COUNCILMEMBER REPORTS

Only Mayor Protem Dr Shana Charles had anything to report – though before she began, she was reprimanded by Mayor Fred Jung, speaking in a garbled voice over Zoom about her responses to the concerns brought up by the public. “If you are speaking on behalf of our council you may be laying out information to the public that may not be, one germane, or two, factually accurate.  I would defer to our staff to answer those questions so they have direction accordingly,” said Jung.  

Mayor Protem Charles responded, “OK, thank you – so noted. As this is my first time sitting as chair, I would like to inform the public that I did mention to the city attorney, before we stepped in, that if he felt I was overstepping the bounds of what I should be saying to please feel empowered to step in and let me know.” She said she was informed that she could direct staff in discussing comments and asked the city attorney if he had anything to say. He said he had no comments. 

Mayor Protem Charles began her council report by saying she was very excited and honored to chair the session, with Mayor Jung unable to be present. She said she was excited about attending the OC Power Authority meetings and the OC Sanitation Board as an alternate and learning about what they do. She reminded the public of the many ways she can be reached through social media, including Facebook (Shana Charles Council Member); Instagram (Shana.CharlesOfficial); Email to shana.charles@cityoffullerton.com and in person every Thursday open office 12noon to 2pm at city hall (although for the last week in February, she will be at Titan Walk at CSUF).  She also sends out a monthly newsletter to anyone interested.

She attended two important events open to the public at CSUF – a county-sponsored Fentanyl Awareness & Education event where free naloxone nasal spray kits and overdose instructions were given out. She said it is incredibly easy to save someone’s life with the kit available through OC Healthcare Agency.  The second event was a Black History Month celebration featuring the documentary “Black Barbie,” which features CSUF professor Amirah Saafir. She highly recommended the film, which can be seen on Netflix. Also,  during the celebration, there was a special recognition of Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks and the accomplishments of Black women.

CITY MANAGER LEVITT’S REPORT

City Manager Eric Levitt talked about the issues surrounding the new water billing system. “We’ve started sending out inserts in the water bills” to provide more information. The water bills were delayed and sometimes reflected 90 days instead of the usual 60-day billing period. There have also been some people with water leaks, causing larger water bills, so anyone concerned can contact his office (714-738-6310). 

COMMISSION & COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS

• Jung appointed Jose Trinidad Casteñeda to the Community Development Citizens Committee 
• Valencia appointed Susan Herzel to the Senior Committee

CONSENT CALENDAR

The consent calendar passed unanimously except Item 14, pulled by Councilmember Jamie Valencia, who wanted the public to know the cost of infrastructure improvements around the City.  Public Works Director Bise agreed to give a brief presentation about that at the end of the agenda.  

PUBLIC HEARING

Municipal Code Amendments for Housing Incentive Overlay Zone (HIOZ) 

Ordinance number 3337 passed unanimously.

This clean-up of the HIOZ passed at the Dec 10, 2024 meeting deals with notifications and height restrictions and adds a requirement that staff mail notices to property owners, tenants, and businesses within 300 feet of any HOIZ project. It also sets height limits of 30 feet on projects within 100 feet of historically designated houses or houses in preservation zones R-1P; R-2P; R-3P.

Public Comments:

•Curtis Gamble said he supported the item but was disturbed that “the Municipal Code for Emergency Shelters has not been updated since 2015. It should be included in the Housing Element.”  He recommended the City update the code like Anaheim’s 8-page code, which includes state and federal laws and city ordinances that are more comprehensive than Fullerton’s 3-page version. “We are part of this, but you keep leaving us out,” he said.

•Jane Reifer thanked the council “for hearing the public and applying the protections.” She hoped that identified historic properties that have not yet been designated would be included in the process.  She also asked that project notifications be posted on the city website so that the general public would be aware and that an interest list for upcoming project notifications be developed.  Always a great proofreader she offered some corrections to the agenda information. While it was true that the Housing Element was passed on Jan 7 – “this is really about the HIOZ, which was passed on Dec 10. And though it says there was a second reading on Jan 21, that one was pulled and brought back tonight.” 

PROPOSED 2025 SPECIAL EVENTS CALENDAR

Parks & Recreation Manager Hernandez presented the proposed 2025 Special Events designed to engage the community, promote local businesses, and provide entertainment for residents of all ages. 

