The Los Banos City Council, at its Aug. 6 meeting, extended a popular childcare center’s lease for a city building, awarded a $759,586 sewer lift station contract and updated the public on city projects. They also extended Interim City Manager Gary Brizzee’s contract to allow for an overlap with the next permanent city manager.
Mayor Micheal Amabile led a quorum of Mayor Pro Tem Deborah Lewis and Councilmember Marcus Chavez. Councilmember Evan Sanders was absent, and District 1’s council seat remains vacant until the Aug. 26 special election.
Pennington’s Little Friends Daycare currently leases from the city the building located in Ranchwood Park. At the July 16 council meeting, Lewis, Chavez, and Sanders had a few questions about the regular two-year lease renewal. Lewis was interested if the city should sell the building or move in a new direction for it and asked if the utilities were being paid separately. Sanders did not quite feel the lease was going for market rate.
The decision sparked a large response from Pennington’s staff and owner at the Aug. 6 council meeting. They felt the childcare center might get shut down after 44 years of service and having used the building since 2010.
Thirteen members of the public spoke up during the hearing in favor of the daycare, and 27 wrote in public comments in support. They highlighted the center’s commuter friendly hours, 84 families relying on its daycare and the many second-generation children in Pennington’s care.
Los Banos Parks and Recreation Director Joe Heim said in his report that the childcare center has paid the utility bills and new meters are being installed for the water. He also mentioned that Pennington’s not only use the building, they also upgrade it, maintain it and keep it up to standard.
He noted that because of the unique situation, there are no comparable private rates for such a building and situation. “Unfortunately, in Los Banos,” he said, “there are just not comparable facilities, either in location or type of service the facility provides.”
After seeing the extensive support for Pennington’s, Amabile moved the lease renewal up before the consent agenda. “This council is not here sitting to close Pennington’s down,” Lewis said. “And I think it was a misunderstanding.” She thanked Pennington’s staff and residents for coming to the meeting and the service they provide.
Chavez said he also felt it was a misunderstanding, “I think that’s the city council is just doing due diligence. That’s all it is.”
With a unanimous vote, the council approved renewing the lease.
“I want to thank you for all the 44 years of service you’ve done in this community,” Amabile said to the childcare center’s owner, Marlene Pennington. “And if I were you, I would record this 30 minutes here for your next commercial and put it on social media. Because, Marlene, I think you might have 184 children next year.”
A $759,686.60 contract to rehabilitate the Orchard Terrace sewer lift station was awarded to SW Construction Inc. Chavez had pulled the item from the consent agenda and asked why the project hadn’t gone to R Magana Engineering, a firm located in Los Banos.
City Attorney Bill Vaughn explained that, per city law, the city must select the lowest, responsive and responsible bidder. He also clarified that the five percent leeway that the city provides for local firms does not apply to “straight construction bids.”
Los Banos Fire Chief Paul Tualla and Community and Economic Development Director Stacy Elms received direction from the council on what to do with the old police station. The old police station on Fifth Street was left vacant after the department’s move to its new 1111 G St. building.
Elms presented multiple concepts of what the land could be if the buildings on the nearly one-acre plot were to be demolished, such as a pole barn, a plaza, a park, even a small amphitheater. She also presented the ability to do a feasibility study to determine if the building could be rehabbed or reused in any way. The council came to a consensus on a feasibility study.
Lewis and Chavez highlighted potential noise complaints with some proposed reuses. “I’m not ready to tear it down, I think it has historical value,” Lewis continued. She wondered if a business could be interested in developing the property and at least save the frontage.
“Of all the development that we’ve been doing here in Los Banos that’s supposed to have ‘Spanish’ architecture, in my opinion, they don’t really meet it. This building meets it.”, Lewis said.
Tualla updated the council on the progress and design of Fire Station 4. The station will be located west of Walmart. On the site will be an 8,295-square-foot, two-bay station built to expand in the future and a 5,700 square feet emergency operations center (EOC).
“If we have an incident here in the westside of Merced County, or the county does, we’ll have an EOC to work out of,” he said. According to Tualla, the station should open in mid-2027.
Tualla said that of the $11.5 million total cost, $5.4 million will be paid using a 2019 state award. The rest will be paid with Measure P and development impact fees.
Elms also updated the council on the development services center (the reuse of the old police annex building), just across the street from city hall. The plan is to house the offices of six different city departments, centralizing them into a “one-stop shop,” relieving pressure on a city hall that is “bursting at the seams.”
The departments are planning, building, engineering, housing, fire prevention, and economic development, all fitting in the two-story 9,322-square-foot building.
With the new empty space in city hall being utilized by the finance department and more. Renovations will occur in city hall as phase 2 of the project. Eight million dollars has already been committed in the city budget for the project, according to Elms.
Brizzee’s contract change allows him to overlap 30 days with a permanent city manager, to “have a nice smooth transition,” according to Amabile. with a potential extension to 90 days if needed.
The council also approved two type 21 alcohol permits, which allow the sale of alcohol to be consumed off-site. One business is located in the future commercial development on the northeast corner of Willmott Avenue and Mercey Springs Road. The other is located on the northeast corner of Pacheco Boulevard and West I Street.
At the beginning of the meeting, the council recognized the Los Banos Little League 12-and-under All Star team, which won three tournaments, including the NorCal regional 15. The council also recognized Adrianna Vierra, an administrative clerk in the public works department, as the employee of the month for July 2025. The retirement of police sergeant Nathan Bowling was recognized as well.
During their reports, city department heads and council members thanked the police department for organizing National Night Out the night before. Specifically, they thanked Sergeant Ivan Mendez, who organized the event. “Bravo,” Amabile said.
