um but uh and then I know as we move forward with the rest of I guess the master Vision um I don't know when this gets discussed but I would really like to see us um well a couple of com one kind of break into kind of separate parts because I think in MC Park raising money for m park the vision is different than the 10year master plan of all the other parks in town I really don't like blending these into one bucket I think they're huge projects and visions that need to be thought through somewhat separately um and uh especially ml Park if we're going to have a fundraising campaign um I think it would be very helpful if maybe we've already done it uh Christian May I've been a lot of these University fundra p and why bring a consultant in first when they do a lot of assessment and you said here's how much money we want to raise they tell you whether you're going to be able to raise it they're experts at this is all they do is say well here's how they do an analysis talk to stakeholders it's and say all right here's your probability of success at that number and they may make suggestions of if you're going to do this this is the way you better go about it um I think that part of this and I've shared this with the Consultants is that I've been arguing for it and haven't got it done yet that this needed to be this needed to be an amenity for a new Village and we skipped the village part we just did the amenity I don't think that flies and I thought at least if our Consultants can do a little vision piece it is maybe may not be exactly what's going to happen but give us a few Alternatives around the park draw it up watercolor you know make it this is a vision of what we might do with this area as opposed to this park and if you show well these are going to be a r retail here and the s's going to be wide and here and I asked them to concentrate on the streetscape on both sites which we don't see in here I know you don't go to construction drawings this is the vision piece but when you go to raise money for the park and the rest of it looks like the old neighborhood it's not very exciting you're going to someone cold turkey I'd like you to give us $5 million you've got to get emotional and excited um I think the visuals really help so show showing this is the long-term Vision that's all it is you know we don't that'll be phase two or three but this is the community that this park is going to stimulate I think we need it uh someday I hope we do a much broader plan I know we talked a little bit about a focus specific plan for that area is a very good idea um he another conversation but I wouldn't want to forget that conversation because I think that's what you need I'm not quite sure I'm not saying it's 10 square miles I don't know but it's maybe less than one square mile but is a focus specific plan for everything so you start to see what's going to make this park successful because I think those other pieces will be needed and I think the I think the vision of them will be needed to successfully raise money and get people excited so um those are my comments for now thanks if I if I may mayor and councel just a few um comments appreciate the feedback counc Freeman we have talked about breaking out the budget into subcomponents of the project so we can understand what are the costs of each of those subcomponents and so as we come back um you know with that that uh initial design work we'll be able to see the costs for each of the segments of the project which I think gives you know again the community and Council options on on thinking about um funding secondly um we have put together a framework for where we think that there's significant Grant dollars that could be pursued and available for this project um but then also um uh a essentially a framework for the campaign around fundraising I think a good suggestion that we could work with um a consultant we have pulled Community Resources into a fundraising plan that have done this before and have some good experience in the space um but good feedback about you know uh having some professional uh technical assistance on that that um effort and then lastly on the village concept that you mentioned of the conceptual vision for the neighborhood level uh we are pursuing that through a separate contract uh through the economic and Community Development Department they've um got funding to create a visualization for that neighborhood and two other neighborhoods um so that we can Leverage The this park investment to really you know see the big picture of the whole neighborhood well if they can prioritize the first one being around MLK Park and kind of accelerate that I think you're going to benefit from that in your fundraising that's the top of the list the other thing is in the document sort of said I think at the end it sounded like you wanted the council to say oh whatever resolve that or whatever hey we agree with this direction well you're asking us three different things we agree with M okay we were Z with uh 27 new parks 10 here and a million dollar prer and we agree with these things well those are all separate things to say we to make a blanket agreement I would much prefer to say you like this kind of Direction on MLK Park or not or well we probably don't I'm still concerned about the cost but you know the whole thing buying off on the whole package there's kind of different parts of that package and I don't think that they should be mush I won't be able to say I can mush them all together I guess that part and I know I have other questions but that I don't know how necessary that really is okay thank you thank you council member Freeman council member gray good evening thank you for your presentation um it's a beautiful park looks okay um my biggest concern is how we're going to pay for it and I've already uh raised these concerns you know in the past um so can you kind of go through what you're what you all are thinking again as far as the finances of this behind the park I'll leave this to the director absolutely thank you um we certainly know this is a huge huge challenge um and our efforts are going to be focused throughout the city uh tomorrow at the press conference you all got some invitations there but we have already um spoken with a lot of the major health uh systems and hospitals about a potential partnership which we hope does translate in some uh real dollars and real uh Capital help on the project as well as continuing to uh get grants uh we were very fortunate uh that one uh state assembly member contributed $2 million and she will be there tomorrow as well and we'll we'll continue to do that we'll continue to ask for State funding Federal funding get as many grants as possible and I just believe that together uh as we work together for this common effort that that can become a reality so those things can be addressed at each phase as city manager alluded to uh getting off the ground will know a little bit better uh as we sharpen the pencil and get closer with the finished product of what we truly are needing uh and so we can begin to plan that even if it means we have to phase it out additional years okay in our last discussion we had it was mentioned um Rick about uh even maybe possibly a $40 million loan are we still considering that I'm considering it I I think that when you look as you work through the rest of the master plan and you really see the realities of how far behind we are and just basic amenities that our residents expect we can't keep doing business as usual and expect to make progress if we do not have some real solutions some out of the-box solutions I think we'll be here in 10 years in the same situation I know there may be some opposing opinions um but I feel strongly that we need to be bold and we need to recognize the time that we're in we also need to recognize how far behind that we Fallen even though a lot of folks may not May disagree I've been in the communities I've been in the stakeholder meetings there are a lot of folks that feel that we should have more especially when you compare some other cities this size um they just really feel like their quality of life amenities in Bakersfield are very sparse they are in some neighborhoods pretty good but I would say Citywide in most neighborhoods they are not well I would have to say I'd be one of those opposing opinions on getting the city into any debt um over this and you mentioned in the times that we're living in um that's all the more reason that I'm that you know our our industry in the in uh Kern County is threatened uh by Sacramento and to um March for ward in that way I think all of us on this diet want Das want to um address and be able to invest in a nice Community Park there's no doubt I'm in agreement with that so but I'm not in agreement with putting the city at risk with debt um or our citizens at risk with debt because and that means there's other things that the city may need down the road and we don't have the capacity to do the needs and not just the wants I think this plan is beautiful I mean I told Christian yesterday it's beautiful but I think we need to have really be careful and sharpen that pencil up of what are really the needs of that community that part of Bakersfield and what is the wish list because the wish list can become begin to blur the real need and the wish list is what is going is what's driving this high cost I mean I look further when we get down into this a little bit further tonight we're talking about 10 new parks in bakersfi for $100 million 10 and we're doing one Park which will end up being $100 million before this is over said and done just to bring a little Clarity we currently have 11 under undeveloped Parks so those Parks these communities have been waiting for for a number of years and we simply don't have the funding to do that but I certainly respect and understand uh your concern um if I could say there are plenty of City models that take on reasonable debt and is able to provide services at a reasonable time to their residents I'm I'll leave the details to those that are smarter than me but I believe some reasonable debt with reasonable service to that debt is what a lot of cities are successful with there's models out there as well um but certainly again that's a conversation for another matter and I'm sure uh city manager would weigh in on that as well well I think it's important conversation to have in the beginning phases of this so that you know again if if we start to build a house and we don't know how much it's going to cost that's not very wise and or if we don't know where the money is coming from so I would hope that this is not a project that we dive into without the funds available to us in the bank knowing that we can complete the project I do like what uh our city manager said that we need to break this out into subcomponents so that we can as the money comes in we can build it in phases rather than tear the whole thing up and then we and then uhoh you know so and so Corporation decide they're not going to give us that $10 million afterward after all um these are lessons that I've learned in life and I think they apply to even something as broad as this as big as this because you've got a real be beag Vision here there's no doubt about it yes no yeah I I appreciate the the comments council member and and mayor and Council I think there's a lot of wisdom of what council member gray is sharing with us and I would agree I think uh we won't move forward with a design build type contract for actual you know final design and construction until we have the fiscal plan in place we wouldn't move forward until we have that plan in place uh I think uh also um it