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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 022597 - Special Mtng Agenda Item: A-2 Meeting Date: 4/22/97 (Approved as submitted) ATASCADERO CITY COUNCIL FEBRUARY 25, 1997 MINUTES 6:00 P.M. - SPECIAL SESSION: MID-YEAR FY1996/97 BUDGET REVIEW Bob Grogan, Interim City Manager, conveyed that the Mid-Year Budget Report before the Council had been reviewed by the Finance Committee. City Treasurer Rudy Hernandez provided an overview of the report, fund by fund, saying its purpose is to 1) provide Council, public and staff with mid-year budget status, 2) revisit budget issues which were discussed during the budget process hearing, and 3) to perhaps give staff direction in terms of next year's budget. Staff responded to questions from Council during the review, and Council direction was given on various aspects of the format of the budget document. Staff was asked to develop a routine accounting of fixed assets, in particular the computer and telecommunications equipment of the former City Manager in order to determine its disposition for optimum use. Mayor Johnson emphasized the goal of producing a signed budget by July 1 st this year. Bob Grogan concurred and said that he plans to develop a budget calendar next week, distribute forms to staff and prepare for as many study sessions as the Council feels are needed. Councilman Carden reiterated a request by Council for a monthly cash flow report. Motion: By Councilman Carden, seconded by Councilman Luna, to transfer 50% of the Contingency Funds into Reserve. Motion passed by 5:0 roll-call vote. Rudy Hernandez announced that, not reflected in his staff report, the emergency Police Reserve Fund was not acted on during this budget year but is expected to receive approx- imately $30,000 in revenues and pay out $30,000. He would like to recommend an adjustment be included to reflect this fund as part of the mid-year budget. Council concurred with this recommendation. The Council recessed for a break from 7:10 to 7:16 p.m. 7:00 P.M. - REGULAR SESSION: Mayor Johnson called the Regular Session to order at 7:16 p.m. and Councilman Clay led the Pledge of Allegiance. CC 2/25/97 Page 1 ROLL CALL: Present: Councilmembers Carden, Clay, Lerno, Luna and Mayor Johnson Absent: None Others Present: Marcia M. Torgerson, City Clerk; Rudy Hernandez, City Treasurer Staff Present: Robert Grogan, Interim City Manager; Brady Cherry, Community Services Director; Roy Hanley, Deputy City Attorney; Steve DeCamp, Acting Community Development Director; Lt. Bill Watton, Acting Chief of Police; Mike McCain, Fire Chief; John Neil, Asst. City Engineer; Cindy Holton, Deputy City Clerk COUNCIL COMMENTS: Mayor Johnson conveyed that press releases had been issued announcing that the City Accountant position has been accepted by Rachelle Rickard, and that a public forum to discuss the topic of permit streamlining will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. on March 5th at the Lake Pavilion. In addition, he announced that the City Council will be in an all-day planning session tomorrow with a consultant facilitator in the Club Room, beginning at 8:30 a.m. No action will be taken and the session is open to the public; he invited comments from the public under the Community Forum tonight. Councilman Luna referred to A.M.C. Sec. 2-4.18, Relations with Council, and expressed concerns about what could occur at the planning session tomorrow. He expressed concern that some consensus will be formed by the City Council and the City Manager may feel pressure or the need to carry out some of the goals that might be discussed. Mayor Johnson noted Councilman Luna's concern and expressed that the issue will be addressed at the start of Wednesday's work session. Councilman Carden reiterated his request of staff to provide him with information as to what steps are necessary to form an assessment district. Councilman Luna added that he has received calls asking for information as to how to bring their road up to standards for acceptance into the City-maintained system. Brady Cherry suggested comments or ques- tions regarding street maintenance district formation be directed to either him or John Neil, who set up neighborhood meetings to inform citizens of the process. He asked that Council consider whether the City should take on additional long-term road maintenance. Bob.Grogan recommended that he be directed to draft a letter over the Mayor's signature to express the City's opposition to SB 147, which relates to the above subject and would adversely affect cities. Consensus was to direct Mr. Grogan to draft such a letter. Mayor Johnson noted a request of the Historical Society to serve alcoholic beverages at a Chamber Mixer in the museum on June 19t''. The issue will be brought before the Council for a policy determination. COMMUNITY FORUM Eric Greening, 