What Buena Park is about to decide

The Buena Park City Council meets twice on Tuesday, October 13, 2026 in the Council Chamber, 6650 Beach Boulevard: a 3:00 p.m. special meeting for a closed session, then the regular meeting at 5:00 p.m., with a study session after a recess. The regular agenda lists “No Public Hearing Items.” These are pending decisions from the posted agendas — nothing below has been approved yet. Every item links to the official record.

Source: official agenda packet, regular meeting (PDF) · official agenda packet, special meeting (PDF) · Buena Park agendas · Written comments: comments@buenapark.com by 3:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting

🚧 Valley View Street repaving

• $3,420,065 to All American Asphalt: the council is asked to adopt a resolution approving plans and specifications and award the construction contract for the Valley View Street Pavement Rehabilitation Project from Lincoln Avenue to Artesia Boulevard, with $342,085 contingency, $170,000 construction engineering, a $9,250 purchase order to the Solis Group to administer the Community Workforce Agreement and $3,700 CWA contingency — “a total project amount of $3,945,100,” per the staff report, funded through the State Gas Tax, RMRA and Measure M2 funds (Account No. 24-9806-590191). Item 5.B
• The bids and the work: seven bids were opened September 17, 2026; All American Asphalt of Corona submitted “the lowest, responsive and responsible bid,” against an engineer’s estimate of “approximately $4,100,000.” The project “spans approximately 2.85 miles from Lincoln Avenue at the southern city limit to Artesia Boulevard at the northern city limit” and includes asphalt pavement rehabilitation, replacement of damaged curb, gutter, cross gutters and sidewalks, ADA ramp upgrades, utility adjustments, and signing and striping. “Construction is anticipated to begin in January 2027 and be completed by April 2027.” The council approved a $265,565 professional services agreement with RKA Consulting Group for the project on October 14, 2025. Item 5.B
• Neighboring cities’ share: under a cooperative agreement the council approved August 11, 2026, Buena Park is the lead agency and Cerritos and La Palma would reimburse their proportionate shares of construction — “approximately $400,000 and $600,000, respectively.” La Palma approved the agreement September 1 and Cerritos September 28; per the staff report, “Full execution of the agreement is pending signatures from the other participating agencies.” A discrepancy: the staff report’s recommended action includes two steps the posted agenda does not list — budget amendments of $400,000 for the City of Cerritos cooperative agreement and $600,000 for the City of La Palma cooperative agreement. Both versions appear in the posted packet; Council Brief does not resolve the discrepancy. Item 5.B

🅿️ No overnight parking on Commonwealth Avenue

• A new kind of parking rule: the council is asked to adopt an ordinance adding Section 10.28.150, “No Overnight Parking,” to the Municipal Code. Per the staff report, “There is currently no section of the BPMC that allows for a ‘no overnight parking’ restriction.” Hours would be set street by street by council resolution, which the report says “will allow City Council flexibility in creating ‘no overnight parking’ zones, if needed in the future.” The ordinance would take effect 30 days after its passage and adoption. Item 5.A
• The Commonwealth Avenue zone: a companion resolution would bar parking “On both sides of Commonwealth Avenue from Auto Center Drive to Dale Street from 12 a.m. until 5 a.m.” Per the staff report, the council agreed with the restriction in principle on September 22 and specified those hours, and the intent is to address “long-term vehicle storage on the street, camping and/or living in vehicles on the street, parking of unregistered vehicles on the street, and crime issues related to these vehicles.” Item 5.A
• Businesses and cost: staff located 60 businesses on the stretch and obtained hours for 54; “only four businesses have hours that are between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m.,” and all four have off-street parking. Applying the rule to Commonwealth “could have a cost of $8,000 to $10,000 for the installation of the necessary signs,” to be paid from the existing signing and striping budget. Item 5.A

