[♪ Music playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing the This is the April 8th, 2025 regular meeting of the Irvine City Council. The time is 4.05 in calling the Council to order. There was an earlier special meeting that just preceded this. That was regarding matters of the climate action study that is underway the cap. This is however the regular meeting and at this time I would like the clerk to call the roll. Councilmember Carroll. Here. Councilmember Goh. Here. Councilmember Liu. Here. Councilmember Traceeater. Here. Vice Mayor May. Here. And Mayor Eagren. Thank you. manager about the previous. Councillor to move to a closed session, but let me first have the city clerk announce this item for a closed session. Thank you, Mayor. This is a closed session item 1.1 conference with legal counsel existing litigation, government code section 54956.91, city of Irvine versus Kingston Corp. Orange County Superior Court case number 30-. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. understand we may have a public comment at this time. We do, Mayor. We have one request to speak in person. All right. Please call on that person if you would. Mr. Peterson. Thank you, Mayor. If I could call forward Janet Sue. Welcome, Ms. Wu. Hi. Thank you, Council, for taking the time to listen to me. So since 2020 after our building on cantering was burnt by our ex-tenant, we did what we could to bait our property under the circumstances given to us by the city, represented by the W.C. However, our attempt to evade from the beginning to end were futile as we were given unrealistic timelines 30 days to demolish or 120 days to rebuild. That, the city itself couldn't meet and no chance of completing planning and permitting. We attempted to work with a city had licensed contractors paid for labor, material and equipment, even provide the city $50,000 as a promise of our abatement, and paid for city approved plans that was ready for our permit. However, despite our efforts and the safety of concern of imminent collapse, instead of working with us in a reasonable manner, the city prevented our abatement at every stage, leaving us helpless as the city helped the power. The city insisted on a city demolition by offering false information and documents to obtain the demolition warrants from the court. Our lawyer was no match for a large well-connected law firm as a W. City attorney's firm, Rutan and Tucker. I felt intimidated from his first communication when he demanded impossible timelines and called me uncooperative referring to a separate matter without ex-tenant. His law firm representing the city has also been the same firm representing our ex-tenant for a long time. This ordeal has felt like an unfair punishment. It may no sense that the city was fighting with us over the task of abatement that we were ready, willing and able to do on our own. But as it did, we've had to suffer. And now it seeks to make us pay attorney's fees incurred only because of this five-year nightmare that should never have occurred how the city just done the reasonable from the beginning. To make things worse, the demand for these fees is after the deadline when we are no longer represented by our prior attorney familiar with the history. Recently in December 2024, we celebrated the installation of our new City Council at City Hall. With you, we are hopeful that ordinary citizens like us will receive proper representation. We sincerely ask you, our elected representatives, to help us seek justice and write the wrongs that can still be invited. Please curb the city's appetite and stop the city from taking away any more money from us as this matter wouldn't have escalated to this point. Had we been treated reasonably and fairly, we hope you will help us seek justice work with us reasonably and hopefully write the wrongs and prevent similar injustices from happening to us and other property owners. I also had snapshots and photos of things that transpired back from back 2020 to now, including a letter from the W. City Attorney demanding the rebuild in 120 days or demo in 30 days, which are not consistent with industry standards. And I don't think anybody will ask that of the wildfire victims right now to rebuild in 120 days or to mollushing 30 days. Thank you your time is up. Thank you. Is there anything you wish to leave with the clerk or the council? Yeah I can leave this here with the the snapshots of the police feel free to leave those with the clerk and we thank you for your comments and uh... with that there are no further comments is that correct correct thank you will move to uh... close session at this time and we will reconvene here following our closed session to consult with our legal council. Mr. Melchene, do you have anything to report? Not tonight, Mayor. There having been no reportable action. We now move on to the balance of the agenda. At this time we'll have the Pledge of Allegiance and it's my pleasure to call on Councilmember Go to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic, which stands one nation under God, indivisible. Well, the liberty is just as for all. This time we'll have a invocation is hold on here. Is Pastor Aguilar here? Oh, there we are. I'm sorry. I was looking right past you. I should have requested that everybody remain standing. It shouldn't I? So let's all stand once again. Those who are able, please stand. Thank you. So much mayor for having us over. And thank you so much for making faith communities a big part of this meeting. I think it's very important that we honor our faith communities. Thank you so much. We bless all of you council members. If you would just give me a moment of time, if you'd like to borrow heads, if you'd like to do that with me, or you can just reflect. To our great God in heaven, from the beginning, family has been central to Irvine's foundation and growth. And from one family to another, and from one generation, Irvine has been built and guided by family. We bless the roots of family and we call this foundation to grow and not diminish and to be remembered and not forgotten. We call on leaders and influencers who operate out of godly integrity, wisdom and discernment, protect Irvine from fear and division that lead to corruption. Guide Irvine, O Lord, into the next era of your mercy and grace. And for you are the ultimate master planner. Give us strategies that we will see all her citizens thriving all of her citizens. Goddess in creating a culture that honors the values and differences that we have, but we're able to hold to your truth and to your justice. Goddess towards understanding and compassion that we may bridge the divides between us, help us to recognize the humanity that we see in each other, and to embrace the richness of our diversity. May love and respect prevail. Buying this together as one community united in the purpose and of good will. We value faith communities and we bless the city for this so draw leaders together and fill them with your spirit and your plans so that they will move together. Protect Irvine from becoming individually focused that we lose sight of family faith and what it takes to create a healthy family life and community. Again, we call Irvine to hold to the values established in the beginning for family and unity and for peace. I pray that we never lose sight of our heritage and the heritches that flows from our values and declare all these things in your great name, amen. Thank you. Please be seated. Thank you, Pastor Hagenhorn. Thank you for all of your community service. Much appreciated. Next we turn to public comments, public comments for non-agentized items. This is estimated to have started at 5.15 and we're 5 minutes ahead of schedule. With that, public comments on non-agentized items will be heard from those who wish to be heard here in person or by way of raising your hand and zoom so that you can enter the queue to communicate with us from a remote site electronically. Do we have any requests yet for public comment? We do. We have 19. 19 requests. Wow. That being the case, we allow 30 minutes for public comment on non-agentized items. there are 19. Let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's,. Let's let's limit people to 90 seconds and anybody else coming in would come in at a 90 second limit as well. And let's see if we can take care of all this. How many are here in person and how many are going to be communicating with us remotely? 17 in person and we had one dropouts. We have one on Zoom. One on Zoom. All right. All right. With that we welcome the first public commenter. Thank you, Marif. I could call the first five folks forward. Susan Sayer, Darren Parker, Mary, Susan Renner, and Thomas Renner. And we'll start with Susan Sayer. Hi, good afternoon. My name is Susan Sayer and I'm a long time Irvine resident. And I've been a long time contributor to the Irvine community, even receiving the honor of being awarded the 2024 Wall of Recognition Award. I have had a long a lifelong experience with working to support health and wellness internationally, nationally and locally. I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Brazil. I was a three time delegate to international human rights conferences in Ireland, Kenya, and Venezuela. I'm a retired adult protective services social worker who investigated abuse, neglect, and self-neglective seniors and disabled adults and worked to obtain services for my clients that served to resolve their abuse situation. I continue to work cooperatively with Regent's Point Senior Community Human Good Wellness Committee. I have good references, including a good friend who's a retired executive director of the Orange County Office on Aging. Feeling that I have a lot to offer the new Health and Wellness Advisory Committee, I feel that our online application for their at-large committee member position. However, when pressing submit, the program failed to submit. I tried copying the application so that I could make a PDF copy to send in. However, the program would not allow me to copy it. I called the city and was told that the submission was not successful and it was asked to fill out another copy online. just a moment, your 90 seconds are up, but I understand it, you're applying to the Health and Wellness Advisory Committee. I'd like to, but after I wrote this and submitted it, I did talk to a Carl and I did and I did get a PDF copy and I was told I can fill out part my hand and type up the question so I will be submitting it. Problem solved. Problem solved. But I wanted to tell you that they should be prepared to offer people the PDF copy because I was told we couldn't get one. And erroneously. Well thank you for your comment. We definitely will look into that. Good luck in your application. Thank you. Deerren Parker. Welcome. Thank you. My name is Deerren Parker. I'm an Irvine resident. And I came here originally to speak and support of the Dog Park project, included in the Oak Creek Improvement project. I found out since today that it was removed from the Oak Creek Improvement project. And it's essentially scrapped. And there's a lot of unhappy people that just found that out. So brace yourselves. I don't think that was the right decision. I think that each of you is doing a disservice to your constituents by removing that. I think it was the best plan and I think it should be reinstated. We got an amazing community of people and I would just like you to take them. I would like you to take them what they want into account when you make these decisions. It was a private decision. Mike Carroll, I know this is a breach of decorum but you were on my voter guide. I would have voted for you if I lived in your district. I still am glad that you have a voice on this council. I think it would be beneficial to speak to you face to face publicly, privately, whatever you see fit. I value your time. And your chief of staff has my contact information. Let me in the remaining moments that you have here. Just inquire of our city manager and staff. Is this matter coming back to the council at some point in the near future? It certainly is, maybe I can provide just a brief bit of background. So everyone is articulating the issues from a similar place. I thought perhaps everyone was aligned on the plan that the city is deploying. The council and the public may know Central Park has been planned to be moved since 2015. That particular project was to facilitate a planned expansion of the animal care facility and our OSF corporate yard. We eventually identified a location at Oak Creek to potentially move the dog park, central park, to a new location. We've heard from certain residents surrounding Oak Creek Park that maybe that's not a use that they would desire, write adjacent to the orange tree community. Perhaps some members think it would be appropriate, but we certainly have heard feedback that maybe we need to re-look at everything. After we heard from residents a couple weeks ago staff did do a deeper dive into options that are available. Ultimately one of the shifts for Central Park involved in expansion and parking fields at OSF moving towards the west. Our team and community services and public works to a great job trying to think through a new option to address the concerns that have been raised. We actually were able to figure out a way to relocate a construction to pre-storage facility at OSF. In doing so, we were able to push the parking north toward the train tracks adjacent to where the existing OSF is thereby removing the need to relocate central bark. And so what we'd worked on a plan, my understanding is our community services staff engaged with various resident groups, there was a thought if we could upgrade central bark where it's located, improve drainage, improve shade structures, the turf interaction, facilities for the dogs at central bark that would be a really terrific outcome where all of the interests were addressed. And to that end, we've developed a capital improvement program proposal that will be included in the fiscal year 2527 budget that will allocate dollars to make those improvements to Central Barc and really create a brand new dog park for the community at that location. That's the proposal that I thought that we had worked out. Sounds like there may be some additional conversations that we need to have. We're happy to engage with the community to have those discussions moving forward. There we are. This is not an agenda item tonight, but you're having brought this to our attention with the City Manager's explanation. This is obviously a matter to be continued to be looked at. And we'll make sure that you and others are advised as this progresses in the weeks ahead. Fair enough. There's a tremendous community of people that want to see this existing project going forward that fall under every single person's purview here. You've made that point, I understand it. I think it's safe to predict there's gonna be a fair amount of additional dialogue about this entire project. All right, thank you. Thank you for sharing your views with us today. Mary? Hi, my name is Mary Fruhar. And thank you. I've been here before. And this is also about the new dog park that was to have been there is more than just orange tree to be the affected community. However, Mike Carroll has only talked to the Ornstree people or he's the one who has been whose name has been tossed around. There are three to four more communities around there and our HOAs have not been talked to. It's only been the people who do not have dogs, who have a lot of misconceptions about dog parks who have never been to a dog park, who have been saying things like dog parks are all stinky, stinky, stinky, and that dog parks are noisy all the time, who have never been there. And those are the ones from Orange Tree who have been complaining about it, who got it shut down from there. The people from Orange Creek and I'm sorry from Oak Creek and the other Oak Tree, I can't remember the other names of them, they they were not contacted at all. And also when Orange Tree H.O.A. I can't remember the other names of them. They were not contacted at all. And also when Orange Tree HOA did talk to you, they did not contact all of their members. They only selected the ones that they knew on the outside. Thank you for sharing your views with us. Susan Renner? Welcome. Hi, this is very fancy. First, I don't know how a city council can arbitrarily make a decision about a park that is integral to the community without notifying that committee. You should be ashamed. All it takes is go and put a sign up on the dog park door so that we know what's going on. I came here, I've been to different speaking times taking my own time to promote and understand how we can make a dog park work in this community. And I walk in and no one has had the common sense to notify the people at the dog park that they're going to cancel the plans that they've made for the last seven years. Can you explain that to me? Sorry, it seems really simple. Yeah. How many people do we have in Irvine? 330,000 about? Okay, there's 0.59 dogs for every person in Irvine. Do you think that there's a need for a dog park? Your comments are well taken. I can assure you there'll be further discussion and notification to folks. Thank you. Thomas Renner, and if I could also call forward Audrey V. S V. Allen Meierson, Peggy Hanson, and Jason Garzfield. Good afternoon. Well, obviously you heard my wife, Susan. Thomas Renner, Irvine resident. We had a message we were going to come in here with today. We have a plan, keep the plan. it's a good plan. It was a funded plan we were told. And we were supposed to have going up to Biting in January, February, now we're in April, we're hearing, oh no, stop, we don't need to do any more. After how many years, and people feel like the rug has pulled out from underneath them, when we went through, we went through the city, we saw the plans, we consulted on the plans, we all like the plans, and then a, I guess a very vocal two or three people get the plan killed, and who is here supporting the plan? Were the people that killed this plan with their complaints. Have they ever been to the council? Like we have and shown that much support. I don't think so. We need the dog park as it is. And now you're saying 2627. Well, we were supposed to build it this year and the funds were there. So I'm not understanding why Even with the plan changing we would wait till Another year or two goes by to fix what's already passed due to get fixed Thank you. Thank you for your comments and As I say this is non-agentized Anon agenda's item. At this meeting I'm sure we'll be having this is non-agentized, unon agentized item. At this meeting, I'm sure we'll be having. This is an agentized item. A future meeting will be not, Mr. G. We will, and I apologize. I was just conferring with our team. I just wanted that Council know and apologies to any resident who wasn't aware of this proposed change in plan. We had been communicating with members of the support group. And what I was told, and I just verified a couple of weeks ago when we ran this proposed plan by everybody, specifically the organizer of this group. The feedback to staff was yeah, that sounds like a really thoughtful plan. It appears the opinion has changed from this group and so we'll certainly re-engage and try to figure out what the best course of action is here moving forward. We think we can balance out all the interests and certainly I hear the comment about helping to design the park that certainly our intention moving forward to engage everyone when we look to upgrade central bark. How do we do that in a way that meets the needs of all our residents? So if we misstep and didn't communicate with everybody, certainly my apologies. Our understanding was that we did engage with members of the group, but obviously it sounds like the opinions have changed. Thank you. Next please. Audrey. Welcome. Thank you. Good evening, City Council. I'm here as is obvious to advocate for the dog park. This place is more than just a community to exercise our pets. It's a vital community hub. Every day I see firsthand the incredible benefits it provides. Dogs experience joy, owners for lasting connections. Elderly residents who may have difficulty getting around find a place to socialize and stay active with their dogs. It's a place where we support each other, maintain the park and build a strong community. This park is currently in disrepair and requires significant upgrades. To lose this to upgrades even temporarily would Displace a large and vulnerable segment of our population For many this park is their primary source of social interaction and support Additionally, the current location tucked away continues to cast a red-headed stepchild light on our dog park community The park should be a visible and integrated park of this community, not hidden behind an industrial area in the city. As a graduating UCI student on my own reinvention journey committed to pivoting to public service, I am troubled by the apparent disparity in how our city council values its residents. It's been suggested that a council member here aligns himself with an HOA member who believes that renters who constitute over half of Irvine's population deserve less consideration than homeowners regarding the city amenities. This notion undermines the principles of a codel representation. Every tax paying voting resident deserves your voice. Thank you, your time is up. You can finish your thought. You should finish. Okay. Were you finished? I'm almost done. I have like three sentences. We urge the council to allow for improvements without disrupting this vital resource and ensure the park is valued, visible, and part of airline. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Mayor can I just respond quickly briefly. Yes. Councilmember Carroll brief response. Thank you. I just want to respond to some of the commenters including the last one. I have none of those views whatsoever and it's important for your public officials that are elect to be held accountable. So let me just make one thing clear. I don't know what speaks for me except me. And I will be speaking to any and all of you that would kindly meet me in the lobby after this public comment period is over. And we can have a brief dialogue. I still have to be at the rest of this meeting. But I'd love to meet and talk with all of you directly after this period. So thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Next, please. Your name please? Great Vantile. Welcome. Thank you. I'm here for the dog parks. A lot of people hit a lot of different points. I want to be clear. I was the person that Chris Salama reached out to. I've been working with them for several years now and from Kathleen Hatton to Dina Diggins and Cory Lakin. In that meeting, I think what's forgotten is I was asked to be a whole that in confidence what they were talking about potentially doing before they had come to a decision. So they took my, I'm excited about more dog parks. We need them. The math says it. Other cities are doing it. There's reasons for it in a politically divided environment. At the dog park, people drop all that. People just are there for their dogs, and they coalesce around that, and it makes a better world. We need more of that. Not only one of them, we need four of them minimum. I'm gonna go into some quick stats. I know the more people silly. I don't have enough time to tell people stories that will move your heart. But this will move your mind. Chicago has one dog park for 100,000 residents. Portland has 5.7 per 100,000 residents. Calgary, Canada has 12.9. This is a boom. It's the number one growing segment of public parks today. Even ahead of get this pickleball, yes in fact it's a truth. So the reality is this is an amenity that is growing the Relatures Association has reassessed the value of what it does to homes. It's time is now. We definitely need more dog parks and we're trying to help you get there. Thank you your time is up. Thank you for your comments. Alan Myerson. Good evening, Councilmembers. Alan Myerson. I just want to say I respect and appreciate all of you guys working together. For the audience, there's not a council member up there who doesn't do what they think is the right thing for the city and for the people in the city. So I appreciate what you all do even though once in a while I'll see an eye roll when one of the council members doesn't like what another council member is saying I know you all work together and I appreciate what you do. Kind of drawing a blank. I had something I wanted to say. I can't remember what it was. You want to reserve your time? That's okay. I really appreciate what you guys do. I know it's hard and I did want to compliment the city manager. I don't really understand how he can do what he does. I don't think any of you up there would be able to do his job. It's that difficult. He's always ready with an answer. And I'm not saying he doesn't make a mistake now on that. Everybody does. We're all human. But he's a very competent 24, 7 guy. And I really appreciate the work he does. He's just amazing. