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08/24/2010V CITY OF GRAND TERRACE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING - AUGUST 24, 2010 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 24, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. PRESENT: Maryetta Ferre, Mayor Bea Cortes, Councilmember Walt Stanckiewitz, Councilmember Betsy M. Adams, City Manager Tracey Martinez, Deputy City Clerk Bernard Simon, Finance Director Joyce Powers, Community & Economic Development Director Richard Shields, Building & Safety Director Colin Burns, Harper and Burns, LLC Sgt. Carlos Espinoza, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department ABSENT: Lee Ann Garcia, Mayor Pro Tern Brenda Mesa, City Clerk _ Rick McClintock, San Bernardino County Fire Department The City Council meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilwoman Bea Cartes. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2A. Chamber of Commerce Business of the Month Sally McGuire. President Chamber of Commerce, announced that Anna Thigpen, Century 21 Real Estate is the Business of the Month for August. 2B. OmniGo Hometown Shuttle Service - Milo Victoria, CEO'General Manager Omnitrans Milo Victoria. CEO Omnitrans, introduced himself and gave a brief over view of Omnitrans the organization and announced that OmniGo the new hometown shuttle service will begin in September and introduced Nicole Ramos who will tell about the service. Nicole Ramos, gave an overview of the new service that is going to be provided by Omnitrans. CONSENT CALENDAR Council Minutes 08l24- 2010 Page 2 CC-2010-73 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER CORTES, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER STANCKIEWITZ, CARRIED 3-0-1-0 (MAYOR PRO TEM GARCIA WAS ABSENT), to approve the following Consent Calendar Items with the removal of item 3A. 3B. Waive Full Reading of Ordinances on Agenda 3C. Approval of 08-10-2010 Minutes 3D. Resolution Rescinding Resolution 2010-25 in its Entirety and Approving a Resolution of Delinquent Refuse User Fees and Directing that Such Delinquent Fees be Collected on the Tax Roll for the Property Within the City of Grand Terrace 3E. Crime Prevention Committee Minutes of 07-12-2010 3F. Community Emergency Response Team Minutes of 07-06-2010 3G. Emergency Operations Committee Minutes of 07-06-2010 ITEM REMOVED FROM CONSENT CALENDAR 3A. Check Register Dated 08-24-2010 CC-2010-74 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER STANCKIEWITZ, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER CORTES, CARRIED 3-0-1-0 (MAYOR PRO TEM GARCIA WAS ABSENT), to approve Check Register Dated August 24, 2010. PUBLIC COMMENT Burt Seuylemezian, 22400 Barton Road, indicated that he is representing the Grand Terrace Lion's Club. They are donating a flag that will be flown at the Richard Rollins Park. He invited the Council and the Community to the ceremony that will be held at the Richard Rollins Park and conducted by the Boy Scout Troop 40. They will retire the existing flag and replace it with a new one. This ceremony will take place on September 11, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. Sylvia Robles, 23008 Orangewood Court, like everyone else, she wants a new market but on further study she has some concerns. The staff report shows new revenues of only $105,000.00 per year, $35,000 to the general fund and $70,000 to the RDA. She is concerned that we need ball fields for our youth. Are they going to have to wait five years for Stater Bros. to generate enough revenues to pay for that. There is an immediate need now for ball fields. Tax payers are being asked to pay almost l million dollars for 22 full time and 76 part time jobs. Tax payers are being asked to pay $245,000 for 45 parking spaces for park and ride. In her opinion there is a greater need for metrolink station in Highgrove. There are estimates of 140 construction jobs, will these jobs be local? The bottom line is that we are looking to spend 1.2 million dollars get $525,000 in revenues so we have a negative rounded up about $700,000. Her questions are how are we gaining revenues for City Council Minutes 08.24: 2010 Page 3 programs. The staff report claims an increase of 22° o in sales taxes. What are they now and what are projections. What is the debt service on the funds that we are borrowing to give Stater Bros. She is also concerned about whether there is a Fair Political Practices Commission ruling on City Councilmembers being recused. It seems that Councilmember Cartes would also have a problem since she is substantially affected by the emissions more than she would be where she Iives and Councilmember Stanckiewitz' business is basically a whole sale business, smart time and the Grand Terrace Liquor also sell sandwiches that are prepared and feels that they would be more affected including the donut shop. There has also been a flyer that has been circulated in the City that she was questioned about. She needs a clear counting of the RDA expenditures before anymore agreements are executed. She has prepared a Freedom of Information Act Request on RDA's and presented it to the City Clerk. Doug Wilson, 12168 Observation Drive, indicated that he is a candidate for Mayor. Back on the 22' of April he addressed the topic of what redevelopment meant for Grand Terrace. Amendment No. 6 to the Redevlopment Plan was on the table at that time as well as an Environmental Impact Report covering the Redevelopment Plan and the General Plan