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08/25/2005 V CITY OF GRAND TERRACE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING-AUGUST 25, 2005 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 25, 2005, at 6:00 p.m. PRESENT: Maryetta Ferr6,Mayor Bea Cortes, Mayor Pro Tem Herman Hilkey, Councilmember Lee Ann Garcia, Councilmember Jim Miller, 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 ABSENT: Lt. Hector Guerra, Sheriff's Department The City Council meeting was opened with Invocation by Pastor Salim Elias,Azure Hills Seventh- Day Adventist Church followed by the Pledge ofAllegiance led by Councilmember Lee Ann Garcia. ITEMS TO DELETE -None SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2A. Robert J. Nava, Esq., Assistant Vice Chancellor,UCR-Update of UC Riverside Robert J.Nava,Esq.,gave a brief update on the University on California Riverside and their goals for the future. He brought regards from the campus and their desire to continue dialog with Grand Terrace and to build closer relationships between the Grand Terrace community, University of California Riverside and the Regional community as they build and look to the future. Councilmember Garcia,asked Mr.Nava to talk about the Sustainable Development Project. She feels that it is a good program and feels that if more developers in the Inland Empire were to follow the model it would make for a much nicer quality of life for the residents in the region. Council Minutes August 25,2005 Page 2 Mr. Nava, stated that they have a research center that was established two years ago, the Edward Blakely Center for Sustainable Suburban Developments. The center is focusing on growth in the region. They are the only research center in the Country that is focusing on Suburban issues. The center is in the final negotiations with an incredible director that they are going to have to lead them. The focus is to bring together all the various stake holders, the developers,the community members,and the environmentalists to address in a proactive way the challenges and opportunities as we grow and develop, but to do it in a way that is planned. Councilmember Garcia, stated that there will be a new High School in Grand Terrace and is excited about having a close relationship with the higher educational institutions in the area. Councilmember Hilkev, questioned if the law school was ever successful at UCR. Mr. Nava, responded that it was not. The question was raised whether or not there was a need for a law school in the area. It was determined that there wasn't. They know that the University of California will establish a new professional school. He stated that the last medical school was established forty years ago. The next professional school will be a medical school and they hope that it will be in Riverside. Councilmember Hilkev. questioned what the transition is for those students that are in the two year medical program at UCR. Mr. Nava, responded that it is very competitive. Councilmember Hilkev. questioned how far along the research facility is in Highgrove that included some housing. Mr.Nava, stated that the purpose of the facility was to move the research programs out into the community off of the campus but is unaware of any housing component but would be happy to follow up on it. Mavor Pro Tem Cortes, thanked Dr.Nava for coming to the meeting. CONSENT CALENDAR CC-2005-85 MOTION BY MAYOR PRO TEM CORTES, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER GARCIA,CARRIED 5-0,to approve the following Consent Calendar Items with the removal of Voucher# 56055 under item 3A: 3A. Approve Check Register Dated August 25, 2005 Council Minutes August 25,2005 Page 3 3B. Waive Full Reading of Ordinances on Agenda 3C. Approval of 08-11-2005 ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT CALENDAR Voucher# 56055 in the amount of$890,674.00 CC-2005-86 MOTION BY MAYOR FERRE, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER GARCIA, CARRIED 3-1-0-1 (COUNCILMEMBER HILKEY VOTED NO AND MAYOR PRO TEM CORTES ABSTAINED), to accept voucher #56055 in the amount of $890,674.00. PUBLIC COMMENT Anthonv Bonello. 22413 Barton Road, stated that there are a lot of sewage problems at the Stater Bros. center. He stated that whoever owns the center should maintain the center in accordance with the laws that the City has. The building needs to be cleaned and painted. The tenants have been demanding trash cans in the food court area because there was trash all over the center. The tenants care about Grand Terrace and want to stay, however, they have not been getting any support from Anita McGaughey as far as the conditions of all the small businesses in the center. Most of them are doing without air conditioning because she won't repair any of the air conditioners in the building and he feels that it is not the tenants responsibility. He feels that the conditions at the center should be better and asked the City for assistance. Michelle Casev. 