REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Clerk, please take roll.

Good evening. Council Member Barrett. Present. Council Member Castro. Present. Council Member Delgado. Present. Council Member Means. Present Mayor Ingram.

Present Next item is 4A a proclamation declaring National Engineers Week the week of February 22nd to 28th 2026. Will Public Works Assistant Engineer Linda Myaskowski please join me at the podium? All right. Proclamation of the City Council, the city of Moorpark declaring February 22nd to February 28th 2026 as National Engineers Week which is the best week ever obviously.

Whereas engineering is essential to our economy, security and quality of life, shaping everything from the devices in our pockets to the infrastructure that carries us safely from place to place. Whereas the work of engineers touches every part of our lives improving health care, protecting the environment, expanding access to clean water and energy and advancing new technologies that address global challenges.

Whereas engineering is a creative, collaborative, inclusive profession that offers meaningful careers to people of every background and inspires innovation across disciplines. And whereas the theme for this year, Transform Your Future recognizes that engineering does not just shape our world, it shapes our opportunities, our communities and the future we can imagine for ourselves and for our children.

And whereas Engineers Week is a time to celebrate the accomplishments of engineers, promote engineering education and inspire students and young people to pursue careers in engineering and related fields. Whereas the world would be a very different place if it were not for engineers' extraordinary ability to think outside the box Now, therefore be it resolved that the City Council of the city of Moorpark does hereby declare the week of February 22nd to 28th 2026 as Engineers Week and further extends appreciation to Moorpark's dedicated city engineers for the vital services they perform and for their exemplary dedication to the city of Moorpark. In witness whereof, the City Council of the city of Moorpark does set its hand and cause the seal of the city of Moarpark to be affixed this 18th day of February 2026.

Thank

you very much.

Thank you, Mayor and members of City Council. I am honored to accept this recognition in celebration of National Engineers Week. On behalf of the engineers and technical professionals who serve our community, I want to express our appreciation for this acknowledgement and for the city's continued support of engineering and public works. I want to also recognize the collaboration that makes good engineering possible.

City staff, planners, builders, inspectors and maintenance crews and decision makers like you on the council. Successful projects are always team efforts. Thank you again for this honor and for your commitment to investing in safe resilient and forward-looking infrastructure for our community. Thank you very much

Okay, next item is five public comment. Are there any speakers?

No Mr. Mayor I have not received any speaker cards for any items this evening.

Thank you. All right next item is six reordering of and additions to the agenda. Anyone need to pull anything?

your local community college is growing. In addition to the growth, we're known for outstanding transfer outcomes. You already know that we've been a finalist for the Aspen Prize twice now. We hope that this will be the third time with the charm. So this time next year, we'll be celebrating. But what you probably may not know is that 89% of our students who apply to the CSUs get accepted.

In terms of the UCs, we had 650 nicense who applied to the UCs and 529 of those students got accepted. That's an 80% acceptance rate for the UC. That's an incredible acceptance rate but we don't stop there. If you look at our students and you compare them to the students in the top 10 Aspen finalist institutions. So there are 1,200 community colleges in the country. Aspen looks at the top 200 of those community colleges, invites them to apply for a prize, and then they select the top 50, then the top 25, the top 10, and then the institution that gets the prize.

Of those top 10 best community colleges in the nation, Their transfer rates, Moorpark College outperforms their transfer rates at 13 to 14 points. So you see that here on this slide. So 2021 to 2023, we do much better than even the top 10 community colleges in the nation. Now what happens when our students transfer to a university or professional school? When we compare Moorpark College students with those students from those top 10 institutions in the country, top 10 community colleges in the country, once again, we do better than those students.

You have a community college in the city that you should be proud of because it is the pride of the nation. So, why are we successful at doing this work? What allows us to do that? Well first of all we have the degrees that allow us to do that. We have 36 associate degrees for transfer which means students can finish at Moorpark College and get a guaranteed admission to CSU.

We also have articulation agreements with public institutions and non-public institutions. And we have a certification that allows us for general education transfer curriculum. You see the list of the top 10 institutions our students enroll in after they leave Moorpark College. So we have a strong culture of transfer and student success. That culture is supported by the fact that we have an honors program, that 71% of the students who apply to UCLA's Honors Program get in at first try. First try. So three out of five people who applied to UCLA from Moorpark College getting their first try.