is aspirational but I think also you know in a way that can be transformational but on the specific topic of the the fiscal plan we have a little bit of time uh between now and when we get to 30% design and in that time we do need to take a hard look at what are the grants that we're going to pursue um the level of uh confidence that we have in going towards those grants getting some additional even um direct allocations of funding and you know we're going to be going through a process at midye where we're taking a hard look at uh the funding that we continue to set aside in in our uh both of our our contingency set asides our reserves our one-time monies that is for one-time projects and then go into the budget cycle knowing you know where we're at in our fiscal stability um again after another year of you know we we've continued to watch um for potential downturn in the economy we don't see it we don't see it but we you know there is still that sense that it could still be coming in some ways um it's been frustrating that it could be a longer sort of um um they call it now you know a stag session instead of a recession because it's just stagnant for a long time but I think we'll know a lot more by the time we get to our next fiscal cycle in the budget where we're at with our onetime monies our reserves and be able to do some projections on um uh ongoing um Bal unallocated balance you know in some of our funding sources will be a much better spot next spring in the budget cycle to lock in um more of the fiscal plan for this project but agree we wouldn't move forward until that's clear okay thank you appreciate it thank you council member gray Christian approximately what percentage of public private funding are you envisioning just a split between those depending on how you define public if you define public as um uh governmental versus private you know uh we we we our our aspiration is to really look at something that's probably in the 50% range where we could get private donations in the 50% range so thank you for the question mayor and um we do think that even that 50% that may be public would be a variety of public sources not not just exclusively City we're talking about you know again multiple state and federal grants there are some some federal grants out there today that are in the $10 million range you know you get one of those and you know you've got a really big chunk um that that we've been able to acquire so um we're we're being very thoughtful about um the potential funding sources and and Rick is not leaving any stone unturned he knows how much of you know an aspirational goal that it is but we we we do think we can get probably to a 5050 mix thank you council member arus thank you mayor um just want to tip my cap off to the consultants and to Rick um I think in order to fundraise big we've got to also dream big and um I'll make the argument that you know this particular project is not a want but actually a need uh for many community members who grew up in this area uh members of my family it was either you had two options it was either the Friendship House at cap K or it was MLK Community Center those were the two beacons of light for you and your siblings to go to after school um as opposed to Alternative you know things to do and um it was these two Community member or community centers that have uh you know helped so many professionals that we see around town um develop into the professionals that they are today um and this is an opportunity for us to turn the ship around um and recreate that Vision in in a big in a in in a modern way um so I I appreciate this and I'm so excited to finally have some visuals about what what this is going to look like um the other thing that I I don't want to do as the former uh representative for this area is to make a promise that we can't deliver on I think that's the last thing that we need to do to this community um Rick Christian and I we've been in meetings after after meetings where we hear from Community residents who talk about how they've been promised to uh you know in a big way whether that's Street improvements Park improvements and the like and you know we've closed their doors on them and have not answered their calls um so I really appreciate council member Freeman's point about phase phasing in this project have we thought about that and how would how would that look like yeah thank you so much for that question um certainly that is always part of the conversation um if we were to fall short of our certain uh certain goals that we've created for ourselves then we obviously would take more time to make sure that we could phase this project in I agree with you 100% really failure or turning back is not an option maybe lengthening the time but as long as people see meaningful progress I think that will still be in better shape than we've have been in years past um Council remember Freeman mentioned something about the emotional ties that really help people fundraise well I encourage you all to come out tomorrow because I've been blown away at the connections from many many of our leaders to that Park you will hear a lot of emotion you will hear a lot of people that are supportive of this big vision and I think it has to become a reality whether we do it in three phases or we do it in six phases we have to get this done absolutely thank you Rick and I know that you team have been uh bird doging this particular project so um $85 million there's definitely some sticker shock it is uh to that number how has your team already started to strategize and maybe even pair down certain components to bring that number down I know the cost of doing business is just skyrocketed but have you guys already done that analysis and it was a shock to us as well when we saw the numbers I I can say even before we got to this final concept um in these stakeholder meetings we really tried to explain to them the park is only so big we cannot do everything that everybody wanted so even some of their ideas we immediately uh decided that that wasn't the direction to go in but uh from the conceptual phase we looked at the total square footage and we actually shrunk that down completely we even removed a couple of the rooms that we thought were redundant or that could be used in a various ways instead of the Standalone options that we're currently and we'll continue to do that through the 30% design um I don't think that we've made promises um that making some minor tweaks are going to upset a lot of the community members as long as that that basic uh tenant of what we what we talked about is still present there got it thank you so much thank you really appreciate all the great work and uh just excited that my friend and Mentor Michael turn seaters in the room because this in my mind is truly a GameChanger project this is something that we have been working towards and is going to completely transform this community and I'm looking forward to the neighborhood uh assessment so that we could talk about how we leverage this project for future economic and residential development I agree thank you thank you council member arus vice mayor thank you mayor um thank you Mr Anthony for your leadership and for your work and the hard work of all those folks and rucken Parks who have been pushing this forward and pushing our master plan forward for now 2 years uh was in November of 20121 when we first uh launched this effort from the Das and so I I appreciate all the work I've been really impressed with being part of the stakeholder meetings and the level of Engagement we received from community members and I want to thank them as well for their honest feedback and for their challenges and for their aspirations that they've shared from from us and council member arus mentioned it uh this is not a want to say that this is a want is a slap in the face to so many community members who are in desperate need for Quality Community spaces for a community center to bring families together to bring our community together to help build more prosperous Community we're so quick to try to invest in resources to address crime and and concerns on the back end but here we have an opportunity to really invest in the front end and build community build prosperity for so many of our families and and I think if we if we lose that Vision we'll fall short of something significant I think we've all been able to visit worldclass cities throughout the world and one of my observations as I've traveled is we've seen seen I've seen significant investments in parks in community spaces in just basic public infrastructure by people of the past past Generations that have benefited so many people thereafter and it's because they had vision and it's because they had boldness and it's because they had the will to make it happen to figure out how to get the funding and that's what our city has been about look at historically uh Robble Bank Arena Centennial uh Plaza used to be called there was questions about how we're going to pay for that but the council at the time pushed forward had a bold vision and now that Arena has paved the way for so many wonderful community experiences it's far more profitable this year than ever before and and it's benefiting and helping Revitalize and continue to generate New Economic AC activity for our downtown and it's that same level of vision that we ought to have when it comes to this community space Same Spirit this is our opportunity to invest in serve the individuals and the families and the children not just this year and next year and the year after that but for 50 years down the road 60 years 70 years it's our opportunity to make something happen that's significant and special and unique and inspiring for all Bakersville residents and I pray to God that we do not fall short of that Vision this is our chance to make that major investment and there are some concerns that we've heard about finances and I I believe I that we will figure it out that we will find the financing but I think it's also important for us to recognize where we've been and how steadfast we've been and how smart and responsible we been fiscally you know when I first joined the council it was the council and the city's plan to finance the Centennial roads Centennial Corridor and the remainder of trip by bonding $270 million this Council was ready to bond $270 million for that roads project do you know how much we've had to bond zero zero zero because of federal grants because of state grants and the reason why we got those state grants was because we put everything into design and we were shovel ready and so when those Federal grant opportunities came about when those State opportunities came about we were competitive and we're able to finance the project with zero debt obligation that's the same Savvy we need to bring to this project the other thing is that I'm very proud of is that 5 years ago our rainy day reserve for a general fund was $13.1 Million today it's 52.8 million facility Reserve was 3.8 million today it's $5.2 million we continue to build that reserve and that is because of the commitment we've made uh to the public of being pH Al responsible and it's because of the investment frankly that the public has made through psvs and so I I think that we need to I think leadership requires boldness and it requires vision and I think that it's with that that we ought to pursue this project in its full entirety thank you thank you thank you council member core thank you first I want to say these renderings are beautiful someone is very talented with lumon and I can see that so congratulations to our uh folks working on making this Vision come to life