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayorson. Peggy Hansen? Welcome. Why don't you pull the microphone down a little so we can hear you. My name is Peggy Hansen. I'm here about the dog park. I was born in Tustin when Irvine was a ranch. I have lived in Woodbridge for 31 years. I've seen a lot of changes. I too understand that what you all have as a responsibility is enormous. I brought this for anybody who wants to look at it because this is one of my issues about the dog park and its current location. It's as you all know it's immediately behind the Orange County hazardous waste disposal site. My dog that I've had for eight years and that I rescued by the way because I was assured that Irvine had a dog park and would continue to do so. It likes to walk the perimeter regularly. In the last three weeks, I've picked up all of this, which anyone is welcome to look at, which includes alkaline batteries, crushed alkaline batteries, lithium batteries, broken glass, electronic components, and I have talked with the, I think the hospitality department or something like that at the city. Thank you, your is up and if you conclude your remarks please. Yeah what I'm saying is it's not a safe place for people with dogs maybe small children next to that hazardous waste. Thank you for bringing that to our attention. Thank you. Jason Gargfield in a like it also call forward Laura Karack, Carol Schwartz, Rolf Parks, Catherine Rusk and P1M. Welcome. Thank you. So I'd like everyone to do a little thought experiment and this might be a somewhat uncomfortable one so please bear with me. Imagine that a group of Ku Klux Klan supporters came to City Council and in the public public comment section, they stood up and said horrible things about black people. What would the council do? I know that you would have to let them speak because the First Amendment is paramount. I also have no doubt that every one of you would make clear in no uncertain terms that you find their comments reprehensible and that such hatred has no place in the city of Irvine. And if you did not do that, then African-American residents this city would have every right to feel that their local government had failed them. Well, that happened last year, just replaced black people with Jews. Three of you up there were here last year when a mob of hateful agitators over and this room, one of you did not say a word in condemnation of them and actually gave a public statement supporting some of their demands. That council member is now Mayor Vervine. Mayor Aigren, you've responded to almost every other public comment tonight. You can and should respond to mine. Jewish residents of this city have the right to know what their mayor thinks. And I'd like to settle this matter. So will you settle it today by saying that you unequivocally condemned the anti-Semitic hate that we saw in this room last year? Thank you for your comments. Laura Kormack? Good day. I'm glad to hear that the dog park central park will be getting some upgrades. It sounds like the hazardous waste area needs to be maintained and cleaned up around there. I wouldn't like to see any dogs get poisoned or anything like that. I spoke to many parents and other people that enjoyed the Oak Creek Park for the last two weeks I went there every day at different times. And there was always someone doing something there. Yesterday there was a lot of kids playing soccer on the Valleoke side. There's a green area which is one of the only green space areas in Irvine as far as community parks that is available for free play and you know just anything that anyone wants to do volleyball or anything like that. And the parents all said I asked them if you knew there was a dog park going to be placed on the valley oxide right here next to the playground would you bring your children here? They said no, absolutely not. The original plan was for it to be on the San Canyon side of the park. Yes, and I just recently learned that the space where the two soccer fields are on that side is also owned by Southern California Edison, and that they would not want a dog park there because of the over-incation. Thank you for your time, sir. OK. And there's a lot of other parks that can be taken. Thank you for your comments. Carol Schwartz. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Carol Schwartz, and I'm coming here to talk about the dog park. Hearing that the existing dog park is going to be expanded and made better, I want to commend you all for making that decision. My personal concern about where it was going to be and I'd like to say that I love dogs. I've had dogs in my life for 65 years. Where they were going to put it was right directly next to where the children play. My concern was that these children were going to be smelling the feces and the urine and that they would end up having health problems because of it. So I commend the city planners for expanding the existing dog park and I'd like to be certain. It sounds like some of the people here thought there was going to be an additional dog park and there wasn't going to be an additional dog park. You're just simply going to move it. So I just wanted to clarify that to those people who thought it was going to be a second one. And I want to thank you for your time and your ability to not put the dog park next to where children play. Thank you. Thank you. Well, thank you. Wolf Parks. All right, my name is Wolf Parks. I am the president of the Orange Tree Master Homeowners Association representing a 102 residential homes there and the president of the patio homes, which is closest where the Oak Creek Park is consisting of 293 homes. So when the park was going to be built it was supposed to be on the San Canyon side. An entire environmental report was made and it took into account the fact that there was a residential community right across the street from O'Canian. And so they decided that because of that, that they would put the park on the sand canian side, made sense, right? Because why would it want to interfere with the quality of life of the people that lived there? They performed a environmental impact report. And in that environmental impact report, they showed that if the park if the dog park were on the sand canyon side it would be about 36 decibels of noise which was well under the city municipal code if it moved to Valley Oak Park where let's say 11 Holly Oak is where Mr. Paul On lives. It would be anywhere from 46.2 to 69.6 decibels. The city's own misnissible code allows for 55 decibels. Day one, it would be over. Just on the noise alone, just to be there. That one problem. Do you have 10 or 15 seconds left? Yeah, well, that's it. I don't want you to talk at length. So anyway, it's created a division with groups like the one that's here, then we had sports and stuff like that. And division is, I don't think that's in the best interest of the city. And the city does have the plan that the mayor or the city manager made up that it would be, that you're gonna expand this park. It's not gonna be interfere with the quality of life of any community, much less ours. And that's a good idea. It's a great compromise. Everybody wants a win-win. Thank you for your comments. I think it's fair to say on behalf of all the council members that we will be relying on staffs. They're obviously competing interests involved here. There's consideration and reconsideration of matters. This is no doubt going to be brought back to us and we'll make sure that everybody's properly notified and that these issues are addressed. So I don't know how you mitigate the environmental impact report. Final decisions have been made at all. We kind of trust our staff, conferring you and others. It's there be brought back to us as an agendized item. Thank you very much for your comments. So I would just like to say I did bring a lot of people if you want to stand up you know that we are the homeowners of the community. Most of the other people live somewhere in the city. We live there. I understand. Thank you for your comments. Catherine Rusk. How are we doing? Let me just check with the city clerk company. We have left here. Thank you, Mayor. We have six more in person and one on zoom and we're at about 30 minutes. All right. There'll be no more accepted. You have 90 seconds. Okay, I'm Katherine Rusk, a long time resident of Irvine and a strong introvert. So I'm out of my comfort zone here. But to rebut about children, I wish more children were around where dogs were playing. In my opinion, I wrote each of you my personal reason for why dog parts mean a lot to me. I'm going to get to you. But none of you responded except one nice person named Meredith. I think she's a staff member of yours. But dog parks are more than just a place where dogs play. I want to implore you to name another place where you have no political agenda, no religious agenda, no where community gets together daily and just hangs out and talks and are kind to each other. We don't need just our dog park or the new dog park. We need more dog parks. Irvine's huge. I live in Woodbury. And I came from way up there down here. I mean, it's just a huge community. And we need more, not just one. And so that's my opinion. Well thank you and I... Applause Paoan and I could also call for it. Maxim E. Doe Vet Lee, Roger Phillips, Masha and Kurt Killian. Well good evening Mayor and Council Members. Thank you for hearing me out today here. So I'm a board member in the Orange Tripadio Homes HIA. So first of all, I like to applaud the Council for today's decision in enhancing the dog park that is in the existing location. So the dog park being in Valio-Oque, I'll be the most affected because I live less than 200 meters from that dog park on the Vali-Oque site. Initially, the city's plan was to have the dog park on the sand canyon site, but I don't know why this is flipped. So we had enormous discussions. We met with everybody individually as a H.O.A. with the community services. We met with public services over here and then we met with council members. I don't know why the others are thinking that we don't like a dog park. The dog park is fine. As long as it's in the San Canyan site. side. We all love dogs and I don't know why the others are thinking that we don't like dog park. The dog park is fine. As long as it's in the San Canyon side, we all love dogs. And I don't know why everybody's throwing my carol under the bus over here. No. He's representative. We met with him. We met, we readily meet with anybody. Each and every council member, we met with my carol because he was representing our district and he understands what's happening over there. and he'll be at first point of contact. Otherwise, may or we will be talking to you. We are okay. We're talking with anybody and everybody. We're not against the dark path. We are only against it being violating any of the environmental guidances that are over there. Okay, so the EPA says that you cannot have anything in less than a thousand meters and my house is just 200 meters away I still didn't have an answer from the other party why they will not accept a dog park on the sand cany inside And whether why they are hell bent on having it on the white York side. Thank you. I'm Confident we're gonna be revisiting this as an agendized matter and you'll have more opportunity to weigh in. Thank you. Maxine? Thank you. Welcome. Good evening, Mayor Consulmembers. I'm here tonight to speak about proposed relocation of the dog park. Today I receive an email and it looks like the dog park will remain in the old location. I want to upload this decision. This is the right choice for our community. We rely on this park for soccer playing, kite flying, and other outdoor activities, because many of us live in small tiny houses, this small backyard on no backyard at all. Placing dog park so close to children's playground was never a good idea. This is my third time speaking about this project. If you're as concerned before and those concerns still stand. I won't repeal them all, but I'd like to share something personal. I asked my two sons, ages three and six. If they would still go to the park, if there is a dog park next to it. My three years old said yes, and my six years old said no. One timekey and Dog scared him through the metal fence and our community on the tennis court. Since then he developed cautious around dogs. Many families feel the same. Yes, we do have some supporters but it's a loud group. We have more people who against this idea. Kids running and playing from the car to the car and dogs around, it's never good idea. It only takes one incident. Even one child being beaten or threatened by the dog is way too many. Let's keep our park safe, open space for all. We all can find better location for the park. Thank you very much. Thank you for your comments. Do you have the. Welcome. Hello. I'm going to go ahead and make a citation from Justice Soto-Mayor's recent ruling inside of a week ago. The implication of government's position is that not only non-citizens, but also United States citizens could also be taken off the streets, forced onto planes, and confined to foreign prisons with no opportunity for redress of if judicial reveal is denied unlawfully before removal. History is no stranger to such law regimes, but this nation's systems of laws is designed to prevent, not enable their rise. Members of the city council is the official position of the Supreme Court that no restrictions can be levied against any Republican action and no action by the Democratic Party can be allowed to proceed without restriction. What measure of liberty would define itself as freedom to be arbitrarily detained without any evidence? What plans can we make as a city when let alone our citizens and the very price and availability of anything we need to make the city operational and functioning, swings on the whim of people who are at this very moment destroying the source of our share of prosperity for their arrogance. What hope we have for a future when everything is burning? The rules don't exist anymore. If they don't, you are our representatives. We ask as your constituents, please do something to assist us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Roger Phillips. Thank you for your comments on a very important subject. Welcome sir. Thank you Mayor Aigren. Yeah I'm Roger Phillips. I live in Orange Tree pretty much right across the street from the community park there and note that it is a community park. It's not the park for all of Irvine where the one single dog park should be placed. It's relatively small park. It gets a lot of use and I commend the city staff, manager Chi and everybody who figured out how to keep the dog park where it is, upgrade it, make it the thing that it's supposed to be. And I also commend Mike Carroll for coming out to listen to some of the constituents there in his district. He didn't come out just to listen to us, but we invited him, anybody could have invited him. He probably would have come. So you can't really complain that he's a partisan on this particular issue. Anyway, again, commendations to those who figured out how to make this thing work, where it is, and not moving across our houses. Thank you for your comments. Maasad. Welcome. Hi, everyone. My name is Maasad. I'm a resident of Orange City as well. I wanted to thank you all for your time today, and also, especially from my Carol, I wanted to thank him to come and visit us. After we requested it, like Roger said, I'm sure if the other community would request him, he would have gone and see them too. So, and I also wanted to add to all the other comments. We are not against the dog park. We just don't want to have the dog park next to our home. It's very close to, I know other communities are there too, but they are farther than Orange Tree. We don't want the dog park that close to our house, especially there is two soccer field there. There is a playground there. And including dog park, we wouldn't have it enough parking there. There gonna be a lot of people on weekends especially. It's not safe for us, for our community, for our children. That's why we ask Mark to come and see us, so he and he listen to our concerns. That's it. I just wanted to thank you all, and thank you for doing the research to have a better place for the dog park. Thank you. Thank you for your coming. Thank you. Bert Killian. Welcome. Good to meet you all. Quick question. Is it plausible that a parent might bring their dog and their child to the dog park slash playground and then neglect one of them while they go to 10 to the other one? That's my hypothetical question for you. And the only other thing I want to say is that a gentleman who spoke recently, Mr. the Ralph Parks is a decades long law enforcement officer slash first responder slash bonnified hero who was involved in one of the most infamous bank robberies in Norco 1980 they wrote a book about it so in my book he is a bonnified hero I sleep well at night known that he is the president of our association and I just want you to know he's a modest guy and just wanted to let you know that. Thank you so much. Well, thank you. Thank you for your comment Our next speaker is we have one online correct one. Yes one speaker on zoom our next speaker is Eric Mishonion mr. Mishonion you, you're mic. Thank you, council members, Mayor A. Guerin. I wanted to commend council members, going to the LPI agenda item last week that was not well taken by some of the other council members. It's something sustainable. In light of it being distracted drivers, attention weak this week, it's commendable that they're thinking about the citizens and residents who are pedestrians. Apparently the city's anti-predestrian, anti-Christian, anti-female, anti-poets, anti-dog owners. Speaking about poets, Costa Mesa has a poet laureate now. And the poet laureate happens to be a professor from University of Irvine. Great job, guys. And hey, well, someone tell Council Member Trezner when she wants to protest not to wear City of Irvine regalia in front of any city halls or anywhere else in the public, that it could possibly pose a conflict of interest. And Saudi Arabia here was here for an iftar, and they forgot to invite chief kens of all people. Can you imagine that? The highest-rate Arab in the city doesn't get invited by the Saudi Arabians in the city for an iftar. But somehow council member, what's his name? What's his name? Yeah, the race is my gut invited. Imagine that. What a great city. Gotta love this place. You guys forgot to recognize Greek Independence Day, Irish American Heritage. Thank you. Time is up. Thank you for your comments. That concludes our public comments on non-agenda items. We now move on to the balance of the agenda. Thank you all for being in attendance. I hope the woman who spoke and felt uncomfortable was made more comfortable by her opportunity to be heard. Let me also just say that no doubt our staff working with council members will be putting this matter on the agenda of the matter of the dog park for future consideration. Thank you. That being the case, we now move on to the City Manager's report. Mr. Cheed, you have a report this evening. Thank you, Mr. Munchies. Just hold up a second until folks have had a chance to leave. All right, go right ahead. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. The only update I wanted to provide was notification to let the community know the city council had a special study session meeting earlier this afternoon at two o'clock. Received a report from staff regarding the status of the current projects that are included in the city's draft climate action and adaptation plan. a good feedback from the city council as it relates to the next steps related to the cap moving ahead the cap document and the project listing will be reviewed by our sustainability commission at their meeting tomorrow. We're also going to look to engage other commissions put together a plan of engagement over the next couple of months to bring this whole matter forward for formal council consideration in the next couple of months. We'll have more on this to share certainly, but I wanted to let the community know that we did have that discussion earlier this afternoon. Thank you for that city manager's report. We appreciate it. We now move to announcements, committee reports, council reports. I'll call first on council member Lou. Thank you. Well, we closed out this last month of March with meaningful celebrations highlighting the incredible contributions of women in our community? I had the honor of joining County Supervisor Vice Chair Katrina Foley, Kadi Assemblymember Kadi Puginores, and also Senator Steven Choi for their respective awards, celebrating great works of my friends, Yolan Chong, and Mira Daryl in L.M. Hays. All events were inspiring reminders of the power and impact of women's work across Orange County. A heartfelt thank you to the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Orange County for hosting an excellent professional development conference. I was part to kick off the event and imparting small business owners, especially through new tools like AI that are shaping our future for entrepreneur. And my team and I also joined the pretend cities good to go fair on Saturday Where we partner with many wonderful organizations to provide valuable resources to families with young children or our community. I'd like to remind everyone that the City of Irvine and to Irvine Marine Adoption Committee are currently hosting a baby gift donation drive in support of our local marine families. Items such as baby monitors, diapers, wipes, and breast pumps are greatly appreciated. Donation can be dropped off as City Hall through May 16. And the last one about our two art contests. So we have a youth art contest presented in collaboration with South Coast Chinese Culture Center in Pretend City. We invite all young artists to submit their work at Irvine City Hall, South Coast Chinese Culture Center, or Pretend City by April 30th. And then also we're helping cool Irvine collect their artwork through April 11th. So let's showcase the creative spirit with our community. And if you need more information, please follow our social media or reach our office for more information. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Liu. Council Member Goh. Good evening everyone. Last week at Southern California Association of Government's Board Meeting we reviewed Pasadena's transit response to the INFIRE that happened in January. During this discussion, we learned a lot about what we can do to be prepared in case of a wildfire. This correlates to a meeting I had with great park neighbor residents who contacted my office with concerns about homeowner's insurance and wildfire threats. That's why I'd like to invite all of you to our upcoming event in June. The wildfire, preparedness and insurance town hall. This event is in partnership with Mayor Agrin, State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, Orange County Fire Authority, and Irvine PD. We will be discussing homeowner insurance and preparedness local emergency response regional federal initiatives and more Stay tuned for more upcoming details. Next slide, please In celebration of Earth Day, we're partnering with Orange County Cycling Business to Coalition and the city of Irvine for a community bike ride on April 25th This exciting event is from 2 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. and registration is required You can register for the five mile or the 25 mile tour by scanning one of the QR codes displayed in your screen. Hope to see you all there. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Goh, for your report and announcements. We now move to Vice Mayor Mai. Yes, thank you, Mayor. I wanted to talk about the OCP update. Months ago, director Go and myself, we were directed to work with OCPA in terms of transparency and getting updates reporting back to the city council. We have several updates where I have several updates here to talk about, which is one of the items items is one of the items overall Was for us to get more value from O CPA and we are doing our best to do that We have several programs that we are requesting to be discussed at the April 14th board meeting of O CPA One of which is the solar rebate program that we are pushing for for our residents and then also the EV charger rebate program. Since we lowered to the lower tier we have been able to save $3 million so far and the clock is counting or the meter is counting. So on to the next item I wanted to talk about which was to thank the Irvine Police Department. We live in one of the safest cities in America and for its size. People say it's very safe here and it is very safe here, but crime does occur here. We're not immune to crime. I wanted to talk about a situation that occurred a number of weeks ago with an off-duty officer. I'd like to thank and commend that officer for his actions, keeping us safe. The officer was coming off duty at 2 a.m. in the morning, driving down just down the street from Harvard and noticed a car that was swerving erratically. The officer followed this car, worried that there may be a situation he called for, backup, called for on-duty officers. And follow this individual to make sure that they were okay. They were okay to the point where they made a U-turn and came out the officer and approached him, yelled profanities. Officer to de-escalate the situation, drove away, only to be chased by the suspect. The suspect tried to run him off the road, ultimately trying to murder him by firing a shot at him. This happened right down the street here. This wasn't in an isolated area. This was in a residential area, a retail area. It happened near McDonald's where I take my son for play dates right down the street from here. And the officer I know did want to be recognized here as Chief Penn mentioned to me, but we wanted to show I wanted to show support for this officer and thank him for his support. And also going beyond and beyond the call of duty in trying to keep us safe and Take care of our community ultimately this individual was identified Through the amazing police work here. They found out through coordinating with other agencies They tracked him down to a parking lot in Pachanga, Casino So a great job to the Irvine Police Department, and this message is for the criminals. Don't crime in Irvine because we will find you. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor Mai. Thank you, Chief and to your officers for the continuing good work they do. I have three brief announcements to make. The first concerns a community bike tour. The community is invited to participate in a bike tour of Irvine hosted by the Orange County Cycling Business Coalition in partnership with the City of Irvine. This will be on Friday, April 25th. Discover how easy and fun it can be to get around on a bicycle by joining in a five-mile ride loop or a 25-mile ride along Irvine's bikeways. The rides will start and end at Irvine station. That's the train station. Check-in is from 2 to 230 pm. Rides will take place from 230 to 430. This event is free and suitable for beginning or experienced riders. Registration is required to register go to yoururvine.org and search for community bike tour in order to register. My second announcement regards the National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation. I'm proud to have joined mayors across the country for the National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation this month. This annual challenge presented by the Wyland Foundation invites residents to make a long-term commitment to managing our water resources more wisely. Simply go to mywaterpledge.com. Again, that's mywaterpledge.com. By April 30th, to make a series of online pledges to conserve water on behalf of the city of Irvine. Cities with the highest percentage of residents who take the challenge in their population category, win the title of Most Water-wise City in the Nation. There is also an opportunity for anyone who makes a pledge to win environmentally friendly prizes and $3,000 toward their home utility bills. Well, that'll cover a couple of months. I hope you will join me in taking simple meaningful steps to protect one of our planets, obviously most precious resources. Together, we can make Irvine and our nation more water-wise, resilient, and environmentally responsible. And finally, Councilmember Carroll was going to make this announcement, but he's meeting with folks right now, this regards an open space celebration and Earth Day event in District 4, which is the Council District that he represents. I invite the community to join us, the Irvine Ranch Conservancy and Irvine Company at an open space celebration on Saturday, April 19th. The fun begins at 9 a.m. at the Quail Hill Trailhead. That's the trailhead right at the base of beautiful Quail Hill. Guests will be treated to a free pancake breakfast, family fun activities, and a hike of the 1.8 mile Quail Hill Loop Trail. The guided hike will begin at 10.30 a.m. and is family friendly, but please wear comfortable, close toe shoes. For more information and to reserve your space for this event, visit cityofurvine.org. After the open space celebration take part in the Earth Day event at the Coil Hill Community Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Enjoy guided hikes, composting demo and interactive activities and presentations offered by the City of Irvine and partner agencies. Learn more at cityofurvine.org slash earth day. And Councilmember Carroll, I know you'll be there at the event. Absolutely well. I live really forward to seeing all the wonderful event. Thank you. That concludes our Council announcements and reports. At this time, I turn to our city manager and city clerk to ask if there are any additions or deletions to the agenda tonight. There are no adjustments to the agenda, Mr. Mayor. There being none, we move to the consent calendar, which is item two on our Council agenda this evening. Consent calendar items, which are tonight items 2.1 to 2.11, the 2.11. Our matters listed on the consent calendar because they're considered by the city manager to be routine and will be enacted by one roll call vote. There'll be no discussion of these items unless members of the City Council request specific items to be removed from the consent calendar for separate discussion. City participants in tonight's Council meeting do have an opportunity to comment on consent calendar items? We typically set aside about a half hour For comments on consent calendar items. Do we have any Public commenters yet on the consent calendar. We do mayor. We have one request to speak via zoom One request via zoom. All right. Why don't we take that commenter if he or she would please identify the consent calendar item that is being addressed. And that person will have three minutes. Thank you, Mayor. Our speaker is Eric Nishaniant. Mr. Naniyant, you may unmute your mic. Thank you, council members, Mayor Agrin. I wanted to speak to 2.1 and 2.2 the minutes and the proclamations. With regard to the minutes, they're inaccurate as it does not reflect that during public comments for non-agentized items, council went into a brief recess. It's so it does not reflect that the first portion of the meeting experienced technical difficulties that prevented student participants from participating in the meeting are that I was deprived of by an opportunity to speak during non-agentized items. With regard to 2.2, March was Irish-American Heritage Month. It was also World Poetry Day. It's poetry month this month. And I just wanted to bring up that the city is named after an Irish American man who established a ranch here. I think he bought it from Sepulveda. And Irvine is a Scottish word that gives us a sense of place, of person, of thing. It means green or fresh water. And perhaps in the future, you would recognize Irish American heritage in months for the tradition of the city, for how the city was founded, who is the person behind it really? It's a shame, it's also a city in Scotland, and perhaps maybe the city would consider having a sister city in Ireland, and let it affect that college students every summer come to Orange County in Southern California and work and go to school, and can have a sense of home here and or a vine. A place a home away from home, founded by an Irish man. Imagine the advertising and the marketing that could come out of that and the good will for that matter. The city's overlooking a lot of days. These are Chavez Day and overlooking Fred Carrermatsu Day. And now we see the alien entities act as being enforced. And I'll tell you by the United States Supreme Court. And perhaps maybe you guys should lead away from these ethnic based proclamations. You miss Greek Independence Day. The city had a Greek mayor. There's a Greek church in the city. You don't have Greek on, we are Irvine, but you have Turkish. And all this stuff that you're trying to say that we're integrated and that we should come together, what you're really doing is dividing us, even to the extent that it's a dog park. And so, think about Irvine, think about where we came from, who was responsible for it, and perhaps those are the things maybe you should recognize. Our traditions, our history. I think we've lost sight of that as a city, and that's also causing a lot of the division, because people are miscontruring what the city is and should be and has been. And we're like a untethered balloon now. Hopefully we don't get stuck in economy like the wires. Thank you. And that is all mayor. That concludes our public comment on the consent calendar. Are of their request of council members to withdraw any items from the consent calendar? That being the case, I'll move adoption of the consent calendar items 2.1 through 2 2.1. I would add perhaps our minutes, Mr. City Attorney, I don't want to remove this, but perhaps our city minutes could be corrected to include what was a brief interruption in the council meeting for technical reasons. Absolutely mayor unless any of your council colleagues have an objection to that it's we will make that correction in the final. Excellent without objection. Very well the motion offered by me is there a second? Second. Seconded by Council Member Carol. With the clerk, please call the roll. Council Member Carol. Yes. Council Member Goh. Yes. Council Member Liu. Yes. Council Member Traceeider. Yes. Vice Mayor May. Yes. Mayor Eagren. Yes. very 6.0. Thank you. That takes us to Council Business, item three on our Council agenda. I- Thank you. That takes us to Council Business, item three on our Council agenda. Item 3.1, I turn to our city clerk and ask him to identify that item by subject and title if he would. Fiscal year 2025, 26 landscape lighting and park maintenance assessment. Thank you. Those wish to comment publicly from a remote place. Please raise your hand electronically and enter the queue so that you can participate via Zoom. With that, I'll turn at this moment, however, to our city staff on item 3.1. So I recognize you, Mr. Sheed, you wanna make the introduction of our able staff, or will they be introducing themselves? I'm happy to introduce our very Able staff who are going to provide an update on a modest proposed adjustment to the city's landscape lighting, park maintenance related assessment. Joining us tonight are Dale and Josh from our administrative services department. They'll run us through the presentation. We're happy to then take questions from the council. With that, I think Josh you you're going to leave the conversation. Thank you, Mr. City manager. Thank you both. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you, Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council Members. I'm going to start off with providing a little backdrop into the lighting, landscape, park maintenance fund. So throughout the presentation I'll try to refer to it as the LLPM, it's kind of a long name. So this fund was created in 1997 by the voters and established an assessment district in the city of Irvine that assessment paid by property owners to fund the function of the district, which is the landscape, the lighting, the landscape and park maintenance. In 2002, voters updated the structure of the LLPM and it created one of two main zones for single family home owners and they pay, those zones pay different amounts based on how close they are to the benefits that the district provides. The assessment process is based on what's called a benefit unit. A benefit unit is how costs are shared. Property owners contribute based on how much their property benefits from services. It's the basis for the calculation of cost sharing. Benefit units definition is based on the benefits received by a single family home. Other properties that aren't single family homes would be assigned a different number of business or benefit units based on its location, its size, and its use. And then finally, to do the assessment calculation, each property would multiply the number of benefit units that they've been assigned by a set rate for that benefit. And this ensures a fair cost distribution over the district. So funding, landscape and park maintenance in the city of Irvine is sort of a, it's a shared cost between the city's general fund and the LLPM fund. And in recent years, we've seen the LLPM fund costs continue to grow faster than the assessment growth that it can use to pay for those costs. So the general fund is stepping in to cover that shortfall and that's been continuing to grow over the years and we'll talk about that in later slides. Just for context, here's a current, here's what current LOPM assessment costs are for single-family residents in those two zones I spoke about. They make up, those two zones make up 99% of the single-family home assessment total. Zone one homeowners pay $5.35 a month and zone two pay $11.28 a month and the difference in the price is due to the benefits are greater for those in zone two because of where they live in the location. So I talked a little bit about cost sharing on On this slide we can see the general funds cost share compared to the LOPM's fund cost share. In prior years the LOPM fund was paying a little more than half, about 54% of the cost allocated to the fund. And then we can see in recent years that shift has happened where the general fund is picking up a little more than half. Particularly in the future year that we're seeing is 2026 there's a large cost increase and we see a really big shift where the general fund is now going to be picking up 60 percent of the costs. LLPM fund only 40% and that is without any assessment increase. So the city is experiencing dramatic landscape cost increases. We're seeing a $4.6 million greater cost increase than we initially projected. Listed here are three of the main drivers, 20% from inflationary costs, 27% attributable to Irvine's sustainability electrification requirements and a little more than half, 53% is minimum wage growth in California. So without a modest rate adjustment in the LAPM assessment, the city's general fund would have to absorb this entire cost on an ongoing basis. And it would result in adverse budgetary pressures in future years. So staff is proposing an assessment adjustment that would scale to address the additive services that are included with that cost increase. Just in general, we're looking at single family home owners experiencing a monthly increase of anywhere from just a penny to up to 89 cents a month, depending on where that property sits and in relation to parks and community facilities. The rate adjustment was designed to cover about 1.3 million of the 4.6 million total costs. So about 25, 22 right around that percent. With the city general fund would be picking up the lion share at 3.3 million. So what does that look like for single-family homeowners? Again, zone one and zone two make up the majority of the assessment. So on this chart, we can see a family in zone one is currently paying $5.35. They would see an increase of $0.69 a month to $6.04. single-family residents in zone two, they're paying $11.28 a month. They'd see an $0.89 increase per month to $12.17. The third column is a hypothetical just for illustration. What a monthly increase would be required to generate enough revenue to make the LLPM fully self-sufficient. It's a large increase. We're not advising that tonight. We're just showing it for illustrative perspices. So a single family resident in zone one would would need to pay $11.24 more per month to help cover that cost and a zone two resident would need to pay $13.76. Below that kind of details, the main difference between zone one and zone two is their proximity. Zone one home is within one and a half mile of a community facility. A zone two home is both within that one and a half miles of a community facility and also within half a mile of a neighborhood park So there is a small group of homes outside of that 1% that they're unique and they're listed below in that table below zone three zone five zone four and zone four is both public and private lighting at different rates. So under this scenario, those homes would see increases of anywhere from 28 cents to 8 cents to 1 cent a month. It's reflective of the fact that most of those homes are in the great park and they are already paying into the community facility district assessment. So we give them, you know, the district gives them credit for that so they don't want to charge them twice. So what we're talking about tonight would be a proposition to 18 vote process as we're asking recommending council to approve. So what is Proposition 218? It's a California Constitutional Amendment passed in 1996 and it requires voter approval for taxes. Tax assessments and property related fees. So when it's required is in a situation like this where there are either new or increased property related fees or a special assessment on the property owners. In general, the steps of a 218 process include a public hearing, which the council would open. A notice and a ballot would be sent to all property owners at least 45 days before that hearing, giving them time to review the materials. And then at the hearing, the council would start the vote count. And the vote outcome is based on city of Irvine's meetings. So if the decision to move forward is made tonight by the council, just to note there would be no decision tonight on an increase that would again have to wait until the results of the vote were known. So if it was approved tonight, we would staff would move forward with mailing the ballots by the 12th of April, which would set us up for a public hearing on May 27th where the vote tabulation could begin. The public can comment on the process and then we won't be able to finish counting the ballots that night so the meeting will be continued to the June 10th at which time the council would adopt a resolution declaring the results of the election, the approval of the Engineers Report, and then ordering a levy in collection of assessment with or without the increase based on the vote result. So in summary, the LLPM cost continued outpace revenue. Fiskely prudent. The staff feels it's fiscally prudent to make this adjustment now. Otherwise the pace of costs will increase and continue to exceed revenue, creating a significant future burden on the general fund. And just to note again, if this measure was to go forward and if it was to pass, the general fund will still continue to bear the majority of the LOPM cost and the cost increase specifically for this year. The assessment increases only intended to cover the costs for sustainability and again this if the council moves forward with this the decision would then go to the voters. So a staff's recommendation is the City Council adopt the resolution, resolutions declaring intent to levy and collect assessments, the preliminary approval of the engineers report and set a time and date for the public hearing. This final slide is the full text of the three resolutions I won't bother you with that reading that entire amount, all those words, but I am happy to answer any questions you have. Well, thank you. Why don't we take any questions or comments from council then we'll hear from the public and we'll presumably move on the matter, all right? Any questions or comments? Council member Carol. thank you very much thanks to that for the presentation on this couple of questions how do other cities handle this matter regarding landscape and street lighting did to most other cities or maybe it's question for Dale or have these types of tax assessments districts? Thanks council member Carroll. I think there's a mix. There are some cities that do assessment similar in landscaping I believe there's a San Bernanino I think some other agencies around but there's differing applications. Some cities don't charge it. I think Irvine is very unique in that we provide great landscaping as you probably drive around and parks that provide a beautiful landscape for the city that is Irvine. So it's something that went to the vote as Josh shared shared in 1997, some decision that was made back then, which we're still falling through and carrying it on. I can say that our property attacks are relatively low compared to other cities. So this is one way to capture the additional expenses to really maintain the beautiful city that's Irvine. vine. No thanks yeah that appreciate that and that it was put in place. So some cities have it some cities don't. Right. A city that doesn't have it they just tap into their general fund to the extent that they're able to afford. Correct correct. And just kind put in the context. We do have one of the lowest property taxes in Orange County specifically, which I believe that was probably taken consideration as it was developed and implemented back to 1997. Why do we have one of the lowest property taxes in the county? That's a great question. I think it was set up, I think as a city, when we first incorporated it was established at a low rate. Unfortunately, it wasn't changed. It wouldn't need to go to a public voter, the public, unfortunately. OK, it's good to hear it, because I know that we're, as you know, we're an over contributor in so many other ways in shared systems and services in this county. So that's a good, good to hear that we have that. Can you help me understand the zones and particularly so single family homeowners are assessed this? And I do remember that LL and, that's okay. I remember, I can picture it on my property tax bill. LLPM. And I remember Googling it by the way mayor. Tell me about apartment buildings, Irvine Company, Avalon Bay, Vernotto, large massive real estate trust. Do they pay their share of these two? I may have missed that. Yes, they do. There are signed benefit units based on units. So depending on the number of units within within the apartments the landowner, property owner is responsible for those assessment districts based on the same parameters that Josh shared about on proximity with the community parks and neighborhood parks. Okay. And then the approximately one third or 30% 20% or whatever whatever it is percent that you refer to in the staff report is the cost attributable to Irvine based sustainability and electrification requirements. Can you just go in a little more detailed on that? Obviously the word required, I'm just wondering, maybe I was part of that requirement. I don't know. Would City Council have required something about our landscape and lighting that is driving this tax increase that you're asking us to. Yeah, for sure. Thank you for that question. Part of the policy that Council implemented is to have electrification as part of our landscaping contracts. And it's one that as we went to bid including our scope of work so that's one of the requirements as we're we were scoping and bidding it out to ensure that we incorporate those those costs and when you say that is that again I'm just getting to it I think now I'm following you just for the record that additional taxes would be in respect of the council voting voting to require electric leaf blowers and stuff like that versus gas operated. Correct. Okay, good. So that's good to know. So we have that clearly on record. About one third of the cost that's being requested is in regard for that city. I voted against it, but the city council policy that we have electric leaf blowers and electric moors and stuff like that versus traditional combustion engine gas based. Good to know. So I may have some other questions but actually thank you for the detail. And do we have a map of the zones that you can provide? Oh, we do have a map. It's a little wonky because it's all dependent on proximity to the different