Palm Desert City Council - Regular Meeting, July 9, 2026

Transcript text

AI transcript text.

[00:05:29] Chair: All right. Good afternoon, everybody. I'm now calling to order our regularly scheduled 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, July 9th, 2026. Could we have a roll call, please?
[00:05:47] Clerk: Council member Harik.
[00:05:48] Council member Harik: Here.
[00:05:49] Clerk: Council member Mareno.
[00:05:50] Council member Mareno: Present.
[00:05:50] Clerk: Council member Nestandi.
[00:05:51] Council member Nestandi: Here.
[00:05:52] Clerk: Mayor Prom Peretto.
[00:05:53] Mayor Prom Peretto: Here.
[00:05:53] Clerk: Mayor Trouy.
[00:05:55] Mayor Trouy: Here.
[00:05:55] Chair: All councils present. Okay, I will now ask Council member Nani to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
[00:06:19] Speaker: Liberty and justice for all.
[00:06:28] Chair: All right, I have um words of inspiration, and this is actually going to be a little bit more of a show and tell. I um enjoy our revamped and reinvigorated public library very, very much. And one of my favorite portions of the library is a local history section. Loved learning about the local desert and the city of Palm Desert. And uh picked up a book about old mines in the high desert, was fascinating from the 1800s. But I also found this book I had never even heard of after living here for 30 years. It's called Desert Editor. It is the story of Randall Henderson and Palm Desert, written by uh a gentleman named Jay Wilson McKenna, and um who was a um contemporary of Mr. Henderson's, had worked with them at Desert Publishing and spent time with them and been business partners, etc. And um just a terrific book. If you, I know there's a lot of civic pride in the city. I know there's a lot of love for the city among the populace. And this was, oh, I'm in the middle of it actually, but it's outstanding read. Randall Henderson is my new spirit animal. I love this guy. He not only um had the vision and foresight to found the publishing company here, but he was also a lover of the great outdoors and explored all the local canyons. He actually uh traversed down Deep Canyon, which has, it's really not traversable. You requires, you know, there's like 100-foot dry waterfalls. You got to use ropes and everything to get down. So just stories like that contained herein. I would recommend this to anybody. I love it. Very proud of the city even more so now after uh getting into this book. So, great find. Thank you, Miss Bonagget, for providing a local history section at the library. Awesome.
[00:08:02] Chair: And that's it. Uh, we will move on now to uh, a report of close session.
[00:08:08] Speaker: Thank you, Mayor. There's no reportable action taken at close session this afternoon.
[00:08:12] Chair: And we are on to our awards, presentations, and appointments.
[00:08:18] Chair: And we are going to do a proclamation. Sorry, let me get to the right spot here. We're going to do our Outdoor Worker Appreciation Week proclamation. So, I'd ask the rest of the council to join me at the DAS and we'll read this thing.
[00:08:44] Chair: All right, come down. All right. I mean, I got a loud voice, but I hate to say it, Sarah. Do we, how do we turn this sucker on?
[00:09:11] Speaker: Where's the
[00:09:12] Speaker: picture?
[00:09:22] Chair: Sorry about that.
[00:09:23] Speaker: All right. This is terrific.
[00:09:29] Chair: All right. So I think uh this is just a portion of our outdoor workers represented here. I think a lot of them are probably still outdoor working. So thank you all for joining me here uh up here to receive this. And uh I want to, before I begin, mention that this was sort of the genesis of this, from what I understand, was a local resident, uh Emily Langon, who had was working at Renova Energy at the time and had understood that and seen firsthand how outdoor workers work in our extreme desert conditions, rallied...
[00:10:01] Mayor Evan Trouy: for this. It was the cause was taken up by fellow council member Jan Hornick, and it was brought up to the state level by Greg Wallace. And now we have an official Outdoor Appreciation Week that, of course, Palm Desert celebrates and has been recognized also at the state level by the assembly. So, excellent stuff. I brag about our city all the time and how we have just a... I hear it all the time from tourists, residents, people I deal with in the mayor role, people I deal with in my business role with tourists. Everybody loves how beautiful our city is and couldn't be more proud. So, thank you. Whereas outdoor workers provide essential services that support the safety, infrastructure, cleanliness, accessibility, and overall quality of life of communities throughout California. And whereas outdoor work supports many important municipal services, including public works, code enforcement, building and safety, parks, utilities, traffic operations, landscape maintenance, and community maintenance. And whereas the City of Palm Desert relies on the dedication and professionalism of employees who work outdoors to help keep the community safe, functional, well-maintained, and responsive to the needs of residents, businesses, and visitors. And whereas outdoor workers regularly perform physically demanding duties while facing extreme weather conditions, heat exposure, smoke exposure, and other occupational hazards, particularly during the summer months in the Coachella Valley. And whereas these workers continue to provide vital services that support the daily operations and well-being of the community, often without recognition for their efforts and contributions. And whereas the City of Palm Desert proudly recognizes and appreciates the hardworking outdoor workers across all departments whose daily efforts help maintain, protect, improve, and serve 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 July 14th through July 20th, 2026, as Outdoor Worker Appreciation Week in the City of Palm Desert and encourage all residents, businesses, and community members to join in recognizing and celebrating the valuable contributions of outdoor workers throughout our city. Very good.
