REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Good evening. I'd like to call to order the regular meeting of the Moorpark City Council for March 4th, 2026 and will council member Renea Delgado please lead us in pledge.

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 proclamation declaring March 2026 as Women's History Month. Will Deputy Ospina please join me at the podium So we've got a double header. We've got a Women's Month proclamation and also a new deputy introduction, so we're going to start off with the proclamation. The proclamation of the City Council of the City of Moorpark to claim March 2026 as Women's History Month. Whereas during Women's History Month, we honor the extraordinary contributions of women who have shaped our communities, strengthened our institutions and advanced the promise of equality throughout the United States and around the world.

Whereas women have been at the forefront of progress in science, education, business, government, the arts, healthcare and countless other fields often overcoming significant barriers to create opportunities for future generations. And whereas this year's theme, Leading the Change Women Shaping a Sustainable Future recognizes critical contributions of women who are advancing innovative solutions to global challenges championing environmental responsibility, promoting economic equality and building stronger more sustainable communities.

Whereas women leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, caregivers and advocates are driving transformative solutions that promote environmental sustainability, economic vitality and social well-being. And whereas empowering women and girls through education, mentorship, leadership development and equal opportunity strengthens organizations in society as a whole. Whereas celebrating the accomplishments of women past and present inspires continued progress towards a future that is inclusive, equitable and sustainable for all. Now therefore the City Council of the city of Moorpark does hereby proclaim the month of March 2026 as Women's History Month we honor the enduring achievements Invaluable contributions of women in our community and our nation in the world.

A witness whereof, the City Council the city of Moorpark has set its hand and caused the seal of the city of Moorpark to be affixed this fourth day of March 2026. OK, now I'd like to introduce Deputy Natalie Ospina. Natalie Ospina's journey to law enforcement is anything but typical. Originally from Colombia, South America, she was raised in countries like Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Columbia and the United States.

In her late teens, early 20s, she competed in amateur kickboxing. She earned a bachelor's degree in interior architecture from Florida International University and master's degree in architecture from the University of Barcelona. She spent over a decade of her career working and living internationally. During her time abroad, she owned an construction company and continues to own and manage an indoor soccer field in Columbia.

After returning to the United States in 2019, she faced challenges restarting her architecture career and decided to take a new path. One centered on service and community impact through law enforcement. Deputy Espina went through the Sheriff's Academy at 37 years old and now has five years under her belt with the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. She began her career in the county jails before patrolling the streets of Moorpark.

When the opportunity arose to serve as a school resource officer, she knew immediately it was the right fit. Beyond her regular duties as a School Resource Officer, Deputy Ospina is an Arrest in Control slash Use of Force Instructor at the Sheriff's Academy. She holds key positions including Women's Committee Member, Public Information Officer, Explorer Program Advisor and People with Disabilities Academy Instructor.

In addition she serves as a liaison and representative for the Special Olympics in the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. Deputy Ospina coordinates community events like TIPACOP and the Law Enforcement Torch Run, both vital fundraising events that support Special Olympics athletes. In 2025 she developed the Special Olympics Honorary Recruit Program making the Ventura County Sheriff's the second agency in the state of California to ever uphold this program. For this and her dedication to the Special Olympics, she earned the 2025 Guardian of the Flame Award along with Crisis Intervention Team Deputy of the Year. Deputy Ospina has been recently nominated for the Southern California Special Olympics Council.

Above all in the most gratifying job Deputy Ospina has is being a mother of two. So we welcome Deputy Ospina to our new role and thank you for serving Moorpark community. Please join me in congratulating her as I present this award. That's it. Impressive resume, and we're very glad and proud to have you. Would you like to say a few words?

Good evening. First of all, thank you so much. It's an honor to be here. I have felt so welcomed from the moment I started working in Moorpark that when the opportunity Rised for me to take another spot in the city. I definitely wanted to take advantage of it. I do not live in the city, but I want all of you to see me as one of your community members. I want for all of you to have that support and Alliance with me and that you can trust Whatever that is that you need and I will be here for that. So thank you so much

Just really quick, I mean you saw Deputy Ospina's resume. It's pretty extensive. You know law enforcement is a second career for her. We're very fortunate that she applied to the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. I'm very fortunate that she chose Moorpark as a place to come and work as a patrol officer. She was made to be a school resource officer. She is true mentor and leader of those kids.

It allows us students recognize that There's somebody in uniform that they can go to when they need help. And I wish you'd had an opportunity to see her on campus with the way that she engages with the children, with the teachers, with the parents. I've heard nothing but glowing reviews in the short time that she's been there already. So again we're very excited to have her and know that she'll do an exceptional job working with the Moorpark Unified School District. Thank you.

