Palm Desert City Council - Regular Meeting, April 23, 2026

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AI transcript text.

[00:11:34] Mayor Trouy: All right. Good afternoon, everyone. I now call to order the regular meeting of the Palm Desert City Council, the successor agency to the Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency, the Palm Desert Housing Authority, and the Palm Desert Board of Library Trustees for Thursday, April 23rd, 2026. And may we please have a roll call.
[00:11:56] City Clerk: Council Member Harik?
[00:11:57] Council Member Harik: Here.
[00:11:58] City Clerk: Council Member Moreno?
[00:12:00] Council Member Moreno: Present.
[00:12:01] City Clerk: And Council Member...
[00:12:02] Council Member (Remote): Virtually from Sacramento for League of City Business.
[00:12:06] Mayor Trouy: I don't think...
[00:12:07] City Clerk: And there is nobody.
[00:12:09] Council Member (Remote): I'm sorry. Let's try this.
[00:12:14] Council Member (Remote): Can you hear me? Is this any better?
[00:12:16] Mayor Trouy: Yeah.
[00:12:17] Council Member (Remote): Okay. Um, I am present from Sacramento on city business with the League of Cities.
[00:12:22] City Clerk: Great. And is there anyone over the age of 18 in your room?
[00:12:25] Council Member (Remote): No, I am alone.
[00:12:27] City Clerk: Thank you. And Council Member Nesti?
[00:12:30] Council Member Nesti: Here.
[00:12:30] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem Sabby?
[00:12:32] Mayor Pro Tem Sabby: Here.
[00:12:32] City Clerk: Mayor Trouy?
[00:12:33] Mayor Trouy: Here. All council is present.
[00:12:35] Mayor Trouy: Perfect. And I will now ask Council Member Nesti to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
[00:12:40] Council Member Nesti: Yes.
[00:12:41] Council Member Nesti: Please join me as we honor our country and our flag.
[00:12:45] Council Member Nesti: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation with liberty and justice for all.
[00:13:03] Mayor Trouy: Right. And I'll now ask Council Member Carnick to give us words of inspiration.
[00:13:08] Council Member Carnick: Thank you. This is a quote from Jane Goodall, the British primatologist and conservationist whom we lost last year. And she says, 'What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.'
[00:13:30] Mayor Trouy: I love that. Thank you, Council Member Carnick. Um, great. Report from closed session from our City Attorney.
[00:13:38] City Attorney: Thank you, Mayor. We have no reportable action from today's closed session.
[00:13:41] Mayor Trouy: Terrific. And we now move on to Item 9, awards, presentations, and appointments. 9A, a proclamation of Municipal Clerk's Week. And I'm going to read it.
[00:14:05] Mayor Trouy: All right, there we go. This is more like everybody. Good. Okay. Very good. Municipal Clerk's Week. Here we are. What a lovely crew. Whereas, the City Clerk's Office serves as a cornerstone of transparent and accessible local government, ensuring that the actions of the Palm Desert City Council are conducted openly, recorded accurately, and preserved as part of the city's legislative history. And whereas, the Palm Desert City Clerk's Office supports the democratic process by preparing and managing City Council agendas and minutes, administering municipal elections, maintaining the city's official records, and ensuring compliance with laws that safeguard the public's right to observe and participate in government. And whereas, the City Clerk's Office serves as a welcoming point of contact for residents seeking to engage with their local government, providing personalized assistance, thoughtful communication, and responsive service to individuals navigating city programs, elections, boards, and commissions, and City Council processes. And whereas, the City Clerk's Office also provides essential support to the Mayor, the City Council, and the city organization through legislative coordination, constituent services, staff onboarding, and the organization of major initiatives such as City Council goal setting and strategic planning. And whereas, the employees of the Palm Desert City Clerk's Office exemplify the spirit of Team Palm Desert, demonstrating professionalism, accountability, attention to detail, and a shared commitment to exceptional customer service while ensuring that the city's democratic processes operate with integrity and transparency in service to the community. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that I, Evan Trouy, Mayor of the City of Palm Desert, California, on behalf of the entire City Council, do hereby proclaim the week of May 3rd to May 9th, 2026, as, in big bold letters, Municipal Clerk's Week, and encourage residents to recognize and appreciate the dedicated public servants of the Palm Desert City Clerk's Office for their vital contribution to responsive, transparent, and effective local government. I agree with every single word herein, and they've been awesome, terrific, wonderful to work with. It is absolutely a pleasure and they make my life very, very easy. I think I speak for all of us here. So, thank you. I think Michelle wants to say a word.
[00:16:35] Michelle: Thank you. On behalf of the City Clerk team, thank you for this recognition. We are truly appreciative of the support of City Council, our colleagues, the City Manager, and everyone we work with, all of the residents. Um, fun fact, the City Clerk's Office is often called the keeper of the record, but we wear many hats from facilitating elections to managing public meetings and preserving important documents for future generations. Thank you.
[00:17:03] Mayor Trouy: Yeah, how about that?
[00:17:09] Mayor Trouy: Terrific. All right, let's do the photo thing.
[00:17:40] Mayor Trouy: Okay.
[00:17:42] Mayor Trouy: All right.
[00:17:56] Mayor Trouy: Item 9B is Palm Springs International Airport Commission update. It is being continued to a date uncertain. So we move on to Item number 10, City Manager comments.
[00:18:09] City Manager: Mayor, I'll invite up Lieutenant Porus for a quick update.
[00:18:19] Lieutenant Porus: Good afternoon, everyone. April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and Riverside County Sheriff's Office is reminding drivers to stay focused behind the wheel. Keeping your eyes on the road and hands on the wheel is critical to preventing crashes and saving lives. Distractions such as checking your phone, using in-dash systems, adjusting the radio, or eating can have serious consequences and even devastating consequences. This past month, we've been out there actively enforcing California hands-free laws. Drivers are prohibited from holding a phone or an electronic device while operating a vehicle, even while stopped at a red light. This includes talking, texting, or using apps. Violations result in fines, and a second offense within 36 months can add a point to your driver's record. So, if you do use your phone, make sure it's in a cradle and remember one swipe. But you can also put your phone away, plan ahead, stay attentive, and set an example if somebody riding with you is using the phone and say something about it. And, of course, pull over if it's an emergency if you need to handle any issues. The funding for this distracted driving enforcement is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And the last thing I want to do is talking to my Cal Fire partners. Just a reminder, we're getting into the heat of the summer and starting in May, but this morning we did have a hiker that needed some assistance that was dehydrated. So, as we get more visitors throughout the summer months, please remember to plan ahead if you decide to hike. Make sure you are adequately prepared. Do not attempt to hike if you don't know the area, and take precautions for emergencies and ensure for a safe outdoor experience. Making sure you're...
[00:20:00] Staff: ...having water. Know the trails that you're going on and always don't hike alone. And always tell somebody where you're going if you do plan to hike alone. But it's something that we always encounter every summer. And unfortunately, this person was from out of the area that came from outside the area, decided to take a hike. But fortunately, they were okay after they were hydrated and off they went. So thank you very much. That's all I have for today.
[00:20:26] Mayor: Anything else?
[00:20:27] Staff: Nothing additional.
[00:20:28] Mayor: Terrific. Okay, we will now move on to item number 11. Uh, sorry, mayor and council member reports and requests for action. We'll start with Council Member Nandi.
[00:20:43] Council Member Nandi: No comments this evening. Thank you, Mayor.
[00:20:45] Mayor: All right, Council Member Harnick.