Update. The hot topic then was that the Agenda for that night was an Economic Development Agreement for the Town Square. These programs are not new. The Economic Development Agreement associated with the Town Square has been in the works for two years, according to the Stater Bros. representatives, however, it is a little strange that the project got approved ahead of the Development Agreement. The Council approved the Grand Terrace Community Redevelopment Plan for the Redevelopment Area on July 22, 2004. Council approve the Implementation Plan on December 8, 2009. Council approved the Town Square Master Plan on July 27, 2010. Staters and Jacobsen is seeking an incentive, a Redevelopment investment in a project. The market alone is a 17.5 million dollar investment. The community gets 20 full time and 76 part time and 140 construction jobs in the pipeline. The community gets $105,000 per year in property taxes, a 22% plus increase in sales tax, a new store with products and services, new business attraction and several other redevelopment plan goals are met. The overall cost is $1,207,500 plus or minus out of $4,600,000 available in Redevelopment Funds. Stater Bros. could have closed the old market and everyone would have had to go down the hill until the new one was built back on July 1, 2008, however, they elected to keep their word to the community despite that they had to spend extra money to be able to do a month to month lease. He supports this. He questioned how certain Councilmembers who have been beating a drum for transparency are going to lay this one off on their fellow Councilmembers. This agreement has been in the works about the same amount of time that certain people have been on the Council and an Economic Panel. Surely they must have known about this and questioned what has become of this issue. He questioned where the transparency and the accountability is now. Frances Carter,11938 Ariiss Drive, stated that she is in favor of the Stater Bras. project. We are such a small community and have so little area available for development and a viable project. She participated in a workshop at least 15 years ago and community surveys were Council Minutes 08 :24/2010 Page 4 done asking the community want they want and need and they had to look at what was viable. Stater Bros. is viable, a new market that would have expanded services that would give the City additional revenue is viable, granted it's not in her back yard and maybe she wouldn't like so well if it was, but that area has been zoned commercial as many areas in Grand Terrace are, and we need to develop those commercially zoned areas. We don't have a Iot of sales tax revenue or property tax revenue. She is very much in favor of the project as a viable good development for the community. We don't need to become a City that is not development friendly. Sally McGuire, 12480 Nightingale Way, stated that she feels that the dispute over the Stater Bros. project has gone on for too long. She has talked to many residents who want the Staters completed so they can shop local instead of going to Colton for half of their grocery, in fact some people go to Colton for all of their grocery shopping. She feels we need to move forward and work on other issues and concerns that our citizens have and she is in favor or working together with Stater Bros. or any other developers that want our city to prosphor. She feels that our other concerns are our youth and high school. She stated that she is in favor of moving forward with the Stater Bros. project. Cynthia Bidnev, 12219 Pascal Avenue, thanked the Council for the opportunity to share her heartfelt concerns and solutions. She directed the Council to view the photos being shown on the screen, they are of her neighborhood what they have and what they stand to lose. The last two slides are some solutions to their problem. At the last City Council meeting the Council instructed Staff to set up a meeting with the neighborhood south of Stater Bros. development as yet she has not received a notice in the mail so she is assuming that her neighborhood hasn't either. Sending out notices just before the meeting will only ensure a poor turnout. She would assume that the Council cares about what everyone thinks. She did have a conversation with Joyce Powers in which she said she was shopping for plants. She had a conversation with Mike Slater, the Developer/Real Estate Manager of Stater Bros., in which he said it would be possible to move the wall but he is waiting to see what Joyce decides. The issue has always been where to put the wall, not developing the project, and how to protect their neighborhood from the project degrading their neighborhood. Her concerns are that the Council is set to approve an Agreement with Stater Bros. when they have not solved the problems set forth to the Council at the last meeting. If money is the issue, which she can't imagine since the Council just raised the RDA to 224 million to build the infrastructure, the South side is also the infrastructure. The Council is proposing to pay Stater Bros. employees salaries for 5 years with Redevelopment monies. The Council is so willing to do everything in their power to please Jack Brown and the Developer Doug Jacobsen yet they refuse to ask that the wall be set back and include the pocket park to save the ambiance and life style of their neighborhood. Council created a no -fireworks zone around your own homes, making it illegal to light fireworks in your