Documented by Kristina Mansfield
Here’s what you need to know
- The Madera County Board of Supervisors voted to adopted a resolution (5-0) increasing the County Administration Department’s “not to exceed” amount to $12.2 million to allow for vehicle replacements for the Sheriff’s Office, equipment for the Fire Department and authorizing the execution, lease and delivery of IT equipment as needed.
- Voted (5-0) to approve weekly $125,000 payments to Madera Community Hospital (MCH) through March 23 not to exceed the amount of $1 million.
- Voted (5-0) to nominate Leticia Gonzalez (and Jordan Wamhoff as alternate) to the Madera County Transportation Commission for consideration to fill the vacant Madera County position on the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley.
- Voted to accept (5-0) the Civil Service Commission’s recommendation to grant position allocation status to Kenneth Shirley as a senior staff services manager effective Jan. 1.
Follow-up questions
- What is the MD22A Overview Oversight Committee referenced by Oakhurst resident Hank Schultz during public comment?
- What other activities are available on-site at the Fossil Discovery Center?
Notes
The Jan. 16 regular meeting of the Madera County Board of Supervisors took place at 9 a.m. at the Madera County Government Center (200 W. Fourth St.) in the Supervisors Chambers. The meeting was open to the public and was also streamed live on YouTube via Zoom. Links to recordings of each meeting are made available after they conclude on the county website here, where you can also find archived meeting materials including agendas and supporting documents.
Public participation in Madera County Board of Supervisors meetings is encouraged – you just show up. Regular meetings are usually held the first three Tuesdays of the month with additional meetings scheduled on an as-needed basis. You can always check the 2024 meeting calendar online here. You can also participate in meetings remotely, or by calling in from your computer or phone. Find detailed instructions on how to do so on the Jan. 16 meeting agenda here (scroll to the bottom of the page). Thirteen people attended the meeting in person.
The Madera County Board of Supervisors in attendance were:
Supervisor David Rogers, District 2
Chair Robert Poythress, District 3
Supervisor Jordan Wamhoff, District 1
Chair Pro Tem Leticia Gonzalez, District 4
Supervisor Bobby Macaulay, District 5
County Counsel Regina A. Garza and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Jay Varney were also at the meeting.
CLOSED SESSION, item 2 There were two items on the closed session agenda: conference with labor negotiators and existing litigation with Madera Community Hospital. There was no reportable action from items discussed during the closed session.
Item 3 Poythress opened the meeting and introduced Pastor Tim Echevarria of New Harvest Christian Fellowship. Poythress said Echevarria also serves as chaplain for the Madera Police Department. Echevarria led the invocation. The Pledge of Allegiance followed.
PUBLIC COMMENT, item 4 The first 15 minutes of every meeting are set aside for public comment. During this time, anyone can address the board on any matter within its jurisdiction but not on that meeting’s agenda. Speakers are limited to three minutes each.
- Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County Director Michelle Pecina discussed the center’s mission statement with the board and gave a recap of last year’s successes. “The center is located on one of the largest pleistocene fossil sites in North America, engaged in scientist exploration and ongoing excavation of the pleistocene fossils to help us better understand the legacies of California’s Central Valley and life on Earth,” Pecina said. She invited the supervisors to personally visit.
- A resident alerted the board of an upcoming fair along Avenue 12 May 18. He said those interested in participating can contact the Madera Ranchos Chamber of Commerce.
- Another resident, who identified himself as a third-generation farmer along Avenue 9, said his Belgian Malamute was taken by animal control and adopted to another family, and that animal control refuses to release his animal back to him, the rightful owner. He said in another incident he fed a stray dog for six months and fed it 20 lbs of dog food. “Something is wrong with that policy,” he said, later adding that “they’re very rude down there,” and that the sheriff’s were going to go get the dog back for him until they found out it was being held at the pound. “I don’t think I’m going to get my dog back.”