[00:20:51] Council Member Harnick: Thank you. I wanted to remind everybody this week, which is April 19th through 25th, it's National Crime Victims' Rights Week. And we had an observance recognizing victims and their family at Civic Center Park this week. And we always, or we tend to focus on the criminal and the crime, as well we should. But the victims and their families, their friends, we always have to make sure we're supporting them. They deserve the support and they need the support. And this is an opportunity to hear people's loved ones, people they lost to crime. And it's well done. It's done by Mike Hestrin by the Riverside District Attorney's Office. It's very meaningful and it means a lot to many, many people. The park was filled with people who are members of families or friends of victims, and it's wonderful that they do it to remind us how important it is to support each other in these times. We also had the Southern California Association of Governments scholarship work this week, and it was difficult, you can imagine, finding students from across the Southern California Association of Governments, SCAG, the SCAG region. And these students are amazing, and they certainly give us hope for the future. To say that, 'Well, gee, they got a 4.0,' I know, so we want to give them the scholarship. That's kind of like the base. These are amazing young students, and it was a privilege to be part of that process. Also, Palm Desert Arbor Day, or it was Arbor Day, and in Palm Desert, we went to Ronald Reagan Elementary, and it was wonderful to see the students there participating, hearing about how important trees are. They all got to take a tree home and they were delighted. They helped plant trees, and we had a lot of our partners from The Living Desert to the CSUPD, CSUSB PDC Palm Desert campus was there, and many other partners, and they made a difference. And those students left there, they were filled with joy, and it was a great experience for them. Yesterday was Earth Day. You could have taken the train, especially if we had one that came here, but we don't. But I did go into San Bernardino, and I took the train from San Bernardino into LA. I had work to do there. So I had a free ride on our Metro, which is our subway in Los Angeles, and a free ride on Metrolink, which is our train. And who knows, maybe one day we'll get that train out here. But meanwhile, the legislation that would have allowed us to not go through the CEQA process for the CV Rail coming out here was turned down. So even though we can build huge arenas and do projects like that, and they can be exempted from the CEQA process, the train can't, even though it has two operational tracks right where it goes. We couldn't get that past Sacramento. They still want us to spend millions of dollars on a CEQA study. So that, unfortunately, we failed, but that doesn't mean we stop trying. So let's keep working on that train. We all will use it when we get it. And that's all I have.
[00:24:34] Mayor: All right, Council Member Moreno.
[00:24:37] Council Member Moreno: Thank you, Mayor. I wanted to continue what Council Member Harnick was talking about, that unfortunately, when there are challenges with CEQA, it doesn't advance, but we can still continue advocating. And right now, I'm up here at the League of Cities Leaders Summit, and part of what we did yesterday is go to our statewide officials in direct meetings. So I was able to meet with Assembly Member Wallis, Gonzalez, and Senator Ochoa Bogh, and it was an excellent opportunity to say, 'This is what we need.' I mentioned to Gonzalez about the train. He said he would like to see it be a loop all the way to El Centro. Again, the conversations are ongoing. So I'm hopeful that we will get to that in the future. While I've been up here, I wanted to praise our City Manager and the collaboration with other cities because there has been a lot of positive feedback about the idea of consolidating for a RHNA subregion and how we can help support communities that can't afford the infrastructure for their own housing, but also some raised eyebrows and big eyes with Chris's suggestion that cities like Palm Desert that have overproduced in RHNA are able to get some sort of a relaxation with other requirements, such as SLA or a variety of opportunities which would incentivize cities that have been hesitant on housing to move forward. And I think that, again, it was great to see support for that. Recently, I was at the Coachella Valley Student of the Month with the Mayor, and it was to see the stories of resilience and commitment to thriving, and the fact that leadership from students and excellence from students doesn't always have to be a 4.0. It's getting through and moving ahead despite obstacles. And that followed along with seeing the Mayor do 'Do the Right Thing,' which was just the junior version of that in elementary school and middle school and so on, to do the right thing for the sake of being a good person, not because you're waiting for a reward. Seeing how we are able to build engaged youth to become the kind of person that we want to see out in the world. So that was very rewarding. And in terms of the arena, I agree with Council Member Harnick that we were able to get the arena, and now as we've all adjusted to having the arena, we have learned how much that drives the economy. And at the Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce speaker series luncheon, Gina Rotolo from Acrisure was there, and she presented on things like they've had 2 million attendees since opening in December 2022, 1 million fans as of this month, and the One Valley Foundation has created over $2 million in local impact. And when Paul McCartney was here, 92% of the tickets were from people outside of California. That was remarkable to me, that they are attracting headliners of that caliber and all of that money. I'm sure a lot of it comes directly to Palm Desert. Let's see what else is there that I can leave after. Oh, Olive Crest. Most of us have either partnered with or support Olive Crest. Every month they have an ongoing series of events, and for this month, they already passed a community day resource there, which they have every month, and for May, that will be on the 13th, and that has the ability to connect families with resources from food, diapers, social work, etc. So this is one that we want to be sure that our community knows about. And clerk appreciation, wanted to follow up on that with my extreme gratitude. I have come to meetings and I'll take one of the binders that staff had prepared for a study session, and I've had people look over and say, 'Wow, your staff does that for you?' And I want to be sure that staff knows we don't take you for granted, the way that you help us stay organized. And as a reward, I'm bringing you souvenirs: pens with the highlighter tip, because I know how much you're doing to proofread. So again, silly, silly little thing, but my appreciation to you. Oh, and the last thing, again, Earth Day. I know that we had different groups volunteering, and specifically, I saw some pictures from Debbie Green and her neighborhood leaders. So thank you to everyone out there that took a few steps, got a little sweat in there, and all of the feel-goods from knowing that you're making a difference in the planet. Thank you.
[00:29:40] Mayor: Thank you very much, Mayor Pro Tem. Okay, just got a couple thoughts to share. The new business opened up on San Pablo, Desert Kids Coffee, and we were able to have a tour in advance, and it just makes me so happy and proud to see entrepreneurs and business owners investing what amounts to in this...
[00:30:01] Council Member: In this particular case, millions of dollars into a retail space right there on San Pablo. And I know when San Pablo was first, we'll call it, reconfigured several years ago, there was a lot of sort of dispute, maybe a little bit of backlash saying, 'Oh, it was a waste of money,' or not a good investment by the city. But boy, it's turned out, you know, given a little bit of time and a little bit of, you know, people settling in, it's really worked out beautifully. And I'm just really, really pleased to see several businesses. I mean, the problem they're having now between Routina Coffee, Desert Kids, you got Mi Cultura, you got several thriving businesses right there. The problem they're encountering now is lack of parking because the businesses are so popular. So, just kudos to the city for making that happen, building the infrastructure to make it business-friendly, and getting all these, attracting these businesses. It's a wonderful thing to see people investing in our city. And the second thing is, I noticed, and I think Mayor Pro Tem brought this to my attention on the flagpole, and this is going to be the last chance to make a request for action before I change our rules possibly. But in this way, the flagpole outside has a plaque that says, honors the Henderson, I think it was Cliff Henderson of the Henderson brothers, founded the city on May 15th, 1946. And that was a date that I guess was recorded as a founding date before we were incorporated as a city. And I thought, well, that's 80 years ago this year. I don't know if there's anything we can do to kind of acknowledge that at our next meeting or whatever have you. But I thought this is a significant date or, you know, something that we maybe ought to sort of take a moment to honor and recognize at our next meeting or in some way, shape, or form through social media, whatever have you. So, I know we all talk about November 23rd, 1973, but May 15th, 1946 seems like a significant date in our history as well. And if we could find a way to honor that, I'd love to see that. So, that's all I have. Thank you.
[00:31:54] Council Member: Mr. Mayor, can I just one last thing as we're talking about local business? That's one thing that was brought up during the Acrisure presentation. They said, 'So many of our local businesses struggle during the festival season because people don't want to go out here in Palm Desert. We don't have the same traffic.' We want to encourage everybody, please go out. Our local businesses still need you even while we get so many people coming in. So, that's my last thought on that. They said, 'Hey, you can get early tee times, too.'
[00:32:22] Mayor: Perfect. Thank you. Do we need a fellow council member to do the thing with the 19?
[00:32:27] Council Member: Well, I'll support you on that.
[00:32:29] Mayor: All right. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. Okay, on to our item number 12, non-agenda public comments. This time has been set aside for the public to address the City Council on issues that are not on the agenda for up to three minutes. Because the Brown Act does not allow the City Council to act on items not listed on the agenda, council members may briefly respond or refer the matter to staff for a report and recommendation at a future meeting. And City Clerk, if you have some housekeeping remarks.
[00:32:59] City Clerk: For those on Zoom, if you want to participate in public comment, please click the raise hand button on your computer or smartphone. And if you're calling in on your phone, please dial star nine to raise your hand. And when called upon, press star six to unmute yourself.
[00:33:12] Mayor: Okay, there are no blue cards for non-agenda items. Is there anything online?
[00:33:16] City Clerk: No online comments.
[00:33:17] Mayor: All right. Well, then we are now closing the non-agenda public comment period and moving on to item number 13, consent calendar. All matters listed on the consent calendar are considered routine and may be approved by one motion. The public may comment on any item on the consent calendar for up to three minutes. I do have two blue cards here and we'll start with those. We have... these are both in regards to item 14B. We'll start off with Donald Ziegler. Oh, I beg your pardon. I beg your pardon. You're right. Sorry about that. All right. Well, we don't have any... I beg your pardon, guys. That was my bad. We're on item 13, not 14. So, my apologies. Any... So, then we'll go on to...