neighborhoods. She is asking that they vote to protect their neighborhood also. She feels that they have not done their due diligence to protect their neighborhood. She feels that the citizens who will be Council Minutes 08;'24 2010 Page 5 living with the 6 foot wall idling diesel trucks from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. should be compensated financially for their loss of their legal right to quiet enjoyment, which is their implied right when they bought their home. The Council is taking away their view of the mountains and blocking the sunlight only to replace it with noise and pollution that they voted to be allowable over the health limit set by approving the EIR. They are mothers and fathers who want to preserve a safe enjoyable lifestyle for their children and their children. They want to retain the financial value of their homes, for some of them that is their retirement. If any of the Councilmembers lived in their neighborhood, She could bet they would not be having this conversation. They want to be treated the way they would treat themselves. She would like them to do their fiduciary responsibility and direct staff to build the pocket park, lower the grade so they don't have to see the trucks. Build an enclosure around the truck delivery area to drown out the noise and let Stater Bros. keep their own emissions. Betty Trimble, 22816 DeBerry Street, stated that she is disappointed that the Stater Bros. project has to be postponed this evening. The community has needed a new and improved Stater Bros. for some time. Jack Brown has been quoted as saying "he can proceed just as quick as the City will approve this plan." This plan has been on hold due to the recession and to have it happen during this time is a pure gift to our City. It is a gift of gold. The Redevelopment Funds were designed for just such a project. The store will be a new and improved store which will provide additional jobs for our area and the new store will attract additional retailers to move into the center once the economy gets healthier. Approving this project is paramount to our City. Should this not go, what is that going to say to other developers and retail projects that might want to come to our City. It's not going to send a good message. She ended with a quote from the movie Field of Dreams "If you build it, they will come." Burt Seuylemezian, 22400 Barton Road, stated that he and his wife are business owners and residents of this great town. They fully support Stater Bros. new store and the new Town Square Center. It has been a long time coming and he hopes that the Council will see through this and do whatever is necessary to make this happen soon, in their life times. Claudia Ross, 11857 Holly Street, expressed her jubilance in being able to express her support of the Stater Bros. redevelopment and finally moving forward in our life times. She stands quite disheartened and find it quite telling that the existing, previous or tenured City Council Members could not find this agenda item important enough to have a full quorum today in order to be able to vote on it. She has stood quietly by in the shadows urging the Council on as the leaders of the community. She has willed them silently and answered surveys and watched them on television but she is no longer going to be able to stand by quietly and let the City turn into a slum. What we are not saying is if you drive down Barton Road it is turning into a ghetto. She is embarrassed to bring friends and family to her home. She always looks for the directional route which will show the least amount of blight in her community. She is begging the Council before it is too late. Put the ranker of the past Council Minutes 081Z4I2010 Page 6 behind, you have great new minds in the community with the addition of Betsy Adams. She asked the Council to be the leaders that they elected. They are the best and the brightest, this is not the time to let the community down. She requested that they please move forward with the project and take them out of the slums. Fran Givens, 16724 San Bernardino Avenue, Fontana, indicated that she is the Senior Assembly member with the California Senior Legislature. She is a duly sworn -in legislator, sworn -in by the Secretary of State. They will be having their 30" Legislative Station the last week of October. They take over the Capitol in Sacramento. They convene in the Assembly and Senate Chambers and utilize all of the conference rooms in the Capitol. They write proposals. They have 79 proposals and have committees. They do testimony, etc. They will pass 10 of those 79 proposals for the State and S for the Federal. They will be put into books and then they visit with their legislative representative through the legislative committee and secure their votes. They pick up their proposals put them into their bill form and walk them on through and get them passed into law. She reported that she has been working behind the scenes to get this bus service for Grand Terrace. Tom Schwab, 22687 Lark Street, feels compelled to get up and talk tonight about the Council stipends, particularly because of the accusatory tone that was taken towards the Staff and the previous Councilmembers over their treatment of the stipends. The stipends are defined as a reimbursement of expenses. This is the third City I have worked for and we handled it exactly the same in those three cities. He feels that if you did a survey of local cities it would be considered a reimbursement of