Down at Fresno City Council meeting December 13,2018! Among items: keep funding Homeless Task Force, Farmland Mitigation, Master Trails Agreement, Comprehensive Plan on Irrigation Repair for Roeding and Woodward Park ,Limit number of Proclamations at each Council meeting.
Meeting begins at 9:12 Invocation by Sukhjir Singh from South Fresno Sikh Temple. All Councilmembers present. SPCA Pet of the Month Jax the Kitten @stevebrandau 
Shawn Riggins Day @OliverBaines says he runs EOC ‘s Local Conservation Corp and helps with job training for youth. Riggins says it is also important to remember the youth we have lost.
Mickey’s Toy Giveaway Day @Esmeralda_Soria In its 9th Year and sponsored by Latino Rotary Club’s Toy and Food Giveway December 16th at Chuckchansi Park as well as at farm labor camps.
@Esmeralda_Soria honors one of her interns Jaksaran Singh who has helped her office for the past four years. He is pre-law with 3.93 GPA at Fresno State. He is very optimistic about Fresno’s Future especially with the diverse crowd in Chambers today.
GSF Properties, Inc Day (a Valley Property Management ) sponsored by Mayor’s Office’s H Spees. They have helped Neighborhood Revitalization doing alley clean up, fence replacement and wheelchair Ramp in Winchell, Cang Pao, Columbus and 12 other neighborhoods.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Day (LDS) who also helped with Neighborhood Revitalization as “part of sleeping giant of faith based community “. 400 teenagers in multiple neighborhoods all on one Saturday painted houses, cleaned alleyways, beautified schools etc.
Council Reports: @Esmeralda_Soria would like today’s meeting adjourned in honor of Labor advocate Randy Ghan. @stevebrandau says Santa Village in Pinedale. Toys, candy, food, activities and Skits today December 13th at 4 pm. Asks to reach out to those who are missing loved ones
@ClintOlivier says this is his last Council meeting. He hopes Brandau will still be in holiday mood when consent calendar comes up 😜 Olivier wishes Nelson Esparza well. Thanks his neighbors and constituents. Anti-trafficking Act, Two Parks built or refurbished. Greatest honor
of his life was serving on the Council. Says he will stay around Fresno. He says he had to learn how to serve both his District and City as a whole which is hard to do somethings. Thankful to save City from going bankrupt during Great Recession. Came to Council as a critic of
Government but City Staff won him over and knows they will get things done on time and under budget. Especially when Sommerset Apartments lost their heat over the holidays City Staff stepped up above and beyond. He said his own staff had toughest job of all the City for having
to keep track of him. They never let him down. Thanks Council colleagues for being friends despite battling each other on dais. They all know the community demands they all get along to keep this City going. As a libertarian if they were hacks he would say so. @MayorLeeBrand is
mentor to him when they were both on Council together. He cares a lot about this City. @PaulCaprioglio thanks Olivier for those kind words and he will miss Baines and Olivier. He also says there was a book drive at Ericson Elementary yesterday. 700 books given away provided by
Heart. He also says Go Dogs! this Saturday at Vegas Bowl. Only ranked team on West Coast. 1-V and 1-T puller from consent. @ClintOlivier Olivier and Brandau register NO votes on Council payraise. @stevebrandau Brandau on Cannabis item too.
Cannabis Item. @GarryBredefeld is willing to support Medicinal portion but this may turn into recreational use as well. He would like to amend this item to say “No Cannabis retail allowed in districts that voted No on Prop 64”. Olivier says if it gets amended today it couldn’t
approve it today and would have to come back in January. Olivier reminds @GarryBredefeld that majority of Bredefeld constituents voted in favor of recent cannabis tax Measure A.@PaulCaprioglio asks if financial benefit should be carved out as well from Bredefeld’s district.
Motion to amend item per Bredefeld reques that his district be carved out. Fails 2-5 Cannabis motion as a whole passes 5-2 with Brandau and Bredefeld voting NO.
In coming President Brandau: Each Councilmember shall place no more than two items on the Agenda. Consent items and proclamations are excepted from this rule. [There shall be no more than four proclamations per meeting, and they shall be placed on the Agenda on a first-come-first
first served basis. He thinks it will work out. Soria worries with only three meetings a month there may not be enough time. Now * served basis.]
Approve a professional consultant agreement in an amount not to exceed $318,000 with Blair, Church and Flynn, a Clovis-based
Approve a professional consultant agreement in an amount not to exceed $318,000 with Blair, Church and Flynn, a Clovis-based
* served basis.]
California corporation, to prepare a comprehensive irrigation replacement plan for Roeding Park and Woodward Park. Brandau states lawn is terrible at those parks. Staff: Construction costs will be known 6-9 months after the consulting occurs. Brandau makes
California corporation, to prepare a comprehensive irrigation replacement plan for Roeding Park and Woodward Park. Brandau states lawn is terrible at those parks. Staff: Construction costs will be known 6-9 months after the consulting occurs. Brandau makes
motion to approve. Passes 6/0 with Olivier absent. Students from Vang Pao Elementary are visiting Council
Unscheduled Comments from Public now. San Jose pays homeless to help clean our community which will make area more attractive. As a college town night life should be better in Fresno. She is concerned of Homeless tent city. Climate Change and Lessing litter going into landfill.