We're a member of the Aspen Transfer Network. The Aspen Transfer Network is an opportunity for our students to get into the most prestigious institutions in the country, so Aspen works with us so that we can not only identify those students but then provide them opportunities to meet with those institutions, those high-ranking institutions and they get mentors at that institution who work with our students so that they can be accepted into these research one institutions as well as other prestigious institutions nationwide.

We have on-the-spot and on-the-spot same day admissions with some of the universities in our local area. So if you're a Moorpark College student, CLU comes to campus, CSUCI comes to campus, Laverne, Grand Canyon, Woodbury comes to campus, and you can actually present your transcript, get an opportunity to meet with a counselor from that institution, and get admitted on the spot.

That is an incredible opportunity for our students, particularly our first-generation college students because they get that opportunity to engage with these institutions on their own terms. And then we have a transfer center that does incredible work in preparing students for transfer but also helps faculty and staff to connect to those institutions that we serve.

We invest in our students' future through the work that we do, and that work is being rewarded by these various organizations that recognize the distinction of Moorpark College. We not only work well within our own institution, but we collaborate. Here you are a list of businesses, organizations, vendors, employers, internship sites and transfer institutions that we work with at Moorpark College. And this is not an exhaustive list, but this is a list of those individuals who we see as our main partners. And you will see there that both the city, the chamber, as well as the school district are partners of distinction.

So we talk about how we are investing in our students, and we do this in two ways. We're looking at their post-graduation success and transfer, so just the data points I've shared with you is about transfer. And we also look at the student's success in terms of workforce. So when we look at the CT outcomes survey, which is a survey that's conducted of our students two years after they leave the institution and we ask them about their experience of the institution. 90% of those students are not only happy with the experience that they had at the institution but they're consistently acknowledging that it's one of the best experiences of their life so not just about being at an institution. We also note that students get a salary bump by coming to Moorpark College.

What we pride ourselves in is the fact that more and more of our students are leaving the institution, and they're going into direct employment. More and more of our students are, while they're at the institution, getting internships. Participating in internships. And we're very proud of the fact that for most of those students, those are paid internships. Again, that is important for students who cannot afford to take time out and work for free. The opportunity for us to receive grants that then support them as they go ahead and do that work of getting real workplace experience is an additional bonus to the successes of our students.

You have some of our students who are interns in the city of Moorpark as well. You see there what our students tell us about the importance of internships and work-based learning opportunities. So I want to focus on the fact that not only are we training students for the workplace, not only are we training students to transfer, but we're also training students to start their own businesses Entrepreneurship. We're also supporting students and individuals who are already entrepreneurs so that they can better enhance their skills.

An example of that is the work that our game design program does with our game design students. We currently have two students whose games are now being considered for mass publication and distribution by well-known game companies in the local area, and that is an example of the work that we do to add to the economic wellbeing of the city of Moorpark, of the county of Ventura, and obviously of this region.

Similarly, the work that we do with the Navy Base of Ventura County is one that we need to call out because that work comes from the collaboration between our college, our college district and the Navy Base. It is an understanding that the Navy base has 4,000 civilian employees and that those 4,00 civilian employees there's a consistent need not only to replenish those employees but the fact that we want to hire folks who are going to stay in Ventura County. One of the ways we do that is we start off by educating people who are from Ventura County, who live in Ventura County and who live in the service area so they can get employment there.

So, the Navy Base of Ventura County is partnered with our institution so that there are internships that are available to our students and internships that are more than just a semester or summer. They're long-term internships. We've also gotten partnerships with the Navy Base so that they pay for their employees to take classes at the institution so that they're in an engineering technology program, they're in a computer network systems engineering program. then a business program. And this then offers individuals who may not have the credential, the opportunity to get credentials so they can then promote within the Navy-based structure.

We have incredible partnerships with the biotech sector. You know, we have a bio-manufacturing degree and those partnerships are evident in the equipment that we get sometimes donated other times purchased specifically for us or funds provided to us to be able to equip our labs so that our students get trained on the most cutting edge pieces of instrumental technology.

