It's been a while since Wildomar Rap covered a city council meeting, so let's just hit the basics and see what happens.
City Clerk Update
Highlights from this item include news of all the past agendas and videos city council meetings will be online on the city's website by August 1st.
Also the announcement of the coming election for districts 2 and 4.
Districts 4 and 2 will be up for grabs this year. |
If you're interested in running for a seat on the Wildomar City Council, and you are a registered voter in either districts 2 or 4, filing will begin in about six weeks.
If you're in one of the other three districts, you'll have to wait until 2026 when they are up.
I've not heard whether Councilman Dustin Nigg will seek reelection, but have heard that at least one challenger is interested.
Mayor Bridgette Moore is running for reelection and I've heard that there is a challenger to the seat in District 4.
NOTE: As is customary for Wildomar Rap, I'm planning on offering "Better Know A Candidate" blogs to all candidates running.
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Firewise and Community Risk Reduction presented by Chief Olson and My Safe Riverside Team.
Check out the website for what mysaferiverside.org has to offer. |
With Summer about a week away, it's always good to be reminded about fire safety, don't be a victim.
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Item 2.1 is a yearly update regarding Delinquent Trash Service Charges.
In short, it's a law that you MUST have trash service. I remember finding that odd, and a little irksome when I first heard about it ten years ago.
It's a health and safety issue for the entire community.
Imagine the one neighbor who says he'll take his own trash to the dump... but doesn't. Or does, once or twice a year. As the garbage piles up on his side of the fence, it becomes a haven for all types of vermin.
There are currently 683 out of about 9,957 residential accounts out of compliance for a total of $330,000. That's about 4%.
3.1 Resolution Authorizing Issuance of Special Tax bonds, Series 2024 for Community Facilities District No. 2022-3 (Verano)
These bonds will be paid for over thirty years by the seventy-plus new homeowners in the development of Monte Vista called Verano.
Screenshot from the meeting video |
I asked, "How “on the hook” is the city of Wildomar?"
"Absolutely no risk to the city on this," was the answer from Administrative Services Director, Heidi Schrader.
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3.2 Amendment to Personnel Rules
This was a routine item where the city was making sure our workplace rules were in compliance with the state, and to approve a 3% COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) for staff.
Graphic from the staff report |
As it happens, the official rate of inflation for our area was determined to be 4.3%.
The curveball came from Councilman Dustin Nigg when he wanted to go beyond the staff recommendation of 3% and completely match the 4.3%.
There was a bit of discussion, and Councilman Joseph Morabito (me), I made it clear that I wouldn't be in favor of that change.
Recognizing that I was about to be playing the role of one, Ebeneezer Scrooge, I said, "I wouldn't be in favor of that, you can put the kick me sign on me if you want."
We ended up passing the 3% COLA as was in the staff report.
3.4 Fencing Options for Bundy Canyon Rd. and Monte Vista Dr. at the future Riverside County Flood Control Lateral C Basin
In short, there will be a flood control basin at the corner of Bundy Canyon and Monte Vista. Flood control would pay for, and be responsible for maintenance of the fence if we were to opt for chain link.
The cost difference wasn't the primary force getting me to vote no, but it was right up there. |
The city has the option to upgrade to a Wrought Iron Fence with 8' Pilasters. The additional money would be about half a million dollars, and then the maintenance would transfer to the city.
Here is what the wall will look like, less the trees. |
This was approved 4-1 with me voting against it.
In my experience, wrought iron fences look really good... for a really short amount of time. They generally look like garbage within ten years. Even if maintenance is performed religiously, it still deteriorates, and it's not as if maintenance is cheap for a public entity like a city.
The flood control basin is outlined in red. Curiously enough, there's a chainlink fence with green plastic inserts the entire stretch where the yellow line is. |
So, though I was very much in favor of the upgraded fence when I first heard about it, I couldn't support paying half a million dollars for this upgrade knowing it would come with increased yearly costs to maintain, and most likely the cost of replacement in 15 to 30 years.
Look for construction to begin around the end of the year, and last for a year (for the entire basin project, including the fence).
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3.5 5-Year Capital Improvement Program
There was a lot of information in this item. I invite you to watch the video at the link below. What I'd like to share here is information on Wildomar Trail heading east approaching the southbound onramp.
Here's to hoping that Caltrans responds sooner rather than later. |
The stripping is horrible
There is room to make a dedicated right-turn-only lane, but working with Caltrans is always a lengthy process.
Mayor Bridgette Moore asked staff to provide updated information on it.
"It’s in the budget and working with Caltrans. Hoping to have it completed by the end of the fiscal year."
Then I asked for clarification since "the end of the fiscal year" is a year away (June 30, 2025). Staff assured us that they were pushing Caltrans to get to this as quickly as possible.
• • •
3.6 Agreement for Law Enforcement Services FY 2024-25 through FY 2026-27
SUMMARY: The Agreement provides Municipal Police protection through the Riverside County Sheriff's Office.
DISCUSSION: The Agreement provides 60.5 patrol hours daily. The Agreement dedicates one Traffic Motorcycle team, two Community Patrol Officers, and two Community Service Officers.
FISCAL IMPACT: This agreement commits the City to three fiscal years of policing services. The estimated impact over this period across all funds is $20,465,111. For FY2024-25 the total cost estimate for police services is $6,492,175.
Statistics can only be compiled on REPORTED crimes. If it's not called in, it doesn't get included. If you see something, do your part and report it. |
Here's a link to the slides from Captain Rayls's presentation. A lot of good information can be gotten if you're interested.
Last bit of business on this item. There was one public comment (see video below). We cherish our First Amendment rights as Americans, and that is doubly so at local government public meetings.
Say whatever you'd like. It's your right.
If you're delivering a public comment on non-agenda items, then the range is wide open, and the city council is forbidden from responding... the Brown Act prevents it.
However, when it's an item on the agenda, the rules of engagement are different, and in this instance, the speaker asked for our thoughts as she concluded her remarks.
In brief, she is one of those "defund the police" types. As mentioned a moment ago, the beauty of free speech is that it protects poorly thought-out ideas, and people are entitled to espouse nearly anything they want.
It wasn't a surprise to hear her say the following:
She had asked for our reply, and I was happy to oblige.
"I 100% repudiate your assessment of our Sheriff, he's not a racist. I get it, you're entitled to your opinion, but that is not shared by me, and probably not anyone up here (the rest of the city council)."
See the full exchange in the video below.
Here is a story about the incident that she mentioned in her comment.
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The hope is to recap the meetings now that I don't have the added duties of mayor this year. This one went waaaay long, sorry about that. I'll try to tighten it up next time. lol
Here is a link to the video. It's interactive and you can navigate to each item from a table of contents on the right of the screen, or use the play bar to advance to a specific time in the video.
https://cityofwildomar.granicus.com/player/clip/973?view_id=1&redirect=true
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