1) Community Yard Sale proposed for Saturday, Mar 15 at Independence Park is an opportunity to declutter your homes, discover treasures, and have a safe space open to the public with free admission. Space rents for residents ($25) and non-residents. ($35). ($2000 General Fund)

2) Fishing Day at Laguna Lake is scheduled for Mar 22. This is a free event. Registration is required because there are limited spaces for 200 kids. The lake will be filled by the California Fish and Wildlife. There’ll be food trucks, and learning how to fish and spend the morning at Laguna Lake will be a lot of fun. This event is funded by a private donation. ($3000 Private Donation)

3) Every Thursday Night Downtown Farmers Market returns on the first Thursday of April through the end of August. About 40 to 50 vendors participate on any given night. It includes live music and a museum beer garden. ($5250 x 20 Thursdays = $105,000 for the year from General Fund)

4) Eggstravaganza at the Downtown Plaza last year got rained out and was moved to the Fullerton Community Center. This year the City is looking to host the event on Saturday, Apr 19 at the Hunt Library from 10am to 2pm. Free. Grant funded. Photos with Spring Bunny, music, food vendors, and various kids activities, including face painting. ($10,000 from Hunt Programming Grant)

5) Fullerton Airport Day Saturday, May 31.  It is a free event to attend and is very popular and it’s an opportunity for members of the community to visit the airport. View static displays, Enjoy helicopter rides, interactive displays and a kidszone with lots of fun. (No funding info given)

6) Food Festival at the Hunt Library on Saturday, Jun 28. Budget, being from the Hunt Programming Grant, Features an array of food from around the world along with live music performances and cooking demonstrations to highlight the thriving foods in Fullerton. ($5000 from Hunt Programming Grant)

7) 4th of July, there are five different proposed options. The cost of the event will remain free to attend.

• Option A: 4th of July celebration taking place on Thursday, Jul 3 during the downtown Fullerton market. So we would just enhance it with activities, games, contest, live bands. There are no fireworks proposed for this option. ($20,000 General Fund)

•Option B: City of Fullerton 4th of July parade from the Orange County Courthouse to the Downtown Plaza. 9am start time, approximately about two hours. The parade will feature musical school bands, various city departments, bike organizations, officials, local organizations that would like to participate. There are no fireworks proposed for this event due to availability. ($50,000 General Fund)

•Option C:  4th of July celebration on Thursday, Jul 3 from 2pm to 9pm in the Downtown Plaza. Car show with games, rides, live band, entertainment and a 20 minute fireworks show to conclude the evening. ($195,000 General Fund)

•Option D: Host the 4th of July parade from the Orange County Courthouse to the Downtown Plaza with a festival event at the conclusion of the parade from 11am to 2pm featuring a live music contest, entertainment but no firework demonstration. ($75,000 General Fund)

•Option E: Not have a 4th of July event. ($0)

8) Summer Movies in the Park on Wednesdays at various parks throughout the City. Free to attend. Activities will start about 6pm with movies starting at sunset. Food trucks, games and various sponsors and organizations. This would be a general fund budget item. ($10,000 General Fund)

9) Friday Night Live Concerts, at the Fullerton Sports Complex in the month of August. Free to attend. We would obtain funds from the Bread Jam. Live music, friends and family activities and food trucks. ($35,000 Brea Dam Fund)

10) 2nd annual PupToberfest at the Hunt Library on Saturday, Oct 11. Free to attend. The budget would be coming from the Hunt Programming grant. Features various dog breed races for small, medium and large dogs and puppies and dogs in costumes, kids activities, vendors and various food trucks. ($7000 Hunt Programming Grant)

11) OctoBOOfest is held in October. We do increase the budget a little bit there for various kids’ activities. This last year we had a magician who was very well-liked and we’ll have various kid-oriented vendors, free trick or treating and a costume parade throughout the event. ($2000 General Fund)

12) Turkey Trot Fall 5K. We’re still working on that, but the idea is to either have it at Laguna Lake or at the Fullerton Sports Complex around Thanksgiving. We are looking for a minimal registration fee ($40). Features health and fitness instructors, the local contractors to do warm-ups and partner with local companies to have a vendor fair. ($10,000 General Fund or Brea Dam Fund)