it truly helps to see the visual uh and really understand how beautiful this project is um and to Echo the sentiments of my colleagues that this is a need and when you see the photos when you've when we've heard from community members week after week we know that this is truly a community investment and I want to take the opportunity to also thank director Anthony for being creative and your willingness to be creative um in finding multiple sources to really make this a community investment uh I don't think this is a cost to us this is an investment um we have so many sources that are being explored we've mentioned psvs even our public residents your tax dollars are helping bring this Vision to life and what I'm interested is in seeing Bakers Feld be on the map and this project will put our city on the map we'll continue to put our city on the map this project needs no explanation it speaks for itself and this will be a model for the rest of the Central Valley for the rest of the state um when Stu City Planning students are sitting in their classes this park will be one of those precedent studies that they will be looking at and how disinvested underloved communities can and do deserve a state-of-the-art project that will then incentivize more development around it and further uh the excitement of an area and I know that that is exactly what this project will do um and council member Adias as well as council member Gonzalez have hinted at this but truly when we alleviate the symptoms uh of poverty of disadvantaged neighborhoods around um lower education rates and access to that when it's access to facilities and resources and tutors and and places to sit in the shade at the very minimum and and have Open Spaces um that's when you alleviate the things that you know we have to deal with on the other end whether it's crime whether it's figuring out how uh to elevate the literacy rates in our in our areas these communities deserve more they deserve state-ofthe-art um and another note I think on phasing Parks I I might share a different sentiment because one of the parks in my ward is phased and uh sentiment changes over time priorities change and trust me people are also waiting for the next phase of that Park so I uh I'm actually for making sure that we figure out how to get this done uh at the at the front end of it so you know we don't have another case where Kaiser Park and the council changes our Administration changes at at the city level and the vision for the city changes and that's completely natural um but who's left waiting is the residents and I wouldn't want that to happen to the folks that live in and around MLK Park um because while Kaiser Park is a beautiful facility and it's full every weekend there is still more to be done and that is an example in our own City where phasing hasn't proven to be the best example I would say and I I understand the cost question as well but if we're concerned about cost I think we help connect the city with uh institutions that we know and we're connected with and and truly continue making this a a whole Community investment and I'm so happy to hear so many folks are able and willing um because I know we'll all be visiting this park and we'll we'll be there every MLK day we'll be there at the MLK breakfast so if we're already enjoying those and we're there um on the days that matter to the community and and we join them then um it's also on us to to meet them and and bring this park to life so those are my comments and I I appreciate seeing the visuals as well thank you thank you council member core council member we thank you mayor um it seems like to me when we first started talking about this that the MLK Park was $100 million and now it's down to 85 is that because we're not doing the village now or what happened there uh thank you for the question coun we the the100 million was sort of really a ballpark it was really high level out there um I actually um had encouraged the team we got to keep this down we got to reduce it a little bit because of contingencies and and you know just you cost escalations uh I think another piece though is U you're commenting on the village piece we do have other buckets of money that are going to go towards uh trying to uh do property Acquisitions for economic development that aren't part of this core project as well as actually we we're looking at some of our own uh streets infrastructure so we're pursuing a complete Street project on California Avenue that's right next to um MLK but that's probably going to be in fact that that project alone could end up being you know 10 million plus dollars compared to if we look at Chester Avenue is you know as a as a comparable um project that's you know been pretty high in cost and so um there are other complimentary aspects that will come around the park that aren't part of this total project but again we want to fund those from the those appropriate buckets and some of those will go after grants as well and some of those will probably have to be phased out also but we we're very much interested and committed in this being a catalyst for revitalization for the entire neighborhood and Village as we've talked about but this signature project we wanted to um you know keep it at a cost that we thought was attainable okay thank you um is it is it true that the center itself just is about 60 million out of this a little less than 60 million yes just under 60 million okay thanks um you've talked about a fiscal plan and I think it would be helpful for the council if we actually knew what the fiscal plan was some projections and and you know here's what we think's going to happen and then we could update it as we go along because I just feel like I'm in the blind on a lot of this stuff if I could clarify council member great Point are you saying fiscal plan specific to this project actually you know we have um this project and we have 453 million set up for Parks which includes MLK but you know I don't think we're getting we're not getting a vision of of the finances I I don't believe that we're getting that and it would good to have that because it along with these reports the the financial numbers really help and so if we could do that that would be awesome and I don't want I don't want this to stop we need this for the city of Bakersfield absolutely for the city of Bakersfield we we can't stop with this if we're going to do $453 million in Parks that's great we need to work on that but we need it for for the city there's I mean there's parks that we're behind on there's parks that are waiting for a couple dollar to fall out of somebody's pocket it's it's it's not good so you know we need to wrap all that up into a financial plan what it's going to take to to bring this all together and what we're going to do for the city of Bakersfield because this is to me the most exciting part of being on the council since I've been here and that's 17 years this is exciting to me so I want to make sure that it does doesn't get cordoned off into into some part of the city and and this is already going that's fine but I want it throughout the city of Bakersville and if we don't decide what we're going to do it's never going to get done thank you council member a couple thoughts to to respond um we will absolutely create a fiscal forecast and plan for the parks master plan I think that's one of the next steps as we present this master plan we're getting some feedback from Council about it and and and finding where we're aligned finding where we need to make some adjustments that's good feedback we can come through our next budget cycle with a fiscal plan for both what are we going to do in this coming year but also look over really the 20-year time frame of of this master plan and and outline a framework for how to get at it fiscally just the parks plan but I heard you saying what I heard I hope I'm right is we do need to do Parks and Recreation Citywide but also when you talked about it our last meeting uh the vision for the city for the city of bakers that we we are developing that uh visual image of um multiple segments of the city because again a one picture of the city is a really big picture so we're going to break it up into pieces we're going to do visual images of the city that represent what the future looks like for the city we'll look at fiscal planning to how to make that happen as well so if you look at a commercial Corridor and we see lots of cool nice tall buildings with these great bards and trees and what's the fiscal plan for those visualizations to make those a reality well the visualization would be helpful too that's the first step yeah but but I'll take your feedback back from your comments that we'll build fiscal plans um even if it is at least at a high level to what would it take what do we estimate it would take to actually build the visualization we'll do that along with that as you know that's what I heard you saying that's exactly what I meant okay and just so uh just so you know this council member is never going to vote vote for debt so you got your you got you got it in front of you and if you make it that's awesome but I'm not going to vote for that thank you thank you council member we council member grey well I think my comment about wants versus needs was very misunderstood and so I'd like to clear that up for your sake um first of all I I am for an investment at MLK I think it's very necessary and um council member Arius I appreciate the fact that you shared your own personal um experience as a child and that you had a place to go and I I totally agree with that to create that because it it does it does keep children from getting involved with the wrong stuff you know if we've given them something especially if their latch latch key kids which we have a lot of those all over the city um you know they need that direction so I'm very much for that so when I said wants versus needs I just want to look at this project through the lens of being physically responsible to where we don't just throw every wishlist piece into this project because somebody says I want that it's what what is the return on investment going to be if we include this or that or the other you know you you all know that neighborhood much better than I do so you you can help in that of what and you've lived there you've experienced it so I think it's just really important that we view things through the eyes of what is the return on investment is it is this particular part of this project is it really going to do that much to help these children or these families maybe we need to pull that part out of it so and council member Gonzalez um that was that is my clarification on that that I know that this is a need for that community and I think we need to move forward with it but again we've got to pay for it and uh that's that's where you know what I think about so thank you thank you council member gray vice mayor thank you mayor thank you council member gray I appreciate that clarification um what what I'd like to do is actually make a referral that we organize a special council meeting and visit the community center at ML and um you know not every council member is obligated to go to this special meeting but it would sure would be nice because I for one have been there I go there often and I'm complete um well somewhat embarrassed by some of the Deferred maintenance issues when we talk about some of the I think there's some significant pluming issues um other uh related issues related to electrical and some real serious issues with the existing structure um Mr Anthony you want to comment on that yes and no okay I know it's it's it's not the proudest uh it