City Council — May 26, 2026

Hello all, good evening and welcome to the Carpinteria

City Council meeting. Today is Tuesday May 26th 2026. And I will request a roll call please.

Well, good evening Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Ryan Benson one of the Management Analysts for the City Manager's Office. Before you tonight is an update on the Fiscal Year 25-26 Community Services Support Grant Program along with formal progress presentations from three of our grantees who are here today thank you for being here As a reminder to all, the Community Service Support Grant Program provides vital funding to local nonprofits to enhance quality of life for Carpinteria residents, support the city's youth and seniors and address critical social services needs.

During this year's grant funding cycle, staff instituted a new program requirement for all participating organizations to submit a progress report to City Council. And that's going to be Attachment A in your staff reports. It's staff recommendation to receive and file the Fiscal Year 25-26 CSSG Progress Reports. And tonight we'll have three presentations like I had said.

The first presentation is from Guadalupe Perez, from Carpinteria Children's Project. So I'd like to invite you up there if we're ready to proceed with that.

Good evening, everyone. Thank you for having me. My name is Guadalupe Perez. I'm the Director of Early Learning at Carpinteria Children's Project and I really want to start by saying thank you to the City of Carpinteria for your investment in our youngest learners. Through the scholarship support that we've had, we've been able to ensure that every child regardless of income can thrive and have a rich and inclusive dynamic environment.

Your support strengthens children families and the community In our program, we currently have bilingual education that's provided through play, learning and relationship. We have our bilingual education through literacy and vocabulary throughout the classrooms during group time, and that is very vital and important for our families. Through the scholarship as well, we have enrichment opportunities which we partner with two other organizations, which is Music and Movement with Cathy. And we offer 30-minute sessions of music to our kiddos every week. And we also partner with the Wilderness Youth Project, which has some of the same important core values that we have of being outdoors, learning through play. And those scholarship opportunities are providing these enrichment opportunities as well.

At our center, we are community. We really have our Family Resource Center, our partners and our partnership with CUSC that really believes in the whole family so these scholarships are working together to provide that support for the whole family whether it be with mental health support, whether access to food bank and is all thanks to your partnership Scholarships open doors for families to access high quality early education.

And one of the best ways that I can share how your contribution has supported us is through a family story that I will be sharing

through

this short video. At Carpinteria Children's Project, we really believe in the whole family. We have a very rich early education program that focuses on social-emotional learning, on dual language and providing enrichment activities for our students. Our families that are enrolled in our program have access to our Family Resource Center.

The resources can be receiving diapers that day, receiving food, receiving a mental health referral, really connecting the whole family to resources that the family does need.

Eduardo is about to turn three years old. He's very intelligent for me now. I was worried a few months ago because he didn't talk much. What I started seeing in Eduardo

was that he would come and even though he couldn't speak 100%, he would push or cry, or take toys or materials from the kids. But we've been working where he's starting to socialize little by little, he's starting to use his words and he's beginning to take that step in an emotional matter of not screaming so much anymore. That is a great advance for him and for us and the family too. And the family has seen it.

CCP has really helped Eduardo a lot in giving him one-on-one assistance because they know that he uses this support a lot. Even though he has some language problems,

he's been able to adapt to the class and his classmates.

We are really big believers that we can only be so effective with the kids. I wanted the parents to have the same knowledge and information that we have about the importance of childhood development.

We're ready to help any family, regardless of income, of background, nationality. We are able to advocate for the families, advocate for the students. I would want the community to understand really how much their support means.

If they want to see CCP as a good place to support, they use their resources in a very good way.

The kids in our classrooms today really are the leaders of Carpinteria in the future. The

importance that this program has, or the impact it gives to the entire community with all its support. CCP has a staff that is fully trained not only for care but also to teach so that in the future when they're already at another school the next step is that they are already prepared academically.

So, scholarships open doors. They expand access to high-quality preschool for families in need. It removes financial barriers for early education and supports those working families during challenging times. So thank you for believing in children and families and together we're building a stronger future in Carpinteria.

Now we'd like to invite up Melinda Cabrera and also Diana Ornelas from United Boys & Girls.