13) Veterans’ Day Celebration. Due to the closure of the local American Legion Post there was no celebration last year, but this year we are proposing to host one on November 11th, 10am at the Hillcrest Park Great Lawn. Free to attend.  Featuring military service with guest speakers and patriotic performance and potentially a gun salute and Fire & Police Departments. ($20,000 General Fund)

14) Tree Lighting Ceremony Friday, Dec 5 proposed at City Hall. Free to attend. Face painting, photos with Santa, kids activities. We’re looking for local performances and various vendors. Budget from the general fund. ($10,000 General Fund)

15) First Night to welcome in the new year at the Fullerton Plaza 7pm start time through midnight, concluding with fireworks. Close all of downtown including Harbor Blvd and the surrounding streets. Features food, the businesses. Attendees freely stroll through the downtown and enjoy music, food and a fireworks show. ($175,000 General Fund)

Council and Staff Discussion:

Mayor Protem Charles commended staff for their work and opened the item to council questions.

Mayor Jung questioned, “What the problem is with getting a fireworks vendor?”

Manager Hernandez responded that the vendor we used last year was uncomfortable with the space. Working with the vendor and the Fire Dept., they explored alternative locations across the City, but many were in high-fire zones. Unfortunately, other vendors are locked into long-term contracts with other cities on Jul 4. We are on a waiting list, but no technicians are available. 

Mayor Jung questioned, “Why funding was coming from the general fund rather than seeking sponsorships and donations?”  

Deputy City Manager Daisy Perez answered, “The item before you shows the total budget needed. There is an ongoing sponsorship effort for all events to reduce the net overall cost. It’s not included in this report as those numbers have not been finalized.”

Councilmember Nick Dunlap listed 24 surrounding cities that have fireworks on the 4th. “Why can they figure it out and we can’t? Fireworks and the 4th of July is like Christmas and Santa Claus, Thanksgiving and turkey.” He said celebrating the 4th of July on the 3rd was a poor option. “Several years ago, we considered holding the 4th of July program at multiple locations, including Amerige Park. What happened to that idea?” He asked why this issue wasn’t coming before the council sooner and said that it seemed like a significant cost to the City.

Mayor Protem Charles clarified that Placentia and Brea (on Dunlap’s cities with fireworks list) “do not have fireworks – they have events.” 

Councilmember Dunlap agreed that some cities have events, and Brea says that there are “fireworks during the annual Country Fair.” He pointed out that “4th of July happens every year and we know that there’s going to be demand for fireworks and demand to put on a fireworks show. We need to really figure this out because it’s frustrating.” 

Deputy CM Perez said, “Many of those cities that were mentioned by councilmember Dunlap do not allow the sale of safe and sane fireworks, and so they have locked in long-term contracts with these vendors. The main company, Pyro Spectacular, prioritizes their technicians where they have these locked-in contracts in place. If it is a priority of the council to have fireworks every year, then we can look at proposing a long-term agreement with them to see if we can move up on the priority list. However, staff did not feel comfortable having those conversations with the vendor before council approval, just given our City’s budgetary constraints. We didn’t know if there was council appetite to lock in a $200,000 event for a multi-year commitment.” 

Dunlap said “In the past, if I’m not mistaken, both the First Night event and 4th of July or at least some large portion of both have been offset by contributions from Republic Services (the City’s contract trash company). I think the Republic Services’ contract with the City indicates that they have to either sponsor one or both of those events. Past City Manager Domer had preferred to just get a check from Republic Services to the City. But I mean that it was included obviously before my time on the council as a bargaining tool. So I think from that standpoint, it’s best to leave those budget decisions to the council. But, I think it’s incumbent upon us to get the information quicker and sooner so that we can make those determinations ahead of time. There’s no reason we should not be able to do something on the 4th of July.” 

Councilmember Jamie Valencia asked the others about having the drone show alternative for this year alone. Councilmember Dunlap said “I saw one at the UCLA football game and it was pretty impressive. But I still think there’s no substitution for the real thing.”

