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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 062993 Approved as Submitted Meeting Date: 08/10/93 ATASCADERO CITY COUNCIL J 1 JUNE 29, 1993 MINUTES The Mayor called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Councilperson Borgeson led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Present: Councilmembers Bewley, Borgeson, Kudlac, Luna and Mayor Nimmo Absent: None Also Present: Muriel "Micki" Korba, City Treasurer and Lee Raboin, City Clerk Staff Present: Andy Takata, Assistant City Manager/Director of Community Services; Henry Engen, Community Development Director; Art Montandon, City Attorney; Mark Joseph, Administrative Services Director; and Steve Sylvester, City Engineer COMMUNITY FORUM: Marcia Torgerson, 6200 Llano Road, read a prepared statement (see Exhibit A) clarifying the intent of her letter to Henry Engen, Community Development Director dated June 8, 1993 requesting that temporary erosion control measures specified by the City's Zoning Ordinance be enforced. She pointed out that there are no erosion control measures included in the approved building plans for a home being constructed in her neighborhood and expressed concern that other building permits are being issued without them. CC 06/29/93 Page 1 Henry Engen noted that Ms. Torgerson's letter had been reviewed by staff and was being considered as an enforcement complaint. He reported that there has not been any action to date on this and numerous other complaints because the City does not currently have a Code Enforcement Official. He added that the City Council would soon look at this position again during the upcoming budget hearing. Council discussion followed. Councilmembers Borgeson and Luna shared concern for water quality and sedimentation run-off into area creeks and ponds. Henry Engen noted that the City has received several hundred complaints and reminded the Council that the City does not have the staff to respond to them. Councilmembers Borgeson and Luna agreed that the matter was urgent; Councilman Nimmo disagreed stating that it was no more important than other complaints the City has received to date. Henry Engen suggested that Ms. Torgerson's concerns relating to specific develop- ment near her home be referred back to staff, including review of the particular site plan. Andy Takata gave staff said direction. Paul Fellman, Rancho EI Bordo resident, asked when modifications to the South EI Camino Real median approved by the City Council would be made. Steve Sylvester provided a status report and noted that the work was expected to be done about the middle of August. Mr. Fellman asked if there was money to make the changes. Mr. Sylvester reported that the City Council had already authorized the expenditure. A. BUSINESS: 1. RESOLUTION NO. 73-93 - AUTHORIZING AN INTERIM EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT WITH ANDY TAKATA, CITY MANAGER Council discussion ensued regarding contract provisions for a car allowance. Councilmembers Nimmo and Borgeson voiced objection and spoke in favor of approving the use of a City vehicle instead. Councilman Luna agreed and added that it would be more appropriate to approve funds to ensure that the City Manager has the technical tools available to network with other jurisdictions. The City Attorney pointed out that the Council, in a closed session, had considered the extended use of Mr. Takata's personal vehicle. He suggested that the interim agreement be approved as proposed with the understanding that this detail be considered for re-negotiation. Mr. Montandon reported that staff was working on the final agreement and estimated that it may take a couple of months to prepare it. He added that the contract did not have a termination date and advised that this was to avoid the "twelve-month" clause from kicking in. CC 06/29/93 Page 2 There were no comments from the public. MOTION: By Councilman Bewley, seconded by Councilman Luna to adopt Resolution No. 73-93 authorizing the execution of an interim employment contract with Andrew J. Takata for the position of City Manager; motion passed 5:0 by roll call vote. 2. AUTHORITY TO EXTEND THE CONTRACT WITH THE SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION (GENERAL SERVICES AND CLERICAL) Mr. Takata provided brief background and recommendation to approve. There were no comments from the Council or public. MOTION: By Councilman Nimmo, seconded by Councilman Luna to approve Letter of Understanding between Local 817 SEIU Clerical and General Services Bargaining Units and the City of Atascadero for a period of thirty days; motion carried unanimously by simple voice vote. 3. RESOLUTION NO. 67-93 AUTHORIZING THE ENGINEERING SURVEY AND DESIGN AWARD FOR ROAD IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE 3-F MEADOWS AND LAS ENCINAS AREAS OF THE STREET IMPROVEMENT PROJECT NO. 1992 ASSESSMENT DISTRICT (Continued from 6/22/93) Councilman Nimmo stepped down due to a potential conflict of interest. Steve Sylvester provided background and noted that the staff recommendation to approve remained the same. Council comments followed. Councilman Luna indicated that he supported the recommendation of the selection committee because the detailed proposal included a traffic safety review and the design best reflected City road standards. He emphasized that this was important because of the tremendous responsibility the City would take on by accepting the roads. Councilman Bewley spoke in favor of awarding the contract to the second low bidder, CSD Engineering, Surveying and Planning Consultants. He argued that the bid would save the City approximately $10,000 and remarked that the firm was qualified to do the work. Councilwoman Borgeson pointed out deficiencies in the CSD proposal and asserted that the scope of work is very important. CC 06/29/93 Page 3 Mayor Kudlac reiterated previous concern that a written policy needs to be adopted relating to the consultant selection process. Public Comments: Howard Marohn, 9265 Barranco Heights, spoke on behalf of 3-F Meadows residents and urged the Council to award the bid to Penfield & Smith. He stated that property owners were pleased with the progress for improving the roads and wanted the best design possible. In addition, he encouraged the Council to keep the project moving forward. MOTION: By Councilman Luna, seconded