- Oakhurst resident Hank Schultz appeared on behalf of the MD22A Overview Oversight Committee. “I wanted to think the supervisors, or board of directors when you have that hat on, for the opportunity for myself, as well as the committee, to assist the county and the Board of Directors in anyway we can try to make that service (to those that have it) the best service possible at the best price possible,” he said. “I appreciate Bobby’s availability this morning, that he worked with me to address some questions about the annexation that’s going to take place a little bit later this morning, and want to express my thanks.”
CONSENT CALENDAR, items 5A-5U Next on the agenda was the consent calendar. Items on the consent calendar are considered routine and uncontroversial in nature, and are passed with a single motion unless a supervisor, member of the public or staff member pulls it for further discussion.
Rogers addressed the board. “We seem to be in a pattern of developing a culture of approving contracts way after they’re implemented, and I feel that we’ve got to change that culture,” he began. “We’ve got to work harder at making sure that this board gets contracts in a timely manner to approve them or disapprove them. What would happen if we said no?
“We’re here to decide whether or not we go forward with something. It’s really important to allow the board to establish policy, because once managers start establishing policy the organization becomes muddled: there’s no law, there’s no governing and it is critical. I would admonish every manager to move away from the culture of sending documents in [for approval] way after the fact after they’ve already started.”
Gonzalez said Rogers took the words out of her mouth and that she had addressed the same issue with CAO Varney and County Counsel Garza. “These are the things that are being caught,” said Gonzalez. “We don’t know what we don’t know, and it’s concerning.”
Rogers requested that the CAO inform all managers that moving forward should a contract is being brought forward for board approval after its signed date that there be a stated reason in the backup documentation.
- Ralph Pistoresi, a resident of Madera County, said items R and S – both related to the Board of Directors Groundwater Sustainability Agency/Water & Natural Resources Department – need a little more consideration. Related to item R, Pistoresi said one of his growers had a concern about the accuracy of the reading on his property and said there were issues with the contracts on both. “We have severe concerns over the scope of the contracts,” he said. “They’re not very specific.” Item R is for an agreement with Land IQ, LLC and item S is for an agreement with Luhdorff & Scalmanini Consulting Engineers (LSCE).
Poythress made a motion to approve the consent calendar as corrected. The motion carried (5-0).
DISCUSSION ITEMS, items 6A-6G Next up were the meeting’s discussion items.
Item 6A Voted (5-0) to direct the deputy director of the Environmental Health Division to execute and submit for a letter of intent application grant to the California Conference Directors of Environmental Health.
Item 6B Adopted a resolution (5-0) increasing the County Administration Department’s “not to exceed” amount to $12.2 million to allow for vehicle replacements for the Sheriff’s Office, equipment for the Fire Department and authorizing the execution, lease and delivery of IT equipment and software as needed. Madera County Administrative Analyst Jessica Leon presented.
- “Before you is a resolution amending the not-to-exceed amount of the lease and purchase agreement with Bank of America that the county currently holds,” said Leon. “This amendment would increase the not-to-exceed amount to $12,150,862.50, which is an additional $4,588,979. This increase is necessary to continue for the vehicle replacement program, which includes vehicles, fire equipment and other additional equipment as necessary by the county.” The interest rate remains 3.5%, she said. Rogers asked if they lowered the interest rate based on volume; Leon said they do not.
- The vote passed 5-0.
Item 6C The board voted (5-0) to nominate Gonzalez and Wamhoff as alternate to the Madera County Transportation Commission for consideration to fill the vacant Madera County position on the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley.
- Varney said the board needs to reach a consensus and forward it on to the MCTC for further review process. “This is a partnership that was formulated back in the Schwarzenegger days,” said Rogers. He said during the pandemic membership has lagged and now it’s being revamped. “We have had very little participation from Madera County so we’d like to open it up for nominations from this board.”
- Rogers nominated Poythress, who declined. “This is something that is supposed to put more attention on the Valley in terms of investment,” Poythress said. “It’s beyond that [transportation].” He then nominated Gonzalez; she cited a scheduling conflict and said she would do her best. Rogers seconded Gonzalez.
Next, the meeting segued into the scheduled 10:30 a.m. public hearing.