Public Comments:

•Mr. Harrison said These big public events are, of course, highly under-parked. People have to flock a long way in. Sometimes, there are buses or other transportation arranged, but a chronic issue is a lack of reasonably nearby public handicapped parking. I’ve been to many events in other cities. Just go wherever events are typical in a number of places from Fashion Island to Orange and closer, and they mostly do a fairly good job of blocking off some designated parking and a handicapped drop-off area for people like Maureen who have to use a shuttle service of some kind. So I would like direction specifically from the council to city staff to work a bit harder on handicapped and disabled and senior access to these various public events.” He also came out in favor of a drone show if fireworks were not possible. “The incidence of fires caused by drone shows is way down compared to fireworks shows and they work in tighter spaces in smaller communities.“

•Matt Truxaw said, “One, I love the events, so I’m glad that we’re planning those things. One of the things I would have liked to have seen in the presentation is, yeah, you had the cost of the for the public and you had the budget, but you didn’t have an estimate of vendor fees and things that might offset some of those costs. And I want to thank Mayor Jung for bringing up sponsorships. I think that’s a great idea that we should be looking for some, and I’d like to challenge both Mayor Jung and Dunlap, who showed very effective fundraising in their elections, to maybe reach out to some of their contacts to perhaps help sponsor some of these events.” 

•A resident said “I just kind of wanted to share in Mayor Jung and Councilmember Dunlap’s frustration about this coming to late to have fireworks. If there’s something like a long-term contract that could salvage this, then that would have been really useful. That being said, I would say if there’s no 4th of July fireworks on the 4th of July, then probably having no event would be my preference.” 

•Curtis Gamble said,  “I support this item. Years ago I was in the military and we celebrated around the world, always, everywhere, so we should always have a very nice celebration regardless of what it is, you know, whether it be fireworks or drones, it’s for the community.” He suggested coordinating with the OCTA buses for transportation. “We could get more bus stops because when we have events, transportation is always tough. So if we could look again at Commonwealth and say, hey, let’s make sure that these bus stops are in the appropriate place to make it convenient for people to use their service. We have the service available and we have Mayor Jung and Supervisor Doug Chaffee on the OCTA board.” 

•Victor Cortes said, “I was noticing that you have very specific events planned out. Why can’t you chop them up and put separate parts together? I personally liked having the Farmers Market on the 3rd, but there were no fireworks. Well, why can’t we take the fireworks from the 4th of July and have them on the 3rd? Granted, it’s not the same thing, but we’re celebrating the third anyway, so you might as well just bring the fireworks. And I’m pretty sure that vendors that are booked for the 4th, should be available on the 3rd. That would solve 2 problems – give us the fireworks that everyone wants and it would give us the availability of vendors. To me, it seems simple. If you can’t have exactly what you want, you just take the ingredients from what you have put them together and get the best meal that you can get. I believe that having the Farmer’s Market type of celebration that is not extremely expensive and bringing the fireworks to the third would free up not only the technicians that we need for the fireworks, it would also please the residents because they get the show they want. And even if that’s not available then use the drones. I prefer the bang as opposed to just the light, but see if something like that is viable and whether or not the residents would be OK with it. You might be surprised. What’s one day sooner or later? Then residents would get two options because we can have our city celebration on the 3rd and if we really want more, we can go someplace else on the 4th. 

• Anjali Tapadia asked if the Farmers Market could be extended into October as it had previously been. “These are events that are wonderful and are widely attended by people all over Fullerton. When we were tabling for Save Walk on Wilshire, we tabled at the farmers markets and met people from all over Orange County who already knew about the Walk on Wilshire. That means that Fullerton’s reputation is wide-reaching and that these events attract people from all over the county.  That increases revenue for our City when people come to visit and then spend money here. They’re also just wonderful ways for the community to get together. So I wanted to inquire about extending those.” 

“Even though 4th of July is my favorite holiday of the entire year and I look forward to it and all my life fireworks have been part of that, I’m not married to the idea of fireworks.” She said if the choice is between having a celebration without fireworks or not having a celebration at all, “absolutely go for a celebration.   The 4th of July, for me, is about the energy of the holiday, about being around other people and enjoying this holiday together. Fireworks are great to have, but especially now in this era of climate change, the worsening air quality index the following day, the impacts on pets and veterans who have PTSD – I think fireworks are sort of going out.” 

“But I would love to see a holiday celebration, especially one that respects people of all means. Perhaps if we can’t get fireworks for that celebration, we could put that [money] towards extending the farmers market.” 

