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08/12/2003 J CITY OF GRAND TERRACE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING-AUGUST 12, 2003 A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Grand Terrace was called to order in the Council Chambers, Grand Terrace Civic Center,22795 Barton Road, Grand Terrace,California,on August 12, 2003, at 6:30 p.m. PRESENT: Lee Ann Garcia, Mayor Maryetta Ferr6,Mayor Pro Tern Herman Hilkey, Councilmember Don Larkin, Councilmember Tom Schwab, City Manager Brenda Stanfill, City Clerk Steve Berry, Assistant City Manager Larry Ronnow,Finance Director Jerry Glander, Building & Safety Director. Gary Koontz, Community Development Director John Harper, City Attorney Lt. Guerra, Sheriff's Department ABSENT: Bea Cortes, Councilmember The meeting was opened with invocation by Mayor Pro Tem Ferr6, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilman Don Larkin. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2A. Home of Distinction Award Assistant City Manager Berry announced that Maggie Kapp and Barbara Boutwell are the recipients of the 2nd Quarter Home of Distinction Award. They were presented with the Home of Distinction Award and a$50 gift certificate for Stater Bros. 2B. Innovation Award Assistant City Manager Berry indicated that he feels that it is important that an atmosphere be created so that employees are passionate about what they do,that it is really not just a job and that we like what we do, not only by being friendly but by being fiscally conservative too. He feels that it is important to challenge your employees to do something above and beyond what they would normally do. He stated that he challenged Michael Cruz to come up with a better way to water our trees. Michael came up with a solution that cut man time in half and made it a little more convenient for him. He introduced Michael Cruz and Mayor Garcia presented him with an Innovation Award and gift certificates for Food Connection. Council Minutes August 12,2003 Page 2 2C. Presentation of the New Web Site Assistant City Manager Berry reported that the web site has been in design for approximately 16 months with a committee working together to come up with the final site. He went through the web site for Council. CONSENT CALENDAR CC-2003-85 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER LARKIN, SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM FERRE, CARRIED 4-0-1-0 (COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT), to approve the following consent calendar items with removal of item 3D., 3E., and 3M.: 3A. Approval of Check Registers Dated July 22, and August 12, 2003 3B. Ratify 08-12-2003 CRA Action 3C. Waive Full Reading of Ordinances on Agenda 3F. Resolution Rescinding City Council Continued Benefits 3G. Travel Authorization for the Assistant City Manager and Code Enforcement Officer to Attend the CACE Conference in Oxnard, CA September 24-27, 2003 3H. City Manager Travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, for International City/County Management Association's Annual Conference 3I. Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Council Members and City Manager Travel to Sacramento for League of California Cities Annual Conference, September 7-10, 2003 3J. Combined Cash and Investments Treasury Report for Quarter Ended June 30, 2003 3K. Parcel Map No. 16012 (Zakharia) 3L. CLEEP Grant Expenditures ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT CALENDAR 3D. Approval of 07-08-2003 Minutes Councilmember Hilkev, questioned if someone peruses the minutes before they are published. Citv Manager Schwab.responded that the minutes are put together by the Deputy City Clerk and then reviewed by the City Clerk and then placed in the packet and delivered to the Council on the Friday prior to the meeting. Councilmember Hilkev, feels that the Councilmembers comments seem at times not to Council Minutes August 12,2003 Page 3 reflect the content of the Councilmembers intent. He was working on something and found that on the meeting on July 8, and the prior meeting the verbatim content didn't match,he felt, the content of what was on the minutes. He wanted to make sure and understand and be reassured that there was no one looking at the minutes and correcting or editing the content. Citv Manager Schwab. again confirmed that just the City Clerk and Deputy City Clerk review the minutes prior to Council receiving them. He indicated that the purpose of bringing the minutes to the Council and having them review them is for Council to have the opportunity to say that the interpretation of the conversation was not properly interpreted and to request staff change or modify the minutes. CC-2003-86 MOTION BY MAYOR PRO TEM FERRE, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER LARKIN,CARRIED 4-0-1-0(COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT),to approve the July 8, 2003 Minutes. 3E. Update on the Grand Terrace Foundation Councilmember Larkin, indicated that they are working on establishing a Foundation for Grand Terrace and one of the ideas would be that it would be independent from the City. The City is serving as a catalyst as far as developing it,but there has been participation from residents. He feels that it will be beneficial. Councilmember Hilkev, stated that he feels a Foundation for the City of Grand Terrace is a very good idea. He believes that Mr.Larkin was the one that started it. It is a very promising aspect that may produce parks and facilities in the future for the community. Councilmember Larkin, indicated that it was a collective idea. CC-2003-87 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER LARKIN,SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER HILKEY,CARRIED 4-0-1-0(COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT),to accept the update on the Grand Terrace Foundation. 