Good evening. Thank you for having us. First and foremost, I'd like to thank the City of Carpinteria and the Council members for your support of United Boys & Girls Club of Santa Barbara County. My name is Melinda Cabrera and I am the new CEO. I stepped into the role about two months ago so I'll speak generally and broadly about our organization and who we serve and how we serve our members and then I'll turn it over to Diana who is our local club director, who will really focus on the supports that we provide to the members and families in Carpinteria.

And so the mission at United Boys & Girls Club is to enable all people especially those who need us the most to reach their full potential as productive caring and responsible citizens Could you next slide, please? Of course. I was going fast. We only have five or seven minutes. Next slide, please. OK. So organizationally we serve over 2,600 youth every single year. We have four standalone sites, one of which is in Carpinteria. We have four school-based sites and then we operate a 94 acre camp in the San Ynez Mountains which really caters to that quintessential overnight camp experience.

Our members range from TK all the way through 12th grade with 85% of our members falling within grades K-6. 76% of our members qualify for free or reduced lunch and here in Carpinteria that's 64% of our members qualify for free or reduced lunch Our core programmatic areas fall within these categories, so education and career development. Every afternoon our students receive support through Power Hour which is homework help and tutoring and we have programming that mitigates summer learning loss throughout the summer months. Character and leadership is very important to us, and we have dedicated teen programming that really serves that teen demographic through character and leadership and career exploration. We have Youth of the Year that really highlights those members who are exhibiting strong character and leadership skills.

Of course STEAM with science technology engineering arts and math We really want to expose our members to experiential learning and all different subject matter, to really see what they're good at, what they're interested in. And again it's about opportunities and exposing our kids to a variety of different activities. Healthy and life skills. Through our Zero Hunger program we do serve supper every single day and then during the summer months it's breakfast and lunch. Last year alone we served over 63,000 meals Our Smart Girls program and our Passport to Manhood, those are really programs that are geared towards Empowering our members at every stage and every level as they grow to really empower them and advocate for themselves so that they can take on any situation that they might find themselves in.

And of course, sports fitness and recreation, indoor soccer, basketball, flag football, and our triple play program really again exposes our students or our members to different types of sports and encourages physical activity. And so I've kind of covered this through the other slides, but over 2,600 members served. Our average daily attendance across all of our sites is a little over 500 and again last year alone we served over 63,000 meals and so we're really proud of our programming and we really try to respond to the needs of each community that we serve And so I want to turn it over to Diana who can really speak to how we specifically serve the unique needs of our Carpinteria community.

Hello, I'm Diana Arnales United Boys and Girls Club Santa Barbara County Carpinteria unit and at first we just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you here the City of Carp. I know last year July 10th I may have not have been so kind. I was really passionate about what was going on in in Carpinteria, and I wanted to thank you for recognizing the needs to provide services for our kids at the Carpinteria Boys & Girls Club.

It's been a hard year but with your help we really were able to service those families that maybe were impacted by deportation so I really want to thank you for that. We were able to get them Feel safe in our club. We were picking up kids from school for families that were not ready to go driving anymore. We take them home, we're also feeding them lunch, we're doing homework. I'm just really grateful for that so just wanted to say that first. Now the fun stuff. Melinda really always said all the fun stuff but I really wanted to tell you a little bit about our teen program A few years ago, we really had maybe two teens. And now we're up to 22 teens. Just for anyone here who's a teen, we're having a Teen Night June 5th and we're going to do some laser tagging in our gym.

So anyone that has a teenager, send them on down July or June 8th. It's the 8th or the 5th. I can't remember if it's Friday. Send them on down. We'd really like to have that whole gym full of kids to play laser tag. And we're really looking forward to our summer And I don't know, just really thank you for everything that you have for us. We've, I really do appreciate it. Wouldn't be here if I couldn't. You know, I don' like to talk so anyway. Thank you. That's all, that's all I have.

All right last but not least Jamie Collins from Girls Inc. Let me add it for you. Hello, good evening.

Hold on. Sorry, I'm just going to get lined up so it goes a little smoother. All right. Thank you so much for having us. I'm Jamie Collins, Executive Director of Girls Inc. of Carpinteria and I have Madeline Belzer with me, our Development Director and then because of child care two girls in girls. So kind of full house representing tonight. I am here to share about the impact of the Community Service Grant, a little bit about our history and kind of where we see ourselves going in the future.

