At its April 16 meeting, the Los Banos City Council selected the firm to conduct the hiring process for a new city manager, among many other actions taken by the council. The council also heard a lengthy report from Caltrans on proposed roundabouts in and near Los Banos, and it was updated on the upcoming District 1 election.
Fourteen different firms from around the country applied to conduct the hiring process for Los Banos’ next city manager. The list was originally seen at the March 19 meeting of the council, when it was continued to this meeting, giving time for the council to look over the packet of proposals, which totaled 568 pages.
Interim City Manager Gary Brizzee gave the council three options: give interviews to a select few of the ‘best’ proposals, give interviews to the top five best scoring proposals, or select a firm without interviews.
It became quickly clear there was a broad consensus that Ralph Anderson and Associates (RAA) was the best firm for the Job. “They’re on the lower end of the price scale, but with their experience, I think that’s the way to go,” Councilmember Evan Sanders said.
Mayor Michale Amabile joked that he “cheated” by feeding the proposals into AI and asking questions. He later clarified that he looked through the proposals afterwards to ensure he got the right information. Every council member came up with RAA as their top pick, with WBCP, Inc. as a close second. The council directed Brizzee to begin negotiations with RAA. with WBCP as the alternative.
In other actions the council accepted 9.52 acres for a park, approved an agreement with a city union, extended the Bridge House program and increased development impact fees. The council also approved a project to mitigate chromium-six in the water supply, a contract to buy police equipment and a type 41 alcohol permit.
All members of the council were present, with District 1’s seat still vacant. Mayor Amabile led a quorum of council members Deborah Lewis, Marcus Chavez and Sanders. All decisions at the meeting were unanimous.
The 9.52-acre basin park accepted by the council is to be located just north of Pacheco High School, according to City Engineer and Public Works Director Charles Bergeson’s report. The park is a full-basin park, said Parks and Recreation Director Joe Heim, with a small amount of land for park facilities. The land deed was accepted by the council as part of the development of the Southpointe subdivision.
Councilmember Sanders asked about the potential of a new paved canal trail along the Grasslands Canal that the park borders. Heim said that it could be looked into; other parks along the canal, like the Meadowlands Basin, already have a dirt trail along the canal.
The city union agreement is with the Los Banos Public Employees’ Union. It will last until June 30, 2028, and comes after months of the employees going without a contract. According to City Clerk Lucy Mallonee’s report, the biggest aspect of the agreement is a 3% cost of living adjustment, with one adjustment now and every subsequent adjustment on every July 1. The total impact of the agreement is $262,700.
“Our union is feeling that together we have a way forward with mutual respect existing between us and our city manager,” said Kelsey Daguerre, the newly elected union “miscellaneous unit” president and city accounting clerk.
The Bridge House in Los Banos is used to offer temporary housing to 10 individuals according to Community and Economic Development Director Stacy Elms’ report. Using the 2020 to 2021 Permanent Local Housing Allocation funds, the contract with Mission Merced Inc was extended to 2027. These funds are restricted and were set aside in 2020 and 2021 for future use like this.
The Development Impact Fees (DIFs) were raised 0.1% as part of an annual increase. Director Elms reported that these fees will now be $33,357.06 for single-family housing, $26,511.64 for multi-family housing, and $18,053.91 for age-restricted/senior and adult housing. Retail is $20,686.18 per 1,000 square feet, $11,065.37 per 1,000 square feet for office, $6,684.46 per 1,000 square feet for institutional and $4,523.70 per 1,000 square feet for industrial.
The council approved a pre-design engineering services agreement worth $353,000 with Provost and Pritchard Consulting. The purpose is to work on a mitigation to the natural chromium-six levels within the city’s water.
In Brizzee’s report, he made it clear that the current levels are well below all other states and federal requirements, but recently California has lowered the acceptable levels within the state. The previous standard was 50 parts per million, the new standard is 10 ppm. “We’re just barely over that limit,” he said.
Brizzee reported that the chromium comes from rock formations in the westside aquifer and isn’t “an emergency” that citizens should be worried about. “Nothing in our water has changed in the last 20+ years,” Brizzee said.
The council awarded $242,373.67 to Axon Enterprise Inc for the purchase of 60 body cams, data storage, tasers and a service plan. The item was approved without discussion on the consent agenda.
A type-41 alcohol license to serve beer and wine at the Playa Sol Waffle Cafe was approved after some discussion. According to Elms’ report, it is located at 1450 Mercey Springs Rd., Suite 102.
In a presentation given by Caltrans District 10 Chief of Project Management Anand Kapoor and Chief of Traffic Operations Arvinder Bajwa, the council and public were informed about two roundabouts and improvements coming in and near Los Banos. They emphasized the benefits of roundabouts, focusing on how roundabouts slow down traffic and remove the ability for “T-bone” and head-on collisions. “Roundabouts reduce [fatal and injury] accidents by 78%,” Kapoor aid.
The first roundabout is a hybrid one planned for the Volta Road and State Route 152 intersection. According to Kapoor, the plan is to start construction in late 2027, at an estimated cost of $15.13 million. The hybrid roundabout will have two lanes going east and two lanes going west, while only a single lane going north and south,
The second is at the intersection of Willmot Avenue and Mercey Springs Road (State Route 165). This roundabout will be a single lane and cost $6.7 million when constructed, starting late 2028.
Lewis had concerns over the lighting of roundabouts and pedestrian safety. Bajwa assured the council that lighting will be done to make sure it’s safe and pedestrian crossing lighting will be looked into.
Caltrans representatives also talked about improvements planned for Pacheco Boulevard (SR 152) inside Los Banos city limits, including curb ramps, sidewalks, class II bike lanes, upgrades in existing drainage, 11 new CCTV cameras, five traffic signals and six census stations.
According to Bajwa’s report, the current side-walk length will be doubled to 8,098 linear feet and 5,002 linear feet of bike lane will be added. The I-Street intersection will become split-phase to allow for a protected left-turn for northbound traffic. The improvements project is expected to be completed in 2026 at the cost of $27,400,000.
According to city clerk Lucy Mallonee’s report, the election for the city council’s District 1 representative will be mail-only. The nomination period will be from May 5 to May 30. Merced County will provide a mobile filing services trailer to the city free of charge on May 7, 8, 20 and 29.
In councilmembers’ reports, Chavez requested that the mobile food vendor ordinance be placed on the next meeting’s agenda. Lewis requested that the city also update the public on activities and events in ways other than social media. Amabile ended the meeting by mentioning that he had been selected as the commencement speaker for Merced College’s graduation.