[00:12:14] Mayor Evan Trouy: So, big hand.
[00:12:22] Generic Speaker: Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, City Council, for the continued support. Thank you. And just on behalf of the theme team, thank you. Perfect day. It's 150 something degrees out there, so this is a perfect day. So, I know we all take a lot of pride. So, again, thank, thank you guys.
[00:12:40] Generic Speaker: As you see here, it takes a village to keep this great city running. And like the Mayor mentioned, you know, it involves landscape, streets, traffic code compliance, building inspectors. There's a whole slew of individuals that go out there every day. They suit up, they show up, they don't complain. Well, maybe a little bit, but we'll blame it on the heat. So, but they truly are, they inspire even the folks like me, indoor folks, to do more and to support them because they truly do remarkable work. Thank you.
[00:13:18] Generic Speaker: There we are for you, sir.
[00:13:20] Generic Speaker: Absolutely.
[00:13:22] Generic Speaker: And oh yeah, photo time. And we also hosted a luncheon on Tuesday for all the workers here in Palm Desert, work for the city. So,
[00:13:32] Generic Speaker: double celebration.
[00:13:40] Generic Speaker: Yeah, we're getting.
[00:13:55] Generic Speaker: All right.
[00:14:25] Mayor Evan Trouy: Okay, we move on to item number 10, City Manager comments.
[00:14:29] City Manager: Mayor, I have no update for today.
[00:14:31] Mayor Evan Trouy: Okay, thank you very much. Item number 11, Mayor and Council Member reports and requests for action. I will begin with, got to start with Council Member Mareno. Let my creature have it. Left or right.
[00:14:44] Council Member Mareno: Telling you, I think it's cheating. So, you don't, you figure out what you don't have to talk about. Um, let's see. Um, it was, I attended the Sunline Reimagined meeting. I'm on the ad hoc committee, and it's getting down to the crunch time of whether the community is going to make the support to have more bus routes that take longer intervals or less routes with shorter intervals, and whether we prefer more riders or greater coverage. So, we're going to ask everybody to stay involved and look at what that would present because ideally we could advocate which model works best for each of our cities and how it impacts our economic development. So, I'm thankful that the city has partnered already to distribute the surveys in the past and know that that will keep coming forward. Um, yesterday I was at the library. It was the 10-year Pokemon Go anniversary. Originally, this was supposed to be in collaboration with the Desert Recreation District. Didn't pan out. Our staff took it on, and it was a great opportunity. Um, we even had the discussion with some of the folks about how sometimes they go out as the groups of 20 or 30 and that they like going to some of the restaurants and wondering if, you know, in the future conversations to see if we could partner with local businesses to keep those 20 or 30 people that eat, keep their money here in Palm Desert, especially if they're close to our park. Um, and um, I was up on Highway 74, and I also was thinking about it in terms of like Highway 154 up in, I think, Santa Barbara County, and when you use it as a bypass, the use that it gets, and was remembering how that's part of the Caltrans Riverside County initiative and our part of that as well as the City of Palm Desert with the direct impact. Um, happy to see that staff's report, we're putting up the bighorn sheep crossing. So that was just a big impact to public safety. As much as people think that signs don't matter, they are the reminder to at least slow down. Um, and the city social media, I can't say enough how great things are popping up for the World Cup, for the Pokemon events to invite folks. So, I was wondering if this is just a product of having such outgoing and friendly staff or if this is maybe attributed to the Palm Desert University and the type of team that it builds and letting people be comfortable with their creativity and just as reflects our culture, reflects the culture of our staff and how we're driven to do more for the community. Um, I participated in a meeting with Assembly Member Jeff Gonzalez, um, looking at the autism walk that they're planning in the East Valley in November and some of what we can learn for the best practices for the event that we're hoping to have in the park here in April of next year. And I took that opportunity to follow up on a previous ask for money for the Veterans Resource Center. And that was a conversation up at League of Cities. And I believe it was a humble $5 million ask is what we're hoping for, our Veterans Resource Center. And when I reminded him, he was very supportive and asked us to put in the request and that he'll work with our Assembly Member Wallace to move that forward as part of what we're looking to accomplish. Very timely as we looked at what our reimagining our library will look like. Um, and then last thing I had was, you know, Fourth of July fun was had by everyone. Um, great job staff. Every year it gets better. The logistics get better, the signage gets better, the coordination gets better. Um, the Mayor and I were talking about that I think the only thing that we could have improved on was just keeping a Palm Desert booth there longer to serve as an information tent or a way to give out some of our information to serve as lost and found and who, how to get info like, you know, medical attention, citizens on patrol, et cetera. So, that was just one of the discussion points. Oh, the earplugs. That was one of them that if people were looking for the earplugs, there was nowhere on site to be able to say, 'Go to the Palm Desert booth,' if the booth was gone. Um, but that said, it was, it was beautiful. It was emotional that it's 250 years and we're celebrating the past and looking at all of the little ones that were dancing. It was, it was joyful. It was joyful. And out of all of the years that I've been attending, it's been 24 years now, and this one was my favorite by far. So, thanks to everyone that had their fingerprint on it. All of public works going and doing all of the behind the scenes that nobody sees, but we just reap the benefits. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's it.