12531 Mirado, stated that she has been a resident of Grand Terrace for almost 34 years. She is requesting the City Council and the City of Grand Terrace for their help in doing something about the shopping center and Viking Investments owned by Anita and Dennis McCaughey. Grand Terrace doesn't need slum lords. She feels that this common area is a mess. She stated that the tenants are afraid of the landlord. She would like the City to get involved and to contact the Department of Real Estate. Angela Bonello. 22413 Barton Road, feels that the center owned and operated by Anita McGaughey is in dire need of repairs. The owner has been advised of all of the repairs that need to be made and the tenants have documented them. The landlord refuses to do the repairs. She submitted a packet to the City Clerk with referenced information. Mario A. Chavez. 22421 Barton Road, stated that he had problems with the center as well. He feels that the landlord purposely doesn't fix items that need to be repaired for operation, however, she tells the tenants that everything is in working condition and then when there is a problem, she tell the tenants that they did something to cause the problem and then requires them to fix it. He stated that he has since closed his business because of the Council Minutes August 25,2005 Page 4 difficulties of dealing with Ms. McGaughey. He feels that in order for the City to succeed in creating more business opportunities for small businesses it would be in the best interest for the City to do something about Anita McGaughey. She has used racial comments many times. He feels that it is time to take action against Viking Investment. Bill Hays. 22114 De Berry Street, read the following letter: In reference to pending,partial or deficient approvals for:Miguel's drive-thru,SA-05-10,E- 05-05, CUP-05-05 Town Square Jacobsen DDA 2-14-2005. The city has not updated its Land use element since 1988, The city has not updated its conservation element since 1988, The city has not updated its Safety element since 1988, The city has not updated its circulation element since 1999, The city has not updated its open space element since 1999, The current housing element on file is from 2002 and The city has not updated its noise element since 2003. These elements above are all mandatory elements of the Grand Terrace general plan and should take priority over optional elements like the bicycle plan updated in 2002. With numerous projects anticipated for construction, in planning stages or on the drawing board, or in plan check; it is IMPOSSIBLE for the planning staff or city council or planning department to knowledgeably and appropriately respond. These proj ects total over 195 acres in a 3.5 square mile town. The plans above have not been kept current with the times for the physical realities, environmental conditions, safety, conservation, land use,housing,noise, public services, flood control, fire hazards and open spaces now present in Grand Terrace. These elements should be updated with the full input of the citizen community so that they are guidelines for all the anticipated projects and planning. Without your immediate attention to updating to these out of date plans—you are making decisions with data 10-20 years old by the time some projects will be completed. This is malfeasance and not a proper discharge of your duties to the citizens. The Five year Redevelopment program implementation plan for 2004-2009,recently passed as a new ordinance,gives a preliminary cost estimate paid by the City/CRA of$300,000.To be paid for the Town Square infrastructure improvements. Exactly what improvements will the city pay for in connection with this 16 acre site? If this is a subsidy to Lowe's,why is it being paid with the taxpayers'money,and without our consent? We are continually told that we are not subsidizing big corporations to come to town, but this budget and resolutions show otherwise. Is this to pay for street & signal improvements that would not be needed, except for the arrival of this big box retailer to Michigan Avenue? Why is the newspaper call Town Square a 20 acre project,when the size of the project area in the Barton Road Specific Council Minutes August 25,2005 Page 5 Plan is much smaller at 16 acres? We Grand Terrace citizens see that the preferred developer now owns residential property on Michigan Avenue south of La Paix Street. This area is zoned residential and is NOT part of the Barton Road Specific Plan. Is this going to be a part of the proposed Lowe's big box center also? Is this perhaps for overflow parking or a temporary worker hiring site? It is imperative that you address all the health and safety issues that you are PAID to guard on our behalf. Instead you recommend a blanket negative declarations, or exemption for partial development within this area. Is the city or CRA planning to rezone all of Michigan Avenue from residential to commercial use? If this is part of the city or CRA overall plan you are required to hold public hearings. You are required to notify the residents in the area who will be more affected by massive,permanent changes such as this, than we are by the change in the hours of operations of a local business,where you DO mail the local property owners in the radius area to keep them informed. You