[00:34:04] City Clerk: No online public comments on consent.
[00:34:05] Mayor: No online comments and no blue cards on consent. Do my fellow council members wish to pull any items?
[00:34:13] Council Member: I need to recuse myself for 13J due to proximity of real estate of the item at hand.
[00:34:21] Mayor: All right. Very good. So, recusal on item 13J. Very good. Anybody else? All right.
[00:34:32] Council Member: Move approval.
[00:34:34] Council Member: I'll second the motion.
[00:34:37] City Clerk: Council Member Harnik?
[00:34:39] Council Member: Yes.
[00:34:42] City Clerk: Council member registered recusal. Council Member Moreno?
[00:34:48] Council Member: Yes.
[00:34:51] City Clerk: Thank you. Council Member Nandi?
[00:34:53] Council Member: Yes.
[00:34:54] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem Pedto?
[00:34:55] Mayor Pro Tem: Yes.
[00:34:55] City Clerk: Mayor Trouy?
[00:34:56] Mayor: Yes.
[00:34:57] City Clerk: Motion passes 5 to zero.
[00:34:59] Mayor: Very good. We now move on to our action calendar and item 14A, to establish a pilot adoption incentive program, approve operating procedures, and convert one mobile spay/neuter clinic to a trap-neuter-release clinic for fiscal year 25/26, and the animal services Homeward Paws pilot adoption incentive program. We'll have a staff report.
[00:35:28] Erica Castiano: Hi. Hello. Okay, there we go. Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council members. My name is Erica Castiano. I'm the assistant to the city manager, and today staff is presenting to you the adoption of a pet adoption incentive program, also referred to as Homeward Paws. It would be a pilot program, as well as converting one previously budgeted mobile spay/neuter clinic into a trap-neuter-release, or TNR, clinic for this fiscal year. So, this item builds on the City Council's overall approach of expanding public access to animal services programs. In August of last year, Animal Samaritans donated 90 spay and neuter vouchers covering 100% of the cost of those procedures. All of those were claimed within two weeks. And in December of last year, the City Council approved a partnership with Animal Samaritans, and that program launched in January of this year. To date, 232 of those vouchers have been claimed and 168 of the procedures have been completed. Together, these results just show that there's a real community need for accessible animal care resources in Palm Desert. I think I went forward. There we go. The intent of the Homeward Paws pilot program is to encourage more Palm Desert residents to adopt Palm Desert animals that are housed in Riverside County Animal Services. By helping residents with upfront costs of bringing a pet home, staff believe the program can increase adoptions, reduce shelter overcrowding, shorten the length of stay for animals in the shelter, and improve overall animal welfare outcomes. And over time, it can also help lower the city's shelter expenditures, especially because the county's contract structure ties future costs to prior year service levels. The program is designed to be funded with existing documented savings. During the first two quarters of this fiscal year, animal services came in below projections with a significant savings in sheltering costs. Staff identified $32,000 in those savings that are eligible for reprogramming from this fiscal year, and any unused funds at the end of the year will be transferred into the innovation reserves account to utilize for the next fiscal year. The recommendation before Council is to use those documented savings to fund the pilot program. And the TNR clinic component would also be handled through a reallocation of already budgeted resources. As proposed, eligible adopters would receive a $125 gift card to local pet supply stores to help offset the initial setup cost of bringing home a pet. The idea is to just really make a positive adoption experience for these families who are bringing home animals from the shelter. And so, for dogs, that setup cost may include bowls, a collar, leash, waste bags, food, a bed, and toys. And for cats, it may include the same as well as a litter box, scoop, and litter, and a carrier as well. And this incentive is meant to make adoption more accessible while also promoting responsible pet ownership from day one. The proposed eligibility requirements are intended to keep the program focused on Palm Desert residents as well as Palm Desert animals. To qualify, adopters must be Palm Desert residents. They must adopt from Riverside County Animal Services at the Coachella Valley Animal Campus. They must provide proof of adoption and must license the animal with the city if it is required. And incentives would be limited to two per calendar year per household. On the animal side, eligible adoptions would be limited to cats and dogs only. They must be adopted through the Coachella Valley Animal Campus, and the animal must be identified as originating from Palm Desert. And to make the program more accessible, staff anticipates that residents would be able to submit eligibility documentation and pick up gift cards at the library, which offers evening and weekend accessibility. And here we have a breakdown of why staff believes that the program is supportable. Palm Desert animals currently stay in the shelter an average of 13.2 days, and the shelter cost at a daily rate is $35.81.
[00:40:02] Staff: per day per animal. And that means that the average kenneling cost per animal is approximately $473. So even modest reductions in shelter length of stay can generate meaningful savings. So, as shown here, if 50 animals are adopted, one day of shelter saving equals about $1,970, which is the equivalent of funding of approximately 14 incentive $125 gift cards. And at the current figure of 126 Palm Desert animals adopted through our CASS at CVAC this fiscal year, one day of savings is approximately $4,512 or the equivalent of 36 gift cards. So the broader point is that when adoptions happen sooner, the city reduces shelter utilization and can reinvest those savings into more positive animal outcomes. So staff is recommending this as a one-year pilot program so that the city can evaluate results before considering a longer term commitment. During the pilot year, staff would track several performance measures such as the number of Palm Desert originated animals, any reduction in shelter length of stay, any net shelter cost savings, and additionally, we will monitor pet licensing compliance and coordinate the pilot with existing spay and neuter voucher program. In addition to the adoption incentive program, staff is recommending conversion of one budgeted mobile spay neuter clinic into a dedicated TNR clinic for the fiscal year. ARCAST has experienced clinic cancellations due to veterinary understaffing which has constrained access to TNR services and one potential option is to dedicate one of the city's mobile clinic events specifically to TNR. Staff is not requesting additional funding for this change because it's already been budgeted for this fiscal year. There is one operational consideration, however, and that is that creating a dedicated Palm Desert cat transport bus could be challenging. So, with that, staff is recommending a one-year pilot that uses existing animal services savings to help Palm Desert residents adopt Palm Desert animals, reduce shelter stays, and improve outcomes without requiring additional general fund support. And we're also recommending the conversion of one already budgeted mobile clinic to a TNR clinic to address current service gaps. And together, these actions respond to demonstrated community demand and build on the city's broader animal services efforts. And that concludes my presentation, and I'm happy to answer any questions.
[00:42:35] Mayor: Okay. Any questions? Council Member Hornik.
[00:42:39] Council Member Hornik: I want to start with, I think this is great. I assume we'll have them fill out some sort of form so we have information.
[00:42:49] Council Member Hornik: What—and this is, I'll bet Pedro knows this answer, probably a few of you do—how many dogs or cats are allowed on one property?
[00:43:01] Staff: That would be a Pedro question.
[00:43:02] Council Member Hornik: I see from the back. Is that any combination?
[00:43:07] Council Member Hornik: Okay. So just, you know, what would concern me is if we went over that because people love animals, and I see a lot of happy dogs, cats, and human beings in this program. I just would be concerned that we may go over the limit. So I want to make sure that we have something in place, at least on the form, that would protect us in that case.
[00:43:31] Staff: We could add it to the form. Okay.
[00:43:32] Council Member Hornik: Thank you. I think it's great.
[00:43:35] Mayor: Mayor Pro Tem.
[00:43:37] Mayor Pro Tem: Tell me what a TNR clinic looks like.
[00:43:41] Staff: So a trap-neuter-release clinic, it's similar to the mobile clinic that we have that's a spay-neuter clinic. It's just specifically for trap-neuter for cats specifically.
[00:43:51] Mayor Pro Tem: So, how do we trap them?
[00:43:53] Staff: So residents would bring in the cat that they have trapped in their area, their home area, and they would bring it to the clinic. They would have to make an appointment, and that's what would make it difficult specifically to be a Palm Desert resident. We may have more availability than actual cats. So, it's an option for you to open it up to the community or if you just want to strictly have it be Palm Desert residents.
[00:44:14] Mayor Pro Tem: Are we—so, I've experienced with the County of Riverside where they'll offer traps to residents with issues, or is that something that we'll offer to residents in anticipation of the clinic?
[00:44:29] Staff: I'll defer that to Richard.
[00:44:31] Richard (Staff): I don't believe the county offers that service anymore with respect to renting or providing traps.
