[Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] w he [Music] [Music] [Music] f [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh o [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] he [Music] a [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] what [Music] [Music] oh oh [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the 3:30 p.m. meeting of the Bakersfield City Council is now in session good afternoon it's my pleasure to call to order the 3:30 regular city council meeting of July 24th 2024 Madame clerk please call the role mayor go here vice mayor Gonzalez here council member Aras council member Weir here council member Smith council member Freeman here council member gray and council member core here welcome to all of you in keeping with council's new resolution public statements are now received at different times depending on the item I will call on the city clerk to call for public statements at the appropriate time so please listen carefully for the correct time to speak if you wish to make a public statement please fill out a public speaker card and place it on the tray next to the counter on the counter we ask that you mark whether you're here to speak on an item listed on today's agenda or on a matter not on the agenda speakers who do not identify a specific agenda item will be presumed speakers for the non-agenda portion of the meeting if you're here to speak on an item not listed on the meeting agenda you will be called first to speak statements are given a two-minute time limit per speaker 20 minutes per total for all non agenda item public statements if you're here to speak on an item listed on the agenda I will call on you at the appropriate time if public statements become disruptive and I have to clear the chambers to regain order of the meeting you will be called in one at a time to provide your public statement when your item is called 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 disrupted behavior that interferes with our ability to have an orderly and efficient meeting prevents the city council from conducting the business of the city consider this a first warning to everyone in attendance that conduct that disrupts this meeting May result in expulsion and or the chambers being cleared behavior that disrupts a meeting includes repetitive statements shouting interrupting staff or presenters during the meeting speaking out of turn Outburst from the audience and surpassing the two-minute time limit Madam clerk do we have any public speakers regarding items not listed on the agenda mayor go we've received two public speaker cards for items not listed on tonight's agenda the first public speaker is Walter Kenan followed by Penny Martinez Mr Kenan welcome please introduce yourself thank you very much good afternoon I was at the last session of the city council meeting on 710 um to and commented on my concern regarding the Airbnb code violation specifically in my neighborhood but I realize it goes on in other areas as well I unfortunately was not able to complete my prepared statement as I went overtime my fault um at that time the council stated that the issue was in cue for consideration by the council in previous cons conversation with prior to that meeting a conversation with my coun member he also said that but he said it had been in a Quee for some time I returned today to reiterate the concern and to clarify that this is an issue where an act operating a full-time Airbnb that not allowed by code is in fact an illegal act however the perpetrator of this act is allowed to continue freely to violate the code while the city council has this issue in a cue to consider at some point the purpose purpose of this consideration has never been clarified for me nor what in the que actually means is there a list is there just is it in limbo if in fact the council is considering whether to allow airbnbs or in what way to regulate them it seems to me that those wishing to engage in this activity which is illegal should be the ones who must wait until that action is determined not simply allow them to engage in this activity by the council's mission meanwhile neighborhoods like mine continue to suffer the repercussions of your inactivity such as noise traffic parking issues that accompany such rentals as well as overflowing trash bins that leave the left on the curbside for up to a week as a recent example but certainly not isolated just last weekend Bakersville Police Department was called out about a large and Loud party from 2: a.m. to 4:30 a.m. in response to having the BPT come out out the tenants decided to throw another party the following night from 3:00 to 5:00 Mr Kenan your time's up but you can bring your statements to a close if you'd like a couple more consider this I'll continue to kind of bring this to your attention until some reolution is made with all due respect I cannot help but feel that should this be a going on next door to one of your houses I think we would get a little bit more attention to the fact thank you Mr Keenan May thank you mayor Mr Kenan thank you for bringing the comments to the council I'm sorry I wasn't here on 710 I was at a conference representing the city and uh I apologize uh but I think I understand the issue I'm a little confused um so um you referenced that there's a council amission and I'd like to talk to you afterwards because um from my understanding uh the current uh city code prohibits airbnbs that's the status quo today correct yes vice mayor okay and so this particular property I'm assuming based on Mr kenan's uh statement uh was actually reported to code enforcement is that correct correct multiple times and code enforcement has taken action correct correct so when we talk about being in Q and again I wasn't here at the council meeting what was that in reference to uh vice mayor if I may I'll do my best to want to put words in anyone's mouth but I I don't think it was a connection to our ability to enforce it was also just a related reference that council is considering policy action related to this topic and that there may be further you know considerations further policy developments as it's taken up by Council but it does not preclude and has not precluded our ability to do enforcement city attorney's office and code enforcement and as reported sounds like police have been doing followup on this issue okay so I really want to make this clear to the public is that airbnbs currently are not allowed within the city of Bakersville period they're not allowed the conversation that we were set to have was to explore possibilities of allowing them uh as a permissible use in specific areas of the city perhaps spe specific neighborhoods but that conversation really hasn't been followed up I think that is what is in cue but but in terms of your issue Mr Keenan with all due respect I I I believe that the current policy on the books should address the issue in that they are not allowed and that code enforcement ought to respond if if I may just to respond this has been I have reported I've talked to C code enforcement I've talked to one of the city Attorneys at that last time they sent two a cease and assist letter which was happened a second cease and assist letter which has happened it still continues I was told by both code enforcement and the city attorney's office saying they can do nothing until city until the city council acts thank you Mr Keenan your time is up but I'm sure that uh our vice mayor and staff will follow up on this yeah thank you mayor and I just will ask that staff um dig in a little bit deeper into that particular statement in terms of what we what we're waiting for exactly that that's a bit confusing to me it's the first time hearing that we're not taking enforcement action on a uh policy that has already been established by the city um it's a bit I'm I'm a little bit perplexed on this one so uh if if we can just uh maybe have a sidebar after this conversation I'd like to kind of dig in a little deeper but uh but I will make a referral that we continueed the code enforcement action to address uh Mr Keenan's concerns thank you thank you next speaker please Penny marz welcome please introduce yourself hello request speak while okay sorry I didn't see myself uh yes council member Freeman uh basally I wanted to support uh Andre's follow-up Direction because you know we as he said it got discussed committee it very controversial and then we got into all the complexities if we did have a program maybe it should only be in certain Wards or certain areas of the cities um got very bogged down because um there's a lot of opposition and uh I had remarked that in my area uh you know I'd had a couple of them and uh in both cases I talked to City City attorney Jenny she said yeah we followed up and eventually I think it was we had to send him the final letter it was $10,000 bucks a day if it didn't stop and I thought there was going to be violence on the street because exactly what this gentleman described happens more than it should not with all of them but you know running a big hotel next to someone's home who has children or doesn't feel safe I mean you can't stop this type of thing once you start it and uh we got rid of it two of them buy these letters and eventually I think it was like a fin at 10,000 when they finally just kept know then the final letter came and uh that's when they stopped and uh there was never any direction given at our committee level or any other that we will no longer enforce our codes if we someday come up with a with a policy that certain kinds are allowed fine that it's it's we have some much bigger priorities right now in all these committees for ordinances and stuff that might come back but no one ever said don't enforce our law as they exist right now so I hope we take this seriously and send a signal that no we're going to enforce them and for now you can't start a hotel next to your house in a single family neighborhood and you know do what's happening to this gentleman if we even know that if if people are doing it because we had a consultant say there's 400 of them happening in Bakersfield and um and their neighbor doesn't care and is perfectly happy and hasn't ever called in no problem you know if if your neighbor is doing it you have no problem and they're uh I don't have any problem with that if if the neighborhood loves it and doesn't mind but when they do call in C is a big problem because it is against the law we' ought to immediately follow up um I don't want to be one of these communties says well we just decided not to enforce the law we got a lot of that going on politically this day all over the country we just choose not to enforce our la laws um that's not the reputation we want as a city and certainly with I don't know 100,000 homes in Bakers field that are exposed to this um you know right now let's let's protect the neighborhoods so I totally agree uh with Andre that this needs to be followed up on and if and until we ever pass some new laws then we'll obey those laws these are the laws we have today thank you thank you council member Freeman Mr CLE anything further no thank you Mary I believe I have direction from Council thank you Miss Martinez good afternoon my name is Penny Martinez and I'm the co-location coordinator for the Reese across America day on December 14th at the bakersfi National Cemetery where we honor every veteran interred there with a wreath as you may recall when we came before you at this time last year there was a very real concern that we were going to come up short on wreath as the event had the previous two years however the Bakersfield Community responded magnificently yeah to our plea to help and donate more than the 7500 reath we needed the grave of every veteran interred at the Bakersville National Cemetery was honored and the reath remained in place for a full month so it was a beautiful poignance site throughout the holiday season our community was so incredibly generous and fact that it allowed us to bank some of those reefs for this year we are already nearly 3,000 reefs in hand but we still have a significant uh need we must secure 4600 wreaths so we're kicking off our Christmas in July uh resp sponsoring event and we need our city council's help to make it a success here's what we are asking our veteran loving Community to do it costs only $17 to sponsor a wreath and you may do so by going online L to Rees across.org that's Rees across.org type the Bakersfield National Cemetery location in the sites search engine select a favorite local sponsorship group like the Civil Air Patrol or the Bakersville Police Department and order your reath the big news this year is that Reef Across America was also be celebrated the same day at the second Kern location which is the North Kern Cemetery in loo which is great where they plan to honor the 2,222 veterans interred there local folks can also sponsor re for that location as well so please mark your calendars for Saturday December 14th and plan to join us the open ceremonies at 9:00 a.m. and laying the reath on the each grave site for those who served thank you thank you Miss Martinez and I have some information here can I give to yes you can give it to the city clerk or just leave it right there on thank you and thank you for your leadership it's always a beautiful beautiful time of the year there and uh I encourage all of us to participate anybody else interested I'll leave some of these flyers there and grab them we need all the help we can get I really appreciate your support thank you very much and Madam clerk for the record council member arus entered at 3:52 next item please agenda item public statements Madam clerk do we have any public speakers regarding items listed on this afternoon's agenda may go we've received two speaker cards regarding items listed on tonight's agenda for those of you who want to speak on reports item 3A that's Recreation and Parks master plan you will be given an opportunity to speak after staff's presentation on that item that will be coming up next Madam clerk next item please reports item 3A Recreation and Parks Department master plan Recreation and Parks master plan presentation and report to council from Mig Inc the consultant and two Recreation and Parks master plan be made available for review thank you Mr CLE thank you mayor and Council we're at the culmination of a L the master plan uh update for our Parks and Recreation and our director Rick Anthony will introduce the topic and we'll go through and I I will for warn Council that this is meaty topic worthy of um conversation so a fair number of slides and and and content um but we'll make sure there is time for comments and question and answer thank you welcome Mr Anthony good afternoon Rick Anthony for the record director Recreation and Parks um last spring of 2022 under this council's Authority uh we launched uh the second of major goals for our department and at this time we are here to bring the results of that goals and uh before I get started I have invited uh many of our administrative staff uh that has worked tirelessly for these past two years and although the realities of the plan men are sobering I do want to recognize their time and effort and if you don't mind I would just want to ask them to stand I'm not going to name them all so I want to thank them all go ahead plus I get I also want to recognize Mig who has just been a champion of this project uh Cindy Mendoza uh not only is uh certainly competent in what she does but she's very passionate and that really just uh shows throughout this whole process process so without further Ado I would like to invite up cindia Mendoza who will give you a brief summary of the plan followed up with a department presentation from myself and assistant director Darren buat Dy welcome Miss Mendoza thank you so much and thank you Rick Anthony for the fabulous introduction I am super excited to be here today to be able to present to you this final draft of the recre in Parks master plan I'm cdy Mendoza director of Park and Recreation planning with Mig I've been working in this field for 30 years and I have to say working with this community has just been an absolute joy in terms of the support that we've received from Council City staff our stakeholders other residents so it really is an honor to be able to at this point share with you the drafts that we have and for some reason the clicker is not advancing slides but we'll work out this technical glitch and get right back to you here we go as Rick mentioned we do have a two-part presentation in the first part I'm going to be sharing with you some highlights from the recreation and parks master plan for your questions and final comments and then there is a second part where we're going to discuss the next steps for implementation Rick and his team will be here to talk about ways that we're going to prioritize the new park development the recreation in Parks master plan um was based on extensive public engagement over a multi-year planning process to make sure that we could provide the city with a sound investment strategy to be able to enhance city parks facilities programs trails and services over the next 10 years and thank you it does represent four plans in one three of which are available under separate covers and provide more detailed directions for the renovation of MLK Park for the management of the recreation and parks Department's portion of the kar River Parkway and the enhancement of the city's tree canopy both Citywide and specifically downtown so the recreation in Parks master plan document consolidates and PRI prioritizes all of those plans and all of the information in it to provide one clear direct action plan for the next 10 years so for the interest of brevity I'm going to be focusing on this Recreation and Parks master plan and Associated action plan but if you do have questions about the other separate Standalone documents that contributed to this we are happy to address those as well as you probably realized as you've looked through the plan the entire doc doent is divided into five chapters those chapters are considered the public facing portion of the document in other words they're intended in a very direct way to address the key needs and opportunities that the community has advocated for to be able to enhance the Park and Recreation system however there are also six appendices these represent the additional detail that staff will need to implement the plan going forward ranging from things such as the inventory to details on the funding evaluation that was conducted by economic planning services to ensure funds will be on hand to move this plan forward so these appendicies also present the analysis that support the conclusions that are in the main document when we started this planning process we set out to create a plan that was inclusive of your diverse Community needs balanced in terms of representing the variety of needs in this community as well as Innovative and being able to respond to those however the key things that we set out to do and have achieved are creating a plan that is both strategic and actionable what that means is this is not a pie in the sky plan this is not a wish list that we assume will sit on a shelf it is identified a level of service that is reflective of the enhancements the community wants to see but is realistic and achievable and was refined through