[00:19:51] Mayor Evan Trouy: Council Member Nandi.
[00:19:52] Council Member Nandi: Yes. I just wanted to take a moment to thank our staff for the tremendous amount of work that goes in for them.
[00:20:00] Mayor Prom: preparing our agenda packets each month. It's hundreds and hundreds of pages. Even though it is their job, you still go beyond the call of duty. And even just now, Anthony, our City Clerk, came over here because my paperwork that I need to turn in wasn't quite right. So, I feel as if staff is always there for us. They've got our backs covered and they give us the information we need as council members to make informed decisions. We might not always agree on how we interpret the information, but at the end of the day, it's just invaluable. And as we honored our outdoor workers today, I just want to say thank you to all of our staff that attend our meetings. And you sit here during these council meetings as well. So, there we go. Thank you.
[00:20:51] Mayor Prom: Uh, Council Member Hornick,
[00:20:55] Council Member Hornick: Thank you, and bless your hearts for sitting through some of these meetings. I also wanted to mention Independence Day, and it really was spectacular. There were a couple things in particular I wanted to cite. I've never seen so many people dancing; that was wonderful to see. And the traffic control, it seems like there was something new, it was impeccable. And we need to thank again, with outdoor workers, our sheriffs, our citizens on patrol, who were all out there really making sure that we could have a great day and celebrate our independence. So, it was outstanding. I also wanted to mention the Coachella Valley Association of Governments had their annual assembly, and it was great to see how many things we've achieved regionally: our synchronization of signals, our CV Link, the homeless projects that they've put out there, and the really great successes they've had and the awards they've received from all over California and Southern California for what they're doing. And it was nice to be able there to celebrate with our entire valley. As we went forward, I did want to mention, please, as we go forward, you'll be hearing from me. The Southern California Association of Governments is launching a few of the projects that they are tasked with doing. One is the Regional Housing Needs Assessment, and we'll need people's voices to speak up and talk about what it is we need and to give us a voice as we go forward. Additionally, we call it Connect SoCal, but it's the Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities... something. But as we go forward and we put that together, we're going to ask to hear from you what your thoughts are about the Regional Transportation Plan, what we need. And this includes everything from trains to airports to our roads, our highways. So, as we go forward, we get a little further down the road on these projects, I'll be letting you know when you can weigh in online about these projects and how we can improve everybody's lives with your voice. So, please pay attention to that. And we need blood here in the valley. You know, when our high school students are gone, they are our biggest group of donors, our high school students. And they're not in high school, so we don't have the blood drives at the high schools. Also, all our guests, our visitors, those with second homes who come here, are now gone. We are in dire need of blood. So, if you can donate, please do. You know, with one pint of blood, you can save eight lives. Be a hero for sure. So, that's all I have. Thank you.
[00:23:58] Mayor Prom: Thank you very much, Mayor Prom. Nothing. Okay. So, I'm going to keep gushing. The again, the July 4th celebration put on by the city was spectacular. I loved it. I hope each of you had a chance to either go to the park or see it from your home. But, you know, I typically ride my bike over because I don't have to deal with parking and everything. So, I was able to kind of quickly go to all four corners of the park, and it was like every single corner of the park was being used. We had water slides. We had the new playground that just opened in the Civic Center, had been open for a week. It was getting used like crazy. Kids running around, people kicking soccer balls, getting food, just spreading out blankets. I got compliments about how the stage was decorated. I heard that people had driven from several hours away to enjoy the Fourth of July. The whole thing was like a Norman Rockwell painting. It was just fantastic, outstanding. Loved it. And I remember last year when I attended, I said, "Well, next year when I'm Mayor, I want to have like a dozen launch sites for the fireworks." Well, I found out, just to make it crazy, right? To have like over-the-top Palm Desert is going to do it nutty and make headlines that way. Found out he couldn't do that. You got to plan that about five years in advance. But the tweaks that the staff made were outstanding. I mean, just like I said, kids were playing everywhere, and there were loudspeakers all over so everybody could enjoy the music. And it was exactly how human beings should be enjoying themselves on the Fourth of July. It was beautiful. So,
[00:25:22] Speaker: Quick question.
