[00:00:05] GOOD MORNING, EVERYBODY. [Call to Order] WELCOME TO THE OCTOBER SIXTH 2020 MERCED COUNTY BOARD MEETING. IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 VIRUS, THE COUNTY IS CONDUCTING BUSINESS IN COMPLIANCE WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING REQUIREMENTS WITH SEATING FOR THE PUBLIC LIMITED TO TWENTY FIVE. WE HAVE ALSO PROVIDED SOME OVERFLOW SPACE ON THE FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS. FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO DO NOT WISH TO ATTEND IN PERSON. WE HAVE BEEN ACCEPTING GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENTS VIA EMAIL AND VOICE MAIL FOR NON AGENDA, AND AGENDA ITEMS. IN ADDITION, WE HAVE ALSO BEEN ACCEPTING COMMENTS FOR PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS BY VOICE MAIL, USING A LINE THAT IS DEDICATED TO RECEIVE PUBLIC HEARING COMMENTS ONLY. THIS LINE WILL REMAIN OPEN UP DURING THE PUBLIC HEARING TO ALLOW FOR COMMENTS WHICH WILL BE LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES IN LENGTH. BEFORE WE START THE MEETING, I WOULD ADD THAT SUPERVISOR PAREIRA, WELL, I DON'T THINK ABOUT SUPERVISOR PAREIRA, BUT SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA HAS JOINED US VIA LIVE AND REMOTELY IN AS MUCH AS WE WILL NOT BE USING OUR ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM. INSTEAD, WE WILL BE DOING A ROLL CALL. [INAUDIBLE] WILL NOT. YEAH, SURE. [INAUDIBLE] MEMBERS. OK, SO NOW WE WILL START THE INVOCATION LED BY PASTOR RICK BECK AND THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE WILL BE LED BY OUR COUNTY COUNCIL [INAUDIBLE]. AND IF YOU CAN, PLEASE JUST STAND. THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY AND IT'S GOOD TO BE HERE IN THE BOARD AND IT'S GOOD TO SEE THAT THE THINGS THAT FOUNDED THIS GREAT NATION IS STILL AT WORK TODAY. SO THANK YOU FOR THE PRIVILEGE. SHALL WE BOW? HEAVENLY FATHER, WE THANK YOU FOR THE PRIVILEGE AND THE OPPORTUNITY ABOUT DOING THE BUSINESS OF YOUR PEOPLE. AND FOR THOSE THAT DO THE BUSINESS, WE ASK FOR YOUR GUIDANCE AND DIRECTION. LORD, YOU SAID WE HAVE NOT BECAUSE WE ASK NOT. WELL LORD, WE'RE ASKING THAT DURING THIS TIME, DURING THIS MEETING, LORD, THAT YOU WOULD ORCHESTRATE THOUGHTS AND WORDS AND GIVE ACCOUNT AND DIRECTION. THAT LORD, THE DECISIONS MADE HERE WOULD BRING FORTH A BOUNTY OF BLESSINGS. THAT YOU WOULD GIVE NEW IDEAS AND NEW WAYS, AND THAT YOU WOULD JUST ORCHESTRATE AND SEE IT THROUGH THAT EVERYTHING THAT'S DONE HERE TODAY WOULD BRING HOPE TO THE COMMUNITY AND ESTABLISH LORD NEW DIRECTIONS. AND WE JUST THANK YOU FOR THE PRIVILEGE TO COME BEFORE YOU AND ASK FOR YOUR COUNSEL. YOU SAID WE HAVE NOT BECAUSE WE HAVE ASKED NOT. SO WE ASK LORD THAT THIS BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND THOSE WHO GATHER WOULD BE LED AND ORCHESTRATED BY YOUR PRESENCE AND OF YOUR SPIRIT. AND WE JUST GIVE YOU THANKS AND THE PRAISE FOR IT ALL. AND WE ASK YOUR BLESSINGS IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME. AMEN. AMEN. THANK YOU. READY FOR THE PLEDGE. BEGIN. HANSEN. I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT SUPERVISOR LOR WILL NOT BE. SHE WON'T BE JOINING US AS WELL. SO WE ARE ONLY SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA, SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL AND MYSELF. OK, PUBLIC COMMENTS. [PUBLIC OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ON] IT IS NOW TIME FOR A PUBLIC OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ON ANY MATTER OF PUBLIC INTEREST WITHIN THE BOARD'S JURISDICTION, INCLUDING ITEMS ON THE BOARD'S AGENDA, EXCEPT FOR THOSE ITEMS SPECIFICALLY SCHEDULED AS PUBLIC HEARINGS. TESTIMONY LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES PER PERSON. BEFORE WE START THE PUBLIC COMMENT, I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE A CLOSED SESSION TODAY, SO THERE'S NOTHING REPORTABLE TODAY ON CLOSED SESSION. SO AT THIS TIME, I WILL ENTERTAIN ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC IF YOU'RE PRESENT. COME FORWARD, PLEASE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK. MY NAME IS MAYA [INAUDIBLE] AND I WEAR TWO HATS. I'M A PROFESSOR OF APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND CHAIR OF MATH DEPARTMENT AT THE UC MERCED, ONE OF THE FOUNDING FACULTY. AND I'M ALSO THE FOUNDER, ONE OF THE FOUNDERS AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR [INAUDIBLE] DISCOVERY STATION. SO THIS IS THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM THAT WE'RE TRYING TO OPEN. SO I JUST WANTED TO TALK ABOUT ITEM 17 AND JUST ASSURE YOU THAT. [00:05:01] SO WE WERE PLANNING TO OPEN THE MUSEUM IN MAY, BUT THEN A LITTLE THING CALLED PANDEMIC HAPPENED. AND AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, THAT HELD ALL OF OUR PLANS. AND WE ARE. HOWEVER, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS WE'RE MOVING THIS FORWARD. WE'RE ACTUALLY IN A VERY GOOD POSITION TO DO SO. THE MUSEUM, DESPITE THE DELAY, IS BEING EQUIPPED WITH EXHIBITS. AND I JUST WANT TO STRESS THAT IN THE PLACE WE ARE HISTORICALLY RIGHT NOW, IT'S EVEN MORE CLEAR THAT WE NEED TO DO IT FOR OUR CHILDREN BECAUSE WE NEED HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS, ESPECIALLY IN CENTRAL VALLEY. AND YOU ALL KNOW IT WITH THE COVID CRISIS. IT'S PRETTY CLEAR THAT'S A HUGE ISSUE. WE NEED ESSENTIAL WORKERS. WE NEED FIRST RESPONDERS. WHEN YOU'RE TALKING TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT HERE, YOU KNOW THAT THEY HAVE ONLY A SMALL PORTION OF APPLICATIONS COMING FROM CENTRAL VALLEY. AND WE NEED TO INCREASE THAT. AND WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO HAVE A FIRE STATION WHERE KIDS CAN TRY ON AND BE FIREMEN. WE NEED SCIENTISTS. WE HAVE YOU UC MERCED NEXT DOOR. WE NEED SCIENTISTS IN AGRICULTURE AND WE NEED PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND THE MACHINES. AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IN THE MUSEUM. WE'RE GOING TO INSPIRE KIDS AND WE'RE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT THE FAMILIES HERE IN THE VALLEY HAVE AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY TOGETHER AND TO LEARN TOGETHER. AND I WOULD BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. WE'VE BEEN VERY TRANSPARENT ABOUT OUR PROCESS AND WHAT'S HAPPENING. WE HAVE A LOT OF FOUNDING MEMBERS WHICH ALREADY CAME ON BOARD. AND JUST TO LIST A FEW OF THEM, COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, GOLDEN VALLEY HEALTH CLINICS, IT'S UC MERCED. IT'S BREAKFAST LIONS CLUB. WE HAVE HIGH SPEED RAIL AUTHORITY ACTUALLY GAVE US MONEY TO BUILD A BULLET TRAIN EXHIBIT, HOPEFULLY AT SOME POINT MERCED WILL ENJOY THAT AS WELL. AND SO WE'RE VERY MUCH PRIMED TO OPEN AS SOON AS THE PUBLIC HEALTH SITUATION IS GOING TO ALLOW US TO DO SO. BUT WE'RE MOVING FORWARD AND PRETTY SOON YOU'RE GOING TO START SEEING PICTURES ON OUR WEBSITE OF ACTUAL EXHIBITS BEING INSTALLED. WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THIS SOUNDS LIKE IT'S GOING TO BE GREAT. YES. THANK YOU. THANK YOU AGAIN. ANY FURTHER COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC? ANYBODY HERE? WOULD ANYBODY ELSE LIKE TO SPEAK? NO? WE HAD NO CALLERS, RIGHT? OK, SO WE'LL CLOSE THE PUBLIC COMMENT AND WE'LL MOVE ON. [COVID-19 UPDATE] NEXT IS A COVID-19 UPDATE. OK. I THINK WE HAVE REBECCA NANYONJO-KEMP COMING, RIGHT? OK. IT'LL BE JUST A SECOND. YES, COME IN, THANK YOU. GOOD MORNING. GOOD MORNING, CHAIRMAN ESPINOZA, HOW ARE YOU? GOOD, THANK YOU. GOOD MORNING. MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, COUNTY COUNCIL, CEO BROWN. MY NAME IS REBECCA NANYONJO-KEMP. I'M THE PUBLIC HEALTH DIRECTOR FOR MERCED COUNTY. AND I'M HERE TO PROVIDE YOU-- OH, GOOD MORNING, SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. I SEE HIS FACE. HELLO. I'M HERE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH THE COVID-19 UPDATE. AND SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL, WHO ELSE HAVE I MISSED? SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA, I ALREADY SAID YOU. AND I'LL MENTION SUPERVISOR LOR. I'M HERE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH THE