Tuesday's Fillmore City Council Meeting was the first meeting since Council Member Eduardo Gonzalez turned in his resignation. Council Member Brian Sipes was not in attendance leaving the dais with only three members. That is just enough to have a quorum. The meeting began with a presentation by Assistant Capt. Chief Bill Herrera and recognition of all those who helped with the Goodenough Fire. Also addressing the Council was Leslie Klinchuch regarding the Chevron Project and Roger Campbell announcing the upcoming Honey Festival and BBQ Cookoff. Other agenda items included replacing the vacant Council seat, finances, weed abatement, road pavement and possible revenue for the Water Treatment Plant.

An item of concern was what to do about the vacant Council seat left by the resignation of Council Member Gonzalez on April 15, 2013. Fillmore Municipal Code does not include procedures for filling vacancies or holding special elections, therefore the City must follow the requirements of the Government Code which states within 60 days after a vacancy the Council may appoint someone or wait until the next regularly established election date. The Council decided to appoint someone and not wait for an election. One of the reasons for doing so was the cost. To put it on the November 5, 2013 ballot as a Special Election would cost $23,000 and the person elected would have a term of only one year. If the Council appoints someone immediately there would be very little cost, excluding the time donated to interviewing. The appointment would be for a year and a half. The interview process consists of 8 questions (two from each of the present Council Members) and could take place as early as April 30, 2013 when a Special Meeting is being held to consider a new City Manager. The concern with having an appointment quickly is to assure there will be enough Council Members present to have a quorum at each meeting should one or more of the present members are absent.

Council seat applications are ready now for anyone interested and are being advertised in local newspapers and on Channel 10. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age, a registered voter and live within Fillmore City limits. Due to the quickness of this appointment, applications may be emailed to City Hall.

There was also a discussion on who would replace Gonzalez on various committees he was part of, such as the Ethics Committee, Veterans Memorial and others. The resignation of Gonzalez comes at a difficult time, with the city actively searching for a city manager.

An agenda item that could generate some welcome monies to the City was to begin accepting trucked portable toilet waste (Port-A-Potty waste) at the City's Water Recycling Plant (WRP). This is not to be confused with the RV waste currently received at the WRP front gate. The plant presently uses 55% of its permitted capacity. The proposed pilot program would run for four months and could generate up to $22,000 which is close to $100,000 each year if there are enough customers. Each customer's waste is tested before being accepted and then held in a 6,000 gallon holding tank. The tank was a requirement when building the WRP and has a dedicated storm drain that surrounds the plant and does not drain to anything but the tank. It is not part of any other storm drain system. During heavy rains customer's waste would not be accepted. The cost to the customer is 15 cents per gallon and there is at least 15,000 gallons per day of this waste generated with this general area. If all is approved, American Water will receive a 15% fee for collecting the outside waste. The plant was not originally designed to take this type of waste and this is only being done on a trial basis.

Council Member Douglas Tucker asked if the portable toilets using formaldehyde or classified as bio-friendly will be accepted. Stephen Stuart, City Building Official, responded that only those that use bio-friendly chemical will be accepted. The trial could start as early as two weeks and run until September 2013. There will then be an evaluation whether it is financially worth it to continue. The question is how much of an affect the added waste may have on the micro-organisms called the membrane. If there is a significant impact the question asked will be is the revenue greater than the cost of replacing the membrane along with other added costs. So far the membrane is holding up better than expected and this additional outside waste will be monitored closely.

Herrera gave the Council a rundown of the recent fire and everyone involved in putting it out. The Goodenough Fire started as a structure fire on Monday, April 8, 2013 at 4:45 p.m. and was aided by two to three hours of very strong winds turning it into a 2nd alarm brush fire. Herrera told the Council that over 50 units from all over the County responded including three bulldozers and three helicopters and could be seen on all the major Los Angeles television stations in real time. Herrera said this is a very early fire season and clearing the weeds and dry brush from around structures needs to be started early this year. There is a long list of people to thank and includes many who opened up their homes to their neighbors. The community really came together. Those presented with a plaque for their help were: Jaime Ramos, Austin Barrington, David Landeros, Tim Burhoe, Robert Luna, Mike May, Ray Alverado, Jose Ponce, Kevin Ponce, Fred Ponce Jr., Joseph Aguilar, Jim Lebard, Kathy Lebard, Mike Lebard, Jarid Lazano, Chris Charles, Richard Gonzalez, Rob Hanson and Antelmo Sandoval.

Another agenda item was approval of the bidding process for an asphalt overlay on portions of Central Avenue, Santa Clara Street, A, B and C Streets and Sespe Avenue at a cost estimate of $350,000. On Central Ave the work will be between First and Fourth Street and the parking lanes between Sespe and First Street. On Santa Clara Street work will take place between A and B Street. On A Street it will be between First and Third Street. On B Street, between River and Ventura Street. C Street the work will be 100 feet north of Ventura Street and on Sespe Avenue work takes place between A Street and Old Telegraph. This project will include the installation of truncated domes (they are yellow and used to help the blind with crossing the street) will be installed at all accessible curb cuts and new accessible parking in front of Fillmore High School.

Roger Campbell, coordinator of the California Honey Festival, announced there will be two days of festivities this year, June 15-16, 2013. There is an added event on the 16th, the Kansas City BBQ Society (KCBS) sanctioned contest, which includes professional BBQ Chiefs from around the U.S. The proceeds from the KCBS contest ($1 donation tickets) will go to Autism Speaks, a national nonprofit dedicated to increase awareness of autism along with research, prevention and treatment. Both events are open to the public and start at 9:00am with judging of the BBQ on the 16th between noon and 3 p.m. with awards handed out at 4:00 p.m.

Leslie Klinchuch, Chevron Environmental Project Manager, gave the Council an update on the Fillmore Works project. Presently they are moving wells and pipes along with doing the soil work, and brush and tree removal. Klinchuch wanted to assure the community that the Pepper Trees removed are not native to the area and that they are reduced to wood chips that are tested for harmful chemicals and returned to the soil where needed. She also mentioned their concern for dust control and air quality. Klinchuch said she will be returning to Fillmore every week and anyone with questions may call her at 805-788-4420.