state but it's important to recognize because this is the real ity that we're we're addressing right now yeah it is and you know frankly there are probably several aspects of that building that are probably out of compliance just to be completely honest um it's been a challenge to keep up it's been a challenge to keep it safe and clean for the kids and uh you know quite frankly it's long overdue for major Renovations so I would really like us thank you Mr Anthony I would really like the full Council to participate in a tour of the fac fa so we can all see firsthand um what dis repair the the building actually is in and how dire an investment is thank you I don't see any other request to speak Mr Anthony yeah in the interest of time uh we're going to probably just do a quick high level overview for the rest of the master plan uh there are several elements of the plan that we were planning to kind of give you an update in including the Kern River Parkway uh the city tree canopy enhancements but we'll just kind of skip over there and talk about generally where we feel the city is at um overall so I'll turn it back over to Noah okay thank you thank you for the feedback and uh I'll pass on the the comments on the visualizations I think that people will be very proud of that they're always making us look good um so just with the the planning process for the parks wreck and Parks master plan so we're at the end of uh phase three of four-phase process but we wanted to just check in with you on to make sure we've identified the right priorities and investment strategy for the 10-year action plan so just like uh just like MLK Park uh there's been substantial uh Community involvement you can see here just the list lots of advisory guidance from a variety of groups tours uh that I've been fortunate to participate at interviews with some of you actually most of you uh Community Connection focus groups again directly dealing with members of uh associations or agencies countless pop-up events and then surveys two uh one systemwide and one for the Kaiser perment Sports Village that was uh well well received now um the key needs here the these were uh cross checked these are 10 priorities shown um and shared with you in the last meeting but these were cross checked with a detail analysis so the needs are to improve Parks obviously acquire more Park land create new Trail connections provide additional Shade that's been a consistent theme throughout and improve the uh natural and Recreation stewardship along the the the parkway so recognizing that the city invested in many parks of the last years um to address deferred maintenance and fix inoperable Recreation facilities the plan forecasts uh renovation needs over the next 10 years so you can see here it factors the results of conditions assessment conducted early in the process as well as data Gathering um I'm sorry as as uh G facility life cycles to identify numbers of sites and needing minor improvements versus more substantial improvements as you see here there's for example 29 uh need minor improvements so that would be like uh you know just 5% of the park versus um 12 need major renovation that that would mean that you know 50% of the park or the asset is needed to be repaired now the recommendation for uh new parks currently the city uh the city standard is four acres per uh 1,000 residents the city is not meeting that demand not not not by not close uh currently the existing City uh is 2.7 2.07 acres per th residents and so even if you included the undev undeveloped Parks you're still short 2.77 Acres so we've right siiz this to make it 2.85 acres for a th000 residents that said uh I think the the the main recommendation here is that we uh there is a slightly higher Los level of service but we are recommending smaller parks that are closer for people to walk to now here you see the new parks where are recommended now the big takeaway here is that um the areas in in well the circles are where we're suggesting new parks go or could go now the colors all that you have to see here is the takeaway is that the red areas are those that the healthy communities index have indicated are less uh less healthy and so the yellow areas are are fairing better but the the red and the orange are the areas that are most in need and just so you know it the the circles represent about half a mile walking distance which again is what we're recommending now um just the tree plan I'll just quickly mention that uh the tree plant is is meant for downtown and to enhance the canopy across the city but specifically downtown that was part of another big component of this these are just some of the the corridors some of these are are Street corridors others are parks like mil Creek and um even a partnership with the downtown elementary school so it just shows uh the projects that will help achieve other goals like sustainability and uh you know downtown Aesthetics as people have uh very much suggested now here are where they are located now you see the corridors the green and the blue corridors and the the orange now these are just shade corridors for not only people but also importantly uh pollinators bees and such now the the Kaiser Permanente uh Sports I'm sorry the Kern River Parkway the management plan is also included I'm sorry there's a lot of plans and components to this um so it's identified goals and strategies but the the full full Parkway is managed by several City departments as you know and owned by several different private and public agencies so a key goal for this is collaboration this is one thing that we've heard over and over increased collaboration and communication uh to support shared outcomes between the various entities and this is one of the fundamental goals of our recommendations now you see here there's eight key River Parkway projects now these these include anything from finding signage uh way finding and signage to U you know make it more accessible but also improvements at key locations that are either highly used or sensitive habitat now the map shows kind of the distribution of these projects across the portion of the parkway managed by the city's Park and Rec Department that's just be clear about that it's just managed by the city uh Park and wreck department not the entire Corridor I know I'm moving very fast here but I know just in the interest of time so if all of these recommendations are are are implemented the costs will likely exce exceed what seems reasonable for or sustainable over the next 10 years so the wre and Parks master plan would prioritize projects to present a more realistic action plan so it's important to keep all recommended projects within the plan because ultimately this helps you achieve grant funding right so you have it on your plan on your docket and it helps grant funding so in total the long range Capital Improvement plan includes all of these things that are listed here on the right side um 65 renovated Parks 639 Acres of new expanded uh Parkland the connection to the multi-use Trail Loop that you see very uh very small here um it's the red the red dashed line that kind of loops around the city and connects uh with the K River Parkway and of course the parkway improvements okay so this is uh important step for us before us now is to take all of these project desired by the community and essentially pair it down into a more strategic and realistic uh action plan so we're in the midst midst of this prioritization process that includes public feedback uh guidance from the park advisory committee which we met yesterday along with directions we hope to receive from Council today so we want to um ask you to help us identify the types of projects to prioritize as well as the general investment amount so we can consider the types of funding needed to implement the plan so just a quick uh we've had this uh poll it's not really a full survey but a poll approximately 170 responses so far many of them in paper that we've entered and you can see here we've asked so what would be your preferred investment level if I could do it this is what people said 146 said invest more 26 said invest the same now we asked if you had $100 how would you spend $100 in types of parks in types of improvements and of course the the winter was repairing Place worn or older Park features which again is a theme that we've heard over and over in terms of the quality of the parks and the condition of the parks take care of existing assets along with improving Park safety is another big issue that's relevant we know in MLK Park um and Trail development people want more more Mobility more active mobility and active transportation to get around and through the city so with this information we have begun to identify key projects to include within the 10-year action plan so current priority initiatives are noted he noted here recognizing that some projects as the MLK Park revitalization uh help achieve a variety of community priorities so this list that you see in front of you is uh reflects the importance of taking care of existing parks while moving forward with the development of 11 sites that were already promised to many nearby residents it balance the need to enhance existing sites while also responding to New Growth so the action plan uh takes into account these U three projects with funds identified for construction that are nearly completed so the smaller Sunset Mayflower Park East uh in East Bakerfield East Bakersfield I think just recently or will about is about to have the the grand opening all right so so with this in mind the potential 10-year action plan may include the Elements shown here uh preliminary planning cost suggests that this level of of development cost around $450 million over the next 10 years this does not include the cost of new park development new park development which ideally should be funded through Park impact fees so this purpose of the the purpose of this preliminary list is for discussion only and be clear it's just for disc discussion since we are still collecting feedback on priorities uh this amount would not be entirely funded by the city the costs uh do not account for outside Investments such as grants donations and Partnerships that would offset the total cost that you see here now this list includes approximately onethird of the improvements and enhancements to the existing parks and that residents would like to see so we may we may want to increase that number um it includes all of the tree canopy and uh Kern River projects shown earlier in in this presentation it places an emphasis on downtown Bakersfield in conjunction with other City initiatives it includes 25% of the planned Trail corridors recognizing that some Trails will be planned in conjunction with new residential growth as is happening in uh West Ming and high Highgate developments so this desired action here is the potential projects noted in the previous slide would require approximately 44 4.8 million per year over the next 10 years so some of these projects may be funded through grants donations naming rights and Partnerships so is this reasonable it's the main question Are there specific priorities you would like to see included in the 10year action plan thank you very much for your feedback thank you for your presentation of the survey respondents thus far how evenly are they distributed among the seven Wards do you have any sense of that that was one of the questions that we asked and it was in fact by a pin and so I wish I could bring it up but it is uh very widely distributed evenly distributed throughout the city and we can share that uh with you I don't know the exact numbers though but yeah at first