COVID-19 UPDATE. WHAT IS TAKING PLACE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY OF MERCED? I HAVE MADE THIS DELIBERATELY SHORT, BUT AS ALWAYS WILL ENTERTAIN ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE TOWARDS THE END OF THIS PRESENTATION. SO WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY. OK, LET'S GET STARTED. SO THIS IS A SNAPSHOT OF WHAT'S TAKING PLACE IN MERCED COUNTY AS OF AND WE ALWAYS THINK IT'S A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE PRE AND CURRENT. SO AS OF SEPTEMBER 14TH, THE LAST TIME WE SHARED THIS INFORMATION AT A BOARD MEETING, WE HAD APPROXIMATELY EIGHTY SIX HUNDRED LABORATORY CONFIRMED CASES. WE'RE NOW AT 9000. SO THERE'S BEEN AN INCREASE OF FIVE PERCENT. AND WHILE THAT SEEMS ESPECIALLY FOR GOING FROM EIGHT TO 9000 IN ANY CAPACITY MIGHT BE LARGE, WE'RE ACTUALLY FARING PRETTY WELL. OUR OVERALL POSITIVITY RATE, WHICH SHOULD BE COMING UP ON THE NEXT SLIDE. BUT LET ME VERIFY. OUR OVERALL POSITIVITY RATE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY OF MERCED NOW IS THREE POINT SIX. IF YOU RECALL, LAST TIME WE WERE HERE, IT HOVERED A LITTLE BIT OVER EIGHT PERCENT. AND SO THERE'S BEEN A SIGNIFICANT DROP OVERALL IN OUR CASE POSITIVITY. UNFORTUNATELY, THAT HAS ALSO BEEN FOLLOWED OR PARALLELED THE NUMBER OF TESTS WE SEE BEING CONDUCTED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY AS WELL. SO WE'RE ALSO NOT SEEING THE NUMBER OF CASES WE'D LIKE TO SEE TO VERIFY THAT WHAT WE SEE [00:10:01] IS TRUE RATES. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF ANY OUTBREAK IS WHAT YOU'RE SEEING BEING VALID INFORMATION OR TRUTHFUL INFORMATION. OUR PROBABLE ACTIVE CASES ARE SIX HUNDRED AND FORTY ONE AS OF SEPTEMBER 14TH AND TWO HUNDRED NINETY NINE. SO WE'VE GONE DOWN BY OVER 50 PERCENT. OUR DEATH RATE, HAPPY TO REPORT, HASN'T GONE UP. OF COURSE, I'M SENSITIVE TO DEATH BECAUSE THAT'S THE FINAL VARIABLE IN THIS VERY LONG EQUATION OF COVID. BUT WE'VE GONE UP NINETEEN CASES SINCE LAST WE MET. OUR HOSPITALIZATIONS HAVE DECREASED MARKEDLY. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE WHILE WE HAVE OUR INTERNAL METRICS. SO THE ONE THING THAT I THINK IS IMPORTANT FOR THIS BOARD TO UNDERSTAND IS WHILE WE HAVE-- THE STATE HAS THEIR DATA, WE ARE VERY PERSISTENT AND VERY PERSNICKETY, MAKING SURE THAT THEY HAVE THE CORRECT DATA. SO ON THE COUNTY PROFILE AT THE STATE, IT SHOWED OUR ACTUAL HOSPITALIZATIONS BEING MARKEDLY UP. THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE DISCUSSED WITH THEM SAYING WHERE ARE YOU GRABBING ALL THIS DATA FROM? THAT IS NOT WHAT WE'RE SHOWING HERE. AND SO THERE'S ALWAYS A TWO PRONG SYSTEM WITH DATA. IT'S YEAH, WE TRUST, BUT WE VERIFY AND WE VALIDATE. WE ALWAYS DO THOSE TWO THINGS. THE NUMBER OF EVER HOSPITALIZED HAS INCREASED BY THIRTY FIVE CASES SINCE LAST WE MET, AND THE TOTAL NUMBER OF TESTS HAS GONE FROM FIFTY THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED FIFTY THREE TO FIFTY SIX THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED FIFTY SIX, WHICH IS AN INCREASE OF ELEVEN PERCENT. [INAUDIBLE] I'M SORRY TO INTERRUPT. I HAVE A QUESTION. DO YOU EVER GET CALLS ABOUT PEOPLE THAT SAID THAT THE GOT COVID BUT THEY NEVER CALLED IN BECAUSE I KNOW THERE'S BEEN INSTANCES ESPECIALLY, YOU KNOW, IN MY FAMILY WHERE A COUPLE PEOPLE GOT SICK AND THEY NEVER CALLED IN BECAUSE THE REST OF THE FAMILY GOT SICK, SO THEY DIDN'T THINK THEY NEEDED TO CALL IN. AND SO YOU GET THOSE CALLS IN AND YOU TAKE THOSE NUMBERS IN CONSIDERATION? ANY POSITIVE THAT WE RECEIVE, IT IS REPORTED TO US ON A LABORATORY. SO THE METHODS OF SURVEILLANCE BY WHICH WE'RE NOTIFIED OF POSITIVE CASES IS A LOT. IT'S NOT JUST BY THE PERSON NOTIFYING US OR THE TESTING FACILITY. WE GET IT FROM LABORATORY REPORTS. WE GET IT FROM HOSPITAL REPORTS IF THOSE ARE APPLICABLE. WE GET THEM FROM OUT OF STATE REPORTS, WE GET OUT OF JURISDICTION REPORTS WE GET. THERE'S SO MANY DIFFERENT METHODS. AND THEY AND I'M HAPPY THAT THE STATE CHANGED ABOUT 20 OR SO YEARS AGO, SAYING WE CAN'T JUST HOW-- OR FROM THE PHYSICIAN'S CONFIDENTIAL MORBIDITY REPORTS. WE HAVE MULTIPLE SOURCES OF OBTAINING THAT INFORMATION. UNFORTUNATELY, AT THAT TIME WHEN WE WERE RECEIVING A LARGE INFLUX OF CASES THAT REALLY UNFORTUNATELY COLLIDED WITH THE FACT THAT THE DATA SYSTEM AT THE STATE LEVEL WAS ALSO NOT FUNCTIONING THE WAY IT SHOULD HAVE. SO WE WERE RECEIVING A LOT OF FALSE NEGATIVES, FALSE POSITIVES. I KNOW SOME OF YOU BOARD MEMBERS WHO HAD REACHED OUT ALSO EXPERIENCED THAT WITHIN YOUR OWN FAMILIES AS WELL. THAT HAS SINCE BEEN RESOLVED. AND SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE HOVERING AT AROUND TWENTY FIVE CASES PER DAY. ALL OF THOSE RECEIVE AN INITIAL PHONE CALL. THE ONE THING THAT HAS CHANGED SINCE LAST WE MET IS WE'RE NOT GOING TO KEEP CALLING THE CASES BACK OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN BECAUSE IT BECOMES TOO INTENSIVE FROM A CASE MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE. SO WE'LL LEAVE A MESSAGE. USUALLY THE ORGANIZATION THAT TESTED POSITIVE IS THE ONE WHO SHOULD MAKE THE INITIAL CONTACT, BUT WE RECOGNIZE THAT THAT SAFETY SYSTEM IS NOT THERE, AND SO THAT'S WHERE PUBLIC HEALTH COMES IN AND TRIES TO GET A HOLD OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND FORWARD INFORMATION TO THEIR ATTENTION. OK, OK, NEXT SLIDE. THESE ARE THE DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN. WE ARE STILL SEEING A LARGER NUMBER OF MALES. SEPTEMBER 14TH, THERE WERE 75 DEATHS AMONG MALES AND THEN WE'RE NOW AT EIGHTY NINE. SO THAT'S BEEN AN INCREASE OF 14 DEATHS OR IN PERCENTAGE. APPROXIMATELY 20 PERCENT. FEMALES HAVE JUMPED FROM FIFTY FOUR TO FIFTY NINE, WHICH IS APPROXIMATELY 10 PERCENT. AND AGAIN, THIS MATCHES WHAT WE'RE SEEING NATIONALLY AS WELL AS STATEWIDE. THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS AGE 65 AND PLUS WHO HAVE BEEN-- WHO HAVE DIED WERE DIAGNOSED AND UNFORTUNATELY SINCE PASSED, JUMPED FROM 87 TO JUST UNDER ONE HUNDRED. AND THOSE THAT ARE UNDER SIXTY FOUR ARE JUMPED FROM 42 TO 50. AND THAT WAS AN INCREASE OF 19 PERCENT. THE DEATHS THAT TOOK PLACE WITHIN MERCED COUNTY JUMPED FROM 76 TO 82 AND OUTSIDE OF MERCED COUNTY WENT FROM FIFTY THREE TO SIXTY SIX. THE REASON I THINK THAT THIS IS SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT IS BECAUSE A DEATH IS A DEATH IS A DEATH, BUT NOT NECESSARILY DURING THIS PANDEMIC. WHEN PEOPLE DIE OUTSIDE IN SKILLED NURSING FACILITIES OR OUT OF JURISDICTION HOSPITALS, WE MAY OR WE MAY NOT GET THAT INFORMATION. SO WE HAVE TO ACTIVELY SURVEY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE GETTING THAT INFORMATION PROVIDED TO US. AND THE REASON THAT THIS VARIABLE AND I'VE NEVER DISCUSSED THIS-- WHAT DID I DO? I AM SO SORRY. OK, YOU WANT ME TO FAST FORWARD? OK. THANK YOU. SO THE REASON THAT THIS-- WHAT IS-- I ONE MORE TIME, DAVID. BUT THE ONE THING IF I CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THE ONE THING I THINK IS IMPORTANT. [00:15:02] THE 65 YEARS OF AGE OR UP IS THAT IN EPIDEMIOLOGY LAND IS REFERRED TO AS YEARS OF POTENTIAL LIFE LOST. AND SO THERE IS A STATISTICAL METRIC THAT REMAINS STANDARD. SO IT'S YPL FOR SHORT PEOPLE WHO LIVE BEYOND THE AGE OF 65, IT'S CONSIDERED A FULL LIFE BY UNITED STATES DEFINITION OR THE NATIONAL DEFINITION. WHEN YOU LOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 65, THAT MEANS THAT ECONOMICALLY YOU SUFFER. IT MEANS QUALITY OF LIFE CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOCIETY AT LARGE. ALL OF THOSE ARE IMPACTED. SO ALL OF THOSE QUALITATIVE VARIABLES THAT WE USUALLY DON'T TALK ABOUT. SIXTY FIVE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN JUST BECAUSE OF THE RISK ASSOCIATED WITH COVID. IT SPEAKS TO SO MANY MORE THINGS THAT AS A COMMUNITY YOU LOSE WHEN YOU LOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 65. NOT TO SAY THAT THOSE OVER THE AGE OF 65 IS NOT LOST, BUT THAT HAS BEEN A STANDARD METRIC. AND SO 65 IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT FOR THAT REASON. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL, YOU HAD A QUESTION NOW OR WHEN WE TALK--. I'LL ASK IT NOW, SINCE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE NUMBER OF DEATHS. SO WHAT IS THAT PERCENTAGE OF MERCED COUNTY'S DEATHS OVERALL THAT'S OCCURRED? COME AGAIN? IN THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME THAT-- YOU PROBABLY DON'T HAVE IT? AND JUST BECAUSE I GOT A LOT OF CONSTITUENCY ASKING ME THOSE QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW, AND I KNOW WE WERE PROVIDED THAT INFORMATION ABOUT A MONTH AGO OR MAYBE SIX WEEKS, IT FEELS LIKE IT WAS LAST YEAR OR WHENEVER IT WAS PROVIDED. BUT I JUST WANT TO GET AN IDEA OF THE PERCENTAGE OF DEATHS. IS DEATHS OVERALL IN MERCED COUNTY UP? IS IT UP THE SAME PERCENTAGE? IS IT REFLECTIVE TO THE SAME PERCENTAGE OF WHAT COVID IS DOING? I JUST WANT TO GET A LITTLE BETTER UNDERSTANDING. AND I KNOW WE TOUCHED ON THAT ABOUT SIX WEEKS AGO. WE WERE LOOKING AT IT AND I STARTED A SPREADSHEET. AND I'D JUST LIKE TO KNOW WHERE WE ARE NOW WITH THAT. WE TYPICALLY COORDINATED THROUGH THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE OFFICE. AND SO IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN WORK ON FROM A DATA ASSESSMENT PERSPECTIVE AND PROVIDE THAT TOO, BUT OVERALL, JUST FROM, YOU KNOW, ADLIBBING AND SPEAKING FREELY, WE ARE SEEING AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF DEATHS THROUGHOUT MERCED COUNTY FROM A HOST OF THINGS, TOO. I MEAN, COVID IS ONE THING THAT WE MEASURE, BUT THERE'S SO MANY OTHER THINGS THAT ARE TAKING PLACE SOCIALLY. THERE'S A LOT OF SOCIAL DISRUPTION. THERE'S CRIME HAS GONE UP SIGNIFICANTLY. I CAN'T SPEAK TO THAT IN THIS COUNTY, BUT I WOULDN'T DOUBT THAT THAT'S THE CASE. SO THERE'S A LOT OF OTHER THINGS THAT BECAUSE OF COVID, WE'RE SEEING INCREASES. [INAUDIBLE] I KNOW THROUGH MY DISCUSSIONS WITH THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, IT'S NOT SO MUCH THAT CRIMES ARE UP, BUT A LOT OF THE CALLS THAT ARE UP ARE FOR MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. AND, YOU KNOW, I HAVE TO SAY, TOUCHED BY MY LIFE, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF SUICIDES. I'VE BEEN VERY SAD. AND IT'S BECAUSE OF THE SHUTDOWN AND BECAUSE OF US HAVING TO STAY HOME. AND IT'S BEEN VERY, VERY CHALLENGING FOR MY FAMILY BECAUSE OF THIS. AND SO I JUST WANTED TO GET AN IDEA WHERE IT IS JUST BECAUSE I HAVE A LOT OF CONSTITUENCY REACHING OUT TO ME ON THIS. SO I'LL COORDINATE WITH CEO BROWN ON THAT. SOUNDS GREAT. AND WE'LL GET AN UPDATE. SO THANKS. LET ME CHECK WITH SUPERVISORS [INAUDIBLE] ON ANY QUESTIONS NOW? ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, GO AHEAD, PLEASE. OK, SO YOU ASKED FOR PER CAPITA INFORMATION AND SO WE HAVE CONTINUING TO PROVIDE THAT. THIS GOES FROM MARCH ALL THE WAY UNTIL AS CURRENT AS WE CAN GET THE INFORMATION. AND WE STILL SEE THAT THE HIGHEST. WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT I HAVE NOTES THAT I CAN REFER TO, THAT THE HIGHEST RATE OF INFECTION, WHICH AGAIN, ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM ABSOLUTE VALUES, IS OCCURRING IN, IS THAT LOS BANOS ? LIVINGSTON. OH, THAT'S A BROWN LINE. SO LIVINGSTON. ONE OF THE THINGS THOUGH THAT I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT WOULD NOT BE OBVIOUS ON THIS SIDE IS WHEN THE FOSTER FARMS SITUATION STARTED TO BECOME MORE CONTROLLED, YOU STARTED TO SEE THE NUMBER OF CASES NOT JUST IN LIVINGSTON AREA, BUT COUNTYWIDE START TO FALL, WHICH IS, I THINK OF AN VERY IMPORTANT LESSON IN THIS IS THAT WHEN YOU HAVE HUNDREDS OF CASES, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S TAKING PLACE BEYOND THE FACILITY THAT MAY BE IMPACTED. AND I DO FIRMLY BELIEVE ACADEMICALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY AND BELIEVE THAT WHAT WAS SEEN IN THAT FACILITY WAS JUST ONE SNAPSHOT OF WHAT WAS TAKING PLACE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY. AND IT PROBABLY WAS TAKING PLACE FOR A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME. BUT WE STILL SEE THAT LIVINGSTON IS HIGHEST, FOLLOWED BY THE GREEN LINE, WHICH I DO BELIEVE IS LA GRAND, PLANADA AREA. BUT WE'RE STARTING TO SEE ALL THOSE CASE RATES FALL STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANTLY FALL FROM WHERE THEY WERE BEFORE. AND SO WE'RE HAPPY TO REPORT THAT. AND AGAIN, THIS CASE RATE IS PER 1000 COMMUNITY RESIDENTS. AND SOME OF THESE DENOMINATORS ARE SMALL, JUST BASED ON THE NUMBER OF RESIDENTS PER AREA. NOT ALL OF THESE AREAS ARE INCORPORATED CITIES. AND SO SOMETIMES THAT COULD BE DIFFICULT. [00:20:01] LET ME JUST STAND UP FOR THE CHAIR'S DISTRICT LA GRAND PLANADA IS LAST PLACE. WELL, LET'S SEE. LET'S JUST MAKE SURE, MAYOR'S DISTRICT. YEAH. LA GRAND PLANADA HAS THE LEAST PER CAPITA. NO, I'M NOT SURE THAT'S THE CASE. LOS BANOS SEEMS TO BE THE LOWEST, BUT LA GRAND PLANADA HOVERS AROUND THE MIDDLE AREA. OK, YEAH, LOS BANOS IS THE LOWEST LEVEL. WHICH IS TO BE EXPECTED IN FAIRNESS TO THE CHAIR, DEFERRING TO THE CHAIR. THE DENOMINATOR ON THAT IS A LOT LOWER. SO THERE'S A LOT LESS OF A POPULATION IN THAT REGION, WHICH MEANS IT DOESN'T TAKE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF CASES TO RAISE THE OVERALL CASE RATE. RIGHT. SO JUST BECAUSE YOU SEE HIGHER CASE RATES OR LOWER CASE RATES, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY A REFLECTION OF EVERYBODY'S INFECTED. BUT IF YOU ONLY HAVE, YOU KNOW, A THOUSAND PEOPLE AND YOU HAVE 50 OF IMPACTED, YOU'RE GOING TO SEE A HIGHER. CAN I ASK A QUESTION OR COMMENT? I THINK LIVINGSTON IS HIGH BECAUSE WE HAVE, I THINK THE WINERY AS WELL. THE WINERY OUT THERE JUST SOUTH OF LIVINGSTONE, I THINK IS PROBABLY CONSIDERED A PART OF LIVINGSTONE. WE HAVE FOSTER FARMS. WE HAVE [INAUDIBLE] COMPANY WHICH HAD AN OUTBREAK AS WELL. AND WE HAVE EMERALD TEXTILE. SO THE LABOR [INAUDIBLE] IS WHAT TAKES OUR NUMBERS HIGH, YOU KNOW, IN MY OPINION. AND SO THAT PROCESS IN PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER, THEY HAVE NO CHOICE. SO IN MY MIND, THAT'S WHAT KEEPS OUR NUMBERS HIGH. AND AMONGST BOARD MEMBERS, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO UTILIZE THIS AS A COMPETITION TO SEE WHOSE CASE RATES ARE LOWEST SO YOU CAN USE THAT AS A HEALTHY COMPETITION. AND NEXT TIME WE'RE PRESENTING THIS INFORMATION, WE'LL SEE WHO'S ON TOP. OK. YEAH, WE HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION. GO BACK. FOR THE RECORD, I WAS WANT TO SAY THAT DISTRICT THREE IN THE ATWATER WAS ACTUALLY BEEN TRENDING DOWN. SO WE'LL JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE WE STATED THAT FOR THE RECORD. ALL RIGHT. BUT I AM ALWAYS IN DEFENSE OF YOUR DISTRICT. I'M GOING TO LEAVE THAT ONE. THANK YOU. OK, ALL RIGHT. SO NEXT, CALIFORNIA BLUEPRINT FOR A SAFER ECONOMY. THROUGHOUT THE COURSE SINCE JANUARY AND MARCH, SINCE THIS THING REALLY GOT STARTED OFF THE GROUND, WE'VE HEARD SEVERAL DIFFERENT NAMES USED FOR WHAT THE STATE IS USING AS A MARKETING TOOL TO SELL THIS. THIS IS WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT FOR ALL THE COUNTIES TO COMPLY WITH. THE CURRENT MODEL. SO WE HAD THE WATCH LIST, THE DATA MONITORING WATCH LIST, CONSIDER THAT SCRAPPED. IT'S NOW CALIFORNIA BLUEPRINT FOR A SAFER ECONOMY. SO THAT IS THE NEWEST TERM THAT WE'RE GOING TO UTILIZE. AND WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DISCUSS IN THE LAST COUPLE OF SLIDES HERE IS A SITUATIONAL STATUS OF WHAT'S TAKING PLACE IN MERCED COUNTY AND WHAT METRICS THE COUNTY OR THE STATE HAS NOW ADOPTED THAT ARE GOING TO INFLUENCE OR IMPACT US MOVING FORWARD. OK, SO THIS FIRST PAGE. IT REPRESENTS THE FOURTH TIERS THAT WE'VE SPOKEN ABOUT, I THINK A COUPLE OF TIMES HERE, PURPLE, RED, ORANGE AND KIND OF YELLOWISH COLOR. WE ARE CURRENTLY, THAT'S THE COUNTY'S RISK LEVEL. SO THAT'S THE ASSESSMENT OF THE OVERALL RISK LEVEL. WE REMAIN IN A PURPLE TIER. THE ONE THING I THINK IS IMPORTANT TO EMPHASIZE HERE IS THAT WHEN YOU'RE IN A TIER, IF YOUR NUMBERS LOOK GOOD, YOU HAVE TO REMAIN IN THE TIER YOU ARE ASSIGNED FOR A MINIMUM OF A THREE WEEK PERIOD. AND SO NO MATTER WHAT, IF WE WERE OPERATING AT YELLOW CASE RATES TOMORROW, WE WOULD NOT MOVE AUTOMATICALLY FROM PURPLE TO YELLOW. AND I THINK THAT'S INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT FOR CONSTITUENTS AND RESIDENTS OF THE COUNTY TO UNDERSTAND. IF WE ARE TO REDUCE, AND RIGHT NOW WE'RE ON THE SIGNIFICANT WAVE OR A PATH TO REACHING RED. WE'RE OPERATING AT RED STANDARDS RIGHT NOW. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OUR TESTING RATE IS SO LOW, WE'RE NOT MEETING SOME OF THE METRICS THAT ARE REQUIRED AS PART OF THIS BLUEPRINT MODEL. AND SO IT'S NOT JUST A ONE SIZE FITS ALL. THERE'S FIVE DISTINCT METRICS THAT YOU HAVE TO BE FARING WELL IN TO GO FROM THE TIER YOU'RE IN TO THE TIER, YOU NEED TO GO TO. AND WE'RE OPERATING RIGHT NOW AGAIN IN THE WIDE SPREAD, WHICH IS A PURPLE CATEGORY. WE'RE HOPING WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK AND A HALF OR TWO WEEKS, HAPPY TO REPORT TO THIS BOARD THAT WE DID NOT SEE A SIGNIFICANT BUMP FROM THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND ACTIVITIES AND REALLY WANT TO THANK THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE, BECAUSE I KNOW THEY WERE CONDUCTING A NUMBER OF ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES, MAKING SURE THAT THERE WAS PREVENTION OF CONGREGATING ACTIVITIES, WHATNOT. I THINK THOSE EFFORTS REALLY SIGNIFICANTLY HELP IN SHUTTING DOWN FACILITIES WHERE WE COULD SEE A LARGE NUMBER OF FAMILIES GATHERING AS WELL. I KNOW EVERYONE'S TIRED. I KNOW PEOPLE ARE LIKE, WELL, IT'S HALLOWEEN, IT'S THANKSGIVING, IT'S CHRISTMAS. I MISS THOSE THINGS, TOO. BUT WE'VE GOT TO KEEP OUR CASE RATES LOW AND SO. RIGHT. AND THEY ADJUST IN CASES OVERALL FOR WHERE WE ARE ARE MORE THAN SEVEN PER 100000 AND A POSITIVE POSITIVITY RATE THAT'S GREATER THAN EIGHT PERCENT. I BROUGHT UP EARLIER IN THIS PRESENTATION THAT OUR CURRENT POSITIVITY RATE IS LESS THAN FOUR PERCENT. WE'D LIKE TO KEEP IT AT THAT. HOWEVER, THAT NEEDS TO MATCH THE NUMBER OF TESTS BEING CONDUCTED. [00:25:02] RIGHT NOW AT THE VERILLI AND OPTUM SERVE TEST SITES, LOS BANOS AND MERCED, RESPECTIVELY, WE'RE SEEING A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF RESIDENTS AND CONSTITUENTS WHO ARE RECEIVING TESTS. AND I'D LIKE TO SAY THAT'S ON THE DAIS FOR THOSE WHO ARE LISTENING; IF WE DO NOT GET OUR TEST NUMBERS UP, THOSE TEST SITES THAT HAVE BEEN PROVIDED TO US, SPONSORED MONETARILY AND HUMAN RESOURCE WISE BY THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA WILL BE REMOVED. AND TO RUN THOSE TYPES OF TEST SITES, IF YOU'RE RUNNING ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS PER MONTH JUST TO GET THOSE IN PLACE, THERE IS NO MONEY COUNTYWIDE. THERE IS NO MONEY THROUGH CARES. WE ARE REALLY STRONGLY-- I AM STRONGLY ENCOURAGING AND ASKING THAT RESIDENTS OF THE COMMUNITY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THOSE TEST SITES. WE HAVE TWO. WE'RE LUCKY MOST COUNTIES HAVE ONE OR ARE STILL WANTING TO GET ONE. AND SO LET'S CAPITALIZE ON THOSE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF THE FACT THAT WE ARE OFFICIALLY ENTERING FALL SEASON. ANY QUESTIONS ON THIS? I WON'T GO THROUGH EVERYTHING. AND YOU HAVE IT FOR YOUR NOTES TO REFER TO. YEAH, LET ME ASK SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. OH, THANK YOU, DR. NANJAYO. QUESTION FOR YOU. IT SEEMS LIKE WE'RE ON THE PATH TO GET TO THE SUBSTANTIAL LEVEL, THE RED TIER. WHAT ARE THE PARAMETERS FOR ONCE WE'RE THERE? IS THE STATE USING THE SAME YOU KNOW, WERE THERE IF WE HAVE A SPIKE, A BAD WEEK, DOES IT HAVE TO BE MORE THAN THREE WEEKS OF NUMBERS BEING ABOVE THAT WOULD MOVE US BACK TO THE PURPLE TIER? HOW DOES THAT WORK? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. WE HAVE TO-- IT'S AN AVERAGE. SO IT'S NOT LIKE DAILY CASE COUNT. OH, YOU WERE OVER THIS DAY. SO NOW YOU'RE GOING BACK TO THE PURPLE TIER. BUT YES, WE CAN BE REVERTED BACK AND THEN WE HAVE TO START THAT CLOCK ALL OVER AGAIN. IN FACT, WE WOULD BE ONE WEEK FURTHER ALONG. WE'RE ONLY ONE WEEK BEHIND AND BEING ABLE TO PROMOTE TO THE RED TIER BECAUSE OUR TESTING VOLUME IS DOWN SO MUCH, MARKEDLY DOWN, SIGNIFICANTLY DOWN. AND SO ONCE YOU STAY AT THAT IN THE RED TIER AND YOU STAY THERE FOR A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TIME, THEN YOU'RE ALLOWED TO PROGRESS FORWARD. BUT WE'VE SEEN PEOPLE HAVE TO REVERT BACK TO THE MORE RESTRICTED TIER MORE THAN ONCE. SO THERE IS A POSSIBILITY AND THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. THANK YOU. ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK--. LET ME GET A QUESTION FROM SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL FIRST. AND SO I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION. SO THE NUMBER THAT YOU GAVE US TODAY OF THE POSITIVITY RATE, SO WE'RE ACTUALLY APPROACHING MODERATE AND I KNOW WE HAVE TO DO THE ADJUSTING CASES, THE MORE THAN SEVEN THAT WE'RE APPROACHING THAT AS WELL. SO WE GET THE AVERAGES ARE BELOW SUBSTANTIAL AND THEY ARE A MODERATE. DO YOU STILL HAVE TO GO CLASS TO CLASS TO GET TO--? NO, NOT NECESSARILY. WE COULD SKIP ONE AND GO RIGHT INTO THE OTHER? NOT THAT I'M SAYING THAT WE ARE THERE, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE PRETTY CLOSE. BUT IS THAT--. WHEREVER YOUR OPERATING IS WHAT THEY'LL TAKE INTO ADVISEMENT. OK. BUT I DON'T SEE THAT HAPPENING UNLESS THE NUMBER OF TESTS BEING DONE INCREASES. WE WENT FROM BEING RANKED FIRST IN TERMS OF USAGE OF OUR TEST SITES FOR MONTHS ON END TO NOW, WE'RE SEVENTY SEVENTH OUT OF 78. WELL, WE ONLY HAVE TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY THOUSAND PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTY. SO WHAT THE THE AMOUNT OF TEST PEOPLE WELL EVERYBODY SHOULD BE GETTING TESTED ONCE EVERY TEN DAYS. YOU KNOW, THAT'S THE INCUBATION PERIOD, TWO TO TWELVE DAYS. SO IF YOU GET TESTED NOW YOU'RE NOT FREE FOREVER. OH I'M NEGATIVE. IT'S LIKE OK, WELL ANOTHER WEEK AND A HALF AND IT'S FREE AND THEY DON'T DO THE NASAL PHARYNGEAL. THEY DO THE [INAUDIBLE], YOU SELF ADMINISTER, YOU GIVE IT TO THEM AND YOU LEAVE. IT'S NOT THE BRAIN SCRATCH ANYMORE? NO IT'S NOT. NO CHANCE OF CSF FLUID. NOTHING. ALL RIGHT, I'LL GO AGAIN. YEAH. SO TELL YOUR FRIENDS. TELL YOUR LOVED ONES. I MEAN, LITERALLY, IT COULD SAVE LIVES. IT DOES SAVE LIVES. SO WE ENCOURAGE EVERYBODY TO GO AND GET TESTED AND TO ADD MORE FEAR FACTOR TO IT IS THE FACT THAT BECAUSE WE'RE IN FALL AND EVERYBODY SHOULD GET THEIR FLU SHOT, I KNOW THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT HAVE SOME MORAL CLAUSES AGAINST IT. IF YOU CAN GO GET YOUR FLU SHOT, BECAUSE I SAID LAST TIME AND IT WAS ASKED FOR SOME MORE CLARITY AND EXPLANATION ON WHAT I MEANT, WE HAVE A PERFECT SEASON, A POTENTIAL DISASTER. AND SO NOW THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE STARTING TO OPEN UP OUR SCHOOLS, WE'RE SLOWLY BUT SURELY STARTING TO DEAL WITH THAT ON THAT LEVEL. WE REALLY NEED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE AS SAFE AS WE CAN BE AS A COMMUNITY OVERALL BECAUSE WE JUST DON'T HAVE THE HOSPITAL INFRASTRUCTURE. IF WE GO BACK TO THAT SLIDE THAT SHOWS HOSPITALIZATIONS OR DEATHS THAT HAVE OCCURRED OUTSIDE OF THE COUNTY, WE DON'T HAVE A HEALTH CARE SYSTEM ROBUST ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH TWO OUTBREAKS AT THE SAME TIME. I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT ALSO TO MAKE MENTION OF THE FACT IF AFTER WE GET TO AND MOVE INTO THE RED TIER AND OUR DATA REMAIN STABLE OR AND IMPROVES FOR AN ADDITIONAL TWO OR THREE WEEK PERIOD, ALL SCHOOLS WOULD BE ABLE TO REOPEN. SO IF THAT'S NOT A CATALYST FOR WE GOT TO DO IT, LET'S DO IT. [00:30:03] WE COULD LITERALLY BE FOUR TO FIVE WEEKS AWAY FROM BEING ABLE TO OPEN UP ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTY. SO. OK, ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE I MOVE FORWARD? SORRY. ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS? DO WE TAKE QUESTIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE? YEAH, HE'S GOING. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. I DO HAVE ONE I JUST WANT TO THROW OUT THERE. KIND OF WENT THROUGH MY BRAIN. WHY DON'T WE OPEN UP THE SCHOOLS AND YOU TEST EVERYBODY AS THEY'RE GOING THROUGH THE LINE, DROPPING OFF THEIR KIDS? WE WOULD LOVE TO DO THAT, BUT WE HAVE TO GET TO THE TIER THAT ALLOWS FOR US TO DO THAT. BUT ONCE WE GET THAT POINT--. YOU KNOW, IF YOU WANT TO TEST EVERYBODY, THEY'D BE THE PERFECT WAY. BUT WE DON'T WANT TO-- THAT WOULD BE KIND OF CART BEFORE THE HORSE, UNFORTUNATELY. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE ARE OPERATING AT THE LEVELS THAT WE SAY WE ARE OPERATING AT AND THEN CONTINUE. THAT'S PART OF SURVEILLANCE. WHAT'S OUR BASELINE? WE DON'T HAVE A SUFFICIENT BASELINE ANYMORE BECAUSE SO FEW PEOPLE ARE GETTING TESTED. I THINK IT'S THE CART WITH THE HORSE. MAYBE NOT. MAYBE, YEAH. ANYBODY HERE WOULD LIKE TO ASK A QUESTION? YEAH, PLEASE COME FORWARD. YOU NEED TO COME FORWARD, PLEASE, TO THE MIC. YOU HAVE TO BE AT THE MICROPHONE, SORRY. I JUST HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE TESTS. FOR A LONGEST TIME, THE RETURNED TIMES ON THE TESTS WERE OVER 14 DAYS IN MERCED COUNTY. AND I KNOW THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT I KNOW WENT OUT OF COUNTY TO BE TESTED SO THAT THEY CAN HAVE THE RESULTS SOONER. HAS THAT IMPROVED? AND IS THAT--. OK, SO WHAT IS NOW THE RETURN? THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION. THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. OUR TURNAROUND TIME IS AVERAGING THREE TO FOUR DAYS NOW AT ITS WORST. ARE THERE ANY FACILITIES SO WE DID HAVE A MOBILE TEST UNIT AND WE WERE HOPING TO HAVE RAPID TESTING WITH THAT MOBILE UNIT AVAILABLE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE STATE IS REALLY STILL TRYING TO GET EVERYTHING TOGETHER, BUT THAT ALSO HAS AN EQUIVALENT TURNAROUND TIME OF THREE TO FOUR DAY PERIOD. I DON'T KNOW IF WE'VE HEARD OF A QUICKER TURNAROUND TIME. YEAH, AROUND THREE OR FOUR DAYS EVERY [INAUDIBLE]. MY TEST WAS PRETTY QUICK FRIDAY TO MONDAY, SO. I WAS GOING TO SAY WE HAVE-- WE'VE HAD SOME OF OUR STAFF TEST. THEY GET TESTED ON LIKE A TUESDAY. THEY GET THE RESULTS ON WEDNESDAY. SO IT JUST DEPENDS. BUT BECAUSE WE'RE LOW, I'M SURE YOU GET A QUICK TURNAROUND RIGHT NOW BECAUSE WE JUST DON'T HAVE ANYBODY TESTING. LET ME SEE IF SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA HAS A QUESTION. YEAH, SURE. THANK YOU. A COUPLE OF COMMENTS. I SAID ON THE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SAN JAOQUIN VALLEY IN ONE OF THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH FOLKS WAS ON LINE. AND SO ONE OF MY QUESTIONS TO THEM WAS JUST WORRIED ABOUT RUNNING OUT OF TESTING SUPPLIES. BUT IN SPEAKING WITH HER, SHE SAID THAT BASICALLY THE STATE CONTRACTED WITH A VENDOR, BASICALLY TOOK OVER. THEY ONLY PROVIDE TESTING SUPPLIES FOR THE STATE. SO THAT'S ANSWERED THE QUESTION OF, YOU KNOW, IF WE START ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO GO DO THE SURVEILLANCE TESTING, WOULD WE-- I KNOW AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS TESTING, SUPPLIES WERE SHORT AND THAT WOULD WHEN WE RUN OUT OF SUPPLIES. AND THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE THE CASE NOW. AND THEN THE OTHER COMMENT IS, IS I JUST KIND OF WANT TO SAY THIS IS THAT, YES, THE TESTS ARE BEING PROVIDED TO ANYBODY AT NO COST. BUT JUST REMEMBER THAT THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, ARE ALL PAYING TO HAVE THESE TESTING SITES AVAILABLE TO DR. NANJAYO'S COMMENT. IT'S A MILLION DOLLARS A MONTH TO HAVE THESE TEST SITES STOOD UP IN MERCED COUNTY. THAT'S OUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS THAT ARE PAYING FOR THAT. AND I DON'T WANT TO SEE US LET THEM GO TO WASTE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, SUPERVISOR AND COULD NOT AGREE MORE. IT WOULD BE A SIGNIFICANT WASTE IF IT SOUNDS OMINOUS AND, YOU KNOW, KIND OF DARK GOING DOWN THAT ROAD. IT'S BECAUSE IT WILL BE. YOU KNOW, WE HAVEN'T HIT OUR SECOND WAVE, AS A REMINDER. YOU SEE WHAT'S GOING ON IN NEW YORK. THEY WERE OH, WE'RE DOING GREAT. AND NOW THEY'RE STARTING TO GET CASES BLOWING UP AGAIN. SO IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME. IT'S LIKE WEST NILE. YOU SEE WHAT IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IF YOU LOOK AT THE EAST COAST, YOU LOOK AT COUNTRIES BEYOND THAT, YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IN CALIFORNIA. WE'RE KIND OF PRIME POSITION TO SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING ELSEWHERE, TO PREPARE BETTER. OK, SO ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? NO. OK, YEAH, IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND. SO NOW WE'RE GOING TO DISCUSS THE EQUITY METRIC, WHICH WE SPOKE ABOUT, WHICH IS PART, AGAIN, OF THE BLUEPRINT FOR A SAFER ECONOMY THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA. SO THE NEW BLUEPRINT METRIC THAT HAS BEEN INCLUDED IN THIS IS EQUITY. AND WE'VE SPOKEN ABOUT EQUITY BEFORE. I'M NOT GOING TO GET INTO TOO MUCH TO DEFINE IT. WHAT IT MEANS IN THE CASE OF WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH COVID-19 IS MAKING SURE THAT [00:35:05] POPULATIONS, SUBPOPULATIONS THAT DON'T HAVE ACCESS, DON'T HAVE RESOURCES, AND ALSO DON'T HAVE THE ADVOCACY THAT THEY ARE GETTING THE SAME ACCESS TO THE SAME INFORMATION, TO THE SAME TESTING AS EVERYBODY ELSE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY. SO WHAT HAPPENS WITH THIS EQUITY METRIC IS THEY LOOK AT CENSUS TRACTS AND THEY GROUP THOSE CENSUS TRACTS INTO QUARTILES AND THEY USE THE HEALTHY PLACES INDEX. I'LL KEEP IT SHORT WHAT THAT MEANS, BUT WHAT THAT MEANS TO MERCED COUNTY, IF YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THE HEALTHY PLACES INDEX, IT WAS DEVELOPED BY THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ALLIANCE FOR HEALTH. SO THE EQUIVALENT OF OUR PUBLIC HEALTH CONSORTIUM IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. BUT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, IF YOU LOOK AT ALL THE CENSUS TRACTS IN MERCED COUNTY, I DON'T LOVE THIS HEALTHY PLACES INDEX. AND I'LL TELL YOU WHY. THAT'S JUST MY PERSONAL OPINION, BECAUSE IT MAKES SOME OF WHERE WE KNOW THERE'S MORE AFFLUENCE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY LOOK AS THOUGH IT'S FARING WORSE, WHERE WE KNOW THERE'S MORE SOCIOECONOMIC DEPRESSION IN THAT COMMUNITY, LIKE COMPARING PLACES IN SOUTH MERCED TO PLACES LIKE ATWATER. IT'LL SHOW ACTUALLY ATWATER FARING WORSE ON ALL OF THOSE 25 INDICES THAN IN SOUTH MERCED. SO IT'S NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF THE ACTUALITY OF WHAT'S TAKING PLACE IN THE COUNTY. THAT BEING SAID, ALL OF OUR COUNTY LOOKS THE SAME. I CAN'T SAY THE SAME FOR OTHER COUNTIES WHO ARE SEPARATED INTO FOUR QUARTILES. FOR MERCED COUNTY, ALL OF OUR QUARTILES KIND OF READ THE SAME. AND SO THOSE INDICATORS INCLUDE ECONOMICS, EDUCATION, TRANSPORTATION, OTHER SOCIOECONOMIC METRICS YOU WOULD OTHERWISE SEE ORDINARILY ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH CARE ACCESS. FOR US WITHIN THIS COUNTY, THE LOWER CENSUS TRACTS TEND TO BE WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS AND THE HIGHER DENSITY POPULATION SPACES. SO, YEAH, HE'S GOT A QUESTION, MCDANIEL. YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO KIND OF ECHO WHAT YOU JUST SAID BECAUSE YOU MENTIONED ATWATER. SO WHEN ATWATER CITY COUNCIL WENT TO DISTRICTS, THEIR DEMOGRAPHER THAT ACTUALLY WORKED ON THE CENSUS TRACKING ON DIVIDING THOSE DISTRICTS UP EQUALLY. SO THEY HAD NEVER SEEN AN EQUALLY SPREAD COMMUNITY THE WAY THE CITY OF ATWATER WAS, MEANING THERE WERE NO POCKETS. EVERYTHING WAS SPREAD OUT PRETTY EVENLY THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE CITY, WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS. SO I CAN SEE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING. WHATEVER, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHAT WE CELEBRATE HERE IN MERCED COUNTY IS THE DIVERSITY AND HOW EVERYBODY IS PRETTY WELL, MUCH. I MEAN, THERE MIGHT BE SOME POCKETS, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF-- THIS IS A VERY GREAT COMMUNITY WHERE WE ALL LIVE TOGETHER. AND SO I GET WHAT YOU'RE SAYING ON THAT. AND I AGREE WITH YOU. AND I AGREE WITH THAT. THE PROBLEM IS, IS THAT YOU'LL HAVE THIS TYPE OF CURVE AND THEN OVERALL IT'LL LOOK LIKE THIS AND SO THAT-- YOU HAVE HIDDEN AREAS WHERE YOU HAVE REAL ISSUES. BUT BECAUSE IT ALL READS THE SAME, YOU WOULDN'T KNOW WHAT PLACE TO INSERT YOUR MOST NECESSARY