Hanford City Council Recap In Minutes

Welcome And Recap Roadmap

You're listening to a special episode of the Hanford Insider Podcast featuring a wrap-up of recent City Council actions with Mayor Mark Kyris. Hello, Hanford. I'm Mayor Mark Kyrus. Thank you for joining us for the first part of our recap for the City Council meeting held on July 21st. We had a productive evening, beginning with a study session that addressed important state-mandated water regulations and the results of our recent community and business surveys.

Data Center Talk And City Role

But before we get to those, I want to take just a few moments to address two topics, while not on the meeting agenda, were spoken about at length during our public comment section of our regular meeting. A proposed data center and our police department's use of automated license plate reader technology. As I expressed to the many concerned community members in the audience, the city has not been consulted on the potential data center project, which is located on state-owned property, and no discussions have been taken place with the city or the state of California. With that being said, Council has requested that this topic be brought back for discussion at a future meeting.

New Water Law And Turf Bans

Council also agreed to request a future council agenda item about automated license plate reader technology or our flock camera. We will have much more information to share about the police department's use of that technology at that time. But in the meantime, we have a general community notice about this topic on our social media pages. Please make sure to take a look at those. Our first study session item was an overview of Assembly Bill 1572, a new state law designed to reduce potable water use by prohibiting the irrigation of non-functional turf on specific types of properties. So what exactly is non-functional turf? A good rule of thumb is the only person walking on the patch of grass is a landscaper mowing it, it is likely non-functional. Examples include grass and road medians, roundabouts, streetscapes along sidewalks. On the flip side, functional turf, like sports fields, playgrounds, picnic areas, are designated for human recreation and are exempt from these watering bans. It's also important to note that single family residential lawns and cemeteries are entirely exempt from those regulations. The City of Hanford, as a public water system operator, must implement these provisions, starting with the requirement to update our municipal code to reflect these new laws and rules by January 1st, 2027. Our staff is identifying city-owned turf that will eventually need to be transitioned to a climate-appropriate, drought-resistant landscape.

Community And Business Survey Results

Next, we reviewed the results of the 2026 National Community Survey and National Business Survey. Staff was very clear pointing out that because these surveys were opened, they are not statistically representative of our community. However, they do serve as an informal gauge for us as we identify areas where we are doing well and where we need to improve. In the National Community Survey, which we first conducted two years ago, residents provided feedback on the livability of Hanford. When asked what we should focus on over the next two years, the community's top priorities were safety, the economy, and utilities. We received a total of 272 responses over the course of about a month and a half while the survey was being conducted. Meanwhile, the National Business Survey saw 103 responses from local business owners and managers. If you want to dive into the data yourself, you can view the full results on our interactive dashboard at www.hanfordca.gov slash ncs.

Part One Wrap And How To Reach Council

This wraps up part one of our July 21st recap. Be sure to tune in for part two, where we will cover more of the items from the regular meeting. Thank you for watching, and remember, we're here to serve you. So please visit our website at www.hanfordca.gov slash council to contact any of your council members.