parks. So you have like these bubbles dependent on where the community parks are, where the neighborhood parks are. You have a one and a half while radius. So it's a little weird when you look at it visually. But we do have a map that we can provide. Yeah, I'd love to get a copy of the council. Thank you Mayor. Just thought is I really appreciate staff's thought that went into the great park residents piece of trying to make adjustments there. Thank you. Thank you council member Carol. Vice mayor Mai. Thank you mayor. Thank you for the presentation here. I'll just add on to your comment that we have the lowest tax, property tax in the county, that's great. I don't think we should raise taxes regardless how low we are. I don't think it's okay, but that's just me. That's one thing. I want to go on record on that as well, but what you're recommending for us to do is to have the voters decide and that's perfectly fine. I mean, I'm just saying that a tax of one penny, a tax of ten pennies, a tax of $1 or $2 or $3. Let's not, to me, I'm not going to do that. The other thing I just wanted to talk about is speaking of gas blowers, that portion of this increase of 4.6 million, 30% of that is attributed to activities such as the gas blowers. I mean, I hear that correctly. It's in relation to the investments that the vendors had to make in order to provide to provide the electrification services that we requested as we went out too bit. Okay, so that's just a net cost increase. Correct. Okay, that's kind of unforeseen consequences. I feel like with the gas, for example, just an example here on this, I mean we're going gonna direct you guys to get it to the voters, but I just wanna make clear that, you know, there's unforeseen consequences such as the gas blowers. It was great to not use gas blowers. You know, it's a great thing to go to electric, but then now we have, we have landscapers roaming around with electric blowers and gas generators, which offsets, really offsets the entire purpose of this. I mean, we have guys that are polluting it by carrying around electric or carrying around gas generators for this purpose here. I don't really see the purpose of that, but I mean, it feels good. I mean, it sounds good. But in execution, we have to think about those things because these individuals, these landscapers are going to have to double up on their equipment as well. I'm sure a lot of these landscapers are servicing other areas outside of Irvine. So they have to buy an electric blower just to do business in Irvine or drop their Irvine business entirely. So there's unforeseen consequences to our actions that we need to consider in the general broader global scope of things, I feel, that sometimes we miss. Just my commentary. Thank you, Vice Mayor Mai. Mr. Peterson, do we have public comments? Thank you, Mayor. We do have one request to speak via Zoom. Why don't we take that speaker and then we will offer one more round and take action on this item. Go right ahead. Thank you Mayor. Our speaker is Don Geller. Mr. Geller, you may unmute your mic. Thank you Carl. Good evening Mayor and Council members. I'm glad to report that the Finance Commission did review this item and we do recommend that the Council approve this modest increase and this goes to the homeowners for a vote. And just a reminder to the Council that you are not voting for a tax increase, but just letting the public vote on it. Thank you so much. Have a good evening and good night. Thank you, Mr. Geller. And that is all mayor. That's all. Well, let me move adoption of staff's recommendations and then I will hope to speak to the motion if there's a second. Is there a second? I'll second it. Council member Liu seconds the motion. I mean, just also take a moment to thank our staff. Thank you for a very clear explanation. Staff recommendation to adopt actions one, two, and three, as has been pointed out, will simply give the voters a chance Chance the voters in this case are property owners. Is that correct? Yes, that's correct and their votes are weighted by how much property they own Correct excellent That obviously includes the Irvine company and other developers who own a lot of land Have they been consulted on on this matter? I have not aware of that. We have conducted outreach to multiple different entities that this is underway. Obviously, it's been published in the agenda reports, so certain property owners are aware of this is happening. I would expect the Irvine company and other major property owners would be supportive of this. Not only putting it out to a vote, but voting in the affirmative. And I'll tell you why. Irvine was recognized as having the fourth best park system park system in America and the best park system in the state of California. That's where we're ranked. And that didn't happen by accident. It happened because the people of the city of Irvine as part of the master plan and the master planning process wanted to have a great park system. And over the years wanted it to be maintained, expanded, improved so that it would be among the very best park systems in the United States of America. And that's where we are. And this modest increase will allow us to maintain that ranking, maybe even improve it. And it will do so at a very modest cost. I don't think I have to remind anyone that living in close proximity to a beautiful, well- maintained park adds value to your property. It just is obvious. Imperically, these matters have been studied. This is one of the reasons Irvine is so well recognized throughout the United States for what we do. So this to me is a no-brainer, especially since it's just a question of putting it out to vote. And I expect we will get an overwhelmingly favorable vote because the property owners, the business owners as well as, of course, the residential property owners, they get it, they understand what it takes to build and maintain an extraordinary community. So I'm actually enthusiastic about giving the voters the chance to ratify the course we've been on and make this modest adjustment. Any other comments? Council Member Liu. Thank you. Thank you. Well, thank you for looking ahead and I'm glad we're always in good physical shape because you're watching all the time. So I just wanted to add a comment. I agreed that this is the more part of what we're trying to do is to maintain the quality of life and our minds so beautiful because of all the landscape in the park than the public area that we have and of course with that comes the cost, right? So I agree that this is a modest proposal and the general fund is absorbing most of the cost. So it is a slight increase for the taxpayers and I'm glad that you look ahead and consider the tax payers Britain and I think I wouldn't have a problem having this put forth in front of the voters or party owners so they can decide whether they want to have this less than a dollar a month is out what it is yeah to keep what they have and if they ultimately rejected it, so be it, that's democracy. And I do agree that we, with Councilmember, I mean Vice Mayor Maye's opinion about sometimes we do have things that we put forth and we don't consider the unintended consequences and yeah, I mean at the end of the day if we are using gas generators that is causing more pollution. So that's another thing that I would like to keep in mind when we move forward with items like this that we need to consider whether this is going to not only cost money, is it having a negative and intended impact on the environment as well? So with that, I would like to see if anybody else would like to talk about this. Thank you, Council Member Lou. Council Member Carroll, did you wish to do that? Yeah, I did. And thank you, Council Member Lou. I feel the same way, and if that's the case, we should just make an amendment to remove the sustainability search arch. And you guys should just bid it out for regular people. If you guys feel that way, we should, you know, we have a consensus here. We should consider removing that 27% surcharge where, you know, thousands and thousands of Irvine residents are going to be mandated on electric leaf blowers that, as my colleague mentioned, which is a great point, I keep forgetting that because people keep reminding me in town that they're using gas generators from Home Depot or whatever sitting on the backs of these pickup trucks to charge the electric equipment. So I think the word that I've used for the last couple years here at City Council is performative and that is largely performative, if not fully performative. So I think that's a pretty good thing. But I actually have a question just for staff. How does this balloting work? Will the city be engaged in some kind of a marketing? In other words, will, you know, Cray Park resident, oh, actually you're not in the zone. You won't get, Cray Park's own won't get a ballot, right? That's a great question. We are sending it out if they are even receiving any benefits from it. So even some of the great park areas will be if they receive some benefit. There's you know, especially in the fringe areas of the great park. Okay. We'll still be receiving a ballot. And what about UCI? What zone is UCI residents? What are they in? They're still part of residential, so it's all dependent on the proximity to the neighborhood parks and community duplars. I think if anything with the university area, I think there are some community duplars and neighborhood parks still in that area, maybe not as plentiful as in other areas of the city, but it still uses that same program one and half mile to the community center. So everybody's looking at. The UCI campus is located in zone 7 Dale. Zone 7 isn't charged part of the LLPM assessment. So there's no charge to the UCI. There's not. There's not but for other parts of the community there are ultimately I think eight benefit zones that are set up through the LLPM. Well I don't want to get emotional but are you saying that the residents that live in our city limits on the campus of UCI do not pay into this fund that takes care of our lighting and our landscape? I think it's if there's ones that are in the fringe they do they still pay. Correct. There's portions of residential located adjacent to UCI that are assessed. I believe it's a it's an either benefit zone one or two. UCI in the surrounding areas are located in benefit zone seven, which isn't assessed in an LLPM assessment. depending again on where the property is located, the only area is roughly 90%, 95% of properties are located in zone one or two. But the properties that aren't really are located primarily adjacent to the great park area and UCI. Those are the two big chunks that are part of the assessment. UCI get charged LLPM or not. UCI as an institution does not. What about as a single family dwelling on the UCI land? We'd have to look a little more closely at each residential and component. I think we're getting to a point here where we're going to have to have the staff do an assessment of the regulatory, anyway, I'll bring it up separately. It's fine. It sounds like they're not paying in it into it We may have a balancing question and there's Councilman but your seat is light who's going to inform me more information about it So my other question is about the balloting will is it just go out as a ballot or will you guys will staff put some kind of like four color? will there be some marketing saying, hey, here's what this is and here's what we recommend or how does it work? Yeah, so that's a great question. We are putting a trifold included with the ballot. According to the 218 process, we put factual information out on the ballots. We do provide context of the increases that we're experiencing, but ultimately it's going to be up to the property owners to be able to decide and vote. OK, that's actually good. So it won't just be a ballot. There'll be some material. Correct. Is that, you constricted as far as what you can say based on the statute? There are limitations. We did consult with our attorneys to ensure that we're compliant with the 2018 process. Okay, great. Thanks. Thank you very much. I appreciate the info. Thanks, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Carroll. Council Member Traceeter and then I'll come back to Council Member Liu. Thank you Council Member Carroll Council Member Traceeter and then I'll come back to Council Member Liu Thank you. Yeah, I just want to reassure Council Member Carroll about UCI's investment in electric law and equipment our main contractor for doing our landscaping has transitioned away from gas powered lawn equipment. They're now using electric lawn equipment We 100% pay the fees for that so Yeah, just want to make sure that councilmember Carol is feeling okay about that. Thank you Councilmember Carol point of water. Councilmember Carol like I'm sorry, I'm sorry. What is your point of order, Council Member Kier? My point of order is it was about whether the residents pay for the assessments that pay for the landscape and the street lighting, not anything to do with landscape equipment. Thank you very well. All right. Councilmember Liu, you have some additional comment. Yeah, just wanted to ask, well, if you don't mind Dale, can you let us know what the impact we'll have on our general fund if we do not have this increase on the LAPM assessment? Thank you for the question. So as is, our increases is $4.6 million. Essentially, if this doesn't get approved by the property owners, it would really default to no increases on the LLPM side. There is still an option to do our standard increase within the context of what is currently approved by the property owners. That would allow us to recover about just under half a million dollars instead of the 1.3 million dollars that's proposed to be recovered. Essentially be recovered, essentially really a modest proposal to course correct and be able to recover it ongoing in the future. So the bottom line, the answer would be, we would be losing it at about $800,000. So then with that, I would like to see if, well, you mentioned that Irvine has one of the lowest property tax rate. Is that correct? Correct. So if we assume that there is an issue with revenue moving forward and or it stays the same and we don't have this assessment increase and we continue to let the general fund fund this and with the with all the extra costs moving forward we might have to dip into our general fund a little more. Reality is is working our way through the fiscal year 2527 budget. We've been tracking the increase in costs associated with all of our maintenance related contracts. The most significant pressure that we're seeing is we've been going out to bid as our contracts. In fact, the pricing pressures have gotten so intense. One of our landscape companies asked to walk away from their deal because we locked in a price that they just can't afford in order to keep staff employed. Minimum wage-related increases are the primary driver of the costs. Certainly there's a component related to the electrification that's been a really big quality of life improvement or residents I think have appreciated it's not quite as loud. have been issues in implementing that. Our landscape firms have formed us. It costs more to be able to provide that level of service. What we've tried to do is project out several years if we don't have a modest adjustment in the LLPM. What does that do based on our future revenue projections and totality? What does that do compared against our expenditures? And in a couple of years, the cost to increase levels that we're seeing on the landscape, maintenance side, are just outpacing our revenue growth in a way that's really dramatic. So we've done a lot of work to try to see how much can we absorb of the overall $4.6 million increase in next year's budget. In the general fund, I think the team's done a great job. Ultimately, if the council doesn't, if we don't get an adjustment, it forces in a couple of years harder decisions. Level of service to maintain or do you look to cut back a little bit. And we do think it's a reasonable request to ask the council do we want to move forward with this fairly modest adjustment in the LLPM given the level of cost increase that we've seen. So I also want to point out that the increase of cost, 20% of it is a two-bit total book to inflationary cost pressures. 53% is attributable to minimum wage increases. And so it's not just about the fact that we went electric. Oh, for sure. With our equipment. And yeah, with that, and obviously, I am thinking that if we do need to spend a little more general fund to maintain, well, we either have to not maintain our landscape as much or we have to spend a little more general fund to maintain the current level of service in that might like city manager mentioned that we have, we might have to make some choices to cut back on other services. And so with that, I would like to, you know, put this out to the voters and so they can make a new informed decision. Great. Yes, thank you. Thank you. Very well, any further comment? There is a motion before us. I appreciate Council Member Luz comment. I have no doubt if you give the voters a chance, they will vote overwhelmingly in favor of this. Voters in Irvine are very, very sensitive to quality of life issues. And by the way, this transition to electric powered lawn equipment is a transition that we're in the midst of. The quality of life improvement, notwithstanding gas generators as part of the transition, different providers of landscape services are handling this matter differently, some are buying extra equipment, so they don't really use generators. But as we transition, I will tell you, I personally, I don't know about my colleagues, I get just unsolicited expressions of appreciation that we have transitioned to one equipment that is battery-driven electric and that they are free of the horrific interruption in Saturday mornings and during the week, day, late, day. So this to me is an O-brainer to vote yes on this. Give the voters a chance if my thinking is wrong on this, they'll tell us. They'll tell us they don't like the idea of paying a few cents more a month with that With the clerk, please call the roll council member Carol now council member go yes council member Lou yes council member trez eater I'm sorry no Vice mayor my nope. No. Mayor Aigren. What is the count now? The vote so far. It's two to three. With Councilmember Carroll, Traceter and May. So far voting no. Although no. Thank you. The motion fails four to two. Councilmember Carroll. Councilmember Traceter. Vice Mayor May. And Mayor Aigman voting no. And I'm going to make a motion for reconsideration. Mind I do that? I move that we reconsider this matter. And I ask for a second to that motion. Second. Thank you, Council Member Traceter. If the vote had been three to three, the matter would have failed, right? having voted in opposition gives me the opportunity then to move for reconsideration. With that motion before us, I just want to say this is nuts not to put it on the ballot for people to vote on. Let's get real here. Who is the principal voter? Who's going to decide this? It's going to be the Irvine company. So obviously, this matter going on the ballot will be decided by them. They have how many votes? Mr. Chief., we'd have to go and look at the tabulation. It's based on the percentage of benefit that they own and the percentage of property that they own, but it's significant for sure. All right. And if they vote, if it's on the ballot, and they vote in the affirmative, that'll pretty much decide it. They're the principal property owner, and this is a weighted vote based on property owned. This wouldn't be in front of us if they were opposed. And I just think that it's very short-sighted to have a negative vote here to then essentially compel our staff to, in its 25 to 27 budgeting, to grind these costs into our general fund costs. These are our taxpayers. The ones you report to represent and protect, and you're not going to even let them make the choice. That's bad governance in my view. So my motion to reconsider is now before us. I hope I'll get an affirmative vote on that. And then we can revote on the original matter. This is a motion to reconsider to allow us to, if we wish, have more debate and vote again on this matter. Will the clerk Call the roll on the motion to reconsider. Council member Carroll. Point of order this is just on, this is not a vote on the, it's not a vote on the main matter no. Oh just to talk about it yes sure yes. Council member go. Yes. Council member Lou. Yes. Council member Trezeater. Yes, Vice Mayor Mai. Yes, Mayor Agrin. Yes, Curie 6-0 All right, I hope my colleagues will join in reconsidering this matter and Voting in the affirmative to put it in front of the voters who after all will be bearing the burden. Should there be an affirmative vote of the voters on this matter? To deny them that opportunity is to deny them the opportunity to arrange our resources in a way that allows them to express themselves on maintaining the beautiful landscaping, lighting, and park and park maintenance projects that we have. I'm poor my colleagues to vote yes on this item. I will have a procedural question in a moment as well. I'd like to recognize Councilmember Traceter. Yeah, thank you. I will vote yes on this second round. The reason that I voted no on the first round is because I object to the increase in the assessment cost being specifically for the sustainability component of the increase in cost. As Council Member Liu pointed out, that's not the only reason for the increase in cost. There's also the increase in minimum wage, which I'm happy about. There's also inflation. And so I guess I'm not sure why Mr. Chi decided to have this assessment be specifically to cover the increase owing to the sustainability measures? Ultimately, there's no reason other than we were trying to scale the increase to something that logically made sense. There are costs that we don't think we're trying to keep the cost as low as possible for our residents. And so as we assessed where the cost adjustments and the increases we're coming for from there are three major cost components driving the adjustment. We tried to scale everything to a place where the ask of our residents would be low enough where it wouldn't be a noticeable impact or it might be amenable for our residents to move forward but in a way that it generated enough revenue to offset costs in our long-term budget projections so that we aren't forced in a couple of years to come back to Council and say, hey, our costs have spiraled so far to control, and we haven't made modest adjustments to our cost adjustments and increases on the revenue end that we now have in our face with more difficult choices. And so as we're trying to patch together the budget, as we looked at this particular issue, feedback from our public works team, from our landscape team, really articulated that there are multiple cost components. The finance team reviewed everything. We felt we needed to get somewhere between one and two million dollars in additional revenue in order to not create a situation long-term where there was an issue. And ultimately, that's how the issue was packaged together. There are costs associated with different decisions that the council makes. We weren't trying to articulate a reason not to do it. I think that the feedback that staff's gotten is that there's a tremendous quality of life improvement with the electrification acceleration. I think the council should be commended for that The reality is there is a cost to that particular policy change We're not trying to tie it to any one item specifically But as we're looking at the cost factors that might be reasonable to ask residents Hey, there's a improvement here and enhancement that might be a thoughtful way of of packaging ask. Ultimately that was the thought process we went through. The council feels that it's not articulated correctly. That's my responsibility and that's my fault that I apologize. There's no intention to try to undo anything. We're bringing this forward in order to maintain the improvements that have been made over the years. No, I appreciate that. I think we should have a balanced budget and be responsible and look ahead at our costs. When you briefed me on this item, you did mention the increase in cost in general and the different items that added to that and the assessment increase that we would need to have. You did not say that the staff would be coming up here and saying, well, the increase in the assessment is specifically to cover the sustainability portion. And I'll just say that I don't appreciate that. I think that the sustainability portion is really being put on the chopping block here when it could be any other portions as well Or are you didn't even need to specify that it was a sustainability portion that this would cover so I I don't want to have a debate with you. I've said what my opinion is I will vote for this this time, but yeah, I'll just say I don't appreciate how this was couched. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Traceter. Are there others? All right. Do I need a separate motion now to adopt again? Yes, that's correct, Mayor. All right. Thank you. First, I want to thank my colleagues for allowing reconsideration. Having spoken to the substance of this matter as well as the motion to reconsider what I'd like to do now is move staff recommended actions one two and three Second seconded by council member Carol Any further discussion There being none with the clerk. Please call the roll council member Carol no Councilmember go yes, councilmember Lou yes, councilmember treasurer. Yes. Councilmember Liu. Yes. Councilmember Trezeater. Yes. Vice Mayor Mai. No. Mayor Aigren. Yes. Carries 4-2 with Councilmember Carroll and Vice Mayor Mai voting no. I think my colleagues for their fourbearance and taking a procedural detour here but I think we came up with the right decision. Let me ask one other thing. If this had failed, could this be put on a subsequent council agenda? It could have been placed on a sub- yes, the answer to your question is yes, we could have come back with it again. All right. Thank you. Thank you all. Next, we move to item 3.2. Would the clerk please identify this item by subject and title? Authorizing advancement of the Irvine Care is affordable housing initiative by appropriating $900,000 in homeless housing assistance and prevention funds and directing the assessment and pursuit of strategic regulatory adjustments to accelerate affordable housing projects targeted at a local Irvine connected population. Thank you. I'll turn now to I'll turn directly to you. Go right ahead. Please identify yourself and begin your presentation. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and members of the Council. My name is Heather Dion. I serve as the chief health and wellness director. And it's my privilege tonight to walk you through this presentation regarding Irvine cares affordable housing programs. Since 2023 the city has been engaged in developing programmatic details related to our overarching health and wellness initiative. This is intended to better support our growing at risk community. Irvine's health and wellness efforts have been focused in two policy areas. Number one, a targeted expansion of our social service programs. And number two, an assessment to realign our affordable housing towards service, serving local Irvine connected populations of need. Taken together, we have been, we are programs and associated initiatives Irvine Cares. What is Irvine Cares programming? Number one we are working to establish a community resource hub in partnership with HoCospital. This is an effort to incorporate our senior programming, food security efforts, and nonprofit collaboration into a single location. We are working again with Hoek Hospital to establish this community hub very similar to their Melinda Hoek Center for Healthy Living in the city of Newport Beach. Number two, alignment of existing social services and resources. In an effort to streamline access to social service and resources, the health and wellness team has been working to align existing city programs while also utilizing state grant funds to simplify and improve access to existing programs for targeted populations within our city. And number three, new affordable housing strategies for local populations of need. Again, in an effort to provide better housing support for our local populations, the Health and Wellness team has been working to develop innovative new affordable housing strategies geared towards serving local populations that include housing assistance, support services, and a strategic approach in assessing how to best advance future affordable housing projects. Our need, there is a growing local at-risk population in our city as evidenced by more than 60,000 residents in the city who currently receive benefits from Cal Optima, our county's MediCal provider. And in just this year in 2025, the city recently launched a food security program at Heritage Park. We've seen a tenfold increase in resident participation just in January. We will be having a food distribution this week and we have over 400 individuals and families registered. And lastly, the city should be very proud of the 5,000 plus affordable housing units that have been developed through our inclusionary zoning program. However, given the constraints around those 5,000 units, they are very rarely, if ever, assigned to an Irvine connected family or individual, but are rather open to the entire county. We are looking at advancing Irvine Care's housing programs. The first of these is our family, our proposed for family housing assistance program. This is a very innovative hands up of affordable housing program that seeks to place families with children enrolled in the Irvine Unified School District who are identified as homeless or housing insecure and to subsidize Irvine company apartments. I'll speak further about this initiative. Number two is our proposed housing for higher learning initiative in partnership with Irvine Valley College. This program seeks to provide housing support for students who are homeless or housing insecure. And number three, roadmap to success to provide enhanced social service support for those enrolled in our housing programs. This particular effort seeks to provide mentorship and resources in support of our at-risk youth who are enrolled in our Irvine Care's housing programs. State $1.00 allocated to the City of Irvine. The State Homeless Housing and Assistance Prevention Program, also known as HAP, allocates grant funding to support regional coordination to address issues related to homelessness and those at risk of homelessness. Cities with populations over 300,000 are qualified to receive these state funds. In October of 2022, Irvine became eligible for HAP funding based on our census count. HAP round four funding which was provided during the 2022, 2023 fiscal year resulted in Irvine receiving just over $5 million. These funds must be spent by June 30th of 27. HAP round five resulted in the city being awarded just under $6 million and these funds must be spent by June of 2028. Additionally, the state has just announced the availability of half-round six funds through which Irvine will receive additional resources to support our ongoing Irvine cares effort. Specifically, the three programs that I mentioned I want to talk about those in more detail, the first of those being the Irvine Cares Family Housing Assistance Program. As I described, deploying this program involves the partnership with both the Irvine Company and Irvine Unified School District. The school district has engaged with the city to review their existing McKinney Ventil list of children and youth who have been identified as homeless. Currently 103 students and 88 families. As part of this initial pilot program, the Irvine company has agreed to provide the city with 25 existing departments that were restricted for the use towards housing the identified families. The program involves housing 25 homeless or housing insecure families with children who are enrolled in the Irvine Unified School District. Each family enrolled in the program will be provided case management and social service support. That includes ongoing case management, childcare, transportation and additional resources as we identify are necessary to make that family successful. The goal is to help individuals enrolled in the program raise their income levels to achieve self-sustained ability within 12 to 24 months. An initial allocation of $500,000 in HAP funds is being sought to provide supplemental social support services to support through this initiative. Our second initiative, Irvine Cares Housing for Higher Learning, is a partnership with Irvine Valley College, IBC. The college has a student population of approximately 16,000. A 2023 survey of IBC student body identified that 21% were experiencing financial hardship, 15% were having difficulty paying rent and 21% experiencing food insecurity. Through this program, the city is looking to deploy grant funds to assist and house up to 25 at risk or homeless students. Each student would be enrolled in the part program, would be eligible for a rent stipend. The program requires enrolled students to engage with the case manager on a regular basis. An allocation of $250,000 for four years and hap funds is being sought to fund this initiative. The third initiative Irvine Cares Roadmap to Success is a program that would be partnering with standup for kids to support Irvine youth enrolled in our Irvine Cares program as they work through high school and transition into college trade school or work. The initiative will complement and supplement the work the city is already doing with our youth to include mentoring, case management, wrap around support and a comprehensive curriculum to support our youth. An allocation of 150,000 in hapluns is being sought for this particular initiative. In addition to the programs that have been identified under the Irvine Cares program, we are also working to realign our affordable housing programs to direct support for Irvine connected populations of need. Policy adjustments have been identified for further review and these include number one, identifying specific targeted populations of need. These would include single parents, families, seniors, work force and transitional age youth as well as this disabled population and prioritizing affordable housing projects to support these identified populations. Number two, researching and identifying opportunities and governance structures to allow the city to maximize housing opportunities on city-owned and controlled land to support the identified Irvine populations of need. Number three, implementing new regulatory measures to allow the city to institute a local Irvine connected residence housing preference to prioritize affordable housing for those who are already here within the city. And number four, updating the city's existing affordable housing in lieu programs to allow the contribution of land in addition to funds. Before you are the recommended actions that we are requesting this evening, I won't read them, but I am certainly happy to answer any questions you have. Well, thank you for that report. Let me just say, this is an outstanding staff report and I'm so pleased that we're going to be able to discuss it a little bit here and presumably vote for it. I have a number of things to say in this regard but first I want to alert our viewing audience regarding public comments. If somebody would like to comment remotely, please raise your hand now. Enter the speaker's cue and we'll recognize you at the appropriate time. But at this moment, I'd like to turn to my colleagues to see if they have any questions or comments directed to our chief health and wellness director. Any questions or comments? Yes. There we are. Vice Mayor Mai. All right. Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, and thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Mayor, or thank you, Heather, for the presentation. I'm very supportive of this. I'm very proud of the work that you've done here. The city has done. First off, I know this thing was named the system at one point. So whoever named it the system, I'm very glad it's called Irvine Cares. I recently had a visit with families first or families forward and we were, we actually had that visit and I was impressed by what they're doing in terms of food insecurity and then also housing and it seems like it's a good start for us to be doing a blueprint of that as well. And from the food insecurity that has just really needed in the city to the housing initiative here is very impressive. And one of the problems that I have in general with government, even though I'm sitting here, I have a problem of just throwing money at situations and giving temporary band aids to problems versus solutions. So I see this program as a great solution, not just as a band-aid. Some of the metrics I know just off the top of my head is when families go into permanent housing in the county, well in California, they remain there for 10 years in general. That's orange county. They're seven years. Irvine, I believe the families forward metric was five years. I'm hoping that we can accelerate that. For people who don't know, sometimes these families, there's a 10-year wait list from the county. And the reason being is that there is no real solution to get these families the services that they need to elevate themselves or to stabilize the situation. And they end up staying in the system for a long time without any consideration to helping them with employment, helping them with education, or helping them get to a level of income where they can move out and move upwards. So I see this program is not a hand out program, but as a hand up program. And it's very thoughtful how you guys presented it and how we are moving forward with it. Also, it's not costing the city anything. If we don't use it, it goes back into a pool through the state if I'm not if I'm Correct here goes back to the the state and then another Large city like Los Angeles can take the money and use it the way they want So I'm very excited and very very optimistic about how we are going to be using these funds to help people that are related to the city Not just Anyone who can just walk into the city and get assistance. That's what I'm reading here. And that's what I know. So thank you so much for your presentation and your thoughtfulness to all the staff and your staff city manager for everyone to prioritize this for our residents. Thank you, Vice Mayor. My, let me, let me just interact with you a little bit here. I want to zero in on a couple of things that are very impressive. In my state of the city remarks, I was able to put the spotlight on the fact that we have 88 families, 103 children in the Irvine Unified School District schools, 103 children who are virtually homeless. Some of them are actually homeless, others are in such an unstable housing situation. It is homelessness. And with this initiative tonight, it is responsive what I call the down payment on scene two at that by the end of this year. There will be no child in the Irvine Unified School District, whose family is homeless, who is homeless. That's an extraordinary achievement. Many people don't know Irvine's poverty rate, its family and child poverty rate is about half of what it is generally in Orange County. Orange County is generally about 20% Irvine is about 10% 10% is a lot of people. A lot of people in the city of Irvine. And when we're talking about children, we actually can put a face on this and we actually can meet this problem and solve it. Taking action tonight, this is a down payment. And with the cooperation of the Irvine company and with the adoption of our new two-year budget, I think we're gonna be in a position to declare sometime this summer that yes, we will see to it that there is no homeless child in the city of Irvine. That's something I really want to see us get done this calendar year. Also with respect to food security, food and administration security, that we will dramatically add to our efforts and our support. We will see, too, that the evident need that exists in the community now. Mr. Chi, at our last food distribution event, how many airline families availed themselves of the nutritious, locally harvested food and food product? We actually, our team was surprised. We ran out of food at that particular event. We had 211 food boxes distributed in a waiting line after that. There's a pre-registration process that had then her team coordinate. Literally in the span, we started the program in February and February. There were 40 people that showed up on a rainy day in March. We had over 200 and it was raining and there was inclement weather that day also. In April, our advanced registration now is up over 400 families in Irvine that need support to ensure food stability. To the point that's been made, that Heather made in her report, there is, you don't think of Irvine as having a large at-risk population. In fact, we have one of the largest at-risk populations of any city in Orange County, with over 60,000 people that are on a list that receive support through Cal Optima MediCal. And when you think about the fact that you've got 88 families with children and enrolled in IUSD that are homeless or housing insecure, the program that the teams put together to provide an initial level of support, the support from IUSD, the support from the Irvine company, just massively the program we're putting together is, hopefully the Council on Communing knows how impressive it is. It's really not a normal type program to be able to offer and to the point Mayor Agerin that you made, this is really a down payment on a larger plan, Irvine cares that we're looking to roll out here later this year. Well, thank you for that response. I also wanted to add, I'm very impressed by the cooperation with Irvine Valley College. we can do so much to address so much need in connection with students and students from families that are homeless or otherwise housing insecure that we're able to address that. part of this, I just feel that the momentum is growing here for us to make good on our aspirations to really be a stellar community, a stellar city in the United States of America for addressing housing insecurity, food and nutrition insecurity,, and flipping that and saying, no, everybody is housed here in the city of Irvine, and everybody is food and nutrition secure because of our efforts. So again, thank you. I'll turn now to Council Member Liu and then we'll hear from the public. I just want to make a comment and thank you for doing this. I've been volunteering with a lot of local charities and I know that like City Manager had mentioned 20% of our population is qualified for medical and from my own experience working with school children and other local charities. I know that we do have issues with IVC students sleeping in their cars. We've stocked the food pantry side IVC and also well, I rent the grant and I program. We know a lot of the kids actually can't afford grant and grant ticket and that's what we fundraise for. My only question is is there any way to capture the students because it's a self-report program and we are only able to know if they apply for the free lunch is there any way for us to maybe capture this. I mean, I understand that housing forward has been a policy since President George W. Bush and that will take the heat off, help him transition and help him get back on their feet. So, is there any way for us to maybe capture the students who are housing insecure or are at risk, but they aren't on the current list of free or reduced lunch. It's very likely, yes. We will continue to work with IVC to better understand the population, to continue to poll and more students who are unhoused and they are sleeping in their cars or sometimes not even in a car. And so I think as we develop and mature the program, we do hope we begin to capture more students that that would be our goal. Absolutely. And with IUSD students? Yes, absolutely. That continued partnership, absolutely. And is there any update on whether or how far along they have plans? I know that IUSD or self-the community college. They were talking about having plans to build on the vacant land to house the students do we know where they are in the process. They IBC through the South County Community College District has attempted to access state funds to build student housing on their vacant parcel. Unfortunately they have been unsuccessful for several rounds and I think they still have aspirations to look at housing on that site. And will the city be able to assist them in any way? The ultimate, the short answer is yes. That's part of the plan that we've been looking at. How do we best look at utilizing the resources the city has and the expertise to help facilitate additional affordable housing directed at specific populations. And our transitional aged youth population is certainly one that we've been analyzing and assessing. To Heather's point, we've been waiting on IVC to see if that's an initiative they can move forward think that's a great thing to have. So, I think that's a great thing to have that in mind. So, I think that's a great thing to have that in mind. So, I think that's a great thing to have that in mind. So, I think that's a great thing to have that in mind. So, I think that's a great thing to have that in mind. be better utilized to incorporate housing on a more permanent basis on their campus. We certainly are looking forward to engaging and partnering with them move ahead. to incorporate housing on a more permanent basis on their campus. So we certainly are looking forward to engaging and partnering with them move ahead. The program tonight is sort of another down payment, if you will, on what we hope will be a larger, more expansive plan moving ahead. Thank you for working with Irvine Company and Families Forward and all the other. We have a lot actually we can tap into. I mean, I know that assistance leak has been working on this issue as well and my team and I, and Councilmember Gose team will also win out recently to families forward to help them stock their store. Yeah, so thank you for doing all the work. Thank you you councilmember Liu, councilmember vice mayor Mai. Go right ahead. Yes thank you. I just wanted to see if we're also going to be interfacing with Tustin Unified School District because we have a large portion of students that are on the border there attending Irvine residents, is any Tustin Unified? Absolutely. I think they are certainly on our list and will become part of this program. We will be outreaching to them in the same way we have to run Unified School District. All right, and just one more other thing I'd like to advocate and see if we're able to help out some of the elderly or seniors that are that would like to participate in this program that can't drive to heritage They don't drive or they don't walk They're kind of house locked if we can somehow engage with them as well Because I know there's a desperate need for them especially in the older parts of the city Where there are elderly people that are in fixed income with cost of groceries. I know this program would definitely benefit them and they obviously would qualify under income limits as well. So I don't know if we have something planned for that. I don't think we ever discussed that, but something to consider awesome. Yes, and absolutely we're looking into how we can deliver meals as well. Yes. Great, thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor Mai. At this point, do we have citizens who request to be heard? We do, Mayor. We have two requests to speak. One in person and one if you zoom. Very well. Please call the one in person first. Thank you. If I could call forward Susan Sayer. As Ms. Sayer is coming forward, I want to acknowledge not only she a lawyer but a social worker as well. And so I take it this is in your wheelhouse. Yep, that's what I was going to say. Yeah, I'm a retired adult protective services social worker. And this is right in my field of expertise. I love this program. I do, I think it's very important that we consider providing more than housing for the homeless people and homeless shelters. So we really need to provide prevention and recovery services and ongoing support services. And I have a few suggestions. One is a homeless housing affordable resident should be located near public transportation, commercial centers, support services, and schools for children. And as many homeless people, including seniors, are physically disabled. ADA Adaptable Unit should be provided and reserved for disabled residents needing wider doorways, walk-in showers, adjustable counters, and closet bars, and raised electrical sockets. Homeless housing and affordable housing should be located near food pantries or where residents can access food and supplies or receive food donations and distribution services. But you already said you're going to do, that's great. And homeless housing should be located near post offices or on the Irvine Connect route to provide easy access to residents post office boxes in order to receive their benefit checks. This is something that was often not thought of and people can't get, don't have cars, they can't get their benefit checks. Irvine Care should provide access to support services such as mental health and addiction services, medical care and social services. Job skills training, perhaps a community college, which include internship programs that could provide employment opportunities upon graduation. And a really important is providing childcare services and after school programs to allow the parents to work. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Serres. For your comment, next Mr. Peterson, let's take the online remote participant. Thank you, Mayor. Our next speaker is Liz Chab. Liz, you may unmute your mic. Welcome. All right. Hi, tonight. Can you guys hear me? We can hear you. Okay. Hi. Mayor Agram. Council members, thank you so much for allowing me to speak. My name is Liz DeBrowis, I'm the CEO of Anth Blackis. We're a mission driven consultancy that aims to make our communities better and we're currently awaiting our 501C3 status as a hybrid organization in Olisil. We're professionals with deep experience in domestic and international business, both in public and private spaces, and we work with the elderly, marginalized communities, and everything in between. I myself am a daughter of different parents who escaped penichet and the sand beneath this. state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the that Burvani has been acting to mitigate it. So I commend you. Now, I see this a lot. I've hired a bright Bellatitorian who literally spells her blood on a bi-monthly basis to work for a home that he shares with eight other students, and she's also on EDT. So this is a very prevalent issue that I commend you again for addressing. So congratulations to the city for being so far with thinking on this and basically every other initiative. Among the many cities we work with, Irvine seems to be the one who sincerely cares. And I use that word very intentionally. I know at least four Irvine families right now for dual income, doctors and master's degree level professionals who can do nothing more than try, rely on EDT, rely on the boys and girls club. And they still live at a poverty level that in no way reflects the American or the Irvine dream that we have more while growing up. So what I'm getting to though is in adjacent cities where the median household prices are 1.2 million people still struggled to simply afford childcare during the summer just like the previous speaker said. And you know what? Not only is poverty at a high, but shame is too. If we've named my crucial point, I've been a professional marketer for over 22 years. I've been a professional marketer for over 22 years. I've marketed for 37 countries at one time. Excuse me. Your time is elapsed but we'll give you another another 30 seconds to a minute to wrap up. All right. I'm just about done and thank you so much. You're welcome. This is my point. So I've managed a lot. I've seen a lot and the one comments the red that I have seen that couples these types of work that programs is proper exposure marketing, making sure that the communities know that their city cares and that this program is available and that there is no shame associated with being a victim of a bad economy right now. That is not a public, that is not a political statement, it is just a reality. So I just want to end this by saying that I offer my services, my organization services and helping make this a Successful campaign, but giving it what it needs, it's lifeblood exposure. And with that, I thank you, and I'm happy to give my information out to any appropriate way necessary. Well, thank you. I think you should probably be in touch with our staff and provide that information and with our chief health and wellness director as well. And I'll leave you to do that at the conclusion of this call. Thank you for your comments and good luck with your nonprofit. Mr. Mayor, we did have one late request. Pop up via Zoom. I'll defer to you as to whether or not sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So I may have missed some discussion of this, but I understand that and I'm sorry I couldn't arrive until now, but so I may have missed some discussion of this, but I understand that Bervine was supposed to reach its rena RHNA goals by mid February. and I know there is a plan about that and I'm wondering what there is beyond just the plan. And again, excuse me if this has been discussed. Thank you. Well, thank you for your comment. Actually, I think there's a little bit of confusion about arena goals and what is actually in front of us to the commenter I would suggest you be in touch or our staff can perhaps be in touch with the commenter and clarify matters a little bit about what our goals are and what's in front of us right now and how this is intended to meet a much more immediate series of problems. Let me just take an opportunity for a moment to underscore what was raised by one of my colleagues, Tustin Unified School District. They're often forgotten, basically, of all the school children in the city of Irvine, about 15% of all school children, attend Tustin Unified Schools that are in the city of Irvine. And I think it's very important that having reached out and gotten all the information that we have from IUSD and helping address the problems that those school children face. We need to quickly, I think, do the same with TUSD. My guess is it'll add another 10 or 20 families that are going to be needing some help. With that, I'll turn to Council Member Liu, who wishes to be heard. Just an additional comment that we are so lucky to have a lot of existing organizations already doing the work if we will be able to, I mean, I recently had the tour at Melinda Hogue in Newport and I was able to see how they got all these organizations together, each one of them providing a different service to help people. And a lot of times it's temporary. I mean, a divorce can cause a traumatic financial hardship for somebody to go from being okay financially to nearing homelessness. So a lot of these services are already in existence in Irvine or in nearby communities and I you know really encourage The city to continue working with them So that will help maybe alleviate some of the concerns about whether the city is taken on a lot of these services on our own Thank you with that all, I'll move staff recommendations 1, 2, 3, and 4, which I think are probably on hopefully, will be on the screens of people at home as well, as well as for the benefit of those who are here. Is there a second? I'll second. The motion to approve staff recommendations 1, 2, 3, and 4 offered by me seconded by Council Member Mai is now before us. Council members have any comments to make with respect to the motion. They're being none. Would the clerk please call the roll. Council member Carroll. No. Council member Goal. Yes. Council member Lou. Yes. Council member Traceeater. Yes. Vice Mayor Mai. Yes. Mayor Aigren.. Yes carries five to one with Council Member Carol voting no. Thank you all and thank you Heather appreciate it. Item 3.3. Would the clerk please identify this item by subject and title. Annual report on the police use of military equipment assembly bill 481. Thank you. Did you have something to say Mr. Melchie? No. You had an eager look on your face. There we are. Chief, why don't you introduce yourself, your colleague, and please present to us. Good evening, Mayor and City Council. My name is Daniel Hall, and I am a lieutenant with the Irvine Police Department. here today to provide you an overview of Assembly Bill 41 and provide the mandated annual military equipment use report for calendar year 2024 required by the statute. 24 required by the statute. As you may recall in September of 2021, AB 41 was signed into law by California Governor Newsom, which mandated that law enforcement agencies establish a military equipment use policy. The primary objective of this legislation was to ensure transparency, accountability, and responsible use of military grade equipment utilized by law enforcement agencies across our state. The passage of 4-81 underscored the significance of maintaining public trust and ensuring the responsible deployment of military equipment in our community. The Irvine Police Department embraced this legislation as an opportunity to strengthen our commitment to serving and protecting our residents. In response to AB 41, the Irvine Police Department developed a comprehensive military equipment use policy. In April of 2022, Chief Kent presented this policy to the Mayor and City Council and it was unanimously approved. This policy outlines clear guidelines for the acquisition, deployment and usage of military equipment by our officers. It also requires an annual report on the use of any military equipment utilized during the year, which is what I am providing tonight. The Irvine Police Department has adhered to the guideline set forth by the bill and our department's policy. Over the past year, we have used some of the defined military equipment on occasions where it was deemed necessary. Each use of the equipment was evaluated to ensure it was appropriate for the situation at hand. Each deployment was documented and reviewed, allowing us to report and assess the effectiveness and value of the equipment in various situations. I would like to emphasize that the use of military equipment by our department is strictly regulated and reserved for situations that pose a significant risk to public safety. We continually evaluate the circumstances surrounding each deployment and actively seek alternative means to resolve incidents without the need for such equipment whenever possible. I would like to provide you a brief summary of when the defined military equipment was used in the city of Irvine during the year 2024. First I will talk about our armored vehicles and mobile command vehicle usage. We have two armored vehicles. One is called the bear and the smaller one is called the bear cat depicted in the photos above. March 30th officers responded to a patrol call for service on a Rockefeller for a domestic violence investigation. Officers observed a male subject in the residence and heard the sound of a gunshot. Officers retreated back to their vehicles and a SWAT activation occurred. SWAT operators drove to the location utilizing the bearcat. The suspect eventually complied and surrendered. May 16th. Officers responded to the 241 toll road and Santiago Canyon road to make contact with a suicidal homicide suspect who had just shot a UPS driver in the city of Irvine. The suspect was laying in the backseat of a vehicle and refused multiple commands. The bear and bear cat were used to isolate the vehicle. A noise flash diversion device was used in an effort to get the suspect to comply. When that failed, a pepper ball gun was also utilized, and the suspect was ultimately apprehended by a police canine. July 11th. Teston PD was investigating a robbery that occurred in the city of Teston. The victim had been robbed by the suspect at gunpoint. The bear and bear cat were both utilized to transport operators from a command post to the suspects residents in the city of Fontana. These vehicles were utilized for cover and concealment as well as a staged emergency transport vehicle. The suspect ultimately complied and surrendered. October 4th, the bear cat and two SWOT operators were staged in the city of TUSDEN at the TUSDEN Tillard Day Days Festival in the event of a tactical response would be needed for any incident that occurred during the festival. Next, I'll talk about our mobile command vehicle. Our mobile command vehicle was deployed on 11 occasions for a variety of assignments to include SWOT callouts, department training, testing scenarios, pro-long investigations, and community events such as National Night Out and the IPD Open House. I will next talk about a noise flash diversionary device and a couple of other items that you see on the screen. On April 17th, IPD detectives were conducting a human trafficking investigation near the Lakinta Hotel in Irvine. A noise flash diversionary device was deployed during an open air takedown of the suspect. The device diverted the suspect's attention and allowed officers to safely take him into custody. June 23rd. Patrol officers responded to a call for service on Kempton for a mail walking around the neighborhood carrying a large knife. Upon officer's arrival, the suspect fled into a residence. Officers attempted to speak with him via public address and telephone. Officers forced entry into the residence based upon a ramey warrant for the subject. The suspect barricaded himself in a locked bedroom and refused to cooperate. On duty, SWAT personnel and crisis negotiators responded to attempt to negotiate with him. The bedroom door was eventually breached using the kinetic breaching tool and the suspect's safely surrendered to SWAT personnel. August 8th, patrol officers responded to an emergency call for service on green tree of a male chasing a female with a knife outside of her residence. Patrol officers arrived and located a suspect who was actively stabbing a female. The suspect did not comply and also threatened responding officers. An officer involved shooting occurred as one officer deployed a department issued Col A.R. 15 rifle to stop the suspect's violent actions. August 16th, Patrol officers responded to a call for service on peppermint regarding a suicidal subject. The suspect was agitated, non-compliant, and threatened officers with firearms. He eventually exited the residents and advanced on officers. An officer successfully deployed a 40 millimeter less lethal round, effectively striking the subject and officers were able to take the car. The police are not allowed to take the car. The police are not allowed to take the car. The police are not allowed to take the car. The police are not allowed to take the car. The police are not allowed to take the car. The police are not allowed to take the car. The police are not allowed to take the car. The police are not allowed to at the park. The suspect made threats toward officers and eventually fled from the restroom. Officers deployed three 40 millimeter less lethal sponge rounds at the suspect as he fled. Another officer deployed a pepper ball towards the area of the suspect without hitting him in an effort to deter him and prevent him from escaping. He was ultimately taken into custody using a police canine and police officers physically controlling him. I'll now talk about unmanned aircraft systems, also referred to as drones or UAS. In 2024, the Irvine Police Department, UAS team conducted approximately 2900 flights, accumulating over 700 hours of airtime. This includes approximately 900 drone-sfirst responder flights, also referred to as DFR, and 2,000 traditional UAS deployments. A UAS vehicle was deployed over 80 times to support extended operations beyond standard patrol-based assignments. The team remains composed of 15 pilots, and while UAS continues to serve as a collateral assignment within the department, we now have one full-time DFR operator working 40 hours per week. Irvine PD's UAS team remains a critical asset in public safety beyond standard law enforcement operations. Over the past year, the UAS team has been deployed in numerous critical operations, including suspect searches, barricaded suspect incidents, and tactical operations. Additionally, UAS has played a significant role in monitoring crime trends, particularly in assisting with residential burglarary response and prevention efforts. The UAS team continues to support allied agencies including neighboring law enforcement agencies and the Orange County Fire Authority. It should be noted that the department did not receive any complaints concerning military equipment during this reporting period and an internal review revealed no violations of department policy. The total annual costs and inventory of our military equipment items can be found in our annual report, which was submitted as an attachment to the staff report, and it can also be viewed online on our website. At the heart of our military equipment use policy is our department's commitment to training. We believe that thorough and ongoing training is essential to ensuring the responsible and effective use of all department equipment by our officers including military equipment. Our training programs encompass a wide range of topics including scenario-based exercises, active shooter training, training arrest and control training as well as situational awareness and de escalation techniques just to name a few. I'm requesting on behalf of the Irvine Police Department that the annual AB 41 report be reviewed and approved by City Council. In conclusion, I would like to express our department's commitment to upholding the standard set by Assembly Bill 41 and maintaining the trust of our community. We recognize the importance of transparency and accountability in our operations and will continue to provide the mayor and City Council with annual updates on our use of military equipment. Thank you for your time and attention. I am happy to address any questions. Thank you for your report. Before turning to councilmember Carroll, I just want to, my way of background of your course, your written report that you have made to us that we will receive and file, and I take it by receiving and filing at that constitutes approval and meeting with the requirements of state law. Is that correct? Yes, sir. Thank you. This, of course, this state law was initially in response to widespread concern about perhaps the excessive militarization of police forces across the country that was concerned at that time. I personally was not concerned about our police department, but I do find this very, very helpful to understand what kind of equipment we are acquiring and how it's being used in the city of Irvine. And even though we are statistically and by National Recognition FBI statistics on violent crime, the safest city in America. Nevertheless, there's a lot of danger out there. 400 million guns, 400 million across the United States. My own estimate, we don't have a precise number, but my own estimate is that just among Irvine residents, there are probably 50 to 100,000 guns, one place or another. And of course we have lots of criminal activity in the city of Irvine, lots of dangerous situations for our police and I for one of the pleas that we have the protective appropriate equipment that we do. And this annual report served for me is reassurance that we're doing the right things. We have the right officers, the right training, and the right equipment to maintain, not just law and order, but real safety in the city of Irvine. So I thank you for this report and now turn to my colleague councilmember Carroll. Great. Thank you mayor and thank you also for clarifying those the first thing I was going to do. I think it's something with regard to approval but no approval is required. This is just a receiving file and I think we just give comments and move on. I just want to say, reiterate many of the comments the mayor did about the men and women of the Irvine Police Department. And this probably I guess you'll see that the sixth or seventh year that I will say the same comment that I say every time this comes up, which is I think this is pathetic. I can't believe we're doing this in the city of Irvine. This is unbecoming and is not worthy of our city. I do not need to hear about any of the equipment that the state decides to define as military. This isn't military equipment. This is equipment that the Irvine Police Department is purchased to use for police protection of the public, property, and lives of people. And the men and women of your department do an amazing job at that. And I think it's absolutely pathetic that a mismanaged group of people that run the most mismanaged state in the union, the state of California, would promulgate a law like this to tell us how we're using our equipment to defend our people, our lives, and our property. So I think this is something that again should never be done. As I always do, I apologize that we have to sit through this and listen to you guys, that you spent the time to do it and that you're doing it. I have full faith in you and each and every one of you, you're doing great work. And this is just something that just is very, very hard for me to listen to because it's a pure reflection of two things. Number one, we are the city on the hill. I'm sure my colleagues would join me with me on this point. We are the city on the hill that Ronald Reagan spoke about. There is no better city in the United States of America than Irvine, California. We have our problems, but we have achieved a state and a level of really truly incredible combination of live work and play. And the huge, huge part, if not the most central part of that, is public safety and is what you guys do. So the fact that Sacramento can force cities on this one size fits all thing once again to imagine this great city with the great police work that this city has done again and again and again, a place, a place where the rest of Orange County and the rest of Southern California comes to to protest because it's safe, because they can't protest in their communities, because it's unsafe, because they may be concerned about their men and women in blue. We don't have that problem here in Irvine. So I don't think you should be presenting military equipment or whatever this is called, or whatever aims our friends up in Sacramento passed among the thousands of in-ain bills that they pass. This one is way up there at the top, because it should not apply to a city that's been the safe estate in America for untold number of years in a row that protects the city of the way this does. So I'm done with my speech. I'm going to give it every year so long as we have to do this and I have absolutely no problem with anything you're doing and I don't expect that I will and use all the equipment and obtain all the equipment that you need. Thank you mayor Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Carroll, Council Member Liu, and then Vice Mayor Mai. Thank you. And thank you for doing what you do. I mean, we're 19 years of safety in the United States. So thank you for everything. And I agree that all the equipment that you need is necessary to keep us safe. And well, I have a slight different approach. Unfortunately, that law became, I don't know, if it's necessary, but it became something that was asked for because of police departments that didn't follow the rules. But in this case in Irvine, we have community policing, we have the top notch envy of the world police department. And I see it as a way to actually let the residents know exactly what you've been doing to help us become the safest city 19 years in the role. So I commend you for doing all of this and I commend you for all the work that you've been doing, all the training. And thank you for doing this and thank you for making us the safest city. Thank you, Council Member Liu. Vice Mayor Mai? Yes. Lieutenant Hall, thank you so much for that presentation. It was wonderful to not only see the equipment, even though, as my colleague mentioned, it's a little silly to have to list it out, especially flash bangs or pepper balls here are breaching tools. I don't know what constitutes military equipment. It's kind of strange to list it as military equipment. You know, they just standard equipment that you guys need. And, you know, up here we're very supportive of Irvine Police Department. I've long said that Irvine Police Department is a department that should be modeled across the country because you guys do it right and it's not just the equipment that you guys listed here also it's a training and the way that you conduct yourself as officers engaging our community and we really appreciate that so it's unfortunately you have to list out all these items. I'm sure that if we buy anything else, we will have to list them too. I don't see Irvine IPD using equipment in any wrongful way. Whatever you guys need to keep us safe, please continue to do so. Let us know. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Vice Mayor Mai. With that, we'll turn to comments from citizens. Are there any requests to be heard? No, Mr. Mayor. No comments. I'll move that we receive and file this. Is there a second? There's no file for it. Well, I know there isn't, but I want to receive and file it. Is there a second? Well, I know there isn't but I want to receive and file it. It's a receive. Very well. Moved and seconded. With the clerk, please call the roll. Council member Carroll. Now. Council member Go. Yes. Council member Do. Yes. Council member Traceeter. Yes. Vice Mayor May. Yes. Mayor Aigren. Yes. Curie's five to one with Council Member Carroll voting no. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you gentlemen. We turn now to item 3.4. Would the clerk please identify this item by subject and title. Citywide Program expansion of preferential parking districts. Thank you. I see we have staff coming forward. Please introduce yourselves and make your presentation if you would. Anybody who wishes to participate electronically, this is the time to enter the speakers queue and participate via Zoom. Thank you. Go ahead. Good evening, Mayor Agerin and fellow members of City Council. My name is go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and go ahead and allow. We are here today to present staff's recommendations regarding the implementation of a citywide program expansion of preferential parking districts. To start, I'd like to give you all a brief historical context of the parking program as it is today. In 2009, the city's municipal code established the allowance of preferential parking districts south of I-405. Two districts named districts A and district B were established at that time in the vicinity of University High School and the University of California Irvine. Fast forwarding to 2020, a pilot program was initiated within the Paseo West Park Maintenance Association or PWMA as it's known for short. This was established through City Council's adoption of a resolution to address resident concerns related to overflow parking between tracks and from outside of the community. Moving forward to June of 2023, the pilot program was extended via City Council approval for an additional two years based on overwhelming resident support and feedback as well as the overall success of the pilot program. The program itself has been effective in addressing the original concerns while also reducing loitering, littering, and illegal activity. City Council also directed staff in 2023 to develop implementation strategies for a citywide preferential parking district program. Our implementation steps start with the update to the municipal code. Within that we will develop policies and procedures for a resident driven program. The program will only be applied when and where it is desired by the residents themselves. The implementation strategies also outline the transition to a more effective virtually managed program and the use of license plate reader units for public safety's parking enforcement officers. City staff has identified necessary adjustments to the city's existing permit management system and apply them to the proposed policies and procedures. Part of the city's implementation strategy also includes our outreach and communication efforts that allow the city to inform residents of the new parking district program. Communication efforts also include updating the existing preferential parking permit website and should include city policies in a summary of frequently asked questions. The implementation strategy identifies the addition of one full time staff member to conduct proactive enforcement efforts with continued expansion funding should be allocated for additional parking enforcement staff. Reviewing permit fees and enforcement costs will also be established as part of this implementation process. As time and participation changes, we want to be able to reevaluate the impact that costs may have. Lastly, the integration of mounted license plate readers in LPRs for short or other technology upgrades to more efficiently managed and enforce citywide parking permit programs will likely be needed. This would occur through our online permit software vendor. I would now like to elaborate upon the policies and procedures that are a crucial element of our proposed implementation strategy. First and foremost, the policies and procedures establish the goals of the citywide program which are first to create equitable access that balances parking needs of residents and guests. Secondly to establish community support by reducing parking demand where appropriately determined by residents themselves. And lastly, to allow for efficient program management that meets the city's current needs and can be easily updated over time. The policies and procedures outline how a new permit parking district is established and allows for monitoring of the citywide program so staff can make changes in address areas where parking conditions may not be alleviated. This also establishes who is eligible to purchase parking permits upon determination of a parking permit district. slide here from left to right shows the steps that should be taken in order to successfully establish a new permit parking district. The process is initiated by a petitioner or applicant which can be a resident if not part of a homeowners association or an H.O.A. representing a specific area. The size of the parking district and roads to be included within the proposed district will initially be identified by the petitioner themselves and then will be analyzed and determined or deemed appropriate by city staff. The initial petition processing fee is to be $500. In order for a district to qualify for city review, the petitioner must obtain at least 67% or 2 thirds of community support from households in the proposed district before being reviewed and approved by city staff. Once the vote is compiled by the petitioner or applicant, city staff will then tally and verify said votes to ensure that community support is sufficiently established within the proposed district. Once approved, the petitioner will be notified of the next steps and start date. Households will also receive instructions on next steps. Upon setting up the district within the permit fee portal online, residents will then be able to purchase permits. Resident permits will be $95 and guess permits will be $40. City staff will collaborate internally to ensure that appropriate parking signage on affected streets within the parking district are installed in a timely manner. Once signs are installed and permits are released for purchase, enforcement will begin one week after the start date of the program for the permit parking district in question. I'd also like to highlight the good neighbor practices that will be distributed to residents upon their acceptance into a permit parking program. These good neighbor practices will support the successful implementation of the permit parking program that is utilized in an efficient manner and considerate manner by each applicant area. These items remind residents who obtain a permit what the neighborhood expectations are and should be. Items that should be considered by those participating in the permit parking program include efficiency, consideration of ordinances and regulations such as the city's noise ordinance for an example, and consideration for regularly scheduled city efforts such as street sweeping and trash pickup. With that, our recommendation to city council is to approve and authorize staff to implement the implementation strategy we've discussed today for a citywide preferential parking district program to introduce for first reading and read by title only an ordinance of the City Council amending chapter eight of division three of title six of the Iral Code. And lastly, to introduce for first reading a resolution approving the Irvine preferential parking districts policies and procedures. With that, staff is available to answer any questions that Council may have. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your presentation. Thanks for all the work you've done on this project, too. Over the years our staff, I think, has done an outstanding job of developing this program, piloting it, implementing it, and now ready to roll out its availability to the entire city. Do we have any requests from citizens yet to be heard? We have two requested speak. All right. Let me do this. Unless my colleagues wish to be heard on around what I'd like to do is simply move this matter and then take public comment and if council members wish to respond and offer their comments relative to the motion. We'll do it that way. I think we can move things along that way. I move staff recommendations, recommended actions. How many did you say want to be heard? We have two requests to speak in person. I think Mr. City Attorney, that way we can get public comment in response to a frame motion. No problem with that mayor. No problem at all as long as the action comes after the public comment, no problem at all. I would suggest that the ordinance portion needs to be read by title. Yes, well, I would move staff recommendation one, two and three, and I'll introduce, as staff recommendation two, I'll introduce and read an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Irvine, California, a mending chapter eight of Division 3 of Title 6 of the Irvine Municipal Code. Is there a second? Second. All right, moved and seconded. We'll now take public comment. Oh, I'm sorry, Council member, I'll go after public comments. Excellent. Let's take public comment then. We'll hear then from my council colleagues. Go right ahead, Mr. Peterson. Thank you, Mayor. If I could call forward Byron, Luoma and Steve Pal. And we'll start with Byron. Marif, I could call forward Byron, Luoma, and Steve Pal. And we'll start with Byron. And we'll start with Byron. Welcome. This is the second time we see one another in the last couple of weeks. That's right Mayor. Welcome. Hello. Hello Council members. I'd like to express my strong approval. What staff has done creating this. I've been working on this parking situation for probably six, eight, ten years. I've knocked on a lot of doors and talked to a lot of homeowners and worked with the homeowners association. I'm on a parking committee. I've been doing this a long time and staff has really come up with a really good program here to make this thing work. I'm very pleased with how it's played out here and I really hope that you will approve it. It couldn't be much better. And I hope this will turn into a model for other cities to emulate. I think this thing is very good. So. Thank you. Let me ask you before you leave the podium, you're in which village? West Park. West Park. and I know there are a number of neighborhoods there that are having difficulties. Yeah, well we don't have difficulties now. The parking program has been wonderful. It has just been a fact. There's another gentleman near West Park Elementary who was in touch with me and quite concerned about their particular situation. As a matter of fact, I went out there and looked at it. Did you? I did. And they don't have a parking permit program going on out there. No. However, he was concerned with overflow parking from the school and he lives on a street that is really close to the school. Right. And he is in exactly the situation where parking permits might be handy. Exactly. But it takes effort. A community leader has to step up and you got to knock on a lot of doors and it takes a lot of effort. It's not something you just, you can't snap your fingers to make it happen. It takes a lot of community involvement, as I can tell you. And to make it happen, it takes volunteers to get out there and knock on doors. And you have to have a problem, this bad enough, the two thirds of the homeowners want to go for it, because these permits cost money, and a lot of people object to that. So if your parking situation is not that bad, a lot of people will just say no. So. because these permits cost money and a lot of people object to that. So if your parking situation is not that bad, a lot of people will just say no. So it's a tool you can use if you've got a bad problem. But it takes work. That's all I can say. Thank you for your comments and for your service to your community. Okay. Steve Powell. Welcome. Good evening. My name is Steve and Paul. Thank you, Mayor and Council Members. So as Byron mentioned, tonight is the culmination of many years of partnering and partnership to solve these issues. There was issues with safety just being able to navigate around the streets, a litter and overflow in several Ryan neighborhoods. On that partnership, I'd like to thank again the Transportation Department for their partnership for making multiple proposals over the years until we found something that everyone could agree with and that was very, very helpful. Thank you. I'd like to thank even public works who worked with the residents when the action went to deploy the system. That was very helpful. I'd like to thank Revine Public Safety, who was represented earlier tonight. They spent a lot of work to find a system and a method that was financially and physically responsible and enforceable, yet easy for residents to sign up for and use. I was very hopeful. I'd like to thank the Transportation Commissioners for partnering and reviewing and making suggestions to improve the program. And then they actually followed through and they also monitored and saw the success. And even the head there, there was a little bit of skepticism at the beginning. They saw the power of the program and became very firm supporters of that. And that brings us back here to the City Council. And thank you for that partnership and the courage to honestly approve back in 2020 and unanimously approve back in 2023 so that we could optimize just that little last little bit so now that the transportation or make it bring together this final proposal. So we're really happy that it solves the problems and we know you had had a weighty agenda tonight. So instead of having a lot of us speak, a lot of us still showed up. And people who have lived this raise their hand. Thank you very much. A lot of folks coming out tonight to show that really helps really supported in deference to your time. And we really hope this effort that we in partnership did in Pesail West Park can be extended throughout the city and even through other cities if they could do that. So we do hope that you can approve this tonight and thank you for your time and working on this partnership. Thank you. Well thank you for your comments. They're much appreciated. Thank you to everyone who took of their time to be here tonight expressing your support. Do we have any further commenters? No, Mr. Mayor. There will be no further comments. I'll turn now to my council colleagues. We do have a motion before us. So I'll call first vice mayor Mai followed by council member Go and then council member Carol. Thank you mayor. Just a quick question to staff. I saw the goals of the program. Equivalent access. I don't know what that means, actually. I mean, equitable access is that implying that there's inequality of access? I'm just asking about that because it was listed there as a bullet point. Just some clarification on that. It was really to develop a more streamlined process. Everybody had the same parameters, rules and regulations, and it wasn't kind of haphazard and, you know, selective as far as who was eligible and who wasn't. Just citywide then, you're saying. Okay, great. And to get to it with this, I met with several homeowners in the audience here, Paseo West Park, and I had a laundry list of questions as I normally do, and they explained everything to me to my satisfaction. I'm very supportive of this. It's been a long time for you guys, so appreciate that you guys have gone through this pilot program, and now presenting it to the city. It's a great need in a lot of communities that have people parking overnight, crowding the streets, it's a great need in a lot of communities that have people parking overnight, crowding the streets, the enforcement is tough, so that's just great. And there's another thing I wanna add to this, just for my colleagues as well, because something I discovered is that, passing this city wide, it still needs to pass at each individual community and neighborhood. And the threshold is very high. I don't believe that there's going to be a large adoption of this in some areas because they already have HOAs and it's going to require two thirds of a majority of homeowners as well. So in the cases of extreme issues, this will alleviate some of the pain for the residents, just passing on some information that I discovered, but I think it's a great program, I think it's executed well. Hopefully we can help enforce and execute it at the city level for you as well. Thank you, Vice Mayor Mai, Council Member Goh. Good evening, everybody. That came here tonight. I'm really thankful for you guys for championing this program. As you know, one of the things that's going to be coming about is the building of the Great Park. And I can foresee some problems that will arise eventually. Currently, right now, we don't charge for very much parking at the Great Park. is that correct? So eventually we're going to have to put some type of financial valuation on parking there because as you know we pay quite a bit in the CFDs to manage the great park and maintenance and as far as all the parking surface areas as well. Right now, whenever there's sports field events, you'll see rows of cars somewhat, I think they're illegally parked along the marine way because it's just not enough parking as it is. So you can only imagine as the park grows, you know, more the elements of the park will extend out to the neighborhood homes and I can foresee our neighbors starting to complain that there's unwanted cars there as we, because either the one we charge for parking or there's just lack of parking. So I'm really glad the city's getting in front of this and hopefully we can iron out you know all the issues and thanks to you guys for piloting this program. I do make a request that we do spend quite a bit resources as far as IT technology in terms of streamlining it digitally as much as possible. If we can, maybe perhaps some AI tools available that will help us get the costs in line so that we can definitely make the administration side of it a little bit more streamlined and more effective. And as you guys mentioned, I think when the comments are said, you do need two thirds a majority to participate. And I think if we did this in an electronic format or some form hybrid form, I believe right now I think it's all signatures, like handwritten, yeah. So perhaps if we have a digital format, there's pretty easy to verify the addresses either through tax records or leases, whatnot. I think it's pretty safe to say that there should be much fraud electronically since there's a way to verify it. So the solution hopefully going forward as as urban grows, and you know, with their housing mandates, we're gonna build more housing. Parking becomes a scarcity and a lot of our neighborhoods. And if we have this done right, I think we'll come out ahead. And thank you so much for working on this ahead of time. Thank you, Council Member Goh. Council Member Carroll. Yeah, thank you, Mayor. Yeah's like my colleagues and my gentlemen, I thank everybody for coming out. You know, this is a great example of democracy and action. And I know the work that's gone in to bring us to this point. So I'm really happy to to support this. You know, a few hours. We've been here in a bunch of hours now. So thank you for coming out this late. Yes, we actually meet even more hours later than this, but this is pretty late for working families and you all to be out here. A couple of hours ago, we were dealing with a big issue regarding the situation for a dog park and potential where that was going to move. We're always on the look out for community initiated things that we can kind of take and run with and help with regard to something that I think that we all in this room know is super important, which is the master plan for Irvine. When I think about the streets, that obviously in your guys area, but really city-wide, particularly Woodbridge, Street Lake Ashbrook, Soaring Hawk is another one. I think of Willow Bend over in University Park. I could go on and on just streets where friends live. Is it that parking is set up in such a way? And we have a lot of things. We have a lot of state mandates that are going to cause a lot of issues like these accessory dwelling units and lots of splitting where you can take a lot and build four houses on it and that stuff's real. It's happening up in Los Angeles County. It's on its way down here. And we're doing our part in Irvine to try to help balance it out and make the master plan work while at the same time the city basically the state told us that we have to build 58,000 new homes here in the city of Irvine. I don't think you could tell, there's really not much room for 60,000 new homes, which is about half the current housing that we have here. So this is important because this is about master plan, it's about where cars need to go. People need to use cars to get around, they're important vehicle mode of transit vehicles. And I think to my colleagues' points, it's great that we're able to kind of help put this together with you is sort of just kind of send you off and then hopefully we can get support you need at the ground level to put this in place. So I just want to thank staff but most importantly I just want to thank all of you out there. Thank you Mayor. Thank you councilmember Carroll. Let me just ask a quick question on the fee structure. I heard the number $500. Is that an application fee initially for the permit for the entire project? The $95 is that one time fee? the the. Yes, the $500 fee is just the initial application fee. The $95 for a resident permit is valid for, the permit will be valid for two years. Two years, correct. So then they would have to re-up, but presumably about another $95, two years out. Very well, well, I think you've done a lot of really good work. There is a motion, properly in front of us. I see no further request to be heard. I'll second that. I will second that. So, ready? Oh, I think it was seconded, wasn't it? It was seconded by Council Member Goh. Oh, sorry. There we are. We're already covered on that. I think we're prepared to vote with the court. Please call the roll. Council member Carroll. Yes. Council member. by Councilmember Goh. Oh, sorry. There we are. We're already covered on that. I think we're prepared to vote with the clerk. Please call the roll. Councilmember Carroll. Yes. Councilmember Goh. Yes. Councilmember Lou. Yes. Councilmember Treceater. Yes. Vice Mayor Mai. Yes. Mayor Aigren. Yes. Carrey 6-0. Thank you everybody. That takes us to item 3.5. Would the clerk please identify this item by subject entitled? Consideration of a request by councilmember Liu to discuss the establishment of a permanent library community center in district 1. Thank you. With that I'll turn initially to Council Member Liu to present this item. We appreciate your memorandum which was quite clear but I know you want to elaborate on that a little bit. So this kind of started from my experience helping with school. And a lot of times when we needed a public area together for either banquet or any type of war ceremony, we all had to drive 10, 15, 20 minutes away to outside of our neighborhood. And a lot of the parents are asking, why don't we meet in your closer and we realize the only public gathering spot in my district or back when it wasn't even a district, was the Northwood high school pool. So clearly we weren't able to utilize that area for any banquet. And as I was campaigning and asking voters about what their wish list would be, I get a lot of people having the same concerns and so well, you know, we don't have any community center in our area. And on top of that, the other issue that residents are concerned about is the potential closure of Katie Wheeler Library. And we recently were able to approve the lease from the county system to keep Katie Wheeler for another three years. But unfortunately, it is not within our control to make sure that there is still a branch library available within walk-in distance to residents in District 1. And that is why I put out this memo to help maybe put out that wish list for my constituents and see if we'll be able to locate a location and start the ball rolling kind of looked ahead of time and hopefully we won't have to deal with Katie will closing anytime before we are able to secure and build a community center but we do need one in district going to provide that space for residents. Thank you. So your idea is in effect a combined small branch library as well as a community center. Right. So it's too full because a community center is needed in the area and not that we have that. And then what in my mind, ideally during the day when libraries are usually utilized more back students, so during the day when they're in school, we'll be able to use the same space for maybe senior services or childcare that are available and there's really not a whole lot more space to build anymore in district one because we're mostly residential and so hopefully we'll be able to find that central spot for kids to go after school and seniors to go during the day and have some socialization and children to be dropped off for working parents. So before we turn to our colleagues and to the public for comments, do you have a motion you wish to offer? I do have a motion but this will be a draft obviously we will also have to listen to any resident public comments and also any comments on my colleague to make changes. So this is my initial motion and may I read it? Please. I move that the City Council direct the City Manager to engage in comprehensive analysis to identify available locations and options including the not limited resources, timeline physical impact community input and other relevant factors for establishing a permanent city library and community center facility in district one and to return to the City Council with their findings within the next 120 days. Excellent. All the second that and at this point, do we have a request from citizens to be heard? We do, Mayor. We have two requests to speak via Zoom. All right. Why don't we turn to those citizens so they can be heard first? And then the council can respond to the motion after that. Thank you, Mayor. Our first speaker is Anker P. Anker, you may unmute your mic. Hi. I'm Anker. I'm a junior at Riverside School and going up here in Irvine, I went to the library though much multiple times a month and through today I still get books from the library. I think it's a great resource in our community. So I strongly support having more libraries in Irvine, especially as we move to urban public libraries. So definitely having a permanent library in district one will be great. So yeah, that will be amazing. Thank you for your comments. Our next speaker is Jay Bruce. Jay, you may unmute your mic. Hello, Jay. Can you hear us? No response, Mayor. And that is all the speakers. Thank you and just for the record. Thank you for the printed motion. I'll turn to my council colleagues now for questions, comments. Councilmember Traciter. Thank you. I think this is a great idea. I'd love to hear what the staff thinks about it. And I think it really highlights one of the benefits of going to districts is that in the past, it's possible that this area might not have gotten the attention that it needs for getting facilities like this. And so I'm glad that Council Member Liu is there to advocate for it. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Tracita, Council Member and Vice Mayor Mai. Yes, I also think this is a great idea here, especially the way that it's framed. I was looking for a motion earlier and the app was to see that the thought to have a comprehensive analysis and feedback is very good not just for this district but I would even say for any districts out there. I mean I have a library in mind and there's libraries and others but if the staff could include just comprehensive analysis on community centers usability and the need that would be great, but I'm in support of this as well. Thank you vice mayor my council member Carol Yeah, also same thing I definitely do support this as well I'm just trying to this probably the first you know district only thing and you know districts are new and you know some of us represented the entire city for a number of years. I guess I too would like to see maybe if we could again I don't want to get into this like rush for the district door here but district 3 as a library. I'm probably other than council member go the larger supporter of a great park library so I think district 2 is going to be OK. District 5 has one. And that leaves my district, if I can get a little district a little bit. And I would like to see maybe a South Irvine could also benefit from this same review. It may just turn out that University Park and what our project is. But if council member losing, meanable meanable, I guess I'd like to include. The other piece too is Heritage Park is library, is in need of, I guess we have sort of a library system that's in need of grade overhaul. So I guess I'm wondering if we should focus this just, let's have staff come back and just, you know, and then of course, yeah, I mean, we're gonna have a new district five representative in the next week, so I don't know if that's possible, but I'd like to include, I don't know, either a city wide study, including Katie Wheeler, or at least, I mean, I don't know if we can in the Conclude District 2 and 4, but that's a fair of a humble. I do like the idea of having, I think the staff's going to review this anyway. I don't know if you, I guess I have a little bit more time. Are we doing this just in a holistic way in terms of, are we doing this anyway with regard to Julie and her team? Once you get the transition done this summer from the county. Now it's a great question. Councillor Member Carroll. The short answer is yes. We've done preliminary analysis on a community of our size, how many branch libraries should we have in order to properly serve. A growing, vibrant community. Preliminary reviews indicated we need roughly four to five branch libraries with the central library. That would be the full build out of the system. And so certainly if the council is amenable and if council member lose amenable to expanding the scale and scope of this review, we've already done some preliminary analysis on service population, our size, how many facilities we need geographically where those facilities would be located really is part of what we're layering into the review. And again, if the council is a menimble, council member Lou is a menimble. We're happy to take a look more holistically citywide where we might be missing and having gaps in library service. Okay. And just regard, I remember talking with some of the supervisors just offline, but with regard to where we ended up on Katie Wheeler, can you let us know? I mean, I think we're good. I know there's sizing issues and stuff, but we're going to have that, right? Yes, we have. It's our line. Correct. So the way that we're working through details on the transition with the county Katie Wheeler will be turned over to the city in January of 26 we'll have the ability to utilize it through 2029 and so ultimately we'll have a facility we have some time to figure out occasionally in District one or something may go but again looking at looking at the whole system holistically, as we lay out where all the libraries could be located, is there proper distribution to serve the entire community as something we want to definitely take into account? That'd be great. I'm really excited about it. I couldn't be more thrilled about what we're doing on that assessment. And yeah, I think our current library, not dude anyone in this room, but our current library footprint is rather anemic. It leaves a lot to be desired. No offense to UP and Heritage and Katie. So, okay, well, yeah, I mean, if we could possibly expand that, I just'll wait for Councilmember Liu if that's possible. Thank you, Mayor. So, are you actually offering an amendment? Does the maker of the motion want to incorporate this, or will staff just be doing this anyway in connection with the libraries? Mr. Kennedy, what would you prefer? What I'd suggest again, this item initially started with a we we only got Katie Wheeler for a couple years. There's no facilities in district one. So I think it probably is appropriate to see if council member Lou be amenable to looking at something more comprehensive in addition to D1. Take a look at all of the library services. Again, it's something we've already started thinking about. We're getting that formal council consent. I think it's certainly helpful. Very well. I just want us to be kind of clear in our thinking. Council member lose principle motivation if I can describe that to her. It's to get a community center. A place where people can really meet. They already have library services limited as they are, but the idea was to get that community center identified and part of the community center there could be a library, kind of the successor branch library to Katie Wheeler. Is that correct? Yes, and as part of the review, we'd also take a look at spatially where a facility might be located and take into account the most up-to-date thinking on what a library is. Gone are the days when you have librarians shushing people in libraries. Libries really have become more like community centers. You know, modern libraries have cafe type services. They have makerspace. They have community rooms. In addition to the traditional books and study locations. And so, is there some kind of a joint type facility that combines the best of both worlds? Again, a lot of that will depend on the review in the facility and the location that we identify. And so I think that's part of why it probably makes sense just to make sure everyone's comfortable. In addition to looking specifically at district one, which to council member loose point, the only public facility outside of Katie Wheeler in the district is northwood pool that we have access to on joint use agreement with IUSD that we also take a look at making sure that library facilities across the city are located in the right location to serve the whole community. Very well, well, the maker of the motion is obviously free to accept an amendment. So I think you're looking then for some kind of language perhaps to direct the city manager to make a similar analysis elsewhere in the city. Correct. Something to that effect. Would you like to offer the language, Mr. Melchene? And then let's see if Councilmember Lewis comfortable with it? Off the top of my head a little bit, Mayor. I would just add a sentence to the end that would say the further direct the city manager to prepare a citywide analysis of the adequacy of the locations and suitability of library facilities. Excellent. That sounds pretty good. Did you get that car? I've got it. How does that sound? Councilmember Liu, how does that sound? I'm certainly amenable to that. What originally, like Mayor had that already mentioned, that it is a motivation to find that public space for a community center for people together. And like I said, you know, a library is part of that and it just does set a little branch library. So without confusing the issues I would like to have, I think this is a good addition to or amendment to my motion because it's not confusing what I was asking for, which is very specific. That is a community center slash library versus a library. You're going to be able to get my motion because it's not confusing what I was asking for which is very specific that is a community center slash library versus a library. You'll accept that as a friendly amendment. Second that is amended. That being the case, the matter is before us. Councilmember Tracee. I think there's going to be a request here for District 6. Yeah, you read my mind. So District 6 is not represented up here. And so I just wanted to make sure that please, as the staff are doing their assessment, citywide, please keep in mind that I believe District 6 does not have a library or a community center or green space. And so I'd love to have them considered. That being said, I don't wanna hijack Councilmember Lou's motion and I'm fully happy with her motion being dedicated to her district. And I'm free to bring up another memo later on that focuses on district six. Thank you. But district six of course will be included as part of the amendment under the terms of the amendment. Absolutely. Thank you. I think the matter is properly before us now there being no further request to be heard with the clerk. Please call the roll councilmember Carol. Yes, councilmember go Yes, councilmember Lou. Yes, councilmember treseter. Yes vice mayor my yes mayor Agrin. Yes carry six zero Thank you. Thank you all 3.. Would the clerk please identify this item by title and subject. Consideration of a request by Vice Mayor Mai to discuss an assessment of options to expand disability care services. Council member and Vice Mayor Mai, please present this item. Yes, thank you mayor. I'm presenting this item tonight for consideration. I'm going to give a little context of where this is coming from. Myself, I own a number of 501 C-NOM profits and I focus on that as families, special needs, autistic families. I I had identified a, well, there's a lot of, there's a large population in Irvine that is, going to be addressed tonight here. Before I read this thing, I'm going to actually read some facts here that people may or may not be aware of, is that according to census approximately 4% of Irvine residents under the age of 65 identify as having a disability around 12,500 people. And within IUSD, 7,000 students receive special education support. I've reviewed the programming that we have in the city and it's probably one of the best programming I'm told throughout all the city's surrounding here. But there is room for improvements in multiple areas. And I'd like to, well, not only talk about how great it is, we have recreational programming that promotes wellness, independence, and social connections, adaptive swim lessons, facilities like Sweet Shade, which we just opened up, and then also there's resources for individual seeking support as well. There are other things that, and I'm going to keep this brief here. I would like to see if we can expand on that programming to either review it or re-imagine some of the programming there to also include families. The families involved here, because a lot of the families have challenges taking care of these individuals. Also, I'd like to see if we could have staff that develops this programming, interact with the Irvine Disabilities Committee a little bit more. I've met with them as well, members of the Irvine Disabilities Committee and they feel a little disconnected, so I would like to see if we can have you staff connect with them as well. Also, a place in emphasis because there is programming, but I don't see a lot of programming for adults. And there what happens when children become 18, a lot of these services just drop off and they're left out and there are adults that are transitioning from the children's services to basically nothing except being in a home. I think we can do a little bit more than that. There's a number of things that I listed in my memo. And the main thing is that I think we need stronger partnerships. I've listed three main areas, which are stronger partnerships and referral networks. Working with Easterseals, which is here in Irvine, the Dell Macintosh Center and Orange County Regional Center. I've also sat down with people from the Orange County Regional Center and they're willing to work with us and work with our office of health and wellness. Youth programming, working with nonprofits to utilize our resources to develop more after school and camp programs designed for children and youth with special needs, providing families with meaningful engagement and much needed support. There is the one thing that I'm really hoping that we can help with is the families because I'm going to just talk about an incident that happened not so long ago, maybe during COVID, is when we're helping out this family and the center's got shut down. And there wasn't any programming for these homebound. There's a family with two homebound children. And the husband worked and the wife worked and they took turns taking care of these children. And one day, the centers were closed. There wasn't any programming and They couldn't find any resources through the county or through the city. And what happened was the husband went to work and came home. And his wife had committed suicide in the house and left to autistic children in the home there, which, you know, cases like this are, you know, they're unique unique situations but they are avoidable as well. If we have the right programming, especially to support families. So that's just one of the, you know, one of the things that drives me to really put an emphasis on helping this sector of our population here in Irvine. With that, I'm going to make a motion and my motion is to direct City Council, have City Council direct the City Manager to explore options to enhance our disability services and I'm also going to add with an emphasis on reimagining the programming to include families and also with an emphasis on helping children transitioning to adulthood. That's my motion. Can I get a second? I'll second the motion. There's a motion that has been offered. Do you have a written version of that? I think it was pretty clear what you said but I if you have a written version of it. Part of it is on here I just added a sentence on my memo. Did you get that? You got it? The car repeaters and okay. Very well I'll second it and I assume you would like to perhaps attach a request to that that there'd be a report back within 120 days, something to that effect. Yes, great idea. I will add on to that to have staff report back with findings and what changes can be done within 120 days. Excellent. All right, we have a motion seconded. Do we have requests from the public to be heard? Thank you, Mayor. We have two requests to speak in person. If I could call forward Susan Sayer and Alan Myerson. Welcome and you both get gold stars for waiting out everybody else. Well, hi again. Again, as I was a Delta Protective Services Social Worker that's falls within my realm of expertise, not only because of that, it's because I have a son who's been disabled since age two. So I've been through a lot of these issues personally, as well as professionally. I agree with Vice Mayor Mai that disability services need to be substantially expanded to meet the needs of the disabled minors, disabled adults, and for seniors with disabling conditions. I recommend that our disability services include the following services. Caregiver support, which includes providing relief caregivers for family member caregivers so that they can run errands, shop, attend medical, and other personal appointments, and have time off for enjoyment of community activities. And also mental health and other support services, both for the disabled minors and disabled adults, including seniors and for their family members in order to help the disabled clients and their household members to deal effectively with the disabled person's abilities and disabilities. Also, to provide access to job skills training and jobs for disabled community members so that they can feel productive and able to contribute to their community. Also, to provide activities for the disabled community and their family members to enhance family relationships and family member interactions. And to provide improved special education programs in schools from daycare through high school and beyond actually. Provide assistance with applying for SSI Social Security Disability, Regional Center Services, Adult Baycare and other support programs. Thank you. Thank you for your very specific and constructive testimony much appreciated. Ellen Myerson. Welcome Mr. Myerson. Thank you. Good evening, again, Council members Ellen Myerson. So I'm a lifelong Democrat, as you all know, and Democrats I feel akin to, and I think I have them figured out. However, Council Member Carroll and Vice Mayor Mai always surprised me with their votes. Not always surprised me. I kind of figure out where they're coming from. But Vice Mayor Mai, I'm still trying to figure you out. And you started your comments by saying you own several nonprofits. And this is fantastic to help disability care services. I don't see anything wrong with that. But my question is, what's your motivation? Do you're nonprofits benefit from this? I don't know. And I'm asking get in a professional way. I'm not insinuating anything. I'm just curious because I've seen you talk a lot about helping people and you've done a lot of good things that I don't normally see Republicans doing. And so I kind of relate to you because I'm a Democrat, but I feel myself as being a fiscally conservative and socially more to the left and that's kind of the way I see you now so I that's my question I'm curious about your nonprofits and your inspiration to do these kinds of things thank you thank you do you wish to speak to that sure sure thanks the question. I probably confuse a lot of people up here. I don't label myself up here as a Republican or Democrat. I just do, I prioritize people in the community. Whatever actions that I take here, people can define them the way they want. I do the things I do because I care about the community. People ask about my nonprofits where I get my funding from, where I start funding source, and I haven't taken a grant. I haven't taken, I think the most donations I've ever taken in a year was $1,000. I've had nonprofits for about six years now, 501 C nonprofits, and they're self-funded nonprofits. My motivation, I guess people ask me about that. I mean, a number of years ago, I basically made it a personal goal. Well, as coming from a different background, coming from a background where you don't have much, but you have a dream. And I said, if I ever achieved my dream, I would go back and I would help the community and people. So a number of years ago, I took a step back from my everyday companies to establish nonprofits and started working with people, assisting people. People asked me, what is my motivation? What's my motivation to be here as well? Do I get anything out of it? I get $880 a month, I get that. But, I mean, my motivation here is to have a platform to help others. So, you know, the media has painted people and labeled people, but they forget that, you know, we are all just people. And we have different motivations in life. I don't like being labeled by anyone or anything, but I'm just doing this because and I've done a lot of the things I do and it confuses people because they say, you know, what are you getting out of this? Is your nonprofit getting anything? My nonprofit doesn't get a cent. I think one year I lost like 100,000's because I put in so much money into the nonprofit operating. And I'm probably still figuring that out. But I mean, I'm not hard up for the nonprofit. I mean, most time people see me in a suit running around. But the reality is I'm usually in sweatsuits in a pickup truck delivering food to people. Or I'm on the phone referring people to other people, or helping out in the community some way. So I hope that answers your question to what my motivation is. And I've always stuck to that saying that I want to help people. And that's it. I mean, that's the bottom line answer. I mean, there's nothing else I have left. I've climbed every mountain professionally. I've climbed every mountain now. It's just time for me to deliver what I promised as a child. If I ever made it, I'll give back. Thank you, Vice Mayor Mai. Councilmember Carroll. Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I just wanted to just take a little bit of time here and just ask Just ask my colleague with regard to this which I think seems like great and I will be supporting it It doesn't draw upon tax dollars or Irvine taxpayer dollars, right? Can we clarify that a little bit just so? Yeah, absolutely so a lot of these I apologize We're in the chair. I apologize. Sorry. That's OK. That's all right. I'm a little less formal about these things. Go right ahead. Vice mayor, my. So to answer that, a lot of this programming already exists. That's why I requested it to be reimagined or reprogrammed. A lot of this is also rolled into the Irvine Cares program, which is using the HAP funds. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. With that question and response, with a motion properly before us, no further requests from anyone to be heard? No, Mayor. All right. Would the clerk please call the roll on the motion council member Carol yes council member go Council member Lou yes council member Traceeter yes vice mayor my yes mayor Egrin yes carry 60 That concludes our agenda for tonight. Thank you for everyone's participation and cooperation. With that, our business is complete. I'll move that we adjourn. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed. Meeting is adjourned.