About the comment regarding the bike parade for the 4th of July – That’s also one of my favorite events in all of the City of Fullerton and I try to attend every year. Parks and Rec I think does an amazing job with events. I have been so impressed and we try to attend as many as possible. However, I’m not confident that the City of Fullerton actually understands how to put together a Bike Parade given their repeated failures with active transportation in the past. So I’m not too enthused about the idea of the City of Fullerton taking over the existing bike parades. I think the current organizers have been doing an amazing job.” 

•Maureen Milton told the council she would like to see a concrete booking of fireworks vendors for every 4th of July.  “Don’t give up on 4th of July please, because it is so much fun and it’s the celebration of our country and it’s a great day to party.”She said she was for moving the event to Jul 3 at the Downtown Plaza Market and having fireworks at midnight. “Like we do on First Night – which is really not First Night, it’s last night – and then continue with all the Whoopie Doo” that we usually have on 4th of July. She said she also favored “extending the Market open dates through October like we used to do.” She suggested asking attendees if they would like the market to continue through October. “August and September are some of the hottest months of the year, even though the kids are in school, and it’s kind of depressing not to have it all the way to October. 

Back to Council & Staff

Mayor Protem Charles asked Deputy CM Perez to remind the public of the reasoning for the shortened timeframe of the farmer’s market. 

Deputy CM Perez said that “it was due to budget cuts. Second, when we had the market through October, staff noted a significant decline in attendance after school came back in session. We added the Friday Night Live concert series in September so kids and their families can come after the school week. And so that extended it a little further. And then we brought back Octoberfest and we have added several other special events to the October calendar (Laguna Lake event, Police Dept. Trunk or Treat) and we’re looking at a Dive-In Movie. So we’re looking at all sorts of different programming for the fall.” 

Councilmember Dunlap pointed out that the Farmers Market serves the community providing entertainment, a place to meet-up with family and friends, buying fresh fruit and produce, and supporting local vendors. “I think it is a great value to our community…I would like to support it at least through the end of September…I would like to see the cost. Especially as we start to look at some of those other costs are to the General Fund I think this is a case of us having more information because maybe it’s not warranted through October.”  

About the 4th of July, “It’s a bummer because it was such a successful event last year. Got lots of good feedback. The car show was immensely popular. The fireworks show was incredible. It’s kind of a bummer to have it do a belly flop this year… So I think the reality is looks like we’re, in my view at least, off this year for 4th of July. Hopefully, we can retool and bring something back and start to think more long-term about it… important to note here is that there’s already a community parade in town on the 4th of July…probably bigger than anything the City would ever put on – that being the bike parade. Thousands of people participate in that. The City has sort of unofficially participated in that by helping to block roads and such so that bicycles can maneuver. And I think that’s about the extent to which we should participate in the parade.” 

He said there had been discussions about bringing back the Founder’s Day Parade on the 4th of July, but he thought it should be privately sponsored by the business community.

Dunlap said he was “supportive of the calendar moving forward, I’d say no on the 4th of July and let’s get cost because I would be supportive potentially of keeping the Farmers Market open through the end of September.” 

At this point, Deputy CM Perez said that staff also looked into a drone show to replace fireworks. A vendor confirmed they could do a 15-minute 300-drone show within the existing $195,000 firework budget on Jul 4 in the downtown. She showed the council a video of a 200-drone show. “We would be able to include music and fully customize a 15-minute show to include logos of businesses who decide to sponsor to help offset the costs.” She showed a short video provided by the vendor of what the show would look like.

Councilmember Valencia said, “I grew up in a little town called Mammoth Lakes. Every year we have an amazing 4th of July celebration and we have a pancake breakfast put on by the Lions Club and then you do your little parade where everybody’s involved…fire, police, ski patrol, everybody – it’s great fun. Kids enjoy it – there’s candy galore –  every kid loves a parade with candy and squirt guns and everything like that and then later in the evening down at the lake we would have a big fireworks show and it’s huge it’s absolutely phenomenal and it’s the best thing ever.” 

She asked Fire Chief Adam Loeser if he could help figure out a spot where there could be a firework display “because we do have a company that is available on the 4th, but we don’t really have a place to do it.” 