[00:25:23] Mayor Prom: Go ahead.
[00:25:26] Speaker: Oh yeah. Yeah. Do we have an estimate of how many people actually attended this year? Do the sheriffs or anybody keep track of that?
[00:25:38] Mayor Prom: It felt that way. 20,000. All right. That's what I'm talking about. And then, yeah, it felt like a record-breaking. I know. Taylor, was it San Filipo? The girl, who, Palm Desert High School student, sang the national anthem. Was incredible. It was just jaw-dropping how beautiful it was. Incredible talent. So, the City Manager was kind enough to provide me a list of all the people from city staff who contributed to it. And if you'll give me a moment, I'm going to read all their names out loud because I think they deserve it. We start with Shelby Goodwin, the Master of Ceremonies. But I'm going to ask you to withhold your applause till the end because otherwise we'd be about an hour here. So, we have Jesus Santeno, Paul Villanoeva, Efron Espinosa, Sergio Samano, Brad Chuck, Joe Fox, Joe Roas, Freddy Rios, Ernesto Navared, Elias Mendoza, Hov Giovanni Pineda, Rafael Munes, Pedro Dominguez, Jesus Gardinho, Jeffrey Cabesas, Nicholas Gil, Vincente Sevilla, Jesse Padilla, Daniel, and hello, Frankie Lopez, Thomas Soul. Is Thomas here? No. Okay. Oh. We have Todd Buts, Ryland Penta, who I know is here, Daniel Herado, who is here, Carlos Rodriguez, and Joseph Abiata. So, hats off, man. Outstanding. Loved it so much. And one last thought, through the course of reading that Desert Editor book, I came to find out that our very first post office opened July 14th, 1947. So, if anybody wants to put that in the calendar and celebrate, feel free. Kind of a landmark in our history. Okay.
[00:27:20] Mayor Prom: So, we are going to move on now to item number 12, non-agenda public comments.
[00:27:24] City Clerk: Mr. Mayor, if I could just make one quick announcement for the public. Please be advised that items 15D and 15E on tonight's agenda include property owner protest ballot proceedings. Ballots for each of the item may be submitted to the City Clerk at any time during the meeting until the respective public hearings are closed, and the public testimony will be received during each of those public hearings.
[00:27:47] Mayor Prom: Very good. Thank you. We are on to 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 report and recommendation at a future meeting. And I guess we have a few housekeeping remarks about the public comment.
[00:28:16] 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 by your phone, please dial star nine to raise your hand, and when called upon, press star six to unmute yourself.
[00:28:28] Mayor Prom: Okay, very good. I do have two blue cards here regarding non-agenda comment items, and we'll start with Mr. Dean Gons. Very good.
[00:28:43] Dean Gens: Hello. Thank you, Council. Dean Gens, we've been in Palm Desert for 19 years, and we've loved every minute of it. As well, I was very honored to serve on the Resource Preservation and Enhancement Committee for 14 years until it was recently dissolved, and I'm very honored that I was able to do so. Thank you, Council Member Hearnick. I interviewed with Council when you were on. Council Member Nestandi, you served often with us, and Mayor Trouy, you were on the committee as well, so I enjoyed that. I'm very excited to share, if you haven't been following, the next St. Jude Dream Home is coming to Palm Desert. And yes, it's a dream. You could be my neighbor. Mr. Rogers says, 'Won't you be my neighbor?' It is next door to me, and we are very excited about that, and I really appreciate the opportunity to be a self-appointed ambassador for our neighborhood. So, we're looking forward to that. But the primary reason, folks, today is that I've come to Council before, and I'm asking you again, we desperately need help on Hovley West. Hovley West is an autobahn. There is no enforced speed limit. They drive as fast as they want, and they know it because it's a passageway in between Hovley, excuse me, Portola and Monterey. I'm asking please that we review. There is no median. Hovley East has a median about
[00:30:03] Speaker: 98% of it. Hovy West has none. And just
[00:30:07] Speaker: recently, once again, as I shared last
[00:30:09] Speaker: time, those that don't like to go speed
[00:30:12] Speaker: limit, they pass us. So recently there
[00:30:14] Speaker: were four cars midday traveling, uh, that
[00:30:18] Speaker: would be east on Hovy West, and the car
[00:30:20] Speaker: behind me decided he's going to pass all
[00:30:23] Speaker: of us. So if out of the health and
[00:30:25] Speaker: safety for our community, I'm asking
[00:30:27] Speaker: please, if we can review a median on Hovy
[00:30:31] Speaker: West to save the lives of the
[00:30:32] Speaker: neighborhood, and won't you be my
[00:30:34] Speaker: neighbor in doing so. Thank you.