Next item is five public comment. Do we have any speakers?

Yes, mr. Mayor Excuse me We do have one public speaker under general public comment that is and I'm gonna mess this one up John Gregory Chuck And since this is general public comment you do have three minutes to address the council

Cool Can you hear me? Okay Awesome. I'm John Gregerchuk. I just wanted to introduce myself again. I have a project proposal that's up for consideration tonight, and I just want to make myself available to anybody if there are any questions or anything comes up. In the proposal you'll find a bunch of documents. You'll find an outline explaining the proposal, what we're looking to do. You'll find a report justifying how the project can be done.

And then you'll find some additional information about myself and the team associated with the developments that we'll be doing. So I come from a family of developers. My dad started building in 1980, and honestly, I think it's awesome that you have a construction company and came from a background in architecture. So just I love all things construction. I love all things building, and I'm excited to have a project at Moorpark, and hope I can make all of you proud.

Thank you for having me. Thank

you.

And that is the only speaker card I have for general public comment. Okay, thank you.

Move on to item six, reordering of and additions to the agenda.

anything in city government, he had an answer for it. So this was great for us. Also, we got tours of both the police department and City Hall right here where we got to see every facet of city government. We got to see Everybody who worked in each department, the projects they undertook, the roles they played, responsibilities they had. An incredibly informative tour on both of these and Chief of Police as well gave us a very nice presentation on what we can do to make Moorpark safer and what he has done to make Moorpark safer. It's just always bringing it back to how everything we've done It's just given us a much better insight onto how city government works and how we could possibly get into city government if that's what we desire.

So we have plans like community project plans and it involves each of our subcommittees. So, so far we have the teens who are actually working on right now as teen council to make a mini sort of job slash career opportunity fair so we can reach out to the teens who need help. They be working on their resume, need help working on their application or just resources that they can use to really improve their future career and how they are as a teenager in Moorpark And also we have social media content. And by this, we're also filming like little short films on what Moorpark can offer which I know is that something that you guys kind of wanted to implement and us teens in Teen Council are here to deliver that to you and we also have mental health awareness in middle schools that we're working on so we're trying to cover like all the subjects and areas that we possibly can as teens to really make sure teens are getting the most out of what we can do And so these are our current subcommittees.

As you can see, each person is displayed in each subcommittee. So we have future career and job, mental health and social media. And all of us are working on a community project or actually just trying to establish something that can really happen in Moorpark and help the teens and create something different and new. So I think that's really what we want to do as teen council.

Thank you guys.

I want to say thank you for all your efforts. I know you have so many things you could be doing right now. We could be playing Fortnite, sitting on social media getting into trouble but instead you've all decided to come together and use your time to help the city out and that's such a valuable resource to all of us. And I gotta say, we've had the teen council going for a long time. But these improvements we've done just recently breaking up the Brown Act requirements has really allowed this group to really shine and bring some great information to table.

I'm thankful for all the work you've all done, and I've learned a lot just talking to you guys at the last meeting we had together. I learned a lot about the library we were talking about too. Just a great resource, and thank you so much. And I just wondered do any of you think that you might want to be on council someday or are you scared away from it? Awesome. Excellent, excellent.

All right Dan.

That's a political answer right there. No no no I don't want your job. We'll see when campaign season comes around. In all seriousness I could not be more impressed with our team council and it really makes us proud to see what you and the team are doing so thank you for everything that you're putting in. Excellent presentation.

Great, well this is a, actually do we have any public comment?

No public speakers on this item.

All right, well this is receiving file so we'll go ahead and receive in file. Thank you so much for all your efforts and keep up the great work. Okay next item is item 9B. It's considered High Street Depot updated public art. I have a recusal I'll be recusing myself from this agenda item because it involves a High Street Depot project. Though, I have no financial interest in the High Street Depot project, I have had early discussions with the developer about the design and possible future uses but I'm going to recuse myself out of an abundance of caution.

Dr. Cashman?

Okay, thank you. Do I hand this over to Mr. Lorentowski?

You may hand it over to Mr.

Ball.

All right, fantastic. Thank you, Mr. Ball.

Thank you and good evening City Council members. Moorpark Municipal Code Chapter 1750 establishes the city's Art in Public Places program and requires certain development projects to either install public artwork or pay an in-lieu fee. One of the new developments in Moorpark subject to this requirement is the High Street Depot by developer Daily Group. The High Street Depot is a new mixed-use development located on the south side of High Street between the Moorpark Chamber of Commerce and the Metrolink station. It offers 79 residential units and approximately 13,000 square feet of commercial tenant space distributed across seven buildings along with an 8,000 square foot village green community plaza and green space.