[00:44:39] Mayor Pro Tem: Agree. I like the program. It's good.
[00:44:44] Mayor Pro Tem: Okay. So, then that's a real—I have gotten those traps before because where I live there were a lot of feral cats. It's not, you know, you can't just go pick up a feral cat. So, we might—I don't know if there's something we might need to address. I mean, one step at a time, and this is a great step, but they have to be trapped and brought in, and that's what I used to do. And you know, we talk about rabbits procreating. Cats procreate at a higher rate than rabbits do. So, it really is important that the TNR clinics, but they do need to be trapped. So, that's a big issue.
[00:45:22] Mayor: And actually, before I—I forgot to ask if there's any online public comments, I apologize. I know there's no blue cards.
[00:45:29] Staff: You do have Council Member Marino, though.
[00:45:31] Mayor: Yeah, I understand. But I'm into the public. Like ordinarily we do public comment and then we go to council discussion, right?
[00:45:37] Staff: Right. Okay.
[00:45:38] Staff: We have no public comment cards and no online comments.
[00:45:44] Mayor: Just want to keep it in order in some way, shape, or form. Sorry. Okay. Council Member Marino.
[00:45:49] Council Member Marino: Some of the discussion was in terms of, are the traps available? They are not generally available to the public, which has been part of the challenge in the TNR Fridays becoming TNR Tuesdays because the county said they didn't want to take them if they weren't in a trap. So, we've got to look at that Catch-22 of trying to have some sort of consistency with what the county allows versus what we're going to allow, or if this is completely on our own. I think a lot of the people that find the feral cats or folks, you know, maybe have already been feeding them outside and have a little bit of trust with them. So, if they're able to bring it in some sort of a cat carrier, I think that that's a start until we figure it out. I think in conversations with Pedro, it may have been that there's some sort of a liability issue that has happened, that traps may no longer be either legal or ethical after an animal was left trapped and it resulted in some agonizing conditions, as far as I will elaborate. But I do have a question. Do we have an idea of, as of the last status update from RCDAS, how many animals that have originated in Palm Desert are currently in their census, or just if we've seen any—nope, we've got the answer on that in terms of the pattern, but do we know how many are there now? Because my understanding is it's not picked up. It's only kept going down.
[00:47:21] Staff: Yes, we currently have nine animals that are—is that what you're asking? How many we have that are currently adoptable? Nine animals as of Tuesday.
[00:47:31] Council Member Marino: That's amazing. That just shows that everything we've been doing is working. And I want to give my gratitude not only to staff, but also to Mayor Trouy as we've been tackling what's going on with the commission and what we can do in Palm Desert to be leading how we approach this as a region.
[00:47:57] Council Member: Okay. Thank you very much. Actually, I've got a couple questions. So, the way this is set up, it looks like a positive feedback loop, this adoption incentive program. So, our budget—because of the new funding model that the county's come up with, they charge each city based on days that Palm Desert animals are in their care, right? So, then they give us a bill say, 'Hey, you had 100 animals over the course of the year. Each one was 10 days per, whatever, it's 1,000 user days at such and such dollars per day.' Is that basically how it's calculated that they give us the bill? That's the way they formulate a bill for our city.
[00:48:36] Staff: Correct.
[00:48:36] Council Member: Okay. So, what we're trying to do is—and so fiscal year 26-27 is going to be based on 25-26 usage, I believe. So, unless it's a two-year—is it a two-year rollout?
[00:48:49] Staff: It's a three-year rolling average.
[00:48:51] Council Member: Okay.
[00:48:52] Staff: Moving forward.
[00:48:53] Council Member: Got it. So we've got savings—any savings we budget so much based on what's being asked of us, and then the next year if we have lower usage, that leftover becomes something we use for this program. So that's great. That's brilliant. That's actually a really good program you guys came up with. I know Daniel and the gang, the rest of the crew did it. It was really, really smart. So, just to be sure, this incentive is only offered—the $125 incentive with the goodies for the bowls and the food and etc.—is offered only for Palm Desert animals, you know, that are in their care, correct?
[00:49:30] Council Member: But, you know, one thing that stuck out—I know I'm on the subcommittee and we talked this through, but going through this a second time, I'm wondering if it might be better to open it up outside. It's only offered to Palm Desert residents who adopt Palm Desert animals. But the goal is to get Palm Desert animals out of the shelter, and so I'm wondering if it might not be a bad idea to open up to anybody, and just the idea is to get those animals out.
[00:49:53] Staff: And that's up to the City Council. I think our recommendation was to try this out with Palm Desert residents for the pilot program to see how successful it...
[00:50:01] Staff: Um, but if you'd like to open it up to the entire public, we're more than happy to do so.
[00:50:05] Council Member: Yeah. And I think the reasoning was we're using Palm Desert taxpayer money and we didn't want to necessarily provide a benefit to a Lita resident using Palm Desert taxpayer money. But to my way of thinking, we want to incentivize getting these animals out. So if we give a Lita resident $125 worth of goodies to get one of our animals out, I think it might be wise to consider that.
[00:50:25] Staff: You bring up a great point. If the intent is to save the taxpayer money, is it worth the $125 to a non-resident to get that animal out? That'll save us $300.
[00:50:39] Council Member: Like I said, my original line of reasoning was not using Palm Desert taxpayer money to benefit a Lita resident, not to be provincial or anything, but it just seemed like a wise use of dollars. But I think with the second look at this, it might be nice to open it up.
[00:50:52] Council Member: But we don't really know the demand yet. Is that correct?
[00:50:55] Staff: Correct. That's why you wanted the pilot program to see if there's demand.
[00:51:00] Council Member: So why don't we go with the pilot program? I would support going with a pilot program as presented, and if we find that we need to adjust, let's adjust from there. But let's first start Palm Desert, Palm Desert. It's not that we have a shortage of Palm Desert residents or animals. So I would support just giving it a pilot in a finite amount of time, see what it looks like, let's analyze it, and then see where we go from there.
[00:51:31] Council Member: Trouy, I think that we can do a 30-day pilot to say if we get that interest, because people are watching. If we say we're going to give you money now, if after 30 days we have interest from other cities, I agree, why are we going to let animals rack up that bill? The intent long-term was to have the animals clear out. When we did have the incentives for people to submit for their reimbursement for their cost of adoption, etc., people weren't taking advantage of it as much. We've been doing so much proactive work. We've got the momentum. And right now, I think we just need to say, 'All right, Palm Desert residents, are you interested?' In these first 30 days, we'll find out what we are doing well, what needs to change, and then once we expand it beyond that, you know, we're going to be saving a whole lot of money. And then my question I had about after that was, do we have any idea in terms of what could be challenging about getting the bus? What are some of the anticipated obstacles? Because if any of that can be resolved financially, if we clear the shelters by giving out those gift cards, we then have funds allocated to proceed with supporting TNR to make that more efficient. So what are the potential barriers that you've identified?
[00:52:59] Staff: I think the only barrier that we identified was if we wanted to restrict it to just Palm Desert residents and Palm Desert cats. That's just the only operational barrier. I don't think there was anything funding that would be a barrier.
[00:53:13] Council Member: It's just a matter of, do we know the capacity for the bus?
[00:53:18] Staff: 30 to 40 cats.
[00:53:22] Council Member: And that would need a sign-up anyway, right?
[00:53:28] Staff: Correct.
[00:53:30] Council Member: So, could we potentially do a Palm Desert list and then a waitlist for anybody that's outside of Palm Desert?
[00:53:39] Staff: We could do that if that's the direction Council wants to go.
[00:53:43] Council Member: Because I think that, you know, that's such a need all over the place. And if we tell our Palm Desert residents with ID, of course, we don't want people just saying, 'I found all these cats.' And if anybody else, come on standby, and then we'll know while it's here, while we can figure that out. Because again, the objective is there. How often are we getting charged for animals that are in Rancho Mirage or other areas? You know, maybe from there we could partner if they're Rancho Mirage, for example. I know that they've been doing their own. How can we collaborate or partner to extend that maximum benefit regionally if we can't just say only Palm Desert or if we're not going to fill the bus?
[00:54:28] Staff: Yeah, staff can look into that with other cities locally around here in the Coachella Valley to see if there's any interest.
[00:54:34] Council Member: Yeah, maybe they could share the cost.
[00:54:37] Staff: We did reach out to Supervisor Perez's office because they did help with funding, but there was no more money for this fiscal year. So, I'm going to reach out again next fiscal year to see if they'd like to partner with us as well.