We also have partnerships with companies like Takeda and Bank of America, where they support our foundation through really robust donations that then support our students as they pursue their education at the college. We're very proud of the fact that we see ourselves in partnership, in collaboration with our local businesses. And one of the areas I would like to call out and really celebrate is the partnership that we have with the City of Moorpark. The work that we do with John Bandek and what we do with the team at Moorpark is an exemplar of the work that we can do with our municipal partners Because there's an investment on the part of the city to support the work of the college, and there's investment on the part of the college to really respond to the economic development needs of the city.

The ways in which you engage us so that when you bring new businesses into the city and you engage us with it we're part of that promotion of the city, that helps us because then we already have built a relationship with the companies and with their leadership where they see us as relevant partners in the work. So some things to brag about. These are some of our workforce outcomes.

83% of our former students who are employed full-time are working in a job closely related to their field of study. That is very important because we're not training people to go into disciplines that may not be necessarily connected to their education. We are providing them with appropriate career guidance, career exploration, and appropriate connections to the workforce so that they can seamlessly build careers that then support their families and in so doing support our community.

We're ranked seventh statewide by the College Futures Foundation. They did a return on investment study, and that study they looked at students from 10 years ago, actually from 2015, and they noticed that those students increased their salaries by 37%, within a year after leaving Moorpark College. There are institutions where that is not close in terms of the return on investment. So you should be proud of that.

In 2025, over 300 local employers engaged in partnerships with the college. And I've given you some examples of that. I'm very proud of the fact, and this is an area where we could do better and we could continue to do better work, is that we had 227 of our students participate in internships in 2024 and 2025. We want to increase that number, particularly looking at the number of women, number of students of color, and the number of first generation college students and low income students who participate in internships because we know that workplace learning opportunities lead to long-term career success.

And then I just spotlight two of our health programs, the Spotlight on Nursing 100% five year average licensure exam pass rates. Again, the nurses who take care of you and your families are Moorpark College graduates and we're very proud of the way in which we've prepared them to be caring and career-invested professionals. The same thing with the RADTEC is a 91% five year average licensure exam pass rate, and I just got this a couple of days ago EMT paramedics program. This is their third cohort, and they have 100% pass rate in that three year time frame.

So what's coming up at Moorpark College? What's next? In the fall of 2026, we will begin to offer a bachelor's degree in cyber defense network operations. As I probably mentioned this last time when I was here that we were in the process of getting approved for that degree. There are 750 jobs that are unfilled on any given day in cybersecurity nationwide. We are helping to support and to address that much needed career pathway and industry success.

I'm very proud of this program because it is a program that's designed for individuals who are place-bound. Folks who are not going to leave Moorpark or leave Simi or leave Thousand Oaks, our service area and go to San Marcos or to Irvine. They will stay here because they have connections that they have jobs here. They have families here. And so they need also an education and access back to a bachelor's degree And this bachelor's degree in cyber defense will do that. You should also note that the college's CNSE program has already been identified and recognized by the NSA as a center of occupational excellence, so we're very proud of that.

So that is coming in the fall of this year. The other thing that's coming this year, and actually not in the fall but coming later this summer is I may have shared with you previously these incredible drawings of our amphitheater. Now, I may have told you that it was going to cost us $60 million. And as you know, 60 million just doesn't drop out of the skies. So we're raising funds to get that work done on the interim Our foundation has purchased a temporary amphitheater stage for us at the college that we will look to then begin to deliver concerts this summer.

And we'll be working with the city so that we can sort of align our concert series, but our hope is by the tail end of the summer and the beginning of the fall that we'll start a concert series outside between the library and the gym, that beautiful space right there on the green grass, and that we will have this Wonderful opportunity to bring people to Moorpark, the city and Moorpark, the college to enjoy high quality entertainment.

Once again, I want to thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to share with you the incredible work that's going on at Moorpark College, your local community college. And just as a sort of a heads up, the college turns 60 next year. So we have been in this community and you as this community has supported this college now for 60 years. So will be celebrating 60 years of Moorpark College beginning this fall and will be inviting you all to add various times over the course of the next year to recognize the incredible gem that you have in Moorpark College. And we continue to see ourselves as partners in economic development of the service area. So thank you so much.

Any questions or comments?

Thank you. Yeah, do we have any questions? Tom, want to start off?