The development agreement for the High Street Depot required the developer to pay the Art in Public Places fee of approximately $173,000 prior to issuance of the building permit with the understanding that the fee would be remitted for public artwork installed on site by the developer. To address the public art components, Daily Group engaged four artists to develop a collection of murals and sculptures for the development As you may recall, the artwork included four murals by multimedia artist Zoe Dyke, two murals by muralist Phoebe Nelson of Pander Design Company, a sculpture by artist Eric Powell and a series of five functional lamppost sculptures by artist Spencer Daly. The Moorpark City Council considered the proposed artwork on May 21st of 2025 and approved 10 of the 12 pieces, with two murals excluded from approval.

One titled The Rail on the west side of Building F and the other titled Egg City on the south side of Building E. Those are both labeled Not Approved in Attachment 1 and in the graphic in front of you there. In both cases, concerns centered on the representation of the mural subject matter and City Council requested that The Daily Group revisit both pieces in return to the Arts Commission and City Council for consideration. Which brings us to this item this evening.

The Daily Group worked with the original artists to create new designs to replace the murals that were not approved. And those are presented here this evening starting with the west facing exterior of building F A new mural by Zoe Dyck titled Moorpark Station features a stylized depiction of the Moorpark Railroad station, which was located east of Moorpark Avenue from the turn of the 20th century until its removal in 1964. The mural design maintains the vintage aesthetic of the artist's three other murals for the site and conforms with the overall theme celebrating various aspects of Moorparks history. The mural is approximately eight feet wide and eight feet high, and composed of an aluminum composite material panel upon which the graphics will be digitally printed using high-resolution exterior grade ultraviolet art prints.

And then on the south-facing exterior of Building E, a new mural by Phoebe Nelson depicts the silhouette of a mammoth composed of layered orange, pink and yellow tones. The title Moorpark Mammoth alongside the artwork connects it to the 2005 discovery of a fossilized mammoth skeleton in Moorpark during the construction of the Meridian Hills development. The coloring complements that of the adjacent Moorpark City mural by the same artist and serves to not only enhance the visual appeal of the building, but also capture the interest of train passengers. The mural is approximately 13 feet high, 15 feet wide and will be hand painted directly on the building with metal primer. High-quality ultraviolet protected paint and paint sealer.

Both murals will have dedicated exterior lighting and will be accompanied by informational plaques to provide visitors with historic information and context for the artwork. The updated artwork was considered by the Moorpark Arts Commission on February 17th, where it was well received and recommended to the City Council for approval. That concludes my report. Vince Daly is here representing the Daily Group and staff is available for questions.

Any

questions of staff?

I know Mr. Daly's here but is he giving public comment?

He is our public comment speaker on this item. Council

members, thank you for the opportunity to present this. It's kind of cool that you guys have this program and I think High Street being such a backdrop, I realized what a backdrop it was during the Christmas event and I think it's just using the buildings as a backdrop for art It seems to be working. We got the spanner up, if you saw that and we're putting the lights in as we speak now in the village green so it's coming alive and to honor, you know, the history of Moorpark. We're really happy that we were able to work with the city. My brother is out of the state tonight at his son's conservancy asked me to fill in but I just want to say We put a lot of time into this and really wanted this to be something that the city would be proud of, and using the buildings as a backdrop for the art.

And we concur with the staff on the recommendation of the art, and thank you guys for the opportunity.

And that was our only speaker on this item.

Okay, thank you.

Comments?

I appreciate the new designs. I do think it fits in with the other elements that were there, and I like the mammoth in particular. I think it's nice to have that tie so I'm supportive

It wasn't necessarily the direction I thought it was going to go based on our previous comments, but I do like them. So and I do like the mammoth as well. So I'm fine moving forward.

I appreciate the developer of The Daily Group being willing to try to find something that was more acceptable and desirable for us. And I think you did that well so thank you for your involvement.

Yeah, I agree. I think it's an improvement on the previous versions. I'll just comment that I think it still is just a missed opportunity to connect Moorpark to like the Ag City concept wasn't completely objectionable right? It was just that it could have been an opportunity to create a time and place where we were connected to statewide and national issue and I just, you know, continue to offer to the Arts Commission and anyone else who's creating art. It would be nice to see some of the people element, the people connection to Moorpark because so far what we see are like the artifacts we have. And these are great and these are wonderful representations of things, but what we still have yet to really capture in the comments that we've given is like the people piece of it.