PUBLIC HEARING, item 7A Public Works Director Andrea Saldate presented the second public hearing to adopt a resolution annexing territory in Maintenance District 22 into Zone Benefit A.
- “This will help with the state center community center project,” she said. “They are also required to make all of the connections themselves, and everything is being borne by the community college.” There were no public comments in person or online. The vote passed 5-0.
Item 6D CAO Varney again presented. He said that after the agenda had been posted, the office received communications from many partners involved with the Madera Community Hospital (MCH) situation and asked the board to consider approving payments through March 23 instead of March 1 and increasing the amount from $625,000 to not to exceed $1 million.
- “Based on the bankruptcy and the hearing dates, they have some important hearings for the bankruptcy in the first few weeks of March and they would like to include this information in their filing, as staff believes it will help the plan come to fruition much more likely,” Varney said. “It’s worthy of the board to at least consider.”
- Varney said the following three conditions must be met:
- Condition 1: The funding to be provided by the County of Madera shall be used only for the limited purpose of paying necessary expenses to preserve the license and the hospital as a going concern and not used to pay general claims against the estate such as pre-petition claims or bankruptcy professional fees. The county will require the hospital to provide an accounting of the assistance payments provided since August 2023 and will reserve the right to recoup funds when appropriate.
- Condition 2: The county has received written or electronic communication from each of the representatives of MCH, the creditor’s committee and Saint Agnes (Trinity Health) confirming that payment of the weekly operating cost by the county will ensure that the MCH facility will be kept in substantially the same as its current operating condition and will not discontinue operations that would affect the hospital license or otherwise be under threat of being shut down prior to March 1.
- Condition 3: The county has received written or electronic communication from MCH that the Distressed Hospital Loan Program (DHLP) Bridge Loan has not yet been received by MCH. This condition must be met weekly for assistance payments to be released to MCH. Weekly operating cost assistance will stop once MCH is in receipt of the DHLP Bridge Loan.
- The vote passed 5-0.
Item 6E Roman Noriega with the Human Resources Department presented. The board voted (5-0) to approve the Receipt of Unanticipated Revenue No. 23-052 in the amount of $6,225 derived from General Fund – Fund Balance to Human Resources – Professional and Specialized Services for fiscal year 2023-2024.
- Noriega said the funds were going to be used for training sessions for management personnel throughout the year. The items were not initially included in the fiscal year 2023-2024 budget.
Item 6F Noriega again presented. He said after an evaluation of department needs, the Community and Economic Development Department/Environmental Health Division is requesting to defund one position and fund another.
- Gonzalez asked if this was a position that was currently filled or if they had someone in mind. Environmental Health Deputy Director Dexter Marr said they were looking to promote the department’s current administrative assistant. The vote passed 5-0.
Item 6G The board voted (5-0) to adopt a resolution amending the fiscal year 2023-2024 Schedule of Position Allocations for the County Department of Social Services.
- Noriega presented his department’s recommendations to the board related to the structure of the Social Services Department. The resolution reflects the reallocation of one staff services manager to one senior staff services manager (for a total of two senior staff service manager full-time employees (FTEs) in the department, he said.
- The board also accepted the Civil Service Commission’s recommendation to grant position allocation status to Kenneth Shirley as a senior staff services manager effective Jan. 1.
PENDING LEGISLATION, item 8 There was none.
SUPERVISORS AND STAFF REPORTS, item 9 Wamhoff is hosting an event at the Madera Ranchos Library on Jan. 30 at 8:30 a.m. He will be giving attendees an update on District 1. Macaulay is hosting a community meeting Jan. 22 at Oakhurst Elementary School to review a new evacuation plan with area residents before bringing the proposal before the board, he said.
Rogers said he attended the Chowchilla District Chamber of Commerce dinner over the weekend and encouraged people to review the groundwater recharge policy now available online. Gonzalez had nothing to report.
Item 10 Poythress adjourned the meeting at 10:50 a.m. The next scheduled meeting of the Madera County Board of Supervisors is Feb. 6.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at fresnodocs@fresnoland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
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