Thankful like all of our grantees here tonight for the support of the city. I know that's a unique opportunity that the city provides here in Carpinteria and it's one we don't take lightly or take for granted. Because of the continued support, we've been able to increase our programming, our 24-7 access to our food pantry and our resilience resources in the county.

For those of you who don't know, Girls Inc has been around since 1864 across the nation and in Canada Locally, we've been here since 1971 with our mission to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold in a vision of powerful girls in an equitable society. We do that through our programming so we want girls to be healthy, educated and independent aka strong, smart and bold. Primarily, we do that through our campus-based programs, our outreach and our in school programming and then we also saw a huge piece with that family strengthening and that community resilience. So those are kind of the three pillars we work out of.

We have a holistic and layered approach. Some call it the Girls Inc Experience, which is people programming an environment. So being really cognizant of those three things. And we recognize that girls are supported and thriving when they have strong families in resilient communities. So through our research-based programming, mentorship, family engagement, financial support, and community resources, that's how we're able to continue to develop this foundation for girls and families.

A little bit about our campus-based program, so we have our beautiful campus that was built for the community by the community in 1994. There we house our traditional after school program. We have our summer day camp. We also host strong camps and a gymnastics program. Our programs primarily focus on Reaching the Gap Between Literacy and STEAM Programming that we recognize here in the school. So, we work really closely with CUSD to see where the gaps are as the children continue to kind of grow and then adjust our needs, our programs to meet those needs.

Our outreach and in-school programming so we host recess club at all of the elementary schools which is providing structured activities during recess times because we know that tends to be the times that more issues arise on the playground We also have our strong outreach that introduces girls to a variety of sports. One of the things we're focusing on right now is highlighting the gap between elementary athletics, middle school athletics and high school athletics for those of you that are proud warriors. We need some uplift in our athletics programs so we run specifically targeting middle school girls for volleyball and basketball right now.

We also have our Eureka program, which I believe is in its like 13th year. Which is our college-bound STEM program that is for 8th grade through 12th graders and most recently we're in Year 2 of Project Accelerate that supports young women 18 to 24 as they matriculate from high school to college, college to career. And then of course we have our Family Engagement & Strengthening. We host family engagement events. We host a big Thanksgiving dinner And these are just really times for the families not to think about dinner that night and to be able to come and do hands-on activities with their kids, and have everyone kind of experience that Girls Inc. experience, and that is open to the community regardless if you have a girl enrolled in Girls Inc.

programming or not. And then we are one of three community resilience hubs in the county. And so basically what that means is, we support the community through the County of Santa Barbara, through the City of Carpinteria and the Red Cross to plan for disasters and then help the community respond, recover and thrive after a disaster happens. So we continue that work. We have monthly meetings to kind of hear what's going on and I've created a lot of great partnerships around that.

Our impact this year so far, 50 youth, so that's boys and girls because we do serve some boys. Through our strong smart and bold programming, we rescued over 62,000 pounds of food through our Food Pantry Program which is available 24-7. Primary recipients of this program include our senior citizens here in Carpinteria as well as the families who serve in our local agricultural farm workers.

And honestly it's kind of fun to see who's just popping over and checking out what's in the pantry for the day. One of my favorite Stories from that is we had a high school teacher who came by and she was like, I have five boys at home and they are eating me out of house and home. And so she just needed some extra bread to continue to feed five teenage boys. So we all definitely feel the impact right now.

We have about 70 students in our after-school enrichment program that are on scholarship assistance. We grant about $200,000 annually in scholarship assistance and for this next year we're projecting to give out about $220,000 as we continue to see an increased need. We do have a lease dose program and so now our families who receive 100% scholarship have to participate in parent education courses So our first year focus on financial literacy and this past year focus on how to raise a strong, smart and bold girl. And just talked about issues that parents are dealing with in raising young children so...

And then in the community, so our impact extends far beyond our walls. We partner with AgeWell and share our space for Pickleball and other community wellness activities. We've expanded access through our in-school outreach program like our STEM club Bringing in hands-on engaging STEM activities for 3rd through 5th graders at Camelino. And then we're an emergency shelter on top of being a resilience hub and have the supplies to support up to 300 people for five days should a disaster strike or when a disaster strikes.