3M. Authorization to go to Bid - Traffic Signal-DeBerry and Mt. Vernon Councilmember Hilkev. indicated that he sent a letter to all of the Councilmembers, SANBAG representatives, and the City Manager regarding the traffic signal. He recently read in the Staff Meeting Summary Minutes that the traffic light at Honey Hill and Grand Terrace Road and Barton Road is three years away. He asked staff to look into alternative ways of funding that signal until the CMAC money comes through. He suggested that possibly the Redevelopment Agency could pay for the project and then be reimbursed when the CMAC money comes through. He feels that the traffic light at the corner of DeBerry and Council Minutes August 12,2003 Page 4 Mt. Vernon is important. CC-2003-88 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER HILKEY, SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM FERRE, CARRIED 4-0-1-0 (COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT), to appropriate $40,000 from Fund II Street Development Fund and direct staff to advertise for bids for the construction of the traffic signals at the intersection of De Berry and Mt. Vernon. PUBLIC COMMENT Bill Addineton, 12055 Westwood Lane, is pleased with the actions that the City has taken in the last year or two for the betterment of the City and he specifically mentioned something that is near and dear to his heart which is the Mt. Vernon grade. He has watched that road deteriorate and was delighted when the City of Grand Terrace and the City of Colton got together and made that improvement happen. He indicated that Grand Terrace has hillside properties and as the properties are developed there are a lot of important things to consider. He feels that the City of Highland and Yucaipa have very good Hillside Grading Ordinances that take into account the topography, ecological substance and the habitat all of which are important. He feels that it would be worthwhile for Grand Terrace to consider adopting a Hillside Grading Ordinance and that he would volunteer his time to do anything that he could to promote the adoption of one. Bettv Guzman,23222 Glendora Drive,indicated that the petition to elect a Mayor by popular vote is not put forth by the Grand Terrace Republican Woman. It is a group of Grand Terrace citizens that want to do this. Frank Guzman,23222 Glendora Drive, indicated that there is a very popular petition being circulated to elect the Mayor by popular vote and requested that the Council consider this by placing it on an agenda and taking action on it. He indicated that if the Council decides to do this it will save money otherwise they can submit the required number of petitions in order to have it placed on the ballot. He indicated that the City has grown and believes that selecting the Mayor by popular vote will give each citizen a voice but also lends credence to the notion that the Mayor was selected properly and not by the good of boy system,which we have at appearance at this point. He asked each Council to consider this and if they vote it down, they will remember that at the time of the election. Jim Koda. 12807 Reed Avenue,feels that the City has changed over the last fifteen years and feels that the system of the Council selecting the Mayor is not fair. He feels that certain people are using it amongst the group to get to the next level when others have the City truly at heart and want to do good. He feels that whoever is serving as Mayor is not the one that the people by popular vote would pick. He requested the Council consider changing the way the Mayor is selected and if not there are other ways they can go about having it changed. Council Minutes August 12,2003 Page 5 Thelma Winkler Beach, 12570 Mt. Vernon Avenue, stated that each and everyone of the Councilmembers have a microphone and requested that they use it. It is hard to hear them. As far as the issue of Mayor, she would love to be able to cast a vote for the Mayor and believes that the current Mayor agrees with her. Grand Terrace has grown big enough to be able to go to the polls and elect a Mayor. The City has had good Mayors and has a good Mayor,however she would like to be able to cast her own vote. Lori Roberts, 125 10 Nightingale Way,feels that Grand Terrace is becoming a bigger city and would like to be able to vote for her own Mayor. She has nothing against anyone here, however, she feels that the citizens of Grand Terrace should be able to vote. Janis Koda, 12807 Reed Avenue,seconded everything that everyone before her has said. She would love to be able to vote for her Mayor. She watched on television the meeting when the Council selected the Mayor and felt that it was all out of her hands and believes that she is not the only one who felt that way. Councilmembers are one thing but a Mayor is another. They have a lot of signatures and they can get a lot more and feels that it would be the right thing to do. Dick Rollins. 