work with Council members to get to the plan that we see here today in chapter 1 chapter 1 sets forward the four-phase planning process and acknowledges that the city's Park system including Parks facilities Trails trees and natural resources as well as Recreation programs have been important historically but more so moving forward these elements are poised to help the city usher in a new age of community livability so they are critically important to attracting new residents to the city supporting your economic diversity and really setting the stage for a high quality of life chapter one also notes the coordination that has been done with other planning efforts I'm able to stand here today and tell you that there is consistency between our plan and what's in the active Transportation plan and coordination that was done with the general Plan update that is already in motion so that you will find that these documents together provide the guidance needed to enhance your Park and Recreation system chapter 2 provides an overview of your existing park and recreation resources as well as the services that are provided by the recreation and parks department um this is important because it includes an updated inventory of your entire system to be able to track and make plans for all of the different resources that are required for successful Parks and Recreation that includes developing a new classification system that divides Parks based on their function so it identifies the fact that you have small neighborhood parks large neighborhood parks and Community parks that are intended to be more local serving but then also regional parks that serve Citywide and the region Beyond as well as natural areas and Parkways that provide connections to natural resources in Baker field and special use sites such as the mcmurchy Aquatic Center what this plan also did is took stock of the additional resources such as the amount of undeveloped Park land that the city has had and keeps in its inventory ready to develop when funding is available to do so you're going to hear a lot about these undeveloped sites because they are super important to Residents and also to council and so I want to clarify that these include 10 s sites that are intended to support local neighborhood park and Community Park needs it includes a at two sites the Bakersfield Sports Village as well as Mesa Marin that are intended to supplement the regional and Community facilities at those sites and then the 13th site is the Tron Lake site which is a undeveloped Natural Area adjacent to the kar River Parkway Trail and the Tron uh Park site that can further enhance opportunities to connect to Nature you'll often hear us talk about in total 13 undeveloped Park sites but our Focus mainly is on the 10 that we'll talk about that are going to meet local needs in chapter three we set forth the demographics of this community for two reasons one because that helps us understand not only the unique needs of residents now but also how the community is anticipated to grow over the next 10 years it also helped us Benchmark our Outreach and engagement activities to make sure that we were hearing from residents who are diverse in terms of ethnicity and culture in terms of age in terms of the place that they live across the city as well as abilities and interests and through an extensive public Outreach plan that included five formal advisory groups for surveys and all of the activities you noted here that I'm not going to go into into detail because we've shared these activities with you before um we were able to identify the cross cutting themes that were most important to Residents to see that it will help frame the recommendations and action plan that are noted here in this document these range from things including improving and enhancing Park maintenance to looking and addressing issues of Park equity and access addressing shade and urban cooling on hot days such as today and others but even making sure that we are creting thriving parks that contribute to the city's quality of life and I do want to pause in addition to the city staff who have been so valuable through this planning process I would like to acknowledge all of the stakeholders partners and residents who contributed to this planning process shared their insights and even council members as well as our other Advisory Group members who worked with us to refine the recommendations in this plan this makes sure that it reflects Bakersfield's priorities and needs the plan introduces um some new values that help describe what the Bakersfield Recreation and Parks Department is trying to achieve by providing the facilities and services and it provides a a slightly updated mission statement that will help guide the department once this plan is adopted but importantly it also identifies seven goals to move forward in implementing this plan which are ranging from from providing accessible highquality parks to ensuring the wise investment of city and Community Resources to make this plan a reality and those seven goals are intentionally consistent and supportive of the Citywide guiding principles that are identified in the general plan so the larger Citywide Visions for itself this plan will be an integral element of supporting that um recognizing that things such as the development of parks and expansion of recreation programs support the city's economic Vitality diversity identity health safety and quality of life chapter four identifies recommendations for this plan and it really focuses on the highest priority recommendations for the community what that means is that there are six systemwide Focus areas for change that I'll present highlights on today as well as site recommendations for all of the different capital projects that are in the action plan presented in chapter 5 in addition to that there are supplemental info on key sites as well is the condition and needs for existing Park improvements um an identification of additional facility needs as well as recommendations for every existing and proposed site to meet the level of service desired in the community all those details are in the appendices and you can find them there looking at these six systemwide initiatives just know that these are the game changers that are going to help transform the city's Park and Recreation system and I'm just going to quickly highlight a few items within each of these um the first one looking at increasing Park maintenance resources to be able to support not only the quality of sites as well as the natural resources and trees in your community it's important to recognize that this plan recommends increasing Staffing funding because we are talking about new park development that will increase maintenance needs because we are recognizing that the community is anticipated to grow considerably which will increase the demand and use of parks it's also because we are recognizing that uh other community centers and pools are aging and will be in need of replacement not only at MLK but elsewhere in the community so we want to make sure that there are the maintenance resources on hand to take care of the new parks facilities and other elements moving forward it's also important that we talk about the ways that we are prioritizing Park development in unserved residential areas and specifically this provides guidance for the development of those 10 new neighborhood parks and Community Parks collectively on the undeveloped property that you own but it also uh regards coordinating with developers which is an important piece of this as the community grows and new residential areas are added we want to make sure that those new neighborhoods are receiving Parks as well if not the city's going to fall further behind than it already is so there's this balance between making up for what's missing currently but keeping in front of the new growth and development as well we also introduce guidelines for Quality parks and as part of this recognize that these guidelines need to be supported by updates to your impact fee requirements so that when developers are providing Parks they are funding the quality of development that is desired by this community it's not enough to set aside vacant land and call that a future Park we need to make sure that we are setting up a process by which residents are getting the level of Park development that they deserve and need looking at Trail connectivity and access there's a few important points here one is about establishing uh pedestrian and bike connections to your key Community Parks as well as Regional Parks so we coordinated with the consultants and staff working on the active Transportation plan to call attention to things such as uh having a class one connector to MLK Park to Mesa Marin the Bakersfield Sports Village and even connecting the K River Parkway Trail and the Gap that is currently there so that those will emerge as high priorities to make a more walkable bikable community that provides access to these sites as well as downtown it's also going to be highly important to recognize that as we bring new parks online and new facilities there's going to be an expansion in Recreation needs to activate those parks and this isn't just a quality of life issue but as you all know Park safety starts with having positive uses in your parks the right people and the right activities and behaviors that can be supported by programs Sports and other events and activities so we're looking at um MLK Park a new downtown of vent Plaza and other sites to be able to bring Recreation opportunities to the community and a second part that's important here is looking at mobile Recreation because there will be some sites that don't immediately have this new park that they deserve so the city's inaugural mobile Recreation program can be expanded to take recreation activities to places where Parks don't exist is going to be hugely important to underserved residents who can't immediately get in their car to drive to where you know Community parks are located instead the department will have an opportunity to bring activities to those residents in need it's also important to recognize the fact that these enhancements that we're talking about will support safety resiliency Health as well as collaboration with key partners for the Vitality of the community and so these recommendations address things such as the need for continued emphasis on the successful park ranger program for example that has been a game Cher for many sites but also leveraging other Health Partners who are interested in supporting different types of programs and facilities in your Parks so we can take advantage of the resources that these other partners and volunteers bring to the table and I went quickly through it is many many detailed recommendations but I want to say that these systemwide changes are also accompanied by details with regards to capital projects so every existing site the department has Direction on what's going to be needed not only in the next 10 years but in beyond that every proposed site is documented in this plan as well but together all of these recommendations had a price tag that exceeded 500 million which really wasn't feasible to implement in the next 10 years so if you recall we kind of paused the project to go back out to the community to have a prioritization survey to work with our project advisory committee and then to work with you all with sit down one-onone meetings to really refine a proposed action plan into the final version that you see here here today and what that means is that we now know this action plan is more reasonable and realistic for this community that action plan should look very familiar to you all because we had an opportunity to talk through it so I'm not going to go into detail about all of these but I do want to point out a couple of key things the first two items on the list the development of those 10 undeveloped sites as well as the revitalization of MLK Park represent previous commitments that were made to the public so even though they're listed as one and two we kind of describe those as 1A and 1B in terms of things to move forward they are are critically important the third item continued repair replacement and park enhancements is a larger price tag focused on your existing Parks now you all know that over the last 5 years there was a substantial effort to use p vs funds to address deferred maintenance needs highly successful in addressing some maintenance issues that had been neglected for years to create the quality Park system that you want to have now so this additional funding item is looking forward over the next 10 years and potentially Beyond recognizing that many items in a park have only a life cycle of 10 to 15 years so that means that there will be future repairs and replace placements and you do have other pools that are aging for example so not all of this 70 million may be spent in the next 10 years but it reflects that ongoing Asset Management that every Park system needs to uh receive and then finally the last two items I want to call attention to those as well they are not costed here in part because the trail development will be costed through the active Transportation plan again in in coordination with us in terms of what some of those priorities are and the new parks in residential areas are anticipated to be funded through an increase in the park impact fees and park development fees we're going to talk more about that here in the second part of this presentation on how to set those funding rates in a way that you can stay in front of those new parks it's important to recognize as the city manager pointed out when we discussed the action plan last time that this is an enhancement beyond what the city has spent previously but even in the Last 5 Years the city has spent over 106 million so it's not entirely Out Of Reach it recognizes that they they has and will continue to be this right level of investment to update the park system and so this allows us to reflect on the fact that additional funding will be needed to enhance the funding sources you have but you're already onethird of the way there in terms of the funding that's needed to carry out these recommendations but the plan makes it clear that it's not just about the capital projects that are in the action plan we also need to talk about the ongoing maintenance Recreation programming and operations of the system So the plan present presents the detailed guidance to look at the park system in a financially sustainable way it provides guidance on the needs for EXP expanded staff for the MLK Community Center when it is revitalized as well as the pool it identifies what kind of needs will exist for additional maintenance staff not only for Parks but for also streetscapes in the tree canopy because the department plays an important role in the beautification of the entire city and then it also identifies needs for additional Ranger Staffing you will find that there is extensive analysis and evaluation of funding strategies existing funding sources to be able to identify the right mix of funding that will be needed to support capital and operations going forward and so there are a number of recommendations again starting first with updating those Park impact fees Park development fees to rightsize those but also pursuing grants as you know is already underway for MLK Park and then considering some addition funding sources such as potentially a revenue Bond exploring the community's appetite for a general obligation Bond potentially in time not required but many communities are exploring those now as residents are looking at a desire for higher quality recreation in Parks opportunities but looking at other funding sources as well including donations sponsorships and Partnerships as well as rightsizing fees to keep an affordable programming and recommendations for the entire system I think the important part the key takeaway here that economic planning system noted is this graphic shows your funding sources um for fiscal year 2122 and we fully realize that the general fund is not going to absorb everything that we are saying needs to be done through this plan so it will require additional funding sources um psvs funds will continue to be important but that Park Improvement fund will need to grow to stay in front of new park needs as well as some other resources so there's a lot of information here there's a lot I didn't share with you at the same time H you know there's a desire for this community to jump in and already get started so now that you have a very sound community-driven plan with the support from partners and residents the guidance you need to get started where do you go first you know the first one is going to be around stepping into those Park impact fees so the second part of the presentation you will hear a bit more about those that allows you to start development of some of those undeveloped parks that commitment that was made to the community even expanding mobile Recreation and events that will allow the community to see that things are shifting things are underway and exciting things are happening that in turn will help mobilize some of those potential Partners who may be on the fence about helping invest in things such as MLK Park revitalization and help volunteers and partners want to get involved in these transformative changes for your community so those are the next two items on the go-to list and with that I'm going to pause and open it up for any questions and comments that you all have but I do thank you for your support and the fabulous Community work that has been done to create the plan that we have here today thank you so much thank thank Miss Mendoza colleagues at this point if you want to ask specific questions that would be okay but we need to wait to hear from the public when to go on with opinions and specific Direction so uh the public will have an opportunity to offer comment after the staff presentation and then we'll take more comments from you if you have specific questions for Miss Mendoza right now without offering guidance uh you can go ahead and request or just wait till later staff will now make a presentation I I'll hold off my questions thank you Miss Mendoza and now Mr Anthony uh great presentation Cindy thank you so much um uh what we decided to do in light of all of the recent conversations especially from the Das in the last few Council meetings uh and also hearing quite a bit from the public as we kind of finalized some of this plan uh we felt it was important that to not just give you the plan and and say have V it um we as a staff uh have been working on this quite for quite some time and in conference with the city manager we simply are presenting you with a few options that you can consider all of these are hypothetical um but we wanted to inform you more in terms of a Department's perspective on where we feel the priorities are and maybe give you a launching place to be able to come back and make some really solid uh decisions so our main focus is certainly on uh those 10 undeveloped Parks but we actually Whitted it down to about five or six priorities three greater priorities and the other two uh you'll see highlighted a little bit on on the rest of the slides I'm going to walk you through a little bit of kind of how we got there and then turn it over to Darren to show a little bit