The drone first responder will not only operate and monitor the department’s unmanned aerial systems but also provide analysis for live and recorded camera and video feeds. Photo by DJI-Agras via Pixabay

 

GALT, CA (MPG) - Human resource issues along with annexation and final subdivision agreements in the Sheffield subdivision were the main topics considered by the City Council at its Oct. 20 meeting.

The council unanimously approved a resolution creating a drone first responder position classification within the city’s Police Department. The position is part of the department’s new “Drone As First Responder” (DFR) program created by council approval in May.

Human Resources Director Tricia Cobey told council the proposal does not add a new position to the department’s staff. The department is electing to not fill a currently vacant community service officer (CSO) slot and instead transfer that position’s funding to the new drone position.

According to the position description in the staff report to council, the drone first responder will not only operate and monitor the department’s unmanned aerial systems but also provide analysis for live and recorded camera and video feeds. The position, which is not a sworn officer position, communicates this information to responding personnel and assists in the “collection, preservation, retrieval and dissemination of video evidence” along with other work-related assignments.

The position carries a salary of $92,420, $14,065 more than the CSO salary of $82,355 it replaces. According to the report, savings from other current department vacancies will be used to fund the salary gap but future funding will need to be included in Measure R budgets and projections.

Council member Shawn Farmer asked if similar positions in other agencies were used to produce the Galt position salary. Police Chief Brian Kalinowski said other agencies’ salary ranges don’t match with Galt’s and instead looked at “internal equity among civilian employees” in the department bargaining unit and other factors to determine the salary.

“It is our intent to open the position internally and we expect somebody internally to apply for the position,” Kalinowski said.

Kalinowski added the position was included in the original DFR outline, but they hadn’t anticipated bringing it to council until the end of the year. Recent staff departures led to the opportunity to create it earlier than planned.

The Skydio drones carry a narrow field, telephoto and radiometric thermal camera along with a spotlight and speaker. According to the company’s website, they have a maximum flying speed of 45 miles per hour, flight duration time of 40 minutes and can be airborne in fewer than 40 seconds.

The drones’ capabilities integrate with the department’s body-worn and car camera systems. Camera footage can be recorded and uploaded to the department’s current storage system.

Kalinowski told the council at the May 19 meeting that one drone will be stationed at the Police Department while the other will be located at Cosumnes Fire Department Station 46 on Walnut Avenue. Department research, including talking with other departments such as the Elk Grove Police Department that uses drones as first responders, indicated the approach provided quicker response times to incidents, higher arrest rates and better allocation of resources — such as assistance in finding missing individuals and helping secure search area perimeters.

Council also unanimously approved a resolution at the Oct. 20 meeting making amendments to reflect corrections to the salary schedule in Galt’s city manager contract. According to the staff report, the city manager’s salary is contractually required to be at least 10% higher than the next-highest-paid employee’s base salary.

Recent salary changes for those employees caused the city manager’s salary to fall below that 10% threshold. That salary adjustment raises the salary for the city manager by $17,456.

“It’s just to comply to our contractual obligations,” Cobey said in response to council requests for clarification that the adjustment wasn’t a raise for the city manager.

City Attorney Frank Splendorio said the salary adjustment is actually automatic. The only reason council was reviewing and voting on it was a state employee system requirement for transparency in these types of actions.

“It’s already in the contract,” Splendorio said.

Finally, council unanimously approved several resolutions pertaining to the Sheffield 65 project. The first action consisted of resolutions annexing 9.5 acres within the development project into Community Facilities District No. 2020-1 as annexation No. 12.

The annexation enables the levying of special taxes and fees within the annexation area that will be used to offset law enforcement, fire and maintenance services within the district. Public Works Director Fritz Buchman told council this would bring in another $122,000 annually to help with these expenses.

As its last action at the meeting, council unanimously approved Sheffield 65’s “Final Map and Subdivision Improvement Agreement.” The Planning Commission approved the map and agreement in December 2025.

Sheffield 65 consists of 65 medium-density single-family residential lots along with four miscellaneous lots of landscaped areas and trails. The subdivision is bounded by East Stockton Boulevard to the west, Ashboro Lane to the south, Need Court to the north and Canyon Creek Park to the east.

According to the staff report, the agreement “sets forth the terms and conditions for completing the required public

improvements within a one-year period and sets forth City indemnification, insurance, bonding and warranty requirements.” Construction of the almost $2.1 million in required public infrastructure is underway.