San Jose should be copied by helping homelessness and climate change. Another person from Fresno State. Safety near campus from car accidents and crime. Police have cut down on pedestrian crossings especially at Bulldog Lane/Cedar. $250 ticket for jaywalking. If Pd are targeting
this area educating is better than just citing students. This can be done with signs and email reminders. @PaulCaprioglio mentions the “scramble walk” at that intersection and will add that at other locations too. Thanks students for speaking in front of council today.
Moving out of order to 4-B an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with Fagundes Brothers with Master Plan residential development called Oasis in West Fresno. Baines says they are working on CEQA requirements soon but will be a quality place.
Update on HERO Team. WestCare’s Homeless Outreach on behalf of the City H Spees says largest reduction of homelessness on West Coast (60% occurred in Fresno. Occurred three ways:Map Points, police and HERO team that helped connect homeless to services.
HERO works with Turning Point , Poverello and EOC. 8000 contacts over last two years with 230 housed ( a lack of housing is problem) 700 in depth surveyed. Mayor’s Office asking for funding ($420,000) utilizing carry over funds to keep HERO. Police Representative says working in
homeless camps a uniform is needed but they know that can also be a problem. HERO team go to the same places as PD but play a role the PD can never do. Pam Sango Madison of HERO talks of former homeless Vanessa. They got her Services after six years on the street. Pam showed her
that she cared. Vanessa wants to help people and go back to school. She is close to moving into permanent housing. Other couple was living in 110 degree garage and now is in permanent housing. WINGS helped with furniture. Vote by council will allow this to continue. Yonas Pallo
a homeless Vet advocate says $420,000 is a lot of money but would like to see accountability of HERO. Would like to see Vets off the streets sooner. Public says 500 independent organizations helping homeless in Fresno. Says people on HERO are good people but don’t always have
good tactics. Bredefeld asks about #Notinvisible she says she has volunteers. She is former homeless. One thing she does is have homeless bring a bag of trash in exchange for food. Private Citizen says HERO is vital to city. Rep from Turning Point says HERO is helpful. They can
approach homeless easier than PD can. Getting to know a homeless client they can work with them on a personal level. Nancy Waitlow of Dakota Village says demolition of homeless camps spurred the Dakota Village designed by Art Dyson. They have many ideas they would like to share.
Community Dispensary Rep says be sure to involve community in spending money. Be inclusive. More youth mental help needed. Could be paid for with cannabis revenue stream. @IamEricPayne children don’t vote and have little say in political system. Fresno Unified serves homeless
students but still some are sleeping in cars. We can do better. Sarah Bergatti of Poverello House says HERO was able to leverage grant with their help as well as works with HERO and Turning Point. We save dollars and lives.
@stevebrandau will be supportive today. Brandau aks which if these would intimidate a homeless person more? HERO rep Pam or Officer Farrah ? Also cost of Officer would be more. @GarryBredefeld asks H Spees about 59% homeless reduction. Point in Time Count provided data. Trying to
Get most accurate data. H Spees says Also hard to define “ homelessness “. But we still have 1700 homeless on streets but 2005 on the list. Not perfect way to count . @District5Chavez says when homeless camps were broken up it makes it hard to count them. Low Barrier homeless
tent is needed. He has had three homes burned in his district from homeless trying to stay warm. He does want accountability and goals. Council needs to be active in this. 110 referrals just from Council offices. Chavez would like calls back from HERO when they come to his
district. H Spees says 8000 contacts overall in City. Chavez will be supportive but would like monthly report, type of services, # helped and which district. Makes Motion to approve. Caprioglio says all want to support homeless but have different ways to solve it. Keep holding
Council’s feet to the fire on this issue. Transparency is needed. He loves PD bike patrol. Is very critical to his district says @PaulCaprioglio passes 6-0. Moving to Master Trails Agreement with FID (Fresno Irrigation District). Scott Mozier introduces FID’s Bill Stretch. He
says FID is supportive of this Master Agreement and the Trails along the canals. Anthony Molina and Felipe Arballo of Fresno County Bike Coalition says majority voted for Measure P and would like City to have these network of trails. Mark Kepler was this was discussed four years
ago between Clovis and Fresno. This was a team effort. This will Be transformative for Fresno. Gene Richards says once mid town trails is open people will be clamoring for it in all districts. Guaranteed. Merced has great creekside trails. He does think FID demands are ridiculous
Trash in canals won’t increase due to this trail idea. @stevebrandau says two to three years ago looking for Measure C dollars for this mid town trail. Could be most heavily used trail in Fresno. Thanks Bruce Rudd and Former Mayor Swearengin too. Makes motion to approve.