of the modeling and then happy to answer any questions so some of our variables as provided uh by the master plan uh we looked at the percentage of the community that was developed around uh certain some of these undeveloped Parks uh we looked at the age of when that Park was actually dedicated and we also looked at the proximity to other Parks all of those were factors in kind of how we prioritized uh this park development process so here you see the list here uh and you'll see a map shortly after this slide but uh if I could speak mainly on that chart to the right um it's actually showing you the current funding balance in all of these zones so we wanted you to see that perspective that you know even though as you see there is a lot of work to make up um those Park Improvement fees are continuing to be accumulated in certain zones uh of the city I also want to kind of point out a little bit of the difference Cindy touched on it but uh our new classification puts Community Parks um that serve a greater population larger footprint our large neighborhood parks are obviously the medium size it may serve a lesser footprint and then the small neighborhood parks uh the same thing uh even a lesser impact in terms of the population serve uh but certainly are of Great Value to each communities here's the map and as you can see uh the concentration of the undeveloped lands are kind of spread out between four Wards uh and if you looked at our priorities we try to do our best to kind of balance uh that priority so that uh we're not just concentrating on all of the new development and our development of previous Park land in one specific area uh but serving a greater uh swath of our residents going through a little bit more of the details of the park as I mentioned before the first two parks you can just tell by the acreage there are larger Parks uh considered Community parks that will have greater amenities and a greater population that they serve uh I can call attention to Paladino Park as well because that is a uh combination of both the parksite and the potential future fire station I have been in conversation with the chief and just with the uh growth that is expected to happen fairly quickly um he does anticipate that he will need that uh two to three acres of that particular site so it' be very similar to Stone Creek uh but that Park kind of was raised to number two and it was very close between two and three uh even four we got we've gotten a lot of uh Community feedback about that Park but again this is just our prioritization certainly for the council uh to consider and so before I turn it over to Darren I just want to give you a little bit of uh additional context uh for this modeling exercise we actually decided to use uh real Parks one a community park Anton Giovani which we have already gotten uh design dollars for and we'll be moving forward in design that is a 16 acre park it also important that we have a parking lot that's already developed there through a partnership with the uh Panama buav Vista Union School District uh and we actually hope to kind of build on that partnership to see if there's any further shared youth uh they came in and built the parking lot we have an opportunity to have a a joint use agreement to be able to utilize some of the school facility which is a model quite frankly that we need to continue to move forward we also have AER Park which is a small neighborhood park and you'll be able to see the difference the differences of where we are and our developer fees as well as our level of service uh proposals here is an example of what we feel as a department uh if I can just kind of put it bluntly is our skin in the game uh I don't feel that there's a a lot of support to make this a policy moving forward and we're talking about the reduction and amenities but certainly it could be a solution to get us out of this hole that we're currently in so what you see is a current build uh that's our normal our typical amenities uh for full Park buildout uh the semi based uh certainly considers uh some moderate reductions in those amenities and you can see uh some of those amenities being called out with the red red lines reduced are eliminated and then you have your basic your Basic Park bill which is a significant uh reduction in park amenities so these are all just again options for you all to consider to help find the solutions that we certainly are are looking for um and before Darr and get started I think this is an important slide as you begin to see the numbers of uh the potential for Fe increases uh but we do have our comparable cities list and it just reflects a little bit of the park fees not all of them are apples to apples uh their formulas are are a little bit different and one just quick example if you look at the city of Anaheim and you notice that their multifam park fees are is actually more than the single family park fees is and it is because they consider when they do multifam Park fees they lump together maybe two to four years units depending on uh I believe the size of the of the rooms whether at one bedroom facility to two to three bedroom facility so when they say multif family it could Encompass multiple uh dwelling units within that multip multiple family unit so at this time I'd like to invite up uh Mr budak to talk about uh his modeling and how we came to some of these uh pie charts welcome Mr Buck good afternoon mayor council uh Darren mudak assistant director of recreation park Department what I'm going to do in the next few slides is um illustrate and discuss some of the models that Rick had mentioned and sort of uh show some of the funding gaps based on the current models and then we'll get into a little bit of the development fees so as you can see in this first one uh going left to right that would be our current build model um we would collect about 2.8 Mill milon out of that $18 million um as as current fees are structured and then going down to the right over to the the semi base and then over to the base model you can see how that funding Gap gets better but it's still still significant uh for Anton Giovani Park and one thing to remember as I go through this is Anton Giovani Park is a 15 acre Park and the linger Park is a 5 acre Park and they have very different service level so and you'll you'll see that reflective in the charts so okay now moving on to Anton Giovani in this scenario what we we did is we just um picked a $1,047 increase to De developer fees which is a 50% increase and as you can see again going left to right you know the impact it has on that funding Gap from fees collected to what would have to be supplemented um this would raise the um the fee collections from 2.8 to $4.2 million based on the formula and model we use and then oh sorry out the way um on this scenario we um increased the fees um 2,95 up to $4,190 and um ran the same scenario across and as you can see as we get down to the base model we're we're at about 57% of funding we would have collected through this and in this model we would have collected $5.6 million for the service area so again now this one I really want to point out that alre Park is a 5 acre Park it's only onethird the size of Anton Giovani so it's it you're you're going to see the numbers you'll see a significant difference but it's also has a service area Community Parks have a service area about 3 to 5 miles and alre park has about a half a mile it's considered a small neighborhood park so you you'll see that reflective in these numbers and in keeping Apples to Apples we tried to use the same formula um from um Anton Giovani to alra and so um real quickly you can see the impact uh on a 5 acre Park um at the current build uh and then jumping on with the same um increase at the next model and you can see on on the base model we we actually reach 100% funding um but again this and then moving on to the third scenario with a 295 increase um you can see we we almost reach 100% funding on the current bill model but again I I think it it's worth noting that we're talking about two different size of parks with two service models um in all reality you would have to build probably two to three of these parks to equal Anton Giovani so that's that's why you see the the gaps so with that um be happy to answer any questions or thank you Mr budak thank you Mr Anthony we'll now go to the public and then we'll come back to council so Madame clerk do we have public statements mayor go we've received two speaker cards the first public speak speaker is Michael turnip seed followed by bikramjit panu welcome Mr turn seat I'll be relatively short first of all I'd like Madame mayor and members of the council I'd like to give kudos to Mr Anthony his Department this is the first time I can ever remember seeing a presentation ready before the meeting so I was able to spend an hour this afternoon perusing through this and looking through that and I was needed Improvement I hope all the Departments follow his good example and do that in the future uh $318 million is a lot of money and this is only one Department of many you have in the city so I think you can't take this independently of the of the city and we've gone through a lot of money we've had $500 million roughly of measure in money we've had $100 million of arpa money and the ARP is gone and the measure end money is pretty well accounted for so uh it's going to take really some creative thinking to figure out how you're going to make this work thank you for your time thank you Mr turnup seat next speaker please welcome please introduce yourself good afternoon everybody for my issues regarding a park it was listed in the presentation for alra Park so we were waiting this Park Community was developed in 2016 the residents were waiting for 8 years to get it developed because they suffering from a lot of issues kidss were playing on the street some accident can happen so now we see that it's in the pipeline to dwel so we just now want to know how much more time it will take to develop it because that's big priority for the residents they're suffering right that's all right now thank you Mr panu Madame clerk is there anybody else who wishes to speak on this item mayor go I just received another speaker card from Sharon Terell welcome please introduce yourself hi my name is Sharon Terell and the reason why I'm here besides this being the coolest place in Bakersville is to give out a great big thank you thank you mayor thank you Mr Gonzalez thank you Gary thank you a big shout out to Sergeant Stacy at the Kern um County Sheriff's department and the police department you guys work with me um I was here regarding the toll fee over it was taken care of everybody worked together for good and a right um was done and I thank you thank you Mr ter Terrell we appreciate your gratitude expressed Madam clerk is there anyone else may go that was our final speaker thank you and so now colleagues uh open for comments and question count council member Freeman thank you mayor um had just a couple of questions on the charts to be sure I can understand the funding if we took the U Know e even the five or even the chart that said here's how much money we've collected for Zone one two and we've collected all of this money money for Zone one Parks um does that mean that those Parks the development around it is now 90% finished or 100% I was trying to understand the charts if you know if we raise the fee and we collect so much money the sounded like oh well there's a lot of lots left to develop to collect this fee on so otherwise there's nothing left to collect the fee on and and make the green fill out the chart some try understand does that mean there's tons of lots left no no the modeling was that we collected all of the fees to be collected for that particular part so we've already collected it not not reality but the modeling on the chart is reflective of if we were to collect the fees at where they currently stand this is the gap that we will still have to make up it's not the reality of where we are now if we change the fee today okay and does that mean to get the green there are enough Lots left to fill up that green if I may Rick if you want to go back to the slide that had the five priority Parks yeah it's page you know so are there enough Lots one forward one forward Rick yeah so oh sorry no not that one keep going back yeah the one with the green chart the pie your your scenarios this one right here yes so council member Freeman on this chart it shows for those five Parks how many of the lots have been built and collected so the first one 90% the second one is only 30% so there still are 70% of lots that will support that Park to be still okay so do the do the green charts reflect the current situation that hey this Paladino is only uh 30% developed so if we implement the increase in fee we could fill the green up whatever it said to you know three quarters we could collect the money not that so there is enough time left if you raise the fee to collect whatever the pie chart said on that one you know maybe it said we could get 75% of our money there's still be a gap yes so for for those that have a lower buildout rate I would say yes number one Anton Giovani number five Alandra they're 90 and 80% built out respectively not as much opport to catch up on those but some of these others yes could catch up was that was that let's take Anon gvan because it says it's 90% developed can you find the chart on that the scenarios the one two three increases well Anon J VAR says that it's 90% develop but we're still going to have three a 3/4% gap we finish so what happened to the 90% fees we collected I think the reality is that the fees at the $2,000 um per unit did not generate you know sufficient Revenue U and in particular because it's such a large Park is it okay because of the size instead of being a 10 acre Park and this was I can't remember the date is this a particularly old yes it's very old and it's 16 acres and so that 16 Acres I just went the date maybe the park fee was a thousand bucks a unit with okay okay so the Char just says at that at the current level there's a gap and even under your you know cost engineered base case basically the U general fund or our measure in funds will have to fill the Gap we probably and you did your priorities it seems to me the chart with the priorities be good to have one page the here's the here's the priority we set here's um here's how much it's going to cost the red ought to have a dollar figure in it because they're all different shape you say 70% well that doesn't mean much to me unless I know well that's 15 million or that's three million you know how much does the city have to kick in because we're the only one left to kick it in even under the ri the cost engineered Park this is what it costs us I I think we need a chart this this these are the facts at least on the first five parks and then we have to program it into the budget I don't think I don't we can do them all next year but see I can't add up in my head if we did all five next year how much do the cost I'm left without the answer and I wish the number would just there because then you the five of them on this here are the priority parks and and each scen area you can say we don't change do change this our Gap gets less but here's how much you guys got to put in um I think even if when we go a little revision to the charts we don't need as many we're going to have to go to the builders and doct you we're going to say hey this is what we're facing Builders um obviously we'll probably have to increase the park fee uh and so it's going to be a question of well this is what the city's going to have to pay if we increase this if the city's tell us to pay for half the park you might not get as much in in the 4,000 scenario of course that didn't cover all of the parks but if you rant it on all of these did you say 19 or whatever how many parks we have say this is how many parks this is what it'll cost us this will will cost you at these different levels um I think it can get and nobody wants to increase the price all we're going to do is raise the price housing again in Bakersfield that's what this means we're can raise every new home again but if we have to do something there still might be more reception if the city said if the guys knew and and gals you know we're in this with you it may be we're going to have to put half the money in ourselves you you and your your buyers put in half the money um and I hope that the new number if it's 4,000 whatever it is is enough to pay for a park even the base case you need to run that to Shay and we can actually build them in the future for whatever that fee was unless inflation keeps going up you know without if if it was four or three we you know you build them we build them but a park could be built at this base case we quote have solved the problem we don't we we don't want to have an ongoing that the city has to pay for 50% of the parks forever we need to change pretty soon because there's new subdivisions every day being approved the old fee levels you know we're perpetuating this problem by not getting facing the pain and dealing with it today um one other thought is is that we may be reaching the time first here's what it cost to build everybody has to need know at 4,000 you could build it or we could build it could be built whatever 10 acre Park um we might be at the point where we have to say the builders because other communities have done this I've been doing this for over 40 years now with communities all over California to say Builders you guys got to get together three you're going to have to get together to do this project in joint and build it together Builders have done that got to pull your resources get a credit line whatever and or you're all going to get your share from your bank and put it in one of you can do the construction management but that park has to go in by whatever it was you know the 500 home or whatever the number was maybe it's two-thirds build out or by a certain date something and they may have to get a letter credit or something to know it's really going to happen I mean because other communities have done this uh because we can't go on having you know unbuilt Parks forever and I know that's I'm a I'm a pro I'm a builder my whole life but I've seen this done other places and sometimes you just have to face the music because the city can't build subsidized 50% of Park development well I guess we could we could say that is a policy in Baker sealed we want a quality of life and that's worse than of our our measure end funds have to go in the future um I guess as a council We could decide that instead of going quote other places I don't know how much money there is but we do have we have you know we get quite a bit of money from measure in we had to devote 10 or 20 million a year to our Parks then that's another Council decision but all that stuff needs to be considered including bouncing around the idea of Builders um getting together whether they want to develop a section of land in the new growth areas um because they're going to have to make sure the parks can be built if we collect the fees or they collect or they give us a letter of credit or something it'd be I just think we're we're getting to that point so I like you guys to think about all of that stuff including bringing the council if you don't want to do that you want to