[00:54:47] Council Member: Terrific. Okay.
[00:54:48] Mayor Truvy: Okay, that sounds great. Thank you so much.
[00:54:50] Council Member: Mayor Pro Tem, in any pilot program, I think keeping the variables as narrow as possible and keeping it simple is the key to good testing. So, I think keep it simple. Let's run with this, and then as we get more data, I think we have some good ideas to investigate as we have time. And given the understanding of how difficult it is sometimes to communicate and to reach our community members, might we look at longer than 30 days? And perhaps this is a six-month pilot program. And I appreciate let's limit the variables if we truly want to get answers. So I wonder, what is the length of the time of this program?
[00:55:38] Staff: It would be one year as presented, but if you'd like to do six months or 30 days...
[00:55:43] Council Member: Okay.
[00:55:45] Council Member: I think your ideas are fine. I think giving it one year, we can really get some good data from that, and then when we have a model from that year, we can share with other cities and bring them on board and show them how they can do their program, and we'll do ours.
[00:56:06] Mayor Truvy: Terrific. I agree for the sake of expediency of implementation and the fact that it is a pilot program. I agree with my colleagues, but at least I've introduced the idea that there are some variables we could introduce as well over the course of it, and we can revisit it and be flexible. So good. I'll entertain a motion unless there's any more comments or questions.
[00:56:25] Council Member: I would move as presented.
[00:56:27] Council Member: I'll second the motion.
[00:56:30] City Clerk: Council Member Harik?
[00:56:32] Council Member Harik: Yes.
[00:56:33] City Clerk: Council Member Moreno?
[00:56:34] Council Member Moreno: Yes.
[00:56:34] City Clerk: Council Member Ncandi?
[00:56:36] Council Member Ncandi: Yes.
[00:56:37] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem Predetto?
[00:56:38] Mayor Pro Tem Predetto: Yes.
[00:56:38] City Clerk: Mayor Truvy?
[00:56:39] Mayor Truvy: Yes.
[00:56:40] City Clerk: Motion passes 5 to 0.
[00:56:41] Mayor Truvy: Terrific. All right. On to item 14B, ordinances amending the Palm Desert Municipal Code to dissolve the Environmental Resources Committee and Homelessness Task Force and to amend the responsibilities and meeting frequency of the Parks and Recreation Committee. Um, let's see. Do we have a staff report?
[00:57:01] City Clerk: Yes.
[00:57:01] Anthony Mahia: Honorable Mayor and City Council. I'm Anthony Mahia, City Clerk, and this item returns following the City Council's prior study session. The two ordinances before you would implement that direction by dissolving the Environmental Resources Committee and Homelessness Task Force and by updating the responsibilities and meeting frequency of the Parks and Recreation Committee to every other month. And I'm available for questions.
[00:57:24] Mayor Truvy: All right. And before I bring it back to Council, I'm going to offer up we do have two speaker cards here for public comment. So we'll start with Mr. Donald Ziggler.
[00:57:42] Donald Ziggler: Good afternoon again. Thank you. These comments are in reference to item 14B on your agenda for today. The proposal under consideration is to eliminate the resource preservation and enhancement committee. Its role is described on the city's website. You can look it all up on your phone. From the community headings, select environmental programs. I won't read the whole content, but it says that the city's environmental programs serve as a liaison for the resource preservation and enhancement committee and help to support and move forward the sustainability initiatives recommended by the committee. Everything they do supports healthy, thriving neighborhoods, leaving a better Palm Desert for all. That is what people inquiring about our city, about how our city treats the environment, read now on the city's website. It is therefore misleading, I think, to eliminate the tool for achieving the sustainability objectives, which is the committee, without also eliminating that these objectives matter and that these support our healthy, thriving neighborhoods. One of the sustainability objectives of the city has been the creation and eventual implementation of the climate action plan. Unfortunately, by disbanding the committee, the city will eliminate any mechanism for formal citizen participation in implementing key elements of that plan. So, you should also be honest and include in this resolution a clause that specifies that the city does not recognize the need for citizen involvement to address the threats presented by climate change. In conclusion, it appears that the Council has decided that the natural environment of our city and what we need to do to preserve and improve it is not a priority and worthy of the attention it has been receiving for many years. Unfortunately, we now have a federal administration that has a similar callous attitude toward the issues about the environment, even going so far as to say that climate change is a hoax and only fossil fuels can provide the energy needed for our future.
[01:00:01] Mr. Ziggler: It's unfortunate that our city appears to have been influenced by this attitude and seems to be implementing it here. I can only hope that the existing federal administration will soon be gone and that our city government will again seriously address the future with a realistic approach to sustaining our desert environment. You may eliminate the ARPC today, but I have no doubt that it will be reinstated in the very near future. Nature will continue to exist no matter how much you think we can ignore it. Thank you.
[01:00:35] Mayor: Thank you, Mr. Ziggler. Next blue card I have is from Mr. Paul Murphy.
[01:00:48] Paul Murphy: Mr. Mayor and members of the City Council, I'm speaking not only for myself but also for Randy Guyire, who did not know about this and was out of town and wants me to tell you that he's shocked, and also Rob Langford, who's very ill and he also is shocked. But we do not feel that we can properly do our jobs with meeting every other month. I've had considerable experience with trying that out. I was on the National Dealer Council for eight years with General Motors and for nine years with Toyota. And every time we tried to have a meeting that was out of sequence, we had one heck of a time getting a quorum. A good example is I'm making a real effort to be back for a meeting on this coming Tuesday, and I have to be in Portland for a board meeting on Monday, but I will be here. We don't feel that we've been doing our job properly, and I think you, Mr. Mayor, know what I'm talking about. We've had problems that we didn't solve, and we're still trying to solve them. One being the swimming pool; we got a major job to try to get that under control. A good example is I chaired the committee to hire an architectural firm to design the new, at one time, 40-acre park. I think it's now 28, I'm not sure. But in any regard, I have a very close friend whose son owns the largest architectural firm in Orange County. I don't feel that I'm an expert on park design and so forth and so on. He has a hundred architects. I called him and I asked him who we should hire. He said, 'You've got such and such a firm in Palm Desert.' I said, 'Yes, we do.' He said, 'They do an outstanding job. We use them all the time, particularly in that area.' Okay, we voted 100% on our subcommittee to hire that firm. What happened? Never was brought back to us. The city hired a firm for $5 million more. We never ever heard a word back. That wasn't the only time that happened. Now we have, fortunately, a new administration, and we don't have that problem, but we do have constant issues that come up that can't wait 60 days. That being said, if you don't at least give us a chance to discuss this in our own meeting, that this is not appropriate to just bring it up and boom, that's it. Thank you.
[01:03:47] Mayor: All right. Thank you very much. Are there any online speakers?
[01:03:52] Staff: Last call for online speakers. No online speakers.
[01:03:56] Mayor: All right. Thank you very much. Public comment is now closed and I turn it over to my colleagues. Anybody care to ask any questions of staff or any questions?
[01:04:10] Council Member: More just discussion with us.
[01:04:12] Mayor: Okay. Council Member Moreno, any questions or should we move to discussion?
[01:04:19] Council Member Moreno: No, that can wait as a comment.
[01:04:23] Mayor: Okay, very good. So, comments. Council Member Moreno, comments.
[01:04:29] Council Member Moreno: Yes, I think that we should take these three items separately. They are three different committees that we are looking to revise. I think that we have people representing their different committees and their commitment to serve. And I think that, as mentioned by Mr. Murphy, I think we should have at least had the conversation with the individuals in that committee. Yes, ultimately the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem decide, that's established, but I think that we should have had an opportunity to allow people to come and have a dialogue in terms of saying why it would be beneficial. I think that this type of top-down leadership towards things that are so important to the city is not the way we should have done it when the purpose of our committees and commissions is supposed to work both ways. So that's a consideration that I have on my part. A side note is I know we talked about it, but I don't know if there's been any update on when we're going to rename some of the committees. I know that staff had mentioned there had been confusion between the Environmental Resources, the Cultural Resources, and Cultural Arts. So, I'm trying to put that in as a little flag. But overall, I agree that this needs to be changed. And I think most of all, I severely object to eliminating the environmental resources, such as outlined in section 1.2 of the proposed ordinance.