“We have looked at several different locations throughout the city,” said Chief Loeser. “The problem is we do have that very high fire severity area that greatly limits where we would potentially launch those such as Hillcrest Park. We looked at several of those locations and when it came down to it, really the Cal State Fullerton area was a viable option. It’s just I think it was cost-prohibitive by the university, so we can pull those back out and look at other options that are there and work with Parks and Rec and see if there are other options we could look at. 

Mayor Protem Charles asked the Chief about the Amerige Park location brought up previously, “Was that in the high fire severity area? 

Chief Loeser said, “We did look at that when we were identifying if we were going to use a drone drone show or not last time. It is a possibility we could use that for a fireworks show, although there are some challenges there as well. But we can look at that and possibly work with Parks and Rec and see if that’s a viable option. 

Mayor Jung said, “On 4th of July we’re celebrating the birth of the nation. I think doing it halfway just doesn’t sit right with me and I don’t think it sits right with the public. Drone show – not that impressive. You know, you may need 1000 drones to give what we’re trying to get out of one firework. If we’re going to spend the money let’s do it the right way. If not, defer, recuperate, try to reengineer this in a different way if staff to work on this earlier, perhaps even tomorrow, and start this process moving forward. That said, I am very disappointed with Cal State Fullerton. The fact is that they always seem to be taking from the City regards not only our services, redevelopment dollars for that stadium, the hotel, now the bridge across Nutwood, and yet they can’t accommodate something so simple as allowing us to shoot fireworks. I do agree with Councilmember Dunlap that I am OK with all of the other items and also his suggestion regarding the Farmers Market.  Not supportive of Jul 4 without fireworks, or celebrating the nation’s birth on the 3rd.” 

Mayor Protem Charles asked the staff if CSUF’s new leadership had been re-approached to see if there had been any change. 

CM Levitt answered, “We did not reapproach them this year.”

“So that might be a potential site where the vendor might be more comfortable,“ said Charles. “I think Mayor Jung does bring up some good points, and I know the current president has shown a strong interest in connecting with the city and in hosting community events and being connected to the city more so than predecessors.“ Councilmember Valencia agreed.

Levitt said, “A lot of the issues with the cost was based on the requirement of their union contracts that their personnel had to be involved – so they were asking us to pay double time because the 4th of July is a holiday. So, I’m not sure how much the president’s gonna be able to waive those types of costs because it is personnel.“ 

Mayor Protem Charles agreed, “I don’t know how much leeway he would have. Cal State Fullerton is the largest in the system, but it is a subsidiary of the chancellor’s office at the Long Beach and I don’t know how much independence they would have in negotiating power…“ even with someone at the head, who is potentially more open to the idea that this would be something that would bring the City in – and he’s very much interested in that aspect, he might be able to do something with that.“ 

I know the 3rd is not a holiday for many folks, but I don’t want to take an all-or-nothing approach here. I mean, I feel like if we do nothing, that is the worst possible option and plan A is kind of the basic if we’re not doing anything on the fourth, at the very least our third needs to be Independence Day themed. But I think Jul 4 is such a wonderful opportunity for us to show how we can come together as a community to show how all of us celebrate being in this country and the freedoms that we have in this country. And celebrate the birth of the nation. So I hope we don’t let that opportunity pass by. I think this year the public really wants that community. 

There were so many good things about last year, absolutely, including the fireworks. But even if we can’t have the fireworks, I think a car show along with the community-led bike parade was a wonderful event in and of itself. As Councilmember Dunlap brought up, many surrounding cities have other events as well. I went to two or three other cities, along with our events. There was something uniquely fun about our car show in downtown Fullerton with classic buildings all around us and people really enjoyed that. So I would hope we could at least keep that and then play to our strengths and have some kind of programming with the live band and the Fullerton Museum Center. I hope with my council colleagues that we can still direct staff to explore the possible option of fireworks.“ 

Councilmember Dunlap disagreed saying “This is pretty pathetic that this is the plan that gets brought forward. Essentially it’s up to us to do staff work here on the dais to figure out how to plan a 4th of July with fireworks.“  There was a lot of time and effort that was invested in preparing not only the report and the agenda but also the staff reports that went into it. The direction that was provided two years ago couldn’t have been more clear. I’m perfectly fine with coming back in two weeks if the staff can figure out the locations within our City where we can have fireworks so we can have a proper 4th of July event. But I think it’s got to be Jul 4 – celebrating here in our community the right way. 