Sure. Thank you, Dr. Sokinoue. I so appreciate you being here. Deans, professors, teachers, staff members, as you went through these stats, these stats didn't mean as much to me two years ago as they do today talking about the transfer rate, talking about constant improvement, talking about the types of students that you serve. You know that in my own household, my wife, my better half She, for the last two years has been going to Moorpark College. She had extraordinary teachers. It was great in proximity and with the facilities and the education that was provided and a lot of hard work and long nights studying on her part she did get to transfer. She is a fully employed first generation Hispanic woman who hit a number of the marks that you were talking about there.

And with the education from Moorpark College, she was accepted to Ivy League schools like Columbia and UPenn, other East Coast schools like NYU and Georgetown, many of the UC schools. But ultimately she got into her number one choice in clearly the best university in my alma mater USC where she is currently. Sorry PJ and Councilwoman Delgado. You know, not everybody can get into USC. So some of them go to UCLA but she is currently a student there continuing on her education because you serve the community as well as you do and while she is special, she is not alone. You do that for a tremendous number of students and I'm proud of our community and I'm proud to have you guys as partners so thank you and thank you for this update. Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Dr. Solkeny, obviously there's so many accolades that your team has accumulated. I think you said members of the foundation are here too? Yes. I know their support is instrumental to that. I'll just pick two areas to focus on. I think over 10 years ago the Harvard Business Review basically tried to promote this idea of like moving from the traditional views of pipelines and extend that to platforms. And I just think about You're not only meeting your core mission with all the stats and accolades that we accumulated, but to think about the connected piece that Moorpark College now plays across the city regionally and now nationally.

That's remarkable. And so that's what came to mind. That's despite or not, despite in addition to the fact that you have this promise that extends to so many talented individuals regionally. That promise extends to our highest need families, our highest needs students. The dedication you've had with the food pantry for a number of years is As diverse as the population is, a portion of that population continues to be our unhoused population. And the fact that they are welcome and successful in all these avenues and opportunities that you have are available just as you said to everyone I think also is something worth celebrating so thank you for all the work that you've done.

I'd like to say thank you for all the work, and you're running an incredible organization over there. And we're incredibly proud to have Moorpark College in our city. I've got a really good family friend. She's a single mom struggling to pay her bills. She's a medical assistant, and she just wanted to make a better life for herself and her And she's now in the nursing program going through that. And just seeing how, you know, a four-year college is not for every single person out there but watching someone take Moorpark College as a step to bettering her life, her whole family is a really powerful thing and glad to have that in our city.

Thank you so much. Thank you Mr. Mayor

I'll echo what everyone has said. Thank you so much for everything that you've done for the college. We've seen it grow and seen these numbers and accolades rise since you've been here. I do have a personal experience as well, 11 years ago when I came to Moorpark Took four years of dance classes as a community member, which was a ton of fun. I wish I could take more But your level of instructors you're there beyond Superior

so

As well echo what everyone said, but I want to thank you for the partnership. I think that is so key, the partnership with the city, the partnership with the businesses and always kind of having that student first mentality that you're knowing what your goal is and striving for that goal and pushing for that and I see it In the work that everyone does at the college. I've been blessed to meet many people through my interactions with Moorpark College and just Incredible people so thank you for all you do Is there any public comment

No Mr. Mayor, no speaker cards on this item.

Thank you. All right well this is a receiving file I want to say thank you again for coming out great to see you again okay

Good evening mayor and council members Tonight I would like to turn this over to Mr. Poon Salang, Budget and Finance Manager who spent many hours analyzing and then compiling this report.

Thank you. Good evening Mayor and Council Members. Tonight I will be presenting the Mid-Year Budget for Fiscal Year 25-26. So annually the City reviews the budget status in January and makes necessary adjustments to budget line items that's considered significant Typical guideline is to adjust anything over $10,000. The proposed adjustments are based on the following key considerations.

For revenue we adjusted property tax and sales tax using the most recent data from our consultant HDL. We reviewed a timeline of development related projects and adjusted fee revenues accordingly. And then we corrected a revenue estimate of our solid waste franchise fees. On the expenditure side, we adjusted salary and benefits to account for the 3% COLA approved in June 2025 and health insurance premiums that increased in 2026.