expenses. There is no reason to pay pay -roll taxes on reimbursement of expenses. There is no reason to pay unemployment, worker's compensation, medicare or social security. It is up to each individual Council Member to, should they choose to take that income and consider it income, they can pay social securities on it, they could claim it and pay taxes on it, that it's up to the individual. Council Stipends are not considered wages and we have never determined them to be wages and have never issued a W2. He feels that what the Council is doing is just a massive waste of money to go back and put in money for worker's comp., and medicare. He feels that no one joins the City Council with the thought of making a pay check or to make any wages. He feels the solution to the problem is to have no Council Stipends. He does not believe that any person runs for City Council because they are going to get wages for it. They should be a volunteer. His idea to run for Council is to be a volunteer, to give back to my community and he expects absolutely no wage for it and he would like the City Council to eliminate the stipends and then they don't have to worry about it at all. They won't have to write you a check, and the City won't have to worry about withholding or paying pay -roll taxes and the whole thing can be just put to bed. He takes full responsibility for 24 years of that 30 years we did not issue W2's and no other City that I am aware of issues W2's for stipends. Herman Hilkey, 23196 Glendora, stated that for thirty years stipends have been given to off- set expenses. He received a bill from the City that stated that the City is going back four Council Minutes 08::24 2010 Page 7 years and is forcing him to re -do his taxes. He questioned if that was going to help the City. He feels that it is going to help one man. One man is pushing the buttons in City Hall and we have to ask why that one man is pushing the buttons in City Hail. It was Iegal then and it is legal now but one person wants to make an issue to get your attention. The big issue here, and the attorney is going to have to live with this, this is the same attorney that said it was okay for thirty years and now for some reason somebody is pushing the attorney's button to say make it illegal. Same accounting manager, same attorney, who gets blamed, those who served and served well. He feels that the Council is going to have to look at the attorney, either they were wrong for thirty years or they have been right for six months. He stated you can't be both. It is the same attorney that supported Jim Miller, it's the same attorney that gave Bea Cortes advice, the same attorney that gave Mr, Ferrd advice. This attorney isn't where we want it to be and this attorney has changed his mind, for some reason, in the last couple of months. We have the same accountant and the same attorney and now somebody wants to make it illegal. It was a reimbursement of expenses and it is a stipend. All you have done is cost the City a great deal of money, a great deal of time to a new Administrator and now you are going to cost him a great deal of money to re -do his taxes for the last four years. Somebody wants to be king. COUNCIL REPORTS Mayor Ferrd, announced that LAFCO, Local Agency Formation Commission, has a vacancy and as Mayor she attends a City Selection Committee Meeting to elect the next LAFCO member. There are five people that are running for this position and she is the one that will be voting on behalf of the Council. She requested that any of the Council Members should let her know after the meeting if they have a preference. She reported that there was an article in the Sun Newspaper that reported that Sandra Finnen, a former Grand Terrace resident was promoted to a Brigadier General. Councilmember Bea Cortes, reported that she along with Mayor Ferrd and Councilmember Stackiewitz attended the Grand Terrace Community Soccer Club opening ceremonies. She reported that it was a very pleasant day. She feels that they are a great organization to have for the youth of the community. Councilmember Walt Stanckiewitz, gave kuddos to the Sheriffs Department for apprehending the individual that has robbed Smart Time Food Store three times. He gave a list of tips for staying cool during this hot season and indicated that the Grand Terrace Branch Library is a designated cooling center during regular business hours. He also reported that the County has a 2-1-1 information line that you can dial for more information. Stated that he feels compelled to respond to a couple of comments that were made. He suggested that Mr. Schwab look up the definition of Stipend in a dictionary. It does not mention anything about the word expense, it is a pay. He has a document that was prepared i_ by a certified public accountant who reviewed what was going on and said yes it's wrong. Council Minutes 08.241010 Page 8 It has nothing to do with the legal counsel. These were CPA's, experts in tax matters. It wasn't ginned up. He indicated the he was the person that brought it to the Council because he went to his accountant because he didn't know how to handle the fact that he receives money from the City and he doesn't receive any documentation on how to report it. That is why it became an issue. This City has never provided information to any elected official or appointed who received a stipend that is in fact taxable income. There are responsibilities to the individual and there are responsibilities that the City