@District5Chavez says SE had Fancher Creek trail and will approve. Soria says Measure P would have been crucial to providing dollars to build this out. Hopefully we can make this a priority. Passes 5-0. Mary Savala of League of Women Voters on Farmland Mitigation. Says many want
To speak on this item and she requests this be continued as this was bumped last meeting as well. Staff Dan Zack: this is a text amendment to General Plan that removes language that requires that prime farm land of similar size to be set aside. Other ways to do it. League of
Women Voters says this creates loopholes for developers. Council promised all stakeholders will be part of this process and done in an open public meetings. Scott Spier of Conservation easement group says they are in favor of original form of this. They can help Council with
this. Ryan Jacobsen of Farm Bureau says ag is driver of County. Preserving farmland is important. Thinks this proposal can be useful and is another tool. Dan O’Connell thanks City Counsel Doug Sloan and Planning Staff for Their Work. Thinks this text change makes this more murky
whereas the original is more straightforward. Says Brandau and Mayor promised all stakeholders would be involved. This will lead to a project by project advocacy it rely on Sustainable Ground Water Act. Huge equity overlays are needed. Assemi Group’s Jeff Roberts says they farm
as well. He personally worked on ways to preserve farmland. Robwrts: Council can do three things 1)nothing. 2) eliminate policy 3)staff recommendation Mike Prandini of Building Industry Association thinks this will allow more flexibility. Keeps housing prices down. @stevebrandau
says he didn’t think this even should have been in General Plan. Thinks City should expand even larger. This will allow developers to have more ways to mitigate farmland use. This is a compromise. Counsel Sloan says CEQA still needs to be abided by. Brandau makes motion.
Chavez says East of Peach has more spending money than rest of his District. Other cities are growing and City need to as well. Rents are going up. Soria says voices are needed to be heard as this is crafted. Passes 5-0. Going to lunch until 2 pm and then to Closed Session first
Council back from Closed Session (2:30pm). EPA Grant application for Brownfields. EPA looks for areas that can be stimulated. Sophia P from DARM. Grant can be from $300,000-$600,000. Stantec is consultant on this. Approved 6-0.
Proterra , Inc Purchase two 40’ electric low floor busses for $2.7 million. Oliver Baines said Air Board has money for more electric busses for City and Schools. Greg Barfield says up to 9 busses. Olivier and Baines thank Barfield for all his hard work. Money for these busses
from a grant. Proterra bus can go all day without charging. Former City Manager Bruce Rudd pushed for holding off on this 2010 grant purchase until mileage range increased. These are 210 miles. Current busses are Compressed National Gas. Route 38 will get these busses. Bredefeld
asks about price. Barfield says cost includes charger, training and spare parts for battery. Other brands would require in route charging (ten minutes to charge). Assistant City Manager Jim Schad says this was competively bid. Price goes up with more batteries. State mandates
electric busses. Baines mentions fuel cost savings v natural gas. Schad says it is cheaper to charge at night. No oil changes needed with electric bus. Also we will look at electric storage. Baines says Hydrogen fuel cells are getting better too. Brandau jokes that he should be
on Air Board. Approved 5-2. On to Midtown Trail Segment consulting. Approved 7-0
Next item is similar as last but different segment. Approved 7-0 Next is synching Herndon Ave Traffic Signals from Golden State to Willow. $586,000 contract to Trafficware Group. Approved 7-0.
WORKSHOP on Impact Fee Waiver Public Works Director Scott Mosier Developers can be charges no more than their “fair share”.
Last item is resolution to direct an audit of Homelessness Services for HERO Team and other providers. Ask for help from Assemblyman Arambula on this as well. Chavez says many entities like Emergency Solution Grant, Poverello House, Westcare, Rental assistance , Marjorie Mason.
If providers don’t want to supply the data to audit then we shouldn’t do work with them. A written report provided to Council within 90 days. Chavez thanks Mike Rhodes for his help. Chavez plays a 5 minute video that has interviews with homeless in Fresno and what they would like
to see done and have as services. Chavez wanted to have Council hear the voices of the homeless themselves and not filtered thru service providers which may only show positive outcomes. Public encourages the audits. Homeless wonders where money goes given to providers.
Public says Point in Time Count undercounts number of homeless by 1300. She was told that if count was more than previous year than grants wouldn’t be given. Baines says homelessness is a complicated. Takes money for wraparound services. Condition to be homeless needs to be
corrected. Housing stabilizes a lot of that. Lots of processes have to come together. Public needs to focus Council to work with County. County is given money for services. City has land use portion. Make County and City work together. Fresno is large enough to have all the pro-
lems as any City but small enough to solve it. Approved 7-0. Soria reminds the Council we are Adjourning in honor of Randy Ghan. This is last Council Meeting of 2018. See you all January 10th for the swearing in of new Councilmembers Arias and Esparza. Happy Holidays!! 🎄⛄️💥
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