22797 Barton Road, throughout the history of the government of the City of Grand Terrace the process of selecting Councilmembers through popular elections has been non-criticized and non-partisan. The efforts of the Grand Terrace Republican Woman's Federation to create an election process for the position of Mayor of Grand Terrace is totally unnecessary and unproductive. Selecting our Mayor from the ranks of the City Council has been what we have done in the past and it has worked well for us because the individual is always well qualified. We do not need the expenditure of public tax payers funds to select a Mayor. Mavor Garcia, indicated that she received a call from Jaci Hammil,President of the Grand Terrace Republican Woman that indicated that the petition to elect a Mayor by popular vote is not put forth by the Grand Terrace Republican Woman it is a group of Grand Terrace citizens that want to do this. ORAL REPORTS 5A. Committee Reports 1. Historical and Cultural Activities Committee a. Appoint New Member(Gifford) CC-2003-89 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBERLARKIN,SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER HILKEY, CARRIED 4-0-1-0(COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT),to appoint Masoko Gifford to the Historical and Cultural Activities Committee to fill Council Minutes August 12,2003 Page 6 the unexpired term continuing to June 30, 2006. b. Minutes of July 7, 2003 CC-2003-90 MOTION BY MAYOR PRO TEM FERRE, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER LARKIN,CARRIED 4-0-1-0(COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT),to accept the July 7,2003 minutes of the Historical and Cultural Activities Committee. 2. Crime Prevention Committee a. Minutes of June 9, 2003 and July 14, 2003 CC-2003-91 MOTION BY MAYOR PRO TEM FERRE, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER LARKIN,CARRIED 4-0-1-0(COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT),to accept the June 9, 2003 and July 14, 2003 minutes of the Crime Prevention Committee. 3. Emergency Operations Committee a. Minutes of July 1, 2003 CC-2003-92 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER LARKIN, SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM FERRE, CARRIED 4-0-1-0, (COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT), to accept the July 1, 2003 minutes of the Emergency Operations Committee. COUNCIL REPORTS Mavor Pro Tem Ferre,commented on the article that appeared in the Blue Mountain Outlook that was written by Assistant City Manager Steve Berry regarding the Grand Terrace Foundation. She feels that it is an outstanding article and hopes that everyone had an opportunity to read it because it explains very plainly just what this Foundation is about and how it can benefit the City. She felt that it was very well done and thanked him. She feels that everyone on the Council is very much in support of a Foundation for the City of Grand Terrace. The landscaping on Barton Road all the way down to Grand Terrace Road is really filling out and really looking good and wanted to be sure to let Assistant City Manager Steve Berry know that it is very much appreciated. She also read the summary of the Staff Meeting Minutes regarding the traffic light at Honey Hill Drive, Grand Terrace Road and Barton Road. She thought that light was pretty much in the works and about to be completed for us and now she sees that it is in the mix with all of the 300 other that are going to be on Barton Road. Councilmember Hilkev,indicated that the light was in Phase II and Phase II had completion of one to two years. Now they are talking three years and we are on the tail end of that three years, which was a surprise. It is an immense project to sequence many lights within the Council Minutes August 12,2003 Page 7 County and they are using CMAC money to do so. Hopefully we can find some way to get the project moved up. Part of the reason we got that money was because the 215 south was the only major project from Measure I that was not funded and because that traffic coming through Barton is a direct result of the 215 congestion,SANBAG had agreed to help us with the traffic flow and this was part of it. Mavor Pro Tem Ferr6, stated that somehow we got lost in the mix and now we are the tail end. Councilmember Hilkev,indicated that he doesn't know where we are but hopefully staff can find out. Mavor Pro Tem Ferr6, questioned if there was an update on the high school. City Manager Schwab,responded that there really hasn't been any change since the last time he updated the Council. Basically the School District has sent out letters to all of the property owners asking for entry including the Community Redevelopment Agency,which owns 60 acres, so they are in the process of doing their Phase I environmental work to determine if the land is safe to occupy a school but beyond that there hasn't been any movement. Councilmember Hilkev, reported that he received an e-mail from the City regarding the Grand Terrace Fire and Rescue Association that is.planning a dedication of a plaque on September 11, 2003 at the Fire Station. He indicated that our station in Grand Terrace is Station 23 and the Lions Den Station in New York is also 23. He reminded everyone to mark their calendar's for September 11,2003 and show up at the Fire Station. It should be a very tear jerking, emotional, memorable event. A Representative from the Fire Department,indicated that the memorial at the Fire Station was completed today and as mentioned they have linked up with the Fire Company in Mid- town Manhattan with the same number 23 so they are very much involved with the incident on September 11,2001. It is going to be a very moving and memorable event and encourage everyone to attend. Citv Manager Schwab,added that Station 23 in Mid-town Manhattan has adopted station 23 as a sister station. On September 11, 2001 Station 23 in Manhattan lost six of their firefighters so on September 11, 2003 approximately 14 people are flying out from New York to attend a memorial. The City is hosting a BBQ that afternoon. Councilmember Hilkev.complemented staff on Street Sweeping. He has lived in his house for many years