7365 Valle, shared Councilman Luna's concern about the Council planning session. He questioned the absence of a written agenda for the meeting. Mayor Johnson responded that Council discussion on any direction to be taken must take place in a public forum. Don Duckworth, facilitator for tomorrow's Council planning session, responded that the agenda is very open and there is no preconceived direction or ideas by the Council. He CC 2/25/97 Page 2 surmised that, given the transition of the City organization, they will probably be talking about Council priorities for the coming six months, then goal processes for the ensuing 12- 18 month period. He supposed the priorities might be the kinds of direction that the Interim City Manager can take and guidance for budget preparation. Mr. Duckworth will prepare a report after tomorrow's session, which the Council will have the prerogative of considering in public session for approval or to provide modifications. This is a typical process which has taken place in a number of communities. Leon Korba, Santa Ana Rd., asked what the status is of increasing the City's population through annexation of the State Hospital and, thereby, receiving more revenue. Steve DeCamp summarized the status of the City's application to LAFCO, which he noted is a function of law, occurs in steps and is not a rapid process. Mr. Korba also asked how widespread notice of tomorrow's Council planning session is. Bob Grogan responded that the Council originally scheduled the session at their January 28th meeting. A. CONSENT CALENDAR: 1. APPROVAL OF WARRANTS - January 1997 (Staff recommendation: Approve) 2. GENERAL PLAN CONFORMITY REPORT 97-1 - Consider finding County's disposition of certain real property to be in conformance with City's General Plan[Steve DeCamp] (Planning Commission/Staff recommendation: Find to be in conformance w/General Plan) Councilman Carden pulled Item A-1 for discussion. Motion: By Councilman Carden, seconded by Councilman Luna to approve Item A-2. Motion passed unanimously by roll-call vote. Re: Item A-1: Councilman Carden asked if electronic transfers are included in the City's warrants. The City Treasurer was not present; Mr. Grogan will find out and report back to the Council Motion: By Councilman Carden, seconded by Councilman Lerno to approve Item A-1 . Motion passed unanimously by roll-call vote. B. PUBLIC HEARINGS: 1. GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT 96007/ZC 96012, 4055 EL CAMINO REAL [Steve DeCamp] A. Resolution No. 09-97 - Approving an amendment to the land use map by changing the land use designation of certain real property at 4055 EI Camino Real from Retail Commercial to High Density Single Family Residential (Planning Commission/Staff recommendation: Adopt) B. Ordinance No. 321 - Amending the official City zoning map by rezoning certain real property at 4055 EI Camino Real from CR (Commercial Retail) to LSF-X (Limited Single Family High Density Residential) (Planning Commission/Staff recommendation: Motion to waive reading in full and introduce on first reading, by title only) CC 2/25/97 Page 3 Steve DeCamp, Acting Community Development Director, provided staff report. He noted the number of the ordinance should be corrected to 322 (as opposed to 321 as shown on the staff report). Public Comment: Alan Volbrecht, agent for the applicant, offered to respond to questions. There were none. Motion: By Councilman Carden, seconded by Councilman Lerno to adopt Resolution No. 09-97. Motion passed unanimously by roll-call vote. Motion: By Councilman Carden, seconded by Councilman Lerno to waive the reading of Ordinance No. 322 in full and introduce it on first reading by title only. Motion passed unanimously by roll-call vote. C. REGULAR BUSINESS: 1. WORKSHOP ON ATASCADERO DIAL-A-RIDE PROGRAM: Presentation of report by Nelson/Nygaard, SLOCOG Consultants [Brady Cherry] (Staff recommendation: Review &provide direction) Brady Cherry, Community Services Director, provided staff report and responded to questions from Council. Related discussion ensued. Public Comment Rush Kolemaine, Box 1990 Atascadero, pointed out that he personally circulated a transit needs petition and his Municipal Transit Review report is his contribution to the City as a private citizen. Eric Greening, Valle Ave., complimented Mr. Kolemaine for his initiative on this subject. He encouraged a broader look at transit needs be considered for possible opportunities to coordinate with SLORTA service. Council consensus was to schedule a transit workshop/hearing for 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19, 1997. Councilman Carden asked the Council to consider: In the event that the City Council opts to go to a fixed route system, he has been trying to propose through SLOCOG and SLORTA a regional transit system, rather than each City having its own fixed route system. He proposes the possibility of selling the yard and assets and allow SLORTA to run the system, which he believes would, overall, save the taxpayer money. 