glance thank you vice mayor thank you mayor if you're just asking for feedback from Council Members right now um I would I would go back to the prioritization survey result slide and uh the top three repair and replace worn or older Park features number two build more bike and pedestrian trails and number three enhance the Urban Tree canopy would be my three along with the fourth of developing those parks that have been promised to neighborhoods um that we've heard from council member core um and I think other council members who uh who have signaled that there are these expectations that we've established as a city we need to really have a a concrete plan to develop those parks that would be my four priorities thanks Council Maris thank you mayor um a couple of comments I I agree with uh vice mayor Gonzalez's assessment although I will add that it's to my knowledge many of these parks that were promised I don't think we have the land for all of them do we there are a couple that we're still waiting on some acquisition for you're right at least two of them correct so if if I could just add to that list we will also need to set aside some dollars to go after and acquire that land so that we can eventually deliver on that promise is that right yeah I believe the land has been identified it's just that they're not in any stage of development so there's no dedication process in a lot of those got it okay thank you um and then if we could go back to the slide um about new parks and where the needs are throughout the community I'd appreciate it oh the circle slide right yes there you point that there it is yes I just wanted to highlight one fact that there is a need for parks in just about every piece of the city of Bakersfield um in just about all seven Wards um it looks like there's varying degrees of need um but you know based on this visual it looks like the greatest needs are in Ward one Southeast Bakersfield um South Bakersfield for certain and then also Northeast speakers field as well is that is that correct that is correct and I just need to bring to your attention we have not um identified on this map the needs at for north of the river but they also have undeveloped land um and just to mention that we had a meeting with them today and there will be quite a bit of collaboration moving forward with our plan versus their needs as well fantastic uh I really appreciate that I just wanted to lift this up and highlight the fact that um you know that there are certainly parts of town that need more help when it comes to park space and green space um but then also to highlight that there are needs just about everywhere throughout Town um so I think this is this should be at least a a major priority for the council to start to chip away at this make the Investments where needed um and you know potentially get Savvy with um you know uh potentially you know financing uh some of these Investments uh the last thing that I wanted to uh talk about is I'm really excited about the tree canopy conversation um really grateful that it's going to be happening in downtown Bakersfield um but I also wanted to lift lift up the fact that um there are only very few maybe a handful of parks throughout the city of Bakersville that have a true tree canopy um you know I remember growing up always ask my dad dad why do we have to go all the way out to heartt park um and the fact was because you know it actually had a true tree canopy and it was about 10 15° cooler uh than the neighborhood park near our community so have we thought about that and are we going to be um implementing you know some add we didn't get into that those that level of details but not only um are we focused on the down town area in terms of um our tree canopy plan and probably some immediate improvements but there is language about developing standards that we can use Citywide and a lot of that is uh per acre per uh Park is the amount of trees that we're planning moving forward so that will be inclusive of that final draft of the master plan okay great I appreciate it great plan thank you thank you council member arus council member Freeman uh thank you mayor and thank you for the presentation I me I think this gives us for me this is this is um it represent a lot of work but it's almost a starting point as opposed to a finishing point because it's broad very broad brush very general stuff um obviously we'll end up having to prioritize we're unlikely well unless we get a lot of Grants to spend $44 million a year we we first have to be sure we have more than that in roads that are under standard that we need to upgrade in our city so we have infrastructure all over but um um I would like I would make a suggestion that that as far as the the parks that are needed in the different areas and my my ward probably needs the least because it's the newest and there's a park policy in place so the developers I.E the homeowners all had to pay for their parks and you couldn't build the belt without it so you'll the the areas we don't have it is before there was a policy that made people pay for a park when they bought the house and there was money there um but uh yeah I I think it would be productive if each council member took the research you've done but they know their Ward I don't know Ward one real well I don't know but the they know the needs and rather than well there's some circles here and stuff on a map I'd really like to know or have each War member say this is what my ward it's my ward I know the people I represent them here's what I think at a minute minimum we need in new parks in my ward okay and if one needs new equipment I'm going say that too but mainly this is where we just you know and I you know you can do the nice to have but I'd rather them say this is the minimum we really need I don't know Eric maybe you need three Parks I don't know you know and these are the general areas of course you'd have to find land I doubt we're going to buy humps and tear them down but but so it has to be feasible but kind of it' really be nice to know from the council person who really is in Char that Ward what do you think your needs are and how would you prioritize them what do you really want to see or you and your citizens in that Ward and then you know and make it the minimum this what if we possibly find the money this what we got to do um I'd like to compare that to this and I'm not sure that it wouldn't look very different and it might not cost us $450 million or whatever with budget for that might cost us 200 million or something and you could say I need a 3 Acre Park here I need a six acre Park here I can find some land to get more micro and we'd be thrilled if we got those parks in it and I don't think I'm going to find many in mine so I they can use my funds okay I don't think we're going to need him in a lot of where after the policy was in place we started building Parks um but I think that would be really useful that we get more micro and you you might only Eric come up with well I'm going to have seven Parks but they're only going to take up 12 acres I don't know you know because this is where we need them and this would be fine here but I think that would be really helpful because I have a feeling at this level is so General that we're never really going to figure out what parks should build every well that was that was uh Eric's respond no that that was Rick's responsibility no that was Christians I do this and 5 years from now you know we really didn't any parks so number one I think that would be helpful number two I think the people was interesting how they prioritize what they really if we have spend money we spend it because they were pretty right on I mean I think the number one to me is figuring how to build the 10 or 11 Parks we've already committed to I mean we owe these people Parks they actually paid fees to have it built I we'll address the problem in it it's not enough with inflation but we got to build those Parks that's the highest priority I think MLK is right up there at the top um after that I kind of split between kver Parkway and downtown because when I think of the parkway I think of the trail more than the vegetation inside the river and the community really likes the trail we got all sorts of dead trees missing trees broken sprinkler you know cleaning up the trail I don't know what it costs but that's that's Community Asset cut across town that's a pretty high priority and we still have to be thinking about downtown so so um you know that's those are kind of my I I really don't like I don't want to give the press this budget because I think everybody panics this foreign it's a dream budget maybe it ought to be over 20 years I don't know what we need 152 million for Mason Mar I'm sorry councilman we but you know can we get it can I get 100 million off of that2 million 100 can I get 100 million from you have enough for to cut to cut the cost and uh you know I I don't know the 99 million um by the way the 10 new parks those for the most part were the new policy where the land had to be paid for and the improvements by the Builder giving the city the fees now and there's five of them apparently you mentioned to me that are the development is completed and there's no park there and it's because hey there's not the fee the fee wasn't adequate with all the inflation to cover it and well there's nothing we can do about that anyway on those so we're going to have to figure out a way to cover it and maybe it the fees cover half but I disagree that it's a million bucks an acre for a 10 acre Park and I can prove that to you uh and maybe we just build a nice six acre park instead yeah we give them a nice park it's the best we can do and because it sounds like we're going to have to fund that out of our pocket and you may have to program it over three or four years but get it done um you know it's going to be part of an annual budgeting but that's a commitment we made there is you can't go back and charge them a higher fee anyway but moving forward we have a I sent to development committee a request that we come up with a way to a new park policy you know we can't raise the fees I mean more than 25,000 for the minimum new home so if you want another 10,000 of the price of a home that's not feasible we can't read the fee one penny which means we're either going to have to shrink the park or have that same park covered twice as much area so we're done with these 10 acre Parks even if they're 750,000 an acre so we need to address that um but let's be sure we take care of those people we made the commitment to um and uh and that we you know we kind of study ways to build nice parks that don't cost a million an acre thank you council member Freeman and I know that we certainly have thrown a lot at you in this brief time I didn't expect to spend so much time uh on MLK but I think it was well worth it um what may I make a suggestion is that give you a little more time to digest what we've given you and then I'd rather kind of get this right rather than Rush push through just so we can meet some sort of timeline and it's up to you we can either be invited back uh to discuss this or we can have individual meetings about some of your priorities as it matched with some of the surveys um your perspectives are certainly different and that I I agree with you I think that we've made commitments to these communities and we have not delivered on that promise so that's certainly a higher priority for me as well but it would be interesting and getting all of your feedback and I don't think Mig would have a problem with setting up some individual uh virtual conversations so we can really get down and making sure