HEMET — The City Council adopted Ordinance 2081 on Tuesday, 4-1, the second reading of Stephens’ kangaroo rat habitat conservation plan mitigation fees. Mayor Pro Tem Joe Males voted no.
All five members were present for the Sept. 22 regular meeting: Mayor Linda Krupa, Males, and Council Members Connie Howard-Clark, Jaculin Peterson and Tom Lodge. These outcomes are from YouTube auto-captions. CivicWeb minutes were still unposted.
A qualifying individual single-family residence stays at $250, unchanged. Agricultural land is $500 per gross acre, and all other development is $900 per gross acre. Surface mining is separate. The fees take effect 60 days after adoption, under Government Code 66017. An annual CPI adjustment begins July 1, 2027.
Item 17.A was pulled from consent and voted on its own. The electronic tally was announced as four yes and one no. Males said he had voted no previously and wanted that recorded. The count was corrected on the record after an initial miscount, to four yes and one no. Krupa, Howard-Clark, Peterson and Lodge are the yeses by elimination from that announcement. The captions did not call the yes votes by name.
| Item | Krupa | Males | Howard-Clark | Peterson | Lodge | Tally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17.A — Ord. 2081, Stephens’ kangaroo rat HCP mitigation fees, second reading and adoption | Yes* | No | Yes* | Yes* | Yes* | 4-1 |
*Yes by elimination from the announced 4-1. Males was the no.
Items 17.B through 17.J, the rest of consent, then passed 5-0:
- 17.B — Ordinance 2083, commercial cannabis permit term, extension and renewal.
- 17.C — Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fee (TUMF) Warren Road Amendment No. 1 with the Western Riverside Council of Governments, CIP 2421, Esplanade to Simpson.
- 17.D — Medical side letters of about 1.8 percent for HMMA, HNSPEA, HGEA and HPMA. Staff total about $63,800.
- 17.E — $20,000 from Fire Measure U for Fire Station 3, CIP 5733, reversing $20,000 in DIF Fund 332.
- 17.F — One-year HFFA memorandum of understanding for fiscal year 2026-27. About $24,300 in medical impact in the staff table.
- 17.G — OTS 2027 STEP grant, $92,000.
- 17.H — Resolution supporting Proposition 1, with local-control language in the resolution.
- 17.I — Appointment of Rebecca Teague to Library Board Seat One through June 30, 2029.
- 17.J — Biennial conflict-of-interest notice.
The closed-session report was settlement direction, 5-0, on items 6.B, 6.C and 6.D. No reportable action was announced on item 6.G, the noticed city manager appointment. Before closed session, the council voted 4-1 to add Burgos v. Bordon Excavating, CVME260834. Lodge voted no.
On item 18.A, e-bikes, the council by consensus directed staff to draft along the suggested lines. No ordinance was introduced.
Meeting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArHxdlndK1A. CivicWeb packet: https://hemetca.civicweb.net/document/241260. Meeting page: https://hemetca.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Id=6992.