2. RESOLUTION NO. 14-97 - Authorizing City Manager to enter into agreement for City Attorney services (Cont'd from 2/11/97) [Bob Grogan] (Staff recommendation: Adopt, or provide direction) Bob Grogan, Interim City Manager, provided staff report, which was prepared for the last regular Council meeting by former City Manager Andy Takata. Mayor Johnson indicated he had done a matrix review of all the proposals submitted, and it was clear to him that the expenses of the outside firms were a "dark hole", ever- expanding. He noted that one of the critical issues for the Council to consider is cost control of the legal aspect. Councilmembers Luna and Carden agreed and expressed CC 2/25/97 Page 4 support for Roy Hanley's proposal and satisfaction with his services to date. There was no public comment. Motion: By Councilman Luna, seconded by Councilman Clay to adopt Resolution No. 14-97. Motion passed by unanimous roll-call vote. Staff was further directed to negotiate a contract with Roy Hanley based on the proposal of $6,000 per month for unlimited hours, $95 per hour for litigation services, and to bring it back for formal Council ratification at a future meeting. D. COMMITTEE REPORTS: 1. S.L.O. County Mayors Group: Mayor Johnson announced that a joint councils meeting is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on April 17, 1997, at the Cliffs Restaurant in Shell Beach. A quorum of our City Council will be needed to have a vote at that meeting. Senator O'Connell reported at the last Mayors meeting on the CHP helicopter program dedication. The helicopter has been offered for general region- wide law enforcement/medical emergency use on a back-up basis, when available. Sen. O'Connell also had discussed SB 147 and encouraged cities to convey their comments about the perceived ramifications. Atascadero is scheduled to host the March Mayors meeting. 2. North County Council: Mayor Johnson reported that he will be meeting with Paso Robles Mayor Duane Picanco and Supervisors Ovitt and Ryan on Friday, March 7`n, to discuss working together on north county issues of mutual concern. E. INDIVIDUAL DETERMINATION AND/OR ACTION: City Council: Councilman Carden thanked Bob Grogan for his involvement in State legislative issues which impact the City, an area which has been lacking in the past. He also asked staff to schedule a review of Community Services Director Brady Cherry's job description at hire versus current, increased responsibilities. Brady was commended for his handling of additional job duties. Councilman Lerno expressed his need for more time to review and digest the budget. He asked the citizens of Atascadero to realize there is a lack of money and problems are addressed with bandaids. He emphasized that difficult decisions and certain cut-backs will need to be made and presented a list of items which he believes need to be seriously looked at: Privatize the zoo; obtain a proposal from the County for the cost of contract law enforcement with Sheriff's Dept.; investigate the privatization of the City's wastewater treatment facility; investigate contract with CDF for fire services. He noted he does not want to do any of these things and they may not result in the best solutions, but they should be investigated as back-up. Ray Johnson noted that all cities in the county are suffering financially, as is Atascadero, and our problems are tied to a break-down of funding mechanisms and not solely the problems encountered with Orange County. Jerry Clay congratulated Roy Hanley on his appointment as City Attorney. Referring to Councilman Lerno's concerns, he conveyed to the public that all of the 70% property tax revenue that the City receives goes to the Police Department, and of the sales tax, the City receives 10 of every dollar spent, the majority of which goes to the Fire Department; these are the City's two largest sources of revenue. CC 2/25/97 Page 5 Councilman Carden asked staff to bring a copy of the Economic Development Element to Wednesday's goal-setting session, as it includes some proposed business development incentives. City Attorney: Roy Hanley announced that he will be bringing a report to the Council within the next couple of months on how the City handles its tort (claims) defense. Claims currently go through a JPA and costs are spread over three years, which makes things look better than they actually are. He feels this is an avenue of cost control which should be closely evaluated. The meeting adjourned at 8:38 p.m, to 8.30 a.m. Wednesday, February 26 , in the Club Room for the purpose of conducting a Council Goal-Setting Workshop MINUTES RECORDED BY: �Yt..�.�c Yl?• d7 MARCIA M. TORGERSON, Ciq Clerk PREPARED BY: CINDY L. HOLTON, Deputy City Clerk CC 2/25/97 Page 6