keep the park P you don't have to increase the housing too much prices then the city has to commit to I think there was a time when we built the parks and we didn't build that many why some sections down don't have as many parks because there was no Park fee program it was just just to come out of the general fund where a lot of things did that now we have impact fees and all this stuff the general fund can't fund it anymore if I may council member just to to jump in and respond to a couple points as well as acknowledge um some of your feedback so mayor and Council um really good thoughts council member Freeman were tracking what you're saying about in particular you know we're kind of in a hole we have to fix the issue going forward but looking backwards it's on the city to to fill much of that Gap there's not there's not a lot that we can do um looking back especially on some of these commitments and I I will acknowledge going into this I was surprised at the age of some of these Park commitments going back a really long time um also heard your distinct feedback about come back with a budget like what would it take to do these five priority Parks how many could we get to in this next year we can do that some of the feedback that would be helpful for us in developing that budget one of the reasons that we showed this ba the the full buildout semi base and base is some of our options to create that budget for these five priority undeveloped Parks is some Council again we're not looking for a a specific motion today but just some conversation and feedback to staff about the um openness to reducing down to that base Park build and another option is for a large footprint like Anton Giovani 16 acres do we develop five acres into active use and maybe 10 acres of passive use and that's a way to save significant funding on that Park we can come back with specific recommendations about cost savings but I think some of that discussion from the council input on our and our you know planning efforts would help us go and create that budget for these five Parks I think you need to come because they are different with very specifics but you may need to have a generic Park to show hey it's 2,000 3,000 4,000 this the base strip down Park this is what it costs to build and you know so I think that'll get you to the goal line with these guys because they're going to say say you can build it or we can build it this way and if you can build it for Less we love it you know but I I've talked to the guys building them the Bol house Cas hook people and they build maybe a little nicer Park but they're not doing it for Less not your probably your 4,000 is less than they're spending so um I just think we say this would it takes to build a park I don't think they're really going to argue with you if in your reduced Park uh and they'll probably just swallow hard and say we got to do what we got to do so at least a new next time we do one there's enough money there to build it know some Freeman thank you council member Freeman vce mayor thank you mayor um want to first and foremost thank the P public members of the public who contributed to inform the the parks master plan um and thank staff the recreation par staff you've done a tremendous job it's been wonderful to working with our consultant team and working with all of Staff members and seeing them out in the community whether it be at MLK Park or Jefferson Park or or beill Park um I've enjoyed seeing you interact and engage at least in in central Bakers so and in W 2 we're always working hard to try to improve our amenities both in the short term but certainly in the long term as well and I appreciate staff's commitment to um improving improving our Parks part particularly in central Baker so and that's where I kind of want to head in in some of my questions um I want us to focus in on the parks Master pan overall um I think the um the question regarding the new UN undeveloped parks and um the developer fees I think that's a longer conversation that we ought to have probably in subsequent meetings um but I do want to just spend a few moments with the overall uh master plan presentation ask Mr Anthony or perhaps the consultant team um first and foremost just for the Public's benefit what is the current Park standard in terms of Green Space per capita are I I would have to refer back to our our original plan I'm not sure if Cindy knows at the top of your head yeah so there is a standard however it's not being met Citywide I believe the standard was 4 acres per 1,000 residents that included looking at the provisions of the the north of the River Park and Recreation District as well as what the county is providing um if I recall I believe even with those providers you were closer to 3.2 acres per thousand and the city alone we were shooting to increase that to see if we could get you closer to 3 acres per th but it was more in the 2.5 acres per th range if we implement the parks master plan in its entirety where will we be it's going to depend on some of those funding decisions that need to be made uh what we are anticipating is that the focus is going to be largely on the 10-year action plan alone I believe that is again there should be coordination with the north of the River Park District because your decisions on impact fees will also support what they are able to do uh but Citywide we are not going to get you up to the 3 acres per thousand yet when was the park uh standard established do we know what year I don't recall but I can get that information and get back to you okay and do we have any analysis on the disparity between Parks per capita uh on West Bakersfield or in West Bakersfield and in East Bakersfield we do not have that data that is something that we could look into I think part of the disparity that we're seeing as is associated with the lack of parks to support New Growth so it's where that new growth has been occurring that uh in some of those neighborhoods as you know the undeveloped Parkland has contributed to the fact that there's land but no official Park um on the go ahead I was just going to say if I may that that specific metric um sliced that specific way we don't have but the master plan does include and Council has seen these before in Prior presentations it includes maps that show areas that don't have a park within that 3 to 5 mile radius and that is I think it shows geographically where folks have more access and where they have less access that gets at that same issue but with a different data point all right and I'm I'm asking these questions for a reason just to underscore a certain point in that you know the area I represent War I is 100 years old um you know there weren't very many um standards there was I don't think there was a standard uh in those early years of the City's formation um and so just as we I think any of us can drive around the city and we notice that there are far more Parks more park recreational opportunities on the West Side than there are in East Bakersville and in central Bakersville and I think that's problematic um and I think that's a it's a disadvantage to many of our disadvantaged um underserved communities and and I think that needs to be part of the conversation as well Mr TR seed pointed out that this we can't just talk about these undeveloped parks in isolation we have to talk about it within a broader context of lots of different priorities and that is true even in Recreation and Parks and I I want to underscore that point because I feel very passionately about the fact that we provide um an equitable share of uh Park and recreational facilities for those individual ual in southeast Bakersfield in East Bakersfield and in central Bakersfield um because those families I think we all agree deserve to have those amenities as well and so I'm hoping that in the final master plan that some of that is reflected indeed and uh specifically council member Gonzalez one of the requests that you made when we brought the action plan to you all last time was the fact that it focused so much on those 10 undeveloped Park Properties that it disregarded some of those additional neighborhoods that lacked access within the reasonable travel distance it didn't factor in the extensive analysis that we had done on underserved areas and the demographics of those areas so you will find in addition to the action plan table that's presented in chapter 5 there is a second table that reflects the next priorities that the city would consider and as part of that second table there are three of the different Gap areas that are noted in there that are specifically noted because there is no nearby park opportunity not just within walking distance but even beyond that and they are dramatically underserved or considered highly vulnerable according to the Cen buer screen data that we were using and so there is that acknowledgment that beyond the 10 there's there's some additional work to be done for many areas I appreciate that very much and uh the next point I'll make is that some of our existing parks are fairly uh old particularly in central Bakersfield in War II um and we have uh done a good job and recreation parks have done a tremendous job on defer maintenance issues over the last few years and thankfully because of measurand we've been able to make some significant investments in trying to get out that and yet there are still issues that persist um one example is at uh Saunders Park and actually was there last night and Julie I don't know if you have the image available but I'd like to show it um but there are this I just want to give my Council colleagues who may not be familiar with with some of these Parks what the current status is of some of these facilities these are city parks this is a this is a uh tree excuse me this is a stre a lamp a street it's not a Street Lamp it's a it's a light pole um that uh apparently uh has fallen apart uh but this isn't the only one in in the park and this isn't the only park with these types of uh just blatant um issues uh and I think that you know again as we're talking about new parks as we're talking about all of these uh wonderful ideas that I support uh we cannot lose sight that in our existing parks there are continued issues and there are significant needs we're still waiting for the completion of the electrical work at at beel Park for example we're still waiting for the uh complete restant room at Jefferson Park uh we have significant issues with the tennis courts at Centennial Park there are so many issues with our existing facilities that we must get at as well and I do not want us to lose sight of that um so I appreciate it uh thank you so much for letting me uh to add that contribution I'm looking forward to getting to the master plan and finding creative ways to um to respond uh finally just wanted to also ask a question for for the future not necessarily here uh here in now but I am curious how we prioritize the parks CU I noticed that the uh South Oswell uh Park site was 19 years old it's the oldest one uh and yet it is the furthest down on the list yeah um again this is simply um based on our recommendations um even though the age of that Park is is significant there isn't a great demand mainly because that that land is actually located outside of a gated community that I believe has some green space within it and then it's also uh contiguous to nothing but Farmland so we're just not getting you know the the squeaky will yeah the demand for that Park and and we had to make some hard decisions on what parks we felt like uh were were that we need to prioritize but it it is completely up to the council uh to reorganize or rep prioritize uh uh based on on criteria that you want to desire I really appreciate that and just let me correct myself I apologize I want to be accurate it's the it's the second to the last on this top 10 list and it is actually the second oldest uh Sierra Park it looks like is 37 years old South Oswell has been is 19 years old so just want to correct myself thank you thank you council member cor thank you mayor Rick thank you to you your team that's behind you um you are a popular Department uh as we all know um one because I personally bug you all quite a bit but I know our constituents as well and at the center of this really is community it's the residents and I appreciate how much we've centered them throughout this process uh no matter which Park project we can uh take whether it's MLK whether it's our Park's master plan uh communi is at the center of it and we get to just Champion those needs and also those frustrations we all are aware of how important Parks really are we're having a conversation about creating a master plan which is uh a productive step in the right direction and clearly has not to my knowledge been something we've done in this um in this to this level of depth at the city parks are a refuge for families uh for for all residents uh if we want to capture the diversity of our city we just go to a park and you can see not only the diversity in age race gender all of the demographics um it is an open space given to folks to do with it what they uh see fit and I think that's the beauty of of green spaces of our of our public spaces and I almost see Parks as like a living room like everyone wants to hang out there but only if it's done well if it's built well if it's warm if it's inviting and if it's managed well and um you know this is a a great step in taking care of all of our our 68 living rooms that we have in our city um one component also within and I I hope this is within the master plan is how we get to those Parks as well and I know I've had this conversation with you as well Rick you know continuous sidewalks and and the challenges with uh kind of this Gap development that happens uh Bakersfield Sports Village is a great example where families aren't able to walk because of uh Missing sidewalk or as sh Silverstein wrote Where the Sidewalk Ends unfortunately and and causes some gaps in in getting there um that that being just as important as the park itself and and that challenge that it poses so you know we'll have to be brave and Innovative in a solution what um the council shares and Echoes are things that we're hearing from residents whether it's our social economic physical well-being as a city as a as as well as for our residents Community engagement happens at parks when we're hosting events uh we host you all our department does a great job of Hosting movies in the park but also our other departments are utilizing it when our Bakers police depart department wants to engage with residents it's at the parks we know what where to go meet them and we also know what happens when a park is revitalized as uh some of our Council colleagues have shared it activates that space and I've seen that in w 7 in just these first two years was one of the first things I said to you Rick was we need a new basketball court those kids aren't playing basketball anymore at Stone Creek Park and now there's lines waiting um because of how much uh beautification has happened in just that small space so it's um you know it's no we're none of us are strangers to the value of this base but are we committed to to taking the brave steps the courage steps which have been recommended to us even um tonight in some of the funding strategies uh cities have done very creative Innovative things but also very standard things this is not out of the ordinary for um for us to receive any of these recommendations uh Anton Giovani park has been uh used as an example tonight it's in Ward 7 um and I didn't even realize that it's an 18-year-old Park uh having having grown up in that area it's just it's been an empty lot for so long that folks just myself included have become a custom to that but empty lots are also expensive they're just as dangerous illegal dumping is happening fires have occurred even just to Summer at in every empty lot that I've seen uh hersel Moore was listed there was a fire there uh around fourth and 4th of July had that been a park that would not have been the case residents would not feel like there was any danger posed to their homes um so empty lots are dangerous are expensive uh and and so many of those empty lots in our city are are sitting there waiting to become a park I um had the opportunity also last night I don't know if this camera will zoom in enough but my brightness is a little too high but maybe you can see it yeah maybe the camera folks or it folks can help me zoom in on this photo is that the closest you guys can is that the closest you can get that's okay my brightness might be too high but um Anton Giovani is a very interesting example and I want to share with the community because it's right adjacent to Miller Elementary School as Rick has referenced this elementary school has a grassy area in front of it and residents have used that grass right in front of the school sign right in front of the school to sit and gather and play uh cards um and engage in that public space whatever is available to them as they wait for this park and last night I went and I told them the good news that our design dollars have been approved for Miller uh for the park right next to Miller Elementary School and they applauded they cheered they were so overjoyed and they wanted to communicate and they said let the city know how thankful we are that we finally are seeing some progress in this and we promise we'll be good stewards of this park we already have really strict rules you're not allowed to do XYZ they have they have their own Community rules and Norms if you want to join just sitting in this public space at this Elementary School um they volunteered funds they're like what do you what do you guys need we we want to be able to contribute and these are elderly folks um who walk in cycle to this park and they assured me that half of their group was at home cuz it's 115° outside but that's the enthusiasm of our community and that's the energy that um I think we can be courageous in uh in responding to uh this is not just a parks and this is not our a parks department or re Department issue this is a city issue and you've just brought us Solutions so it is on a us to be to respond to this um and I'd like to ask that we begin do doing the research of what does it look like for us to have a park bond to get us out of this hole um I would like us to take the steps to look into a municipal Bond uh that would help Elevate us out of this hole and at least we have the research uh we have the work done of what that would take because I see that as a recommendation a revenue a revenue Bond General obligation Bond um as well as some of the uh recommendations that council member Freeman has given I think it's time we also do our part in preparing um a solution for this so that's my feedback tonight and I'm very grateful to know that we have this master plan coming up um and I'm I'm very encouraged to see that some of our oldest parks are are getting the attention that they're undeveloped parks are are getting the attention that they need and of course while we balance all of the other competing priorities and these are not easy decisions to make at all so I just want to thank you all and want to thank the department again and probably be bugging you tomorrow again for something else but I appreciate how uh collaborative everyone has been and again I want to thank the community that