[00:30:37] Speaker: Thank you, Dean. Appreciate it.
[00:30:40] Speaker: Um, next card I have is from Mr. Mike
[00:30:42] Speaker: Morsh.
[00:30:54] Mike Morsh: Thank you and good afternoon. Um, today
[00:30:57] Mike Morsh: I have with me the owner of, uh, Fireside Pharmacy, and her name is
[00:31:04] Mike Morsh: Yeti, and her husband is Yummy. Um,
[00:31:10] Mike Morsh: it's a local pharmacy, uh, here in Palm
[00:31:13] Mike Morsh: Desert, actually two locations, and one
[00:31:15] Mike Morsh: location in Palm Springs. Um, the, uh,
[00:31:21] Mike Morsh: they're looking to open one in Lintita,
[00:31:25] Mike Morsh: and they've been regulated, uh, very, very
[00:31:29] Mike Morsh: toughly, um, by the, uh, California Board of
[00:31:33] Mike Morsh: Pharmacy.
[00:31:36] Mike Morsh: Let me give you a quick idea of what's
[00:31:38] Mike Morsh: going on here. For more than a year, the
[00:31:40] Mike Morsh: pharmacy was subject to inspections,
[00:31:43] Mike Morsh: investigations, inquiries, corrective
[00:31:45] Mike Morsh: demands, and ongoing oversight. During
[00:31:48] Mike Morsh: that time, management and staff
[00:31:51] Mike Morsh: responded to every request, devoted
[00:31:53] Mike Morsh: substantial time and resources to
[00:31:56] Mike Morsh: addressing concerns, and worked
[00:31:58] Mike Morsh: diligently to comply with evolving
[00:32:01] Mike Morsh: regulatory requirements. As a result,
[00:32:04] Mike Morsh: pharmacists and staff were forced to
[00:32:06] Mike Morsh: divert significant operational resources
[00:32:10] Mike Morsh: from patient care to responding to
[00:32:13] Mike Morsh: regulatory requests, preparing
[00:32:15] Mike Morsh: documentation, implementing added
[00:32:18] Mike Morsh: compliance measures, and addressing
[00:32:21] Mike Morsh: reoccurring inspection related issues.
[00:32:24] Mike Morsh: They're kind of unique. Uh, Yeti and
[00:32:27] Mike Morsh: Yummy, they have, they're a compounding
[00:32:29] Mike Morsh: pharmacist. They will make up, um, working
[00:32:33] Mike Morsh: with your primary care physician, uh, what
[00:32:37] Mike Morsh: allergies you have and all kinds of
[00:32:40] Mike Morsh: things like this, whereas the, I call
[00:32:43] Mike Morsh: them, the big pharma, uh, pharmacies don't
[00:32:46] Mike Morsh: do this. Um, they just make up if you have
[00:32:49] Mike Morsh: an eye allergy, they'll, uh, work up
[00:32:53] Mike Morsh: something for that, uh, for that issue. Um,
[00:32:58] Mike Morsh: what we're trying to do is to get the
[00:33:01] Mike Morsh: California Board of Pharmacies to, um,
[00:33:06] Mike Morsh: back away a little bit and let them do
[00:33:08] Mike Morsh: their job. The restrictions that they've
[00:33:10] Mike Morsh: put on these folks is unbelievable. I
[00:33:14] Mike Morsh: have a packet with all of the
[00:33:15] Mike Morsh: information. I can't go through it all
[00:33:17] Mike Morsh: in my time limit here. Uh, and Anthony
[00:33:21] Mike Morsh: will go ahead and send you all of
[00:33:23] Mike Morsh: this information. And please read it.
[00:33:25] Mike Morsh: And if you can, please, after you're
[00:33:27] Mike Morsh: reading it and you agree with it, please
[00:33:30] Mike Morsh: take the time to, uh, send a letter to us.
[00:33:32] Mike Morsh: I think you all have my email
[00:33:34] Mike Morsh: address. And, um, we're, uh, going around
[00:33:38] Mike Morsh: and we're getting petitions. One last
[00:33:41] Mike Morsh: thing, I commend and accommodate the, uh,
[00:33:44] Mike Morsh: Palm Desert staff and all of the people
[00:33:48] Mike Morsh: who work here. Uh, I was at the Palm
[00:33:51] Mike Morsh: Springs Council meeting yesterday, and
[00:33:55] Mike Morsh: uh, it gave me a new appreciation for
[00:33:57] Mike Morsh: you guys. Thank you.
[00:34:00] Speaker: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Morris.
[00:34:02] Mike Morsh: Thank you.
[00:34:03] Speaker: Very good. I have no other blue cards.
[00:34:05] Speaker: Is any, are there any online, uh,
[00:34:06] Speaker: speakers?
[00:34:07] Speaker: No online comments.
