Preview: 6/16/26 City council meeting
Meeting Summary
Fullerton City Council’s June 16 meeting will include a presentation of the findings from the audit conducted by Grant Thornton, a final vote on the Builder’s Remedy project off of Hermosa, a discussion of the Open Space plan for the city, and a continuing resolution to authorize spending past the current fiscal year.
View the full agenda and staff attachments here: Fullerton City Council Agenda
Presentations
Audit Update
Grant Thornton will be presenting their findings from task one of their financial audit. This audit was initiated following a budget error and recently allocated unassigned funds that resulted in a $10 million gap from what was expected.
Public Hearings
1. Appeal of Planning Commission Denial of West Hermosa Devlopment
This will be the final vote on the appeal of the Planning Commission’s denial of a City Ventures housing development. This development is a Builder’s Remedy project, a special type of development that overrides local zoning and other regulations. These projects are triggered when a city’s housing plan is not compliant with state law. Builder’s Remedy projects may only be denied if there is a written heath or safety standard that is violated by the project and cannot be reasonably mitigated.
Regular Business
2. Open Space and Conservation Element
This adopts an updated Open Space and Conservation Element for the city’s General Plan, replacing the existing Chapter 19, which has not had a comprehensive update since 2012. The update is partly required by newer state laws, including SB 1425, which requires cities to address open space access, climate resilience, and rewilding opportunities, and AB 1889, which relates to wildlife connectivity.
The element covers parks, trails, natural open spaces, habitat conservation, urban canopy, climate adaptation, green infrastructure, and open space equity. Staff says Fullerton has 1,383 acres of public open space, about 10% of the city’s land area. The plan has seven major goals, including responsible open space management, future open space planning, habitat conservation, trail connectivity, rewilding, climate adaptation, and community partnerships.
3. Continuing Spending Resolution
This is a temporary spending authorization because the city has not yet adopted its FY 2026-27 budget before the new fiscal year begins on July 1, 2026. It allows the city to keep spending at existing FY 2025-26 levels so basic operations, payroll, contracts, utilities, maintenance, debt service, and capital projects can continue until the new budget is adopted.
Staff says the proposed FY 2026-27 budget is expected to go to a July 14 budget study session, with adoption anticipated on July 21, 2026, after two community budget meetings. The resolution does not create new programs, add staffing, or increase spending authority beyond the prior-year budget level.
Consent calendar (Items 4-19)
The consent calendar are typically routine items that are passed in bulk by the City Council. Any item can be pulled from the consent calendar by a single City Councilmember for a separate vote and/or discussion
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The minutes of the prior City Council meeting. This documents the events that took place in writing
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The City Council will receive a monthly update on Fullerton’s boards, commissions, and committees, including attendance records from May 2026. This is mostly an informational item meant to track committee activity and whether appointed members are meeting attendance requirements.
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Council will receive the City’s May 2026 payment report, which lists checks, electronic payments, payroll transfers, and other transactions. The total amount reported for April payments is about $15 million. This item does not approve new spending, it just publicly records payments already made.
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This would require campaign finance forms, like FPPC Forms 460, 470, 496, and 497, to be filed electronically through NetFile instead of on paper. Staff says this will reduce staff workload, improve public access, and make it easier for candidates and committees to file accurately. The annual NetFile bundle would cost $6,250 per year, already included in the budget.
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This formally calls the November 3, 2026 election for Fullerton City Council Districts 3 and 5, requests that Orange County run/consolidate the election, and sets candidate statement rules. Staff recommends sticking with the traditional 200-word candidate statement limit instead of allowing 400 words. Estimated election cost is $69,375 to $83,813. Candidate filing opens July 13, 2026 and closes August 7, 2026, unless an eligible incumbent does not file, in which case it extends to August 12, 2026
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This creates a new city job classification: Principal Revenue Manager, paid at $57.33 to $73.17 per hour. The role would oversee city revenue programs like business licenses, utility billing, transient occupancy tax, franchise revenues, fees, collections, parking revenue, short-term rental regulations, and Successor Agency responsibilities. Staff says the current budget already has enough funding for the change.