has participated in this process thank you council member core council member we okay do that yes all right I I think I have a good understanding of the overall plan that's going on here but um can you tell me are when we have action plan evaluation and and it says there's $53 million that we've already spent so if we if we had carried it out over 10 years that would be 106 million but clearly the price we would have to pay for $53 million 10 years from now or eight years is going to be significantly higher than what we have put in the budget at this point in time so have have we put anything in this budget to kind of ease that where it's you know prices are going up and this is not getting cheaper so how can we kind of soften that a little bit well I I think that um first of all that was just kind to uh give you an example of what our current spending levels are and try to maybe diminish the impact of that $318 million price tag to really show that we're making significant Investments and over 10 years we have spent 100 million but you're correct in terms of what the future cost of things will be that number may have to be inflated just to maintain the level of spending that we are um but again that particular stat was to show that out of that 318 million in that 10year action plan 100 100 million has we are already currently allocating so it actually makes that number more of 200 Etc million that we would have to fill that gap for which correctly 10 years from now it could be a lot more but we we did not provide any escalations for well I wasn't particularly talking about escalations but a normal price increase or something like that it was not in there um the other thing is um I I this is going to be a very difficult task for this city and and the people in this city for them to uh foot the bill for this so do we have any other options available to us that could maybe help soften that blow just a little bit I I'm glad that you asked that question council member we um personally I do feel that as as Bruce as council member Freeman alluded to um if we increase our developer fees I really truly believe that it will will uh help the developers to build the parks and the reason why I say that is that I've had several conversations with developers the simple reason they refuse to build a park is they're taking a bath on the parks our reimbursement agreements do not at some at some cases won't even reimburse them 25% so if we increase those fees and they know that they're going to get a significant return on their investment I do believe that will create some momentum for developers to build parks and I agree wholeheartedly with councilman Freeman I believe that we need to develop a policy moving forward that we can get the developers to build the parks because they can build them quicker and they can build them cheaper I I I have no doubt of that and the state of California is standing in our way on a lot of those problems so uh agreed council member we I would also just add we haven't talked a a lot about it today but we are aggressively pursuing grants we're even pursuing where appropriate direct allocations from you know state or federal government in support of our Parks uh we're going to get as much outside funding we've significantly leveraged um Public Safety vital Services tax dollars uh to do Grant matches and get several different grants and we'll continue to do that I don't think that will get us entirely out of um the this backlog that we have but we will pursue that and again um some of our policy decisions about the footprint that we have on our Parks um you know could have significant um impacts on our ability to you if we're asking developers to do 10 or 15 acre Parks it's a little tougher than a 5 acre Park um and so I think we can control costs and we can also work on the revenue side at the same time okay well I hope I hope we're successful in getting cost down I I if I was a developer I would be not happy at this point and I wouldn't be excited about building Parks is there is there um an area or um a location where a certain set of people they really don't care if they have a park or not all all I can speak to on that matter is is to tell you as uh Council vice mayor Gonzalez alluded to the park that is in his district we're not hearing virtually anything about that park being constructed that's just one example as well as some of the other ones that were on very low priority there's virtually no buildout around it um I can't tell you the history on how we got acquired that property but I can tell you there's no communities uh that are demanding us to build uh certain Parks which is how we were able to whittle the list down to the top five or six are we are we obligated to build the park even if we haven't it it Council mayor we it will depend on the scenario so when we've been dedicated land for the purpose of building a park we do have an obligation to build those Parks if there just simply haven't been lands dedicated in certain parts of the city and no lands have been identified we don't have a legal obligation to provide more Park spaces to the community I mean I think you know the council sentiment has reflected that that we want good quality green spaces for our communities that are reasonable uh but we we don't have a overall obligation to provide park or Open Spaces um Although our our you know our general plan uh references you wanting to have those Open Spaces but there there are some of the 10 undeveloped parks that we do have obligation to develop those Parks because of the agreements in the dedication of that land if I could also just go back to the the prior question about are there some areas that that you know are not looking for Parks um we don't have knowledge of any areas like that what what I would add though is if there are master planned communities that go through a master planning process and through that process they identify whether or not they want green space or not in that Master planning um especially a master plan for a broader you know um large you know tract that is the prerogative of that Master plann Community the reverse is what we've actually seen be the case though is that you know um bolt house uh currently and castle and cook you know um prior have gone above and beyond the the typical Park standard in their master planned communities at their own choice they've built beyond the standard and paid out of ET for a higher level of service in those Parks but again that was at their choice in their master plan Community okay so the one thing that I would request is that we do fully advertise anything that we're taking in any debt or any uh cost that we have to fully amortize that so we're not looking at something that uh was $53 Million last year and now it's 153 $ million so if we could work that into the schedule here I'd be a lot more comfortable thank you thank you thank you council member we are council member Arius Rick congratulations on this incredible plan I feel like we've been talking about it for years um and I just want to say kudos to you and your team for just being you know just incredible professionals and uh you know I really want to give you um and your leadership team as well um just tremendous kudos for not reducing you know our expectations and our level of services to the community uh while also dealing with some real you know challenges um when it comes to uh to funding so I just want to um uh lift up your team and and say thank you so much on behalf of uh W one residents that we appreciate it um we also appreciate the fact that you know lenel is um soon to be one of the newest Parks um Coming online here very soon um and so um speaking from that perspective I I do recognize um the importance of building a lot of these um undeveloped Parks um I too you know over the first couple two three years on Council uh would receive calls and emails and text messages uh on a regular basis almost almost as consistent as every single Sunday um and I get active updates from constituents around lenel Brahma uh talking about you know how important it is to uh see that project through um and and I share that because it is um deeply important uh to those constituents in those neighborhoods and so I appreciate you uh taking this so seriously um I I do want to talk a little bit about um our priorities and take a moment as well um to uh give you Kudos again for making MLK Park revitalization project a priority uh MLK Park is no longer in my district um but I made a promise to those constituents many years ago um that although we would be changing the W boundaries that we would continue to Advocate and fight to make sure that they get a regional park that is state-of-the-art um that really addresses um some of the historic neglect in that Community as you know um you know it is that one Beacon of Hope often times for many of those students those children and those families and um My Hope Is that um we will um find the funding uh one way or another uh to build that Park um and so I just want to say thank you so much for that continued advocacy um and also to Mig for uh the many many conversations that I know you had with with Community residents with stakeholders with folks who live in the community today who um maybe at one point did live in the community um to uh hear our stories and our struggles um and to acknowledge those while also looking forward so thank you for your vision and Leadership there um one one question that I have tonight is um it seems to me that the council is you know U taking a look at what our current level of amenities and services are that we want to provide in our our future Park builds um is that correct we have options between a current Park build as um we've historically done business a semi based Park build which has reduced um and some eliminated um amenities and then we have a really basic uh Park build um that reduces quite a bit more and then eliminates some of those amenities as well yeah it it's simply one tool in the toolbox and again my preference would would be that it not be a a permanent uh policy adoption but simply a solution to kind of get us out of this hole we can always go back and add amenities um but I think it is important to to provide some sort of green space for many of our residents that just have been going so long uh without anything as council member core alluded to just a dirt path and and they do cause US problems uh we have have to maintain them there's fires we have to put a fence around a couple of them so that the illegal four-wheel driving and all the other things that come along with neglected space so again we we just wanted to provide the council with real um options that our department supported uh just so you all can and have an idea of certain tools that may be available to get us out of the hole no I I appreciate that and in fact on a phone call just yesterday I asked Christian the very question as to whether or not we were going to be able to take a look at these numbers so from a financial perspective I think it's really helpful for us to look at U but as I I see it on paper today um I think about the history in w i and in southeast Bakersfield and um to a similar extent also in in East Bakersfield um and residents and families who are used to getting the most basic model of any amenity or any you know level of service any facility um and so I just want to lift that up and acknowledge that I know that that's not your intention I know that that's not your team's intention um but that is the real history of this community um I believe um there was a reference to Ken viros screen um and there are you know 10 20 30 point differences within 2 miles if you just you know take a data point from the west side of the 99 um and you take it a mile and a half two miles to the East and you're going to see just the differences um when it comes to quality of life and health and well-being so um I just want to share that because uh again I don't think it's Our intention to do that um but I do want to make sure that um with the eye towards Equity that we are still providing the absolute best level of service and amenities to uh those constituents and those families who historically have not gotten those resources understood thank you um the last thing um if I understood the assignment correctly I also want to mention that you know we've talked a lot about the past and how we're going to address that I agree with council member uh core that I think it is time for this Council to take a look at a bond measure to address some uh to address some of these amenities our dollar is of the best value today and it will only get more expensive Each Coming day and so I think it's important that we take a look at that um and weigh those options to address um those needs I think also for the future um totally agree uh let's work with um developers to build those Parks they can build them the fastest and the cheapest um and let's also take a look at those increased fees um structures I think taking a look at this alre park at 5 acres is pretty emblematic of a lot of the smaller local neighborhood parks that folks are looking for for um and to me it seems like that second tiered increase um should get the job done um so those are those are my comments thank you thank you thank you council member arus families in all neighborhoods of our community value quality of life and it is Parks that contributes and enhances that quality of life so thank you parks and recreation parks department Mig and to all of our uh constituents who have contributed to this initiative thus far thank you very much and now we need a motion to accept and to make the plan public move to accept the presentation and make available the recreation and parks master plan for review you have a motion please cast your votes motion is approved with council member Smith and gray absent thank you as you can see this meeting is running behind and so we're going to give Council a 20 minute break if we can come back at 5 44 and be ready to go please uh Pastor Banks and uh Rob the value valley fever team we have seats for you in the front and with that we stand adjourn at 524 [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [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: a.m. and the following Wednesday at 700 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 515 regular city council meeting of July 24th 2024 Madam clerk please call the role mayor go here vice mayor Gonzalez here council member Aras council member we here council member Smith council member Freeman here council member gray council member core here thank you and VI and uh council member Arius ARD at 548 uh welcome to all of you and it's so good to see so many of our young uh summer interns in the audience also at this time we have the pleasure of having Pastor Roland Banks of compassion Christian Center to offer the invocation we're just so grateful for compassion Christian involvement in our community gardens and then also in helping us with our community violence program really appreciate that following the invitation kayn Balden who is one of our City's high school interns and a recent graduate of Independence High School she'll lead us in the pledge she's a high school intern with the city's public works department and the solid waste division she was ASB president ENT at Independence High for four years um played varsity basketball volleyball and softball she's a California scholarship Federation lifetime member and she'll be attending Louis Louisiana State University in the fall to study psychology and cognitive Neuroscience after college she plans to return to Bakersville and here's my best part and serve as her community and serve her Community as a neurologist I'm glad you're coming back here kayin and now would you all please stand good evening everyone thank you for this privilege to be here let's just bow our heads and go to the father in prayer father we just thank and praise you for this day that you have made we rejoice and we're glad in it we thank you Father for this opportunity to serve our community we ask that your presence and guidance be with us here tonight and for the wisdom to rest upon each council member also all elected and appointed City officials as they deliberate and make decisions for the betterment of our city father grant them discernment and understanding as they navigate the complexities of governance help them to act in integrity and Justice Lord we pray for Unity within our city let us come together with a shared vision and purpose working collaboratively across all divides to foster a community that is compassionate and supportive of all its members father we ask in the name of Jesus your blessing on our City's economic status May new opportunities for business and Enterprise arise that bring prosperity to all of our residents we pray father for a decrease in unemployment and that all that seek work will find meaningful employment to be able to take care of their needs and the needs of their families father in the precious name of Jesus we ask for your protection over each and every neighborhood and Community Grant wisdom and courage to our community leaders law enforcement officers and residents as they work together to ensure the safety and security of all last but not least God we ask that you help us develop strategies and compassionate responses to address the issues that impact all the residents of our city may we find ways to provide ideal resources and opportunities to support all those in need may all the residents of Bakersfield hear the sound of something better in all things Lord we ask for your wisdom and guidance your love and your Justice this we pray in Jesus name amen amen salute pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you and you may be seated and as our interpreter announced earlier we do have Spanish interpretation available so if you see anyone coming in uh in a while who might need that just please direct them to The Interpreter here are 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 chamber or in the lobby Applause is allowed during the presentation portion of the meeting but not during other portions of the meeting everyone in attendance is expected to adhere to the rules of a Corum established by resolution of the city council failure to abide by the city's rules of deorum 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 consider this a first warning to everyone in attendance that conduct that disrupts this meeting May result in your removal from the meeting and or the chambers being cleared behavior that disrupts the meeting includes repetitive statements shouting interrupting staff or our presenters during the meeting speaking out of turn outbursts from the audience surpassing the two-minute time limit Madame clerk next item please presentation item 4 a proclamation to Scott thygerson CEO of current medical Martha Leon executive director of current Medical Foundation and Rob pie patient and program development coordinator for the valley fever Institute at Kern Medical declaring August 202 24 as valley fever Awareness Month in Bakersfield thank you colleagues we are just so blessed to have the valley fever Institute in our community and these fine Representatives here according to data from the California Department of Public Health 2023 marked the highest number of reported valley fever cases ever