[01:06:21] Mayor: Right. Very good. Thank you. Council Member Standi,
[01:06:26] Council Member Standi: I was going to say in terms of the Cultural Resources Committee, the intent I thought is because it's with CVAG and we're viewing it as a more regional issue, yes, an environmental issue. And so that's for it. In terms of Parks and Rec, I do not serve on that committee, and so I'll defer to discussion with my fellow colleagues on the rationale.
[01:06:58] Mayor: Council Member Hornik, Mayor Pro Tem.
[01:07:03] Mayor Pro Tem Hornik: A question regarding specifically for the Parks and Rec Committee. There's two main recommendations. One is to strike in the municipal code the obligation for committee members to do park inspections. That is a logistical and liability issue. I think it's something we have to do. The second one is to set the floor on their meeting schedule, not the ceiling. And the concerns of the committee and the work they're doing is independent of the floor of the meeting schedule. So when there are issues to discuss, when there's business to discuss, there's no prohibition or restriction on their ability to meet more frequently. So this is setting a floor, not a ceiling. So that addresses the two components of that. The issues brought up are independent of the meeting schedule and the park inspections. So that's something staff and the liaison can work out independently. And then the Environmental Committee, we talked about this last at our study session. There's an old wisdom I heard from an author I like. It says, 'Never ask your barber if you need a haircut because the barber's always going to tell you you need a haircut.' So, when we're making executive decisions on structuring the city, we're looking at the objectives and the outcomes we want and the processes to get there. At no point have I heard anyone say that we have any objective to reduce our commitment to the environment. We have staff that are committed to that. We continue to be committed to that. The times since the committee was changed till today is very different. The proclivity to people adopting solar and batteries on their homes, driving electric cars. The younger generation has sustainability built into their blood. Entrepreneurs start their business today thinking sustainability first. The City of Palm Desert led on the behavioral change. We have staff in place to execute good programs. What we're talking about now is a process that includes an advisory body that is creating less value-add than in the past. And so what we're setting is an organizational structure to keep that progress going on an efficient basis and then looking to
[01:10:00] Mayor Pro Tem Pedet: ...work in collaboration with our regional partners. So those are kind of the thinking behind the two and why I support them.
[01:10:12] Mayor Trouy: Very good. Council Member Hornik.
[01:10:14] Council Member Hornik: Thank you. Again, taking the parks and rec as two separate issues as you stated, and I support your position on both of those. We do need, for liability reasons and many other reasons, to cut back where we had our citizens doing inspections of parks and rec. It's not appropriate. The other issue was the frequency of meetings, and as Mayor Pro Tem says, this is the floor, not the ceiling. And when issues arise, if there is an issue that must be addressed, there is nothing that stops a meeting from being called if there is that need. So, I support this as presented. And no one's addressed the homelessness task force. We have taken—that was created when we didn't have everything we have in place now, and we have taken it in-house. We work with CVAG. We've done a great job on both of those areas to really be effective. And so, I understand as well why it doesn't serve in the way it was originally intended because we are now doing this in-house. The other issue with the RPAC, Resource Preservation and Enhancement Committee, again, Mayor Pro Tem talks about our students. Arbor Day was a perfect example. Our students understand, and it's not that we are saying the voice of our community members, a small group, is not important. What we are saying is every community member has a responsibility, and that has been instilled within just the ethos of Palm Desert. We work with CVAG closely on environmental issues, and we have found that we're most effective when we're dealing with it on a regional basis, and CVAG gives us that venue to do that. We will continue having a voice in CVAG. We will continue with our students. We're in the schools. We do an awful lot with our students who, you know, if you ask them, they're just going to tell you: reduce, reuse, recycle. It is part of how they think. When the time comes, if there is an issue that we must address that we can address as a city, as an entity, then we will do so. But now we're looking at things that need to be dealt with regionally, and we have that opportunity by working with CVAG. So, I support this as it is presented by this staff report. Thank you.
[01:13:25] Mayor Trouy: Very good. I agree with Mayor Pro Tem and Council Member Hornik. I think I trust the staff feedback and the advice we're given and the observations. I think the amount of work that goes into these committee and commission meetings is substantial for our staff, and I think we're just trying to streamline it and let them focus on maybe some of the things we direct or some other jobs at hand. So, I agree with their observations on the feedback we got from staff. The advisory—I trust that Parks and Rec will be able to do its job with meeting every two months and give us advice and act as an advisory body. Ultimately, we are the decision-makers, and that's the important thing to kind of keep in mind here. So, yeah, I agree, and I agree with the staff report as presented.
[01:14:20] Mayor Trouy: And I'll entertain a motion before we—
[01:14:23] Council Member Marino: Before we do that, Council Member Pedet, I disagree with you when you said that, yes, we are in different times, but that the committees are providing less value. When we look at the committees as a gathering of our residents, I think that negates it. I think that we need to ensure that we tell our residents, 'We value you. We value your input. We want you to come in person and have a place to gather, not just do an online survey.' So, I just wanted to highlight that. And I think that I would motion that we take these three items separately since we are talking about three different committees. So, I would make a motion to vote on them separately.
[01:15:22] Mayor Trouy: I don't see a second on that. So, I'll entertain another motion. If anybody wants to make a motion...
[01:15:28] Council Member Hornik: I'll move staff recommendation.
[01:15:30] Council Member Nestandi: I will second that.
[01:15:33] City Clerk Anthony Mejia: Council Member Hornik?
[01:15:34] Council Member Hornik: Yes.
[01:15:35] City Clerk Anthony Mejia: Council Member Marino?
[01:15:36] Council Member Marino: No.
[01:15:37] City Clerk Anthony Mejia: Council Member Nestandi?
[01:15:39] Council Member Nestandi: Yes.
[01:15:40] City Clerk Anthony Mejia: Mayor Pro Tem Pedet?
[01:15:41] Mayor Pro Tem Pedet: Yes.
[01:15:42] City Clerk Anthony Mejia: Mayor Trouy?
[01:15:42] Mayor Trouy: Yes.
[01:15:43] City Clerk Anthony Mejia: Motion passes 4 to 1.
[01:15:45] Mayor Trouy: Thank you very much. Okay, on to item number 14C. We are looking at an update regarding Senate Bill 707 Brown Act compliance, resolution approving a remote access service disruption policy, ordinance amending the Palm Desert Municipal Code related to public conduct, recording, and disruptions during meetings. Looking for a staff report.
[01:16:12] City Clerk Anthony Mejia: Honorable Mayor and City Council, I'm still Anthony Mejia, City Clerk, and today's presentation is on Senate Bill 707 compliance and consideration of a remote access disruption policy and introduction of an ordinance regarding public conduct. I'll briefly cover the Senate Bill 707 changes, the language access analysis, the required remote access disruption policy, the proposed public conduct ordinance, and the City's overall compliance status and the recommendations before you. For Senate Bill 707, it amended multiple provisions of the Brown Act. The bill revised teleconference meeting rules, added remote public access requirements for eligible legislative bodies—that would include the City Council and all of our boards and commissions—required adoption of a policy addressing disruption of telephonic or internet service during meetings, revised rules regarding website posting, public participation, translation, and accessibility, and clarified standards regarding disruptive conduct during meetings. Regarding the language access standards, Senate Bill 707 requires translated agendas only if both of these thresholds are met: the language is spoken by at least 20% of the applicable population, and at least 20% of those speakers speak English less than 'very well.' Both conditions must be satisfied. For Palm Desert, Spanish does not reach the first threshold. Spanish speakers represent 16.8% of the population age five and over. So, agenda translation is not required under SB 707. Even so, the City will continue to voluntarily translate meeting agendas into Spanish as an access measure. Senate Bill 707 requires the City Council to adopt a policy addressing disruption of telephonic or internet-based remote access during meetings. The bottom line is that the policy is that if remote access disruption occurs, the City Council must take at least a one-hour recess to allow time for service restoration before determining whether to proceed with the remainder of the agenda, extend the recess, or continue the matters to a future agenda. And this would also apply to our boards and commissions. The proposed ordinance updates Section 2.63.270, which has not been substantively updated since 1975. This is related to the public conduct. This ordinance aligns the municipal code with current Brown Act requirements by recognizing the public's right to record the meetings themselves, defining disruptive conduct, applying standards to both in-person and remote participation, and requiring a viewpoint-neutral enforcement. Staff's review indicates that the City has already completed the principal operational requirements under SB 707. This includes two-way remote access, telephonic participation, equal public comment opportunity for remote speakers, captioning, just-cause tracking, website and meeting information updates, voluntary Spanish agenda translation, and public outreach efforts. And that concludes my—I'm sorry. And staff recommends that the City Council adopt the resolution approving the remote access service disruption policy and introduce the ordinance updating the municipal code regarding public conduct. And I'm available for any questions.