Why this work matters, so obviously the community needs are accelerating as girls continue to face rising academic pressure, mental health challenges and fewer safe and supportive spaces. Really trying to be that second home for the girls outside of the school days. Working families are increasingly relying on trusted youth development partners to help provide that consistent care.

And then also recognizing The trickle-down impact of federal budget cuts to the state budgets, to the trickle down effect that it's hitting nonprofits now especially youth development nonprofits as funders shift their focus to highlight accessibility needs to vital things like food and housing. So definitely feeling that on our side as well. And then we saw family engagement event attendance decline during periods of heightened ICE activity. And so figuring out how we can adjust to support the families And so we'll provide those activities. And how the community can continue to support, investing in programs like Girls Inc., and Boys & Girls Club, and CCP, and the Art Center is here as well, and they have some great summer camp programs.

Volunteering, we always need volunteers for our food pantry program that's the only reason that program is still in existence is because of our volunteers. And then just advocating for the needs of youth because they're going to grow up and be you guys one day. So we appreciate your support, and I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Thank you.

And to end that, I'm going to pass it on to the City Manager Michael.

I just wanted to say thank you. We have three powerhouse women who came up here and spoke on behalf of those organizations, and since i've been here you know the things that were passed along to me from Dave Derflinger when he left one of the things he had mentioned was how when the city first formed they were deciding what things the city was going to do and not do and one of the things with the city intentionally didn't get into where the programs that Before we move to questions or comments on behalf of the council, I'd like to open up public comment. And I do have one speaker slip for Christina Calkins. Welcome.

Thank you. I'm Christina Kalkins, the Executive Director at the Linda Fairley Carpinteria Arts Center and thank you we received grant support but because our grant amount was less than those three non-profits I'm going to share just a little bit during the public comment and a shout out to Ryan for Managing the grant program, thank you. So I handed out our community impact report for 2025 where you'll see details about our Beas Artes program which is the program that was funded by the Community Grant Program And it is a program where we take the arts out into the community, namely to the people's self-help housing complexes in town. There's three different ones and we rotate weekly taking programs along with the Abuelos Program at CCP and partnering with AgeWell.

Also on Fridays, the senior program. And we started also offering a free weekly workshop in Spanish at our facility on Thursdays from 10 to 12 and then we also have a free workshop in English on Fridays And we have offered, in 2025, 143 off-site workshops and they range from arts, culture, music. They're just fabulous! We even offer dance lessons every Thursday night at Dahlia Court at 530. So if you're ever interested in coming and trying one out We'll see how your salsa and cumbia is.

And the program also supported our Teen Mural Project, which is a free mural collaborative project that we do every year for teens and it is in our courtyard. We pivoted during the pandemic to a panel approach so people could take it home. And we loved it so much that we continue that along with an in-person painting day And you will be the first to know this evening, our theme for this year is going to be celebrate. So the teens will be inspired by that theme and we are celebrating our 25th anniversary as a nonprofit So that'll be very exciting. Please mark your calendar for September 12th, we're gonna have a community celebration and an unveiling of this mural and past mural panels are currently on display in Santa Barbara at the Channing Peak Gallery which is the bottom floor of the Santa Barbara County offices across from the courtyard so thank you very much again for your support Thank you.

Thank you, Christina.

I do not have any other speaker slips. Do we have for this item? Is your name Donna? Yes. Okay. We have you set for general public comment so we're not there just yet. Thank you though. Do we have any other public comment for this item via Zoom?

Mayor we have no raised hands.

Great I will close public comment bring it back to the council for any comments or anything you all would like to share

Sure, I'd like to comment and compliment the organizations that came forward with this one. Carpinteria is very rich in having these types of resources and that's why our youths do so well. What I would also like to state is that even though the city participates it's a community that actually puts in quite a bit of the money also we're kind of a drop in a bucket And if it weren't for the community helping out, they wouldn't be around nor would we. So again, my comments, congratulations to all of you for all the great work you're doing.