MEASURES. SO WE CAN HAVE A LINE LIFT LIKE THIS AND MORE, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE BIT MORE AVERAGING AROUND THE MEAN FOR EVERYONE. THAT'S ULTIMATELY WHAT WE WANT TO GET TO ANYHOW. BUT THANK YOU FOR THAT. AND SO NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO THIS NEW BLUEPRINT METRIC, WHAT IS REQUIRED IS THE LOWEST QUARTILE HAS TO MEET THE TESTING POSITIVITY CRITERIA FOR LESS RESTRICTIVE TIERS BEFORE THE COUNTY OVERALL MOVES. AGAIN, THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT IMPACTS US BECAUSE OUR QUARTILES ALL OPERATE ALMOST ONE IN THE SAME. SO OUR LOWEST QUARTILE, THIS IS THE EXAMPLE, THE TESTING POSITIVITY RATE MUST BE LESS THAN EIGHT PERCENT TO MOVE FROM PURPLE TO RED. THAT HAS BECOME AN ISSUE IN A LOT OF COUNTIES WHERE THEY HAVE LARGE AGRICULTURAL, EXTREME DISTRUST WHEN IT COMES TO ANY ENGAGEMENT WITH ANY TYPE OF GOVERNMENT OR POLITICIAN. THAT IS NOT NECESSARILY THE CASE IN MERCED. I FEEL FOR COUNTIES WHERE THAT'S TAKING PLACE, IT'S NOT TAKING PLACE IN THIS COUNTY AND OUR TRAJECTORY IS UNAFFECTED BY THAT AT THIS TIME. WHEN IT DOES BECOME AN ISSUE, THOUGH, WE WILL BE SURE TO BRING IT TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ATTENTION. BEFORE MOVING TO THIS FINAL SLIDE, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ON THAT EQUITY METRIC? ALL THE OTHERS WERE NOT PUT IN THIS PRESENTATION BECAUSE YOU'VE HEARD THEM COUNTLESS TIMES, TIME AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. BUT ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THAT? SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA, ANY QUESTIONS? NO, THANK YOU CHAIR. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL, NO? OK, WE'RE GOOD, THANK YOU. OK, AND SO LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, I KNOW THERE'S FATIGUE AND NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT STAY SAFE, STAY OPEN AND WHAT'S NECESSARY. BUT IN ORDER TO STAY SAFE SO WE CAN STAY OPEN, IT'S IMPORTANT ON THE LARGE BULLETS THAT WE CONTINUE TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT MESSAGE IS LOUD AND CLEAR. ANY TIME WE CAN EXERCISE IT AND MAKE SURE THAT ALL, EVEN IF ONE PERSON OUT OF 50 HEARS IT AND IT'S A NEW MESSAGE, HOW MANY PEOPLE THAT ONE PERSON IS GOING TO TELL IS EFFECTIVE. SO MAKING SURE THAT YOU WASH YOUR HANDS WITH MORE FREQUENCY, THAT YOU'RE CONSTANTLY CLEANING AND DISINFECTING, THAT YOU'RE EXERCISING SOCIAL DISTANCING AND MAINTAINING THE [00:40:05] APPROPRIATE NUMBER OF FEET AWAY FROM THE PERSON THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE IMPACTED, LIMITING OUR GATHERINGS, MAKING SURE THAT YOU UTILIZE CLOTH FACE COVERINGS AND SELF-MONITORING. SO WHEN THERE'S AN ASSUMPTION THAT SOMETHING MIGHT BE WRONG AND IT MAY NOT BE THIS OR IT MAY NOT BE OR IT COULD BE THAT MAKE SURE THAT YOU PROTECT EVERYONE ELSE. YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN A ROOM FULL OF PEOPLE SUCH AS WE'RE GATHERED HERE AND THERE'S A POTENTIAL HERE, ALL OF THESE PEOPLE WOULD HAVE TO BE CONTACTED IF SOMEBODY, YOU KNOW, JUST SHOWED UP AND DIDN'T ASSUME, BUT WHO KNEW IT WAS COVID. SO MAKING SURE THAT THESE NON PHARMACEUTICAL PREVENTION BASED MEASURES ARE IN PLACE EVERY PLACE IS WHAT'S GOING TO ALLOW FOR US TO REMAIN SAFE AND STAY OPEN. AND WE WILL HAVE A GOOD YEAR. IT MAY NOT BE A HUGELY MASS GATHERED YEAR, BUT WE'LL GET SAFELY INTO TWENTY, TWENTY ONE WITHOUT HAVING DISASTERS THE END OF THIS YEAR. AND THAT CONCLUDES THE PRESENTATION. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. I JUST WANT TO SAY FOR EVERYBODY THAT'S LISTENING OUT THERE AND HERE, PLEASE GET TESTED IF YOU CAN. YEAH. AND THE SITES OF THE TWO TEST SITES, THERE'S ONE AT THE MERCED COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS. THAT IS THE [INAUDIBLE]. ALL OF THIS YOU CAN DO ONLINE. AND THEN WE HAVE OUR VERILLI TEST SITE, WHICH IS LOCATED ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE COUNTY AND LOS BANOS. ALL THAT INFORMATION IS LOCATED ON THE PUBLIC HEALTH WEBSITE AND I BELIEVE THE COUNTY WEBSITE AS WELL. AND OTHER CLINICS AROUND THE COUNTY. THERE'S MANY, MANY CLINICS. WE HAVE MANY COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS, PLEASE, IF-- AND ALSO OUR PHARMACIES. RIGHT. SO PHARMACIES ARE NOW GIVING INCENTIVES FOR PEOPLE TO GET THE FLU SHOTS. THERE'S NO EXCUSE TO NOT KNOW. SO IF YOU KNOW, DO BETTER. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU AGAIN. WE'LL MOVE ON TO CONSENT AGENDA. [CONSENT CALENDAR] NEXT IS APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA CALENDAR ITEMS ONE THROUGH EIGHT. PLEASE NOTE ITEM FOUR AND ITEM SEVEN HAVE BEEN PULLED. MOVED TO APPROVE BY SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL, SECOND BY SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. CAN I HAVE ROLL CALL PLEASE? SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. AYE. SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. AYE. SUPERVISOR ESPINOZA. YES. NEXT IS BOARD ACTION, PUBLIC [BOARD ACTION] WORKS ITEMS NINE THROUGH 11. ITEMS THROUGH 11. [INAUDIBLE] YEAH, OK. YEAH. I'LL SECOND THE MOTION. IT WAS DISCUSSION THOUGH SO. THANK YOU. SO ITEM NINE THROUGH 11. WE HAVE A MOTION BY SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA, SECOND BY SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. COMMENT HAS BEEN GIVEN AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING. SO ROLL CALL PLEASE. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. AYE. SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. AYE. SUPERVISOR ESPINOZA. AYE. MOTION CARRIES THREE ZERO. NEXT AS HEALTH ITEMS, 12 THROUGH 15. ITEMS 12 THROUGH 15. CHAIR, I'LL MAKE A MOTION. MOTION BY SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL, SECOND BY SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. ROLL CALL PLEASE? SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. AYE. SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. AYE. SUPERVISOR ESPINOZA. AYE. MOTION CARRIES THREE ZERO. NEXT IS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND RECOVERY SERVICES. ITEM 16. WE HAVE ITEM SIXTEEN. UH, MOVED BY SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA SECOND BY SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. UH, ROLL CALL, PLEASE. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. AYE. SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. AYE. SUPERVISOR ESPINOZA. AYE. MOTION CARRIES THREE ZERO. A LOT OF PRESSURE CALLING ON ME FIRST EVERY TIME. NEXT IS HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY ITEM SEVENTEEN. ITEM NUMBER SEVENTEEN. MOVED BY SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA SECOND BY SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. UH, ROLL CALL PLEASE. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. AYE. SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. AYE. SUPERVISOR ESPINOZA. YES. MOTION CARRIES THREE ZERO. NEXT IS COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. ITEM NUMBER EIGHTEEN. CHAIR, I'LL MOVE TO APPROVE. NUMBER EIGHTEEN WAS MOVED BY SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL, SECONDED BY SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. [00:45:04] UH THIS IS CARES ACT MONEY RECEIVED BY CASTLE. SO THAT SOUNDS GREAT. YEAH. YEAH. SO, UH, MCDANIEL AND SILVEIRA SECOND. UH, ROLL CALL PLEASE. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. AYE. SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. AYE. SUPERVISOR ESPINOZA. YES. NEXT IS ELECTIONS. ITEM NUMBER 19, PLEASE NOTE THIS ITEM HAS BEEN PULLED. OK, GO AHEAD THEN. NEXT--. EXCUSE ME IF I MAY. I'M SORRY ON THIS. THERE ARE SOME REALLY TIGHT TIMEFRAMES RELATED TO THIS ELECTION AT THIS POINT. AND WE KNOW FROM AN AUTHORITY STANDPOINT, THERE'S NOT REALLY ANYTHING LEGALLY THAT CAN BE DONE RELATED TO ITEM NUMBER FOUR OF THIS. BUT IF THE BOARD WOULD BE SO KIND AND MAYBE CONSIDERING ITEMS ONE THROUGH THREE FOR CONSIDERATION, WE WILL BRING ITEM FOUR BACK TO YOU. AND THEN BETWEEN THE AUDITOR AND I, WE WILL EXPLORE WHERE WE CAN TO TRY TO MOVE THIS FORWARD IF AND BRING THE BUDGET TRANSFER BACK TO THE BOARD, IF YOU COULD CONSIDER THAT. CHAIR, I WOULD MOTION ITEMS ONE THROUGH THREE, THEN ON ITEM 19. I SECOND. OK, WE HAVE MOTION ON ITEMS ONE THROUGH THREE BY SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL, AND SECONDED BY SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. LET'S DO A ROLL CALL. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. AYE. SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. AYE. SUPERVISOR ESPINOZA. YES. THREE ZERO. SO WE'LL MOVE BACK. NEXT IS COUNCIL ITEM NUMBER TWENTY. NUMBER TWENTY. UH, NO COMMENT. [INAUDIBLE] CHAIR, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE. UM, MOVED BY SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL, SECONDED BY SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. ROLL CALL, PLEASE. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. AYE. SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. AYE. SUPERVISOR ESPINOZA. YES. NEXT IS EXECUTIVE OFFICE ITEM 21, PLEASE NOTE THIS ITEM HAS BEEN PULLED. UM, [INAUDIBLE] NEXT IS BOARD APPOINTMENTS, ITEM NUMBER TWENTY TWO. ITEM NUMBER TWENTY TWO. MOTION BY SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. I'LL SECOND. SECOND BUT SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. ROLL CALL, PLEASE. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. AYE. SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. AYE. SUPERVISOR ESPINOZA. YES. NEXT, HIS BOARD ACTION AND-- OR BOARD INFORMATION ON POSSIBLE ACTION ITEMS TWENTY [BOARD INFORMATION & POSSIBLE ACTION] THREE THROUGH TWENTY SEVEN. MR. CHAIR, IT'S MY HONOR TO MOVE TO FILE. SECOND. MOVED TO FILE BY SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL, AND SECOND BY SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. SO ROLL CALL PLEASE. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. AYE. SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. AYE. SUPERVISOR ESPINOZA. YES. NEXT IS A PUBLIC HEARING FROM COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TO CONSIDER [PUBLIC HEARING] AMENDMENT OF CHAPTER EIGHTEEN POINT TEN AGRICULTURAL ZONES OF TITLE 18 ZONING OF THE MERCED COUNTY CODE. OK, FOR TODAY'S PROGRAM, WE WILL BE ACCEPTING PUBLIC COMMENT, LIVE AND PERSON AND VIA VOICEMAIL, THE VOICEMAIL MESSAGE LINE HAS BEEN OPEN TO PUBLIC COMMENT SINCE THE POSTING OF THE AGENDA. WE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING PUBLIC COMMENT BY EMAIL. FOLLOWING THE OPENING OF HEARINGS THERE WILL BE A BRIEF PAUSE TO ALLOW MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO LEAVE A VOICEMAIL MESSAGE. PLEASE CALL TWO ZERO NINE SEVEN TWO SIX TWO SEVEN FIVE FIVE AND REFERENCE THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE PUBLIC HEARING. VOICEMAILS WILL BE PLAYED AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE BREAK. OK, WELL, [INAUDIBLE] GO AHEAD. MR. CHAIRMAN, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, GOOD MORNING. MARK HENDRICKSON, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PUBLIC HEARING TODAY IS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER ZONE CODE TEXT AMENDMENT 20 DASH ZERO ZERO TWO. AS THIS BOARD MAY RECALL, IT COMPREHENSIVELY UPDATED THE ZONING CODE IN LATE TWENTY NINETEEN. TODAY'S ITEM EXCUSE ME, IS SIMPLY AN OPPORTUNITY TO STREAMLINE AND CLEAN UP A PROVISION RELATED TO SINGLE FAMILY HOMES IN AGRICULTURAL ZONES AS BROUGHT TO US FROM APPLICANTS THROUGHOUT THE AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY. THE EXISTING ZONING CODE CURRENTLY REQUIRES A 200 FOOT SET BACK OR BUFFER IN THE AG ZONE FOR ONE OF TWO SCENARIOS. EITHER A NEW HOME AND AN EXISTING PROPERTY LINE, OR TWO AN EXISTING HOME AND REMOVED [00:50:01] PROPERTY LINE THROUGH EITHER A SUBDIVISION OR A PROPERTY LINE ADJUSTMENT. THIS IS PROVEN ESPECIALLY DIFFICULT FOR SEVERAL APPLICANTS WHOSE EXISTING PARCEL CONFIGURATIONS CANNOT ACCOMMODATE THAT 200 FOOT SETBACK REQUIREMENT. AND THIS PROVES ESPECIALLY CHALLENGING FOR THOSE IN PARTICULAR TRYING TO DO SOME ESTATE PLANNING. AND THE ONLY EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE ARE THROUGH A VARIANCE PROCESS WHICH CARRIES A TIME AND COST BURDEN FOR APPLICANTS AS IT HAS TO GO THROUGH THE PLANNING COMMISSION. AS YOUR GENERAL PLAN ENCOURAGES HOMESITE CLUSTERING IN THE AGRICULTURAL ZONE, STAFF OFFERS WHAT WE BELIEVE TO BE A COMMON SENSE PROPOSAL THAT WOULD ALLOW THE DIRECTOR TO MAKE AN EXCEPTION TO THIS 200 FOOT SETBACK REQUIREMENT FOR SINGLE FAMILY HOMES IN THE AG ZONES AND ONLY TWO VERY LIMITED CIRCUMSTANCES. ONE WHEN A NEW HOUSE WILL MEET SET BACK REQUIREMENTS TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE BY LOCATING A CLOSE PROXIMITY TO AN EXISTING HOME ON THAT SAME PARCEL OR AN EXISTING HOUSE ON THE NEIGHBORING PARCEL. OR TWO, WITH A PROPOSED SUBDIVISION WHERE YOU HAVE TWO EXISTING HOMES CLOSE TO EACH OTHER THAT WILL BE SPLIT FROM ONE ANOTHER IN THE 200 FOOT SETBACK CANNOT BE MET. THIS IN PARTICULAR WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR THOSE DOING ESTATE PLANNING. TODAY, STAFF RECOMMENDS, AS IT LISTED IN YOUR ITEM, SEVEN ACTIONS. ONE FOR YOU TO INTRODUCE THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE. TWO, TO WAIVE YOUR FURTHER READING. THREE, TO OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING, AS THE CHAIRMAN MENTIONED, AND RECEIVE PUBLIC TESTIMONY. CLOSE THAT PUBLIC HEARING. FIVE, CONSIDER THE PLANNING COMMISSION'S RECOMMENDATION IN SUPPORT OF THIS AMENDMENT. SIX, TO DETERMINE THE AMENDMENTS EXEMPT FROM FURTHER ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW UNDER SECTION ONE FIVE ONE SIX TWO, THE SEQUEL GUIDELINES. AND SEVEN, TO ADOPT THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE. SHOULD THE BOARD HAVE QUESTIONS THIS MORNING, STAFF, OF COURSE, WILL BE PLEASED TO ADDRESS THEM. MR. MAXEY'S ALSO HERE TO ADDRESS ANY TECHNICAL ISSUES WITH THIS ITEM. WITH THAT BEING SAID, MR. CHAIRMAN, I APPRECIATE THE TIME TO PRESENT THIS ITEM THIS MORNING. THANK YOU. ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTION BY THE BOARD? CHAIR, I'LL MOTION TO WAIVE FURTHER READING. OK. SECOND. WE HAVE A MOTION BY SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL, SECOND BY SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. SO AT THIS TIME, I'LL OPEN UP THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR [INAUDIBLE]. OK, ALL RIGHT. SO WE'LL HAVE ROLL CALL PLEASE. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. AYE. SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. AYE. SUPERVISOR ESPINOZA. YES. MOTION CARRIES THREE ZERO. NOW WE'LL OPEN UP THE PUBLIC HEARING AND RECEIVE TESTIMONY AT THIS TIME. WE'LL OPEN UP FOR TEN MINUTES AND WE'LL BE BACK IN ABOUT TEN MINUTES. THANK YOU. [01:05:20] ALL RIGHT, WE'RE BACK FROM THE PUBLIC HEARING THE BREAK. [01:05:25] DID WE RECEIVE ANY CALLS? [01:05:27] ONE PUBLIC COMMENT. ONE PUBLIC COMMENT? WE'RE GOING TO PLAY THAT. YES, HI. MY NAME IS [INAUDIBLE] AND I'M WITH LEADERSHIP COUNCIL AND JUST CALLING TO ASK A FEW QUESTIONS REGARDING THE [INAUDIBLE] PUBLIC HEARING. DOES THIS AFFECT ANY HOUSING BEING BUILT NEAR A FIELD WHERE THERE MIGHT BE HEAVY PESTICIDES USED? AND IF SO, HOW WILL YOU MAKE SURE THERE IS LIKE APPROPRIATE BUFFER IF THERE WILL BE LIKE A 200 FEET SETBACK OR LESS THAN THAT? AND THOSE WILL BE MY ONLY TWO QUESTIONS, THANK YOU. DID WE UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION? MR. CHAIRMAN, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD. I THINK WE DO UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION. I THINK TO KIND OF JUST BE VERY BRIEF AND SUCCINCT, WHAT'S BEING PROPOSED TODAY IS ENTIRELY CONSISTENT WITH YOUR ALREADY EXISTING GENERAL PLAN POLICY, WHICH IS INTENDED TO REDUCE THE VERY TYPES OF CONFLICTS THAT THE COMMENTER JUST SUGGESTED. SO THIS IS ENTIRELY CONSISTENT WITH THAT. AND AGAIN, IT GOES MAYBE A STEP FURTHER. IT'S CLEARLY LIMITED IN SCOPE. TODAY'S ITEM IS FURTHER LIMITED TO THOSE ONLY MAKING LAND-USE DECISIONS ON THEIR OWN PROPERTIES. AND SO, AGAIN, THIS IS ENTIRELY CONSISTENT WITH YOUR EXISTING GENERAL PLAN POLICY. AND WE CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND AND