By Emily Aguilar and Staff Reports

Eastvale – The Eastvale City Council held a short meeting on May 13 at Rosa Parks Elementary School. Council members present were Clint Lorimore, Joe Tessari, Bill Link, and Mayor Ike Bootsma.  Councilman Adam Rush arrived later in the meeting.

The meeting started off with the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Mayor Pro Tem Link. After the announcements, upcoming events, and approval of the last City Council Meeting, the New Business section started with  the 4.1 Budget Study Session for the Annual Operations and Capital Improvement Budget Fiscal year 2015-2016. The budget draft was presented, which included revenue and expenditure results through the first eight months of the fiscal year 2014-2015, as well as updated projections of general fund results through the end of fiscal year June 30, 2015.

According to the Eastvale City Council Minutes, City Manager Michele Nissen introduced the item and presented her department’s budget. Then, each department head presented their department’s budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. Lastly, Council members discussed the item and staff answered related questions.

The City Council did not make any changes to the proposed budget, but thanked staff for all their work on the budget. Nissen stated that the final budget adoption will go before the City Council at the June 10 City Council meeting. After this, the meeting was adjourned at 5:36 p.m.

The second meeting of the month was held on May 27, and was dedicated to Robert Craig, the Jurupa Community Services District board member and committed community volunteer who passed away recently.

The Council focused on a variety of topics ranging from anniversary pins to the cruciality of conserving water.

The meeting began with Pastor Ed Moreno of New Day Christian Church leading the group in prayer, asking the Lord to provide His blessings onto the City.

Skipping the closed session, the meeting started with the Presentations/Announcements. A City golf tournament will take place on Aug. 24; volunteer positions have been opened for the Picnic at the Park event taking place June 26 to 28.  The City is also looking forward to the popular Concerts in the Park series every Friday night from July 10 to Aug. 28.

The Student Liaison Report was provided by ERHS Junior, Julia Sung, who gave her report on upcoming school graduation ceremonies.

In regard to the Consent Calendar, the board motioned for the passing of the Surplus City Hall Property, which would declare the outdated City Hall property as being surplus, authorizing the City Manager to dispose of the property.

Moving onto the Public Hearings, City Manager, Michele Nissen, spoke regarding the 2015-2016 Waste Management Rate Increase Request. Having been motioned, the public hearing regarding Waste Management would continue onto the June 10 City Council Meeting agenda.

There were no Old Business items.

Moving on to New Business, there was a brief discussion on a pin design for Eastvale’s 5th Anniversary – Designs A and B – and if it would be best to produce 500, 1,000, or 1,500 pins to sell in the future. After discussion, the committee motioned for the production of 1,500 pins for Design B.

The conversation moved onto the approval of the Landscaping and Lighting Maintenance District No.89-1, which approved the agreement between Riverside and the City, and led to the adoption of levying and collecting assessments.

Before concluding the meeting, Councilman Lorimore addressed the City Manager’s Report. Following a statement Governor Jerry Brown had made in early April, Lorimore reminded the Council that because California was in a crucial drought, Brown has had to impose cities with a severe 25% water usage reduction.  Lorimore argued that Eastvale citizens are not overusing water; however, he recommended citizens monitor their water usage to avoid fines from JCSD.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:08 p.m., and the next meeting will be held on Wed., June 10.