I just feel like I say this every time any of you are in this room, but I just feel so proud to have grown up in this community. To be so impacted by all the work that you're doing and now watching the generations who are receiving this and I think more than anything it's just a really good reminder of why the work is so important This last year specifically, being reminded of why we need to do the work. So I really appreciated you coming and sharing all the work that you've done and the impact that you're having on our community and I really appreciate it. Thank you

And I would just say, I really appreciate the organizations that came out and shared the results of what we were able to contribute or provide. I think Councilmember Nomura is correct. What we've been able to give is just a drop in the bucket but it does show how important it is for the city that you all are providing these essential youth services I'm fortunate enough to have had my kids at all of those programs at one point in time or another, so I've seen the effects and just the positive impact it's made. So I appreciate you all for what you do and what you can continue to do in this community. So thank you! And I would also like to say to Ryan and the staff we have really massaged this Community Services Grant program over the last several years And I'm really impressed with where we have taken it today, where we can really hear the impact from the organizations themselves.

And I really appreciate just the report guidelines and the challenges that some of these organizations are feeling or seeing. I think that really gives at least from my perspective as a council member kind of eyes and ears on the ground that we wouldn't have had in the past. So thank you Ryan for all the work that you've done with this program. Great any other comments?

I would like to second the receiving file though. I think that's kind of crucial that we do that in recognition of the programs.

Yeah,

that's fine Was that your first? Yes. Yes.

So yeah, I'll make a motion to receive and file the presentations

Okay, so we have a first and second all those in favor We will now move on to the second item on our agenda which is the city manager's report

Thank you, Mayor, Council, community members. I'll start correction for Powerhouse women in the audience. Sorry, I didn't see you there, Christina. And so I'm going to start just with a little update on our recruitments and before that I'll remind the public again that the City Manager's Report includes information about employee updates, CIP projects and various things. I don't always cover every item and encourage folks to read That city manager's report in its entirety and also that there are some helpful links and things in there for people to click. But to start on some of our recruitments, we're currently recruiting for a chief building inspector plans examiner and that deadline is approaching May 31st Also a Facilities Tendant, part-time which is open until filled.

Bless you! And that one is helping to like manage our various rentals and things that we have at the Vets Hall. And then also a Recreation Leader part time which also there's a deadline for consideration of first review of applications it's also on May 31st So with that, I'd like to turn it over to our principal planner Mindy Fogg who's already faster than Nick is already here to touch on some updates on development applications.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council. We have a handful of community development updates. First we want to remind everyone that we are currently in the Notice of Preparation or NOP comment period for the City's Coastal Land Use Plan and General Plan update So, we'll be preparing a Program Environmental Impact Report or PEIR to analyze how the updated plan could affect the environment and identify measures to reduce or avoid such impacts. And the deadline for submitting NOP comments is Friday June 5th at 5 p.m., And you can find the NOP itself and all of our contact information by going to the main City homepage, selecting Hot Topics and clicking on Coastal Land Use Plan General Plan Update.

And next we have an update on the farm project, which is the proposed residential project on the bluffs at 5885 Carpinteria Avenue. Last month we executed our contract with the environmental consultant team at ESA and that contract is to prepare the project EIR for that development plan So two weeks ago we had our site visit and kickoff meeting with ESA, and we are now targeting some upcoming dates for the NOP period and SCOBE meeting.

Our tentative dates for the 30-day NOP comment period is June 11th through July 10th And the scoping meeting date would be Tuesday, June 30th here in City Council Chambers. And that would be an in-person and virtual meeting starting at 530 p.m.. So we recommend saving those dates and anyone interested in receiving notices on the farm project should email us at thefarmprojectatcarpinteriaca.gov We've also started updating the project website for that which can be accessed by going to the main city webpage, home page selecting hot topics clicking on housing and then scroll down to the Farm Project 5885 Carpentria app A quick update from Chevron about a power pole replacement that's occurring on their property. The work is being done by Southern California Edison, and the replacement would ensure that the power is still supplied to the pier but not supplied to the onshore facilities that are being decommissioned.

So it's a pole that is located adjacent to the Coastal Vista Trail and railroad tracks, and site preparation was to start today and continue tomorrow, and the pole replacement is scheduled for this Thursday. And so during that time some trail access will be hindered Visitors should see some signage out there with some detour signs this week. We have a regularly scheduled Planning Commission hearing next Monday, June 1st.