[00:34:09] Speaker: Terrific. Thank you. We are on to item
[00:34:11] Speaker: number 13, the consent calendar. All
[00:34:13] Speaker: matters listed on the consent calendar
[00:34:15] Speaker: are considered routine and may be
[00:34:17] Speaker: approved by one motion. The public may
[00:34:19] Speaker: comment on any item on the consent
[00:34:21] Speaker: calendar for up to three minutes. I
[00:34:24] Speaker: don't have any speaker cards for consent
[00:34:26] Speaker: items. Any online?
[00:34:27] Speaker: No online comments. Uh, but Mr. Mayor,
[00:34:29] Speaker: staff would like to pull 13O for an
[00:34:31] Speaker: update.
[00:34:32] Speaker: Okay. Very good. And do any of my
[00:34:34] Speaker: colleagues wish to pull any other items?
[00:34:36] Speaker: I would like to, uh, pull G as in George,
[00:34:40] Speaker: K, and S as in Sam.
[00:34:43] Speaker: Okay. Anybody else?
[00:34:45] Speaker: So we have items 13O, item 13G, item
[00:34:50] Speaker: 13A, and item 13S to be pulled.
[00:34:53] Speaker: Was that 13? Because I had a question on
[00:34:55] Speaker: 13O that I gave to staff. Is, okay. So
[00:34:59] Speaker: it's getting pulled. Okay. Thank you.
[00:35:01] Speaker: Okay. Would anybody care to make
[00:35:03] Speaker: I move the balance?
[00:35:05] Speaker: Second.
[00:35:12] Speaker: Motion passes five to zero. Okay. So, I
[00:35:15] Speaker: guess we'll go in alphabetical order.
[00:35:17] Speaker: Would that work?
[00:35:19] Speaker: Okay. So, item 13A,
[00:35:22] Speaker: let me get all the verbiage here.
[00:35:26] Speaker: And A as an apple. Is that right?
[00:35:29] Speaker: A G.
[00:35:29] Speaker: Oh, G.
[00:35:30] Speaker: G is, uh, designating the northern area of
[00:35:34] Speaker: Palm Desert as North Palm Desert. It's
[00:35:36] Speaker: more of a comment than a question.
[00:35:38] Speaker: Um, had residents that reached out, and
[00:35:40] Speaker: originally they, they, um, misinterpreted
[00:35:43] Speaker: what it was, and once they read through
[00:35:45] Speaker: it, they said they felt validated that
[00:35:48] Speaker: the changing the name, it's, it may have
[00:35:50] Speaker: seemed like a small thing, but it was
[00:35:52] Speaker: very symbolic to feel like it's no
[00:35:54] Speaker: longer some ethereal, mystical place that
[00:35:56] Speaker: exists as the north sphere, but to feel
[00:35:59] Speaker: fully embedded and adopted into, um, what
[00:36:03] Speaker: it means to be part of Palm Desert. And
[00:36:05] Speaker: so it was again, the, the little things
[00:36:07] Speaker: that mean a lot, and the appreciation to
[00:36:09] Speaker: staff to go and have to make all of
[00:36:10] Speaker: those changes in every place that we had
[00:36:13] Speaker: referred to it as the north sphere. So
[00:36:15] Speaker: that's the comment on that, not a
[00:36:17] Speaker: question.
[00:36:18] Speaker: Very good. Okay. Um, no other comments on
[00:36:21] Speaker: that. Do
[00:36:22] Speaker: Item K again is just comment, pause for a
[00:36:25] Speaker: moment. I thought I heard 13A, but
[00:36:28] Speaker: I have a 13 G, O, K, and S.
[00:36:32] Speaker: Ah, okay. I beg your pardon. Okay, on to
[00:36:36] Speaker: Ben K.
[00:36:37] Speaker: Uh, K is the resolution adopting the City
[00:36:40] Speaker: of Palm Desert Digital Accessibility
[00:36:42] Speaker: Policy. And I wanted to say thanks to
[00:36:45] Speaker: staff and all of the work that it's
[00:36:47] Speaker: taken to revamp and overhaul the entire
[00:36:50] Speaker: website to, uh, be compliant with the ADA
[00:36:52] Speaker: requirements. And seeing that now that
[00:36:55] Speaker: DOJ timeline has been extended to April
[00:36:58] Speaker: 2027, I know that thankfully that gives
[00:37:00] Speaker: staff a little bit of a breather to go
[00:37:02] Speaker: through and make things compliant.
[00:37:04] Speaker: And, um, especially since that was one of
[00:37:07] Speaker: my big concerns regarding the budget
[00:37:09] Speaker: last time to know that it's some of
[00:37:11] Speaker: those elements have been restored, and it
[00:37:13] Speaker: reinforces our commitment to
[00:37:14] Speaker: transparency and gaining public
[00:37:17] Speaker: trust. So thanks again to everybody in
[00:37:19] Speaker: every department because I know this
[00:37:21] Speaker: impacts everybody, not just the clerk's
[00:37:24] Speaker: office where people think it may have
[00:37:25] Speaker: the bulk of it. So that was the, the
[00:37:27] Speaker: comment on that.