and this is the first time in a long time his curb has been swept. Council Minutes August 12,2003 Page 8 Councilmember Larkin. reported that he had the opportunity to speak to Councilmember Cortes and regretfully she is still in pain, is undergoing testing, and still under doctors instructions to stay home and rest. She regrets that she is unable to attend the meeting. Hopefully she will be better soon and we are looking forward to her coming back. In reference to the September 11 to Dedication by our Grand Terrace Fire Station 23,he feels that it is very commendable that they are showing that camaraderie and brotherhood. He referred to an article where the Captain from Manhattan came to Grand Terrace to visit and now with fourteen other members coming he feels that it is outstanding. He commended the fire station on their efforts. Mavor Garcia. said that it was nice to see everyone. She wanted to let Councilmember Cortes know that our prayers are with her and hope she has a speedy recovery because she knows that she is in pain right now. She wanted to remind everyone that the Grand Terrace Republican Women will be hosting their 251''Annual Ice Cream Social at City Hall from 4:30 to 8:00 p.m. It is a non-political event and everyone in the City is invited. There will a lot of great opportunity gifts and food and good clean fun. Tickets are available if you would like to purchase them. If you don't purchase a ticket you can pay at the door, $5.00 per person or$15.00 per family. She complemented the Chamber of Commerce on their ribbon cuttings. They have been very busy. She was able to attend the Extreme Paintball Ribbon Cutting that is on Michigan, a Christian husband and wife have opened this up. It is a very nice family run business. The General Plan Task Force talked about Grand Terrace being known as a fitness area. She remembers the days as being noted as a healthy city and she feels that it is really nice for a city of our size to have two fitness centers right here in town. She reported that at the League of California Cities Annual Conference there is going to be a flag ceremony and wanted to know if there was a volunteer to carry the City Flag in the ceremony. If anyone is interested they should let City Manager Schwab know. She is hoping that Councilmember Hilkey will be able to go to the SCAG General Assembly where they are going to have an amendment to their by-laws and wanted to make sure that he received the information. She indicated that Councilmember Hilkey attended the SANBAG Board Meeting and questioned if he had anything to report on the Jump Start Program that SCAG gave a presentation on. She reported that it is a program where SCAG is trying to package the three major projects that are in the Regional Transportation Plan from 2001 which includes MAGLEV Program,Truck Lanes,where they are trying to separate the huge trucks off of the freeways that we all use and then the Rail Capacity Improvements, which is the overcrossings. They are packaging all that together and calling it Jump Start. Maybe in the future we can get a presentation here for the Council so our residents are informed about that. She always says that one thing that we have in Grand Terrace is informed citizens and she is so proud of that. Our residents take the time to understand what the issues are. The Inland Empire is trying to get their share of the Regional Airport equation and so there was a tour of all of the airports of the Inland Empire on Friday that she attended. She feels that it is important that we understand what the regional airport needs are going to be because we are right near the 60/91/215. When it comes to goods movement we need to understand how Council Minutes August 12,2003 Page 9 that will impact us and we want to try to get the goods movements away from our commuter traffic and passenger traffic as much as possible because otherwise we will be at deadlock. Councilmember Hilkev. stated that the presentation by SCAG at SANBAG he thought got a cold reception because it seems that L.A. and Orange Counties will benefit more than the Inland Empire. He stated that he remembers back when Hugh Grant and Byron Matteson had a contest for Mayor,which was a long time ago,caused a riff in their friendship that has never healed. He has seen three or four such riffs on this panel in the past thirteen or fourteen years which also have never healed. We all get a little squirley every two years and if there is one thing that separates this panel consistently, is when we pick a Mayor. You would not believe the shananigans and stuff that goes on behind doors. Dick Rollins hasn't been there and hasn't seen the stuff that goes on. He feels that we need to change how the Mayor is selected which needs to be done in a civic manner and a more structured manner. As a panel we need to come up with something that makes the citizens of this community feel like part of that selection and that they have some say so in it. Right now he is hearing that they feel that they don't have a part in the selection and he sees that it causes problems. Problems that never heal. It causes staff frustrations and it is not good for the City and the politic of this town. He would hope that we could come up with a different way to pick Mayor. Mavor Garcia, indicated that she will bring more back on the SCAG presentation because she had a little bit different read on it than Councilmember Hilkey. Councilmember Hilkev, stated that 32% is a bigger number than 17% and if one County is getting a 32% increase and one County is getting a 17% increase it looks like the County getting the 32%increase is benefitting more than the County