We also reviewed increased maintenance and contractual service costs, reviewed legal costs, and we adjusted development-related building and safety costs So one thing to note, in January 2025 we had several wildfires which resulted in massive property and capital losses with estimates totaling over $130 billion. This caused shortages of materials resulting in higher prices on building and construction materials in the area. This also resulted in increased maintenance costs for the city.

So some of the prices and costs arise are due to post-disaster rebuilding. Large scale reconstruction after the fire has increased demand for contractors, equipment and materials pushing prices higher for projects. For construction materials, prices remain elevated due to supply constraints, transportation costs and tariffs on imported materials directly affecting increased capital project costs and labor costs. Minimum wage increase and prevailing wage requirement raises the project labor costs.

For our mid-year budget adjustments, total revenue is reduced by approximately $2.6 million. So the good news is most of the revenue is increasing so as we stated earlier property tax and sales tax are estimated to increase by about 200,000 each Our franchise fees are increasing due to corrected solid waste franchise fee calculation per the last agreement adopted in December 2024.

That results in an increase of $262,000. Our building and safety fees are increasing by about $900,000 based on activity occurring right now. However this is offset by also increased costs. Where our revenues are decreasing is related to development projects, development impact fees which are reduced by $3.9 million. This is based on just a timeline of development projects and while it's being decreased this year this is revenue we expect to receive in future years.

On the expenditure side, we are asking for additional appropriation of $1.4 million. This includes property maintenance services which are estimated to increase by $224,000 as well as an increase of $187,000 in contractual services. As stated, building and safety costs are estimated to increase by $530,000. This is offset by the $900,000 increase in revenue In addition, we have a legal cost increase of $340,000 which is $100,000 in general fund, $200,000 in our solid waste fund and then $40,000 in other special revenue funds.

Lastly, our salary and benefit increases are about $67,000. So breakdown on the revenue. Primary changes to revenue include general fund increases to taxes, fines and vehicle in lieu fees totaling $742,000. However this is offset by a reduction in recreation revenue of $96,000 due to cancellations of programs. The LA AOC and City Housing Fund are impacted by the realignment of the timeline for development projects. And then the Community Development Fund has a large increase due to the building permit revenue increase. In addition, the city received $39,000 for the reimbursement under Princeton Avenue Winding Project.

For expenditures, property maintenance includes city hall police service center maintenance. Citywide landscaping and lighting district cost increases as well as the trail and ridge crest basin repairs for Moorpark Highlands. Contractual services including parking, bail surcharges, printing, building and safety, safety light repairs, transit operations and other contractual services.

As stated earlier legal costs increase include the general fund and solid waste matters. So, originally the fiscal year 25-26 had an estimated ending fund balance of $70.4 million. However after the proposed budget adjustment, the revised estimate ending fund balance is reduced to $66.4 million. Once again it's important to note that the $3.9 million in deferred development related revenues is not lost but simply moved to the future year.

This slide shows the net change of the budget adjustments by fund. The major changes in fund balance are general fund, which increased by $400,000, the LA AOC, which increased by $265,000. City affordable housing is a decrease of $4.2 million and then the solid waste fund decreased of $210,000 So our reserve fund projection, our current fund balance for Special Projects Fund and Endowment Fund is $47.8 million.

Projected revenue includes grant reimbursement of $2 million, raising the fund balance to $49.8 million. However, of this amount, $31.6 million is committed for current fiscal year projects and an additional $2.2 million is committed for future CIP projects. The remaining available fund balance is $16.1 million. Our total unallocated available funds or reserve funds is $21.7 million.

So this does conclude my presentation. Staff recommends approving the resolution, including amendments to account numbers that were addressed. I am available for any questions you may have.

Thank you. Are there any questions? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for the report. The question I have will hold comments off but the question I had is the approximately $4 million that you said for development fees that won't come in this fiscal year. You said it would be either in the next year or years? I'll defer that to

Community Development Director. Okay.

Thank you very much, Mayor Pro Tem. So we expect those within the next year or two. It's always a little difficult to kind of pin when exactly those might be realized with everything that goes into site preparation. Most of these will be collected upon the issuance of a building permit so typically as we have an adjustment like this, we'll slide those into an upcoming fiscal year or beyond.