with Kern County responsible for the majority the summer months following wet winters like the one we just experience are associated with high incidences of valley fever and in the absence of a vaccine or a cure awareness continues to be our best weapon to reduce the impact to our community and I'm just so grateful to be able to present the following Proclamation whereas valley fever is a progressive multis symptomatic respiratory infection and debilitating disease caused by fungal spores that exists in the soil and whereas valley fever attacks the respiratory system causing infections that lead to symptoms resembling many common infections including cough fever or fatigue and whereas the valley fever Institute of Kern Medical is committed to increasing education and awareness for the public patients and health care providers and whereas it is vital that residents and visitors alike are aware of the existence and symptoms of valley fever so that if an infection is contracted early treatment may be administered and whereas the valley fever Institute at Kar medical also remains dedicated to magnifying this growing epidemic educating the public on the importance of early diagnosis and meeting the needs of for clinical care and research by Health Care Professionals now therefore I Karen go mayor of the city of Bakersville do hereby Proclaim August 2024 as Valley fever Awareness Month in our city and urge all residents to be educated and aware of the threat valley fever poses and lends support to finding a cure for this potentially deadly disease it's my honor to be able to present this to Scott tigerson thank you so much and thank you mayor it's an honor to again be with you and before your Council for valley fever Awareness Month if I may first make a recruitment pitch to The Future Doctor Uh current medical needs you the community needs you so um if there's anything that we can do in the future to assist you in your educational Endeavors to become a physician please get in touch with us so as mayor go shared Kern County continues to have about a third of all the valley fever cases in the Central Valley and across the state and when you think of our 900 plus, people that live here compared to 38 million across the state and what this potentially devastating disease can wreak upon someone um unfortunately it wasn't too long ago when we had a family friend pass away from valley fever and the effects of that are like a cancer patient when you think of a cancer patient and the treatments that they go through and fusion and what their end of life may be like that unfortunately happens and those are the devastating effects of Aly fever Cent medical has a unique role and while every takes every hospital and healthc care provider to care for our community our role is to be the safety net provider and car for the most vulnerable it is to be a trauma and Specialty Center and then it's also to be a teaching and research institution and one of that venues in that teaching and research arena is valley fever the valley fever Institute started um thanks to uh the the diligent work on behalf of legislators and other elected officials to receive the seed money to start that Valley Fe fever Institute until there is a vaccination or a cure this will remain with us the mission of the valley fever Institute is of course to provide care but also to provide education and it's unfortunate where we still run into corners of not just our community but elsewhere in the Cent Valley of folks that may have a respiratory illness and their physician um when it hasn't resoled hasn't tested hasn't evaluated that further uh you'll see as part of the valley fever Institute both the the Kern County Department of Public Health holding press releases um and and media events in order to make awareness a key vital um component of being aware of something that can really affect uh people that live in our community with that said I'd like to have Rob Rob perie with the valley fever Institute Sheriff few words thank you so uh I'd like to thank the city council and mayor go for their years of support of the valley fever Institute um so the valley fever Institute is unique is in Kern Medical unique in the community and honestly unique in the world uh the valley fever Institute is the only patient care center that includes education and awareness in its Mission and it's also the only Research Center that includes and prioritizes patient perspective and patient outcomes the valley fever Institute continues to lead the awareness and education efforts conduct research that is focused on patients for better outcomes in our community and in the absence of cure as mayor go said um or a vaccine awareness continues to be our best weapon to fight valley fever and to reduce the impact on our community uh the valley fever Institute wants to encourage members of community to ask their doctor about a valley fever test if they've had a respiratory illness for longer than 10 days especially if the symptoms include a rash so rather than go through the symptoms which are similar to cold flu and now covid uh I want to en encourage people that have had an illness that lasts more than 10 days especially if they've had a negative covid or flu test to ask their doctor about a vaccine uh excuse me a valley fever test especially if those symptoms in uh concur with a rash and additionally no test is perfect uh there is nothing that that works 100% in this world uh so testing should be repeated two to four weeks later if the first test was negative and symptoms persist and I'll share a story as um knowledgeable as I obviously am and experienc and unfortunately with dealing with B fever for the last 12 years my wife had a respiratory illness a few years ago and she followed this exact same advice with her doctors she was tested three times uh over a two-month period for valley fever and thankfully she did not have it but that was very um you know it supported our efforts and it was very reassuring to know that the doctors were listening and taking that her condition seriously alternatively I know a gentleman who was born and raised in a farming Community here in Kern County he had the same situation and on his third test he did test positive for valley fever and was able to get the care he needed and this is a gentleman that was born and raised in this community uh you will see some valley fever awareness yard signs like this one right here uh around town as a matter of fact we've brought one out for each member of the city council and mayor go but not that one that one's Danielle's um and they are available um to members of the community Through the kmal foundation.com so the Kern Medical Foundation as well as Kern Medical um are the two organizations that have made and empowered the valley fever Institute to impact the community in the way we do and so I think the her their efforts cannot be underscored and although Martha is not speaking as the executive director of our foundation she is a core to the foundation that is the valley fever Institute of current medical and we also have another small gift for you so awareness uh for valley fever we often have used turquoise ribbons traditionally this was started in Arizona so we have turquoise ribbons for you to encourage you to wear throughout the month of August thank you so much [Applause] a couple of them here thank you all very much and colleagues we have signs right over here for you to take home and display and help us raise awareness Madam clerk next item please public public statements thank you in keeping with council's new resolution public statements are now received at different times depending on the item I will call on the city clerk to call for public statements at the appropriate time so please listen carefully for the correct time to speak if you wish to make a public statement please fill out a public speaker card and place it in the tray on the counter next to the speaker Podium we ask that you mark whether you're here to speak on on an item listed on tonight's agenda or in a matter not on the agenda speakers who do not identify a specific agenda item will be presumed speakers for non-agenda public statements if you're here to speak on an item not listed on the meeting agenda you will be called first to speak statements are given a two-minute time limit per speaker's 20 minutes total for all non-agenda item public statements if you're here to speak on an item listed for the agenda I will call for you at a later time so please listen carefully in public if public statements become dis disruptive and I have to clear the chambers to regain order of the meeting you will be called in one at a time to provide your public statement when your item is called Madam clerk do we have any public speakers regarding items not listed on the agenda America we've received three speaker cards regarding items not listed on tonight's agenda the first public speaker is empress nony celo followed by Cecilia followed by Valeria thank you good evening I am Empress no to ziki Lelo and I'm here to commend my city council rep Andre Gonzalez and the city manager Christian Cay and the employees of the economic development for finally taking steps to make sure that the area long underserved neglected we have new streets newly paved streets not patched but paved and is right in front of my house my street that I live on in on Eureka and I just want to commend my city council person for standing up for that community and making sure and also Eric arus because I know he began the fight a few years back before the boundaries were changed and I just want to commend you all for really being sincere and taking interest and I do want to state that I know it's not an easy job but we have to take into consideration he's when they fight for us it's because we have been long underserved and neglected and in order to bring us on par with the rest of the city they have to fight that hard for funds to be in that area that has been disinvested for so long I wanted to Brave the heaten boy it's hot out there but thank you again Andre Gonzalez Christian Cay and the city staff from the economic development led by as far as I know Jason Kar thank you thank you Miss Empress vice mayor thank you mayor uh thank you Miss emess for the kind words uh I appreciate that I also want to uh join you in thanking City staff particularly uh Mr stlo Public Works director and uh Kevin peoples head of the streets uh division who uh really has been instrumental at getting at a lot of our uh streets that have uh been overlooked for quite some time and you're right we must continue to push for our disadvantaged neighborhoods and U making sure that those areas have adequate not only repaving of our streets but also our alleys for whom many uh rely on uh as a front entrance to their home uh and also uh improved infrastructure when it comes to walkability and bikability uh so I appreciate you coming out and braving the heat it's always wonderful to see you mam CLI next speaker please Cecilia followed by Valeria welcome please introduce yourself hello again my name is Cecilia marcial I am a perinatal nurse in the city of B field you get a little closer to the mic please and speak a little louder so our interpreter and maybe just slow down so our interpreter can interpret welcome go ahead okay I am a perinatal nurse in the city of Bakersfield representing only myself I am part of the thousands of healthcare workers for Palestine who cannot be silent in the face of ongoing USF funded genocide which you are complicit in do you still stand resolutely with the apite state when the international court of justice has ruled Israel is in violation of international law do you support the murder of one child in Gaza every 10 minutes I am embarrassed I am embarrassed to be American I am embarrassed of my country's leadership I am embarrassed that our tax dollars are funding genocide I am embarrassed that our politicians do not denounce genocide I am embarrassed that our politicians receive money from the American Israel public affairs committee known as APAC I am embarrassed that your moral compass is so flawed that receiving blood money from genocide is your preferred option it sickens me that a country that Prides itself in promoting freedom and justice has never stop supporting ethnic cleansing and no I will not leave my ancestral lands but I will leave you with this quote I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard and what is it America has failed to hear it has failed to hear the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last 12 or 15 years it has failed to hear that the promise of freedom and justice has not been met and it has faed to hear that large segments of White Society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about Justice and Humanity next speaker [Music] please Valeria welcome please introduce yourself afternoon I'm here to talk about the case of Muhammad bar and I want to give a fair warning for the disturbingly violent story that it is this is Muhammed bar a 24-year-old man with Down Syndrome he was non-verbal often refused often refused to move and still relied on his family to feed and change him the family tried their best to hide him in the corner of the living room when Israeli troops raided their neighborhood following heavy air strikes the family had already been displaced five times at this point when the Israeli troops arrived they Unleashed their dogs which immediately jumped on Muhammad his mother nail amidar recalls that the dog first bit his chest and then began to bite and Maul his arm and that Muhammad was screaming and trying to free himself as the blood poured as I mentioned earlier Muhammad was nonverbal but his mother goes on to recall Muhammad could not speak or say any word but out of horror he was screaming at the dogs sometimes saying wala wala which translate to hey you and sometimes kalas Habibi enough my dear I don't know how he uttered these words we had never heard him speak before she pleaded with the soldiers to take the dog off of him she tried to explain that her son was disabled when the troops finally did remove the dog they still kept Muhammad in a separate room from the rest of his family his mother pleads again let Muhammad come here to which the Israeli soldier replies no we will treat him hours later she would hear him scream for water she would ask the troops to bring him some they said they had a specific type of water for him the mother could hear her son humming in pain every now and then the soldiers would open the door tell him to be quiet before closing it again a doctor that had arrived with the troops entered the room and suddenly nabila could no longer hear Muhammad humming later she asked the soldier where is Muhammad they told her Muhammad is gone gone where she asks Muhammad is gone there is no Muhammad the family was forced to leave the house and weeks later they returned to the ruins Muhammad was still there lying on his stomach and his body was decaying I want everyone to keep Muhammad's story in mind when I remind them that mayor Karen go has yet to walk back on the fact that she stands as I quote resolutely with the state of Israel and when I remind them that no one on this Council has taken it upon themselves to introduce the ceasefire resolution they were given months ago to express solidarity with Palestine instead they installed metal detectors cameras and sicked police drones on us when the Palestinians came to express their outrage thank you madam clerk are there any other speakers for this portion may go that was the final speaker for this portion of the meeting thank you we'll now move to the public statements listed on the agenda if you're here to speak on items listed under consent calendar item 7 your time to speak is now again each speaker is given a two-minute time limit and each agenda item is listed limited to 20 minutes total the consent calendar as a whole constitutes one agenda item if you're here to speak on consent calendar hearing item 8 a through b or reports item 10A now is not the time to speak you will be given an opportunity to speak when those items are called later in the meeting Madame clerk do we have any public speakers regarding items listed on consent calendar item s America we've received two speaker cards regarding consent calendar item 7 uh first speaker will be Sandra mosa Placencia and followed by Wendell Wesley Jr welcome please introduce yourself hello uh my name is Sandra melosa Placencia and I am a current policy Advocate with Leadership Council for justice and accountability and I'm commenting on 7 C2 as the city continues to reone sites to meet its Reena we urge the city council to ensure the city's housing sites inventory complies with the housing element law which includes the city's mandat duty to a famely further for housing hcd recently identified Breakers fille second housing element draft as non-compliant on page two of the findings they State the element includes table D21 that identifies the arena by census track and socioeconomic characteristics but should also aggregate the Reena by area um for example Central and Southwest Bakersfield then evaluate any isolation of the Reena by income group and discuss impacts on existing patterns of socioeconomic characteristics we uplift this this comment to ensure the city identifies which category of the Arena the sites will meet whether that's extremely low income low income very low income moderate or above moderate identifying which category of the Arena each site will meet will help the city and the public identify whether they are on track or not to meet the arena during the planning period and will help the city determine whether there are adequate number of sites to ensure it is not run a foul to the not net loss law under government code section 6586 3 additionally we rais concerns regarding the overc conent ation of sites being proposed in southeast East and Central Bakersfield while the sites that will be reson are spread throughout the city it is evident that the majority of R4 sites are located east of the 99 the over concentration of these sites in low resource areas does not abide by afh due to these sites being identified as prone to displacement cost burden and are raci racially ethnically concentrated areas of poverty in the housing elements we uplift the city needs to revise its site's inventory to comply with the requirements under government code 6 5883 subsection 83 and label each site to include the following categories such as their location Arena income category zoning designation density acreage and APN the city must ensure their sight's inventory abides by afh and housing element law thank you and we hope to continue working with you miss Placencia you do an amazing job in keeping time welcome welcome uh my name is Wendel Wesley Jr uh thank you mayor go city council City staff um this is about 74 purchase of tax uh default real property resolution of bers uh Bakersville city council authorizing the city manager to designate the purchase to tax deferred real properties not exceeding $800,000 this is a very good thing that you guys want to do here uh my only concern is that we really need you to work with us uh usually when um cities states counties when they start purchasing homes buying homes as we all know most of these homes right now are way overpriced for anyone in this community um