⚖️ City Attorney rates and a fleet mechanic raise

• City Attorney contract, Amendment No. 2: Alvarez-Glasman & Colvin, the city’s City Attorney firm since a 2018 request-for-proposals process, would receive a flat retainer of $28,125 per month, which assumes 125 hours a month at $225 per hour, plus $235 per hour beyond 125 hours. Beginning October 1, 2027, the retainer would rise to $31,250 per month and the over-retainer rate to $260 per hour; “Special Services” would be billed at $275 per hour. The amendment is dated October 13, 2026 and “effective beginning October 1, 2026.” Per the staff report, the firm has not asked for an increase since rates were raised in Amendment No. 1 in November 2022; the report does not list the current rates, and says the costs are already in the FY 26-27 budget, so “There is no budget impact.” In the amendment, the written-out retainer reads “TWENTY EIGHT THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS” beside the numeral “$ 28,125”; Council Brief does not resolve the wording. The 3:00 p.m. closed session separately lists a performance evaluation of the City Attorney (see below). Item 5.D
• Lead Fleet Mechanic: a revised job classification and a salary range of “$6,302 to $8,613 monthly” (range 534), reflecting the position’s added responsibility for the technology and specialized equipment in Police Department vehicles as the city has “reduced its reliance on outside vendors,” per the staff report. Staff recommend appropriating $5,700 from the undesignated General Fund balance for the reclassified position; the amended pay schedule would take effect October 10, 2026, “the beginning of the pay period.” Item 5.C

💰 Money on the consent calendar

• Final payment, 2025-2026 street repaving: approve Change Order Nos. 4 and 5, accept the 2025-2026 Annual Pavement Rehabilitation Project as complete and pay Hardy & Harper, Inc. a final $315,842.79. The final contract cost is $2,081,631.56, which the staff report says is “$72,631.56 (or 3.6%) over the approved construction project budget of $2,009,000.00.” Change Order No. 4, soft spot remedies ($124,169.93), was approved by the City Manager under City Council Policy No. 13 after “unexpected encounters of poor subgrade materials”; No. 5 ($66,753.38) is a final quantity adjustment. Funded by the RMRA Fund. Item 4.I
• Final payment, Crescent Avenue median: accept the Crescent Avenue Frontage Median Improvements Project (between Knott and Western avenues) and pay Kormex Construction, Inc. a final $176,075; the final contract cost of $340,885 is “$33,100 (or 8.9%) under the approved construction project budget of $373,985,” per the staff report. The project established a landscape palette that can “serve as a standard for future median improvement projects of a similar nature.” Item 4.J
• Sales tax auditor’s fees would rise: a new agreement with Hindeliter, de Llamas & Associates (HDL; spelled “Hinderliter” in the attached contract), which has audited the city’s sales tax revenues since 1991 on terms “unchanged at $9,600 per year and 15% of revenue generated by auditing services.” Proposed: “Year 1 - $11,500 base fee and 16.5% for auditing” and “Year 2 - $14,000 + CPI base fee and 18% for auditing,” with CPI adjustments afterward subject to the City Manager’s approval, under a two-year initial term with optional annual renewals. Per the staff report, audit fees “will be offset by increased sales tax revenues.” Item 4.L
• Claims and payroll: resolutions allowing claims and demands of $5,547,783.65 (demand Nos. 437951 through 438179) and $1,289,534.92 for regular payroll ending September 11, 2026 (the payroll resolution’s title prints the figure as “$1,289,534,92”), per the packet. Item 4.B
• Treasurer’s report for August 2026, to receive and file: total cash of $150,208,990.69 for the period ending August 31, 2026, and the statement that “The City has sufficient resources to meet expenditures for the next six (6) months,” per the report. Item 4.C