[00:37:31] Speaker: Very good.
[00:37:32] Speaker: No other comments. We'll move on to item
[00:37:35] Speaker: 13O.
[00:37:39] Speaker: Oh, I might as well read it. I beg your
[00:37:40] Speaker: pardon. Um, item 13O
[00:37:45] Speaker: is
[00:37:49] Speaker: we have, well, actually, I'll let Miss
[00:37:52] Speaker: Shawn Muer read it. Thank you. Pardon.
[00:37:54] Shawn Muer: Good afternoon, mayor, members of the City
[00:37:56] Shawn Muer: Council. I'm Shawn Muer, the Community
[00:37:57] Shawn Muer: Services Manager, and, uh, staff have
[00:38:00] Shawn Muer: requested to pull item 13O because we'd
[00:38:02] Shawn Muer: like to make a modification in the
[00:38:04] Shawn Muer: second action requested in the staff
[00:38:06] Shawn Muer: report. Uh, the staff report lists
[00:38:08] Shawn Muer: rejecting all bids and then
[00:38:10] Shawn Muer: readvertising the, um, the request for
[00:38:13] Shawn Muer: proposals for bid. Um, and the change is
[00:38:17] Shawn Muer: to instead of immediately readvertising
[00:38:20] Shawn Muer: that solicitation, we'd like to work
[00:38:22] Shawn Muer: with some of our existing vendors and,
[00:38:24] Shawn Muer: um, find out whether there are changes
[00:38:26] Shawn Muer: in the scope that can actually reduce
[00:38:28] Shawn Muer: the scope and, um, eventually save the
[00:38:31] Shawn Muer: city some money in terms of achieving
[00:38:33] Shawn Muer: the desired outcome in increasing
[00:38:35] Shawn Muer: programming and looking at the amenities
[00:38:37] Shawn Muer: at the aquatic center, um, without having
[00:38:39] Shawn Muer: to contract with an outside consultant
[00:38:42] Shawn Muer: or reducing the scope and contracting
[00:38:44] Shawn Muer: thereafter.
[00:38:46] Speaker: Very good. Any questions?
[00:38:48] Speaker: And those are all still within their
[00:38:49] Speaker: their, um, allocations or, um, even like
[00:38:53] Speaker: automatic extensions. So none of them
[00:38:55] Speaker: are getting to any sort of cut off, and
[00:38:57] Speaker: no one's at any disadvantage.
[00:38:59] Shawn Muer: That's correct. It would be just a
[00:39:01] Shawn Muer: change in the way that we approach the
[00:39:03] Shawn Muer: project. Um, so it would be potentially a
[00:39:06] Shawn Muer: new contract with the consultant, but, um,
[00:39:08] Shawn Muer: still rejecting all of the bids as part
[00:39:10] Shawn Muer: of this solicitation.
[00:39:11] Speaker: Perfect. Thank you so much. And again, I
[00:39:12] Speaker: know that takes a lot of work to
[00:39:15] Speaker: process and make that determination. So,
[00:39:17] Speaker: thanks for being diligent in making sure
[00:39:19] Speaker: we're doing the best with the
[00:39:21] Speaker: money that we've got.
[00:39:23] Speaker: Okay. Very good. No other comments.
[00:39:26] Speaker: We'll move on to item 13S,
[00:39:28] Speaker: which is
[00:39:30] Speaker: that adopt the resolution, uh, authorizing
[00:39:33] Speaker: acceptance and administration of the
[00:39:35] Speaker: Cannabis Tax Fund Grant.
[00:39:45] Daniel Hertado: Good afternoon, mayor, members of City
[00:39:47] Daniel Hertado: Council. Daniel Hertado here to take
[00:39:50] Daniel Hertado: your questions.
[00:39:51] Speaker: My questions on that. So, just to
[00:39:54] Speaker: give more info that, um, that's the 2026
[00:39:57] Speaker: 27 fiscal year, and the grant was for
[00:40:00] Transcript gap: Gemini did not return transcript text for this 00:40:00-00:50:00 clip. Use the official video for this interval.
[00:50:01] Speaker: ungated residential tract on that corridor that's not currently part of a landscaping lighting district. This process began back in 2024 when its homeowners association approached the city seeking alternates to reduce its costs for maintaining neighborhood public landscaping and street lighting. And then in December 2025, the City Council held a study session regarding the potential transition of selected areas into the city's landscape and lighting district. And then Cordacas was one of those areas that were identified within that study session. And since then, staff has worked with the neighborhood and completed the, um, the annexation, the required annexation process. Tonight's public hearing and protest ballot proceedings represents the final step before City Council's consideration of the proposed annexation tonight. If a majority protest does not exist, the city will assume responsibility for maintaining the neighborhood's landscape and street lighting, but please note that property owners will continue to pay for these services through annual assessments, um, but, um, just essentially through a different mechanism and at an overall lower cost for the residents. Following the public hearing, the City Clerk will tabulate the ballots and announce the results. And if there is no majority protest, staff recommends approval of those resolutions. And that concludes my presentation. I'm available for any questions.