So hopefully in the future, we'll start to see some of those connections to the people and the history as we see in some other cities. Would anyone like to make a motion?

Member, is it enough that you would like to see one of these replaced? Because you did make that comment. I think we all agreed with that at the time, that bringing those faces of our history to life would be great too. Are we looking potentially to do that in other projects because this one wasn't...

I think for a couple of reasons. One, there seems to be consensus that these pieces of art reflect things that we're proud of for Moorpark. So I don't think it's really the right time to draw that line. I just think going forward given that we have the Arts Commission and we have public art, you know, we have those things coming forward that maybe going forward There'll be an opportunity to really highlight some of the people elements because that's what, of course, makes Moorpark special is the people. I appreciate the question.

So would anyone like to make a motion for approval?

Motion that we accept the updated public art.

I'll

second.

All those in favor? Aye. Mary you can come back now.

What? Why

are you laughing? Okay. Next is presentation action discussion item 9C, and that's to consider agreement between the city of Moorpark and Tyler Technologies Incorporated for credit card merchant services. Ms. Stever?

Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. I would like to provide information on the credit card processing fees and provide recommendations. Since early 2024, the city's primary credit card processor has raised fees multiple times resulting in significant increase in cost to the city's budget. In April 2025, the City Council directed to research options to reduce credit card processing fees currently absorbed 100% by the city.

The city operates three primary financial systems that process payments from residents and businesses. The EOP Pro 10 is our core financial system, which includes the financials, budgeting accounts payables, accounts receivables, HR and payroll. EnerGov is our permitting and licensing management system implemented in September 2022. ERP Pro 10 and EnerGov are both provided by Tyler Technology, and are fully integrated.

RecTrack is our recreation management program for recreation classes and facilities rentals. It is provided by Vermont Systems, and does not automatically interface with our core financial systems ERP Pro 10. EnerGov and RecTrack provide public-facing payment portal and accept credit card payments online. When the city began implementing EnerGov, there were only two approved credit card processors available, and the city selected OpenEdge as our main credit card processor.

At the time, fees are compared with previous processor Wells Fargo Merchant Services and determined open edge was much lower. Before the implementation of EnerGov there are a number of incidents with connectivity between Wells Fargo and ERP-Pro10 The city also had a policy in place for not to exceed $5,000 for credit card transactions to control the absorbed cost of credit card payments.

For the recreation side, Vermont system provide PayTrack as their credit card processor. The credit card fee is 1.95% of transaction fees plus flat fee of 20 cents and this is much lower than open edge fees in addition to recreation fees In addition, recreation fees are inclusive as overhead costs when calculating for classes and the rental fees. The total credit card processing fees has significant increase in the past few years from 53,000 in fiscal year 23-24 to $87,000 in fiscal year 2024-2025 and we are projecting to reach $100,000 in fiscal year 2025-2026.

While transaction volume has increased the average processing rate has also risen notably since early 2024 Tonight, I would like to focus on the credit card processing fees on Tyler Technology products and come back for further discussion for recreation program in future meetings. EOP and Energop transaction volume in green indicate rising trends. However, the average rate charges are significant increase since early 2024 as you can see on the graph.

The average rate is calculated based on the total fees assessed divided by transaction volume. People seek convenience and efficiency to conduct transactions, and online payments are the trend in this economy. Therefore further increase in coming fiscal years are expected. The city has several options for the processing fees. The pass-through fees often called convenience fees are charged directly to payer at no cost to the city.

Absolved fees is the current model which the city absorbs all fees. Open Edge and Wells Fargo are examples. And the last one would be a manually added fees to payer This is, in other words, a standalone process. This does not integrate with the systems. The city staff is required to calculate the fees and manually add it to the transactions. Reconciliation of credit card fees may be time-consuming and chargeback and other issues may become an issue with how to trace transaction to the record.

During the review process, staff evaluated the cost of pricing from OpenEdge, Wells Fargo and tire payments. Staff also made contact with local merchant business Recall Anywhere. Many neighboring agencies pass credit card fees directly to the payer. County of Ventura assesses 2.75% for credit card, 1.75 percent for debit card and $1.10 for e-check for property tax payment.

If you are to pay $5,000 in a credit card it will cost additional $137.50. City of Thousand Oaks charges 3.65% for credit card transactions for permitting and licensing, but the city absorbs e-check fees. City of Camarillo charges 2.65%, and $1 for e-check. City of Simi Valley charges 3.25% for credit card fees. So, Moorpark is currently the only neighbouring city that fully absorbs these fees.