Councilmember Valencia said, “So I would like to put something out there like bring back options for fireworks. I’m all for Plan D with fireworks, but not without fireworks. We can bring back some alternate locations and budget for locations,“ she said.

Deputy CM Perez said “OK, we’ll bring back the full plan if you want to approve all the other events tonight. And then we’ll bring back just the option for fireworks on 4th of July. 

Mayor Protem Charles pointed out an issue with last year’s celebration and suggested different timing by moving the Car Show and other city events closer to the evening potential fireworks show so that staff would not have to hang around in the middle of the day.  The community-organized Bike Parade could have the morning.  

And the city events to be held at Amerige Park if not the CSUF location.

“Also, I appreciate the support for the Farmers Market,“ said Charles. She asked Perez if she had a sense of the possibility of extending it through September. 

Deputy CM Perez said, Yes. She said another reason for shortening the Farmers. Market open months was because “after Covid all of our part-time staff was laid off so we were building back up to full capacity in terms of staffing and we didn’t have the capacity to do multiple evening events a week. However, we’re pretty full staff now so it should just be a matter of figuring out what the additional cost would be and we can incorporate that into the budget if that’s the direction for the additional part-time staff hours.”

Mayor Protem Charles commended staff for adding to the Veteran’s Day celebration. She said she was looking forward to the multicultural food festival and celebrating the diversity of the cuisine in this city, and the Friday Night Live concerts and the PupToberfest were so well attended last year and so popular. And I just want to commend our special events coordinator and new hire on that for creating these events. I go there and you’re also the MC of the events and I see you being a very hands-on person and really taking personal pride and making sure that these events are as good as they possibly can be and it shows. So thank you for your work. 

The motion to approve all events – with staff direction to bring back extending Farmers Market through September (with budget) and to bring back 4th of July location options with fireworks passed unanimously.

INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS / ITEM 14

Councilmember Valencia removed Item 14 from the Consent Calendar, asking for a report from Public Works Director Stephen Bise on the costs of infrastructure because she felt the public should be made aware. 

As a former member on the Infrastructure and Natural Resource Committee (INRC) Valencia said she wanted the public to know that “we spend a lot of money on our roads and our streets and we still have a lot of roads to fix and repair, pipeline, sewer lines, etcetera, etcetera, streets, lights, you know, whole gamut. And I feel like the general public should get some more transparency on the cost for us to fix even just a mile of road.”

Director Bise explained that “Item 14 is an award for construction for mainly water main and sewer main. So this project, the award to do this construction is just under $2 million. That gives you about a mile of water main and about 1/4 mile of sewer and this project does not even include repaving of those roads. We will come back to repave a portion with Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. However, the remaining portion has no funding.”

“The whole project is about $2.5 when design contingencies, inspection, testing, and construction are included. Included in all bid package awards is the itemized list for costs of construction elements. So for this project, you could look and see there are a few high-priced items to install. For instance, 8 inch PVC water pipe is $130 per linear foot. So if you add that up it’s a 4300 linear feet, that’s $562,000. We’re installing a few fire hydrants. So for example, 4 standard fire hydrants are $17,500 each ($70,000 for four hydrants). And we’re doing 5 that are steamer types, that’s $19,000 each ($95,000 for those). So it adds up. Construction is expensive.”

“We do have a lot of information on road paving and infrastructure costs on our website (https://www.cityoffullerton.com/government/departments/public-works)“ said Bise. 

“Specifically talking about repaving local neighborhood roads it costs anywhere between $1.2 to $2 million per mile. The width of a road plays a factor in quantities and economies of scale when you’re trying to bid out a project. If you’re talking about an arterial, it’s about double that. So you’re looking at anywhere between $3.5 to $4 million per mile. So construction unfortunately is very expensive, whether it’s water mains, sewer mains, other types of infrastructure, or pavement or concrete.”

Councilmember Valencia thanked Director Bise and spoke about the importance of getting the money together to do these jobs and informing the community about the expense.

Mayor Protem Charles thanked Director Bise for the information and Councilmember Valencia for bringing the item forward. She reminded the public that the commissions and committees that study these subjects also hold meetings open to the public. She directed anyone interested in coming up with ideas on how to cover expenses to the Fiscal Sustainability Committee.

Item 14 passed unanimously.

NEXT City Council meeting is on Mar 4, 2025