are required to provide open government, not only in law but in fact and in spirit. When you do not make your planning documents open and available for the public to get information, you encourage suspicion. Recently you have delayed the production of documents or other information when they requested by the general public. They are often missing on the-counter, or put there only at the last minute. We distrust you because you hold meetings in secret and conduct many deals without open and competitive bidding. Staff often tell residents or the newspaper one thing,when the facts,documents or participants tell an entirely different story. With open government we could work together for abetter Grand Terrace community. With involved citizen participation we could come together to find solutions to smart, planned, cohesive community development plans. We are not against progress or improvement. We are in favor of plans honestly financed with private money for private property, and public money only used for truly public projects. We hope you will heed our requests. We want to be involved for a better Grand Terrace,and we know that you have ignored our comments and been negligent in guarding our community interests to the determent of us all. Reese Fozoani,22400 Barton Road#11, stated that Anita Mc Gaughey does not care about the building or tenants, all she cares about is collecting her checks. She allows for unsafe conditions. She hopes that the City helps the tenants in order to keep businesses in Grand Terrace. Citv Manaser Schwab.stated that staff will look into the issues at the center. The City could possibly get involved in the Health and Safety related issues. The civil issues he is unsure what level the City can intervene in. He will discuss this with the City Attorney and develop a plan of action to present to the Council for guidance. ORAL REPORTS Council Minutes August 25,2005 Page 6 5A. Committee Renorts -None COUNCIL REPORTS Councilmember Miller,he feels that after listening to the tenants at the shopping center,that the concern is what is in their Lease. The Council is going to have a hard time intervening in what is in the Lease. He feels that they will probably have to have an attorney look at the lease. The City can look into code enforcement issues. Council is concerned and are listening to what they have brought up this evening. He reported that the Chamber of Commerce will be holding their golf tournament on August 26,2005. He thanked all of the businesses of Grand Terrace who have supported the event as well as the Councilmembers and everyone who has supported the event. It looks like it is going to be a successful event. He expressed his concern with graffiti in town. He would like staff to look into the graffiti on the real estate sign by Bank of America and on the wall behind the Terrace Retirement Center. Councilmember Hilkev.stated that staff has been hearing the comments that are being made by the tenants of the shopping center over the years, however, the City is limited on what they can do. The failure of that site and the future demise of that site has to do with the owner and not new businesses coming into town. There have been comments that were made when talking about the Outdoor Retail Center and the Town Center that new businesses and new development was not sustainable because they would cause a demise of the Stater Bros. Center. He wants it to be clear that the demise of that center will happen but it will happen because of the owner. Many of the improvements over the past 15 to 20 years that he has witnessed have been with staff doing sharing expenses with the signs and the landscaping and it has been an uphill battle. Our hands are tied with the Civil issues. He reported that the Citizens in town had an opportunity to look at the plans and options for the Senior Citizens Housing project. He feels that the company that the City has hired to do the project is amenable and flexible and very eager to help those with frustrations and feels that it was a very good meeting. He reported that he and Mayor Ferr6 sit on an oversight committee on the school bond that was approved a few years ago. Councilmember Garcia and Mayor Pro Tem Cortes have also sat on the committee over the years. They submitted a plan to accelerate the construction of the high school and that plan will be submitted to the School Board in September. Councilmember Garcia,thanked the tenants for their comments. She would like to see the center be a quality shopping center and hopes that everyone can work together to make that happen. She requested an update on the work that is going on with the roads. Assistant Citv Manager Berrv. stated that the City is doing repairs on Barton Road. Councilmember Garcia,requested that when the City is doing road repairs that we have the Council Minutes August 25,2005 Page 7 road closures on the Webpage. Mavor Pro Tern Cortes,reported that she has also noticed the graffiti in town and questioned if there is a hotline number that the residents can call to report graffiti. Citv Manager Schwab, responded that there is a phone number. Citv