[01:19:37] Mayor Trouy: Excellent. Thank you. And before I bring it back to Council, I don't see any blue speaker cards. Are there any online comments?
[01:19:46] City Clerk Anthony Mejia: No online comments.
[01:19:47] Mayor Trouy: All right. I'll open it up for questions from my colleagues, if there are any.
[01:19:52] Council Member: I have a question.
[01:19:53] Mayor Trouy: Okay. And then open up for discussion.
[01:19:56] Council Member: My question is to our City Clerk...
[01:20:00] Council Member: Do we consider those participating on Zoom to have essentially the same rights as those attending in person?
[01:20:10] City Clerk: Yes. So they get the same time allocation as somebody in person. So in the event that there is a disruption that requires clearing out the chambers, does that mean that it would also exclude the people on Zoom? Would they be considered shut out, or would this mean that if people were removed from the chambers, would they then just be able to join on Zoom? How would that occur when there's an overlap? My understanding is that the purpose is to allow as many people back into the room that were not participating in the disruptive behavior. So under that case, if the Zoom participants were not part of the disruption, then they would be permitted to continue to participate, as well as, you know, if the majority of the audience was not disruptive, then only those that are would be removed.
[01:21:07] Council Member: Perfect. And if there aren't any other questions, I do have a comment, Mr. Mayor.
[01:21:14] Mayor: Proceed.
[01:21:15] Council Member: My comment is I think that the language stating that the city is implementing a direct subscription link for members of the public who wish to request agendas and agenda packet materials electronically—I think that's phenomenal. I think that's phenomenal because it'll pop up in your inbox. It'll remind you what's going on instead of something that's out of sight, out of mind if you're not actively looking for that. So, I think that's amazing, and kudos on that. So, thank you.
[01:21:49] Mayor: Good. Anything for my colleagues? Council Member Hornik.
[01:21:51] Council Member Hornik: I just would like to thank our City Clerk and City Clerk's office for making sure that Palm Desert—just ensuring that we are compliant and creating inclusive, orderly, and productive meetings by your efforts. Thank you.
[01:22:16] Council Member: Very supportive and ready to make a motion to approve.
[01:22:19] Council Member: And second.
[01:22:20] Council Member: One comment, another example of why it's Municipal Clerk's Week and why we're celebrating our City Clerk Department. Great job, Anthony.
[01:22:28] Mayor: So, we have a motion and a second.
[01:22:31] City Clerk: Council Member Hornik?
[01:22:33] Council Member Hornik: Yes.
[01:22:34] City Clerk: Council Member Moreno?
[01:22:35] Council Member Moreno: Yes.
[01:22:36] City Clerk: Council Member Niscandi?
[01:22:37] Council Member Niscandi: Yes.
[01:22:38] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem Purdue?
[01:22:39] Mayor Pro Tem Purdue: Yes.
[01:22:39] City Clerk: And Mayor Trouy?
[01:22:40] Mayor Trouy: Yes.
[01:22:41] City Clerk: Motion passes 5 to 0.
[01:22:42] Mayor: Thank you. Okay, on to Item 14D: Review of requests for action process and proposed amendment to Palm Desert Municipal Code Section 2.36.060. And looking for a staff report.
[01:22:57] City Clerk: Honorable Mayor and City Council, I'm still Anthony Mejia, City Clerk. And in February, the City Council directed staff to review the request for action procedures with the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem. That review included both the support threshold and whether requests for action should be submitted in writing prior to the meeting. The ordinance before the City Council reflects that review. It would keep the current requirement that a request for action receive support from one additional council member and would require that the request be submitted in writing in advance. The request would still be made verbally at the meeting and would still require a second to move forward. The ordinance also removes outdated agenda administration language and clarifies the role in the agenda process. And as a matter of how this would go in practice, when I send out the email asking for any questions, I would also include the link to the form, and council members would be able to complete that form online, and it would be transmitted to the City Clerk's office. And our goal would be to continue to accept those forms as late as possible prior to the council meeting and distribute those forms on the dais if needed.
[01:24:06] Mayor: Okay, very good. I suppose that's the end of the report, Mr. City Clerk?
[01:24:11] City Clerk: Yes.
[01:24:11] Mayor: Okay, terrific. Thank you. And I don't see any blue cards. Are there any online comments?
[01:24:19] City Clerk: No online comments.
[01:24:20] Mayor: Terrific. All right, I will open up to questions from my colleagues.
[01:24:24] Council Member: I don't have any questions, but I do want to provide a little more background because we looked at a couple of different options. I want to give Anthony a lot of credit. This solution he came up with—there's a lot of different ways we could do this, but, you know, requires very minimal changes to Municipal Code, gets something to us in writing, but maintains a lot of flexibility for Council and staff. So, thank you.
[01:24:51] Council Member: Any other? I do have one question actually. So the request for action is submitted formally, either electronically or in paper, and it's distributed to council members. How much Q&A is allowed before we actually come into council meetings? In other words, I know you need a second, but how much discussion, if any, is allowed?
[01:25:18] City Clerk: It would be very minimal and probably only to seek clarification, but the substance of the discussion would not occur when it's at the request for action process.
[01:25:29] Council Member: Got it. It's just for us to consider personally and then to second during the course of the meeting if another council member decides they want to second it. And I also want to clarify that these requests for action would also be posted online so the public would have access to them as well.
[01:25:48] Council Member: Well, maybe you just answered my comment then, because it seems as if it's been working how we've been doing it, and having it in writing—I wasn't sure the value of it, but I see the value that it would be available to the public. So, I've answered my own comment there. Okay.
[01:26:10] Council Member: I would suggest, too, putting it in writing is a good way to ensure there is some forethought and to clarifying what you're asking for. And there's a benefit even to ourselves going through the practice of writing something that we plan to communicate. It's helpful in formulating the thought behind it as well.
[01:26:36] Mayor: Council Member Moreno, any questions or comments?
[01:26:40] Council Member Moreno: My comment is I appreciate the clarity after so long where from one minute to the next... The day that former Council Member Sabby Jonathan and I agreed on something, that day the rules were changed to say you need two people to support, even though it was never formalized. That was used to keep certain things moving forward, and I know it happened to several of us. So I greatly appreciate that we're highlighting the process has always been there to only require one council member to support, and formalizing it in writing, I think, is great. I would just like to clarify in terms of 'as soon as possible prior to'—what's the ideal timeframe that you would want? Because if something happens at the last minute where we say this can't wait, up until what moment can we submit a request?
[01:27:38] City Clerk: So, ideally, we would have the request submitted prior to Thursday of the council meeting day by 9:00 so that it can be distributed in the supplemental materials that are provided to the Council and posted online. However, because of those short notice ideas, we would be willing to accept those forms. I would say try to do it at least a half hour before the meeting so we can make the duplications and provide them to the Council.
[01:28:13] Council Member Moreno: Okay, that makes sense. Thank you.
[01:28:17] Mayor: All right, anybody else? I love it. I think it's a huge improvement in the process. It keeps us from discussing something on the dais and getting caught on our heels or flat-footed when an idea is presented or a request for action is presented. So, it gives the other council members a little time to think about it, consider it. I love the idea. So, I will entertain a motion.
[01:28:36] Council Member: I move approval.
[01:28:37] Council Member: Second.
[01:28:40] City Clerk: Council Member Hornik?
[01:28:41] Council Member Hornik: Yes.
[01:28:41] City Clerk: Council Member Moreno?
[01:28:43] Council Member Moreno: Yes.
[01:28:43] City Clerk: Council Member Niscandi?
[01:28:45] Council Member Niscandi: Yes.
[01:28:45] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem Purdue?
[01:28:46] Mayor Pro Tem Purdue: Yes.
[01:28:46] City Clerk: Mayor Trouy?
[01:28:47] Mayor Trouy: Yes.
[01:28:48] City Clerk: Motion passes 5 to 0.
[01:28:49] Mayor: Terrific. Thank you very much. And get the gavel going. All right, we are now on to Item 15, Public Hearings. The public may comment on individual public hearing items within the three-minute time limit. The applicant and appellant will be provided with up to 10 minutes to make their presentations. Following public testimony, the appellant and applicant will be given an opportunity to offer rebuttal comments for up to three additional minutes. And the first item we have today is Item 15A: Conduct a TEFRA public hearing and approve bond issuance by the California Municipal Finance Authority for Palm Desert Family Housing Project at Cook Street and Frank Sinatra Drive. Supersede Resolution Number 2026-010. Looking for a staff report.