OBVIOUSLY HAVE FULLY CONTEMPLATED IN COORDINATING OBVIOUSLY THIS WITH THE AG COMMISSIONER AS A PART OF THE GENERAL PLAN UPDATE PROCESS THAT THE 200 FOOT BUFFER IS ENTIRELY APPROPRIATE AND CONSISTENT WITH AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES THROUGHOUT THE STATE. OK, AND THEN WE YOU KNOW, AS SUPERVISORS, WE HAD TIME TO DIALOG WITH YOU. AND I THINK WE HAVE THERE WILL BE EXCEPTIONS SOMETIMES DEPENDING ON WHERE ANOTHER HOUSE IS AT OR BUILDING. RIGHT. SO IF YOU HAVE YOU KNOW, IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE AN EXCEPTION, CAN COME IN AND TALK TO A COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR. THAT IS CORRECT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. NO FURTHER COMMENTS? I THINK THOSE ARE ALL COMMENTS. RIGHT. OK, ANY [INAUDIBLE] IF YOU'RE FROM THE PUBLIC WHO'D LIKE TO ASK QUESTION. NO, IF NOT, WE'LL CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING. COME BACK TO THE BOARD FOR ANY FURTHER COMMENTS OR MOTIONS? MR. CHAIR. I'D LIKE THE MOTION TO CONSIDER THE PLANNING COMMISSION'S RECOMMENDATION IN FAVOR OF ADOPTING THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE, DETERMINED OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE ZONING CODE ARE EXEMPT FROM FURTHER ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW UNDER [INAUDIBLE] ONE FIVE ONE SIX TWO. AND ALSO IN MY MOTION, I'D LIKE TO INCLUDE ADOPT THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 18 ZONING OF THE MERCED COUNTY CODE, ZCTA TWO ZERO DASH ZERO ZERO TWO. MOTION BY SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL, IS THERE A SECOND? MR. CHAIR. THIS IS SILVEIRA. I WILL SECOND THAT MOTION. SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA WILL SECOND. ROLL CALL PLEASE. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. AYE. SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. AYE. SUPERVISOR ESPINOZA. AYE. MOTION CARRIES THREE ZERO. THE NEXT BOARD REPORTS. [REPORTS/BOARD DIRECTION] SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. VERY LITTLE TO REPORT ON TODAY. FIRST, I WANTED TO SAY THE REASON THAT I'M NOT AT THE MEETING TODAY IS YESTERDAY I WAS JUST FEELING A LITTLE BIT UNDER THE WEATHER. I DID HAVE A FLU SHOT LAST WEEK, SO I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S JUST REMNANTS FROM THAT. BUT JUST OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION, I DIDN'T WANT TO HAVE IT TURN INTO SOMETHING AND THEN COME AND EXPOSE EVERYBODY ON THE THIRD FLOOR TO ANYTHING THAT I POTENTIALLY HAVE. I FEEL A LOT BETTER TODAY. QUITE HONESTLY. I WOULD HAVE FELT TODAY, YESTERDAY, LIKE I DID TODAY, I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE. SO I JUST WANT TO THANK STAFF FOR TAKING THE EXTRA TIME TO BE ABLE TO SET ME UP ON THIS ZOOM CALL AND PARTICIPATE IN THE MEETING. AND I PLAN ON-- I TOOK A COVID TEST YESTERDAY AND SO WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS WITH THAT AND THEN I'LL LET EVERYBODY KNOW. ALSO WANTED TO REPORT OUT. I DID HAVE ON OCTOBER THE 1ST, I DID HAVE A SELF SPONSORED TOWN HALL, VIRTUAL TOWN HALL. I WANT TO REPORT OUT THAT I THOUGHT THAT WAS MY FIRST ONE. [01:10:01] IT WENT VERY WELL. SAME ISSUES THAT EVERYBODY'S CONCERNED WITH PARKS, ROADS, PUBLIC SAFETY, COVID, ALL THINGS THAT WE DISCUSSED. AND I WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY THAT PARTICIPATED IN THAT. AND THEN LASTLY, YOU KNOW, I MADE A COMMENT EARLIER WHEN WE WERE HAVING OUR COVID-19 UPDATE. IT IS SOMETHING THAT I UNDERSTAND THAT THESE TESTS ARE THERE'S NO COST TO THE PERSON TAKING THE TEST, BUT WE ARE PAYING THOSE TESTS. OUR TAXES ARE PAYING FOR THOSE TESTS. SO LET'S NOT LET IT GO TO WASTE. I MEAN, THAT'S KIND OF WHERE WE'RE AT. THEY'RE WANTING PEOPLE TO DO THE SURVEILLANCE TESTING AND US TESTING HELPS US GET INTO THAT LOWER TIER. SO, YOU KNOW, BEFORE IT USED TO BE JUST IF YOU HAD SYMPTOMS OR A POTENTIAL EXPOSURE, NOW THEY WANT YOU JUST TO BE GETTING TESTED FOR BASELINE TESTING. SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE EVERYBODY TO FILL UP THOSE SPOTS THAT WE HAVE HERE SO THAT WE DON'T. I KNOW THAT IT'S KIND OF BEEN TOLD TO ME TO THE END OF THE YEAR WE HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO HAVE THOSE TESTING SITES AVAILABLE TO US HERE IN MERCED COUNTY. SO LET'S NOT LET THEM GO TO WASTE. AND THAT'S USING THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY. AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. SUPERVISOR MCDANIEL. THANK YOU MR. CHAIR. AND TO MY COLLEAGUE ON THE WEST SIDE, EVEN THOUGH HE IS HIS AREA IS PROBABLY NUMBER ONE ON THE FACILITY FOR HAVING IT. I DO APPRECIATE HIM TAKING THE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY NOT TO COME TODAY TO EXPOSE US. SO THANK YOU, SUPERVISOR SILVEIRA, FOR THAT. NOT A WHOLE LOT TO REPORT, BUT I DID WANT TO BRING IN I SENT OUT SOME TEXT MESSAGES TODAY, THIS MORNING, WHENEVER I REALIZE IT. BUT ATTENDING THE MERCED CITY COUNCIL MEETING LAST NIGHT, THEY HAD A RESOLUTION AT THE BEGINNING OF THEIR MEETING THAT I THOUGHT WAS VERY, VERY GOOD AND SOMETHING THE COUNTY SHOULD ADOPT AS WELL. BUT THIS WEEK IS CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS APPRECIATION WEEK. AND I THINK THAT'S A UNIQUE POSITION WHERE THESE FOLKS ARE OUT THERE IN OUR COUNTY TRYING TO KEEP EVERYBODY TO WHERE THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE. AND IT IS A COMPLAINT BASED. AND SO A LOT OF TIMES THEIR VISITATIONS WITH SOME OF THESE PROPERTIES AND TRYING TO GET THEM UP TO CODE ISN'T REALLY SAFE. AND I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT I APPRECIATE EVERYTHING THAT OUR CODE ENFORCEMENT IS DOING. AND SO MAYBE NEXT YEAR WE'LL APPROACH IT AND WE CAN DO SOMETHING ON THEIR BEHALF BECAUSE IT'S A DANGEROUS JOB, BUT IT'S SOMETHING THEY'RE OUT THERE DOING EVERY DAY. AND I GOT TO SAY, OUR CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ARE VERY PASSIONATE IN WHAT THEY DO AND THEY'RE VERY GOOD AT WHAT THEY DO. AND THEY APPROACH IT IN A VERY BALANCED MANNER WHERE THEY'RE NOT OUT TO CITE THE PROPERTY OWNER, THEY'RE OUT TO EDUCATE THEM AND HELP THEM COME UP TO COMPLIANCE. AND IT'S MUCH APPRECIATED FROM THIS SUPERVISOR, BUT I JUST LIKE TO PUT THAT OUT THERE, SO THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. FOR MYSELF, I HAD THE PRIVILEGE TO HELP OUT AND HAND OUT FOOD DONATIONS AT THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH LAST SATURDAY. AND I JUST DECIDED TO GO OUT THERE AND SEE IF I COULD HELP OUT PASTOR ELLEN LUNA, THE PASTOR THERE. AND WE ENDED UP GIVING OUT ABOUT 400 PEOPLE FOOD BOXES. SO THAT WAS SUBSTANTIAL. AND I HAD GOTTEN A CALL THAT SAME DAY THAT THEY HAD CLOSED THE FOOD BANK ON EITHER THURSDAY OR FRIDAY AND THEY TURNED AWAY A LOT OF PEOPLE. SO MAYBE THAT'S WHY THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE OUT THERE. SO LET'S SAY THAT THEY HAD ASKED A COUPLE OF TIMES WERE MUCH MORE FOOD BOXES AND THE FOOD BANK DELIVERED. SO BECAUSE THERE WAS SO MUCH NEED AND THE LINE JUST KEPT COMING. SO PLEASE, IF I THINK THEY'RE GOING TO BE THERE EVERY THURSDAY AND AT NOON. SO IF ANYBODY DOES NEED A BOX OF FOOD, JUST GO OUT TO THE METHODIST CHURCH AT 140 AND YOSEMITE PARKWAY ON HIGHWAY 140. AND ALSO THERE WOULD BE A HEALTH FAIR IN PLANADA AT THE [INAUDIBLE] OCTOBER 11 AND NINE TO 11. THEY WOULD BE GIVING OUT FLU SHOTS. SO PLEASE STOP BY IF YOU THINK YOU NEED A FLU SHOT, I THINK THAT TO BE FREE. SO PLEASE GO OUT THERE AND, YOU KNOW, GET A FLU SHOT. ALSO, I AGREE WITH MY COLLEAGUES ON THE TESTING. PLEASE GO OUT AND DO YOUR TEST. I HAD MY COVID TEST ON THE 25TH OF SEPTEMBER AND I GOT MY RESULTS AND HAD NEGATIVE RESULTS ON THE TWENTY EIGHTH. SO THAT WAS PRETTY QUICK. SO AND I PROBABLY MOST LIKELY AFTER THIS MEETING, I GO OUT AND GET TESTED AGAIN AT THE FAIRGROUNDS. YOU DON'T NEED AN APPOINTMENT, SO JUST DRIVE THROUGH AND IT'LL BE THE RAPID TEST LIKE THE ONE THEY GIVE ME, WHICH YOU KNOW, I'M PRETTY SURE THEY FELT MY BRAIN UP [01:15:02] THERE IF I HAD ONE. PLEASE DO MORE TESTING. AND WITH THAT, WE'LL ADJOURN THE MEETING. THANK YOU AND HAVE A GOOD DAY. * This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.