that we have the right size and the right fit for your particular Ward Mr Anthony council member Smith would like to make a comment and then we can move on thank you mayor I just uh appreciate you meeting with no I know I talked to you about that and and I think that you know it helps us move forward with grand opportunities and stuff when we show the whole city and that you know we we are also short in that area which is most award for is now no o and so I appreciate that and look forward to that information being added to the map thank you thank you council member Smith Mr thank you Mary I had just some wrapup comments but are that conclude most of the council comments okay so um I I do like uh director Anthony's suggestion that we can do some additional followup make sure we gather that feedback um we'd be happy to do another Workshop but I think it could be really productive to do some additional one-on ones as no the plan was this was really a checkpoint it was wasn't the final this was to get feedback to guide us in creating that 10-year prioritized plan and then my last comment is just to provide a little bit of context on the funding piece and we'll do more of this as we come forward and say you know is is a you know $400 million or $44 million a year you know is that feasible that's also having again what council mayor we asked for a fiscal plan for this you know project itself to to give some early context to what we could share those I think we'll give also like a 2 to threee history of what has our level of spend been over the last 3 years because you'd probably be surprised that it's been pretty hefty so um over the last um two years we have received $6 million in park grants and that was before we had dedicated Grant riter and even dedicated you know lobbying efforts I think we're getting a lot more sophisticated at our ability to go get funds and so we've received $6 million and well it's a little more than six million actually it's it's close close to $7 million in Grants for Parks um in the last couple of years uh we've received you know um more than $10 million in Grants for Trails uh we've been spending about $6 to8 million a year out of psvs on um Park improvements and catchup we had some significant catchup work to do do I think that's sustainable over a 20-year period probably not frankly but over the next 10 years as we continue to do some catch up I I think that's um a reasonable Target and then just just to some of those numbers as Council May Freeman noted we're in the middle of a conversation about what is our standard and policy that's part of this conversation as well is do we revisit what is the standard acreage and then we've we've explored some really creative ideas about joint or concurrent uses um getting um that can reduce cost and and and also bring in some you know resources and revenues um and um I think as we revise our our policy a little bit and get creative and and find some of these you know concurrent uses I think we'll be able to get at this issue uh and really meaningful ways um so there's a little bit of you know cost savings but also I think we're going to be pretty um successful at you know getting pretty significant funding um on a regular basis to help us down this path thank you Mr Cay Vice thank you mayor I'm going to make a motion to receive and file but just to clarify I just want to um check in I I heard several different recommendations or points of Direction tonight number one is that we um check in with other Council all of the council members individually and get some feedback what I would like to ask is that we do that once we've sort of concluded the public input phas so some sense of sequencing and we kind of get a sense of what the public has heard has said and kind of have a chance to analyze and digest all of that feedback um but that we continue with the 10-year action plan perhaps with an addendum of the next 10 years so we have a 20-year um Outlook um that we really hone in on that Finance plan as well and um that we continue to press forward so with that a motion to receive and file you have a motion please catch your votes M clerk are we having issues or we just need a little lag we're having motion is approved with council member gry absent thank you and with that this meeting stands adjourned at 5 7 and we'll gather together at 5:20 and the meeting should be relatively [Music] short [Music] think [Music] f [Music] should [Music] [Laughter] [Music] some [Music] water [Music] I [Music] yes [Music] I need to reach out to him too [Music] talk [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] all [Music] [Music] right [Music] [Music] [Music] people [Music] [Music] turn [Music] n [Music] [Music] I [Music] am I like I like doing right down the middle right here so we can see the and clerk FR is stuck little more there you go right there and [Music] then [Music] [Music] you [Music] yeah [Music] [Music] sorry to keep you waiting we just ran a little long on our prior meeting we'll start in just a [Music] minute [Music] a [Music] here we [Music] go [Music] sh [Music] for [Music] we apologize for the delay we're still waiting for Council Members so we can have a quorum thank you all for being [Music] here oh [Music] welcome to the Bakersfield City council meeting this television broadcast is brought to you by the local cable companies the county of Kern and the City of Bakersfield you can watch the rebroadcast of this meeting Saturday at 700 p.m. Sunday at 10:00 a.m. and the following Wednesday at 7 p.m. you can download the agenda for this meeting at www . Bakersfield city. us PRD over this evening's meeting The Honorable mayor Karen K go good evening it's my pleasure to call to order the 5:15 regular city council meeting of October 25th 2023 Madame cleric please call the role mayor go here Vice mayy Gonzalez here council member Aras here council member Weir here council member Smith I'm here council member mber Freeman here council member gray and council member core here thank you and welcome to all of you thank you for being here we apologize for the delay in the start uh welcome to Professor Holmes class at Bakersville College how many of you are from BC a lot of you you're making up our audience anyone from CSUB here tonight welcome road runners welcome Renegades and it's always good to have our students here participating in the process we have the pleasure tonight of having Pastor Rusty rhods who's a pastor at all of nolles and also principal at all of nulles Nazarene school where they have about 500 students and are expanding and growing rapidly so thank you so much for your service uh we were to have a student lead the pledge but I don't see the student here so council member core will be leading the pledge would you all please stand Pastor are we having the pledge first for the prayer God then country all right youve got it let's B our heads Our Father in heaven we hallow your name and give you praise you have blessed our city our state and our nation with freedom and liberty the abundance we enjoy comes from your hand and no other we humble ourselves before you may your will be done in the city of Bakersfield we pray that these fine men and women of our Council will seek your wisdom as they lead this municipality May their leadership guide Our Lives into the kind of community that is filled with peace and respect with that Bakersfield set a different tone than the bitterness and rankor we see throughout our nation and the world we pray for the Peace of Jerusalem and all those In Harm's Way this day your will be done and may your people who are called by your name humble ourselves pray seek your face and renounce the wickedness of our nature please hear us forgive our sins heal our land in the name of Jesus we pray it amen amen thank you salute pledge flag United States of America indivisible andice for all thank you and you may be seated here a few guidelines to help our meeting run smoothly we request that you turn off your phones please be courteous in the use of cameras and videos for safety reasons and as a courtesy to others no signs are allowed in the council chambers or in the lobby Applause is allowed during the presentations portion of the meeting but not during other portions of the meeting everyone in attendance is expected to adhere to the rules of decorum established by resolution of the city council failure to abide by the city's rules of decorum including any disruptive behavior that interferes with our ability to have an orderly and efficient meeting prevents the city council from conducting the business of the city Madam clerk next item please public statements in keeping with the council's res resolution the public statements portion is now divided into two periods there's a period for items listed on the meeting agenda and items not on the meeting agenda statements for items listed on tonight's agenda are given a 2-minute time limit 20 minutes total per agenda item the consent calendar as a whole constitutes one agenda item statements regarding items not listed on the agenda are given a 2-minute time limit 20 minutes total if you have written comments that are longer than your verbal statement please give them to the clerk who will give copies to the council if you're here to make a public statement please fill out a public speaker card and give your completed card to the city clerk we ask that you mark whether you're here to speak on an item listed on tonight's agenda or in a matter not on the agenda speakers who do not identify a specific spe ific agenda item will be presumed speakers for the non-agenda portion those speakers will be called during that non-agenda portion of the meeting we're very interested and concerned with your issues however due to the public notice requirement of the brown act the council cannot take action when an item isn't on the agenda the council can however refer your matter to committee or request that staff contact you madam clerk do we have any public speakers regarding items listed on tonight's agenda mayor go we have not received any public speaker cards for items listed on tonight's agenda Madam clerk do we have any public speakers for items not not listed on tonight's agenda America we have received five public speaker cards for items not listed on tonight's agenda the first public speaker is Armando Garcia thank you cards please can you give her the Cards start welcome please introduce yourself and go ahead yes uh good afternoon everyone my name is Armando Garcia I am a resident of Ward one of the city of Bakersfield I am here today on behalf of the young Democrats of Kern County I wanted to address the coid 19 mask mandate resolution that was brought and passed two weeks ago uh spearheaded by kener uh I firmly believe that this resolution was brought up uh in bad faith firstly this is something that has been brought up and is being pushed by Petty political agendas and not something that is actually backed by science secondly coid 19 severely impacted the lives of not just everyone standing in this room but beyond that to focus on pushing such a mundane resolution is a waste of time and it's taken away from taken away attention from issues that are seriously affecting our communities and lastly when this resolution was passed I want to make it clear that it was only a council of four members um so I really believe that the city of Baker was not properly uh represented when this resolution was passed and I demand that you pull this resolution and consider taking a vote on this with a full council with full proper representation thank you thank you Mr Garcia next speaker please Linda Johnson followed by noi Garcia welcome