The Turlock City Council voted 4-1 to amend the municipal code in a move designed to combat the city’s homeless issues, and later unanimously approved entering into another one-year contract with Legacy Health Endowment.

The change to the municipal code deals with the section that focuses on camping in public spaces. The lone dissenting vote was cast by District 3 councilmember Cassandra Abram.

According to city attorney George Petrulakis, revisions to the code would bring into question, among other things, sitting and lying down in public spaces.

Abram argued that there’s a fine line between lounging and loitering, and that “people that look a certain way” could be targeted under the new code.

“Camping in public places … that’s not safe for the individual and not safe for our community at large,” said Abram. “The hygiene issue of bathing in fountains and splash pads is absolutely not safe and not appropriate.

“But I think it’s a bridge too far to say that sitting and even lying down in public is a nuisance.”

Abram asked if modifications could be made.

“Voters that I’ve talked to in District 4 are wanting a lot more enforcement than we’ve been doing,” District 4 councilmember Pam Franco rebutted. “I haven’t talked to anybody who’s had a problem with this.”

Proposed changes to the code were spurred by a recent Supreme Court ruling in the case Johnson v. Grants Pass, Ore., in which it was decided that people experiencing homelessness can be arrested and fined for sleeping outside when there are no safe alternatives.

Following that discussion, the council heard a presentation from Legacy Health Endowment CEO and president Jeffrey Lewis, who updated the council on the person-centered care.

The city entered into an agreement with LHE in 2022 for $200,000, and then again in 2023 for $400,000.

Lewis was back again Tuesday seeking another $400,000 to extend until 2025 a program that helps the elderly and disabled receive in-home care at no cost.

“I’m here tonight to bring you good news,” said Lewis. “This is probably the most unique program in the United States. No other city in the United States is doing this. This program is serving the elderly and the disabled who would otherwise be forced into hospitals or nursing homes.”

Lewis provided numbers for the council, stating that 90 percent of program participants have two or more limitations to daily living, with nearly two-thirds having three or more limitations. Seventy percent are a fall-risk, while another 70 percent screen for depression. Still another 20 percent of participants are food insecure.

Lewis said that helping those in the middle-income bracket age in place while not having to burn through their retirement funds is a problem that keeps him up at night.

“This program is important for the care recipient as well as the caregiver,” said Lewis.

In other action Tuesday, the council pulled two items from the consent calendar. One item dealt with the purchase of four new zero-emission vans — for about $207,000 apiece — to be added to the Turlock Transit fleet. The purchase is part of Turlock’s rollout plan that identifies the city will invest in battery-electric small- and mid-size vehicles, and then hydrogen fuel cell heavy-duty vehicles, with the infrastructure to support those vehicles.

Transit director Wayne York did the math for the council.

“For rough numbers, we say 200 miles a day for on-demand service, and 22 services days, that’s roughly 4,400 miles in a month. If we drove that in a gasoline mid-size bus that gets 5.5 miles per gallon, at a $4 gallon rate, roughly, you’re looking at $3,200 to provide service for that month. Driving the same 4,400 miles with a battery-electric van, which gets 120 miles on a full battery, at a 6 cents per kilowatt hour charge, costs $196 to charge for the month.

“So, a higher up front capital investment, but a significant operating savings in fuel, as well as reduced maintenance costs, and other ancillary costs.”

Also pulled off the consent calendar was an item seeking an agreement between the city and Axon Enterprises to enter into a five-year agreement to provide the police department with body cameras and drone cameras at a cost not to exceed $2,060,900 over the five years.

The council voted unanimously to approve both items.