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This approves a required federal tax-law step allowing the California Statewide Communities Development Authority to issue up to $180 million in tax-exempt bonds for the acquisition and rehabilitation of two apartment complexes near CSUF: UCE Apartment Homes at 600 Langsdorf Drive and UCA Apartment Homes at 2404 Nutwood Avenue. Together, these are 395 existing units. The proposal would restrict 40% of units to households at or below 60% AMI and 60% to households at or below 80% AMI. Staff says there is no fiscal impact or liability to the City
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This keeps Fullerton eligible for Orange County Measure M2 transportation funding. The city expects about $3.3 million in FY 2026-27 Local Fair Share funds for street improvements and related transportation work. To remain eligible, the city must approve items like its Seven-Year Capital Improvement Program, Pavement Management Plan, Local Signal Synchronization Plan, and meet a $5.9 million maintenance-of-effort requirement.
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This adopts an Emergency Evacuation Annex into Fullerton’s Emergency Operations Plan. It lays out roles, responsibilities, procedures, evacuation strategies, public warning systems, transportation, sheltering, re-entry, and support for people with access and functional needs. Staff says there is no fiscal impact, but adoption helps coordinate emergency response and maintain eligibility for state and federal disaster assistance. Some tactical evacuation route maps are redacted as law-enforcement-sensitive
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This adopts Fullerton’s 2026 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, which identifies major risks to the city and lays out long-term strategies to reduce disaster impacts. The plan ranks earthquakes, wildfire/urban fire, extreme weather, and human-caused hazards as high-priority risks. FEMA and Cal OES already reviewed the plan and found it eligible for final approval, but City Council still needs to formally adopt it. There is no fiscal impact, and adoption keeps the city eligible for FEMA hazard mitigation grants.
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This appropriates $665,000 in Measure M2 funds as the city’s local match for the Nutwood Avenue Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility Enhancement Project. The larger project is funded by a $7.14 million State Active Transportation Program grant accepted in 2023. Staff expects design approvals by the end of 2026, bidding in early 2027, and construction around summer 2027, depending partly on CSUF coordination.
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This authorizes another up to $500,000 purchase order with Ardurra Group for construction inspection and management services on the SiFi fiber optic network project, plus up to 15% / $75,000 in change orders if needed. Staff says the cost is fully reimbursed by SiFi, making it cost-neutral to the city. The current purchase order is expected to run out because the SiFi project has had delays and will likely continue into FY 2026-27.
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This extends the city’s on-call traffic engineering agreement with LG2WB Engineers, doing business as Linscott, Law & Greenspan, for one more year, not to exceed $120,000. They help with traffic signal design, signal synchronization, operations, programming, timing, inspections, private development review, and staff augmentation. Staff says this is the final extension and that they plan to issue a new RFP in FY 2026-27.
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This awards a $1,414,000 contract to Onyx Paving Company for rehabilitation of Raymond Avenue between Burton Street and Orangethorpe Avenue, north of the 91. The project includes pavement work, curb/gutter repairs, sidewalk and driveway approach repairs, ADA ramps, and sidewalk installation. The road’s Pavement Condition Index is currently 37, which is “very poor,” and staff says it would reset to 100 after completion. Part of the project is in Anaheim, and Anaheim would reimburse Fullerton for work in its jurisdiction. Staff also wants to allow nighttime construction from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. to reduce traffic impacts.
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This awards a $239,167.27 contract to Petrochem Materials Innovation for slurry seal work in several neighborhoods. Funding comes from remaining ARPA street funds and Measure M2 funds. Staff says the city has $63,923 in ARPA funds remaining that must be spent by December 30, 2026, so they want to use it on this smaller street project. The proposed areas include the Richman-Houston-Woodcrest area, Hill-Malden-Ray area, and San Carlos-Balfour area, with a focus on southerly streets.
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This approves professional services agreements totaling up to $335,750 for a three-cycle firefighter wellness program. Bio-Care would provide NFPA 1582 occupational medical evaluations for up to $252,000, and Hoag would provide Galleri multi-cancer early detection blood testing for up to $83,750. The program is mostly funded by a federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant: $305,227.27 federal funding with a $30,522.73 city match. Participation is voluntary, and individual medical results stay confidential between the provider and firefighter; the city only gets aggregate/de-identified data and billing records.