M Johnson good evening mayor go and City Council Members my name is Linda Johnson LeBlanc and I am the organizational lead for work sites on the blue zones project Bakersville team the initiative is sponsored by adventus Health California resources Corporation and the City of Bakersville our Collective goal is to become a Blue Zone certified Community where people want to come live work play and worship I would like to acknowledge and thank the city of Bakersville for being a sponsor and great champion of the project we approach our work through the transformation of people places and policy I have colleagues that work in the people and policy sectors the place of sector is comprised of restaurants grocery stores work sites and schools my specific role as a lead is to work with worksites or employers to help improve employee well-being we conduct this work through a pledge process and each entity or organization agrees or pledges to implement evidence-based practices that have shown to significantly improve individual organizational health and well-being or verify that an existing work site practice meets the blue zones project crit criteria one component of the Bakersfield certification criteria is for a minimum of 52 diverse employers to become blue zones project approved diversity includes organization industry and size ownership and employee populations of varying race gender and ethnicity we want every resident to have awareness and access to the blue zones project principles for Life longevity and well-being my ask of you is is to review the document shared that details some of the areas of opportunity where I have yet to make a connection and or where we would like to formulate Partnerships and allies if you have suggestions or can connect me with someone via a warm introduction please contact me this initiative requires LeBlanc your time is up can you bring your comments to a close please all right um this initiative requires the experience expertise and networks of local leaders to be a success and we appreciate your support and helping to move this Mission forward thank you in advance thank you next speaker please mayor if I can make a comment um council member Aris thank you uh Miss Johnson LeBlanc thank you so much for uh taking me up on my offer and and joining us here tonight I really appreciate all the great work that you're doing um and that blue zones is doing for our community um if I could make an Ask of staff to please reach out to Miss Johnson LeBlanc and see if there's some opportunities for us to help her she's made it very easy for us to follow and see exactly who she needs contacts with here in our community and I think uh the least we could do is make that introduction so thank you thank you council member Aras Madam clerk next speaker please noi Garcia followed by Richard hello good evening council members good evening myo my name is NOA Garcia I work for the the loresa foundation as director Civic engagement in government relations I'm here speaking on behalf of the resolution that the city passed to not enforce any future Co 19 mandates um I'm in opposition of that mandate for a variety of reasons I agree with previous speaker on really that the full city was not represented during this past vote and I am requesting that you know you all pull that mandate and vote on it again with full representation by the whole Council uh this mandate does not protect our community it does not take into consideration the risks to to the individuals with you know disabilities who are imuno compromised uh and really just does not take into consideration the impact that not enforcing these future mandates has and is a distraction of really getting to the work of you know building our economy here really providing jobs for folks here building our infrastructure um this is not in those goals of what this city council has outlined uh and so I really encourage you all to reconsider this resolution uh really put it out you know I was appalled when I saw this in the news um and I really want to see some action being taken by the council members uh and so I will be following up with you all and and being connected to this Council to see if you all are going to actually pull this resolution or bring it up to another vote so I look forward to you know seeing that on the next agenda item uh or hearing discussion today so I I thank you all for the time thank you Mr Garcia next speaker please Richard followed by yenia ACC welcome hello good afternoon good afternoon my name is Richard kees and I here today on behalf of building Healthy Communities of Kern um the goal of organiz our organization is to Advance Health and racial equity for everyone here in Kern County that being said the pandemic of 2020 affected many communities in K County especially those communities that are underserved and under represented that is why I am here today you to take into consideration the safety protocols put forth by the state and federal government regarding coid as it is crucial for the health of our underserved communities to be protected and be taken into consideration as the previous speakers have said uh it does seem like um all of Bakersville was not included uh in that decision- making and we would like to see if you guys if every if the council could revote on that and take it into consideration thank you thank you next speaker please yes Sen AO hi good afternoon uh my name is Yo I'm a Bakersfield resident and I'm also uh the health program director with the Dolores wera Foundation uh I'm here to um voice my disagreement with the resolution that was passed in the last meeting to um to uh about the Mandate um excuse me the global pandemic and the intensification of uncertainty around the world compounded the need to organize Co 19 relief programs in 2021 dhf in partnership with building healthy communities and various organizations came together to establish United against Co Coalition and work to provide coid health education and Outreach today we hosted over for 140 clinics and 10,000 doses in Kar County alone vaccine clinics include Vital Information including hot food meals when possible food baskets that we have served to over 14,000 families Beyond responding to the immediate resources we have secured a partnership with UC Merced Community Labor Center to launch a community needs assessment in the Central Valley including in the city of Bakersfield the purpose of the community needs assessment is to clearly articulate the needs of the most underinvested communities that are trying to recover from the longlasting effects of the pandemic the goal is to support an equitable economic Workforce the decision to ignore mandates will affect thousands of community members most impacted by the community and it will especially compromise the livelihood of essential workers including Farm Workers whose far whose work generate over $32 billion annually just in the S Valley we ask the city of Bakersfield to vote to resend the resolution against future Co mandates thank you thank you Miss oampo Madam city clerk do we have any other speakers that was our final speaker mayor thank you next item please consent calendar items mayor if I may I had requested to speak council member core thank you um one I want to acknowledge those who are here and spoke um but first I want to apologize to my constituents for missing the last uh city council meeting due to work as folks may know this is not a full-time job or Council like it in other cities especially in top 10 cities within the state so I also work another full-time job and um had to be there for my commitments to work um in acknowledging the comments of our community members um feedback from constituents that I still receive um up until today uh expressing their rightful disappointment with the vote as well as with my absence to which I apologize for um I I hear you and I am very regret I have lots I have much regret for missing that but I was under the impression that you know the the decisions made on this Das were would be well informed um and it's true in this moment there is no coid surge happening that'll mandate masks as our experts have shared with us um and in response I want to share that it should be the experts that are guiding us and that being the medical experts that navigated us through that first pandemic just as we rely on Engineers to build safe and sound buildings for us we also should rely on our medical experts for our care do we not I I believe we do we resort to The Experts for making those decisions for us and um a lot of conversations were had about choice at the last city council meeting the choice to mask if someone is sick or is subject to an illness based on being immuno compromised that is you know a long-term illness being pregnant so many the list goes on but it's their choice right and if we want to talk about freedom and of freedom and choices um you know we protect those who are most vulnerable and most of the decisions and even different kind of topics that we've talked about here on the city council and I think the signal has gone far and wide of the decisions made at the last city council meeting and uh kind of the political point and and maneuvers of that decision are are very clear but I also agree I don't think we need this resolution at our city I think passing this resolution makes our governing body our city Administration look ill-informed ill advised and kind of out of touch with our community's needs and what they're actually worried about which is their living conditions in this moment with rent being too high a fentanyl crisis Road Safety pedestrian safety the list goes on but those are top of mind for folks of course the in kind of the impeding coid 19 is as well but again our medical experts have navigated us through that to be able to gather here in this in this forum today um and I want to make a referral and I Look to our City attorney to resend the resolution um or at least begin that process so that when we so that we can at least start resending this resolution um and for the very reason that we don't need it in our city and as shared it virtually has no power so I think we're better than this I truly believe that at the city level and for those who think and say that this is done and over um that the pandemic has gone there are folks who are living with this today but folks are again still expressing their concerns that something like this would pass at this Council and decisions made even just two weeks ago simply don't go away um so I think the political performance worked um I think it had its moment I think it's time that we step up and and meet the expectations of our residents at this dis and um so I'd like to make like I said I'd like to make the referral to resend this resolution um that states not to enforce any future Co 19 mandates or impose penalties within our city [Music] jurisdiction thank you council member core council member arus thank you may mayor thank you council member core as well for making that referral and thank you to everybody who came out to speak tonight um I'll just recall the early weeks of the pandemic uh in those early months where like like everyone else did not know what to do uh other than to shelter and do what it took to protect your family um working with the county public health department and also with County supervisor at DC press uh we were able to set up the very first um drive-thru station where we were doing active testing to see if you or your family member was sick um and we had lines of hundreds if not thousands of cars on a daily basis uh and that was to make sure that we could protect ourselves we could protect our