getting a 17%increase. He has a great deal of appreciation of Ty Schuiling,he is an amazing person,very honest. However, the presenter did not explain the benefit chart very well. The chart looked like it was benefitting L.A. and Orange Counties more than the Inland Empire, which is expected to fund a good portion of it and benefitting less. Our growth is going up, our sales are going up, and our housing is going up. L.A. and Orange County are looking at something else. They are looking at a flat growth rate. We are looking at substantial growth rate and they want us to help them fund this,which will help their growth more than our growth.It doesn't make sense to him. Mav_ or Garcia,responded that the things that she is aware of and is very concerned about is the Renewal of Measure I, if that doesn't happen that means we don't get 215 so the congestion that you are seeing is going to get even worse. The financial horizon for transportation funding is very bleak. From that you realize that maybe truck lanes isn't what we all want and maybe MAGLEV isn't what we all want but we have got to get behind something because the fact of the matter is the Southern California Region gets the least amount of money out of all of the metropolitan planning associations throughout the country Council Minutes August 12,2003 Page 10 so until L.A.,Orange,the Inland Empire,Ventura,Imperial can come together and agree on a plan the eastern states,Nevada, and Washington State are getting the big chunk of the pie. That CMAC funding that you want is going to other areas. Last year there was a consensus project where the SCAG President got all of the transportation commissions to go back to Washington with one voice to say these are the Regional Programs. Transportation will only work when approached Regionally. She encouraged everyone to commit themselves to be informed about the issues so that we can let the residents know what the issues are. The bottom line is that if there is not some funding or an agreement on the plan of attack to move forward we are all going to be standing still. PUBLIC HEARING-None UNFINISHED BUSINESS -None NEW BUSINESS 8A. Contracting with the City of Colton for Animal Control Services CC-2003-93 MOTION BY MAYOR PRO TEM FERRE, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER HILKEY,CARRIED 4-0-1-0(COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT),to recommend that the City of Grand Terrace contract with the City of Colton for the Animal Control Services pending review and approval by the City Attorney. 8B. Waste Disposal Agreement Amendment(San Bernardino County) CC-2003-94 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER LARKIN, SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM FERRE, CARRIED 4-0-1-0 (COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT), to continue the Waste Disposal Agreement Amendment(SanBernardino County)to the next Council Meeting. 8C. An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Grand Terrace, California, Amending Chapter 4.72 of the Grand Terrace Municipal Code and Establishing Sewer User Charges CC-2003-95 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER LARKIN,SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER HILKEY,CARRIED 4-0-1-0,(COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT),to request that an Independent Audit be done in conjunction with the requirements of the current amendment to the Agreement with the City of Colton. 8D. Award of Construction Bid for the Grand Terrace Road Widening Project CC-2003-96 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER HILKEY,SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER Council Minutes August 12,2003 Page 11 LARKIN,CARRIED 4-0-1-0(COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT),to award the contract for the Grand Terrace Road Widening Project to NPG Corporation. 8E.- Resolution Changing Regular City Council Meeting Day CC-2003-97 MOTIONBY COUNCILMEMBERHILKEY,SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER LARKIN,CARRIED 4-0-1-0(COUNC]LMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT),to approve a Resolution changing the Regular City Council Meeting Day to the 2nd and 4`h Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. beginning on August 28, 2003. 8F. Cancellation of September 9, 2003 City Council Meeting This item does not require action because of the action taken on item 8E. CLOSED SESSION 9A. Personnel Negotiations Mayor Garcia announced that the City Council met in Closed Session to discuss Personnel Negotiations. CC-2003-98 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER HILKEY,SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER LARKIN,CARRIED 4-0-1-0(COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT),to add a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Grand Terrace Adjusting the Salary Ranges of the Employees of the City of Grand Terrace to the agenda. Resolution Adjusting the Salary Ranges of the Employees of the City of Grand Terrace CC-2003-99 MOTION BY MAYOR PRO TEM FERRE, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER LARKIN,CARRIED 4-0-1-0(COUNCILMEMBER CORTES WAS ABSENT),to approve a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Grand Terrace Adjusting the Salary Ranges of the Employees of the City of Grand Terrace. ORDER OF ADJOURNMENT Mayor Garcia adjourned the City Council Meeting at 10:05 p.m.,until the next CRA/City Council Meeting which is scheduled to be held on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 6:30 p.m. Council Minutes August 12,2003 Page 12 CITY CLERK,of the City f Grand Terrace MAYOR of the City of Grand Terrace - -