I have just a few items. The proposed project for Surf Cottages condominiums on 7th Street will be considered for approval And also for the Commission's approval is the Cooler Residence, which is a two-story single family home proposed on Linden Avenue. And the Verizon Wireless site proposed on the downtown clock tower was supposed to be heard this Monday but Verizon is asking for continuance until December on that project.

The agenda and staff reports for these items will be available on the city's meetings and agendas page this Thursday. And finally, we also want to note again that there's an opening in the city's architectural review board so interested individuals can submit an application online or they can contact our City Clerk Brian at brianbcarpinteriaca.gov and That's all I have unless you have some questions for me

Questions? Just one quick question. You mentioned the PEIR and the EIR for the two updates, the coastal land use plan general plan and then the farm project. Can you just for anyone who might be listening can you give examples of what types of comments would be sought in this because I know it can be confusing sometimes I think people think oh it's just comments about the project in general but can you give some examples of what those might look like

Certainly, thank you Vice Mayor Solorzano through the mayor They're very different projects. Obviously the general plan update is high level our plan for a future build out of the city and So for this this NOP period that we're in We want to get input that will help us with the scope of the program EIR and that includes Commenting on topics of concern things that people might think will be affected by the future build out of the city, the plan and its policies. And so any feedback on the potential environmental impacts as well as ways to reduce impact. So if there are more suggestions for either policies or implementation actions that would help reduce future impacts to the environment, we would really like to hear that. We also would love input on what the alternatives analysis should be and so last year when we had a public workshop on the plan A good example is that many people brought up the Chevron property and what the land use designation should be, and that's a great input for us as we evaluate alternatives because we can consider different land use designations for that property as part of our alternatives analysis.

And also in our NOP, if you go in there and read through it we also have a list of about a dozen project objectives. And those objectives also help with the scope of the EIR and the alternatives so If anyone wants to give us feedback on what our draft project objectives are, we would welcome that. You mentioned the Farm Project NOP so pivoting a little bit it's the same process. It's...we're asking for input on what the scope of the EIR should be for that project but it's a project level type of EIR And so if people go in, we haven't put up the NOP yet but we want them to look at the NOP what the project description is. Look at the proposed plans for that development and similarly tell us what environmental impact concerns they might have.

What issue areas? What particular resources? And again, what mitigation measures would reduce impacts? What alternatives they think we should analyze and basically similar but just at the project level.

Great thank you I appreciate that just a clarification for people. Thank you

I have a follow-up question because the EIR for the general plan is this is at the tail end of that process but the NOP draft EIR for the farm, this is at the very beginning. So will there be multiple other options for the public to participate in the EIR for the farm project?

Thank you. Yes, Councilmember Mayer through the Mayor This is the very beginning of the farm project process and so this will be one of the first points of getting input It's on the environmental stage which yes We are wanting to do that environmental stage first and evaluate different alternatives early on So this will be one of the first points Probably the next point after that after the scoping period and meeting The next point would be when we put out a draft EIR We'll ask for comments and we'll have another public meeting during that time.

And then after the EIR process, we're expecting to also have an architectural review board meeting where people can give input on Esthetics, visual architecture. And then we will ultimately have a planning commission and a city council because ultimately on that project the City Council will be the decision maker. And finally, if there is any change to the LCP or an appeal on the LCP, there could potentially be a hearing with the Coastal Commission. Jenna do you think I captured everything? Did I miss anything?

Thank You Mindy council members to the mayor I just wanted to clarify that specifically for Councilmember Mayor your question about the Development proposal for housing on the bluffs this is the what Mindy was talking about was really just the beginning of the public's ability to to comment or be involved in the environmental process. But in addition to the environmental process, there will be...the city will also be going through its very standard development review process. Of which CEQA and preparing an EIR is part of. But this is just the beginning of that public process, so there will be several more opportunities. And Mindy covered some of those in terms of the environmental document and compliance with CEQAs.

Thank you.