dodged. He is sorry that Mr. Schwab gave out bad information but that is the rule of law and that is what we have to follow and that is what he is trying to bring to this City. No more family run business. PUBLIC HEARINGS 6A. An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Grand Terrace, California, Amending Chapter 2.04.020 of the Grand Terrace Municipal Code Pertaining to Stipends for City Council Members Cijy Manager Betsy M. Adams, reported that this agenda item is a result of information that was learned while staff was preparing the back ground section for a Staff Report for Council to consider a possible 10% temporary reduction in their stipends. This item first came forward as part of the budget discussion for the Fiscal Year Budget that we are currently in. In an effort to be consistent with Government Code 36515, the Council needs to adopt an ordinance to amend Chapter 2.04.020 of the Grand Terrace Municipal Code. If the Ordinance is adopted, the change in the Council stipend would become effective with the first Council meeting next Calendar year, January 11, 2011, which is consistent with Government Code requirements. The Agency Board stipend can be administratively changed to the $30 per meeting not to exceed $120 per month to be consistent with Health and Safety Code Section 33114.5. This change would become effective with the next Board Meeting, September 14, 2010. Mayor Ferrd opened the Public Hearing for discussion, there being none, she returned discussion to Council. Councilmember Cortes, stated that what she understands of some of the mistakes and errors that have been done in this City was thirty some years ago, it was formulated by a certain plan or program. As time goes by so do rules and changes. Every organization and City has to apply to them. They were not aware of some of these changes and in all fairness this is a Closed Session Item and there are only certain things that they can say. She stated that the Council has been receiving more money then they should have been. This is an error that should have been noticed. She stated that according to the CPA the stipends that the Council has been receiving should have been taxed and they need to go by what the law says. She stated that financial mistakes being discussed this evening, she feels is an embarrassment to her City. The overpayment errors that begun in 1988 have cost several thousands of dollars. Council Minutes 08.24 2010 Page 9 For these financial errors began incurring fourteen years prior to her position on the City Council. She plans to return the money that was overpaid to her by the tax payers of Grand Terrace. She doesn't know any of the legalities remedies but she does strongly suggest that they have a tough new budget and oversight reforms so that none of these financial mistakes can ever occur again. She strongly believes that we should always have accurate facts before any of the Councilmembers makes decisions affecting the City's finances. Nothing was intentional. She did not know there was a mistake and now she does. She stated that she will have a plan to repay the City the money that she received over the eight years. Councilmember Stanckiewitz, stated that it is tragic that Councilmember Cortes has come to the conclusion and the action that she feels necessary to take because those people who were hired to take care of this City, who were hired to take care of the elected officials dropped the ball. Now that outside experts have been brought in who do know what they are doing, we are discovering these kinds of errors. He doesn't feel good about them and he is embarrassed but they have to be fixed. It has to be acknowledged that these errors have happened and they have to be fixed. He thanked the new City Manager who has the knowledge and expertise and the ability to go out and get help when she needs it and not shoot from the hip. These mistakes will be fixed and he is afraid that they haven't found everything yet and there may be more embarrassing moments. He guaranteed to everyone that whether he is elected Mayor or remains as a City Councilmember for two more years he is not going to stop digging and they are going to straighten this mess out. Mayor Ferrd, stated that Councilmembers rely on the City Manager and the City Attorney for advice. That is what they have done in the past and that is what they will continue to do. If there is a mistake, it is going to be corrected and that is what this public hearing is about. CC-2010-75 MOTION BY COUNCILMEMBER CORTES, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER STANCKIEWITZ, CARRIED 3-0-1-0 (MAYOR PRO TEM GARCIA WAS ABSENT), to approve the first reading of an Ordinance of City Council of the City of Grand Terrace, California, Amending Chapter 2.04.020 of the Grand Terrace Municipal Code Pertaining to Stipends for City Council Members UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None NEW BUSINESS - None CLOSED SESSION 9A. Conference with Legal Counsel - Potential Litigation - CG 54956.9 (b)(2) and GC54956.9 (c) Mayor Ferrd announced that the Council met in Closed Session with Legal Counsel regarding Council Minutes 08- 24.:2010 Page 10 Potential Litigation, CG 54956.9 (b)(2) and GC54956.9 (c) and there was no reportable action taken. Mayor Ferre adjourned the meeting at 7:36 p.m., until the next City Council Meeting which is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. CITY CLERK of the City of Grand Terrace I Ofiv. WWR ...�.the City of Grand Terrace