The April 14, 2015 Fillmore City Council Meeting had five agenda items however five presentations and two Public Comment speakers filled the majority of the two hour meeting.

The City of Fillmore was awarded the Platinum Tier Level Status by Southern California Edison (SCE) Energy Leader Partnership Program, presented by Anna Frutos-Sanchez and Sue Hughes.

Fillmore was honored for reducing its carbon footprint through its conservation practices. A check for $122,098.92 representing the cumulative rebates was paid to the City for completing its energy efficiency projects. Fillmore is the first city in Ventura County to receive the SCE Platinum Award. Hughes told the Council, "The Energy Leader Partnership Program helps cities raise community awareness of the importance and impact of saving energy and Fillmore has been a great partner and sustainability leader, retrofitting their own facilities to be more energy efficient as well as providing leadership in the community....It gives me great pleasure to present the Energy Leader Partnership Platinum Award to the City of Fillmore, in recognition of your outstanding energy efficiency achievements."

Since Fillmore began the program it has achieved 1,273,294 in kilowatt-hours, enough to power 121 homes for one year, resulting in the elimination of 878 metric tons of carbon emissions, equivalent to removing 185 cars from the road.

Mark Lawler General Manager of the Ventura Regional Sanitation District (VRSD) presented an update on where the District is today. VRSD manages the 343 acre Toland Road Landfill and a state of the art solid waste processing facility that extracts methane gas for future energy purposes. The landfill processes 460,000 tons of trash each year.

Lawler explained that although VRSD is a government agency they receive no tax-based support of any kind; operations are funded by the fees for the services they provide.

Fillmore Council Member Rick Neal is one of the nine-member Board of Directors (BOD) that oversee VRSD. The BOD represents the eight cities and eight special districts that receive services from the District.

Another presentation was given by Douglas Tapking with the Area Housing Authority of Ventura County (ARAVC). Tapking informed to the Council of the 202 Fillmore residents whose rent is subsidized through the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) commonly known as Section 8 Housing and the $178,000 that the vouchers bring to the town. The ARAVC is an independent federally funded non-profit agency serving the cities of Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and the unincorporated areas of Ventura County. It is governed by a 15-member Board of Commissioners. Each jurisdiction appoints two Commissioners to serve a 4-year term. In addition, one Resident Commissioner is appointed “at-large”.

The difference between HCVP and public housing is that rentals are owned by private citizens who agree to accept the vouchers. ARAVC also owns properties with rental units along with administering the 355 housing units in the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Program know as Low Rent Public Housing. Rent is 30% of the household income and does not work with individual landlords.

Tapking informed the Council that presently ARAVC is only accepting applications for HCVP from seniors 62 and older.

The next presentation was an overview of the new water billing. Utility Services Finance Director Gaylynn Brien explained the advantages customers have with the new changes. The new letter form ensures the bill remains intact when mailing and provides additional information along with a water consumption graph. Brien spoke of the billing methods which include hard copy mailed to the residence or business and paperless/electronic copy emailed to your email address by signing up at https://fillmoreca.merchanttransact.com. The ways to pay your bill include cash, check at City Hall or the drop box or counter, or credit card if paying at City Hall during business hours, or on line electronically by creating a log in ID and password using credit or debit card or electronic check. Customers can also sign up for auto pay at https://filmoreca.com/water/htm and complete an Automatic Debit Application.

The last presentation dealt with the loitering on Central Avenue. Police Chief Dave Wareham addressed the Council wanting direction on what should be done going forward, asking "Do we want to remove them by the law or cooperative means?" There was discussions on the issue which included an arrest for drunkenness and other complaints such as public urination, public alcoholic consumption and littering. Council Member Douglas Tucker asked Wareham what he had observed. Wareham responded, "I hear them talk, but I don't speak Spanish." Council Member Rick Neal interjected, "They throw trash in the planters" and that the City workers are always clearing the planters of trash. He added that he would like to see the crosswalk cleared and bicycles off the sidewalks. Wareham explained the men like the west side of Central Avenue due to the shade the trees provide, but that he would like to see them move to Central Park. Council Member Manuel Minjares said he would like to see a cooperative approach. It was suggested and agreed upon that a pamphlet be handed out to the loiterers explaining what is expected of people in public and that cameras will be installed.
During public comments Marie Wren suggested having the benches at Central Park configured into a circle or in such a way that encourages gathering and conversation.
Wren also suggested naming the new park Condor Park and asked if the new buses were getting a decrease in ridership. She was concerned that Dial-A-Ride was phased out. Minjares reassured her that Dial-A-Ride is still running, but the amount of buses has been scaled back.
Central Avenue business owner Alex Malikoy also addressed the Council during Public Comments about his inability to get on the City's website. Also he was concerned with the quality of the water in the Central Park fountain asking if it was potable or recycled, adding that children play with the water and his concerns for their health.
Approval for the 4th of July Community Fireworks Show contract provided by Exposhows, Inc. was on the agenda. The contract, which was approved, was for $14,500.00 for the fireworks display.
The complete fireworks budget is $21,000.00 and is covered through donations from TNT fireworks for $8,000; Phantom Fireworks for $1,500 and Fillmore Western Rail for $1,500. Also, additional monies come from booth sales totaling $10,000 which cover the extra expense of Sheriff and Fire Departments needed along with cleanup. Four local non-profit youth groups will be paid $500 each for school and park cleanup.