thanks to the real estate board and the flipping of housing we've created a mess and now we're spending way too much money on shelter beds because people have been displaced because housing is now not affordable so I urge you to realize that for every $2 that we spend on shelter beds you're only going to spend $1 to keep people housed and to make matters even better it would be in everybody's best interest if the city works with the general public here to establish our own Community Land Trust so that these homes once purchased could be turned into housing that is truly affordable based on people's net and the cost of utilities and such other things so people are not just surviving people have an opportunity to live and um improve the quality of life for generations to come so bers for itself will be self- sustainable in all areas thank you thank you Mr Wesley Madam clerk do we have any others in this category mayor go that was our final public speaker thank you vce mayor does any member of the council wish to pull an item from the ENT calendar or recuse themselves from an item seeing none okay we'll move on with approval I do want to make a comment though uh if I can um I I apologize [Music] we have an item on the agenda tonight regarding the purchase of a system um that provides enhanced uh monitoring with the basal Police Department I'd like to make a referral tonight that we work on a policy uh that outlines the the parameters of the use of that flock system uh and if we can uh send that to uh safe and healthy neighborhoods with that I'll make the motion to approve the consent calendar mayor go before we move on with the vote if I may interrupt uh consent calendar items 7A through 7i for approval a staff memorandum has been provided uh for item 7 C2 uh transport uh transmitting correspondence and additional staff memorandum has been provided for item 7 E6 correcting the term of the agreement to 2025 thank you Madame city clerk you have a motion please cast your votes motion is approved with council members Smith and gray absent thank you next item please consent calendar public hearings items 8A and 8B for approval to announce it have to recuse yeah you're going to have to announce it though it's now time for consent calendar hearings the purpose of the section is to vote on all of the it items listed under consent calendar hearings in one motion without further comment if anyone would like to speak on any of the hearing items the item must be removed from this portion of the agenda If an item is removed it will be placed at the end of the regular public hearing portion of this meeting I believe that council member Freeman is recusing himself and do you have yeah mayor uh council member Freeman will abstain from uh items 8 a and 8 B um from the consent calendar public hearings Madam City attorney thank you mayor vice mayor did council member Freeman um indicate the reason on the slip thank you uh Miss janaro I was trying to discern that I believe uh he indicates that a person or entity involved in the proposed action is a source of income or gifts to Mr Freeman thank you very much yeah okay so at this time I'll open consent calendar public hearing items 8 a through b is there anyone in the audience who would like to request that a hearing item be removed from the consent calendar if so please come forward this isn't the time to take testimony only remove the item from the consent calendar hearings does any council member wish to remove an item from the consent calendar hearings at this time consent calendar public hearings items 8 a through b is closed vice mayor move to approve consent calendar public hearing items 8A and 8 B you have a motion please cash your votes motion is approved with council member Freeman abstaining and council members Smith and gray absent thank you next item please reports item 10A American Rescue plan act updated framework including updated Appropriations in applicable departmental budgets a staff memorandum has been provided regarding this item correcting some scrier errors an additional staff memorandum has been provided transmitting correspondence thank you Mr CLE yeah thank you mayor mayor and councel uh we are required to do regular updates um for uh the federal government related to ARP funding and this uh cycle this report is in response to that cycle for regular reporting but also want to take an opportunity as we are um now a little less than 6 months away from Our obligation to fully either incumber spend or obligate our arpa funding uh in the administrative report that was uh provided to the city council we outlined uh several updates to the arpa framework um uh the arpa framework again this is you know $94 million uh we didn't necessarily um put a table together that shows uh every portion or line item within our arpa budget but we provided updates to a couple of changes those changes um are in uh three principal categories first the same arpa adjustments that were approved in the budget process are just memorialized here where we took funding to uh fund the um Open Door Network shelter construction project we also funded um jastro Park and improvements uh and then also had some additional dollars for Street Paving and Street Lighting in disadvantaged neighborhoods again those were all actions as part of uh the City Council budget adoption there were also two other um funding allocations where um um rfps or Grant solicitations we ended up having um more quality responses than we had anticipated and so uh just within the same overall funding buckets we're able to um allocate some funds in the example of Tourism for one example we're able to spend additional of the the tourism dollars in support of uh the capital project um solicitation for small venues um in the the tourism and and Hospitality sector uh we added a little bit of funds uh to round out those R FP responses and similarly with our facade Improvement Grants uh there is a slight increase there uh also we uh memorialized I failed to mention on the budget uh allocation we we memorialized in our report the fact that Council prior at midy year had allocated $500,000 towards the business security grant program um that was Prior prior and our violence prevention bucket the third and final um up date to the arpa framework is that we did Identify some savings and this was um part of the course of business around arpa but also to be responsive to the referral uh related to uh the potential for funding for the neighborhood stabilization program and that's why you'll you'll see that uh starting slide on the screen we identified um uh from a particular project $1.2 million that is um not going to be fully expended in our water conservation Turf replacement program and so this is 1.2 million in savings that could be allocated to another you know priority of the council again that's a council priority Council action but in response to again the recent referral uh staff feels like that this funding allocation is you know uh the um an appropriate consideration to be resp responsive to that referral and Council discussion on funding that could support the neighborhood stabilization program now before opening up to questions and discussion I just want to I have just two quick slides to highlight um both um the potential um projects but also some of the funding that um is already uh allocated or or pending for um programming to make sure that that context is fully understood so if clerk could Advance one slide this first slide is actually just a summary of the types of funding that's already in place this is existing funding or pending programs uh related to rental assistance it's important to note in addition to the significant um Federal treasury monies that were allocated through the city and the county during the pandemic that over the last four years there's been $1.5 million in hap funding from the state that's been allocated towards rental assistance that has gone out from the the homeless collaborative um but but through uh funding approved by the city we've also done the $700,000 in rental assistance from cdbg monies that Council authorized in this last year on top of that we had also identified the $250,000 uh for rental deposit assistance we're still working on the uh best way to get those monies out the door but that was also a a council Direction um from prior action and then in this coming year we have a million dollars in home funds that we're going to be allocating for uh rental assistance uh as well so there are significant rental assistance funds across multiple funding sources uh again we've named some of these programs but we have now U providing you those dollar figures our fair housing contract that we do annually is $100,000 investment we have $170,000 in cdbg home access improvements uh home weatherization we've got a million dollars in arpa going towards assisting with um improvements in our disadvantaged neighborhoods uh we have um several million dollars uh going towards um installing solar panels as well as actually additional weatherization programs uh through our $22 million in TCC grant funding and we are expecting expanding those programs with additional grant funding uh and then um as recently discussed of course we've approved the um pilot program for eviction prevention uh to the tune of $350,000 and then the these dollar amounts on home buyer assistance vary year toe but we are doing home buyer assistance um as well as uh the Community Land Trust seeing significant Investments that will go towards um both um additional units as well as the opportunity for um uh home buyer assistance and down payment assistance for properties within the established Land Trust uh so the good news is again we have a strong Foundation that's been set to address you know priority issues uh and U get at neighborhood stabilization so I think that the question that is uh going to be before us in coming months is what are the additional neighborhood stabilization programs uh we were we gave a early look at some of those programs um in our presentation along with the budget a month ago uh we've been hard at work over the last four weeks we have advanced our research um uh around potential projects I have to share with Council though we don't have a fully developed um work plan we need to do some additional analysis we need to do some additional Outreach uh but if clerk could Advance the slide these these are just some um early looks at we're we're starting to see a couple of different buckets where there's larger projects that we think will be more significant funding um and smaller projects that um that could uh be done with smaller amounts and um based on feedback both from staff who've been doing this homework and research and best practices and Community feedback is that um there are significant concerns with habitability that is the ability to offer grants to do home repairs uh to fix issues within homes so that we don't displace um tenants that are experiencing those habitability issues we need to be careful about this because we want to reinforce good behavior and not reward bad behavior frankly but we also don't want this to be uh another instance where with some of our um more more potentially more code complaints as uh um residents become more aware of their tenants rights through our workshops but also some proactive code enforcement um you'll see that second bullet point um that uh we expect we're going to find those habitability issues and that could just mean more displacements more closed units and that's not the intent We Believe of this U program or this Council and so we want to find ways that benefit um the habitability for those tenants um and if we can do good vetting and and essentially case management in those instances we think those um uh Rehabilitation grants would go a long way uh We've also been looking at um some of the recommendations out of the uh Homeless Action Plan and there again there's a voluntary um rental registry recommendation uh using a particular um tool called padm Mission uh that we think it makes sense to support but then also the potential of um a pilot program for limited uh required registry of certain um high-risk residential um locations and then the potential for relocation assistance again for those that may be displaced um as we continue to try and pursue these stabilization programs we need to do again a little more homework to flesh out what those all precisely look at and the dollar amounts that we would recommend but we do feel like the this $1.2 million in savings is a a very uh reasonable um allocation that could get at these large projects and then still have the funding as uh discussed and referred at the last uh conversation on this topic um to add some um legal advice for landlords to complement that that that's going to uh to be available to tenants and then to do some additional community outreach for housing Navigators uh to help walk folks through um uh the different issues and challenges Beyond those efforts that um are going to be available through the eviction prevention program this is more about having Navigators that are in the community um aware of uh the same information that's coming out of those type of workshops that will be off offered by gbla and then lastly trying some Pilots of what residential facade Improvement Grants could it look like uh of course we've tried that with commercial and in EAS we've seen good results there there are some examples in other cities where they do that in residential areas typically it's focused to narrow geographies to see you know block byblock synergies and those type of improvements but we think that there could be good stabilization in key geographies uh with a potential pilot there as well again this is not set in stone council's not voting on this tonight but this is just a a preview of the types of programs will take the this arpa savings if directed by Council to identify the projects within uh that funding um to pursue based on this analysis we've done thus far thank you Mr CLE we'll now go to the public for comment there will be a two-minute time limit per person and a 20 minute time limit for the entire report item Madam clerk do we have any requests to speak America we've received two requests to speak one from Sandra mosa Placencia and one from Wendell Wesley thank you welcome hello again uh Sandra mosa Placencia and I am the current policy Advocate with Leadership Council for justice and accountability uh thank you for the opportunity to provide comments um and thank you Mr CLE for um showing us you know the the proposed programs and for meeting with us earlier uh this month as well I I did want to push back on the recommendation for 100,000 for landlord legal assistance wanted to reiterate the main data that we were pushing for when we were talking about the AP program which is over 70% of landlords have access to legal representation in court when less than 2% of tenants do right I think also at the budget adoption we heard from um executive director of GBL Valentine that you know evictions can cost the family up to $10,000 to $20,000 which is incredibly expensive and a huge financial burden um I am here to uh kindly request that the city instead of using that funding for uh landlord legal assistance you add it on to the pilot program for the eviction prevention program um we know that you know y'all the program is starting uh next week right and we are very excited to hear about that um but we we reiterate that 350,000 is not enough to meet the need and I do believe that the data will show that in the mid year um additionally we did submit a letter asking for a rental assistance uh more funding for rental assistance a relocation assistance for um families who are going through habitability issues and we are also asking for uh a rental registry and we would love to continue working with the city and Community to identify how that would look like in the future thank you so much for your time and if you have any questions please reach out to us thank you thank you Miss Placencia next speaker please when Del Wesley Jr again uh like Sandra said thank you all very much um I'm really enjoying uh working uh with Christian Craig and uh the other members and employees uh in the city and I I really do believe that uh we will uh be able to make really headwave and uh see some good numbers in the future of reducing homelessness and um the best way to do that is to really look at sustainability you know in order to do that we need affordable housing in order to do that we need programs like this arper program but giving $100,000 to landlords that really don't need any assistance in that area and for the very few that do I'm sure they can find Affordable Legal Assistance because we do have legal aid services uh here in uh Kern County that they can use so we don't have to throw good money after bad uh the registry is a really good program that the city needs right now cuz we need to identify every landlord that's out there especially the corporate ones because a lot of landlords currently are hiding how many different properties they have just to qualify for programs like this that they really don't need and because they're corporate and they're Wall Street back uh they have way too much power than what is necessary uh they run a lot of skill tactics um I was just recently uh learned of someone where their circuit breaker was shut off as an intimidation practice so um this is really horrible we need to identify uh landlords that are doing these things because this is not Bakersfield we don't want landlords like that there's good landlords here and that's what bakersf is about having good landlords not bad landlords along with this registry program there needs to be fines uh when uh landlords are out of bounds or are wrongly uh intimidating and pushing people out into the streets and those fines don't need to go to the State of California they need to go to a program that's going to turn back around and be able to help and serve the community this is the best path forward so that um people um that are looking into having rental properties you've exceeded your time would you bring your comments to a close please okay so that um um let people know that if they're going to come to Kern County or Bakersville that this is just not an opportunity to get wealth um off the backs of hardworking people and their mortgage isn't even paid for they should be good owners and have their mortgage paid for already and for the record would you just introduce yourself please Wendell Wesley Jr thank you thank you and now vice mayor thank you mayor um just a few comments number one is you know I think it would serve the city well if at some point we were uh able to publish a uh report on all of the wonderful projects that we were able to fund as a result of these onetime arpa dollars I mean this is a pretty historic um investment in our community and as I look at the long list of different buckets um you know I'm very proud to say you know many of us on the council have been very involved in many of these uh priority areas uh particularly in the qualified census tracks um and I I I would love us to produce that report so that we can demonstrate exactly how we've utilized these precious dollars um and and I think that uh I think that'll serve all of us really well um I want to jump right into some specifics if I can um regarding the home