So we'll basically just see that coming up in the approved budget for 26-27 fiscal year and then if there are any adjustments, that will be adjusted into the subsequent year. Correct?

Yes. That's our hope and I also have been conservative about those estimates with regard to projects that are actively moving forward versus others that have been approved. I'm only projecting things that were actively advancing. Okay.

Thank

you. Do we have any speakers?

No Mr. Mayor no speakers on this item.

All right. We'll move into discussion. Pretty straightforward. Anything else?

Yeah, I just wanted to laud the city. In a budget the size that we have, the fact that most of these projections are really within reasonable limits and the couple of unexpected losses in revenue and then increases in expenditures is just again thank you for keeping such a close watch on the budget and being within amazing striking distance of the original projection so thank you for your work

And my only comment is when I saw the $3.4 million off, my very first reaction was whoa like that's a problem and very quickly upon review as you were pointing out Mayor Pro Tem it's a cash flow item it's not an overall issue so I'm delighted to how spot on we are when you consider that being a cash flow item.

Alright well I'll go ahead and move the recommendation.

Second.

Motion in a second. We need a roll call

vote All right, we'll go on

to item C that's considered specifications and authorization to advertise for construction bids for the 2026 pavement rehabilitation project specification number mpk 26-0 to mr. Kim

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. Daniel Kim, City Engineer and Public Works Director, and I will be joined by Ms. Muskowski, Engineer of the Week, right? The item before you tonight is to consider and approve the 2026 Pavement Rehabilitation Project and authorize city staff to advertise the project to obtain construction bids. In 2021, the City awarded a contract to IMS Infrastructure Management Services to develop a citywide pavement management program.

A pavement management program is an asset management tool that cities use to analyze and evaluate existing pavement conditions and to prioritize future investments for maintenance and rehabilitation. In 2022, IMS surveyed and analyzed all 84 centerline miles of the city's street network and developed a pavement rehab plan based on an annual budget of $800,000 per year.

The $800,000 annual budget for pavement preservation was based on funding received during fiscal year 2022-23 from the Local Streets and Roads Funding Program, which is revenue generated by Senate Bill 1, the gas tax. In 2022 when the streets were surveyed, the average pavement condition index for the city was 68, which is described as in good condition. Most cities target an average PCI of 72, which is described as very good.

On October 18th, 2023 the City Council approved the five-year pavement rehabilitation plan which as previously mentioned is based on an annual pavement preservation budget of $800,000. Attachment one of the staff report provides an exhibit of the street segments that were recommended as part of the five year rehab plan. Admittedly between 2022 and 2025 city staff was working on and completing other high priority CIP projects and did not perform a pavement rehab project.

The 2026 project aims to catch up on the entire five-year rehabilitation plan all at once, including several additional street segments where the pavement condition has deterred it beyond normal maintenance and repair. And these have been found to be primarily on cul de sacs. Attachment 3 of the staff report contains the project specifications for the 2026 pavement rehabilitation project, specification number MPK 26-02.

Staff recommends that City Council review and approve the project specifications and authorize city staff to advertise a project to obtain construction bids. The funding source for the 2026 pavement project will be fund 2416, State Road Rehabilitation Fund. The current fund balance is approximately $4.7 million and the engineer's estimate for their project based on the estimated quantities is approximately $ 4.4 million.

The city is required to adopt by resolution a project list for those areas to be funded by state Senate Bill 1. The 2026 pavement project is consistent with the previously adopted resolutions. The 2026 project is also consistent with City Council Goal 3, Excellence in City Governments, Objective 3.6, Implement Pavement Management Plan. Completing this project will also achieve this objective.

Should the city council authorize staff to move forward with the 2026 project after construction completion, staff will resurvey of the streets to determine an average and updated citywide PCI and develop a pavement rehab plan for the next five years for the city council's consideration. That concludes my brief presentation. I, along with Ms. Muscovsky are available for any questions.

Thank you. Are there any questions? I

just want to thank you for the report and I'm excited to see some of this getting underway. You mentioned we're going to catch up on a five-year plan all at once. By its very nature, there'll be some winners and losers street by street. Some that will get paved now and some won't be paved in the next year. My question is how quickly will those other areas of need after this year be addressed? Can we anticipate next year or the year after to have a furtherance of the pavement improvement?