📋 Also on consent

• Development impact fee annual report (receive and file): in FY 2025-26 the city “collected $1,415,891.96 in impact fees, earned $30,200.88 in interest, and expended $387,632.12 on eligible capital improvements,” with a combined ending balance of $1,798,340.45. Park fee spending went to the Community Gardens Master Plan, the Heroes Park pickleball court and park monument signs; over the next five fiscal years the city expects to apply the park fund balance to the redevelopment of Friendship Park, John Beat Park and Brenner Park and the development of Coyote Park, “which cumulatively have estimated expenses of over $25 million,” per the staff report. Item 4.M
• 6291 Western Avenue: release a use covenant in the 2018 grant deed that conveyed the city-sold site to Fit Kit, Inc. and restricted it to an auto service center and car wash for AutoNation — a project that, per the staff report, “was never built.” The Planning Commission approved a wholesale construction supply business with incidental outdoor storage on the site on May 27, 2026 (CU-26-3), and the new owner reported that its tenant “will not commit to the site while the use restriction added by the City stays on the deed.” Staff cite CEQA’s common-sense exemption; no budget impact. Item 4.N
• Youth Theater: a new three-year cooperative agreement with Friends of the Buena Park Youth Theater for the program that stages two musicals a year for students in fourth through twelfth grade. The staff report puts expenditures at “approximately $23,800 annually” against average revenue of $22,200, with each cast member paying a $90 participation fee. Under the new agreement, the Friends group could ask each participant for up to $250 per production for costuming and materials and up to $250 for its Juniors Program, plus a deposit of up to $400 refunded after 20 hours of parent volunteer work; the 2023 agreement included in the packet set those first two caps at $120.00 and $200.00. Item 4.K
• Planning Commission: a $50 stipend for each commissioner who attends a special meeting on November 4, 2026; per the staff report, “the two regularly scheduled meetings for October will be canceled.” Item 4.O
• Minutes of the September 22 meeting and proclamations for Hispanic Heritage Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Fire Prevention Week, Silverado Days (October 16-18) and Extra Mile Day (November 1). Items 4.A, 4.D–4.H

🎨 Study session: graffiti walls and new street signs

• Greenery on graffiti-prone walls: discussion and direction. Per the staff report, the city’s two-person crew has removed “an average of 3,500 pieces of graffiti with over 650 hours of billable work per year” over the last two years, and the city wants property owners to take responsibility before it steps in. Options the report lists include Caltrans’ Highway Planting Program for freeway walls, landscaping conditions on upcoming projects such as the Nutrilite site, the vacant lot at Orangethorpe and the I-5 overpass, and 6291 Western, and a Zoning Code text amendment adding wall-covering foliage as a development standard, which would need Planning Commission and City Council approval. Item 9.A
• Choosing a street sign: direction on the design of new internally illuminated (LED) street name signs to replace the city’s arterial street signs, to be installed in phases starting with recently or soon-to-be rehabilitated streets. In the resident survey (September 18 to October 8), Design A drew 628 votes (34.3%), Design C 627 (34.2%), Design B 342 (18.7%) and Design D 236 (12.9%); among 364 social media commenters, Design C led with 112 (30.77%). Per the staff report, “The City Council’s direction at this meeting will determine the final IISNS design.” The report gives “A total of 1862 responses”; the four design counts in its table add up to fewer than that, and Council Brief does not resolve the discrepancy. Item 9.B

🔒 Closed session (3:00 p.m. special meeting)

• Two existing lawsuits against the city (Case Nos. 30-2024-01410846-CU-PA-CJC and 30-2020-01156902-CU-CR-CJC); one matter of anticipated litigation, described as “a significant exposure to litigation against the City”; a performance evaluation of the City Attorney; and labor negotiations, with Assistant City Manager/Director of Human Resources Eddie Fenton as negotiator, covering the Buena Park City Employees’ Association, the Technical, Office, and Professionals Association, the Management Unit, the Police Association, the Police Management Association and unrepresented employees. Public comment at the special meeting is limited to items on its agenda. Special Items 3.A–3.E

Also on the regular agenda: presentations of the Silverado Days, Hispanic Heritage Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Fire Prevention Week proclamations, and a 10-year service award to John Wear of Public Works (Items 2.A–2.E).

Council Brief summaries are produced from official public records by our automated newsroom and reviewed before publication. Items are described as posted; the council may amend, continue, or remove items at the meeting. Spot an error? hello@councilbrief.com — we publish corrections.