[01:29:35] Staff: Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council. Staff is here this afternoon to conduct a public hearing required under the federal Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act, also known as TEFRA, and to consider approval of a revised bond issuance for Palm Desert Family Housing Project. This item is returning because the developer has a revised financing plan and is seeking additional exempt facility bonds.
[01:30:00] Ivan: ...increasing the not-to-exceed amount originally from 50 million to 80 million. The Sinatra family housing has asked that the California Municipal Finance Authority, or CMFA, issue the bonds for this 298-unit affordable housing project on the corner of Cook Street and Frank Sinatra. The city's role is limited to satisfying the TEFRA public hearing and approval requirements. The bonds would be issued solely by CMFA. All repayment obligations would remain with the borrower, and the city would have no financial, legal, or moral obligation in connection with the bonds. And with that, I'll pass it over to Jared Suzuki from CMFA to answer any questions you may have.
[01:30:40] Jared Suzuki: Good afternoon, honorable Mayor, City Council members. My name is Jared Suzuki from the California Municipal Finance Authority, and I'm representing the bond issuer in this transaction. And as Ivan stated, this has come before you previously, and the reason it is coming back is because we have increased the not-to-exceed amount from 50 to 80 million of tax-exempt bonds. And this is just an administrative step, and I would be happy to answer any questions that you have.
[01:31:07] Mayor Troopy: All right. Thank you very much. And at this time, I will open the public hearing. I don't see any blue cards.
[01:31:14] City Clerk: No online comments.
[01:31:15] Mayor Troopy: I'll close the public hearing. All right. Council, any questions or comments?
[01:31:22] Mayor Troopy: Very good. Well, I'll entertain... Council Member Moreno, any questions or comments?
[01:31:27] Council Member Moreno: Yes, I had comments that were loaded, and I cannot find them popping up. So, what is it? Can you refresh my memory? What's the amount that will be added? Is it not to exceed?
[01:31:43] Jared Suzuki: The current not-to-exceed amount is 80 million. And the not-to-exceed amount, just to provide some background, is the maximum amount of tax-exempt bonds for a project. So, previously it was 50 million, but then the developer was awarded additional tax-exempt financing that exceeded that original 50 million not-to-exceed amount, and we had to come back before you with a higher not-to-exceed amount to stay within the parameters of the federal code.
[01:32:14] Council Member Moreno: And what was the reason that so much funding was lost, or what's... that's a substantial gap. Because it's my understanding that you're asking for a different exemption due to a loss of funding. Is that correct?
[01:32:27] Jared Suzuki: So, they replaced a taxable construction loan with tax-exempt, resulting in a lower cost of capital for the project. So, it was previously a larger taxable amount, but they are replacing that with a lower interest rate tax-exempt bond piece, resulting in a cheaper cost of capital for the project. And as such, that increased the total tax-exempt number, resulting in a higher not-to-exceed amount that was required.
[01:33:08] Council Member Moreno: I'm still trying to make sure that I'm getting this, because I know anything in housing is highly scrutinized.
[01:33:17] Council Member Moreno: People are going to look at this as we were suddenly supporting one amount, now going to another. So, what is the direct impact to the city? Is this a loan that they're taking from us, or only getting exemptions from us?
[01:33:28] Jared Suzuki: No, the city has no legal or financial responsibility with the repayment of any part of the bond issuance.
[01:33:38] Council Member Moreno: So, we just have to approve that they have a change in their funding.
[01:33:42] Jared Suzuki: Exactly.
[01:33:44] Council Member Moreno: Okay. Thank you.
[01:33:46] Mayor Troopy: Terrific. Anybody else?
[01:33:48] Council Member: All right. Well, I will move approval.
[01:33:51] Council Member: I will second that.
[01:33:52] Mayor Troopy: Okay. Great.
[01:33:53] City Clerk: Council Member Harik.
[01:33:55] Council Member Harik: Yes.
[01:33:55] City Clerk: Council Member Moreno.
[01:33:57] Council Member Moreno: Yes.
[01:33:57] City Clerk: Council Member Nestandi.
[01:33:59] Council Member Nestandi: Yes.
[01:33:59] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem Pedto.
[01:34:01] Mayor Pro Tem Pedto: Yes.
[01:34:01] City Clerk: And Mayor Troopy.
[01:34:02] Mayor Troopy: Yes.
[01:34:03] City Clerk: Motion passes five to zero.
[01:34:04] Mayor Troopy: Terrific. I will now move on to item 15B to reintroduce for first reading the hillside residential design standards and an ordinance amending Title 25 of the Palm Desert Municipal Code. Looking for the staff report.
[01:34:30] Sihei Fernandez: Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Sihei Fernandez. I'm with Development Services. This item is a reintroduction of an ordinance for the first reading that updates the hillside design standards along with the related amendments to Title 25 of the Municipal Code. This is a city-initiated project that applies to properties within the hillside planned residential district. The intent is to provide objective development standards to help streamline the process and provide clear standards. So, a little bit of the timeline: this item has gone through multiple public community meetings. It's gone to ARC and Planning Commission at a joint meeting back in September of last year. We also took it to Planning Commission for first reading back in December. This came to City Council for approval in January, and staff completed a final implementation of the review and identified opportunities to make some refinements and address some internal code cross-references. This then went back to Planning Commission for reintroduction, and what you're seeing reflects the feedback and direction from City Council and Planning Commission. The focus of this update is to refine a few key areas dealing with the building pad sizes and building areas. Overall, the goal is to make these standards clearer, more consistent, and aligned with the direction provided.
[01:36:15] Sihei Fernandez: Looking at some of the key revisions, this table shows some of the development standards that were updated. They focus on adjusting the maximum building pad size, maximum building area, and cleaning up some of the code references to avoid any confusion. The intent is to make sure everything is clearly defined, easy to interpret, and consistently applied.
[01:36:44] Sihei Fernandez: Staff's recommendation is that City Council approve the ordinance, establish the hillside design standards, and adopt the amendments to the Municipal Code, and determine that the action is not subject to CEQA or alternatively exempt under Section 15061(b)(3). That concludes staff's presentation. Staff is available for questions.
[01:37:05] Mayor Troopy: Terrific. I will now open the public hearing. I have no blue cards. Are there any online comments?
[01:37:11] City Clerk: No online comments.
[01:37:13] Mayor Troopy: All right. I will now close the public hearing and turn it over to my colleagues if there are any questions.
[01:37:18] Mayor Troopy: All right. Jim, Council Member Moreno.
[01:37:22] Council Member Moreno: None. Thank you.
[01:37:23] Mayor Troopy: All right. I'll entertain a motion.
[01:37:24] Council Member: Moved.
[01:37:26] Council Member: Second.
[01:37:27] Council Member: I comment if I may.
[01:37:29] Mayor Troopy: Oh, beg your pardon. I don't mean to skip over that.
[01:37:31] Council Member: Yeah. Thank you. And I know this has been a lot of work, and it's been quite the process, and I thank you for listening to everything and finding ways to integrate in the details that we've requested along the way. And thank you very much. And as I read through it, I went... it was just nice to see those items integrated in. This is an extremely important document for Palm Desert going into the future. You know, when I look at the design standards approval process, it's so clear for somebody to be able to navigate. The checklist is equally clear. This is a great document, and it'll make it easy for anybody who wants to develop, who wants to build, and it will protect Palm Desert's south side. So, thank you very much for all the work you put into this. It's a great document. Thank you.
[01:38:28] Mayor Troopy: I agree. Does the motion still stand? All right. Very good.
[01:38:34] City Clerk: Council Member Harik.
[01:38:35] Council Member Harik: Yes.
[01:38:35] City Clerk: Council Member Moreno.
[01:38:37] Council Member Moreno: Yes.
[01:38:38] City Clerk: Council Member Nestandi.
[01:38:39] Council Member Nestandi: Yes.
[01:38:39] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem Pedto.
[01:38:41] Mayor Pro Tem Pedto: Yes.
[01:38:41] City Clerk: And Mayor Troopy?
[01:38:42] Mayor Troopy: Yes.
[01:38:43] City Clerk: Motion passes 5 to 0.
[01:38:44] Mayor Troopy: Terrific. Okay. Well, that concludes the public hearing. And there being no further business, I do hereby adjourn the meeting at 5:28 p.m. Thank you very much.