[00:51:20] Speaker: Very good. I will now open the public hearing. I have no speaker cards. Are any online comments?
[00:51:25] Speaker: No online comments. But I do want to say last call for anybody to submit a ballot on this matter.
[00:51:33] Speaker: Very good. I will now close the public hearing and ask for any questions from my colleagues. Any comments from my colleagues?
[00:51:41] Speaker: Okay.
[00:51:43] Speaker: Well, then, you know, I just would make a comment if I may. You know, these are so often we find these issues with irrigation and with where there's issues with the residents. They want it to be nicer and there's problems sometimes when they try and work together, and this is a great example of what happens when the city comes in and works with the residents and finds the solution. So I just wanted to make that comment and I wanted to move as presented.
[00:52:13] Speaker: Well, I think we need to actually take a little break and have City Clerk needs to tabulate the totals.
[00:52:20] Speaker: Thank you.
[00:52:21] Speaker: The legal proceedings.
[00:52:22] Speaker: How many ballots are there? I don't know. But do we have to recess?
[00:52:27] City Clerk: Yes, I need about five minutes.
[00:52:28] Speaker: Okay, very good. So, this time we'll have a little five-minute stretch and come back and City Clerk will give us the results. Okay.
[00:57:21] Speaker: Okay, we are ready to resume.
[00:57:25] Speaker: City Clerk, please announce the results of the ballot tabulation and identify whether a majority protest exists.
[00:57:31] City Clerk: Mr. Mayor, those in favor was 93% and those opposed were 7%, and so a majority protest does not exist, and the council may proceed with the annexation and levy of assessments. Okay. So, because it has been determined that no majority protest exists, we can entertain a motion.
[00:57:48] Speaker: Move as presented.
[00:57:49] Speaker: Second.
[00:58:04] Speaker: Motion passes five to zero.
[00:58:06] Speaker: Right. Very good. All right. Good stuff. There we go. Okay. On to item 15e. Declare the results of the property owner protest proceeding and order the renewal of the President's Plaza 3 property and business improvement district and the levy and collection of assessments for fiscal year 2627. We have a staff report. Miss Mario Murio again.
[00:58:28] Maria Murio: Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. Maria Murio with Public Works. Before you is a public hearing to consider renewing President's Plaza 3 for a new five-year term beginning fiscal year 2627. President's Plaza 3 is an existing district consisting of 16 assessed commercial parcels located between Sage Lane and Highway 74. The district funds the maintenance and operation of improvements that support the commercial area, including parking lot landscaping, lighting, and debris removal. Following the public hearing, the City Clerk will tabulate the ballots. If a majority protest does not exist, the council may adopt all actions requested for the renewal of President's Plaza 3 for fiscal year 2627. And I'm available for any questions if you have any.
[00:59:13] Speaker: Very good. So, I understand, I want to make sure people have adequate time. If they like, they can still submit ballots directly to the City Clerk. So, we want to allow adequate time for that. I will now open the public hearing. I have no speaker cards here. Are there any online?
[00:59:30] Speaker: No online comments.
[00:59:31] Speaker: All right. With that, I will close the public hearing. And, um, does anybody have any clarifying questions, comments? All right. Very good. Um,
[00:59:44] Speaker: then we will take a five-minute recess to tabulate ballots again.
[00:59:47] Speaker: Yes, sir.
[00:59:48] Speaker: I will stay here.
[00:59:49] Speaker: All right. We're looking to come back at 5oublem.
[01:06:14] Speaker: Here. We go. Okay, open it back up. And do we have the tabulation of the voting?
[01:06:33] Speaker: Mr. Mayor, uh, those in favor uh, represent 95%, and those opposed represent 5%. Therefore, a majority protest does not exist, and the council may proceed with the proposed action for President's Plaza 3 Property Business Improvement District.
[01:06:46] Speaker: Terrific. Well, then I will entertain a motion.
[01:06:49] Speaker: I move approval.
[01:06:50] Speaker: Second.
[01:06:58] Speaker: Motion passes 5 to zero.
[01:07:00] Speaker: All right. Well, with that, we are on to item 16, which is adjournment. So, thank you all so much for coming out and doing such great work to city staff. We will see you in August and enjoy your July.
[01:07:11] Speaker: Me and Shannon.
[01:07:13] Speaker: I did mine first though. Yeah, for.