Clerk Stanfill, stated that staff would put the hotline number on channel 3. Assistant Citv Manaszer Berrv, reminded everyone that if the graffiti is on private property it takes longer because we need permission from the property owner to remove it. The graffiti on the wall by The Terrace will be taken care of and will work on the sign. Mavor Pro Tern Cortes,requested that the information on the graffiti hotline be included in the Blue Mountain Outlook as well as the information being included on the website. She requested that those tenants that have concerns place it in writing so that the City Attorney can address their issues. City Attornev Hamer, indicated that he and City Manager Schwab along with the Code Enforcement Officer will discuss the item that are in the jurisdiction of the City. He can't simply write a letter to the landlord,however,the City can address code enforcement issues as well as nuisance abatement. Mavor Pro Tern Cortes. would like to help the tenants as much as possible. Mavor Ferr6, stated that she is sorry that the tenants at the Stater Bros. Center have had to deal with the conditions for as long as they have. It is important for them to come as a group and to let the Council know what is going on. Council is listening and it is her hope that they can be of some help. She reported that she attended along with Councilmember Hilkey the Bond Oversight Committee. She felt that it was rewarding to see that the School District is planning to move ahead at an accelerated pace on the high school in Grand Terrace. She congratulated the Chamber on the number of golfers for the Chamber Golf Tournament. She attended the Senior Housing Workshop Meeting and feels that it was well done and feels that everyone that had concerns was able to voice them and felt that the developer listened sensitively. PUBLIC HEARING 6A. Appeal of SA-05-06/E-05-04 (Manhole Builders) Applications for a Site and Architectural, and Environmental Review to convert an existing single story, 1,350 square foot residence into an office and the conversion of an existing barn, garage and several outbuildings into approximately 3,500 square feet of material storage Council Minutes August 25,2005 Page 8 warehouses. There will also be approximately 70,000 square feet of outdoor storage and approximately 10,000 square feet of production City Attorney Harper, stated that one of the grounds that the approval is being appealed pertains to the AQMD Study and the recommended Mitigation Measures from AQMD, which were not considered by the Planning Commission nor incorporated in the project. As a consequence he feels from a legal perspective that it is most appropriate to refer it back to the Planning Commission to incorporate the AQMD Mitigation Measures and the study in the initial study and begin again. It would be heard at the October Planning Commission meeting. CC-2005-87 MOTION BY MAYOR PRO TEM CORTES, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER HILKEY, CARRIED 5-0, to refer SA-05-06/E-05-04 (Manhole Builders) Applications for a Site and Architectural, and Environmental Review to convert an existing single story, 1,350 square foot residence into an office and the conversion of an existing barn,garage and several outbuildings into approximately 3,500 square feet of material storage warehouses and approximately 70,000 square feet of outdoor storage and approximately 10,000 square feet of production to the Planning Commission to incorporate the AQMD Mitigation Measures and the study in the initial study and begin again. UNFINISHED BUSINESS -None NEW BUSINESS 8A. Award of the 2005-06 Street Striping Contract to the lowest Bidder Determined by Staff from the August 22, 2005 Bid Opening CC-2005-88 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER GARCIA, SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM CORTES, 5-0,to award the 2005-06 Street Striping Contract to Traffic Operations, Inc. in the amount of$22,697.10 and to enter into an Agreement with them for those services. 8B. Award of the Street Slurry Contract to American Asphalt South,Inc.for the 2005-06 Slurry Seal Program CC-2005-89 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER HILKEY, SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM CORTES, CARRIED 5-0,to award the Street Slurry Contract to American Asphalt South,Inc. for the 2005-06 Slurry Seal Program in the amount of$58,074.92 and to enter into an Agreement with them for those services. 8C. Award of the Asphalt Crack Sealing Contract to Roadworks, Inc. Council Minutes August 25,2005 Page 9 CC-2005-90 MOTION BY MAYOR PRO TEM CORTES, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER HIT KEY, CARRIED 5-0, to award the Crack Sealing Contract to Roadworks, Inc. in the amount of up to $20,000.00 and to enter into an Agreement with them for those services. CLOSED SESSION -None Mayor Ferr6 adjourned the meeting at 7:30 p.m.until the next CRA/City Council Meeting which is scheduled to be held on Thursday, September 8, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. CITY CLERK of the Cieof Grand Terrace MAYOR,f the City of Grand Terrace