ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - City Council members voted 4-0 – Vice Mayor Darren Suen had an excused absence – at their July 22 meeting to approve an amended and restated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Cosumnes Community Services District providing greater clarity over the roles and responsibilities each entity has for park development in Elk Grove.

The biggest change in the MOU, established in 2015, deals with park development and maintenance funding. While Elk Grove would still collect and manage park impact fees, those monies would instead be transferred to the District on a quarterly basis instead of the current arrangement where the District submits payment requests to the city for tasks completed.

The change will lead immediately to over $53.92 million being transferred from city park accounts to the District, minus amounts needed to meet existing city obligations. The transfer does not include a $6 million balance for Laguna Ridge parks and the nearly $3.45 million Supplemental Parks Administration balance.

Elk Grove City Manager Jason Behrmann said the change is part of an effort started in 2025 to improve government efficiency and maximize taxpayer value while accelerating delivery of parks, especially to areas experiencing new development.

“The reality is there’s no good reason why the city needs to hold onto those funds,” Behrmann said.

He added that the arrangement is the same type of agreement the city has had with Cosumnes Fire Department for several years.

“We don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t do the same thing for parks,” he added.

Under the amended MOU Elk Grove would still coordinate land use authority and entitlements and work with the District on park locations. The District would own all parks except Rain Garden and District56, design and construct new park facilities and maintain those once they are built.

Another new item in the amended MOU has the District assume responsibility for naming and providing signage for the parks. MOU updates also require park master plan and 65% and 100% plan reviews be done by the city and allows flexibility for developers to incorporate their own “turnkey” parks into development plans.

Councilmember Kevin Spease noted the city and District were “at odds” with each other in the past over developments, conflicts that at times led to impasses and lawsuits. The MOU was “not a perfect” solution but has helped to create moves towards a better partnership.

“That history is important,” he added.

Also at the July 22 meeting, the council received a report on illegal fireworks incidents reported on July 4. According to the report by Code Enforcement Manager Jose Mendez and Police Department Lt. Nathaniel Lange, there were 37 properties in violation of city fireworks ordinances, with a total of 526 aerial fireworks observed, leading to $259,000 in fines.

The city received a total of 273 non-emergency calls, 116 9-1-1 calls and eight fire calls.

The statistics offered a mixed bag of results. While 9-1-1 and non-emergency calls decreased over the past three years, 206 and 356 in 2024 and 114 and 329 in 2025 respectively, property violations have increased from 21 in 2024 and 31 in 2025, with fines varying from $240,000 in 2024 to $330,000 last year.

Mendez said this is the third year the Police Department has employed drones to help spot illegal fireworks. 

The drones increase officer safety while allowing illegal fireworks detection in real time, enabling quicker and more efficient deployment of enforcement units.

Lange said the department flew four drones on the Fourth. Each one had a code enforcement officer partnered with the drone pilot in the department’s Real Time Information Center.

Additionally, each of four enforcement “strike teams” in the field had a similar composition.

“It definitely was a collaborative event across the city,” Lange said. “This year, we’ll call it a success as we didn’t have any significant events, significant arrests, injuries, things of that nature.”

Mendes also pointed to another measure of success: the drop in fire calls. In 2024 there were 18 calls, while last year saw seven and this year eight.

“That’s a significant reduction in fires over the last three years,” Mendes said.

Mendes also attributed the success to the city’s fireworks education campaign prior to the holiday. Information on Elk Grove’s fireworks codes was posted on social media accounts where it garnered 166,453 views and was also distributed through 6,152 emails, sent to 65,000 residents through the city newsletter and posted at 10 area dining spots and fireworks stands.

The city also held two amnesty events where individuals could voluntarily bring in illegal fireworks and surrender them “no questions asked.”

“These efforts are intended to increase voluntary compliance and reduce the need for enforcement,” Mendes said.

One of the recommendations to council for dealing with illegal fireworks in 2027 is to increase the educational outreach to landlords. Mendes said a lot of properties contacted this year were occupied by tenants, and the city needs to remind landlords they can be held liable for illegal fireworks as well.

“They (landlords) can be cited for these violations,” he added.

Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen said it was great to see the decrease in fire calls, something that is always concerning.

“I do want to thank you for all your hard work in keeping our city safe,” she added.