families and protect our community um and you know it it it blows my mind that we are now having a conversation about a resolution to completely uh reject any help and any guidance from the professional experts on this very topic um I think it's poor policy I think it's frankly a wedge issue uh I think that you know historically members of this Das um not to say the ones that are up here today but in the past have utilized this platform to pass similar resolutions and I think it's poor precedent um it is irresponsible government and we must take action and I appreciate the community members for coming out tonight um I support council member core's referral and I would like to ask uh our City attorney to advise what those next steps could look like mam City attorney mayor vice mayor I understand the referral and I will do the research but I will tell you that as I sit here right now it's not my understanding that you can resend something for at least a year because the vote was taken and it was not done without prejudice so again I understand the referral I will do the research and I will bring back um what I can what I can discover but that is my current understanding as I sit here today great thank you thank you thank you and now next item please consent calendar items 7A through 7z for approval thank you vice mayor thank you mayor I we have one council member who wishes to recuse themselves for an item council member Freeman if you want to read yeah I have a have a potential conflict with item 7 y potential I have a potential conflict with with item 7 y 7 Y and also we will uh pull item 7f for separate consideration at the request of council member Weir with that I will make a motion to adopt ADT the consent agenda uh except for item 7f you have a motion please catch your votes motion is approved with council member gray absent thank you and now item 7 F motion to approve item 7f you have a motion please cast your votes motion is approved with council member Weir voting no and council member gray absent thank you next item please Council and mayor statements vice mayor thank you mayor uh colleagues I have a few uh referrals to make tonight um number one uh yesterday the community learned of a generous contribution and donation made by Miss Cynthia Lake uh to the Fox Theater foundation for the purposes of the purchase of uh the N theater this will be a huge boost to downtown Bakersfield and downtown's NTI uh the fox theater was saved uh 30 plus years ago and thank God it was it has been a great amenity to our downtown and and now the Nile in similar fashion will serve as a wonderful entertainment venue and help spur uh growth in the downtown in the downtown core and Miss lake has already uh to date uh contributed over $10 million in uh investment to the Fox Theater into other foundations for the purposes of redeveloping the section between the Nile Theater and the Fox Theater and so tonight I'd like to make a referral um that the council consider uh naming these blocks between the Nile and the Fox Theater the lake entertainment and arts district uh number two is we have seen a number of private development and investment happening within our downtown core and often times uh the city places uh expensive costly requirements for off-site improvements curb gutter sidewalk uh for these projects to become approved uh I would like uh this city to consider a resolution that no longer requires offsite uh improvements for projects that occur in the downtown core and I like to send this uh to Planning and Development Committee for for consideration and study uh number three is just recently this last week get bus board had a strategic planning session and in that meeting uh there was a conversation related to uh an idea that I have been uh championing for several years now uh to establish a downtown circulator some sort of a uh a connector between downtown Bakersfield and Oldtown Kern in order for us to help both neighborhoods and help visitors get from to and fro without having to enter a vehicle um this has been a project that has gone some traction within uh getus and within the community um but I think we need to we ought to send a message to get that we would very much like to see this sort of downtown connector um in many other communities you see a trolley or you see some other vehicle that is able to connect members of the public who are on foot uh to another neighborhood of distinct character that's just beyond walking distance so I'd like us to establish a adopt a resolution uh in support of the downtown circulator and send that to uh get bus into their board and then finally uh there have been a number of smoke shops that have popped up in War I that have been a point of concern uh for my constituents I would like us to at the safe and healthy communities uh sa safe and healthy neighborhoods committee expl an extension of our recently adopted tobacco retail license to uh revisit the mun code uh that will um regulate uh smoke shops in uh not just in War II but throughout the city of Bakersville thank you thank you council member Freeman um I just wanted to briefly share with the other council members um that I I just got back from a trip to Germany I spent it was about three weeks in Germany uh primarily Frankfort but idleberg M some other small cities and I wrote a note to Mr draa about roads and what was really interesting to observe is that within the city it's the core of the city um but comparable to our downtown um all almost all the roads were one way no more than 20 ft wide which is what our alley this is for a city with a million or million people no wider than our normal alleys um and they usually had parking on that so that one 8T for parking and there was one laate and it just worked fine for millions of people um and they didn't have any arterials they had collectors instead which would move around the city to move traffic but and sometimes they were one well they usually were separated by very large you could call it a median or just space es trees whatever but they might be 100 or 200 they they weren't necessarily right next to each other um it seemed they used about one half the U square footage of pavement we do at one half the cost one half the CO2 one half the maintenance one half the replacement and I thought you know that's a lot smarter than the way America does it and when we look at our Downtown Vision plan I hope we do someday and if we look at Future areas that are new new Village centers and maybe if we're even looking at revitalized areas like areas around in m park or something that we think about oneway streets where there's plenty of access uh nobody seemed to have any problem with one way this way and coming back one way you see this in some of our downtown cities already but I just started thinking of the huge savings when it the what is it it's more than a million a lane mile now for all this pment that stretches that and you look at our city because we're spread out um we we're we have trouble afford that's why our cities are not at our loads are not in the ideal condition we don't have the money it costs so much when you have this much pavement area to make to put in so that raises the cost of all the housing dramatically that's all charged to the new homeowner and to the commercial it something we should really be cognizant of as we move forward um and redevelop or new development that we in we really look hard at one-way streets and much narrower streets um just if nothing else to save money it you don't have you have half the noise of two you know and they're going like this so your noise is calm down uh when they're narrower the people slow down it just uh it makes for a better atmosphere as well as saving enormous amounts of money so I just wanted to share that thank you council member Freeman council member Arius thank you mayor um I just want to give some kudos to uh a couple of special Folks at the city um staff level uh Greg and his team have done just tremendous work with uh standing up the ad hoc on Transportation committee um and every we had a meeting uh earlier this week and every single meeting it seems like you know they have some great progress on a lot of projects to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety um you know a couple in in W one really proud of the work that we've done on Laurel and sander drive with having the first speed humps installed um in I think over a decade uh so we're really proud of that work and I just want to say thank you to my colleagues uh both council members Smith and uh core for uh heading that up with me and and really proud of that work but uh want to continue to push forward you know tonight we've also uh heard about some of the good work that we're trying to do regarding tree canopies we recognize that in the Summers uh oftentimes it can get up to 110 112 degrees and folks are looking for an opportunity to really cool down um we we continue to push um and make investments into curb Gutter and sidewalk in addition to cycle tracks so that we can ensure that you know in a safe way we are creating opportunities for everybody to use our roadways not just the automotive uh automobiles uh so with that tonight I want to ask staff to review projects from a resiliency and a sustainability lens and perspective to create a short but focused and prioritized list of important projects uh with broad community support and significant grant funding opportunity at the state and federal level thank you thank you council member arus council member core I want to Echo the sentiment shared by council member adius and show my appreciation for my subcomittee members ad hoc committee members uh council member Smith spends a lot of time you know outside of the committee also working with staff in order to bring forward um just the language and the the vision and really it's a collaborative collaborative effort and you really don't see the work uh until you're at the committee uh or you are or it returns to council but a lot of time goes into really creating um a vision for how how we're making multimodal safety uh a reality here in the city so I want to thank council members Smith and audius for all the time and effort and vision and creativity that's going into that we had a very exciting presentation from our High-Speed Rail um folks yesterday and it was a welcome update and receiving some news and also some visuals about of a station and and really looking forward into the future and um though it always feels a little bit further away uh we were so happy to see progress being made there and um our friends at calr were also in attendance so really that joint effort um as well as our uh Public Works Division and and staff we all in attendance as well as our Traffic Engineers so it's really a collaborative effort and um a united front in that respect uh so it was a it was a very positive and um optimistic update to receive that from our highspeed rail folks so uh you know getting from downtown San Francisco to Downtown LA in 3 hours uh you know we're getting closer to that reality and our Central Valley segment is is coming closer to being a reality uh you know for folks in attendance today um it's uh predicted to be somewhere between 2030 and 2033 to be initially operational and that's with our fingers crossed uh so that's just a small update at least from our committee that I'd like to share and and wanted to thank my colleagues again so thanks thank you council member core I don't see other requests for comment and so we stand adjourned at 6:02 and students just so you're aware this is an unusually short meeting but it is thank you for being here [Music] man [Music] sir that