weatherization million doll allocation what is the status of that funding uh line item are we have we expended those dollars yeah thank you vice mayor they are not fully expended ended we actually have two different vendors uh who are working that project um we we split it into two different providers uh into two contracts one has largely expended um their funding the other is um still um working their way through but we've been applying significant reminders of the need to move quickly to to expend funds although they are encumbered and they will have Beyond December 2024 to spend down the funds but we're we are reminding them of um the need and and the obligation to move forward so I I would think we're probably 60% uh expended and so there still are some opportunities but we also have many applications in Q so so when you say encumbered they're encumbered from our perspective but those dollars are still with the agencies correct and they have a a list of uh applicants to use utilize those dollars they just haven't gone through it yet correct okay I I would I would want us to establish some sort of deadline as to when we were going to um actually apply those dollars and then uh any unexpended dollars by our deadline that we established claw those back so that we can apply them to some of these other um programs one of the programs I'm really interested in is this home uh Hab habitability uh project um I think a conversation that I had with you recently uh from what I understood there was a significant number of cases that have been referred to G that had to do with habitability what was that around 80% correct and so uh I mean this sort of tracks with some of the conversations I've had with my constituents uh in fact Miss empress and I had a conversation just last week about uh the need for us to invest in some of these uh homes in in our uh qualified census tracks uh to to make those significant repairs many of our uh residents have uh floors that have holes in them they have roofs that have holes in them and are leaking um and some of the conditions are are pretty um substantial um and and and concerning and so I I would like us to uh see about utilizing some of those dollars whatever whatever weatherization dollars we have remaining and then what whatever buckets we might have so that we can um make that a priority as we move forward because that that is aing ific need and Miss Embers thank you so much for lifting that up to me in our conversation last week in your living room um lots of good stuff like I said uh one of the other areas I'm really interested in is this bucket uh Community Development in qualified census tracks um I I believe we have uh identified some additional dollars um under that track under that bucket to the to the tune of $2 million or so yeah we have just just less than 2 million it's 1.9 and and and change but um roughly $2 million in what we've been calling disadvantaged neighborhood projects yeah and so as I've been you know communicating with lots of different stakeholders in many of our qualified census tracks in our uh disadvantaged neighborhoods um it's it's uh been clear to me that while we have addressed a lot of issues still some remain and one of those issues is related to some of our um agencies that are providing really deep and meaningful work around youth engagement and Youth Development and I know in in in months past we've talked about violence prevention and youth violence prevention work and how that has been a priority and and I and I want to offer that this might be a a really strategic way for us to invest these dollars uh that will have you know benefits far beyond the next year and two but perhaps the Next Generation Um and that we really Target some of these uh agencies these nonprofits that are that are working again in these disadvantaged neighborhoods I'll give you a few examples U the Bakersfield Police activities league has been in southeast Bakersfield for decades um they have significant Capital uh needs uh they have a lot of deferred maintenance with their air conditioning system to their uh sprinkler system in in the in on their uh on their property and as a result they've had to sort of contract some of the some of the programming for for the Youth within that neighborhood um the Boys and Girls Club has purchased a property just across the way from their property on Nile street again a disadvantaged neighborhood in East Bakers part of our Niles Monterey Prosperity neighborhood uh they are looking at trying to build a pretty Innovative uh entrepreneurship program within uh East Bakersfield for the young people there um they could po possibly utilize some of these dollars to help invest and and get them to the next phase of their project um groups like Wendel Davis Foundation are currently looking for a location so that they can provide the services um that are absolutely uh essential for many of the uh boys and men of color uh within Baker uh council member adius has pointed out in the past and rightfully so the need for the city to support the Greenville walking Group which has been a wonderful partner with the city of bold for well over a decade uh and who uh desperately need a a facility an actual place that they can call home and so what I'd like to Pro propose tonight is that we um develop a uh one-time uh Capital Grant Grant fund uh uh Grant application for uh Youth Development for uh nonprofits that are focused on Youth Development and who want to pursue a capital project uh to enhance their facilities um so I want to make that referral tonight that we that we start working on that and bring that back as as a way to utilize um the remainder of these uh Community Development bonds and qualified census trucks council member arus thank you mayor gonna go g to go a little bit off script and just Echo some of the same sentiments that uh the vice mayor has just pointed out um I just want to lift up the work of um well really all of the facilities that um uh my colleague um described but specifically the Greenfield walking group um and some of the work that they've done um I I'm convinced that we wouldn't be pursuing um a complete transformation of Monitor Street uh without their advocacy efforts you know we we wouldn't um have installed some of the uh traffic slowing measures along hosking for instance um we've done some continued Investments um through cdbg dollars and other uh funding sources to make improvements to local residential streets surrounding uh specifically South High School um and so I just want to lift them up I'm not sure that uh they're in the in the room but I know that they're probably engaged and we're probably going to watch at some point later this week because uh their advocacy is Relentless um and I I couldn't agree more I think that this is such a transformative opportunity for us to invest in our local youth centers um and really double down our efforts to support them in a pretty big way um and and ensure that you know they're not only available um to families and children currently uh but to ensure that they're around for decades to um to ensure their sustainability um so I I I think that that's an incredible plan um to to go back to um the initial conversation and and my referral I just want to thank uh Sandra um and and the entire advocacy team for all of your continued efforts um I think it's so important to not lose sight of the conversation as mentioned um one of the reasons we're having this conversation is because of the need for ongoing Investments for the eviction Protection Program um we know and acknowledge the fact that there were significant challenges with finding the right provider um and also making sure that there was also enough funding uh for us to keep families housed it was said tonight that it is far cheaper uh for us to make an investment to ensure that somebody doesn't fall into homelessness than it is to on the back end provide that emergency solution uh to those families and that is absolutely the the truth um and so I'm just um really grateful um for the continued advocacy day in and day out uh for us to see the light on this issue and continue to make those smart and strategic uh and Humane Investments um so on that note I just want to give an opportunity for staff uh to help clarify I it's very clear that the eviction Protection Program did not make the list uh but want to provide an opportunity uh for us to um tell the public why why that is um and what the plan is moving forward for continued funding yeah I think Council RS mayor and councel I would just note first that uh the title of the slide was very intentional potential additional programs and so eviction protection or prevention program is one of our existing programs uh I think again uh we're we need to go and do some more homework and Analysis to really identify dollar amounts for each of the potential program that we we think make the most most sense you know collect more data and so as we um identify or not ien as we review the data that comes from this pilot program for the eviction prevention it could easily be the case that they'll come back and say you know we were able to serve this many clients um and have prevented people from being um you know um unhoused uh and here's the wait list of additional folks and if we had the additional capacity we'd be able to serve this additional number of individuals uh to to me um that is included in the considerations for where additional dollars could go great thank you so much and and thank you for that that correction that is uh absolutely the truth um and I'm looking forward to seeing the data come back um I think um I have have great confidence that the greater Bakers for legal assistance um through this funding source and many others that they receive um and with their staff that they're going to be able to bring back that that data and um it is my hope that this Council will continue to make those Investments uh year after year um I too am also very interested um in the habitability grant program pretty surprised myself uh to know that 80% of the calls going through gbla are related to the habitability of those units uh related to mold mildew uh challenges with infrastructure uh roof and flooring um so very excited to see that the city is interested in supporting that either by contract or um internally um also really appreciate um the idea of you know providing additional relocation assistance and I and I do want to lift up that you know the eviction Protection Program also will hopefully support um that effort because by law in the state of California uh in certain instances where U just cause or enough notice is not provided to the tenant um it's actually required by state law uh that those landlords provide at least some uh relocation assistance and so I see that you know an additional fund is set aside uh working hand inand with the EP program um and so yeah just want to tip my cap off um to Jenny and the team uh I know it was a quick turnaround um my last question is what's the timeline moving forward on on some of this analysis and when can the council and the community expect to um put this these ideas to work yeah I than you council member uh I would put it into two phases uh one uh some of these programs that we again feel like are probably going to have the biggest impact we'd actually like to the ability to come back to council and say we're we're recommending this amount of that sort of set aside bucket to pursue this program in the next you know I would say two months um the I wouldn't anticipate probably until October coming back to say hey we think these are all the ways to you know spend these potential funds and some of that is I give this October time frame as well because there there's the possibility as we get closer to December there might be a few other arpa buckets that just aren't going to get fully expended and those will be opportunities for Council to determine again H how do we allocate those uh funds I think um some of those funds again we've identified specific categories and buckets and for the most part we've tried to keep things within those buckets um and um and there may actually be additional you know uh staff reimbursements that are eligible between now and then but we we'll we'll have one more checkpoint in October before December to say hey this is kind of our last time to shift funds um to other projects before it needs to be fully encumbered and fully committed and so we'll come back in October with an update for Council more broadly on the the set aside and the projects but there are some of these um we think high impact large projects that are on that list that we'd like to flush out in the next couple of months and may bring those back before that October update fantastic and I'll just take a quick moment to say thank you for your continued leadership um I know we talked uh for a couple minutes uh just yesterday about the uh significant Investments that this city council um and and with your leadership and and staff have invested in addressing the root causes of some of the greatest challenges in our community um anything from investments in our local library systems um that are producing benefits already um even within just the past couple months uh to investments in park rangers uh who are there to protect our assets and our local parks um to uh make Mak sure that we're keeping fam's house so I just want to give kudos to this Council uh give kudos to you Christian and uh look forward to uh seeing this come back in October thank you thank you council member ARS council member core thank you mayor um joining my colleagues to also uplift the uh creative and more Innovative uses of our arpa dollars um you know arpa money came down as what felt like a once- in a-lifetime allocation for from our federal government um in the name of being an economic stimulus uh for the cause of Public Health and so much can be encompassed within Public Health all of the buckets within our different social determinants of Health um and some of the more I think even the larger but also the smaller projects mentioned touch upon infrastructure uh Beyond just a building uh that really allows for us to make investments uh with dollars that may become once in a lifetime and kind of are those projects uh programs that are Urgent needs that are dire needs but you know we have the restrictions of uh being able to afford it as as a city governance so uh it's one a miracle to have arpa dollars to work with and as we're on the tail end of it I just want to also join council member adius and supporting vice mayor Gonzalez's referral in finding ways in which we create support for youth programming and centers that have long served the community and um and building that infrastructure and taking that initiative as um as a city council as as the city of Bakersfield and investing in our youth and that hitting on exactly what the purpose of these dollars really was in um in making sure that public health goes beyond just the medical health of someone it is having a safe space like Pals the examples that you've mentioned as well vice mayor or different organizations that serve as a refuge um and are have created different pipelines of leadership um you know those those are the ones those are the organizations and places and spaces that are keeping our youth healthy today so I wanted to just join them in in E echoing my support as well thank you thank you vice mayor move to approval of the updated expenditure framework along with the related appropriation you have a motion please cast your votes motion is approved with council member Weir abstaining and council members Smith and gray absent thank you next item please Council and mayor statements vice mayor thank you mayor I have a few items uh tonight to make referrals on uh number one is I received a a an email from a constituent who's very concerned uh about Railroad and the uh pedestrian and bicycle safety of that roadway um specifically between California in Stockdale and so she was requesting some uh analysis on some traffic calming perhaps enhance Street Lighting in the area and uh making that referral on her behalf today um number two um as we continue to expand both BR Lane navigation Center and there's conversations about some other expansion work and some of these um service provider sites that are serving our unhoused population I'd like the city council to adopt a Good Neighbor policy that uh pertains to the area surrounding some of these sensitive uses uh and so if we can uh begin working on a good Neighbor policy similar to what we have in place for brage Lane I think that would help benefit the surrounding neighborhoods and that would include areas around St Vin depal the mission at K County um Open Door Network and even some of these new uh permanent uh Supportive Housing projects that are coming online um number three um I had a wonderful presentation uh at the budget and finance and economic development committee meeting regarding our entrepreneur sh entrepreneurship grant program uh and it was just inspiring colleagues to to see and witness all of the wonderful things that some of our local small business owners are doing with just uh a real modest uh investment from the city um and I'd like us to continue to uh fund that program and so I'm making a referral tonight as I promised on Monday that I would make a referral tonight that uh we direct staff to look at ways in which we can continue to support that program uh in future years and I know Christian uh you indicated that you had some ideas on how to fund that program but I think it's a worthwhile investment uh and number uh four um it was announced uh few weeks ago that the Crystal Palace is for sale Crystal Palace is a historic uh uh site for many of us in the community it is a tourist attraction it draws people in from all around the world and I think it's something that um that is really important for the city to ensure that the new buyer the new owner the next owner really can sustain uh The Same Spirit and operation that makes it so special and so what I'd like us to do because I've received many many calls from people asking perhaps that the city purchase the property or look at other Alternatives but what I think is probably the best option is for us to work with uh the current owners and see what what sort of incentives we might be able to provide uh the a a potential new buyer uh with some promises with some conditions that they sustain operations uh with the same spirit that same Bakersfield sound uh spirit that makes that facility again so special um so I'd like us to um work on that perhaps we can talk about that in Budget Finance and economic development as well and in following tonight colleagues uh it brings me um a lot of sadness um to share with you that one of uh my constituents and a really important Community stakeholder in downtown Bakersfield has passed away uh Mr Kenny Reid the owner of G three's Alley Cat um passed away this week um he was the original Mr downtown and he contributed so much to our community uh for for many years and for that uh I along with many of uh the War I residents are very grateful for his service thank you thank you I don't see any other requests to speak so we stand adjourned at 7:03 young people thank you so much for being here I'll be back with you in about five minutes and then we'll have our meeting [Music] [Music]