A few questions or comments here. First of all, I think it'd be important if you wouldn't mind for staff presentations if we try to reduce our acronyms. I know for us it's easy but I think since it's being televised it would be in our advantage to try and reduce the amount of acronyms. Second question I have has to do with the Architecture Review Board. That one previously we used to have recommendation for specific positions to be filled by professionals We had one landscaper. We had one architect. We had one that was a general contractor I don't know if those guidelines are still being Sought but if that is the case, I believe Richard is our only Architect. Is that correct?

I know Amy Blakemore is a landscape architects Yeah

But anyways, if we're going to be putting the question out there, we may want to seek a like for like. If we're missing an architect, we probably want to replace it with an architect would be my suggestion. Thank you.

I do think that brings up a good point. Do we know what those requirements are to fill the ARB committee? And also, I'll add on a question to that which is, do we have a timeline in terms of filling that vacancy? We might have a timeline, I just don't know if it's within our best interest to leave it open-ended if we want to get that filled.

I can answer that question. So we so far we've received two applications for the open ARB position and I've heard of two other interested people who haven't submitted yet And as far as the qualifications Let me bring that up Qualifications of the ARB is mentioned in the municipal code spelled out there. It says, consists of five members with qualifications for membership being residency within the city and consists of a mix of lay and professional citizens skilled in the interpretation of architectural and landscape drawings and ability to evaluate the effects of proposed development upon surrounding areas.

There isn't a specific we don't need a certain number. We just need some experience or a variety of experience, okay

in the 25 30 years I believe we've always gone with the guidelines of having a landscaper Construction general contractor and an architect so it seemed to work that way. I would have some concerns if it was to change substantially

It sounds as though In order to change it, you might want to make a motion or recommendation that it be updated. It sounds like maybe it was followed informally but if it's not currently in the CMC... Or is that what you said? I'm sorry. That's correct. Okay so if it is not in the CMC it sounds like we might want to input that in there formally or explore it.

I'd like to hear from legal staff on that one because it may be changing a process, procedure that we have applications coming in currently. But it may be something we want to look at the long run as far as policies but again now we follow that guideline for over 30 years so...

I was just going to say from a logistic standpoint, I'll let Jenna touch on the legal aspects of it. I mean ultimately your council has the decision on whether to approve or not to approve. We'll do our best to try to get as many applicants as possible so your council has those options to be able to choose and then if we're unable to find someone that maybe It suits the majority of the council's hopes for different positions. The staff can continue to look to recruit for those positions, and so from a logistics standpoint that's what we would do and ultimately you all would have that decision on whether to approve or not to approve any of the applicants. And Jenna I don't know from a legal standpoint if you had anything additional?

Councilmember Nomura through the mayor. My only comment was that tonight's meeting this we're not looking for a motion on this particular issue since it wasn't agendized so I think we're happy to take back any direction, to bring back something at a future meeting for consideration. It's just it's outside of tonight's agenda. So thank you.

Yeah that's good. Thank you for that one. I think we're good going forward the way we are. One thing for the council be aware of is the fact that these are actually appointed each year so we do have the purview to go through a process and change it during the close of each year.

Okay, and then I will I do want to circle back to potentially having including a timeline Is that something that staff has explored? And of course all I don't know what the rest of the council thinks on that but it might urge Additional applicants to apply

so I was gonna plan on keeping it open for a little bit longer Just to see if we get any more further applications in

are you thinking maybe a month

or at least a month Yeah, at least a month

OK, maybe you can let us know when that timeline is so that in case I'm sure we can all support with potentially referring people or spreading the word. But having a timeline might be helpful for us or I find it helpful. Do we have any other questions?

And I just, a quick question just for anyone who's listening but also to refresh my memory is these advisory boards we appoint them in 2027 in January. Is that correct?

That's correct.

If we were to put maybe like a little more of an expedient timeline on filling this position with the understanding that if somebody comes in, we could tell them that they have the opportunity in six months to come back. Just a thought.

Yeah, I think it's important that we have a member that can... We could have two to two ties and then just keep going without anything getting resolved. So I think we should fill the position. And if we can get an architect, that's fine but if we can't maybe we can get one next year. It'd also be interesting maybe if we're interested in this architectural experience thing is to see, look again at the qualifications of the people that are on there. We may have some people that are kind of like quasi-experienced. I don't know.