Former Mayor Pro-Tem Manuel Minjares was selected new Fillmore City Mayor at last night's City Council meeting, and Council Member Diane McCall was elevated to the position of Mayor Pro-Tem.

Former Mayor Carrie Broggie received warm recognition for the excellent job she did during her term as she returned to her seat on the City Council.

MEDICAL CANNABIS WAREHOUSING AND DELIVERY
A half-dozen residents commented on new consideration of medical marijuana delivery within the city and up to three medical cannabis delivery warehouses.

Opposition to this proposal by a half-dozen concerned residents was forcefully expressed to the Council. At issue is a decision to be taken between the possibility of multi-million dollar revenue streams and a perceived threat to community health and moral values. No action was taken by the Council.

"The City of Fillmore currently bans all cannabis businesses from operating within the City. However, in response to the request from several residents at its regular meeting on November 14,2017, the City Council requested that staff bring back the discussion of an ordinance to allow medical cannabis delivery within the City. Staff reviewed the City of Ojai’s ordinance pertaining to medical cannabis delivery as the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office provides police service to both Fillmore and Ojai."

A LICENSE AND SITE ACCESS for Hearthstone to construct entryway improvements during a two-year period was unanimously approved.

Proposed extension #6 to Tentative Tract map 5422, NLA COMMUNITY, LLC. NORTH FILLMORE SPECIFIC PLAN AREA was denied. The Plan has received 11 extensions to date.

An amendment to the City's Employment Agreement with David W. Rowlands was unanimously approved the Council.

Due to disruption caused by recent fires, City Council Reports, Recommendations, and Comments were deferred.

City resident Marie Wren asked Council if something could be done to increase public information during emergency situations, such as the recent Thomas Fire. Police Chief David Wareham explained the various methods used today, Channel 10, Twitter, etc., and that during periods of no change in the threat, statements to that effect should be sufficient. However, the matter will be taken under consideration. Wareham praised the extraordinary, effective cooperation between all public services (fire, police) in fighting this devastating wildfire. Special thanks to Cal-Fire and helicopter forces were acknowledged. Fire Chief Keith Gurolla was singled out by Wareham as indispensable to fire defense due to his exceptional knowledge of local terrain.

Cal-Fire Captain Dave Russell noted that 94,000 evacuations were undertaken, 504 homes destroyed, 33 helicopters, plus 2 night helicopters were deployed, and 8 air tankers were used to fight this Thomas Fire. These figures combined several local fire statistics. Fillmore was fortunate in suffering no loss of life, injuries, or structures.

Resident Art Sanford asked for assistance in restoring his father's house which burned to the ground 8 months ago. A resident for 40 years, he has met with substantial difficulty in being permitted to rebuild the house due to zoning. He is forbidden to rebuild without obtaining a code amendment costing $10,207.