Tiger Technologies introduced a fully integrated payment platform. Tiger Payments shortly after we implemented Enagab in 2022. This model can provide two payment options 3.95% on the credit card processing fees, with minimum fee of $2.50 or $1.95 for e-checks. This structure allows the city to implement a path through model meaning the payer covers the processing cost rather than the city.

The system remains fully integrated with our existing systems and does not redirect the users to a third-party portal. Our fees are slightly higher than other agencies due to low transaction volume resulting in higher cost. Other listed agencies also have utility payments, which we don't have. So the volume of transactions for other agencies are much higher than the City of Moorpark.

Tyra Technology is a leading company focused on providing integrated software and technology services to the public sector. Over 9,000 government agencies now use the Tyra payment platform. They have over 175 dedicated staff to support payment solutions. The implementation will be in three stages, paperwork, configurations and implementation. And they expect it to take 60 to 90 days.

The implementation requires a purchase of new card reader which is under $1,000 and additional $2,000 for expansion of online portal for accounts receivables. Alternative options are continue using the current model with OpenEdge. OpenEdge provided a focus matter 45% discount with five-year commitment. Further negotiation will be required after five years, however future fee structure is not guaranteed and may face fee increase.

Additional cost and staff time is required for PCI compliance. PCI compliance refers to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. This is a set of 12 security requirements designated to ensure that all companies that accept, process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. The city staff is not currently expert of PCI compliance and requires a consultant to perform this function with estimated cost of $3,000 to $5,000.

Tiler payments include the PCI compliance at no additional cost. Non-approved third party processor must obtain application programming interface, as known as API from Tyler Technologies. The API request will be typically quoted at the range around $10,000 for 40 hours of consultation. An additional license cost of $2,500 and integration service of about $3,000 is required.

And a new maintenance cost of $500 per year is also required from the city. The third-party processor must configure to work with the Tyler Technologies, and the cost may be passed to the city. PCI compliance is also required. Stand-alone credit card devices are often used in small businesses. This does not integrate with the city's financial system, and manual calculation data entry is required.

This will increase calculation errors, the data entry errors which leads to a lower internal control efficiency. Reconciling with the credit card transactions and our financial documents becomes manual, and we require more staff time. If pass-through model is not approved, the city must follow purchasing procedures which may include opening RFPs. Based on the cost savings, operational efficiency, system integration and reduced compliance risk, staff recommends transitioning to tighter payments using a pass-through model. This approach would reduce annual costs of $60,000 to $80,000, requires minimum startup costs Provide payment flexibility, including credit card and low cost e-check options.

And maintain four system integrations. Staff believes this approach aligns with fiscal responsibility while maintaining convenient payment options for our residents and businesses. Staff recommends approving the payment processing license and service agreement with Tire Technologies, Inc., and authorize the city manager to sign the agreement. This concludes my presentation, and I'm available for any questions.

Thank you. Are there any questions of staff?

Yes. I just want to confirm that using any of these processes is completely optional, that if someone comes in with a check or cash, that that is still an option for them with no fees attached?

That is correct.

Perfect. Thank you.

Any questions? Do we have any speakers?

No, Mr. Mayor, no speakers on this item.

OK. All right. We'll go into discussion. It's pretty straightforward to me. Any concerns? Great, I'll make a motion to approve. Second. We have a motion and a second. No roll call vote so all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? All right excellent Okay,

Move to approve consent.

Second. Motion is second. We need a roll call vote.

Thank You mayor staff requests adjourned two items 12 A and B

Do we have any accusals?

Yes. Mr. Mayor, I want to announce that I'm recusing myself from agenda items number 12A and 12B relating to the sale of city properties at 1063 through 1123 and 1293 through 1331 Walnut Canyon Road. A party proposing to buy these properties has a horse at my property.

I also have a recusal. I want to announce that I'm recusing myself from agenda item number 12B relating to the sale of the city properties at Walnut Canyon Road, sorry 1063 through 1123 and 1293 through 1331 Walnut Canyon Road. A party proposing to buy those properties is represented by an agent and broker in the same real estate firm I am affiliated with and even though I would not gain or lose any money from the transaction, the decision could financially affect the broker in the same firm that I work with With respect to item 12a, I will also be recusing myself unless prior to consideration of item 12a the City Council makes a final determination declining price in terms of the potential sale with the respect to item 12b. In which case I would not have a financial interest in item 12A and I may participate in that decision.

Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor? Yes sir. I don't have a recusal. I just needed to disclose that I had a conversation with Mr. Gregorchuk.

Okay,

thank you.

I did as well.

Okay,

excellent next item is 13. I'll make a motion to adjourn all in favor Thank you and good night Moorpark