by Councilwoman Borgeson to approve Resolution No. 67-93 authorizing the execution of an agreement with Penfield & Smith for the survey and design of road improvements for the 3-F meadows and the Las Encinas areas [of Street Improvement Project No. 1992 Assessment District]; motion passed 4:0 by roll call vote. Councilman Nimmo rejoined the deliberations. B. PUBLIC HEARING: 1. A. APPEALS FROM COMMUNITY GROUPS FOR FUNDING REQUESTS Mark Joseph introduced the item and noted that staff had made specific recommendations for funding. This item, he continued, was to give community groups the opportunity to address the Council and pointed out that no formal action would be taken until the budget hearing scheduled for July 8, 1993. Public Comments: Susan Harkness, Vice President of Action for Animal Rights, appealed staff's recommendation to not grant $5,000 for the Spay/Neuter Program. She emphasized the importance of the program and urged approval. Councilwoman Borgeson inquired how much of the requested monies would actually go to the program. Ms. Harkness remarked that all but ninety percent would go towards spay/neutering and explained that the remaining ten percent would be used to administer the program. She qualified that the City Council could, however, give specific direction about how the funds are to be spent. CC 06/29/93 Page 4 Karen Riggs, representative for the American Red Cross, thanked the Council for their continued support. Barbara MacGregor, Director of the North County Womens' Shelter, extended appreciation to the City for its' participation and assistance with a Community Development Block Grant application. She reported that if the grant is approved,they no funds will be received until 1994 and asked the Council to approve the full request of $10,000. Councilman Nimmo mentioned that a balance sheet had not been submitted as part of the request. Ms. MacGregor indicated that she would make the information available. ---End of Public Testimony--- The City Council deferred action on community agency funding requests until the budget hearing scheduled for July 8, 1993. B. REQUESTS FOR REDUCTION OR WAIVER OF FEES RELATING TO CITY FACILITIES USAGE Andy Takata reported that this year marked the first time requests of this nature were being considered and provided a background for staff recommendations. He commented that this item would also come back for formal action on July 8, 1993. Councilwoman Borgeson spoke in favor of waiving field fees for the Atascadero Sox because it was not just an adult team. She stated that some of the players are high school youths. There were no questions or comments from the public. The matter was deferred until July 8, 1993. C. CLOSED SESSION: 1. THE COUNCIL WILL ADJOURN TO A CLOSED SESSION FOR PURPOSES OF DISCUSSIONS REGARDING PERSONNEL NEGOTIATIONS, PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54957.6 The City Attorney indicated that there was no need for a closed session on personnel matters, but added two items of pending litigation, pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9, entitled: (1) Union Asphalt v. City, and (2) Nevarez v. City. CC 06/29/93 Page 5 The City Council adjourned to Closed Session at 8:10 p.m. MINUTES RECORDED AND PREPARED BY: CX 2 LEE RABOIN, )ty Clirk Attachment: Exhibit A (Torgerson) CC 06/29/93 Page 6 Tom & Marcia Torgerson 6200 Llano Road Atascadero, CA 93422 June 29, 1993 l5 L� 0 U R City Council J City of Atascadero F1 Re: Community Development Department L letter dated June 28, 1993 Dear Councilmembers, I need some advice and guidance from you. I have continued to try to work with the Planning Department in regards to construction upstream from our property. As you can see by the letter I assume was in your boxes today, Mr. Engen has inaccurately labeled my last request (dated June 8, 1993) as an enforcement complaint . He continues to explain that since Atascadero no longer has a compliance officer, my complaint will be placed in a "hold for future action" file. My letter of June 8th. was actually another request of the Planning Department to require a builder to place temporary erosion controls during construction and revegetate cut and fill slopes. I have been into the Planning Department office recently and looked at the plans for the construction referred to in my letter. There is no temporary erosion control requirement listed by the Planning Department on the plans. Yet, according to the Zoning Ordinance, the Planning Department is supposed to set such requirements . This has nothing to do with the builder not complying. It has to do with the Planning Department not requiring builders to comply with the existing Zoning ordinances. The majority of the lots upstream from us are undeveloped. You are going to be considering a subdivision next month which will create at least 10 more lots upstream from us. At present, our pond is serving the community as a sediment basin. As most of you have seen, our pond is almost half full of sediment. Soon, when it is completely filled, the sediment will then continue down stream to Graves Creek. And this is only my story. I'm sure similar situations exist all over Atascadero. We recently attended an Erosion Control Workshop through Cal Poly Extension where it was explained that tests have been conducted and have proved that erosion on construction sites can be reduced by as much as 98* with the application of just hay mulch on any disturbed area. It seems like a simple requirement that will prevent an enormous amount of damage downstream. 000008 (2) Why is the Planning Department not enforcing the existing Zoning Ordinances? What can I do to help change the attitude of the Planning Department in regards to erosion control? How do I make them understand that I am not complaining about individual builders or property owners; but rather the Planning Department's lack of requiring simple temporary erosion controls? As with Long Valley II, I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about erosion and sedimentation. I have collected a lot of information including the opinion of an erosion and drainage control consultant . I would be glad to share any information I have with the city to help resolve this problem. Thank you for listening. I hope we can work together to solve this problem before more damage is done. Sincerely, ty4l, � Marcia Torgerson /m 000009